And here I am for the latest chapter of the Bloody Ashikabi! Sorry for the delay, I was left unsatisfied with a part, and had to re-write it several times before I was somewhat satisfied.

Now, I will once again remind the kind readers (who are the ones who made this story a success, thanks again for that), that I tend to update around once a month for this story, and that unless you have spent a good month and a half without any news, it is useless to ask me when I will update. I will update when I can and when I am satisfied with the chapter I upload.

Anyway, after this chapter I plan on two shorter, filler chapters that I felt were needed to explain a few things that will happen in the future.I will try to get to the point where I can post the two at the same time, that way you will only have to suffer for one month before things start to get interesting.

I don't own Harry Potter or Sekirei.

21

Aftermath

"Well then, this is quite the tricky situation, isn't it?" sighed Harry, looking at the group in front of him.

When he had accepted to be hired by Amelia Bones, he had made sure that the contract would allow him to kill the Death Eaters without consequences, as he was very well aware that once word reached the Minister, the man would be tripping over himself to have him and his Sekirei thrown into Azkaban. Of course, they wouldn't have succeeded in their endeavor, since even if they pitted the entire Auror force against Harry and his Sekirei, they wouldn't even come close to matching their power, but he could do without having an entire society routing for his death.

"Wands down!" yelled one of the Aurors, a rather brutish-looking man who was rewarded with a deadpan stare, though it would be difficult to tell with the mask he was currently wearing. Then the man's gaze travelled to the still floating orb of smashed remains, and though he went a little green, he managed to not vomit, which was more than could be said for a few of his companions. "And get that thing down!"

Shrugging, Harry cancelled the small amount of magic he had left in his technique, allowing the sphere of crushed bodies to fall to the ground with a wet 'plop' as blood landed on his boots. He didn't, however, show any other reaction to the man's words, primarily because he wasn't using a wand in the first place, and also because quite frankly he didn't care to listen to what he was told. As far as he was concerned, everything he had done was within the boundaries set by the contract he had with Bones, as such they had no legal grounds to detain or prosecute him. And even if they did, well seeing that he could claim to not be a British citizen (which was false, but they frankly didn't need to know that), they would be obligated to go through the Japanese Ministry of Magic to be allowed to prosecute him. And seeing that the Head of the Shiba Clan was a personal acquaintance, and fully satisfied with his results as a tutor, well it was unlikely that any procedure would go through.

Turning back, he started to walk away, since by now Homura and Akitsu should have finished killing off the eventual other Death Eaters. Though if the flare of power he had felt earlier was any indication, the Ice Sekirei had probably frozen a large area somewhere. He wondered how the wizards would explain the fact that the ice wouldn't melt, well it would, but only when they used Fiendfyre on it?

"Halt! I said wands down!"

Right. He still had those annoying Aurors to deal with. One would think that eliminating a group of forty terrorists in a matter of seconds would have taught them to use caution, but apparently either this one Auror was used to get his way, or he was just plain stupid. Or perhaps both.

Slowly turning to look at the annoyance, Harry noticed that Karasuba had her hand slowly inching towards her nodachi. She never did take it well to have people telling us what to do, he inwardly sighed. Better stop her before she kills this guy, I really don't need to have these people trying to bring me to "justice".

"Crow, don't." he ordered. He knew that she wouldn't like it, but quite frankly dealing with a Karasuba in a bad mood was more thrilling than dealing with the blubbering buffoon of a Minister he had vaguely seen when they had gone to the Ministry. He wasn't entirely sure that he wouldn't try to kill the man after the first phrase, so he quite preferred to avoid temptations. No need to try his luck.

He was satisfied to see his companion stop reaching for her sword, though the mental images she sent him made it clear just what kind of compensation she expected for her compliance.

'Fine, fine.' he sighed, rolling his eyes, before focusing back on the obstacle between them and a nice evening. Cracking his neck, he waited for one of the Aurors (or former Auror in James Potter's case) to explain what they wanted, or at least to take their deposition or whatever they were expected to do, but before any of the fools could say anything, angry shouts were heard coming from behind the group.

"Out of my way!" snarled a thoroughly pissed Madam Bones as she shoved her subordinates aside, before suddenly pausing at the sight that greeted her. He guessed that seeing two of the mercenaries she had hired standing in a puddle of blood, with the remains of around forty people compressed into a ball next to them made for a disturbing sight, but he honestly expected better from the stern woman.

"What in Merlin's name have you done?!" she finally exploded, "I hired you to capture eventual terrorists, not kill them!"

"That's where you are wrong, Madam." pointed out Harry, taking out a copy of the contract the both of them had signed, the original safely hidden away in one of his vaults. "It says here, and I quote, that the use of lethal force will be permitted, in the event that no other option is available. Seeing that these charming people seemed perfectly happy to try and kill us, I do feel that there was no other option available.

As such, we will expect you to honor your part of our contract, as we have most certainly fulfilled our part. The fact that we had to kill the Death Eaters who launched the assault is of no relevance, as their lives were forfeited the moment they decided to attack this place."

He could see the older woman pinch her nose in irritation, and he was fairly sure that if the contract hadn't been ironclad, she would have arrested them. Or tried to, at least. He had no intention of ever spending a night in Azkaban, let alone more. But to be honest, he would have some qualms about killing the Head of the DMLE. He didn't like many people, and she didn't belong to that category, but he did respect her. To keep working for a corrupt Ministry, arresting people who simply bribed their way out, without enough funding, showed a great deal of moral strength, even if some would call it stupidity. Still, she did her best with what little she had, and refused to be corrupted, so he could respect the woman.

