Hi, I'm back with the next chapter as announced. Hope you like it.

Quidditch World Cup

"Ah, Sirius, good to see you. How is Harry?" M asked.

"He is well. I think he does not really believe that he didn't have to fight an overly strong opponent at the end of his school year. The two previous years that had always been the case. And his DADA Professor didn't try to kill or obliviate him. That is a major improvement. The teachers seem to have understood that he won't let them tell him what he has to do, grudgingly but they have accepted it. Well, I'm sure Dumbledore will try something sooner or later. The man just doesn't understand that his big plans aren't always the right way to do things. He is no warrior and only fights unwillingly.

"Even as the Death Eaters were killing people all over Great Britain he practically forbade us to strike back accordingly. His high moral codex is a problem for fighters. While I don't condone killing if it's avoidable, mass murderers are not redeemable. They need to be brought down with all force necessary. Sadly we were too young to truly understand war. We just followed Professor Dumbledore as he had been the one to bring down Gellert Grindelwald and we assumed he had the most experience how to deal with a dark lord."

"Yes, we are continuing to observe Dumbledore's activities. We don't want to risk a new conflict escalating as much as the previous one did. But I think the bigger problem will be how the Ministry of Magic will handle the situation. From Harry's reports of his years at Hogwarts and the confrontations with Voldemort, we can deduct that it won't take Voldemort forever to return to a body. He seems to know several ways to do it. By the way, our analysts have finished the tests on the diary Harry brought with him.

"The results are disquieting. From what they found out we are dealing with dark magic that most of our agents are not prepared to deal with. Thanks to you providing the whole Black library we know what we are dealing with. The diary was something called a horcrux, a soul container, which protects the creator of the thing from dying by normal means. It doesn't prolong the normal lifespan though, even if most dark wizards who built them obviously overlook that fact." M informed Sirius.

"Damn, that complicates the fight against the bastard. I assume he didn't even stop at one but made more?" Sirius asked.

"You're right. Obviously that was the reason your brother died. One of those things was hidden at your house. From your crazy old house elf we gathered that Regulus died getting the locket from a cave full of dead corpses in a lake, which is located in a cave by the sea. We also analysed the traces of the strength of the soul fragments. The diary had a stronger part, probably one half of his soul in it. The locket has about one sixteenth in it if we use the diary amount as the levelling board. We'll have to wait for Harry to return from school to destroy it though."

Sirius gave his superior a questioning look.

"We need to open the thing and it obviously needs a parselmouth to do so. The rest is somewhat easy. We have a good supply of basilisk venom thanks to Harry getting us into the chamber last summer holidays." M answered the look.

"Wait, when did that happen?" Sirius asked upset. "I had grounded him except for his training here at headquarters."

M just smiled.

"You remember your three week mission to Chile? We had him take us to Hogwarts while you were there. Callahan, Gus and Ilia were beyond impressed that Harry managed to kill that monster only with a sword."

"I know you're my boss, but you're undermining my authority with my godson, sir." Sirius grumbled.

"I want to remind you that you told Harry that he should listen to his trainers and superiors. While Harry is young, he is one of the best we have with magical abilities. That reminds me, I'll send Harry on a two weeks mission to France when he gets back from school. We have some contacts there that require the assistance of someone who isn't known in the scene yet. There are rumours about blood-diamonds being smuggled into England which are used to finance Theodore Raynold's activities. The man is one of the big fish operating in Africa. Here in England he appears to be a normal successful business man.

"But the man is known to support the uprisings in China. With Eastern Europe falling apart at the moment, China could become a problem if not handled properly. We had enough problems with the communistic regime in Russia for decades; we don't need another totalitarian regime taking its place. So the best way we can do this is cutting off illegal financers. I'll explain more when Harry returns." M stated.

