Author Note: A bit of battle, a bit of chatter. All good for the batter.
It was in the early afternoon on the 12th day of August 1996. Two men huddled in a room of a dilapidated house on the edge of Hogsmeade. They were a forward observation post for team two watching the village and the castle. The other two members of the team were dressed in local civilian clothes entering the village after they had spent the morning establishing a base camp in the hills overlooking the village and the castle.
Inside the top floor bedroom of the house two men sat tiredly observing their surroundings. Both men dressed in dusty gray camouflage uniforms with smart weave magi-tech that shifted and adjusted to help them blend into their surroundings better.
"Say Little you think they'll let you put that third stripe back on after this?" The skinny wiry man man with the large spotting scope idly asked while observing the castle. He sat low looking through a hole in the wall he had made.
"Don't rightly know. Cides it'd be a waste a time. You know as much as I do I'd just do something stupid to get em ripped back off again." The large man who looked like he had a second helping of muscles declared in a southwest Texas drawl. His head leaning lightly against the stock of a very large rifle so he could see through the telescope mounted on it.
"You know one of these days they are going to get unamused by your antics and kick you out."
"Nah Birdie I'm too good at my job for them to do that. They'll just put them on with velcro."
"Or even worse they'll make you an officer." the observer chuckled.
"Aww man don' even josh about something like that. They wouldn't be that cruel would they?"
"Never can tell. Major William Harris. Has a nice ring to it."
"Birdie remind me when we get on leave to kick yor ass."
The skinny man chuckled as he watched the castle quietly. A moment later there was a large explosion and one of the towers started to collapse.
"What the fuck was that fucking shit?" The big man said jerking his head up then immediately sweeping his perimeter for targets.
"I dunno. They just had a tower drop off the side of the fucking place."
…...
Earlier that day the other half of the team had dressed in local civilian clothes entered the village after having spent the morning establishing several secure hideouts in the hills over looking the valley. Locations they could retreat to if they had to withdraw from the village. They would be reconnoitering the village then joining their companions at the shack on the edge of the village.
They had been forced to sneak past a security patrol as they moved along the road into the village. Moving along the main street they had seen that all of the businesses were closed, with shutter closed and doors locked. Security patrols moved quietly and efficiently as they had to hide behind cover, activating their invisibility fields often. Their orders had been to gather information and Sgt McAvoy had gathered enough to determine there was something seriously not right in the village so he and his teammate had decided to become more stealthy.
They hid behind a pair of barrels between two buildings as two IS Enforcers stopped outside of the alcove to light up some cigarettes.
"So what do you think the deal is?" The younger of the two asked taking a long drag off his smoke.
"Dunno. Probably another stupid drill. Some pencil jerker down in London got bored and thought everyone should have a bad day too."
"Maybe they didn't get any tail last night." The other joked back. "Taking it out on everyone else."
Chuckling the older one replied, "Those party officials can have any piece they want. Especially if they can justify it for breeding purposes. They ain't lacking for nothing." He said making air quotes around the words breeding purposes.
"Yeah, on my salary I dunno if we'll be able to manage the three kid quota they just imposed."
"I thought it was only two? Damn, the wife is not gonna be happy about that." The older one grumbled. "She hated carrying the last one."
"Why don't you see if you can get an option for one of the orphans to be a designated breeder, that's what my cousin did. He just got this really cute chubby blonde one. You oughta see the yabbos on her, plus those hips and ass man." he enthusiastically described.
"Yeah, I'm not as excited about some kid. I'll talk to the wife. Maybe I can convince her, give her a little liquid encouragement."
The younger one looked shocked, "Hey man you know what happens if someone even brews a love potion, its the chop."
"I ain't that stupid, a bottle of gin and a dozen roses works just as well with her." the older one scoffed.
The younger one laughed as he took the last drag off his cigarette, "These damn things are just not as good as the old ones."
"Hey if I could still get my hands on some Morleys I would, or even some Red Apples. Those things are harder to get than hen's teeth."
The younger one looked around carefully before saying under his breath, "I know a guy that supposedly knows someone in the black market."
"Yeah now who's flirting with getting the chop, or at least a major boot to the yarbos." The older one grunted.
"Hey just saying. These Protheros are no substitute, just cause they're part of the rations doesn't mean I have to like em." The younger one said.
The older one shook his head with a sigh taking a huge drag off his smoke before throwing it on the ground, "Well there's a lot of things you don't have to like you just gotta endure."
"Hey now. That's defeatist talk. Sub-Commander Goyle is not going to be happy if he hears that kinda lip."
"Fucking officers. I was an Auror back before the new order took over." The older one started some grumbling story as they walked onward, crushing out the butts of their smokes as they left.
The two MACUSA non-comms shook their heads at how familiar their counterparts here sounded before they moved on-wards. Trying to find a place open they finally found the clean and neat Three Broomsticks pub. All of the others had been closed.
There were only a few people inside, all of them wearing some sort of rectangular badge on their left breast. McAvoy looked at his teammate before a busty woman in a corset came forward, "Where's your party badges? This is a good loyal business you two. No badge no service. Now get out."