"Fine. I'm still going to have to ask for your memories of what happened, just in case Fudge tries anything. And I'd be careful the next time you step in the Ministry. Some people are going to hold grudges after this." she finally relented, though it was clear that she was not happy with how things had turned out.

He just gave a short, mocking laugh, before gesturing towards the fleshy sphere laying in the bloody grass.

"There'll welcome to try whatever they want after they see this. Just don't be surprised if they die messily, we don't appreciate people trying to kill us."

"You can't just kill them!" shouted a young woman with purple hair, and he turned to stare at her. He was satisfied, and a little disappointed, to see her fidgeting within ten seconds of his silent stare.

"Girl, if you live long enough, you'll start to understand that leaving someone who wants to kill you live isn't being noble, it's being stupid. If any of the people I killed tonight had been eliminated during the war, I bet that a lot of people would still be alive. How do you justify to those who've lost someone to a psychopath that the reason they lost a loved one was because you didn't kill said psycho when you could?"

He could see that the young woman wanted to protest, to contest his logic, however it was easy to see that she couldn't find an argument that would defeat his, and that she wasn't pleased by that fact. Then again, she was young enough to have been born at the end of the war, as such even if she had lost family members then, she would have been too young to understand it. At least she had enough brains to understand his logic. He was very aware than quite a few people would have contested his argument simply because they wanted the Death Eaters to be brought to justice, as ineffectual as it would be.

Turning back to look at his employer, he caught her giving him an appraising look. Perhaps her train of thought was similar to his? If he remembered well, she had lost several people in the war... If such was the case, then his argument must have struck a chord in her, even if it hadn't been his objective.

"As much as I want to agree with you, I'm afraid that Fudge won't see things the same way than I do. I suggest you make yourselves scarce for a while. I'll hand your payment over to Gringotts, as per our agreement."

Looking around, she asked:

"Where are your other companions? You were four, if I remember well...?"

Her question was answered when Akitsu and Homura walked up from the camp, along with Lily Potter and her children, all of which seemed to have been crying at one point if their red eyes were any indication. Of course, Harry was well aware of why they had been crying, not that he particularly cared, after all to him Lily Potter was a complete stranger, one he had several good reasons for hating.

She had not spent six years living in a cupboard with spiders crawling over her body when she tried to sleep, she had not been the one trained to be an obedient slave, she had never been beaten for simply being sick and being unable to cook the meal of the Dursleys! So the amount of sympathy he felt for the green-eyed witch was just about nil, and he didn't know her children either, so he didn't care about them either. Though he was rather curious as to why Ivy Potter was glancing at Akitsu every five seconds or so with a pensive look on her face.

Of course, it was when he was rudely pushed out of the way by James Potter and Sirius Black, who ran to the side of the distraught redhead, her husband instantly bringing her and her children in a tight hug, before he started to fret over his wife.

"Lily, are you alright? What happened? Are the kids alright? Did they do anything to you?" he blurted in rapid succession.

"No, I'm all right. It was a close thing though." she shivered, before gesturing towards Homura and Akitsu, who had joined Harry and Karasuba, standing several feet away from both Aurors and the Potter family. "Thankfully, these people rescued us in time."

Ignoring the thankful look James Potter was giving him or rather his Sekirei, Harry chose to focus on the Aurors instead, of which quite a few were openly ogling Akitsu, since her clothes showed far more skin than the robes witches usually wore. Either that made them think that his Sekirei was an easy woman, or they were enjoying the view, knowing that their wives/girlfriends would never be as perfect as the woman standing next to him. He betted on the former, though, considering the backwards ways of thinking that characterized British wizards. Just in case, he focused a sliver of what he would use to create his Mask of Doom on those whose faces showed the most lust, making the men pale in fear or start sweating as they looked around to see what could have caused them to react that way.

Then he smirked as James Potter tried to grab Akitsu's hands to thank her, and ran headfirst into a slab of ice that his Sekirei had created in front of her when she had seen the man stride in her direction. Akitsu had always been one to shy away from any physical contact that wasn't his own, or, later, of one of his other Sekirei or Rin, but ever since they had lost their virginities to each other, she had become even more fervent in avoiding being touched by any man but him, reserving the right to touch her solely to him and her sisters Sekirei. He could already feel the temperature dropping, Akitsu readying herself in case she, and most likely him, were attacked.

"Do. Not. Touch. Me." she almost hissed, as if the thought of being touched by James Potter of all people was repugnant to her.

Through the bond, he could feel disgust and anger, both focused on the man standing in front of her, and the redhead he had married looking at the Ice Sekirei in surprise. Perhaps he had underestimated just how badly Akitsu would resent the Potters for what they had done, then again he should have realized that she would hate his biological parents for the simple reason that they were a large part of the reason why he had suffered six whole years as a child. He could understand her reasoning though, as she had likely consciously or unconsciously drawn parallels between their situations, between him, who had been treated like a monster for something out of his control, while she had been broken by men who had acted without understanding her, almost robbing her of something that to her was more important than her very life. So yes, he could understand why she felt repulsion at the thought of being touched by anyone but other Sekirei and him.

He felt greatly amused to see the shock on the wizards and witches' faces. What Akitsu had done was something British wizards were unable to do, due to what he theorized was their adaptation to the use of a wand, and their rather low magical reserves. From what he had discovered, wandless magic could be used by anyone, however at first it took enormous quantities of magic to perform even the simplest action, which meant that except for those with humongous reserves such as him, anyone attempting wandless casting ended up with apparently no results. Oh, there were results, it was simply that they couldn't been seen by the naked eye, which instantly discouraged the very few people who tried learning wandless magic. As such, to see anyone blatantly use magic without a wand and without an incantation came at a shock, since even their most powerful wizard, Dumbledore, usually relied on his wand.