Sirius nodded. He knew Harry was ready for a mission in France. The country itself was safe and at the moment Harry was only included in observation and information gathering. Bigger and more dangerous missions would wait until he was older and physically capable of doing them. Harry was strong for a thirteen year old boy, but against adult opponents with equally good training, he was chanceless.

"Are we going to do something regarding the rumours we heard about the Quidditch World Cup? Or are we going to let the Aurors handle it?" Sirius asked instead.

"A mixture of both. All our magical agents of high level will be present at the World Cup; yes, including you. Nobody knows how you look today and with a bit of good old make-up and hair dye nobody will recognize you. We'll have to see if Harry is invited by his friend Ron Weasley. If he isn't, we'll send him there with one of our other agents. But as the Weasleys owe Harry a debt for saving their daughter I can't imagine that Arthur Weasley wouldn't involve his son's best friend."

"True, Arthur is a good man. If you're sending all of our high-class magical agents there, we'll have sixteen there. That should be enough to stop any remaining Death Eaters from doing too much damage, if they really act out. After all they have tried really hard to make everybody believe that they were only controlled by Voldemort." Sirius commented already thinking about strategies.

"While that is true, I want to prevent a mass hysteria. With the wizarding population being mostly sheep that run at the slightest sign of danger, we need a quick response if something happens."

Sirius nodded. He knew M was right.

Sometimes Harry really questioned the sanity of the population of the wizarding world. First they can't organize a campsite. While there was no problem with using a muggle facility, it would have been easier to just include it in the area where muggles couldn't go. Or to send the manager of the campsite on a vacation using a weak compulsion charm. But logic and wizards mostly didn't mix well. Now the poor manager got obliviated so often that Harry feared for his brain after the World Cup was over.

Harry had been briefed on the possibility of Death Eater activity after he had returned from his mission to France. It had gone well. They got some information. The next part of taking Raynold out would be up to the higher ranking agents.

For this occasion Harry was to blend in with the masses, listen to conversations as much as possible without attracting attention, perhaps conversing with a few other teenagers from other countries. His newest language update was coming in handy. His repertoire now also included Spanish, Japanese, Latin and Russian. With the next one that was scheduled for the Christmas break he would get two magical languages. While Ron and Hermione had been bickering about the campsite, the competing Quidditch teams, other magical schools and so on, Harry had found a French boy and asked him if he was attending Beauxbatons, how he liked the school, which team he supported and so on.

It had been a nice conversation. Harry had found out that the boy's name was Francois Jardin and he was a seventh year at Beauxbatons. He would try to qualify for the delegation Beauxbatons would send to Hogwarts this year for the Triwizard Tournament that would be held there. This led to another discussion about the tournament, the great honour it meant to be chosen to represent one's school and the difficulty the tasks probably would present. Harry bid Francois goodbye and returned to his friends which were looking at him dumbfounded.

"Harry, where did you learn to speak French like that?" Hermione asked impressed.

"I needed something to do over the last two summer holidays while I wasn't visiting Ron." Harry waved the question off smiling. "And I'd have done everything to get out of the Dursleys'. There was an advertisement that offered lessons in French from a native speaker at my old primary school. Mr Jones, my favourite teacher from my primary school time, asked me if I'd be interested in joining and of course I agreed. The teacher was an old French woman who had moved to England to be near her daughter who had married an English business man. I found out that I learn languages easily. I'm near fluent in French now and am starting to learn German."

"Why did you never tell us?" Hermione more or less accused him.

"It never came up." Was Harry's answer.

Ron was okay with that. While he couldn't understand how somebody would willingly learn during the holidays, Harry was different as he needed all possibilities to get away from his horrible relatives.

"By the way, where have you been staying this summer?" Ron asked.

