Chapter seven: Death Eaters in Hogsmeade

James saw little choice; he stuffed his wand back into the pocket of his jeans. He then joined Harry, standing up. The two Death Eaters came in on either side of them, maneuvering them toward the door, jostling their way through the crowd of happy, oblivious people.

As the neared the doors, Harry brushed shoulders with James, making it natural. "Do you see that slytherin over there," he whispered.

James did, a fifth year Slytherin boy leaning against the bar a mug of butterbeer between his palms, which was neglected as he spoke softly to a wide eyed fourth-year girl beside.

"Yeah, I see him," James said, not happily. Though relations between houses had improved over recent years, Gryffindor and Slytherin still hosted a harmfully fierce rivalry.

"Curse him."

"What?"

"Let him have it. Nothing nasty, just a friendly jinx. Something to remember in the hospitol wing."

James realized what Harry meant, and before one of the Death Eaters could stop him, produced his wand.

"Densaugeo!"

The curse hit the Slytherin square in the face, slamming him against the counter. The mug fell from his hands to shatter on the floor. As he stumbled to his feet, the Slytherin clutched his hands to his mouth, as his front teeth lengthened inexplicably, protruding out of his mouth.

"Depulso!"

The girl reacted impressively fast. Her spell drilled James in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. He was thrown backward by the impact to slam onto a long table behind him, upsetting the drinks upon it. James groaned, his ribs felt as though they were on fire.

However, things had gone exactly as Harry had predicted. The seventh year Gryffindor students occupying the table James has landed on stood up in a singular motion, turning to the source of the attack. They saw the Slytherin boy, beside his steaming girlfriend; attract the attention of a group of stone-faced slytherins with the muffled exclamation of "Get that Gryffindor."

In a matter of seconds, Madame Rosmerta's tavern dissolved into a storm of magical crossfire as the rival students engaged each other. Harry took full advantage of the chaos. He drove his elbow into the face of the man on the right, breaking the man's nose. And then his wand was out. A blast of energy from it sent the Death Eater spinning away.

Harry blocked a powerful curse, as the Death Eater retaliated. The man charged at Harry, but a stray leg-locker curse collided with him. The man slammed heavily to the floor.

Harry turned to the door, looking for James, unable to glimpse his son through the melee. He skirted a pair of duelists, a Slytherin and a Hufflepuff. As he shoved his way toward the door, Harry was sent reeling, as a bottle of firewhisky was broken over his head by the remaining Death Eater.

Harry spun and fired off a poorly aimed stunner, which shot past the Death Eater's ear, and hit a Gryffindor girl in the back of the head. With another wave of the Death Eater's wand, the chair behind Harry flew into the air, slamming into him forcefully.

"Stupefy!"

The spell hit the Death Eater in the back, and he fell forward, immobile. James darted from behind him, as Harry got to his feet. The boy had really gotten into the swing of things. As he and Harry forced their way out of the door he cursed two Slytherins, and kicked a sixth-year Hufflepuff in the shin.

Harry and James burst out into a street that was, while busy, rather calm. The brawl inside the Three Broomsticks had not yet caught the outsider's attention, which just what Harry wanted. Pulling James behind him, he set off at a brisk pace. The boy was overall unharmed, Harry wished he could say the same, but his head was still ringing.

"I'm getting too old for this," he mumbled.

As if on cue, a man and a woman in dark clothing appeared from an alleyway. And made their way briskly straight toward Harry and James.

Harry saw them first, and grabbed James by the back of the next, pulling the boy down with him as he sprawled on the cobblestones. A spell shot past above them to collide with a storefront, which burst into a rain of broken glass.

There were screams, and panic broke out in the street, shoppers and students not used to this sort of situation. Harry didn't envy them.

"Expeliarmus!"

His spell hit the male Death Eater, whose wand was sent flying from his grip. The woman took advantage of Harry's destruction, and jinx hit him in the shoulder, scorching his flesh. Harry hissed in pain, but ignored it.

"Stupefy!"

"Protego!"

"Trificus!"

James' unexpected spell penetrated the Death Eater's defenses, and sent her sprawling on the pavement. Harry turned to thank him, but was caught up in a crushing bear hug, as the disarmed Death Eater tackled him. The man slammed Harry's face into the cobblestones, and his glasses snapped in half.

As the world around him blurred, Harry struggled against the man's iron grip. Then there was a scream, as James stuck his wand deep into the man's ear. The Death Eater rolled away, blood trickling from his ear, and Harry stunned him. Twice.

"Crucio!"

The spell filled Harry's body with immeasurable pain. He lay helpless, as the female Death Eater approached.

"Sectumsempra!"

The spell connected with woman, and she screamed, as three long cuts appeared across her chest. She fell to her knees, blood soaking her shirt. James pulled Harry to his feet, and the two of them stumbled away into the crowd of spectators, which parted to give them a wide berth.

"Repairo."

Harry mumbled the spell, then pressed the repaired glasses back on his face, framing the world in far greater clarity.

"Where'd you learn that spell," He questioned, realizing that it was James who had cursed the woman.

"Read it in a book," the boy shrugged.

"Well, don't use it any more. It's dark magic."

"It saved your life."

"Yes, and thank you. But it's the principle of the thing, sort of like not using unforgivable curses."

James said nothing. Harry took this to mean he had won the argument, but then realized when he saw the two battered Death Eaters, the pair from the bar, striding toward them. Looking both determined and extremely upset.

