Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or James Bond or any of their characters. I do however own this story! I wrote it and I do NOTgive permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Physically, Voldemort felt terrific, it was amazing to have a body after years of being trapped in the diary waiting, and to be seventeen in the prime of his life again. He wondered about what had happened to his original self in the years since his Horcrux was made, but he'd underestimated the effect of using an eleven year old witch to power the resurrection ritual, not that he'd really had a choice, the only other person to write in the Horcrux was Hermione Granger. She was a powerful little witch and at almost two years older than the Weasley chit, would have been a much better sacrifice for his resurrection in spite of being muggleborn but she hadn't trusted the diary enough to keep writing in it and Ginny had felt driven to reclaim it.

Lucius had actually chosen poorly when he gave his Horcrux to little Ginny Weasley. The eleven year old might have been a fabled seventh child and slightly better at minor hexes than many of her classmates thanks to her older brothers but power wise she was an average witch and her immature magic was nowhere near the power level he was used to and she didn't have any family connections he could make use of either. Yes, the girl was pureblood and naïve enough to pour out her soul writing in the diary about how disappointed she was that Harry Potter hadn't returned to Hogwarts that year. She's given him all the information she had about the night he'd been vanquished. And wasn't that humiliating. Learning that everybody believed that the great Lord Voldemort had been struck down at the peak of his power by a one year old child, and in spite of having at least one Horcrux hadn't been heard of again in more than ten years. What had his older self been thinking not to have shared the secret of his immortality with his most trusted followers so they could assist him getting a new body almost immediately.

He had to admit that he'd also totally overlooked the effect the return to his seventeen year old appearance would have on his followers and how they'd react to the fact that they were now older than he was. Especially since it was quickly obvious that this version of Voldemort didn't have all the memories, skills and experience of the original, he didn't just look seventeen, to all extents and purposes he was a seventeen year old boy.

Some of his older followers now had children older than he was and grandchildren not a lot younger, and were hesitant to follow someone they saw as a child even if he was their master. It didn't help that this body currently didn't have the magical power to dominate them and quash any opposition and he was sure there was at least one of his followers who had the mage sight to see that.

He needed a way to increase his magical power, gain the respect of his followers and a way to make the world fear him again. And he needed it quickly before they realised how weak he was. The last task was easy enough, his followers were eager to be sent out into the world to cause mayhem and destruction. Whether they respected and feared him as a leader or not, they were more than willing to restart the Death Eater attacks on muggles and muggleborns.

The world was taken by surprise and the Auror force were providing only a fraction of the resistance they'd been before his defeat. He had a vague suspicion that the targets some of his followers were choosing were more for personal gain than strictly to advance his cause, he desperately needed more information, and sources he could trust.

The newspapers were a source of irritation. They reported the attacks and deaths his followers had caused but at the same time were vehemently denying the possibility of his return calling them copycat attacks. Reading the comments of people on the street and the belief that Harry Potter would step in and save them all again infuriated him.

"Where is Harry Potter? I think that it is time we took away the sheep's faith in their saviour," Voldemort hissed.

"My Lord, he did not return to Hogwarts this year, he is a coward who ran at the first sign of danger," Severus stated sneering.

"Are you trying to protect Lily's boy, Severus?" Voldemort demanded, angrily.

"The boy's a Potter. Weak, arrogant, entitled and whiny just like his father. He's not worth my time or yours, I saw nothing of his mother in him," Severus sneered.

"Never the less he must die. I need his location," Voldemort demanded.

"I'm sorry that I do not know it, my Lord, Dumbledore has shared that secret with nobody," Severus replied bowing.

"Crucio." Voldemort held the curse for only a few seconds, he didn't have the power for more than that.

Severus looked grateful for his mercy which annoyed Voldemort even further. 'He wasn't merciful! How dare his followers think he was! Damn this weakness!' he fumed to himself.

"Someone in the school must know the location of his home, get it!" he ordered.

"Your will be done My Lord but it is unlikely that I will be able to return to Hogwarts after I do this," Severus replied, hoping that the Dark Lord would see sense in the value of having a spy in close daily contact with Dumbledore and not be willing to threaten that.