"The damned idiot of a headmaster still saw fit sending me back, but I mostly spend my time at Mrs Figg's, an old squib that lives in the neighbourhood, visiting nearby villages or at the library. After I told her that I knew that she was used to magic, I identified two of her cats as half-kneazles, she told me that she had been watching me for the headmaster to make sure I was safe. And her behaviour when I was at hers was to have the Dursleys allow it. Now it's nice to occasionally have tea with her. I don't understand why Dumbledore is allowed to decide over my life like that. He isn't my guardian, just my headmaster. This means the only power he has over me is connected to school. But I also made some trips to London." Harry explained.

It was true; he had been over to Mrs Figg's to strengthen the illusion that he was still living in Little Whinging. With having identified Arabella Figg as a squib MI6 had decided that making her believe that he was still living in the neighbourhood was a smart idea. He had used the time to subtly get some more information out of her. Knowing what the headmaster was up to was a good thing. She didn't know much, but any information could become useful in the right circumstances.

"Isn't that dangerous to go alone?" Hermione asked.

"Why should it be? I'm not five, I'm fourteen. Visiting London during day-time is perfectly safe. And you would understand me better if you spent just one hour in the company of my relatives."

Harry knew that principally it was wrong lying to his friends but he didn't want anybody finding out that he wasn't living in Little Whinging anymore. He had had to quickly organize with the Weasleys that he would travel to the Burrow with the Knight Bus instead of them getting him when Ron had sent the message that his dad had the tickets for the World Cup finals. He would go to the Weasleys the day before the match and stay there for the rest of the holidays. He argued that the Dursleys hated everything about magic and it would be less stressful if he came over that way. It was safer that way. Nobody could know about his training. And Hermione knew better than to try and convince him that Dumbledore had his best interest at heart. That argument, she knew, she couldn't win. Not that she really believed it anymore as well. Not after last year.

The match had been great. And Harry had a lot of fun making the Minister of Magic squirm. He was perfectly polite but Fudge knew very well, that Harry hadn't forgotten the fiasco with the dementors last year. Harry had the distinct impression that the Bulgarian Minister for Magic understood English, but let Fudge make a fool of himself. Harry perfectly understood the comments the Minister was making and was laughing at the inside. But having the Boy-Who-Lived in the top box was good for Fudge's publicity. And he needed the boy being on good terms; after all he had just about terminated the whole political career of Dolores Umbridge at the end of the school year. And he didn't want the boy speaking out against him before the elections were over. And that would be in eleven months.

How could they have known that Harry Potter was close to the werewolf Remus Lupin? The new law that prohibited werewolves from having jobs in places of public interest seemed like a really good idea. Lucius had also approved the law. But then Dolores had found out the hard way that you didn't cross Harry Potter. How the boy had found so much information on Ministry employees was a mystery.

Flashback

The Great Hall was buzzing with excitement. It was the leaving feast and everybody was looking forward to seeing their families again. Suddenly the doors swung open and a woman toad hybrid, as far as Harry was concerned, strutted along the aisle between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. She was accompanied by two other typical snobby looking bureaucrats.

"So sorry to interrupt the feast headmaster, but we have an issue to deal with. You see a new law has been passed by the Wizengamot in the last meeting and it concerns one of your teachers." She said with a fake sweet voice.

Harry could see Dumbledore's brow furrowing. He obviously didn't like where this was going. Then his eye fell on Professor Lupin, who looked resigned. Oh no, the toad woman wouldn't get away with making Professor Lupin's life hell.

"You see, the Wizengamot passed a bill that werewolves can't keep positions that are in places of public interest, this means your employee Remus Lupin will have to leave immediately." The woman simpered in a false sweet tone.

Uproar followed this declaration. Harry had enough. While he was more a warrior than a politician, he had enough dirt on the Ministry to make this woman rue the day she went against one of the few adults Harry really trusted and respected. He fired a cannonball spell into the air, which silenced everybody immediately and stood up from his table, slowly walking up to the stunned woman. It seemed he had taken lessons from Professor Snape in making his robe billow behind him. His whole appearance screamed power and fury.

