A/N: As always, I own nothing
A/N2: I would like to thank .Grey1 for taking some time off to read through the draft. Thanks
EIGHTEEN
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Scotland
The embarrassment that Umbridge had suffered in the hands of Al York and Professor Flitwick was bound to have some effect, and three days after the defeat of the toad woman in the hands of Al York, such an effect materialized.
It was in the form of a squad of Aurors who were dispatched by the Minister for Magic to Hogwarts with the intention of arresting Al York for 'assaulting a Ministry Employee'. Unfortunately for the Ministry, Al was not only prepared, so were his men.
The moment that the Auror squad, composed of ten men, appeared in Hogmeade, they found themselves staring at the business end of three 20mm. cannons mounted on the doors of three Puma helicopters, four TOW missile launchers mounted on wing subs of one of the Lynx helicopters, and the end of the barrels of P-90 sub-machineguns and Minimi general purpose machineguns held by Al's men.
Rather than risk getting themselves blown up, the leader of the Aurors, Kingsley Shacklebolt, decided to negotiate, which was Al's plan from the very start.
Al, who had taken over the office of Umbridge as he was the new Defense Professor, presented Shacklebolt with his memories of inspecting the said office. Al had found at least three blood quills in the said office and possession of one, Al reminded Shacklebolt, was worth at least fifteen years in Azkaban.
That, of course, was not the most damning evidence. Al had somehow found evidence of communication between Umbridge and the Warden at Azkaban. It was the 'smoking gun', and it was enough to ensure that the Warden in Azkaban would have a new position in the island, that of a prisoner.
Umbridge herself was charged with attempted murder, as well as several other criminal, civil, and administrative charges. Suffice to say, she would never walk out of prison on her own, most likely, she would never walk out of prison breathing.
Fudge seemed to have taken that into consideration when he decided not to pursue with his plan to have Al arrested. He was already reeling back after being hit by one scandal after another, and the Minister for Magic realized that the last thing that he needed right now was another scandal that had the potential to see him unseated from his position.
Without that interference of the Minister, Al was retained as the DADA Professor, and two days after his first class, the students were already raining praises upon him.
That was the primary reason why the fifth year Gryffindors, with the exception of one red-headed youngster, was looking forward to having his class. Unfortunately, since the class already had defense before Umbridge was kicked out, literally, they had to wait until the beginning of the new week before they can have their wishes fulfilled.
That did not matter to Harry, Hermione, and Neville. The three of them had joined Al and the rest of the men during their morning workout session and were present during most of the briefings that Al had conducted for his men, though the three would be the first to admit that they would also like to be in a DADA class being taught by a man who had spent many years of his life practicing practical defense.
That was the reason why the Defense classroom was full of students even before the bell signaling the first class of the day rang. No one, not even the Slytherins, wanted to be late for what was promised to be the most exciting class in the entire castle.
Harry and Hermione had taken the first two seats to the rear. Neville seated himself beside Hermione, making sure that Ron would have no place to seat. The decision to seat at the back of the class was also influenced by this desire to leave Ron away from Hermione.
The moment that the class bell rang, Al entered the room. Unlike most of the professors in Hogwarts, Al had refused to wear robes, instead, he was still wearing his battle dress, though this time, the boonie hat was nowhere near his person. A quick glance towards his hip saw that he was also still wearing his sidearm, and Harry was certain that Al had his reserve hidden at his ankle holster.
Harry stifled a chuckle as he realized that even if Al was going to be teaching them magic, the battle wizard was not going to concede that magic was better than mundane defense.
Al looked at his class for a few moments, noted that seating arrangement that Duke and Duchess Gryffindor had taken, and then subtly nodded his approval towards Harry.
Al sighed, "Right" he began, "Welcome to your fifth year Defense Against the Dark Arts Class, my name is Alvin Charles York" he looked at the eyes of the students and added, "I hold a mastery with defense, transfiguration, charms and was working on my potions mastery when I was pulled into teaching you guys".
Harry glanced at Hermione, silently asking his wife if she knew that their chief bodyguard had earned three masteries, but she shook her head, indicating that she was not aware of this. Harry nodded once and turned his attention back towards Al, who smiled towards him as if he were telling Harry that he was also entitled to his secrets.
