Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed! It's so appreciated and it really motivates me to continue this story! And I absolutely love to see people who review repeatedly because I feel like I'm getting to know you, chapter by chapter. So, please keep it up! :)
FanFictionLover: I couldn't reply directly to you because you were a guest reviewer, but I would like to say that I agree with you. I think that Reader-anonymous-writer also put a finger on some of the main themes of this story: that nothing is ever black and white and that History is written by the victors.
Concerning the relationship between Harry and Voldemort, I won't be spoiling anything here, but you will find that it won't be as clear cut as "Harry becomes Dark or stays Light". Harry wants to hold on to his morals, but his world is crumbling around him. We just saw in the last chapter that he isn't incorruptible or inflexible in his decisions: Stealing is bad, but is stealing for a good cause justified? Does it make you a bad person if you are compelled by external forces to commit crimes?
A lot of fanfiction writers here made great fics where Dumbledore is this completely evil person who manipulated everyone around him. In a way, I partly agree with them that he's a manipulator who kept his cards too close to his chest, but is the idea of the Greater Good such an evil one? If you have the choice between sacrificing one person to save the lives of thousands of them, won't you do it? Even if it's incredibly unfair for that one person?
Anyway, I'll leave you to it because I don't think you wanted to start a big philosophical debate, but I'm essentially agreeing to what you said. And thank you for reviewing ^^
Chapter 6: 10th of August 1995, Part 3, The Attack
I rushed out of the twins' shop, feeling guilty and panicked at the same time. What was I thinking, stealing the Ears like that? Sirius would be so disappointed in...
My thoughts stopped abruptly and my feet halted as I took in the scene. About twenty people were running around, shooting spells on the shops and generally wreaking havoc in Diagon Alley.
The customers who had been so happy just strolling about minutes before were now attempting to flee the Alley, screaming and crying, some of them holding their children close to their chests to protect them.
The light of the spells made me squint while my brain was still trying to catch up with what was happening.
That can't be the Rebels. They wouldn't attack innocents like that. I recognise Emmeline Vance from here, but she must be polyjuiced. It can't be her, demolishing the façade of the book store. I remember when I was younger and she used to read me stories. She said she couldn't have children because of a nasty curse a Death Eater sent her in the war, but that she saw me a bit like a son...And the two there, breaking in the Apothecary? Aren't they Sturgis Podmore and Hestia Jones? Hestia had always been so nice to me. She went out with Sirius for a while and, in that time, I felt like I was part of a real, normal family. I remember asking her if she wanted to be my mom and she had cried, hugging me tightly.
Another window shattered, its shards raining down on the Alley.
This is dangerous for the bystanders, why are they doing that? I thought, still not completely understanding.
It's useless, pointless, dangerous destruction, why are they doing that?
I snapped out of my thoughts when I saw a blasting curse rebound on a protected window and head toward a child close to me.
The boy had his head bent and faced the opposite way; he would never see the curse coming.
Without thinking, the reflexes kicked in, my wand was suddenly in my hand and I shouted Protego! The curse evaporated on my shield.
The child's mother looked around, trying to see who had attacked or who had protected them, but I was still under my Cloak.
I was suddenly shaking with fury.
How dare they attack a populated area without even protecting the innocents! How dare they represent us like dangerous and careless vandals? Where is the noble ideal with which I grew up?!
The Rebels were controlling the only close exit point (the stones leading to the Leaky Cauldron) to prevent people from disapparating and I could feel that the Alley's wards had been reinforced with layers of our (of their?) own. They were not actively attacking the population, but anyone who came up to try to stop them were dueled to submission. And nobody could flee.
I watched in silent horror as a slicing hex severed a man's wand hand.
The man, who looked around forty years old, had attempted to prevent the Rebels from entering in the wand shop.