"Find him," he ordered dismissing his followers.

Unlike ten years ago when they would have scattered to try desperately to be the first to bring their Lord the information he wanted, most of them went back home to manage their own concerns spending only a moment or two to contact someone who might know which school the boy attended.

"Hogwarts did not receive a request for his academic record to be transferred anywhere. He isn't enrolled in Durmstrang or Beauxbaton or the London school of magic, Ilvermorny hasn't responded to my request," Severus replied. "I have his former address but there's a note in his file post his withdrawal that he no longer resides at the address we have on file."

"A letter with a tracking charm on it led me to London but I wasn't able to localize it further than three square mile, we could start a campaign focusing attacks on those areas but doing so could spook the boy into running and we'd loose what little we know about his location," Parkinson reported.

"He's registered on the ministry books as a home schooled student, but the incompetent who took the registration, listed his address as a postal service not his actual abode," Thorfin Rowle reported. He had taken great satisfaction in blowing up the post office where the box was when he found that out, but he didn't mention that to his master.

"My son tells me he was good friends with the Weasleys, they would know where the boy lives," Lucius said.

Voldemort frowned internally. He'd already known most of this information. He was well aware of the feud between the Malfoy and Weasley families and he was suspicious Lucius's motives but the information agreed with what he'd learned from Ginny. The boy had visited there the past summer even after deciding not to return to Hogwarts but it was unlikely that the Weasleys would be inviting school friends home this summer. "Arrange an attack on the Weasley's residence tomorrow night. I want as many of them taken alive as possible. I have use for them. Severus stay behind the rest of you may go."

"My Lord," Severus stepped forward and bowed as the others hurried out.

"Tell me Severus, will you have trouble attacking your students, has all these years of teaching given you a soft spot for the children you've had in your classroom?"

"No my Lord. I will happily torture or execute any student you give me permission to kill," Severus replied.

"Including Potter?"

"Torturing Potter would be a particular pleasure my Lord but I do not expect you to grant me such a boon," Severus replied smirking.

"You will not be accompanying the raid tomorrow. I have need of your services elsewhere. There is a list of potions I require," Voldemort said handing over the list.

"I will have to travel to the continent for some of these ingredients, they will not come cheap," Severus said, eyes widening as he read.

Voldemort handed over a pouch of coins and a stirring rod. "Your portkey to Cairo. I trust you will be able to purchase everything there. The return password is Mandrake," Voldemort replied.

"Yes my Lord," Severus replied and vanished. The outgoing password had been 'My Lord'.

Severus quickly purchased the ingredients he would need for the potions. He recognized them as those required for the ritual sacrifice of one's magic for another. He had considered sending a patronus to warn Albus about the impending attack on the Weasleys though he wasn't sure he would be able to make one travel that distance, but these potions changed his mind.

The Dark Lord was planning to sacrifice someone to boost his magic, more than a few people, if the volumes of potions he was demanding was any indication, and if the raiding party returned empty handed he was likely to sacrifice one or more of his followers in sheer frustration. It was highly likely Severus would be one of the wizards sacrificed if the raiding party reported that the targets had seemed to be prepared for their attack. No, it was better the red haired menaces be the one's sacrificed.

Severus did give a thought to whether it would be better to try to kill the Dark Lord before he could gain any extra magic. Severus was one of a few followers who were well aware of the Dark Lord's true magical circumstances. The dark Lord was vulnerable at the moment in a way he would not be after this ritual. The very fact that he could contemplate killing him without his arm aching spoke to the lack of control the Dark Lord had over his marked followers at the moment. He never could have thought of it last time much less come up with an actual plan and attempted to implement it. Even providing relatively benign information to Albus had hurt and he didn't want to go back to living in constant fear of discovery and being controlled like that again.

