Harry Potter and The Fate We Make
Chapter 23: Trials and Tribulations, Part 4
A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter. Ok, gang! Suggestions needed for Marauder names for Harry (peregrine falcon), Ginny (tigress), Ron (badger) and Hermione (Red-tailed fox). Neville is Baloo (Brown bear), Fred is Rascal (Black-footed ferret) and George is Rogue (Raccoon).
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August 7, 1995
As if to celebrate their victory, that night Hermione and Ron finally had their animagus forms revealed, a red-tailed fox and a badger respectively. Ron had not been wholly pleased, complaining he'd be turning into a 'bloody Hufflepuff', but his grumbling and growling had just made everyone laugh and point out that badgers had a reputation for being surly creatures. Now that they all knew what they'd be turning into, they began trying to get themselves to change, which got them nowhere fast.
In the wee hours of the morning of the seventh, a vision struck.
He was at the edge of the sea, surrounded by his Death Eaters, one of whom was carrying a brown sack. Wands, for the inmates. Roughly a dozen very thin, very pale men and women, dressed in a variety of robes and unmasked were also present. Vampires. Before them was a rough boat dock and a small four-or-five man boat.
"The time has come." Voldemort fairly purred. "For too long have my true faithful been locked away, unable to return to their master. Now we shall set them free. Tonight, Azkaban falls."
Harry woke with a shout and scrambled out of the bed. "AZKABAN!" He bellowed. "HE'S RAIDING AZKABAN RIGHT NOW!"
His shouting roused all the Marauders and the hallway was shortly full of people. Molly and Arthur weren't far behind.
"You're sure, pup?" Sirius asked.
Harry nodded. "Him, his death eaters, and about a dozen vampires. They've got extra wands for the people they break out with them."
That's all Sirius and Remus needed to hear. They both bolted downstairs, Remus firing off the patronus-alike spell as he went, probably to warn Dumbledore.
All the rest of them could do was pace, and fret. Or, at least, that's what Harry thought. A grim-faced Molly, though, marshaled them towards the fireplace. "The wounded will be brought to Hogwarts. Poppy will need every extra pair of hands she can get."
So they all flooed to the school, and hustled to the infirmary. Poppy was only too happy to see them, and set them to work hauling beds, vials of potions and all sorts of other bits and bobs down to the Great Hall, so the injured (or those carrying them) wouldn't have to climb stairs.
Harry was rather grateful for the hustle and bustle of that first hour. While they were busy getting set up, he didn't really have time to fret. But after the first hour, when things were set up so that even the least Healer-inclined among them could grab the right bottle to hand off to Poppy without fumbling about, then the fretting began in earnest, and Harry paced uneasily. So did several of the others. Everyone else just looked stressed and worried.
Finally, people started straggling in, in twos and threes. Most of the groups, it was hard to tell who was supporting who as they staggered in. Dumbledore must have scrambled everyone he knew, because Harry was seeing people he hadn't met before. Once they started arriving, it became a mad scramble. Fetching and holding and trying not to lose his non-existent breakfast at some of the injuries. Kingsley came in missing a great chunk of flesh from his side, ribs visible in the wreckage. Tonks, when she arrived, looked like someone had taken a sword to her, covered in slashes nearly from head to foot, though none, thankfully, were deep. Remus came in with her, and Harry, for the first time, was actually afraid of the man. Remus' eyes were pure gold, his expression twisted to one of frothing rage as he helped Tonks to a bed. He didn't even seem to realize he was injured himself, turning to head for the door. Harry had a feeling that Remus had recognized whoever hurt Tonks, and was wanting some paybacks, though Harry wasn't too sure why Remus was quite as angry as he was.
"Remus! Remus!" No answer. It took Poppy bodily grabbing him to stop him, and Harry was grateful, for once, for the mediwitch's stubborn personality as she manhandled Remus into a bed beside Tonks. Tonks, injured as she was, reached over and grabbed hold of Remus' arm, giving him a dirty look.
"You are not running off to get revenge, do you hear me?" She snapped as Poppy worked frantically to stem the tide of blood.
Remus did not look best pleased at being thwarted, but he did finally subside, allowing Poppy to deal with the cuts on his face and scalp (probably from falling wreckage, from the look of them, and the goose-egg he was sporting).
Shortly after that, a bruised and exhausted but otherwise uninjured Sirius arrived. He got one good look at Remus and Tonks and hustled over. Shortly after that, the remains of the Order arrived more or less en masse to have their (fortunately minor) wounds tended once the mad rush had ended.
Twenty minutes after that, a bloodless-looking Snape arrived. Remus snarled and charged at him, but Sirius, who'd been sticking close, managed to tackle him to the ground before he got to Snape. Harry did a double-take when Snape didn't even attempt to raise his wand, instead turning to a remarkably rumpled but otherwise uninjured Dumbledore, who'd beaten him there by less than five minutes.