"How...?" asked James, looking more floored than angry, though he was still holding his nose after his collision with the ice wall.

"That's nothing, Dad!" grinned Sirius, "She froze like an entire Quidditch pitch when these Death Eater guys were after us! Wandlessly and silently, too!"

By now the looks sent Akitsu's way had shifted from astonished to awed, and in some cases, suspicious. Harry couldn't claim to know what went through British wizards' heads, but he had an inkling that they were believing something stupid, like his Sekirei being a Dark Witch who sacrificed innocent virgins to gain more power and control over her magic. The fact that a few of the Aurors were fingering their wands nervously made it clear that they were indeed thinking along those lines, though he really didn't want to know how they had come to such erroneous conclusions. If anyone showing more power than the norm was suspected of being Dark until they did something blatantly "Light", then it was a wonder why there weren't any more Dark Lords/Ladies trying to take over.

The rising tension was broken when Lily Potter started firing questions at a rapid pace, Akitsu's abilities apparently making her forget her earlier predicament in favor of trying to learn more about the wandless magic exhibited by his Sekirei. He was slightly amused to sense her confusion at the sudden onslaught of questions, confusion that soon made way to annoyance as she wasn't given any respite to answer.

Coughing to get the excited redhead's attention, he drawled:

"Perhaps you and your children should see a Healer, Lady Potter, just in case. With what happened tonight, I am sure your children will need some rest and time with their parents."

The green-eyed witch blinked, and then blushed slightly as she realized that she had been so engrossed in her questions that she had completely forgotten the fact that her children had just experienced very traumatizing events.

"Yes, indeed."

Turning towards Akitsu, she gave the Ice Sekirei a sheepish laugh.

"I...apologize for prying. I tend to go a little overboard when I want to learn about some things, and I was rude."

He inwardly laughed as his Sekirei stayed silent, cocking her head to the side, which was made a bit creepy by the mask she wore. Seeing that his wife was starting to get uncomfortable, James Potter intervened, extending his hand to Harry, as he apparently understood that doing the same to Akitsu would result in the Ice Sekirei ignoring it.

"Anyway, thanks for saving my wife and kids. If you ever need something, feel free to ask for Lord Potter. We owe you for this, so anytime you need help, just contact me, and I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks for the offer." he answered, giving a small nod and shaking the man's hand. While he might detest the man, he was not one to turn away a potential favor. Besides, a small part of himself was curious about how the man would react to knowing that he basically owed his long-lost son a favor. "Now, it is getting late, and since we no longer have anything to do here, we'll be taking our leave."

Throwing two small vials with a silvery liquid glowing inside to the Head of the DMLE, he added:

"My memories of the what happened tonight, along with Yuki's memories of what happened with Lady Potter. Just make sure that your bumbling fool of a Minister doesn't come after us, he won't like the results if he does."

As his three Sekirei gathered around him, he looked at Madam Bones:

"If you need our services again, just ask Gringotts, they'll relay the offer to us. Good night."

He then Disapparated with his three Sekirei in tow.

-Break-

Amelia Bones stared at the place where the group of Hitwizards she had hired, mixed feelings warring through her head. On one hand, she had been impressed by the ease with which a group of two people had taken down over thirty Death Eaters without suffering from the slightest injury, in record time no less, while a part of her felt irritated over the death of so many people. Sure, she didn't mourn them, as they were terrorists, rabid dogs that had to be locked away for the safety of their society, however she knew that most people in power would feel threatened and angry at the death of so many Pureblood Supremacists. With Fudge being Lucius Malfoy's puppet, she would be surprised if he didn't try to have a reward set up for the group's heads before the end of the week. For someone claiming that the Ministry didn't have enough money to fund the Auror force, they certainly had a lot of money to give away as soon as a Pureblood was threatened.

And Fudge wasn't even the worst. She just knew that Dumbledore would be paying her a visit soon, the old man, despite the loss of his political positions sure seemed to love poking his nose where it didn't belong. And seeing that he had driven away a Dark Wizard three years ago, as well as stopped the attacks on students that had happened two years previously, she had heard rumors about people vying to have him reelected as Chief Warlock. She didn't like the old wizard much, as while both were against the idea of blood purity, she was of the mind that threats to peace such a Death Eaters should be imprisoned or Kissed, while he felt that a few months in Azkaban would be enough to "redeem" them. She knew that some of her Aurors, namely Auror Tonks, admired the aged Headmaster, however she strongly felt that he had no business pushing his agenda forwards when he didn't have a very good grasp on reality and seemed to live in an utopia where a slap to the wrist was enough to have mass murderers realize their mistakes.

She just knew that once word of the slaughter reached the old wizard's ears, he would try to learn as much as he could about the perpetrators, which meant that he would come to seek the person who had hired them: her. She thoroughly disliked meeting with Dumbledore, as he always managed to sound gently condescending, and worse, he thought that those who killed Death Eaters should be arrested, while said Death Eaters should be redeemed. There was something very wrong with that kind of reasoning, and she didn't want to have any part in whatever the old man's plans were.

Shaking her head, she turned to see her Aurors all looking either at the spot the four mercenaries had vanished from, or the giant, fleshy ball of remains in the middle of the blood-soaked patch of grass.