"So you think it was a good idea to aggravate the werewolves even more than they already are, Madam Umbridge. You and your small-minded idiot friends have just helped Voldemort's case. When he comes back, he will just collect those who think our Ministry is just out to harm them." He said, using a similar voice like Snape in his classes, making the whole Great Hall go silent, which was a major feat. His glare was also really intimidating and he could see the two men starting to sweat. He then suddenly turned around to face the students. "Alright, I'd like everybody who had already figured out that Professor Lupin is a werewolf to raise his or her hand." Harry yelled to the other students in the Great Hall.

Umbridge tried to say something, but Harry just cast a silencing spell on her.

"You're not asked to tell your opinion. I'll deal with you later. I'll just prove my cause." Harry said dismissively.

Everybody had the distinct impression that Harry was the king of a country and Umbridge a misbehaving subject that he was making an example of. He emitted an aura of power and knowledge nobody had seen him producing before. And there also was a taint of ruthlessness that made many shudder, being glad he didn't target them with his obvious anger.

The results of Harry's question were surprising for some students. From the seventh years, two Gryffindors, all the Ravenclaws, three Hufflepuffs and one Slytherin raised their hands. The sixth year Ravenclaws also all raised their hands, two Hufflepuffs and one Gryffindor. From the fifth years, the Weasley twins raised their hands as well as Lee Jordan, half of Ravenclaw, one Slytherin and one Hufflepuff. No fourth years knew but Harry and Hermione had their hands up for the third years. It was more than anybody would have thought.

"So, we have the whole two final years of Ravenclaw, the house that is known for being really smart, knowing about Professor Lupin's furry little problem. Let me tell you all some facts about werewolves to get some fairy tales, which a majority of the wizarding world still believes in, out of your heads. The transformation from a human into a werewolf happens on the day of the full moon. The werewolf is not in control of the transformation contrary to the animagus transformation. As anybody, who even paid little attention at Astronomy, knows, full moon is once a month. So approximately twelve to thirteen times a year one suffering from lycanthropy is forced to transform into a dangerous creature."

Harry while walking up and down in front of the head table looked over the students, who all listened intently to his speech.

"Does anybody think the Ravenclaws would have kept this a secret if they thought that Professor Lupin posed a threat to us students? While Professor Dumbledore's actions regarding the safety of the school haven't always been sufficient, do you think he would knowingly and wilfully endanger us? The answer to both questions is no. Well, a transformation out of control would be the case for Professor Lupin if there wasn't the little fact that two years ago a potion called wolfsbane has been developed that allows the werewolf to keep his human mind during the transformation.

"Next question. Who doubts Professor Snape's abilities as a potion master?" Harry asked, getting not one raised hand.

"I thought so. While Professor Snape and I will never like each other…" Harry got mirthful laughter for that comment, everybody knew about their mutual hatred, "…I know that you don't earn the mastery in Potions without being the best. And being a master at Professor Snape's age is even more impressive. Most earn that status after they turn forty. I know for a fact that Professor Snape has been brewing wolfsbane for Professor Lupin the whole year, therefore ensuring the safety of everybody at Hogwarts. So freaking out about the first competent DADA teacher we ever had since I started here is unnecessary and utterly ridiculous."

"He is just a foul half-breed." Umbridge shouted, having had lifted the silencing spell by one of her companions.

Harry shot another silencing spell at her and hit her point blank. Then he put the same spell on the other two.

"Didn't your parents teach you that interrupting somebody while he is speaking is really rude, Madam Umbridge? I thought the pureblood high society was always going on about proper mannerisms. Neville my friend, what would your grandmother do to you if you used that kind of language and behaved like that?" Harry asked kindly.

"She would wash my mouth with soap, tell me off for a while and send me to my room without dinner for interrupting somebody speaking. If I dared to use that kind of language I'd probably get spanked regardless my age." Neville answered shuddering; the reaction was shared by other children from pureblood families.

Harry smiled. He was skilfully tearing Umbridge's whole plan apart. When he was finished with her, she would be politically dead.