"The Dark Arts" Al began, his tone of voice taking a lecturing tone that Harry and Hermione, and to a lesser extent, Neville, knew very well, "Who can tell me what the Dark Arts are?"
A hand was raised and Al acknowledged the hand. A few moments later, Slytherin fifth year Pansy Parkinson stood up and recited, "The Dark Arts is the branch of magic that deals specifically with the intent of harming someone else".
Al smiled, "Five points to Slytherin for your answer, Miss Parkinson" Al replied, and then motioned for the Slytherin to sit down, before he turned his attention back to class, "While Miss Parkinson's definition of the Dark Arts may be correct, I am sorry to say that that is not the Dark Arts" he looked around for a few minutes, hoping against hope that someone else would raise their hands to show their opinion.
After a few moments, no one was brave enough to raise their hand, so Al continued, "The Dark Arts is not the branch of magic that deals specifically with the intent of harming someone else, for if that were the definition of the dark arts, then a simple Diffindo would be a dark spell and the Avada Kedavra curse could actually be a light spell".
"What bullshit is that?" Ron asked.
Al turned his attention towards the red head and his lips curled into a humorless smile, "Ten points from Gryffindor and a week's detention with your head of house, Mister Weasley" he said. He turned his attention back towards his class, "The simple cutting spell, Diffindo, can be used to harm a person, does that make it a Dark spell?" he asked rhetorically, "In the same vein, the killing curse can be used to separate the soul of a dying person who refused to leave this world behind so that said person may no longer suffer, does that make it a light spell?"
"The answer, ladies and gentlemen, is that the Dark Arts is nothing more but a misnomer that someone came up with in order to divide magic into Light and Dark" Al continued, "When you leave the hallowed walls of this castle, you would realize that the world is not divided into the Dark and the Light, you would probably come to realize that in the real world, dark and light does not exist, the world, my young friends, is divided into shades of grey, not dark, not light. What makes a spell dark is not the spell itself; rather, it is the intent of the caster".
"Taking this into consideration, my young friends" Al continued, "It would be my job this year to teach you not only how to defend yourself against the so-called dark spells, but to defend yourselves against magic in general".
"Mister Goyle" Al suddenly called, making the named student jump to his feet, "Tell me, what is the best way to defend yourself against an incoming spell?"
"A shield charm, sir?" Goyle tried.
Al smiled, "Is that you answer, Mister Goyle, or are you asking me?" he asked.
"My answer, sir" Goyle replied.
Al smiled, "I would have given you ten points, Mister Goyle, next time, when you answer, you should mean it and you should be confident in your answer," Al said, "Five points to Slytherin because you answered, at least" he turned his attention towards the class, "Do you agree with this Mister Thomas?"
Dean shot to his feet, "I think so, sir" he replied, and when Al did not say anything else, Dean followed up, "I mean, sir, the shield charm is the primary defense spell taught to students".
"Take five points, Mister Thomas" Al replied, "Unfortunately, your answer is wrong" he turned to the class, "How many of you believe that you can shield against my stunner?" he asked. Al was only expecting two hands, maybe three, so he was surprised when he saw Blaise Zabini and Ronald Weasley raised their hands.
Al nodded, "For all of you who raised your hands, take five points for your confidence" he replied, "And all of you stand up and cast your shield charm please"
Harry, Hermione, Neville, and the two other boys all stood up and did as asked. Al rippled fire a stunner against all of them. Harry and Hermione, as expected, took it into stride, their shield did not falter. Neville's faltered a bit, but he remained otherwise unharmed.
Ron and Blaise caught the stunner. The red jet of light pierced through their shield charms as if said shield charms are not even there. A quick enervate later, the two stunned students were back on their feet and sat down.
"There are some spells that not even the most powerful shield charm can shield against" Al said, "Duke and Duchess Gryffindor and, to a lesser extent, Lord Longbottom, managed to negate my stunner because the shield charm is a magical core based spell, and their magical cores are extremely powerful, though I doubt that their shield charms can defend against my reductor curse, or a banishing charm for that matter, because both work using the laws of physics, after all" he turned towards Ron and Blaise, "Mister Weasley and Mister Zabini failed to defend against my stunner because their core was overpowered by the power in my spell" he looked at the class, "Be warned, there is always someone out there who is more powerful than you".