Wands were an expansive and rare commodity. In the hands of a Rebellion, it could mean the difference between success and failure of an operation. I could understand the move from a strategic point of view. But my heart was twisting and my stomach was quivering with nausea as I watched a river of blood gushing out of the fresh stump.
Was such violence really necessary? Couldn't they have dealt with it less violently? Like with a little Stupefy or a good old Petrificus Totalus?
No, because then it would have been too easy to cancel, supplied my mind. Anyway, who are you to talk; you use worse spells when you train!
Sure, I'd practiced the slicing hex several times and used it frequently in practice duels, but I don't think I realised the effect of all these spells I was mastering until now.
How am I supposed to kill the Dark Lord if I want to vomit every time one of my spells touches him?
I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts. Now was not the time. The man would be fine if he went to St-Mungo's within the next hour. I had other people to help.
I looked around quickly, not knowing where to start.
Think strategically. You can't fight the Rebels. They'd recognise you and then you'd be in even deeper shit. That's the Aurors' job... Shouldn't they be there already?
I tightened my fists in frustration, unable to think properly in the face of such destruction.
A rebel wizard that I didn't recognise shot an Incendio at the cosmetics shop. Thankfully, it rebounded on the shop's wards.
Ah, the wards! Of course! That's how they trapped us here! I have to take them down!
I turned my attention to the wards, calming my breath like the Rebels had taught me years ago.
Feeling the ambient magic is an ability that can be taught to most magical children if one starts their training soon enough and keeps up with it all their life. Like I did, or like I was forced to do.
Thank you, dear family, for teaching me how to stop you today.
I looked up to the sky, at the dome that was encircling the Alley, imprisoning the population.
Combining wards was a tricky business, one that I didn't know so well. But I knew that the more wards you pile up on top of each other, the more unstable they became. And usually, you could either put the focus of the wards on keeping people from leaving, or on preventing others from entering somewhere.
Depending on which is your focus, your ward is going to be weaker from the inside or the outside. In this case, the holder of the wards was clearly focusing on preventing the Aurors and any type of outside help to enter the Alley. Which meant that I, being inside, would have an easier job.
I detailed the ward work in front of me, determining the effect of each layer.
Ah, they put the ward against physical intrusion too close to the anti-porkey one. Their difference in nature made the layer weaker.
I gripped my wand tighter and started chanting under my breath; using for the first time in a real-life situation the spells they taught me in prevision for an eventual invasion of Voldemort's fortress.
Disabling wards was a bit like pulling on an elastic surface until it broke. The first hole was the most difficult, but after that, the layer would come off pretty easily.
I started to sweat under the effort.
Merlin, those wards are tough! Who's the holder? Moody?
A cold shiver took over me when I thought of having to explain to Moody why I went against him.
There, there, there! The physical intrusion ward collapsed and I fell to the ground, exhausted.
Ah, take that, bastard! ...or more like...take that, man or woman who I love like an uncle or an aunt...
I pulled myself up a bit to look around and crawled to the side of the street to prevent being trampled under my Cloak.
Nothing happened for a few seconds. Then, I saw a large fleet enter my range of vision from above the shops and land in the middle of the Alley. They were wearing red robes.
The cavalry arrived! I thought, a bit hysterically.
Among the group was an unmistakable bubble-gum pinked-haired witch.
Tonks! She's alive and well! I thought she had been captured! I can't wait to tell Sirius, he'll be so relieved! Oh, wait, I can't tell him, obviously, but maybe the others will.
I turned my head to see what the Rebels were doing now.
When they saw the Aurors, they demolished the rest of their wards and hurried away with portkeys, bringing as much of what they had stolen as they could.
Disappointment and disapproval took hold of me.
Was this how we managed to survive for so long without having jobs? I don't know how why I didn't even think of asking them where the money came from. I thought they had Muggle jobs...
I thought of the Ears in my backpack. Is this how it started for them as well?
I let my head drop on the façade of the shop behind me and it landed with a resonating "thuck".