"Excuse me ma'am. We are but poor simple travelers from afar who have lost our badges, could you please let us have a drink before we go get a replacement?"
"No. I told you that only party members are allowed in here. And then only in good standing. No badge no service." She said scowling and making shooing gestures. "Go to the Security Office and get them to help you."
Looking around the bar area they noticed they were drawing the attention of everyone inside.
"Right. Well we shall bid you good day ma'am." McAvoy nodded and they backed out of the door quickly. She followed them scowling as they hastily went down the street towards the security office before turning down an alley.
"5 bucks says she's called the cops on us by now."
"No bet. And I don't think we should stick around to have a chat with Officer Friendly."
"Good idea, cause I don't think he's going to be so friendly. We need to get one of those citizen badges. Let's try the Hog's Head. Supposedly according to the intel its a bit on the shady side."
"I like the way you think Shack." The red haired half of the team declared..
They made their way along the back alleys to avoid any security patrols, they noticed two ISE heading for the Three Broomsticks quickly, as they did not want to have a firefight. Reaching the door of the Hog's head they found a piece of parchment nailed to the door.
"For multiple violations of the national security and public safety acts this establishment has been closed." McAvoy read.
"Well that sucks. Now what boss?"
"Pick it." He ordered.
With a nod and a few moments of work the door sprung open and the two men quickly entered. The place was dusty and smelled like a beer filled barn. A few rats scurried out of sight as they moved slowly investigating the place. The already small windows were frosted with dirt and All of the beer kegs and bottles had been removed or smashed as well as the large mirror behind the bar.
Moving into the back room they found that the entire place had already been ransacked and looted it seemed like. The back door was locked and barricaded from the inside, it appeared like it had been for several months at least.
"Well this could make a good forward outpost. Let us watch whats going on better."
"Yeah, a lot more comfortable than a hole in the mountain."
"You're getting soft in your old age Shack." McAvoy laughed as they poked around the room. Picking up a few papers and magazines that had been left around. Candy wrappers made them pause and listen.
Shack pointed up stairs with a questioning expression on his face. The Senior Sergeant nodded and took the lead as they slowly climbed the stairs. They had drawn their weapons,short machine pistols that had been thaumically enhanced, as they climbed.
The stairs opened into a sitting room that had been cleaned up. The windows covered by thick carpeting and blankets. The acrid smell of a candle still linger in the air. Both men pulled goggles from their pockets to give them vision in the darkness. Moving even more carefully they poked into the corners and behind the furniture to find that the sitting room was empty.
The door to a small bedroom was off its hinges so they cautiously looked inside, most of the furniture had been removed although there was a small cabinet in the corner that had been overturned and was laying on its side.
The two men stepped over and with a swift gesture flipped open the doors. A young dark haired girl tumbled out onto the floor between them. She had her hair cut short and was wearing mismatched rags. She looked up at them in abject fear when they did not seem to be reaching for her she scrambled to her feet and started to run for the door.
"Whoa hey girl. Stop. We're friends. We don't wanna hurt you." McAvoy called out.
She kept running heading down the stairs. Both men looked at each other in annoyance then turned to follow her. By the time they got downstairs she had run into the street. She had managed to turn and go a few feet when a stunning spell hit her from one of the IS Enforcers approaching from either end of the alley. Neither was the men they had observed earlier. The one that had stunned her laughed as he approached her to his partner who was coming the other direction down the street.
"Hullo. What's this? The little mouse that's been stealing from our shops?"
"Might be she looks scrawny enough to be."
"Still got a few curves. Here now help me drag her into the Hog's head. We might as well have a little fun before she goes into Yaxley's black bag." The larger one with a van dyke facial hair sneered.
"I get first dibs this time. That last one you jacked her so hard it twernt no fun." The gamier one with missing teeth growled.
"Oh shut it. I'm the senior officer so get to go first. Just keep yer yob shut or you won't get any turns at all."
The gamier one grumbled and muttered under his breath as the one with the VanDyke picked the girl up and carried her into the pub. The two MACUSA soldiers hid and took position so they could observe the activity. Once the IS enforcers had entered they shut the door behind themselves. They proceeded to lay her on the floor. Ripping open her shirt the one began to paw the girl.
He only got two squeezes of her breast before a round from McAvoy's weapon went through the back of his skull and out the front. Three more rounds found their way intot he chest and out the back of the gamier one.
Shack stood up quickly, as the suppressed weapons fire had barely sounded louder than someone clapping their hands it shouldn't have been heard but he ran to the window regardless. "Clear boss, I don't think anyone heard you."
"Good, call HQ and get Doc up here. She needs checked out." McAvoy ordered checking the side window as well, before barricading the door."
"Sure thing boss, only one question. I thought we wasn't supposed to be killing people unless we had to."
McAvoy looked darkly at the other, "I hate rapists."
Shack got on the communicator quickly as the sergeant dragged the two dead bodies to the other end of the room none too gently. The look on his sergeant's face brooked no arguments.
…...
