Chapter 63 - An Auror's Pride
Amelia Bones was a confused yet happy Minister.
There were reports of a battle in Hogsmeade, the village by Hogwarts castle, mainly from the anonymous tip that her old DMLE received. By the time the Aurors showed up only minutes after the tip, the battle was long over and the evidence mostly destroyed. The people on the scene admitted to being involved but claimed to have been the victims, even providing witness statements in support. Since none of them had a criminal record of any sort, as well as being generally polite and friendly to the Aurors, they were let go with a warning that they may be called later if needed.
When she mentioned this to Harry, he had only shrugged and told her "Oh, don't worry about them. They can take care of themselves. If they can survive my parents, they can survive just about anything."
Naturally such a cryptic statement made her curious and now, at the end of the explanation, Amelia felt like she had even more questions than when she started. She looked into his eyes, searching for any hint of a joke but found nothing as they sat together.
"So your parents always do this sort of thing?"
"Yes, they love to keep things interesting. Oh, and yes, they did automatically include a combat arm in their plans for a commercial enterprise." Harry shook his head smiling as he remembered that day. "Where they grew up, they had cities full of soldiers whose jobs included sabotage and espionage when they weren't assigned to protection, assault or assassination. Most of the Clan were themselves trained to join their ranks. That kind of danger shapes how the people think at a basic level."
Amelia nodded absently.
"For example," Harry continued, "the Clan views the current state of Wizarding Britain as a fairly relaxed and peaceful place. My history teachers would call this the prelude to a major and bloody war between the factions, complete with the posturing and bloody 'incidents' that we are having now. By Clan standards, this is still a relaxing holiday."
Amelia stopped in shock.
"So yes, they did set up a division of the LPF for training volunteers up in 'proper teamwork'. They recruited from the more dissatisfied of Wizarding society for people who were willing to fight back against the injustice around them, then equipped them as best they could. For the last couple of years, they have been building a security force which could easily capture the entire Ministry in an afternoon, simply because it wouldn't occur to them not to develop that strength. Oh, the Ministry isn't the target of it, of course. No, that honour belongs to Riddle and the Death Eaters who give him power. None of us want to see them win so the LPF has done what it can to continue Lily Potter's work in opposing them."
Amelia felt a little calmer. She knew Harry wouldn't lie to her, and the assurance that her young man wasn't busily raising an army to bring down her government was sorely needed right then. He gave her a hug and a chance to talk.
"When you said proper teamwork, what did you mean by that?"
"The teams are set up fairly early in their training. From that time on, they do just about everything together in training. Even when they finish and can go home to their families, they still spend much of their time together outside of work. The bond produced by the training makes the team incredibly close friends. They need that in order to do what they do, fighting alongside one another and knowing they can count on each other to stick it out."
"You mean they are much like our Aurors?"
"It is much more than that, from what I have heard around the Ministry. Our people aren't as well versed in all the different kinds of magic, they don't know as many curses and hexes, but they know without looking where the others will be and what they will do because of that training. The closest that I have seen to that in the Ministry is your personal protection detail."
Amelia acknowledged the point. Even her old partner often surprised her after years together, using different spells or moving differently than she had expected. That had almost cost Amelia her life on one occasion and her fingers absently rubbed her chest where the scar had stayed until the Clan doctors healed what St Mungo's could not.
Harry's eyes were briefly drawn to her chest and she smiled at the hint of interest she saw before he went on.
"There's a basic difference between the Aurors and the Lifeguards, though. The Aurors are police, first, fighters a distant second. Their training is about keeping the peace. The Lifeguards are military personnel first, last and always. Their current jobs are to guard LPF facilities and 'Potterville'."
Amelia's lips twitched.
"That's what the residents have named their town." Harry muttered to himself. "It's embarrassing, is what it is." Looking back up, he continued. "They're all LPF employees and their dependants, or near as makes no difference. They also tend to be mostly Muggleborns with Squibs and discontented Half-bloods making up the rest, people looked down on in society by both idiots like the Malfoys but also people like the Weasleys, solid 'Light' families that pity them instead of thinking to help. In Potterville, they aren't shunned, aren't spat on or ignored or hated but instead they have a home. They get to use modern conveniences like phones, electrical lighting, all the rest they grew up with and they have magic to help with what it does best. Things like warding them against the dangers of the Death Eaters and drunken louts who just want to hurt others, as well as protection from fire and lightning are all provided thanks to LPF specialists. It's not perfect, but it's home to them."