"What are you waiting for?!" she barked, pleased to see that most of her underlings immediately stood at attention, and mentally noting down which ones hadn't. Those would need to take a few weeks off duty to attend remedial training. "I want the dead identified, and someone take the Potters to St Mungos for a check up! Get on it, everyone!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" chorused the Aurors, scrambling and dispersing.

-Break-

Lucius gulped down his glass of scotch in one go, before angrily throwing it into the fire, the remains of the alcohol making the flames flicker. His plan had been perfect, so how could over forty of the remaining Death Eaters, people who, while no Inner Circle material, were still far better than grunts, be killed so easily?! And all that, and yet the Potters had escaped unharmed! He had not forgotten the humiliation he had to go through when he had to lie and claim to have been put under the Imperius, all that because the Potter brat had somehow defeated his Lord! And Draco had told him of Ivy Potter, the girl undermining his authority in Slytherin, and protecting the other Half-Bloods and Mudbloods! If he had had his way, she would have been in his dungeons, entertaining him, before he let Draco have a go with her. But those blasted mercenaries had ruined everything!

Glaring at the flames, he tried to calm himself. His plan may have failed, but he had learnt a few interesting facts that he could use. These mercenaries, even if they had ruined what he had planned, had shown that at least two of their numbers were able of silent and wandless magic, a feat that not even that blasted fool Dumbledore could boast of, at least not at the scale that the two had shown that night. If one was able to freeze an area roughly the size of a Quidditch pitch without the need of a wand or an incantation, and without being winded in the slightest, while the other...well he didn't know exactly what he had done, but what was left of his companions told a rather grim story. Well the possibilities if he managed to hire them were endless.

He would need to keep a close eye on these people. When his Lord returned, they would prove to be very useful if they could be hired. Of course, he was aware that his Lord would most likely want to make sure that they were loyal, so he would need to find a way to secure their loyalty, but he was confident that he would find a way. Everyone was controllable, after all. He only needed to find the correct approach.

Still, he was glad that he had not joined the others, he dreaded to think what would have happened to him had he gone with them. He may have organized the whole attack, but he had always been rather good at avoiding implicating himself. Of course, during the war, he had been in the thick of the action, since back then even if he had been arrested his Lord would have rescued him, but now that he was gone, he needed to keep a low profile. Even if Fudge was in his pocket, Lucius had no wish to have his reputation as an upstanding citizen be tarnished. After all, Amelia Bones, that blasted woman, was incorruptible, and would push for the use of Veritaserum during any suspected Death Eater's trial, and Fudge being the coward he was, would most likely cave if she pressed him enough.

No matter, he mused, All that is needed is the correct approach, and Britain will be ours, my Lord.

-Break-

As Amelia had predicted, as soon as she returned to her office, it was to see a sweating Fudge waiting for her along with his Undersecretary, Madam Umbridge. She had never liked the toad-like woman, as unlike the Head of the DMLE, who was careful to not overstep her bounds unless she felt the need to do so, the Undersecretary felt that her position entitled her to everything. She had lost count of the number of times that a request of the woman for the arrest of a muggleborn or a half-blood had ended on her desk, more often than not for completely imagined motives. It had ended by Amelia reminding her that despite what she might think, they were in a democracy and that she couldn't arrest who she pleased without good reason to do so.

"Ah, Madam Bones." simpered the plump woman, clad once again in a pink monstrosity that would make any sane person cringe. Added to her toad-like face, and her simpering voice, and just about anyone would want to avoid her like the plague. A pity that Amelia did not have that option.

"Madam Umbridge, Minister." she greeted coolly, already planning of taking a headache-relief potion as soon as she was home.

Entering her office, she sat down, her two guests doing the same, without waiting for her permission. Fudge was a picture of nervousness, his forehead was sweaty, he was constantly shuffling, and he was fumbling with his bowl hat. Umbridge, for her part, seemed rather peeved, no doubt because she sympathized with the dead Death Eaters. Had she been working for the Ministry during the war, Amelia would have subjected the woman to a thorough interrogation, as she had little doubt that the pink-clad woman was a supporter of You-Know-Who.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" she asked, her voice making it clear that it was certainly not a pleasure to support them. "I am quite busy for the moment."

"Hem, hem. Madam Bones, the Minister is very concerned about the deaths of several upstanding citizens during the Quidditch World Cup. Witnesses have said that the people responsible were left free, despite your presence on the scene. I am sure you understand that should those rumors be true, then you will be faced with a public inquiry?"

Amelia certainly didn't care about an inquiry, after all considering her meager resources, she had impressive results, and should she face an inquiry, she would not hesitate to point out how badly the Ministry was run, with most of the funds strangely disappearing. However, she did not appreciate being threatened, especially not when it was by some incompetent and simpering woman who did little to earn her pay.

"Really? Then I am curious how you would justify the fact that all the people killed were wearing Death Eaters garbs, and, from what the Unspeakables have relayed to me, all had Dark Marks? As I see it, these 'upstanding citizens' of yours were Death Eaters that slipped through the DMLE's net after the war. I for one will not mourn their deaths, and I am certain that the public won't either.

There is also the fact that the ones responsible for dealing with the Death Eaters saved Lady Potter and her children, and earned themselves a favor from Lord Potter. I could not very well arrest them when they had both stopped Death Eaters and had the favor of one of our most respected Lords, could I?"

From Umbridge's expression at the evocation of Lily Potter, Amelia knew that the Undersecretary held no love for the woman. Understandable, when Lily Potter was an intelligent and powerful witch, and a beauty, while Umbridge was jealous of her and hated her for being a muggleborn. She had no doubt that the Undersecretary would have celebrated the woman's death if Yuki and Kagari hadn't been there.