If Severus was going to act, he needed to do it before the Dark Lord sacrificed too many victims to build up his magic and reestablished control of his marked followers. He might never get the chance to be free again. He scanned the potions and realized that the smallest 'mistake' in substituting two of the potion ingredients and a different stirring pattern would alter the ritual required from one that gave the wizard carrying out the ritual the magic of the sacrificed wizard, to one where the wizard receiving the magic needed to be a passive recipient. The ritual in question was one most commonly used on squib children to give them the magic of a dying relative. In the alternate ritual the one making the sacrifice had to be willing to give their magic for the transfer to work, and he couldn't see any of the Death Eaters willingly dying to give the Dark Lord their magic let alone a member of a light family who'd fought against him during the last war like the Weasleys. More importantly, because the ritual was designed to add magic to a squib child or very weak wizard before they turned eleven it was a little known fact that the first potion the recipient took to prepare their magical core to receive the sacrificed magic also caused the core and magical channels to temporarily de-stabilise and if they attempted to cast any magic before the ritual was completed and the new magic settled into their core over the following 24 hours, it could destroy their magical core completely rendering the witch or wizard a muggle if enough magic was used, most families used dreamless sleep to keep the child asleep well beyond the danger period. The fact that the spell the Dark Lord would be casting was the Avada Kedavra which was one of the most magically taxing spells in existence should kill him or at least completely destroy his magical core beyond repair.

The substitution in ingredients was easily made before he could have second thoughts and the potions presented to his master. Hopefully the change was so small that it wouldn't be noticed in time and the potions wouldn't be blamed for the failure of the ritual. Still Severus knew that the Dark Lord's death would arouse suspicion even though most of his other followers would probably be equally glad of his demise and he made plans in his head of what he would need to do to flee the country.

-o0o-

James and Q searched carefully through the rubble of the destroyed post office looking for the bomb fragments so they would know if this had been an attack on one of the many agents who lived in the area and used this post office for their personal mail.

"I haven't found anything that resembles a trigger, timing or incendiary device, there are multiple epicenters suggesting several smaller explosives. We should have found enough bomb fragments to put three or four bombs together," James said.

"No, nor is there any chemical residue from any known explosive. In fact, I'd wager that most of the chemicals we're finding are traces from innocent packages that were damaged in the explosion, there are no chemical residues from the epicenters of the blast," Q replied.

"You think this could have been magical in origin?" James asked quietly.

"I don't know enough about what magic is capable of but there's no other rational explanation. Harry's tutor is with him this afternoon. I'd like him to come down and take a look. The tutor that is, not Harry," Q replied. "He will be able to tell us if our suspicions are possible."

He called the tutor who popped over and took one look. "Yes blasting curses could easily do damage like this," he confirmed.

"Question is then if this it magical is it an attack against Harry, against us for causing an issue with the parents of those attacked, or just a coincidence that this building housed the post office box we use for all our correspondence and the address on the paperwork you filed for Harry with the ministry of magic?" James replied.

"I don't think that I believe in coincidences with bombs," Q retorted.

"Do we need to move or just beef up security?" James asked.

"I can't leave Mummy and Harry behind and you know they won't agree to move unless I frighten them with the possibility of being attacked and I really don't want to do that to Mummy and Harry wont agree to go away on holiday during the school term after just having returned from his year away. The apartment is as secure as I can make it," Q said.

"Yes but magic has the ability to interrupt electronics, would it still be secure if they did that?" James asked.

"I will make sure it is," Q promised.

"I'll put the others on high alert, tell them about a new potential weapon that looks like a stick and to shoot to kill if threatened by anyone holding one," James said.

"Better show them Harry's tutor's photos and make sure they know he and Harry are the exceptions," Q reminded him.

"Will do but we better also warn Harry to expect them to bombard him with questions," James said grinning.

They returned home where Q and Harry's magical tutor spent hours further fortifying what was already the most secure building of flats in London, while James gathered his fellow agents that were in the country and told them all about magic and the dangers it presented to them all, and warned them that someone from the magical world was trying to harm Q or Harry. Harry and Dahlia were popular with the Agents who lived in the building and they were all quick to promise to protect them.