"Sir" Parvati said, tentatively, she raised her hand, and when Al acknowledged her, she continued, "What is the best way to defend then?"
Al smiled, "Do not be there in the first place" he replied simply, when he saw the incredulous look in the eyes of his students, his grin widened as he continued, "Spells are linear, you all know that, they do not bend corners, they do not evade, they do not do homing, unlike my toys at the camp which do all that" he paused for a few moments, "Say I fire a stunner at you, Miss Patil, do you think that you can evade it?"
"Maybe, sir" Parvati replied.
Al smiled, "Five points for your confidence Miss Patil, though next time, do say it with more conviction" he said, he turned toward his class, "She is right, anyone can evade my stunner, and anyone can evade anyone's stunner, in other words…." He trailed off, hoping someone would continue for him.
"Do not be there in the first place" Hermione answered, she smiled at Al.
"Ten points, my Lady Duchess" Al replied, inclining his head slightly towards her, "Do not be there in the first place" he smiled and addressed his class, "We are going to learn some basic evasion, some spells that usually come up with your OWL's, and then I'd like to introduce you lot to basic dueling, though I might ask Professor Flitwick to help me with that one." he sighed, "For now, everyone stand up, partner with someone and then try to hit each other with the jelly legs curse while evading".
Parkinson Lodge
Dover
Remus Lupin passively observed as the members of his fifteen man reconnaissance team set about their equipment. Although the former defense professor had no idea what the hell those heavy and dangerous looking things that his men brought were, he had an idea of what they were capable of, he had been briefed on them after all.
Remus and his men stationed themselves atop a ridge overlooking a rather huge mansion. The mansion was the only building in sight for many kilometers around it, almost as if the owner of the mansion wanted privacy, and Remus knew that that was exactly the case why Parkinson lodge was built here, because the Parkinson family wanted their privacy.
Of course, the reason that they wanted said privacy had nothing to do with their solitary life, for the members of that family were not of the solitary type, rather, the reason that they wanted privacy was so that the screams of their victims would not carry out of their territory.
It worked for them, since the screams of their victims were never heard, nor were they ever charged. Unfortunately for then, their relative isolation worked two ways. There was no way that the fire services brigade, or anyone else for that matter, would hear the sounds of the explosion that two Royal Air Force Harrier jump jets, courtesy of the Royal Air Force, were about to deliver to the address.
Special Reconnaissance Service had confirmed that there were several targets in the building, and rather than risk casualties by storming the building, they recommended using a technological advantage that the Death Eaters were not aware of, much less had something to counter it.
Remus turned his attention towards the spotter of his team, just in time to watch the man aim his binoculars towards the target, Parkinson Lodge. Beside the spotter, there was another man who was also looking through his own binoculars, the reserve spotter whose equipment would take over in case the primary failed, though that was doubtful.
Another man also had his attention towards the building. This man also had his binoculars pointed at the lodge, but Remus knew that the binoculars that he was using were ordinary ones, not the infra-red binoculars that would guide the bombs that were now being readied.
Remus turned his attention towards the target area; he brought his own binoculars, secured around his neck by a lace, to his eyes so that he may also look at the target. The Death Eaters, Remus saw, had posted outer sentries, but the sentries were complacent and believed themselves to be alone.
Remus had to concede though, that from the point of view of the sentries, they were alone. The team that Remus as leading was too far away, from their point of view. Just because that was true for them, however, did not mean that it was true for Remus and his team.
"Sir" the leader of the Special Reconnaissance Service lent to Remus for this mission, approached Remus and said, "We are ready to call in the rain".
Remus nodded, "Remind me again of the ordinance that the pilots are going to deliver, Captain" he said.
The captain seemed to smile as he answered the question that was posed to him, "Two Harrier jets, both armed with two one thousand pound laser guided bombs" he replied, "Just in case that is not enough, two more Harriers, armed at the same way, are standing by".
Remus nodded, "More than enough" he said, and at the same time, he hoped.
The werewolf was not worried about what would happen should the bombs miss their targets. The laser guiding equipment that they have deployed would make such a possibility unlikely, and in case the wards prevented the bombs from coming in, which was doubtful, and the Death Eaters attack their position, Remus was sure that they, the Death Eaters, would be cut down by accurate sniper fire from the members of the SRS.