"It does not matter!" finally snapped the irritating woman, her face red with anger. "They killed Purebloods, they should be arrested! They had no right to execute British citizens!"

Leaning on her desk, Amelia stared into Umbridge's eyes, making no effort to hide her contempt.

"Madam Umbridge, they had every right to do what they did. In case you haven't heard about it yet, I was the one to hire them, and I was the one who wrote the contract. I know perfectly well that while they used force, the situation called for it. Besides, I will be having the dead identified as Death Eaters posthumously condemned, and their assets seized, so I doubt that the public will appreciate having their heroes slandered."

Amelia inwardly smirked at the expression on the woman's face, there was nothing she liked more than putting someone as irritating as the old hag back in her place. Considering how hardheaded, stubborn, and downright idiotic, the cat-lover was, she often had to remind her that not everything could go according to her wishes. In fact, it was one of her guilty pleasures, watching the older woman splutter and shriek in anger when she denied her what she wanted. She felt no shame in taking pleasure in Umbridge's misery, as she knew the woman well enough to know that in an ideal world, she would have been locked in Azkaban.

Umbridge was an extremist, anyone could see it, yet despite that, she was allowed to keep her position in the Ministry. In fact, Amelia was almost certain it was because she was an extremist that she had not been ousted yet, as she could easily influence Fudge whenever his best friend, Lucius Malfoy, wasn't around. That and she often tried to push forwards laws that the Pureblood supremacists voted for, and were only repelled thanks to the fact that every other political faction banded against such laws.

"And may I ask what business you had hiring Hitwizards without consulting the Minister first, Madam Bones?" simpered the toad-like woman, her face stretching in a sickeningly sweet smile. "Overstepping your bounds is a grave violation of your oath towards the Ministry, after all. I am afraid that we will have to fire you, then. Perhaps someone else will be better suited as Head of the DMLE."

This time, Amelia dropped all pretenses of civility, and gave a cold glare at the pink-clad woman. She could see from the corner of her eye that Fudge was shuffling uncomfortably in his seat, but she frankly didn't care about being polite anymore.

"First of all, you do not have the authority to fire me, and two, I would like to see the public's reaction to seeing how my replacement would do with so little funds. And allow me to spell it for you, Umbridge. I took it upon myself to hire these Hitwizards, with my own funds no less, because I didn't have enough Aurors to assign to security duty for the World Cup, which is a direct consequence of our dear Fudge lowering the DMLE's funding. Now, do try to think about what would have happened had they not been there."

"Nothing would have happened," glowered the older woman, "All wizards and witches had fled minutes after the attack started. There would only have been minor damage done to the property of the people present. Nothing the Ministry couldn't have paid for."

"Really? Perhaps then, that I should explain it for you. Lady Potter and her children would have been killed, or worse, and the ICW would have pointed Britain as the sole responsible. The following repercussions would have seen our reputation sink even further, and we would have risked seeing all our allies and commercial partners severing their ties with us. And unless you were a complete dunce in school, you will now that a solid seventy percent of our food comes from the continent.

This means, Umbridge, that I just narrowly avoided a political scandal that our Minister," she glanced at Fudge, who was sweating even more now, "would have had to deal with."

"Very good!" suddenly squeaked the very pale man, looking like he was only a breath away from fainting. "Well then, Amelia, I'll organize a press conference, so that you can explain everything to the public. Please be sure to make it look like it was the Ministry's choice to hire Hitwizards, we wouldn't want to cause a panic because they think we don't have enough Aurors. I'll try to have more funds allowed to the DMLE in the next Wizenmagot meeting. We wouldn't want the public to think the Ministry isn't concerned with their well-being, after all! I'll take care of it immediately!"

He then hastily stood up, and without a single glance back, fled her office as if the Devil itself was on his tail. Amelia clicked her tongue. The longer she knew Fudge, the more reasons she had to wonder how the fool even managed to appear like a competent Minister. While she had no illusion that his election was mainly due to the support of the Purebloods, who wanted a political pawn, Fudge was so incompetent that she wondered how in all his years of office he had managed to avoid being ousted.

She gave the retreating Umbridge a hard stare, making the woman sneer haughtily as she left, her head held high in what Amelia guessed was supposed to be a dignified huff, but only managed to make her look like an inflated toad. She was very aware that despite Fudge's words, the DMLE would be missing funds for a while longer, as the woman had a rather large network of people who owed her favors or, as she suspected, that she had blackmail material on. As such she wouldn't be surprised if the promised funds never reached the DMLE, either stolen by a greedy bureaucrat or "redirected" to "more deserving" departments.

Well then, she sighed, that was Fudge, which only leaves the old coot to deal with.

-Break-

Amelia's thoughts proved to be prophetic, as not an hour later, there was a knock on the door of her office, and Auror Tonks slid her head inside, looking rather hesitant.

"Boss, Dumbledore is here. He says he wants to have a discussion with you."

The Head of the DMLE gave the newbie a calculating look. She did not like the worship she could hear in the young woman's voice. While she acknowledged the fact that Dumbledore was popular in her ranks, mainly because a lot of Aurors were in awe of the Defeater of Grindelwald and for his prowess during the war, that did not mean that she appreciated the way some of them seemed to worship him. She had a suspicion that quite a few among her ranks, should they be given the choice between serving under her and helping the old man, would chose the old man, and that was a bad thing. Unfortunately, she couldn't really fire them for such a flimsy reason, especially when she was already short on workforce.