-o0o-

Lucius sneered at the sight of the crooked wooden house held up by magic as the portkey took them directly outside the wards on the Burrow. It looked like it would be easily destroyed and he stepped forwards eager for the battle.

That was his first mistake.

Arthur Weasley wasn't much of a builder and he'd never even heard of architecture or civil engineering or even safety standards for building. In fact, he'd be the first to admit that, and he may not have applied much common sense to the addition of extra rooms as his family had grown so the entire structure was held up with magic, but what most people didn't remember about him was that he had been a curse-breaker, and a very good one, before being promoted to the head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Department, and the twins' sense of humour and their inventiveness had been inherited from him. His skill in warding was highly regarded by those who knew something about such things and as a father with a boring job and a family to protect much of that inventiveness over the last twenty years had gone into the warding on his home.

His intent wards were deceptive and more finely tuned than most, they needed to be to distinguish between intent to prank or retaliate for a prank and intent to cause serious harm to one of the residents, so the seemingly funny little home was actually better protected than many of their manor houses.

The first volley of spells designed to punch holes in the house to allow entry were reflected back at the attackers with frightening speed and several of the slower to react Death Eaters found that spells designed to punch holes in a magical house did a very efficient job of punching holes through the protective charms on their Death Eater uniforms shattering bones and organs. Lucius dodged but the spell still hit him in his shoulder shattering the joint and forcing him to pick up his fallen wand and use his off hand.

One of the more inventive things Arthur had managed to do was to weaponize one of his wife's howlers in the outer wards, and the resulting shrieking at ten times the normal volume of a howler burst the eardrums of the approaching attackers rendering them all deaf and unable to communicate with each other and was muffled enough to wake the family without causing them harm, allowing them to try to escape. But with the floo shut down, anti-portkey and anti-apparition wards in place there was nowhere for the family to retreat to. It also woke the neighbours who'd been warned about this particular ward and sprang up to first defend their own homes and then to approach the Burrow to see if they could render aid.

Arthur sent a patronus to the DMLE requesting urgent assistance while Molly sent one to Dumbledore, they sent the younger children into a highly warded room in the centre of the house and started to return fire.

They made an impressive team, Arthur favoured ward breakers which were devastatingly effective on shielding spells while Molly was downright vicious and frighteningly accurate with piercing curses. Bill also favoured shield breakers and some obscure spells he'd learned in Egypt clearing fallen rocks from the outside of tombs, while Charley was used to overpowering his magic to subdue and control a dragon.

Unfortunately, Voldemort had sent almost his entire army and a dozen dead Death Eaters after the initial retaliation still left the four of them outnumbered by more than six to one.

Amos Diggory and his wife approached over the hill where they saw the Death Eater attack and chose to retreat. Marigold Diggory had been well on her way to a masters in both Transfiguration and Charms when she'd fallen pregnant with their only child and she quickly transfigured some fallen branches into a swarm of wasps which she enchanted to attack the Death Eater masks or rather the skin around them. It wouldn't stop any of the attackers unless they were allergic but hopefully it would distract them long enough for the Weasleys to hold them off until help arrived.

Odd Lovegood had approached from the other side and remained hidden. He too knew that it would be suicide to try to engage that many Death Eaters on his own without the protection of wards, but he summoned some of the creatures that protected his own property to defend the Weasleys. They may not have had quite the effect he had hoped but they did manage to take down two or three of the Death Eaters from the rear without being noticed.

The Death Eaters, hampered by the inability to communicate their plans and movements as well as their orders to bring the entire family in alive, conjured physical shields for their next attack but the family had changed windows while they were regrouping so the Death Eaters' first volley missed their targets and Charlie was still able to push knock them over exposing their bodies for Molly to hit with a piercing hex and Arthur and Bill abandoned their ward breakers for more destructive spells and they managed to take out a few more.

After the battle the female Aurors would be amused when they started clean up by the number of Death Eaters that had been hit with a piecing hex to the family jewels, ironically if any of the victims of hexes had survived, they couldn't have avoided charging Molly with interfering in family lines by castrating several heirs of noble families but since they were dead it was swept under the rug as self defence. The male Aurors all resolved to try very hard to avoid angering the Weasley Matriarch.