"From the reactions you all had it's obvious to me that proper mannerisms are something Madam Umbridge has yet to learn. But, as she is so fond of revealing other people's secrets, why don't I tell you some of her secrets?" Harry asked, his evil grin sending cold waves down the spines of Umbridge, Dumbledore and especially Snape, who was reminded of James Potter.

"Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic. Born December 30th 1943. Parents Aloysius Ranatos Umbridge and Felicity Evelyn Umbridge nee Rosier. Graduated from Hogwarts in 1961 with no mark higher than A in her NEWTs in Charms, Herbology, History of Magic, Astronomy and Potions. Failed her OWLs in Defence against the Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes. Entered the Ministry of Magic in a low position at the Department of Magical Transportation. Through intrigues and denunciation of her co-workers she slowly rose through the ranks.

"Her final rise was bound to the rise of Cornelius Fudge, our current Minister of Magic. She disposed of his political opponents in different ways. After the scandal of Barty Crouch's son being found a Death Eater, she made sure everybody knew what a disgrace had befallen the house of Crouch. Syntario Deston, another potential candidate for the position of Minister was forced to stay at home to care for his ill wife during the election period. Curiously Mrs Deston had been perfectly healthy until she had tea with Dolores Umbridge. I could list four other examples for that but I think I'd just bore you all." Harry commented offhandedly.

"From the time she became Undersecretary to the Minister she went on a crusade against magical creatures and what she regarded as magical creatures. I'd guess there was a connection to her failed OWL in the subject. Magical creatures never liked her. From the old reports from Professor Kettleburn's predecessor, she had absolutely no aptitude for the subject and he didn't understand why she didn't change her elective."

Umbridge was pale now. How did that boy know all of that? She had made sure that nobody knew those facts.

"To answer that question we have to go back in history a bit. The Umbridge family originates from the Selwyn family. The Selwyns were famous for their magical creature farms. Some of the products used for high quality clothes, were produced by magical creatures the Selwyns successfully bred. So imagine the shame that a daughter of house Selwyn was useless with magical creatures. More, that she was a mediocre witch and that muggleborns were doing better in class than her, a pureblood. Her family called her a disgrace and she began hating everything related to magical creatures and muggleborns. She blamed them for her failures, unable to face her own shortcomings. So all there is to this anti-magical creature campaign of hers is resentment against her own failure."

The Great Hall was silent. Many glared at the petty woman. To go that far just because she had been ridiculed by her family when she was young? That was against the pureblood code.

Umbridge looked like she wanted to disappear into the ground. How did that horrible boy know all of this? She felt the silencing spell being lifted from her.

"So, now that I have presented my part, etiquette demands to give you the opportunity to defend yourself against my accusations. But you should know that I have triple checked my information. I'm not of Black descent for nothing." Harry said casually.

All eyes were upon him now.

"How are you related to the Blacks?" Draco Malfoy sneered.

"Your mother's aunt, dear cousin, one Dorea Black, married my grandfather Charlus Potter. While my grandmother never really was into the whole pureblood supremacy argument, she knew how to use information to her advantage. She was a Slytherin after all."

That comment shocked many but they got over it quickly.

"How the hell didn't you end up in Slytherin, Potter?" Blaise Zabini asked.

Many Slytherins wanted to know that too. This year Potter had shown the best traits Slytherins were famous for.

"I asked the Sorting Hat to be placed anywhere but there. I didn't want to share a dorm with Malfoy. He reminds me too much of my horrible cousin Dudley." Harry said offhandedly.

That shocked many students and Malfoy got massive glares from his house-mates. They lost the chance to have someone as powerful as Harry Potter in their house because he had acted like a spoilt brat.

"I could really have landed both in Gryffindor or Slytherin. My refusal to go there was the deciding factor. Some members of your house should remember that being a Slytherin doesn't mean they can bully other students though. It's about being cunning and ambitious. Just a suggestion." Harry said pointedly looking at some members of the house whom he had humiliated throughout the year for bullying younger students.