The girl they had rescued woke up with a kind looking young man kneeling over her. She was wearing a clean T-shirt that was a sage green. Looking around herself in terror she saw the other two men standing nearby watching out of small holes in the upstairs wall.
"Who are you people?" she whispered.
"Well overall we're from the MACUSA. I'm Petty Officer McCoy but most people call me doc." He grinned as brilliant blue eyes gazed comfortingly down at her. "Those two are Sergeant McAvoy and Sergeant Shackleford. You'll have to forgive their surliness but there seems to be a rather large commotion going on and they need to keep an eye out."
She nodded, sitting up slowly she bit her lip, "Thank you for rescuing me."
McAvoy nodded, "Not a problem."
"Okay take it easy. You're a little malnourished and dehydrated. So drink this slowly okay?" he handed her a small bottled beverage with a bright orange liquid inside.
"Are you here to save us?" She asked, smiling after taking a long drink of the liquid.
"Maybe. At the very least we're gonna save you." McAvoy grunted scowling at Shackleford.
"We'll do our best." McCoy said, "So now that you know who we are. Can you tell me your name, maybe a little bit about you?"
"My name is Mandy. Mandy Brocklehurst." She said hesitantly.
"Okay. So how did you come to be living here?"
"They took my mother, she was a muggle-born. They said she violated some magical purity laws or something. When they took her dad fought back, but he told me to run and hide. To not get caught." she started crying, "Will you save them?"
Mcavoy stared into McCoy's blue yes. A hardness settling in the orbs as she cried on his shoulder.
The moment was broken up by ker-whump of a large explosion from the castle.
"What the fuck was that?" McAvoy demanded.
…...
Yaxley walked out of the floo in the Hogsmeade Security Office. The strike team had already assembled to take down Dumbledore. Among the shiny black armored enforcer's looking like a swarm of iridescent beetles Yaxley in his rumpled tan raincoat and cigar looked out of place. No one questioned his being there though as he was the supreme head of the entire Internal Security Department and reported directly to the Minister. One word from him and your career, and life, could be ended.
"Alright. Your target is Albus Dumbledore. He is enemy number one as of last night. His actions to undermine this Ministry and our nation has got to come to an end. We have information that he has withdrawn to his office in the Headmaster's tower. He has no doubt placed traps and wards. So we will have to be careful, we will have to move quickly though and with overwhelming force. You have all been briefed and know what to do so let's get this done." He said in a brief morale boosting speech.
The teams moved quickly to the castle. Their entry was briefly delayed as the front doors refused to open. Some heavy blasting charms removed the doors from their sills.
Dumbledore in his office felt the wards of the castle activate indicating it was under attack. He stood readying himself. He waved his wand activating war mode and packing his personal belongings, including the crystal holding the drop of Snape's blood. He observed the invaders as they moved quickly and with purpose.
The pink clad toad met with Yaxley to Dumbledore's delight. Perhaps he could remove more than one irritant today. He would have to leave this castle he knew, there would be no way he would be able to remain headmaster after this. However they would pay a high price for driving him from this place of power. A high price indeed.
The strike team had to fight their way through multiple statues as they came to life, the suits of armor attacking with cold mechanical efficiency. An axe swung through the air striking one of the black shiny helmets just below the brow slicing through the head underneath. The strike team countered with blasting charms, metal corroding potions and lighting bolts to destroy the statutes and suits of armor.
Yaxley and Umbridge followed behind the carnage, moving carefully to ensure their own necks were not harmed or endangered. The fighting eventually reached the base of the tower, six of the team remained from the dozen who had entered the castle.
"We need reinforcements sir."
Yaxley scowled, he knew this would be difficult going after Dumbledore in his own lair, but this has been a disaster. He had already lost a dozen men in the battle to get to this point, all of them Shadow Guards which should have been sufficient according to Central Command. The Central Command had been clear they wanted Dumbledore's body intact and able to be used as proof he was dead, that way the state could show their power. If the state could remove the almighty Dumbledore then what else could it do would be the message to the public.
The six removed the gargoyle statue that had been blocking the stairs upwards. They had turned into a flat slanting ramp. The first guardsman stepped onto it carefully and began to climb when they glowed bright red briefly, their skeleton visible for a brief moment, before fading into nothingness.
"Hold." Yaxley commanded. They stopped waiting.
Leaning forward he called out, "Albus. We'd like to talk."
"I have no desire to interrupt your conversation among yourself. I shall refrain from joining in though." Albus chuckled from above.
"Very funny Albus. You know why we're here. So why not make it easy on yourself." Yaxley growled.
"Oh just surrender so that you can parade me around as an example of how powerful your regime of terror has become. Be a good little lap dog and run back toyour master Yaxley." Albus sneered.
Yaxley scowled angrily nodding to the sub-commander he moved off pulling a communications device out of his pocket. "Keep him talking."
The Sub-commander nodded as he took position, "Sir? This doesn't have to end this way. I'm pretty sure that some kind of deal can be made."
"Ahh. I take it Yaxley has gone off to call for reinforcements."
"I'm not at liberty to comment on that sir." The sub-commander said.
"No of course not. You sound familiar. Jason Anderson? Hufflepuff class of 84?"