Amelia smiled. "I'm glad they have found their own place, even if I am ashamed that they needed outsiders like the Clan to give it to them."
"It is not your fault, Amelia. You were already busy doing something worthwhile. You are not responsible for the attitudes of other people. That is always their own choice. You have always done the best you can, even when you had no support. I am proud to know and love you."
Amelia cut short any further discussion at that, kissing her special young man.
As February waned and the Quidditch match between Slytherin and Hufflepuff approached, Malfoy and others took to insulting the Hufflepuff Quidditch team at every opportunity. Having been warned by Professor Slughorn, they took care to keep their words short of grounds for punishment but their tones and expressions made up for the lack, turning "Muggleborns" into something more loathsome than "Mudbloods" when it came out of their mouths.
While to many of the students, their actions were obviously just the Death Eater children being violent bigots, the truth was that their parents were growing more angry and afraid with each failed attack on the Aurors or the (former) homes of Muggleborns and other targets. Daphne, Sophie and Tracey made sure to pass on that information to Harry and to the Headmistress whom they trusted more than their own Head of House.
In response, the Houses of Loyalty and Intelligence who boasted the most such students took to calling them goldfish. While the Ravenclaws did count a number of Death Eater children in their ranks, they were bright enough to keep quiet. The House, led by Cho Chang, was brutal about exposing the stupidity of the Pureblood Supremacist rhetoric.
When the prejudiced students finally found out that it was chosen because the animals had such short memories and narrow perspectives, Minerva and Horace nearly had a riot on their hands. Apparently the children of Death Eaters didn't like it when people did the same to them as they were so busily doing to everyone else with words like "Blood traitor" and "Mudblood".
The event that set off the near-riot, of course, had something to do with the Weasley twins. They had thought it was a grand idea to prank the Slytherin students, making the snake on their uniforms turn to goldfish in Gryffindor colours.
The staff had to resort to draconian tactics, using Transfigured golems and repeated casts of the cannon blast spell in order to quell the eruption of violence against the other three Houses. Thankfully, they made it in time before any serious injuries occurred, the rest healed up quickly and with practically no blood.
After sending all the students back to their House areas, Minerva called Fred and George onto the carpet, seeing them in her office.
"Did you do it?" she asked, her tone weary but her gaze sharp and intimidating.
"How could you-" one twin began.
"-try to blame-" the other picked up in their usual way.
"Did you do it? Yes or No. And be prepared to swear an Oath on your magic if you claim your innocence," she snapped, in no mood for their distractions and deflections.
Fred and George exchanged a glance. "No-"
Minerva casually picked up Fred's wand, handing it to him hilt first. "Oath. Now."
Fred took his wand, breaking out in a sweat. This was the first time the staff had put them to the test like this. Always before, Dumbledore had swept things under the carpet, or they were assigned detentions whether or not they claimed to be innocent, though they were guilty more often than they were punished.
He could see George looking at him, questioning, then Fred put his wand back down on the desk in front of him carefully.
"We just thought it would be a bit of fun." Fred said instead, tacitly admitting their guilt.
"Everyone was so tense. We thought they could use a laugh like we could." His twin said in support, confirming their roles.
"Let me get this straight, Messers Weasley and Weasley. For 'a bit of fun' you decided to use magic against an entire House, indiscriminately insulting them all including the majority who are not Death Eaters in training, thereby showing your own prejudice and ignorance, at a time when any insult risked an escalation to violence."
Laid out like that, both twins felt the weight of their actions at last. Meekly, they nodded at their angry Headmistress.
Minerva let out a breath. "I think we can see why you are unsuitable for Ravenclaw if you failed to think of the consequences for your actions. Indeed, my only question would be why you were not Sorted into the House that truly suited you."
Despite himself, George answered. "Oh, we threatened to dye the Hat bright pink if it put us into Slytherin, told it we were Gryffindor material through and through just like every Weasley."
"Yeah, it argued a bit but I think it said something about a family clause."
Minerva nodded to herself. That made some sense, really. "Very well. For your own protection, as well as the magnitude of the offence against innocent students, I ought to suspend the pair of you. If you agree, then you will be able to return to the castle in a fortnight."
The pair were truly scared for the first time. Never before had they been threatened with a suspension, and both knew all too well how Molly Weasley would react to the news.