Well, hey, what do you know, I survived my first battle outside of my village's wards. And it was against the people I loved.
I snorted in derision.
Well, better head back, then, they'll probably need some help with the wounded...
About fifteen minutes later, Lucius Malfoy, Minister of Magic, and Bartemius Crouch Jr., Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, were standing in the Alley, noting the scale of the damage and receiving reports from the Aurors who had been present for the fight.
"You tell me that you have absolutely no idea of how the wards collapsed?" asked Crouch in an incredulous voice.
"Yes, sir, really, we were trying to work on it from the outside, but our ward-breakers hadn't arrived yet and the wards were facing outwards so..." confirmed the nervous Auror. How he got drafted to be the one reporting to Crouch, he didn't know, but he'd make the others pay! Nobody wanted to give Crouch bad news; it could ruin your whole career if you did! My wife will kill me if I get demoted!
"So, it was someone from inside of the wards, obviously. Have you conducted the interrogations already?" asked the cool and collected Minister.
The Auror exhaled in relief. If the Minister took over the investigation, at least Malfoy would keep his calm and everything would be over swiftly. He might even still have his job at the end of today!
"Yes, Minister, we did, and nobody has done anything to the wards. However, three people reported some strange instances that happened shortly before or while the attack, though. The first two are the Weasley twins who own the new joke shop.
They say that the prank trap they had set in front of their shop activated without anybody entering.
At the time, they thought that the mechanism was malfunctioning, but it does match with a third witness who said that, during the battle, a rebounded curse nearly hit her son but that, before she could do anything to save him, she heard a male voice shouting a shield spell and the curse was absorbed.
She said that she looked around to thank her son's protector, but that she didn't see anybody."
" And you said the episode with the Weasley twins was before the Rebels arrived...So, presumably, there was someone disillusioned in the Alley today, who might not have anything to do with them." suggested Malefoy.
"Or, at least, if they had ties with the Rebels, they didn't join in the fun so, perhaps it could be some sort of vigilante who heard that they were going to attack and decided to protect the population and help the Aurors." put forward Crouch.
"If they were a vigilante, as you suggest, Crouch, why wouldn't they prevent the Aurors beforehand or take a more active part in defeating the Rebels?" challenged the Minister, lifting an elegant blond eyebrow. "In any case, Auror, your investigation is not over yet. I suggest interrogating the witnesses again and asking more precise questions about anything that could be linked with a disillusioned man walking around the Alley prior to the attack. I want this case closed by tomorrow and you won't rest before it's done. Understood?"
"Yes, of course Minister, right away Minister," replied the poor Auror while bowing repeatedly and stepping backwards to get away from the two powerful men as fast as he could.
Crouch watched him go and said, turning to Malfoy:
"You realise He'll want to know about this, right?
-Ah, yes, I know," sighed the Minister. "But he doesn't take the Rebels very seriously, I'm afraid. He's practically forbid me from taking decisive actions against them, but he won't tell me why...
-The Dark Lord doesn't have to explain his motivations to us, Malfoy. I think that all those years in power made you forget your place. Perhaps on the next election in two years time, you will have some interesting competition, for once..." said Crouch a bit nastily. "I'll leave the privilege of informing our Lord of the present situation to you this time, Minister. I wish you luck."
Lucius now stood alone in Diagon Alley, watching Barty walk away, whistling.
This will be an interesting discussion, that's for sure. I wonder if his Crucios have lost some of their force since the end of the war.
In a flash, he remembered an evening, years ago, when the Dark Lord had felt bored and had asked him and Severus to attack him simultaneously.
He winced internally when he thought of the injuries he sustained because of that duel.
No, they'll probably hurt as much...
Next chapter will be a discussion between Harry and Sirius that will have serious repercussions!
To the ones asking for more LV's POV, there'll be a longgg one in chapter 8 (So in two chappies).
Thank you for reviewing!