"Yes sir. I was prefect for two years."
"I see. You were a good young man. It seems such a waste for you to be on the side of evil."
"Sir? I'm sorry but I don't see it like that. I'm doing my duty to protect my society. We have to keep people safe and secure."
"Have to keep them enslaved and controlled you mean." Dumbledore's voice countered with a sneer, "Not a very good duty to uphold."
"Sir I'm not here to debate morality or philosophy. I just want to do my duty and go home."
"Ah yes. Follow your orders and go home. Do your duty. The safe thoughts of an automaton in the machine. Another cog in the clockworks."
"Sir. I have a better job, better home and better family than I was looking forward to before the reformation. I have a bright future, so does my son. You're not the future anymore sir." Anderson shook his head, he used to have respect for the Headmaster when he was in school. Now he just felt sorry for him.
"Do you now? As a trained monkey on a leash? I recall those from my youth you know."
"Sir, you've clung to the old ways far past the time they became obsolete. You've become obsolete." Anderson was growing angry.
"Obsolete? I am the future. I am the only one with a vision and clarity of purpose that is required to save our people." Dumbledore thundered from his tower.
"No sir. You are an anachronism. A ghost that has refused to fade away."
Yaxley was approaching quickly, waving to his men they withdrew. "Alright. We just have to make sure he doesn't leave the tower. Our reinforcements are coming."
Anderson and his men nodded their understanding as they secured the tower. A glowing golden web of light filling the cracks and openings thanks to their spell.
Dumbledore laughed at the irony of being imprisoned in his own stronghold. He knew the phoenix he had captured and bound to himself many years ago could still take him anywhere. The only problem was where to go? The Hague for the ICW chambers? The last he had heard the vote was 30 to 10 against him. He would be out of that position by tomorrow morning. His legacy was being shattered , erased. That damnable prophecy, the way Riddle, everyone had refused to stay on their scripted pages. His carefully planned vision of how the future was supposed to go.
Hearing the wards announcing flying subjects he looked outside. Multiple broom riders were approaching with large bags slung under them. He frowned and decided that it would not do to allow them to get to close. Sending a heavy bombarda into one of the bags he saw it explode with a massive black cloud.
The other riders began to jink and swoop on their approach towards the tower. As there were too many for Albus to remove in one go he decided now would be the time to depart. Having decided on his destination he called the bird to him and vanished just as the broom riders lobbed their bags at the base of the tower. A massive explosion severed the magic that reinforced the tower's bindings to the castle. The ancient stones felt the force of gravity once more and began to slide towards the ground, accelerating and crashing down in a large cloud of dust, glittery particles of magic and flames of unusual colors.
…...
By the time the party had returned to the Rookery news of the explosion at Hogwarts was spreading like wildfire.
"Do you think Dumbledore's dead?" Harry asked Xeno.
Xeno shrugged, "No idea. The man is slipperier than an eel. Without confirmation he is Schrodinger headmaster."
"So how is this going to affect things for tomorrow?" Hermione wondered.
"It just means we'll have to be more careful when we sneak in." Lily declared with Harry nodding.
"Hermione you and Hannah work with Luna and Harry to get some robes set up. Do you still have your robes?"
"Actually all of my school things are still at my home." Hermione said.
"We could go get them and let you check on your parents if you like?" Pandora said.
Hermione did not look excited about that. Luna took her hand, "You do want to know what happened to your parents don't you?"
"I guess. I wasn't exactly missing them. And I am pretty sure the feeling is mutual." Hermione said glumly.
"You don't know that fer sure do ya?" Luna asked with a soft tone of concern to her voice.
Hermione took a deep breath. "Maybe. I do need to retrieve my school things as I had some important papers and things I was researching. Plus you will need to copy the robes as Harry and Luna are going to be sneaking in with us?"
"That is the plan." Lily agreed.
Hermione squeezed Luna's hand before saying, "I guess we should go visit my parents then."
…...
They were walking along a well manicured street in Crawley towards a moderate sized manor house in a nice neighborhood. It was surrounded by a low wall and neatly trimmed shrubbery. Large iron gates stood open on the driveway and front walk.
"Dang girl. This is your home?" Harry said in awe.
Hermione bashfully replied, "Well its actually smaller than it looks."
Pandora grabbed them by the shoulder saying, "Hold. There are observation wards on the gates."
"What? My parents are muggles." Hermione exclaimed.
"I do not believe this was placed here by them. They are still very fresh."
"I bet they're wanting to catch us." Luna stated, "Use you as a hostage."
"How did they find out that I'm associated with you?" Hermione frowned.
"That's a good question. Why don't we spring the trap and question whomever shows up. Harry give Luna your cloak." Lily decided. "Pan any idea who we might be facing?"
"The magical signature is familiar but not one I recognize." Pandora said frowning, "Although it is one that has a degree of power behind it."
"Could it be Dumbledore?" Luna asked.
"That is possible. I am not very familiar with his magical signature. I know it is not anyone I have encountered." Pandora admitted, "We should be careful."
"Alright. How are we going to do this?" Harry asked.