Albus and Minerva arrived behind the Death Eaters and began attacking the rear. Dumbledore was using spells to disarm and incarcerate but Minerva released the hens from the chicken coop and transfigured them into man eating lions, who mauled the Death Eaters and distracted them from the spell fire still raining down from the upper stories of the house, and suddenly they were down to 15 Death Eaters against 6 defenders.

Unfortunately, that's when things started to go wrong for the light side.

The Death Eaters decided to bring the house down to take away their target's shelter and the high ground. Fred and George disregarded their parents orders and left the safety of the warded room and snuck downstairs hoping to get to the broom shed and join the fight from the air. George was stuck by debris as they crossed the kitchen and Fred immediately knelt to help him. The twins knew a lot of healing spells thanks to the amount of experimentation they did devising pranks and Fred was able to stem the bleeding and splint his arm but it was obvious that George was out of the fight. "You go," he said to his brother.

"Wish we had Harry's cloak right about now," Fred muttered as he disillusioned himself and opened the back door as the broom shed went up in flames. He was struck in the chest by a bludgeoning hex leaving the door wide open.

Seeing the opening some of the Death Eaters began rushing towards the house firing through the open door to get at the boys. George managed to Accio his brother out of the firing range and Albus managed to stun most of the approaching Death Eaters, George also hitting one with a cutting curse. The intent wards on the house finishing the last of the charge and the Death Eaters were now down to eight.

Lucius desperately wanted to call for a retreat but they couldn't arrive back in front of the Dark Lord with more than 2/3 of their numbers lost for no gain. On the other hand staying where they were could get the rest of them killed or maimed as well and they had no way to tell who in the house was injured or out of the fight. The house still stood impregnable though it seemed a miracle that the damage to the ground floor hadn't brought the upper levels crashing down.

Minerva sent another wave of lions these one's transfigured from the garden gnomes, then transfigured a second group to stealthily circle the house and attack from the other side.

Unwilling to accept being defeated by the Weasleys, Lucius ignored the orders to bring the Weasleys in alive and cast Feindfyre into the house and watched it start to burn.

Albus and Minerva immediately turned their efforts into putting out the fire, and then into shielding Fred as he carried George out of the burning kitchen.

The sight of the two boys spurred on the Death Eaters who moved forward trying to grab them and portkey them into the Malfoy dungeons. It cost them the lives of two more of their number but they did succeed.

Molly went berserk casting wildly as she saw her son's portkeyed away. One of her spells hit a lion unwittingly saving the life of Vincent Crabbe senior, but they also pushed the surviving Death Eaters back away from the house.

Lucius called for a retreat, casting the Dark Mark into the air above the house, and he and the four other Death Eaters still fighting portkeyed away.

Seeing this Dumbledore and Minerva quickly used incarcerous to tie up the remaining Death Eaters and encouraged the Weasleys to let them levitate them out of the burning house. Arthur collected Ron and Percy and levitated them down first while Bill levitated Charlie and Dumbledore brought down the Weasley matriarch, followed by Bill and then Arthur. The fire was eventually put out but the house and outbuildings were now a total loss.

Molly was all for throwing the dead and wouded attackers into the still out of control fire and Dumbledore had to cast several extremely strong calming charms at the red headed witch to prevent it. They were standing there wondering what they were going to do now when the Aurors turned up.

In spite of the calming charms, Arthur and Bill had to restrain Molly who yelled obscenities at them for being too late to save her boys.

The Auror's quickly took custody of the surviving Death Eaters, and gathered up the dead. They took their time collecting statements from each of the family before portkeying the survivors into the ministry holding cells without receiving medical attention on site as was normally protocol. If one bled out at the delay before seeing a healer and another was killed when the portkey threw him on the ground pushing a broken rib through his lung and into his heart then that was two less bastards who'd be bribing or blackmailing their way out of the charges, nobody was going to document the breach of protocol.

A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed followed or favourited or gave Kudos to this story for your support.