"We do-" "-not want to be suspended!" the pair replied in their usual fashion.
"Very well." Minerva replied. "In that case, you can start serving your punishment. The nature of your offence against another student would merit a night's detention."
That wasn't so bad, the pair thought, visibly relaxing.
"Since your little stunt affected so many students, and especially since it was carried out at a time any fool could tell was wrong, you will be serving detentions until Christmas."
"But we finish -" George shut up at the glare.
"The entire staff of Hogwarts is well aware of when you should finish your schooling. Your predilection for pranks has had a desultory effect on your grades and if you do not improve them very soon, I fear you will be returning in the autumn for another year. You have also lost any hope of staying on the Quidditch team or seeing Hogsmeade this school year. You can say goodbye to having any time to yourselves, Messers Weasley. You have amply proved that you cannot be trusted with it. If you are not in class, studying, eating or sleeping, you will be busy serving detentions where you will find your time put to good use. You may go.
"Mr Filch will see to it that your time is used more productively from now on."
Unlike other members of their House, the Weasleys knew how to avoid being noticed. At first, it was almost too easy. Just use the Marauder's Map they had stolen from the caretaker and they would see everyone listed around them.
After its loss, they were forced to rebuild and extend their skills at being sneaky. Though they had moaned about it to each other and to their friend Lee Jordan, it had done wonders for their self-reliance and confidence. In the years since, they had made it into an art form and the effort had been repaid in the success of their pranks.
Now, they found they needed to use every bit of that skill to get a minute to themselves. As soon as they relaxed, house elves would show up, grab hold of them and 'pop' them to where they were supposed to be.
If they had known that even this much success was due not to their own efforts but the leniency of the true owner of the Map, it was a tossup whether they would applaud the prank or be horrified at the treason of one of their own fellow pranksters.
While they toiled away reluctantly under the hateful eyes of the caretakers in the bowels of the castle, their suffering was discussed in a room above.
"Ah, these spy jutsus are the best, Harry." Neville chuckled seeing Fred get prodded with a stick to get back to work by a glaring Hogwarts elf. The little guy was upset that not only did they have to accept payment but now wizards were getting to do their cleaning.
"You got that right, Nev." Ernie called as he grabbed a bowl of popcorn to bring back to the couch as they watched.
"Hey, tell them they missed a spot!" Justin added his tuppence, feet up as he watched the fall of the Terrible Twins. He pointed out where a group of Ravenclaw girls and past victims of the pair had dumped mud in the corridor that the Weasley boys were supposed to clean. The girls had got away clean, unlike the redheads who were now spattered by the mud fresh from the Black Lake.
Harry shook his head. "I have created a bunch of monsters."
"Nah. We were 'orrible people before you came around, Harry. Just ask our parents." Roger grinned at the reactions to his faked Cockney accent.
"That's true." Harry replied deadpan before switching to a posh voice. "Bunch of uppity commoners, the lot of you!"
They cracked up laughing and relaxed, chatting about schoolwork, girls and the entertainment in front of them as other students demonstrated their own sneakiness by getting revenge upon the twins.
After the stress of the last few days, Minerva needed this more than ever. Face down, black hair freed from the tight confines of her normal hairstyle, she melted under Harry's skilled hands giving her a full massage.
"How I survived before you, I will never know." The Headmistress admitted under her breath.
The twins had started their punishment, one that not so coincidentally kept them under staff supervision and away from the students they had insulted, the night before. While she would never allow Argus Filch to mistreat the twins like he wanted, she did allow him to scare the miscreants. Fred and George Weasley needed to wake up, and soon, before they threw away their best remaining chances, but it didn't look like anything she could do would help them in time. Right now, Harry's magic hands were wiping away the feelings of guilt that her failure to teach her Lions had caused in her.
"Thank you, Harry." McGonagall said when it was over. "I shall see you at breakfast in a little while. Are you sure I cannot give you House points for this?"
Harry laughed. "No, thank you. I am doing this for my friend, not for my Headmistress. Besides, if you did that, how would Gryffindor have a hope of the House Cup?" With that, he dispelled himself, proving to be a clone as expected.
Out on the grounds, Harry smiled as the memories hit him as he took his morning run with the Jewels. He looked around. "Is everyone looking forward to the match?"