"Luna will be under your cloak, Pan?" Lily asked.
"I will go inside with Lily. Hermione will introduce us as Harry's parents."
Harry laughed, "Kinky. How do you think they'll react?"
Hermione took a deep breath, "Well my parents won't be entirely happy with that. The people who actually raised me will just be happy if I'm happy."
Everyone looked at her in confusion.
"I spent more time with Robert our butler and Heather the cook than I did my parents."
"And yet you don't know how to cook." Luna observed from under the cloak, a disembodied voice.
"Well sorry. I just never felt it was an essential skill for me to learn."
"We'll deal with that later." Harry said, "Let's go spring this trap." He said rubbing the holstered sidearm that had become a never leave home without it part of him.
…...
Hermione led them along the walk to the side of the house. Entering a code on the keypad beside the door she opened it. The small entry room they found themselves within was neat and tidy with the small of cleaning fluids.
Hermione called out, "Robert? Heather?"
A moment later a man came through one of the side doors of the hallway with a large smile on his face. "Miss Hermione. This is a pleasant surprise. We were told you would not be coming back yet."
"Who told you that?" Hermione was curious.
"Your father, he called from the French house and said you would be going straight to your boarding school from there. Your mother and he would remain there as well." He stated in confusion as he looked at Harry and the two other women.
"Oh. Well I sort of left. I had a bit of a row with them."
"Again?" He asked with a sad sigh, "Well, I presume it was over the young gentleman beside you?"
"Yes. This is Harry. My boyfriend. These are his parents Pandora and Lily."
The man held his hand out to shake theirs, "Welcome, its a pleasure to meet you." Turnign back to Hermione he said, "Heather and I were just going to have some light dinner , but I am sure she could make something if you are hungry."
"Oh thank you but we ate before we came. I wasn't certain and didn't want to be a bother." Hermione said with a smile. She actually seemed to be relaxed and calm.
"Very well. Come along, Heather will be incredibly happy to meet all of you." Robert said as he led them downstairs. Once in a moderate sized simple dining room they were introduced to Heather. A medium height woman in a simple dress whose face lit up when she saw Hermione and gave her a large hug. She fussed over Hermione for several moments before she moved to Harry and welcomed him the same way. Lily and Pandora were welcomed with a bit less enthusiasm but still warmly.
"Are my school things still in my room?" Hermione asked after a few minutes of polite conversation.
"Oh yes. We have not bothered any of your things." Robert replied sounding slightly hurt.
"I didn't think you had, just you know how father is about my special school."
Robert nodded ruefully, "Ah yes. Well yes. He is a rather conservative gentleman."
"That is one way to describe him. I was wanting to show Harry some of it as he's special like I am."
"Oh really? That's wonderful. Someone to share your gifts with." Heather exclaimed gleefully.
"Yes. If you'll excuse us." Hermione said taking Harry's hand.
Robert chuckled, "Perhaps you should have a chaperone?"
"Pandora can go with them. I'd love to hear some more about Hermione as a child. How did you find out about her abilities?" Lily smiled warmly.
Hermione quickly hustled Harry and Pandora out of the room, leading them up a set of circular stairs. "Sorry but I've got a funny feeling we should hurry."
"That might be prudent." Pandora agreed.
Hermione had just turned the knob and started to open the door when she was shoved to the side . A red glob of energy flew through the spot where she would have been standing.
Harry dove through the door low drawing his sidearm as he saw movement. A tall dark shadowy figure had pulled their wand back to cast a spell, the round Harry loosed struck in the upper body causing them to fall backwards.
Hermione came through the door quickly, launching her own spell at the figure which managed to barely bat it away as they had transferred their wand to their left hand. Hermione started a flurry of spells backing the figure towards the wall.
"Harry, wound him, we want to question him."
Harry nodded and in the flashing, flickering lights of the spell battle squeezed the trigger twice. Each round flying out of the barrel and striking the figure in an arm.
Pandora turned the lights in the room on revealing the hooded figure who was slumped against the wall. Bleeding from wounds on the upper part of each arm and right chest just below his shoulder.
Lily suddenly shouted, "Pan? What's going on?" As she ran up the stairs.
"Hermione had an unwelcome visitor."
"Let's see who this is?" Hermione growled angrily pulling the shadowy hood off to reveal the face of Severus Snape.
"Severus?" Lily said in disbelief.
"I'm sorry Lily. I had to. Albus has my blood."
"I thought you said that all he could do was track you?"
"I may have lied." He coughed pink frothy spittle, "This is rather unpleasant."
"You got shot in the lung. You gonna die soon." Harry declared spinning the chamber as he reloaded quickly. "Might wanna get right with Jesus or whomever you believe in."
Snape looked at Harry with a frown, "Simple healing spells should be able to repair the damage."
"If we do it before you bleed out Severus. So start talking quickly. Why were you going to attack my children." Lily demanded.
"Albus. The crystal he has is a blood pact. I am forced to do his bidding if he pushes it. He wanted her to force Harry to help him."
"So you were going to kidnap Hermione and hold her hostage?" Harry's voice took a very cold turn.