"I did not find out about the attack until he had brought us to the boat dock, Headmaster. I had no choice." Dumbledore looked grave, but nodded. Snape walked over to Tonks, who, despite Poppy's best efforts, was still bleeding. Remus tried to come up off the floor, but Sirius, well used to restraining an infuriated werewolf, wasn't budging an inch, even though he was giving Snape a look that could kill. Snape pulled his wand and looked at Poppy. "I know the counter-curse."
"Because it's your spell!" Remus all but roared.
Snape whirled on him. "Despite what you may think, Lupin, I took no joy from attacking anyone here." He snapped.
Then he turned his wand on Tonks. Harry had to restrain the urge to do what Remus couldn't and tackle the man, outraged. Snape's assurances aside, Harry was quite sure that Snape's target had been deliberate. Everyone knew that Tonks fancied Remus by this point, and anyone who spent a lot of time around the two of them knew that the feelings were mutual, Remus' protestations to the contrary notwithstanding. And Snape had an axe to grind with both of the Marauders. So no, Harry was not at all sure that Snape was as regretful as he claimed to be. Clearly, Remus was of the same mind, given how utterly infuriated he was. Snape started muttering words Harry couldn't catch, moving his wand over Tonks' body, and the slashes, finally, started to close. After a few minutes, he put away his wand. "Dittany will ensure her vanity." He growled, then whirled on his heel, and, cloak flaring wildly, stormed out.
It took another hour to get everyone sorted and stabilized. Once those who were able had all gathered at the Head Table, Dumbledore held a very quick meeting. Harry was exceedingly annoyed to notice Dumbledore spoke to him without once looking at him.
"Your warning saved, Harry. Without it, I fear that all the aurors stationed at Azkaban would have been killed. As it stands, there were no deaths tonight. There were, unfortunately, a great many severe injuries, but everyone survived."
Harry sagged in relief, then sighed. "How many did he get out?"
"Nearly everyone, I'm afraid." Dumbledore admitted. "Some few of his lesser followers remained in their cells, but he was able to fetch out his most lethal and loyal followers."
Harry made a face at that, sighing. Great, just great. Voldie gets more big guns. That thought made Harry consider actual guns, only to near-instantaneously nix it. Attempting to teach pureblood wizards who, bar a few examples, thought ekeltrikity was a new Muggle invention how to use a gun was a recipe for complete, total, and utter chaos, not to mention disaster. If Arthur Weasley, who was fascinated by Muggles, didn't have a clue what a rubber duck was for ... yeesh. Harry really didn't want to see what he'd make of a gun.
Harry's expression went even darker when Dumbledore quickly made his excuses and hurried out, still without looking at Harry. Granted, their relationship was strained, but Harry didn't think it was that bad. Or maybe the old coot was trying to guilt Harry back into doing things his way? Who knew. Whatever was going on, it was more than slightly annoying.
Despite the best efforts of Sirius, Harry and Tonks, Remus refused to leave Tonks' side until she was cleared to head back to either her home or the manor. Despite the circumstances, Harry couldn't quite help but snicker.
"So much for him not liking her. Not that he was fooling much of anyone when he said that, but still." He muttered to Ron. Though, that said, Harry had a feeling Remus wasn't staying so much because he liked Tonks as because he wasn't about to leave her undefended in the same castle as her attacker. Harry couldn't really blame him for that. It wasn't until he got to talking to Tonks that he found out Dumbledore had managed to get a warning off to Amelia Bones, and the Order had been augmented by every auror she could scramble. Evidently, the recent acquisition of new armor and other materials had saved more than one life, for which Harry was immensely glad.
To make matters worse, sometime after lunch, a good chunk of the newly freed and existing Death Eaters decided to make some noise, and proceeded to trash most of a small village. They'd probably been aware that the aurors and the Order would have been licking their collective wounds and unable to meet them in sufficient force to stop them. The only good news was that the two raids got splashed all over the Daily Prophet's evening edition, and however much Fudge wanted to deny it, it was rather impossible to ignore the fact that Voldemort was very much alive, well, and back to his old tricks. Though Fudge was giving it his best shot, insisting that the attacks were the actions of the Death Eaters minus their leader. That Voldie was dead and moldering somewhere. Harry had a feeling that Fudge would deny the truth even if Voldemort walked up to him, introduced himself, and crucio'd the man.
The wounded were floated to the infirmary proper, now that they were all stabilized, and then everyone but Remus headed for the manor. Once there, Molly actually let Winky fix them dinner without so much as a token objection. They ate with little energy and even less talk. Sirius considered for a while before sighing and heading for the floo.
"On further consideration, I think I'd better head back to the school. I don't entirely trust Moony and Snivellus together in the same building right about now."
No one could argue against that, considering how angry Remus had been even when they'd left, though he'd at least seemed to be content to stay by Tonks.
Harry sighed as he watched Sirius head for the floo. "I hate this." He told the others. "I hate having to sit here and do nothing, knowing he'll keep going until I stop him. I hate it!"