"Bring in the rain" Remus replied. A few moments later, the captain relayed the order. There was no sound for quite a few minutes, and then, there was a loud noise that reminded Remus of the Hogwarts Express for a brief few moments.
Remus kept his eyes glued on the target area, however, so he witnessed first-hand the effect of four one thousand pound bombs being dropped from the air. Within ten seconds, Parkinson Lodge had been transformed to a burning scrap heap where no survivors would be expected.
"How long before that fire goes down, Captain?" Remus asked, he lowered his binoculars and turned his attention towards the leader of the SRS, who had also lowered his binoculars.
"An hour or more sir" the captain replied, and then he nodded, "Once the fire dies down sir, we can move a section there to check for survivors".
Remus shook his head, "There are no survivors of this attack captain, unfortunately" he smiled, "Have your snipers keep watch and have them make sure that there are no survivors" he sighed, "When the fire dies down, we would go down there and make sure ourselves".
The SRS captain looked at this man, whom he had been told was a personal agent of Her Majesty, and then nodded. The orders that he had given might seem a bit harsh, but then the captain reminded himself that the targets were terrorist who did not care who it was that they took out.
10 Downing Street
London, England
Cornelius Fudge swept out of the Floo Connection between his office and the office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, expecting the Prime Minister to be waiting for him alone.
The Minister for Magic, therefore, was surprised when he saw that with the Muggle Prime Minister were two men, one of whom, he recognized.
"Black?" Fudge asked.
Sirius Black knew that the Minister for Magic did not like him. Fudge may have been the one who signed his release papers, but that actually made the small petty man hate Sirius all the more.
"Welcome to 10 Downing, Minister Fudge" the other man said, "I am Minister Paul Orson, the Home Secretary" he motioned towards Sirius, "And you know Sirius Black, our newly appointed attaché to your office?"
Fudge nodded, he was not aware of the new appointment, of course, but decided to ignore it, "I am a busy man, Minister" Fudge said towards the Prime Minister, "Was there something that you wanted to talk with me about?"
The Prime Minister nodded, he looked at Fudge once and then nodded again, "As you are a busy man, Minister" the Prime Minister said, "I would go straight to the point" he looked hard at Fudge for a few moments, and then said, "I am worried about the magical government that you lead, Minister".
Fudge was taken aback, "I can assure you, sir" Fudge replied, "that no matter what the international press is saying, my government is on the right track".
The Prime Minister nodded, and then asked, "I take it that you are close personal friends with Lucius Malfoy?"
Fudge nodded and smiled, "An old friend of mine, sir" he replied, unaware of what really happened to the man, "Gave generous donations to many noble ends, that man did, and I am honored to call him a friend" he looked towards the Home Secretary and blinked when he realized that the Home secretary was glaring at him.
Fudge, however, never had the time to ask why the Home Secretary was glaring at him because the Prime Minister said, "Your honored friend, as you called him, Minister" he began, "was placed under arrest by London Metropolitan Police two weeks ago, since then, his name has come up with several thousands of cases, including horrific number of rapes and murder that would actually make the crisis in Bosnia look tame".
Fudge blinked, "He is a member of our Wizengamot" he replied, "According to the treaty, he cannot be arrested by the Muggle Government, only our government can try him".
"Try me, Fudge" the home secretary replied, practically shouting at the Minister for Magic, "Your friend is no longer in the United Kingdom, he has been taken by the US Military to Gautanamo Naval Base in Cuba, where he will stay until we can find out where his permanent destination will be" he glared at Fudge, "And as for diplomatic immunity, it does not count."
"Half of Europe and the United States wants his head on a pike, Fudge" the Prime Minister replied, "Within days of being identified, the Foreign Office have received extradition requests from the United States, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Benelux, and Ireland, damn it, even the Swiss wants his head on a pike, and the only country in West Europe who does not want him is the Vatican, and that is tentative as we have been informed that the Swiss Guards are checking up on unsolved crimes that might involve him".
"Brazil have also filed an extradition request, as have Argentina, and several other counties in South America" the Home Secretary continued, "your friend will stay in Gautanamo Naval Base for a long time, Minister, as the different governments involved in this would take decades, at least, to sort this one out".