"Yes, yes I was. Now please heal me. I can't feel my arms." Snape was looking even more sallow than usual.
Lily looked at Pandora who moved slowly over and healed Snape's wounds, "You shall not die. However I will not revitalize you. Where is Dumbledore?"
"Dumbledore? Why do you want to know?"
"Because we are going to have to deal with him eventually and now is as good as any other time." Lily smiled with a nod from Pandora.
"I can take you to him." Snape said.
"No just telling us where he is will be sufficient." Lily stated.
"Or what?"
"Or I'll let Harry shoot you again." Lily said with a smile.
Harry grinned at Snape holding his pistol loosely at his side.
It was at that point three people apparated into the room. They were wearing the dark black uniform of IS Enforcers. Harry's first reaction was to shoot the one with a Mozambique drill and the second one he only managed to wing as they dived for cover.
As every one was far too close to be able to cast spells quick enough a hand to hand battle broke out quickly in the room. Pandora running up the nearby wall, along the ceiling quickly and dropping behind the unharmed one to strike him with a quick knife hand to the right kidney. Her second strike was a chop to the junction between his neck and shoulder with a leg sweep dropping him quickly to the ground.
The one Harry had winged moved backwards then tripped over thin air, causing him to fall on his face. The next moment there was a brief flash of steel as his Achilles tendons were sliced apart. His squealing was silenced a moment later by his face hitting the floor rapidly three times in a row.
Luna stood up flipping the hood of the cloak back, "We should probably leave. I acquired your things while Harry and you were dealing with Snape."
"What about Robert and Heather?" Hermione asked worriedly.
"I stunned them when harry shot dipshit here. They'll be okay."
Pandora shrugged Snape to his feet, "Then we should return to home with our prisoner."
"Right."
…...
Snape was not happy with his current situation as he had been stripped to his underwear, glued and tied to a chair in a garden shed with Lily, Xeno and Pandora standing around him.
"So Sev, just to let you know the last guy who sat in that chair did not have things turn out very well for him. So let me ask you this. Are you going to cooperate with us, or are you going to resist?" Xeno asked with the most maniacal of grins.
"If it will keep me alive an unharmed I will cooperate to the best of my abilities."
"As usual all Snape cares about is Snape. Sometimes I think James was right to be a dick to you." Lily grunted.
"What more did you expect?" Snape sneered back.
"Spare me the pity party. Now tell us where is Dumbledore?" Xeno growled, "And you better not try to lie because I have ways to make you cooperate."
Snape scowled at Xeno, "Torture does not become you and I am able to shield my mind from most mind probes."
"Oh trust me brother, I have such drugs as would melt your mind into your shoes." He said pulling a small green and yellow toad out of a small box with thick latex gloves. Snape watched him with wide eyes.
"Like this little fellow. He's from south America and secretes a wonderful little drug. One or two drops and you will feel your eyes melting out of the back of your skull. Six drops and your mind will slip the surly bonds of reality and you will touch the face of the Goddess. While it will make questioning you a lot more entertaining that would take too long. So being honest would be the better route."
Snape swallowed quickly before he said, "Albus is at his secret lair not far from Dumfries on the coast. He has had to recover due to the Ministry using a ward ripper to sever him from the castle plus the stress of their attacks. He is not a young man anymore."
"Right, and why are you betraying us?"
"Because he made me. I don't care if both sides kill each other as long as I can get out of this safely." Snape admitted. "As long as Albus holds that blood pact I am forced to do his bidding."
"This blood pact? It gives him that much power over you?" Lily demanded.
"I'm a slave to both sides. Dumbledore has my blood pact, Voldemort marked me with his sign. I've been able to play both sides against each other but I can never be free of either one until they are both dead." Snape shook his had mournfully.
"Well we'll have to go deal with him. I'm sure he's wondering where you are by now." Lily declared.
"I am the only way you will get into his house. He has it protected by the Fidelius."
"And I don't suppose you'd be the secret keeper?" Xeno asked holding the toad close to Snape's face.
Leaning as far away from the brightly colored amphibian Snape said quickly, "No. I have no idea who it is though. I was given the location through a hand printed note."
"Great, that means we'll have to cut you loose and trust you to guide the apparate to there." Xeno frowned.
"Well, if you cross us you will die Severus." Lily reminded him.
"Albus has threatened to kill me, I serve the Dark Lord. Death threats are a common occurance. You are not being very imposing."
Pandora smiled, "Don't worry. I do not support killing you."
Snape sighed, "Well at least someone has some civility."
Pandora smiled whimsically, "No I would just drill a hole in your skull lobotomizing you and using you for a personal pet zombie."
Snape looked at her with his eyebrow raised, "I see."
"Either that or transfigure you into a butt plug at a gay brothel in San Francisco, and make sure you retain your consciousness of whats around you." She said considering, "To be honest there are quite a few other possibilities, perhaps the sock they use to collect horse semen at the racetrack?" She asked Xeno.
"Fine yes. I swear I will not betray you. Alright. Can we please stop discussing those ideas." Snape quickly begged.