It was a rhetorical question. Even the ladies who didn't care about Quidditch enjoyed seeing Harry putting that pale ponce Malfoy to shame. Sophie had made a bet with Harry that if he scored over thirty goals in the match, she would let him have his way with her on Snape's old desk. While the hated man was gone, his desk had remained and the new teacher had chosen a more expensive one for his classes.
As the teams formed up, Megan whispered to him that she had heard Sophie's bet. She blushed but told him that she would make sure Cedric cooperated with the change in plans. Really, it wasn't that big a change to the game plan. Hufflepuff had the better team for anything like a clean game. The only danger was in the game ending quickly with a lucky catch of the Snitch.
It felt odd to Harry to see her smiling and flirting with the older 'Puff but he would never interfere. Megan had made her choice and he wanted to see her happy.
The blowing of the whistle jerked Harry out of his musings and just like in practice, the Badger Chasers took up their positions. Opposite them, the Slytherin team taunted them again about being Blood Traitors and Muggleborn trash. By this time, much of Hufflepuff House was out for blood. Their sense of fair play was offended by the idiots on the Slytherin team.
The Hufflepuff team were even more worked up, and Madam Hooch was resigned to having a dirty game to referee. She couldn't even help the Snakes win thanks to McGonagall's Code of Ethics terms.
As the teams got moving, Slytherin getting the Quaffle first and passing desperately to avoid the vicious Bludgers sent by Megan and Leanne, Harry decided that the Snakes had earned the chance to see the team at its best. Signalling to Susan and Hermione, they acknowledged his instructions with feral grins. The other Hufflegirls would join in soon enough.
The Slytherins had sneered at the Puffs for everything from their blood status to their assumed poverty. What they didn't expect was for the Chaser trio to speed up by half again, their teamwork, honed by spending practically every waking moment together, shifting into that of a perfectly-oiled machine. Even Cedric was surprised by the change. He knew that Harry had been holding back but he was surprised by the two girls keeping up easily at the new pace.
It was devastating.
Usually, the scores would be close to even with a lead only gradually building up. Here, the Hufflepuff team blew that away. With Leanne and Megan doing better than their usual good job distracting and delaying the Snakes, and the Chasers owning the pitch, Hannah Abbott had little chance to show her own skills as a Keeper. The Snakes simply didn't get that many shots at goal to matter.
Cedric swooped down, unconcerned about leaving Malfoy unopposed in the hunt for the tiny golden ball, and flew alongside his star Chaser. "Hey, what gives?"
"Hey Ced. They wanted to put us off our game. I decided the best way to respond was to show them just how sporting we had been and that now, the gloves are off. No more letting them think they are in our league."
"You do know I am the Captain." Cedric reminded his junior with a grin.
"Yes, and I haven't gone against your tactics or strategy. We're just doing them... better than normal."
Cedric laughed. "Alright, Harry. I hope you know what you're doing. After this, no one will believe you're merely a great Chaser."
"There's more important things than keeping your head down and getting by."
Cedric slapped his back then flew off back to his job, making sure that Malfoy didn't catch the Snitch while his teammates destroyed the illusion of Slytherin superiority.
Goal after goal was scored by the trio, each one the Slytherin Keeper found just out of his reach. After the tenth one passed only inches beyond his grasp, he glared at them. Somehow, the bastard and his bitches were taunting him. They knew he couldn't stop them but they kept taunting him with the illusion that it was possible. A quick nod to the Beaters and they grinned evilly, aiming not to harass but to maim or kill the Mudblood and the Bones bitch.
Even that dirty tactic failed when they lost control of the Bludgers. Megan and Leanne had noticed the change and took matters into their own hands, juggling the Bludgers between them and flying out of reach of their opponents as they zoomed away, then dive bombing the Slytherin Keeper, both Bludgers striking him one after another, the first between the legs and barely blocked by his broom, though it gave an ominous crack! The other struck right between his eyes though slow enough that he only fell off his damaged broom to the ground.
Slughorn proved to be fairly competent with his wand, getting it out before his player hit the muddy turf, but it was the Hufflepuff Prefects from Sixth and Seventh Years that made the catch, casting a cushioning charm underneath him and a couple of spells to slow his fall. He landed on his butt, bouncing comically and doing a faceplant into the mud and grass, sore but nothing broken beyond his pride. His broom was not so lucky, landing handle first into the ground and snapping cleanly.