"Send him in, might as well get this out of the way." she sighed, preparing herself for a long and pointless discussion, again. The aged wizard was awfully persistent, and despite the numerous times she had made it clear that he had no business coming to see her anymore, he still came back, like a cockroach. The fact that he was used to get what he wanted with little resistance also angered her, after having his way for so long, Dumbledore had grown used to it, and whenever things did not go his way, he made plans to make sure that they would.

"Greetings, Amelia." greeted the aged wizard, making her inwardly sigh. His voice was serious, and she knew that whatever he wanted from her, he would be especially insistent about it. There was also the fact that he was wearing a green monstrosity with small sheep moving on it, making her wonder for the umpteenth time how someone could have such a bad fashion sense. While she understood the need of some people to be different than the norm, what he wore could only be called ridiculous. Of course, there was also the possibility that he was wearing such clothing to make him appear as a slightly insane old man, instead of the very cunning politician she knew he was.

"Dumbledore." was her calm answer to his greeting. Gesturing to the chair in front of her desk, she waited for the old man to sit before leaning forward on her desk.

"Now, what does Hogwarts' Headmaster want from me? I am quite busy at the moment."

She could see the man's twinkling eyes gain a slight frosty edge, before it disappeared, almost too fast for her to notice. It was clear to her that he didn't like being reminded that he no longer held the political power he once had.

"Now, now, Amelia. I am merely here because I heard that a group of people were murdered in cold blood during the World Cup. I hope you can understand that I am concerned since the people responsible are still at large."

"Oh?" she asked, her voice gaining a dangerous edge. "And how would you know that? The Ministry hasn't yet made that knowledge public."

"I have my ways. I am sure you understand that an old man like me must keep a few secrets, otherwise the new generations would see nothing interesting about this old wizard." he chuckled.

Roundabout way to say that you won't spit who told you about it, inwardly growled the Head of the DMLE. She was almost certain that one or more of her Aurors were responsible for the security breach, unfortunately so long as Dumbledore didn't specifically say who told him, she could do nothing. That didn't mean that she appreciated the idea of having her own ranks leak information to a third party.

"It doesn't matter. This is DMLE business, Dumbledore, I fail to see why you would be interested, and even less why I should give you the information. You no longer are the Chief Warlock, so don't come claiming that you are worried about the political consequences of what happened."

Once again, the old man's eyes hardened, and Amelia knew that he was irritated to be denied what he wanted. However, unlike Umbridge or Fudge, who would openly show their dissatisfaction, Dumbledore quickly composed himself, showing only a rather cheery exterior. She was not, however, fooled by the grandfatherly man sitting in front of her. He had not kept his reputation by being a pushover, and any wrong words could very well have dire consequences, even if the old man himself lacked a political position. The amount of people who still believed in him was very large, and she suspected that he carefully cultivated each useful relationship, using it for all it was worth.

"Of course, of course. However, you must understand, Amelia, that I am concerned for what these people might do if left free. Hogwarts will be hosting the TriWizard Tournament, as you know, and I fear that unlike what Cornelius claims, that we do not have the means to effectively ensure the security of the students. These people have shown that they had no qualms killing. After what happened, I have no doubt that many with unsavory wishes will try to contact them. If they were to be hired to attack Hogwarts, they could cause a lot of damage, and kill many."

She had to admit, the old coot certainly knew how to choose his words. Even if he no longer was Chief Warlock, he still was Headmaster of Hogwarts, and as such had a legitimate reason to enquire about the whereabouts and identities of the people who had killed the Death Eaters at the World Cup. If they were hired to attack the foreign guests housed by Hogwarts, then indeed that could end up quite badly, as from what little she had seen from the group of HitWizards, they had barely used a scrap of their power to deal with the Death Eaters. If the same people were to attack barely trained students, or the families of the foreign guests, she had no doubt that the body count would be very high, and that it would create a political incident the likes of which had never been seen.

It was also a valid concern. HitWizards rarely cared about innocents, and even if they had saved Lily Potter and her children, their action could be considered as them simply honoring their part of the contract. The ease with which they had defeated the Death Eaters, and the complete lack of any form of remorse shown by the group made it clear that it wasn't the first time they had killed, and she was not one to trust murderers easily, unless she had a good reason, which she was not the case of these people.

However, that did not mean that she would give Dumbledore what he wanted. She may acknowledge his "concerns", but that didn't mean she was a naïve woman, she knew that the second the aged wizard knew anything about the people she hired, that he would start his own little plans to see them where he wanted them. And if her experience with Dumbledore had taught her one thing, it was that the man had a very strange view of how justice should be served. Death Eaters, terrorists who killed, maimed, raped and tortured, should in his eyes be given a second chance, while those who killed them should be arrested. She didn't know how he could even come to those conclusions while still being, or at least appearing sane, but that meant that she had even more reasons for being wary of the old wizard.

Besides, even if she did want to help him, she had little information on the group, bare how to contact them, which meant going through Gringotts. And Goblins would know something was wrong before Dumbledore even opened his mouth, as he was known for his dislike of Hitwizards. Which meant that the odds of the bearded Headmaster actually managing to find the group responsible for the death of the Death Eaters were nil. Goblins were fiercely protective of the privacy of their clients, and were more likely to start declaring their undying love for wizarkind than to actually divulge any information without the proper reason.

"I'm afraid that the answer will still be no, Dumbledore. Even with those reasons, I will not tell you anything about them. Besides, we both know that even if I don't tell you anything, you know at least one person who will tell you everything you want to know. There are countless wizards and witches who would do anything to please the "Leader of the light", after all." she growled. The fact that a large pang of British wizards and witches wouldn't hesitate to betray their oaths to serve the people just to please the aged wizard was something that she considered unacceptable.