"Oh. I reckon so." Xeno said with a shrug.
"I'll go get the others." Lily said.
…...
They appeared on the grounds of an ancient stone edifice, the shore was only a few yards behind them. Moving forward Snape opened the main doors to allow them to enter a large hall.
Dumbledore stepped out of a door at the far end then froze in surprise. "Severus you were only supposed to bring me the Granger girl."
"Sorry about that old chap. I thought we should have a little talk." Lily said with a snark.
Albus smiled, "Well as it seems this safe house is no longer safe I shall be leaving."
A shot rang out leaving Dumbledore standing looking at them as the bullet slowed and came to a hovering stop in mid air before falling to the floor. "Did you really think I would not take into account your bombastic proclivities with the firearms Harry?"
"Well it was a hope I had." He confessed.
Pandora began chanting in a strange odd tongue. The pitch and timbre of her voice seemed to make the very air itself ripple. Dumbledore's hair and beard began to blow in a breeze that sprang out of nowhere.
He struggled to draw his wand as shadowy tendrils began to writhe out of the floor. The tendrils began to surround him, impeding his ability to see and cast spells.
A sudden wreath of flames exploded out of the air burning the tendrils away, Pandora fell backwards but shook her head when Xeno tried to support her.
Lily was trying to send spells at Dumbledore but he kept blocking them as well as Xeno's. Hermione had tried to help with a few spells as well. The entry hall was wide enough a small car could have been driven down it but with the flames at one end and the others clustered by the front doors there was not much room to work. Harry had stepped into a doorway and was trying to cast a few spells that would protect and support Hermione. Snape had jumped into the dining room that was off of the entry hall, leaving the others to their fate.
Luna was under the cloak so no one knew where she had gone. She had gone outside and climbed a trellis to a second floor window. Opening it she quickly slid inside and moved through the house. She came to an office with a great many items within including a phoenix sitting on a bar with glowing blue runes on it. Curious she stepped closer staying under the cloak to inspect the pile of ashes underneath.
All phoenix had to nest in the ashes of their previous incarnations, every hundred years they burst into flames and were reborn. The tray and bowl underneath the bird was empty which made her frown.
Someone who had collected the ashes of a phoenix would be able to bind it to themselves. Which meant Dumbledore must have some sort of container with the ashes in them around here.
She began to explore the various items within the room. None of them seemed to fit the bill for what she was looking for. She did find a small cabinet with various teardrop shaped crystals. Some of them had glowing red drops enclosed within them while others were dull brownish red with a smoked appearance. These must be the blood pacts he had created with others. Since she had no idea how to break them she merely scooped them up and placed them in her pockets.
She finally found hidden in the bottom right drawer of a large desk, a drawer she had blown the face off of with a spell, a large crystal decanter. It was filled with a fine gray ash.
Taking the decanter she tried to open the top only the glass had been flowed together into one piece. The glass had been made strong she noticed as she had bounced it off of the desk, onto the floor and threw it against the wall, with an enhanced strength spell. She looked at the phoenix which was still watching her placidly.
"I'll get this figured out. Just you wait and see." She declared. Hearing the fighting still going on she got an idea.
Going out onto the balcony over the entry hall she looked down to see Harry pulling chunks out of the floor and walls and swirling them around to let Hermione transfigure them into large birds that would dart in to try and attack Dumbledore.
Lily and Xeno were working Dumbledore down as his flames were being quenched by waves of water streaming in through the front doors, then being frozen and turned to ice. Her mother was causing a strange wavering ripple to remain in the air between the two groups as Dumbledore was launching gouts of flame, slivers of silver metal, among other things.
Thinking briefly she grinned as she came to a decision. Hefting the decanter over her head she carefully sighted before she launched it off of the balcony downward at Dumbledore's head. The glass item moved at the normal acceleration of Earth's gravity, unaccelerated by any spells or chemical explosions it penetrated the spell bubble Dumbledore had established to block high speed projectiles.
The decanter filled with ash struck the century old skull of Albus Dumbledore right in the sweet spot at the top of the crown. Hitting edge on with a dull sickly thud the decanter bounced off and landed on the floor spinning off against the wall. Dumbledore though was staggered and fell to his knees. The spell he was in the middle of casting, instead of going down the hall towards Hermione, struck the crystal decanter.
There was a brief glow from the glass as the spell entered it, a split second later the glass shattered with explosive force as the spells and enchantments on it failed. Fragments of the glass embedded themselves in the face and chest of Dumbledore.
Luna felt the warm trail of the phoenix flying past her. Diving down it seized Dumbledore with its razor sharp claws. The Phoenix began to glow as flames trickled over its form. The heat reached Luna on the second floor rapidly driving her backwards. She felt a burning heat coming from her pocket and ripped the crystals out throwing them into the glowing forge at the first floor.
Dumbledore's skeleton was briefly visible as his flesh flash fried and burst into flames. His long beard and hair vanishing in a puff of smoke. Fatty organs and tissues sizzled on the floor as the large red bird began to glow and spin, screaming with discordant counter tones it soon was brighter than staring into the sun. The glow began to fade as the sound of the bird's song was answered and a strange cosmic hum was briefly heard. Soon the only noise was the mortal remains of Albus Dumbledore burning and smoldering in a pile of ash on melted floor stones. The bird had left this world behind.