The Snakes were quick to call for a timeout, getting a replacement broom in for their muddy Keeper. After that, the Hufflepuffs made it clear that the contest was over, scoring at will.
Soon enough, Harry had scored the thirty goals and he spied a flushed but happy Sophie in the Slytherin stands as he flew back into place. A quick look confirmed that she had erected an illusion around herself to protect her secret, and relieved, he passed the Quaffle to Hermione who got her twenty-fifth shot in bang on target.
The Snakes, desperate now, started casting revealing spells around the place, trying to find the Snitch for their Seeker. It worked but many of them wished it hadn't, showing that the Snitch had been hiding up in the Professors' Box. Cedric happened to be closest and he lazily flew over, his reflexes more than a match for the evasive ball, and Madam Hooch called the match.
980-110
It was a ruthless demonstration of superior play by the Hufflepuffs and a comprehensive rebuke of the insults made about their talents. In an effort to soothe ruffled feathers, Harry's friends and allies set up ways for their Slytherin members to make up some of the lost ground, a further proof to the green and silver that the winning side was Harry's.
After the match, the insults against Muggleborns slowed to a trickle but inside the Snake Pit, the Death Eater children turned on each other. Madame Pomfrey's services were called on the following day, a quartet of younger Slytherin students turning up battered and blue and covered in boils but refusing to name their attackers.
Harry knew who the guilty parties were. Crabbe and Goyle had beaten up each of them before holding them in place for a raging Malfoy to curse them over and over. Unfortunately, he couldn't prove it to the degree that would be needed in the circumstances without also revealing his abilities to his enemies.
He had reported to Minerva everything he had seen of the incident, including the gloating from the Malfoy scion at his victory and the way the other bigots had stopped attempts to interfere, wands drawn and ready even before the attack started. While Minerva was disappointed that no one had moved in anyway, she found it hard to blame them when they already had a dozen wands ready to respond against them. Harry felt guilty that he hadn't stopped it. The best he could do without arousing suspicion was to cushion the blows, meaning the victims, no saints themselves, were lightly bruised rather than suffering from multiple broken bones.
Since the incident took place in the Slytherin Dungeon where outsiders supposedly couldn't enter, it was up to the Slytherins themselves to turn in the guilty parties. That was never going to happen when the guilty included most of the Prefects whose job it was to prevent this abuse.
Harry didn't think the violence would end there, though, and arranged to shadow the attackers twenty-four hours a day until he could catch them in the act. Thankfully for his sanity, he didn't have to enter the Slytherin boys' showers like he had feared. It seemed that was one place none of them wanted to turn into a battlezone.
After the morning showers, Draco chose to celebrate his victory from the day before yesterday, sending Crabbe and Goyle to pull up a couple of Third Year girls who had previously refused to acknowledge his place above them. His minions stuffed up that simple instruction, the girls easily slipping out of their clumsy grasp and out into the castle corridors.
Unseen, Harry wondered if the fools would risk a public confrontation. He got his answer as a couple of the other Death Eater children laughed cruelly at Malfoy who stormed out after the girls, his minions in tow. Shouted spells and ropes flew from their wands, eventually tying up the scared girls who ended up trapped and held up by Crabbe and Goyle.
Draco got a hideous gleeful expression, his wand pointing right at the girl on the left as he moved closer and closer, enjoying the thrill from the fear of his victim. A last lazy flourish of his wand and he called out "Diffindo!" Her robes were easily severed by the Cutting spell and he leered at the milky skin exposed to his hungry gaze, hands reaching out to pull the clothes off her and enjoy more of her charms, fingertips caressing down from her shoulders towards her developing breasts. Crabbe and Goyle were resigned to wait their turns with the girls, figuring that their employer wouldn't last more than a couple of minutes with either of them.
Instead, she went flying to the side, eyes wide as the Summoning Charm pulled her out of their grasp. Harry had hated the time that the spell took to reach the girl as he charged down the corridor, his loud footfalls echoing his rage.
"Mr Malfoy, Mr Crabbe, Mr Goyle. You three are coming with us right now!" The voice of that blasted Potty filled the corridor.
"And why would I do that? We are both Prefects. You can't order me around even if you weren't a Halfblood!"
"Oh, I wasn't ordering you, Malfoy. I was telling you what will be." Harry and Susan were already in motion, casting silent Disarming spells and catching their wands before their next spells tied the trio of Snakes together and levitated them, leaving them helpless. With the guilty subdued, Susan cast a deliberately audible Finite to free the two girls from their bonds. She didn't want to scare them any further with an unknown spell. They gave her a quick look then dashed away, still scared from their unwarranted attack.