"Now, now, Amelia. You flatter me." smiled the old man, his eyes twinkling madly, making her want to punch him in the jaw. "I am merely an old wizard doing what must be done for the Greater Good, after all. Though it pleases me to admit that many understand that I am only doing my best to keep order in our society and are willing to help me in that endeavor."

"Keeping order was never your prerogative, Dumbledore. It was, and has always been the DMLE's duty to do so. I don't care of your reasons, but if you ever prevent my Aurors from doing their job in any way, I will arrest you. Now get out of my office, I have better things to do than play your word games."

She was pleased to see anger flash through his eyes at being treated no better than a common wizard, but it quickly disappeared, hidden by the infuriating twinkle in his eyes. The both of them knew that while Amelia hadn't told him anything of importance, he would eventually find out what little she knew and hadn't told him, one or more of her own Aurors being all too eager to help the "Leader of the Light" in his endeavor. As such, it could be considered Dumbledore's victory, and both of them knew it, which was why the old man didn't pry any further than what he already had.

Still, she felt a vindictive pleasure in knowing that no matter how much information he gained from her Aurors, and possibly from the other Hitwizards she had hired, he wouldn't be able to find Ash and his group. She knew, for having dropped the payment for their services at Gringotts herself, that for some reason the Goblins seemed to hold the little group in very high regard, making it highly unlikely that they'd be willing to any information on them. Goblins were notoriously known to be highly loyal to their clients, making it extremely hard to pry any form of information from them without the proper paperwork approved by the Ministry, and that was in the case of people they held no love for. Considering how they had spoken of these peculiar clients, Amelia was almost certain that the bankers held them in a very high regard, perhaps even as high as royalty. So the idea of the them giving away any information on the four was laughable.

Standing up, the aged wizard gave her a genial smile, his whole body language showing nothing but a grandfatherly man who was about to leave.

"Very well, then. I shall take my leave. I did not wish to impose, especially with the amount of work you must have. Have a nice day."

Stepping towards the door, he opened it, only to pause and turn back towards her, his cheerful smile still plastered on his face.

"Oh, and Amelia? I will owl you the details about the numbers of Aurors needed for the security of the Tournament shortly."

He then left, leaving a fuming Amelia Bones to glare at the door of her office.

-Break-

Ivy Potter was busy working out, her sweaty face set in a determined scowl. After what had happened, she was aware, more than ever, that she needed to be strong, to protect herself and to protect her family. And, a small part of her added, to make sure that no man would ever touch her without her agreement ever again. Thinking back at what had happened in the forest, she shivered, feeling ghostly fingers brush against her rear in a disgusting manner. She had been revolted by the feeling, at the intrusion in her personal space, and the knowledge that her mother and her would likely have been raped had it not been for the timely intervention of both Kagari and Yuki made her sick.

She had known that while she could defend herself from the other students at Hogwarts, it was mostly because the older years couldn't be bothered to step in and "discipline" her, as she had yet to undergo puberty, and as such wasn't that much of an interesting target yet, but she had not realized just how far she was from being able to take care of herself in a real life-and-death situation. At Hogwarts, the students couldn't act publicly, as the teachers would inevitably know what had happened, and would punish them. However, outside of Hogwarts, so long as nobody could help her, she was extremely vulnerable, both because of her young age and inexperience in magic, but also because so long as nobody was there to help her, anything could happen to her.

After what had happened, her mother had taken her to her room and had a long discussion with her, on boys and their urges, about what sex was, etc... However, while it was The Talk, there was more to it than just that. Her mother, though reluctantly, had warned her about what could happen to her, how some Muggleborns vanished during the War, never to be seen again, and how several of those suspected to be responsible were still free, chief amongst them being Lucius Malfoy. She had warned Ivy that despite the peace and the death of Lord Voldemort, there were people who would stop at nothing to harm her. However, she had also stressed the fact that she was safe from them, both at Potter Manor and at Hogwarts, as they could do nothing to her there.

Nonetheless, Ivy had no intention of being so helpless ever again, and had drastically upped her training, going so far as to ask her mother for mock duels three to four times a week. While she wasn't training or dueling, she was delving into books, going over hundreds of spells, noting down those that could be useful in a notebook she kept on her at all times, practicing everything she could get her hands on. She was aware that her mother was getting worried about her, and that her father and her twin, while not worried per se, were still rather put out by the amount of work she subjected herself to. Of course, she brushed off any of the two males' attempts to have her stop, since she no longer had any respect for her father, and her twin was all but dead to her. Oh, Sirius and her were still close, after all they were twins, however they were only as close as any normal siblings would be, they lacked the bond they had shared in their earlier years, and while Ivy was fully ready to admit that some of it was her own fault, Sirius was still the one most responsible for the deterioration of their relationship.

Snarling angrily as she sent a particularly powerful blasting hex towards the training dummy who exploded, she fell on her backside, breathing heavily as she allowed herself a short break. While Hermione had been the one to introduce her to the wonders of vigorous training, she had also been the one to stress the importance of taking breaks every now and then, as even powerful witches like them could only go on for so long, even with magic helping their bodies. Still, Ivy was very aware that people willing to push themselves as far as either of them did were exceedingly rare in the Wizardry world, most being happy to let magic take care of all their needs, and being satisfied with their level of skill after leaving Hogwarts.