"This had us concerned, Fudge" the Prime Minister said, "You practically admitted to us that the man bribed you and this made us wonder how many more Malfoy's there are in your government".
"We will find out at once!" Fudge promised.
The Prime Minister and the Home Secretary both smirked, "And your search would last a week and turn up with nothing, and we would have another crisis like this in our hands after a few months, no" the Prime Minster said, he shook his head for emphasis, and then he motioned towards Sirius, "Lord Sirius Black, Earl of Blackmoor, would be the agent of Her Majesty's government in dealing with this problem".
"But Black…." Fudge began.
"Earl Black had been cleared by your government" the Home Secretary replied, "Because of the miscarriage of justice committed by your government and the government of your predecessor, he languished in jail for a crime that he did not commit for thirteen years and have been running for the past two, this ends now".
"Earl Black will be tasked with investigating allmembers of the Ministry for anyone else like Malfoy" the Prime Minister replied, "His title would be 'Imperial Steward' and will report to myself and to the Lord President of Her Majesty's Privy Council from this moment on".
Fudge nodded, he was aware that there was no way that he could fight this right now. The Minster for Magic decided in that moment that he would fight against Black once Black was in the Ministry, since Fudge knew that he would always win there.
"The Imperial Steward already selected the members of his team that will help him with this investigation" the Prime Minister continued.
"Arthur Weasley, late of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement, Broderick Bode, member of the Department of Mysteries, and Amos Diggory of the Department of Magical Creatures Regulation Office" Sirius said.
Fudge nodded, he paled considerably as he realized that every name that Sirius had given him were his enemies in the ministry. Weasley, whom he had removed from the Ministry right after he glowed pink, Bones, who wanted Fudge's ass since he was not doing anything, Bode, who appeared neutral, but was not Fudge's friend as well, and Diggory, who still wanted justice for his son.
Fudge sighed, although it was barely audible when he realized that he was in for a tough fight.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Scotland
Most of the students were inside the Great Hall when it happened, but there were still quite a few who were on their way from their classes.
The fifth year Gryffindor students were one group that was outside the Hall, as were the fifth year Slytherin students.
As these two groups were entering the Great Hall, an unusual noise was heard. The students paused; they tried to identify the noise, and it was only this unexpected pause that saved many of them from falling head first into a swamp that suddenly appeared in front of the entrance to the Great Hall.
"What the hell?" Dean Thomas asked.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other, they silently asked one another if this was a Hogwarts trick, but Hermione shook her head at the unasked question of her husband when she realized that this could not be the work of the castle.
That left only one culprit, or rather, only two culprits.
The Duke and Duchess looked towards their table and sent their small smiles towards the pranking twins.
"This would get Molly out of that house, alright" Harry whispered to Hermione, who nodded, and then started to laugh, along with the rest of her housemates, when Vincent Crabbe fell into the swamp.
A few moments later, the laughter turned into screams of terror when they realized that there was something alive in the swamp. Harry and Hermione turned their gaze towards the waters, and their eyes widened when they saw the outline of at least three alligators making their way towards the trashing boy.
Harry and Hermione drew their wands, but they barely had time to point them when they heard a sharp sound coming from the direction of the staff table. Most of Hogwarts, unfamiliar with that sound, turned their attention towards the staff table, only to see Al standing on top of the table with his sidearm out of his holster and smoke coming out of the barrel of the said weapon.
Apparently, one of the alligators had been hit, and for some reason, the two other alligators decided not to pursue the rather chubby Slytherin who was trashing about in the water.
"Who is responsible for this?" Severus Snape asked.
Without shame, the Weasley twins stood up, "We did it" Fred (or was it George?) said. Neither twin wore guilty expressions on their faces, on the contrary, they looked as if they enjoyed it.
Snape was fuming, steam was actually coming out of his head, "Detention" he announced, "And I shall be speaking with your parents about this, make no mistake".
The twins merely smiled and nodded, which infuriated Snape more. With all the attention on the three, no one noticed when Al smirked as well. His left hand casually moved to his pocket and he pressed a button that sent a signal to the men that he had handpicked for the raid at the Burrow. They were on.