After his tearing apart of Umbridge nobody wanted to get on his bad side. A Gryffindor with Slytherin traits was a frightening opponent.

"You're just a liar. Nothing what you said is true. The dark Lord is dead, everybody knows that!" Umbridge yelled, clinging to the one thing she thought would make Harry been seen as a liar.

"Ah, there you're mistaken. He may not have a body at the moment, but he lives as a wraith. If Professor Dumbledore would agree to let us borrow his pensieve in his office I'll gladly show you my memories from my first year, where I faced Voldemort, who had possessed Professor Quirrell. At the moment he is weak and no immediate danger, but I fear he will find a way back into a body. It would be best if you reported to the Minister to have him prepare for the time it happens." Harry calmly said, convincing most students of his statement.

Others questioned their friends what a pensieve was. Then everybody turned back looking at Harry.

"But then again, you, Madam Umbridge will not have your position much longer. I have had it with corrupt politicians. I have had it with discrimination of people who have already suffered enough in their lives. Who do you think the Minister will sacrifice to stay in office? Do you really think he would protect you against my accusations, which I can prove to the last detail? I don't need to invent lies like a certain blond reporter. Who opposes me will fall by the truth. And my grandmother was really thorough in collecting information. And I inherited her talent." Harry hit the last nail in the proverbial coffin of Dolores Umbridge.

Everybody understood the barely concealed threat. Harry Potter had started collecting information on them all and if they got him mad, he would use it against them. They had just witnessed how he would destroy a person who went against his code of honour. Nobody wanted to be in the same situation Umbridge had been in. Their lives and lies laid bared open in front of the whole Great Hall. No, Harry Potter was someone you didn't want to have as an enemy. They would do their best to gain him as an ally. That was healthier.

Dumbledore looked troubled but Harry couldn't care less. Umbridge was finished. He had torn her apart in front of masses of witnesses. And he would get the Wizengamot to remove that stupid law. Nobody crossed certain lines and got away with it. The Potter family had through inheritance seven seats at the Wizengamot. If he asked Sirius to activate his nine seats from the Black family no bill would be passed without their consent. And Harry had the perfect person to be proxy for the seats. He was sure she would be delighted to take the job.

Flashback end

Harry just enjoyed the match. It was spectacular what kind of moves the Irish chasers were able to pull off. And Viktor Krum was a class of his own as seeker. Harry would really have liked to try competing against him sometime. The conclusion was something only Fred and George had foreseen. Ireland won but Krum got the snitch. Harry got a good laugh when the Bulgarian Minister revealed that he understood English and had made a fool of Fudge the whole day.

The best part was when he got to briefly talk with the Minister and the Bulgarian team after the congratulations had been exchanged. The Minister had obviously noticed that Harry understood Bulgarian and questioned him about it. Harry just said he was full of surprises and that certain events would make his skill with languages very useful the coming year. It cemented the rumours the Bulgarian Minister had heard about the boy. The boy was really good at information gathering and understood when to use it. Fudge just gaped at Harry Potter fluently conversing with the man who had made a fool of him the whole day. It just showed that the Boy-Who-Lived was again one step ahead of the Minister of Magic.

In the evening Harry secretly met with John Ferguson to get an update on the current situation. He was informed that ten presumed Death Eaters were meeting at the Malfoys' tent and drinking a lot of alcohol. That didn't sound good in Harry's opinion. So he went to sleep on alert with his wand strapped to his wrist like it had been the whole day. A few hours into the night he and the others were called out by Mr Weasley. Harry saw the flames and the floating people. He looked around and got orders in sign language from a fellow agent to keep the youths running into the forest safe.

Harry took command and coordinated the escape of all the children he spotted into the forest.