Still, aside from the obvious benefits from her training, such as more stamina, more magical power, and more control over her magic, there were several more benefits to it that she couldn't deny. Working herself to the bone did wonders for her health, as she was now always full of energy, something she suspected was due to her body producing more magic to keep up with her training, even when she wasn't training. There was also the fact, as much as she didn't want to admit it, that Hermione had admitted to her that physical conditioning usually made women more attractive, and Ivy, while not vain, was very much a girl and wanted to be attractive. She was aware that if heredity kicked in and that she inherited her looks from her mother, that she would be very attractive when she got older, but she didn't think that it would hurt to have an extra help in the form of physical conditioning.

Mustering her energy, she gingerly got up, wincing a bit as her sore muscles made themselves known to her in the way she was used to. Still, after a year and a half of physical training, she had learnt more than enough to differentiate between soreness and pain, and when she could keep going or stop and rest. And right now she could still go.

Just they wait, I'll show them what I can do!

-Break-

Back in Scotland, in the ancient castle of Hogwarts, Dumbledore sat at his desk, pondering on his options and on his course of action from then on. What he had managed to get from the Aurors he had subtly asked was disappointingly little, as the only thing most knew was that the Head of the DMLE had hired them personally to ensure the security of the World Cup. He had been lucky to learn that the only way to contact the people responsible for the death of over thirty Death Eaters was to go through Gringotts, but that was where his luck stopped. Apparently the Goblins refused to contact them unless he was willing to hire them, no matter how much he tried to explain his concerns.

He had never believed that killing was a valid solution to a conflict, and knew that most people could be redeemed, with very few exceptions, one of them being Tom Riddle, the self-styled Dark Lord Voldemort. The fact that the people hired by Amelia Bones had killed so many people who could have been redeemed made them dangerous, made them threats to the peace he had worked so hard to achieve. He had hoped to be able to meet them and make them see the error in their ways, and perhaps guide them towards a path that would help the Light, or, if they refused, he would have arranged for them to be arrested and put in Azkaban for a while. Usually it was enough to convince people to respect the law, and if it wasn't, longer stays could be arranged. After all, it was all for the Greater Good. He couldn't very well leave murderers run free.

There was also, as he had told Amelia, the matter of the TriWizard Tournament. He was confident in Hogwarts' security when it came to normal circumstances, however since they would be hosting an international event, one that would see two foreign schools participate, he knew that there was a far higher risk of having certain individuals plan to perturb the Tournament. The Purebloods had begun pushing for certain laws to be passed, laws that he himself found revolting, as they basically entailed that Muggleborns and people with certain conditions, such as Werewolves, had to register at the Ministry, and wear a sign on their clothes that warned others of their status. Of course, these laws hadn't passed, but he knew that it wouldn't stop the Purebloods from trying again and again. The fact that two foreign schools would attend the Tournament was bound to attract unwanted attention, as a fair part of the British Wizards felt that they were superior to foreigners, meaning that the odds of someone sabotaging the foreign champions were a little too high for his comfort.

He couldn't afford incidents in Hogwarts anymore, as he was on his last chance with the board of governors. After what had happened with Harry Potter, as well as to Miss Granger, there had already been a lot of people wanting him to resign, feeling that he wasn't suited for the job anymore, and the few petrifications of students two years prior had done nothing to help, especially when the matter had been dealt with by a third party, who had left a message stating that it wasn't the teachers who had stopped the attacks. At least he had been the one to find it and had made it disappear, making it appear as if he was the one to deal with the matter, but even with that, the people hadn't forgotten that the attacks had happened under his watch. It had taken every ounce of political pull he had to have the Tournament held at Hogwarts, and not see it relocated to Beauxbatons. If anything were to happen this year, he would be ousted, and he could not afford that. He needed this position to oversee the growth of the future generations of wizards and witches, as well as the access to the resources his position allowed him.

If he was ousted, then he would no longer be able to keep an eye on the children of Death Eaters and keep them in line. He knew that if they were too punished, they might feel tempted to fall to the Dark, which was why he tried to maintain a delicate balance between the punishments, not being too harsh, as he didn't want them to fall to the Dark, but not letting them do as they pleased, lest they feel entitled to do whatever they wanted. As for the students that may be harmed by them, well it was sad, but it was for the Greater Good, and he did his best to ensure that no lasting damage could be done under his watch. He was ready to allow the Purebloods to bully the Muggleborns, so long as they didn't go overboard, if it was what was needed to protect them from the Dark.

Back to what had been bothering him, he would need to find a way to track down these people, as they were simply too dangerous to be left unsupervised. He had seen firsthand the power they wielded, since the massive icicle created by the one who had protected Lily Potter and her children had melted very slowly, allowing many to come and gawk at it, and he knew that such power was not natural. He himself would have been capable of such a feat, with a lot of preparation and when using the correct spell, and if he had been ready to spend several hours without enough magic to cast a spell, but from what he had seen from the memories he had gotten from Sirius Potter, bless the young wizard, he had been able to confirm that the woman who had saved them had used wandless and silent casting. To be able to use such powerful magic without a wand was simply unnatural, as even Tom, at the height of his power, had needed his wand for spells as powerful as the one which had caused the icicle, which brought forth the chilling possibility that this woman was a Dark Lady even more powerful than Lord Voldemort had ever been.

Contemplating the courses of action available to him in this particular avenue, he decided to write to young William Weasley. The young lad worked for Gringotts, and while his oath prevented him from giving away anything personal about their clients, he might be able to give him more information on these people. For the Greater Good, he could not abandon his search there.

I hope that this chapter was interesting enough, even if there was little to no action involved. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome! See you for the next chapters!