Harry was prepared to block the spell as soon as it was fired, but it connected not with him, but with James. The boy was lifted into the air by its force and slammed into the display window of Honeydukes sweet shop, which shattered as he landed, knocking over a barrel of caramels.

"Expeliarmus!"

Harry's own so-called signature spell was used against him, as his wand shot from his grip, to land somewhere in the candy store. Knowing he had no chance without it, Harry dodged as a jet of red-light impacted with the cobblestones in a spray of sparks.

He vaulted through the broken window into the store. He ducked behind a display of lollipops as one of the Death Eater's followed him. Harry tackled him from behind. As the man slammed to the floor, he struggled, punching Harry in the gut.

Harry seized a massive Lollipop from the floor beside him, and broke it over the Death Eater's head, which had absolutely no effect. The man hurled Harry away, into the wall. Harry dodged to the side as a spell blew a hole in the wall exactly where he'd been. He rolled behind an aisle of chocolate, and glimpsed his newly claimed wand lying on the floor. He seized it, and blocked a yellowish spell. The shield charm deflected the spell right back at its sender. It hit the man in the face, which was quickly covered with huge boils, oozing steaming puss.

As Harry got to his feet, the aisle around him burst into flames. The second Death Eater, the one whose nose he had broken back in the Three Broomsticks. Coughing, Harry charged toward the Death Eater, only to trip over a bricklike slab of peanut brittle.

The Death Eater leveled his wand at Harry, but as his lips began to form the killing curse, James jumped onto his shoulders, stuffing something into the man's mouth.

With a single arm, the large man launched James in the wall. He returned his attention to Harry. But brightly colored vomit poured from his mouth, slurring his words. Harry stunned the man, who sprawled on the ground, still throwing up, a puddle of sick forming around his unconscious head.

"Puking pastilles," said James, in explanation. "Just like mother used to make."

"Thanks," Harry groaned getting to his feet. "You know, you're pretty good in a fight."

"I have practice," James said lightly, but Harry could tell he was shaken. Whatever dueling his son had practiced, whether in Defense Against the Dark Arts, or in hallways against rivals, it didn't come close to fighting real dark wizards.

"You just might be the most brilliant and most rubbish duelist I've ever seen," James said, regarding Harry with a piercing look.

"Thanks," said Harry, this time sarcastically. "I have lots of practice. Now let's get out of here before somebody responsible arrives. I need somewhere to think, and I need to see that letter. Lestrange must have sent her men here to retrieve it, before I could read it."

"Well, they failed." Said James. "Wait a moment," He said, a moment later. "Lestrange? Like Bellatrix?"

"Yes," Harry sighed, wiping sweat from his forehead. "All too like Bellatrix."

"But nobody goes in here. It's haunted."

"That's why don't won't look for us here. Besides, it's not haunted. That was just a friend of mine."

James shrugged, and vaulted the fence after Harry. He followed his father of the slope to the ramshackle cottage, known to the people of Hogsmeade as the Shrieking shack. Though the door was boarded up, Harry managed entry through a broken window. Inside, the pitted wooden floor was covered with dust, broken furniture scattered around.

The place held memories for Harry; he had been only a little older than James the last time he had been here. It was when he had first met his godfather, Sirius Black, then an innocent but wanted criminal.

"Well, this house is a wreck," said James, appreciatively.

"Werewolves can do that to place," said Harry. "Anyway, we shouldn't be here long. I just want a look at that letter before people start asking questions." He had no doubt that Ministry had already arrived and were picking up the wreckage of their battle with the Death Eaters.

Harry plunked himself down on a torn armchair, and took out the crumpled letter, scrutinizing it. As he did so, James occupied himself by examining the claw marks on the ceiling, running his fingers along them by standing on a wobbling stool.

"Looks like pictograms," said Harry.

"Yeah, Koihoma," said James. "Precurses Mayan and every other South American alphabet."

"How'd you know that," Harry questioned, impressed.

"I looked it up in the library, after getting the letter. Thought it was important enough. It's a dead language, but the library's got way better records than you'd think, even about muggle stuff."

"What's it say?" Harry asked.

James thought for a moment, remembering. "It says 'Follow the lines in the earth only the gods can read to Orellana's cradle, guarded by the living dead'."

"Orellana, the gilded man…" Harry murmered. "Lines that only the gods can read. Neville sent this from South America so… Of course. The Nazca lines."

"The what?" said James.

"The Nazca lines. Lines scratched into the desert by ancient people. Neville hid the school near them, its somewhere in Nazca, Peru."

"So we go and get it, give it too the Death Eaters, they give us back mom and Neville, and we're done."

"Not quite," said Harry. "We're not doing anything. I'm going to Peru. You're staying here."

"No you can't do that," James protested. "I'm part of this now, they'll come after me. Besides, I can't just sit and do nothing. You're old, you'll need my help. You would have gotten killed if not for me."

"I guess so," Harry sighed. "Alright, we go. Just as long as you stay by me, do everything I tell you, and stay out of trouble."

"When do I not?"

"Far to often. Anyway, we're going to find the skull, definitely, but we're not going to give it to Death Eaters. Once we have it, we can figure out some way to save Ginny and Neville. They won't want to kill them yet, they're their best bargaining chip."

"Why do they even want the skull?" James questioned.

"Lestrange obviously believes that there is some truth to the legends about the skull. Probably thinks its some kind of weapon," he sighed.

"You sound like you've had this problem before.

"You could say that."