"Fred, George, take your wands out and gather as many of the frightened children around you as you can and lead them to safety. Forget the underage restriction this is an emergency. We have to make sure nobody is left behind or injured. This is the wrong time to panic."

The force in Harry's voice got Fred and George into action and they did what Harry told them to do.

"Hermione, take Ron and Ginny and find a secluded place where we can assemble all those we can find. Be ready to fix small injuries like sprained ankles and cuts. If we do this right, we should be able to keep it at that. Use lumos to light the paths, we can't afford stumbling through the darkness. We leave the Death Eaters for the aurors. They are trained for these situations." Harry commanded.

"Yes, Harry." Hermione answered and had Ron and Ginny cast lumos to lighten their path.

Harry looked around. It seemed that the aurors were doing a good job getting the Death Eaters. He gathered another group of children around his lit wand and led them to the forest, making sure they didn't panic. He reached a clearing where Hermione was bandaging a teenager's foot and Ginny was treating small cuts others had. All in all with Fred, George and other older teens standing guard, it looked like an organized retreat.

Harry then overheard a small girl crying that her older brother was missing. Harry's blood froze when he also heard that the boy was only nine. The girl perhaps six.

"Where did you see your brother last time?" He asked the girl.

"We ran into the forest. But Michael was rushed away with some others; I think they ran that way deeper into the woods." She answered sobbing.

"Were older boys or girls with them?" Harry asked, forcefully keeping his voice calm.

The little girl shook her head. Harry nodded.

"I'll go and look for them." He said to the girl, which made her smile and hug him.

Harry stood up after she let him go and told Hermione, Ron and Ginny what was happening.

"I'll go deeper into the woods to find the missing children. They are too young to look out for themselves." He told them.

"But Harry, that's dangerous." Hermione protested.

"It can't be helped. I need you to keep everybody who is here calm. I'll take two of the older guys with me. You stay here." He said.

Harry went to get his support before Hermione could protest any more. He found his back up in Francois, the French teen he had talked to earlier that day and a sixth year Hufflepuff boy called Richard. They went into the direction the girl had pointed at.

"This is a problem, we can't see far enough, even with lumos spells." Richard complained.

"You're right; we need a more powerful light. Well, not exactly what it's meant for but I think the children will be able to find us with it. Expecto Patronum." Harry cast.

A silver shining stag erupted from Harry's wand.

"Wow, you really didn't joke when you said you had learned to deal with dementors." Richard said stunned.

Francois just nodded appreciatively. The silver stag illuminated a bigger area of the forest. Then the boys saw a spell being fired into the air, building a snake head.

"Damn, that is the Dark Mark; we have to get to the place it had been cast." Harry said urgently gesturing in the direction of the mark.

The other two nodded. Harry knew that Francois at least understood the basics of English so he wasn't forced to translate it to French. All three ran into the direction of the mark. They found a group of adults surrounding four little children that seemed totally frightened. One of the adults was shouting at the children demanding answers. Harry immediately recognized Barty Crouch.

He stepped through the adults and knelt next to the four kids. They looked like they were about to have full blown panic attacks.

"Hey, is one of you Michael?" He asked completely ignoring the adults.

"I, I'm Michael." A blond boy said.

"Nice to meet you. Your sister Anne told us you were separated when you fled into the forest. We went looking for you to get you back to them." Harry kindly smiled at them, getting them to calm down a bit.

Harry's patronus stood calmly next to Harry giving of a warm light in the dark. All the children's eyes were fixated at it.

"Who do you think you are?" Crouch bellowed.

"Harry Potter." Harry calmly answered getting gasps from some adults.

The children looked at him with big eyes.

"So, are you okay or are any of you injured?" Harry asked.

"My foot hurts." A brown haired girl said.

"My arm hurts." The other black haired girl told him.

The boys shook their heads.

"Alright, I'll take you to a good friend of mine; she is treating others who were a bit unlucky to get hurt in all the chaos too. I'm sure some healers will also soon be there. And I think your parents will find you there easier than in the woods. What do you think; would you like to get a piggy-back ride with Francois?" He asked the brown haired girl.