"What the fuck was that?" Harry exclaimed moving cautiously out of the doorway he was partly concealed within.
"That was a phoenix." Hermione identified.
"A very pissed off one." Xeno added with a shiver.
Luna ran up to Harry giving him a quick hug. "Are you okay?"
Cradling her left arm Hermione huffed, "Is he okay?"
Harry wiped some blood from a gash just above his right eyebrow, "Yeah I think I'm okay. Just a cut, probably leave a wicked scar." he said trying to act cool.
Pandora relocated Hermione's shoulder before Luna hugged and kissed her too, "It doesn't look like you'll have a scar Harry." Pandora said healing his cut.
"Oh well. And here I was going to tell the guys back home about the massive battle I got into to get it."
Hermione and Luna both rolled their eyes, "Some battle, you hid and threw rocks at him."
"Well excuse me for not being a mighty arch-mage rolling natural twenties all the time." Harry huffed.
Before Hermione could demand an explanation Lily spoke firmly, "Alright. What did you do to arrange that little event Luna?"
"Oh I found the jar of ash he was using to bind the phoenix to him and dropped it on his head. Plus a bunch of tear drop shaped crystals that melted when he caught fire." She said.
Snape smiled broadly, "I'm free of him at last."
"Don't let it go to your head Severus. You still owe us."
"I know and I shall not let you down Lily. I am eternally grateful for this." Snape said taking her hands and clasping them. "Thank you. From the bottom of my heart thank you."
Lily yanked her hands back quickly, "Okay Severus, let's not get too emotional we still haave work to do here."
"What more work do we have to do here?" Hermione asked in confusion.
Xeno grinned, "Well we killed the evil wizard. That mean's its time to loot his keep." He laughed maniacally.
…...
In a set of rooms in the castle of Hogwarts Minerva McGonnagal felt as if a rope that had been around her had come free and left her. She reached out with her magic to no longer feel the binding to Albus Dumbledore she had once felt. She pursed her lips as she considered how she felt about this turn of events. After due thought she decided that she was quite pleased.
Poppy Pomfrey woke up, she had laid down to get some sleep early. She felt as if a weight had been lifted from her heart. She knew Albus Dumbledore was dead and he would not prevent her giving the care and diligence that the students deserved. She would be able to take care of them as a healer should. She smiled and rolled back over happily resting.
Arthur Weasley, Prisoner 5421 to everyone else now, was sitting in the chair waiting for his interrogation to begin again. He felt the twinge of the blood pact he had been forced to agree to when he joined the Order of the Phoenix breaking. He had no idea how it happened, why it happened only that it had happened. When his interrogator entered the cell he was quite unhappy that Arthur was chuckling at him.
Several others who had been convinced to make a blood pact with Albus felt that pact ending. They took this news with the satisfaction and muted pleasure people that had been used and disillusioned by the forces at large felt when released.
In the realms of reality beyond space and time a being that was brought into existence before the first star glowed brightly and would be the one to snuff the last ember in the universe out smiled as a familiar piece of wood formed in its possession once more.
…...
Review Responses
Wyrmridr: Glad you are. Red Storm rising is one of Clancy's books I like so yes there might be some of that in the MACUSA SF teams. Not too sure about Roadhouse but that's a good movie so will accept that. (I have watched or read so many things who knows what is getting stirred up in my head and subconsciously coming out in the story.) Thank you for reading.
Guest: I thought I was going along at a pretty good pace. Oh well. We'll see you in the flip side.
CrazyPedantic: Thank you. The scenes with Sheridan being tortured were disturbing and well done. Torture doesn't have to be whips and chains as they showed. Thank you for the compliments. And yes Orwell is one of the elementals I am consciously throwing in.
Darkravie: Thank you and hope you continue to enjoy.
DennisUD: The fate of the twins will be revealed in the next chapter. The revolution is coming.
Ladykirsten: Thank you. And yeah it is good to have Hermione be more comfortable with the things going on.
Manwe Illuvitarian: Yes it is. Orwell, V for Vendetta, and a few others are the conscious elements I'm drawing from. Like I said earlier who knows how many subconsciously are working their way in here. And not sure I'd use the word genius without the word mad in front of it. Mwahahah.
Wandamarie: Thank you.
Hippothestrowel: I never claimed to be perfect. At least the price of admission is right. Lol. I have to confess I am one of those who use Dan and Emma for the good parents and if they are bad I use Charles and Helen. Just one particular quirk I developed along the way. Yeah Neville was trusting of Dumbledore and paid for it. As for multi relationships I have explored a few varieties but do admit that they are usually 1 male multiple females. I have one with Harry and Neville involved with Luna, Lavender and Hermione.
I was in a multi relationship for several years in the real world with two women. It was no different than a mono relationship so it depends I guess. But if everyone felt the same there would only be taco bell John Spartan. Anyhow thanks for reading and hope you enjoy.