"He is really strong and you don't have to put weight on your foot." The girl nodded relieved.

Harry looked at Michael who seemed to be the oldest one of the children.

"Now, Michael, I know you're very afraid, but we'll need some information what happened here. Could you please tell us what you have seen or heard? The thing in the sky is really bad and we need to find the one who shot it there."

Many of the adults finally understood Harry's intention and berated themselves for losing control like they did.

Michael looked in the green eyes of this hero he had heard so many stories about and nodded.

"We got lost in the forest. We met some older girls but we didn't understand them, they went away after that. Then we found this clearing and Mary couldn't walk anymore with her foot hurting. We didn't know what to do and just stayed here, hoping that somebody would find us. Then a man said something like one of the spells mum uses at home but different. Then that thing in the sky appeared, many pops came from around us and then red light flew over our heads. Then the weird man began shouting until you came." He said pointing at Crouch.

"Preposterous, they have to have something to do with it." An irate man shouted.

Harry identified him as one of the men who had accompanied Umbridge to Hogwarts.

"Mr Mavior, I'd refrain from spouting nonsense if I were you. These children are nine years at most; they haven't even started Hogwarts yet. They don't have wands. None of them could have been able to cast the Dark Mark. If I were you I'd look if your stunners hit something over there. And don't only look for what you can see but also things that are hidden. A disillusionment charm isn't that hard to cast. Any graduate from Hogwarts who took NEWTs in Charms would be able to do it." Harry said coldly, making many in the adult group shiver.

Rumours about the leaving feast at Hogwarts had spread around and now nobody wanted to be at the wrong side of Harry Potter's ire. Amos Diggory followed by Arthur Weasley went to do just that. Sadly they came up with nothing.

"There are traces of an apparition. They escaped before we arrived." Arthur told them.

"That's unfortunate. Well I suggest we help the children get medical attention and see if there is something we need to do for those who are at the place Potter spoke about." Crouch said, trying to take control of the situation.

Harry motioned Richard to take the other girl piggy back while he took the youngest boy. Michael, when he was asked, got a ride with Arthur Weasley. Harry, Francois and Richard led the adults that followed them, including Arthur Weasley, Amos Diggory and Francis Hamilton to the clearing where they had assembled all the children they had found. Harry's stag patronus was still spending light.

The sight greeting them was relieving. Obviously some adults had found the group and some with medical abilities were treating those who needed help. One witch was talking to Hermione to get more information.

"Harry!" Hermione called out happily.

"Hey, Hermione, did everything go well here? We found four kids; two of them need medical attention. One of the two girls riding on Francois' and Richards' backs has an injured foot and the other hurt her arm." Harry answered not wanting to speak about the Dark Mark in the company of small children.

"You organized this?" Amos Diggory asked impressed.

"Yes, the older teens assembled the smaller children around them and lit the way with lumos charms. This way we were able to prevent more injuries. We tried our best to keep everybody calm. This clearing was the first we found far enough away from the commotion but not too far away for somebody to get quick help if necessary. We didn't know when we came here if there were injuries that needed a healer."

"Impressive. By the way how come you're able to cast a patronus charm and keep it active for such a long time, Mr Potter?" Francis Hamilton asked.

"I learned the charm last year from Professor Lupin to defend myself against the dementors that were stationed around Hogwarts. I have bad reactions if I come near one of the foul beasts." Harry answered truthfully. "And keeping it active if no dementors are around isn't that hard once you have mastered the spell."

"Very impressive, especially for a wizard your age. Well, I'll apparate back to the camp and see if we can let the children go back or if it would be better to keep them here." He told the group.

Arthur and Amos nodded. They would follow him as enough adults were already looking after the children and the older teens seemed to have everything under control.

And done. My longest chapter in this story so far. Thanks to all the reviewers again.