Harry's gaze hardened seeing their fear and he let the three boys dip a little in the grip of his levitation charm, catching them before they smashed into the floor.
"When my father hears of this!"
"I have no doubt he will, Malfoy. After all, the DMLE will have to call him in for your formal interview. You seem eager to join Mr Nott in Azkaban, the way you are behaving."
"No one will believe you over me!" Malfoy cried. "I am the next Lord Malfoy."
Harry didn't bother to answer, instead picking up the pace as he took the criminals up to the Headmistress' office by a circuitous route that avoided the frequently used parts of the castle. While in part he did this to prevent Lucius' later accusations of humiliating the ferret, mostly he did it to avoid the chance of combat with Malfoy's supporters. When he got to the gargoyle guarding the entrance, it swung aside and he ascended the stairs quickly.
"Come in, Mr Potter." Minerva called when he got to the door.
Resisting the temptation, Harry towed in his prisoners without injury or fuss while Susan closed the door behind them. At a look from the Headmistress, he righted them and set them down gently standing in the floor and handed over their wands to McGonagall before ending the spells keeping them tied together and silenced.
"Why have you brought these students to my office, Mr Potter?" Her voice was stern but otherwise calm.
"My father-!" Draco tried to interrupt proceedings.
Minerva silenced him with a quelling look.
"I was walking down to the Slytherin area to meet Daphne, Tracey and Sophie when I saw these three had cornered and tied up a couple of young girls. Malfoy cast a cutting curse at one girl's chest and pushed her robes out of the way before touching her most inappropriately. I Summoned the poor girl out of his grasp, then tied them up and brought them to you. I am willing to back up these charges with Oath or Veritaserum testimony."
Minerva grew colder as the situation was laid bare. "And you, Mr Malfoy, do you have anything to say for yourself against the charges?"
"Yes! Call my father. I am sure he will be able to make it go away." Malfoy told her like she was a simpleton.
"Oh, your father will be called in, I am sure, Mr Malfoy. Until he can get down here, however, and sort this out, you will not be allowed your wands, any of you. This kind of behaviour is an utter disgrace! You should consider yourselves lucky that the girls have not come to me themselves yet. Once they do, I will hand you over to the Aurors in preparation for your trials."
Draco wasn't concerned. He knew his father had dealt with more serious charges than these before. "You can't deny me my wand!"
"You will find, Mr Malfoy, that I already have. Notes will be sent to your teachers explaining that it has been confiscated as a result of your infractions of the school rules, as well as of decency. Also, you are hereby warned that any further disciplinary problems will be met with an immediate suspension. This probation will only be lifted when you finish here at Hogwarts. You have shown no sign of improvement in your attitude towards others, expecting that your family name will carry you through. That must end for your sake, Mr Malfoy, or you will find yourself expelled and your wand snapped, forbidden any magic for as long as you live and forced to learn to live without it. Hogwarts has no place for your attitudes or your intolerance, and the rest of Britain is coming to see that as well."
Draco wanted to rant at the woman, wanted to tell her it didn't matter what she believed because the Dark Lord would soon rule the Wizarding World, but he held his tongue.
"Good. Now, tonight you will be cleaning toilets with Mr Filch. This will continue every night except for when you have your Astronomy lessons. I shall send for you later to inform you if you will be permitted to continue at this school but there is one last thing you will not be needing once you leave my office. Accio!"
With a rip, the Prefect badge was torn off his robes and landed gently in the Headmistress' outstretched hand. It was one more reminder of his punishment to have her use magic on him when he had no wand.
Sullenly, the three Slytherins left the office, finding that their Head of House was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. Slughorn was far from his image of a jovial host. He cast Disillusionment spells on his students, leading them back to the Dungeons, his ill temper writ large in his movements as they glared at his back.
"You will skip breakfast this morning. You will claim to others that you were unwell or overslept if you wish but you should use this time to consider what you did wrong. Every wrong thought and action. If you do that, you may yet become worthy Slytherins in spite of your current failings. Understand me. I will not brook you making me look bad to the Headmistress! What you tried this morning? That makes all of us look like idiots who cannot be trusted with a Krup much less a wand or true power.
"Rest assured, your parents will be contacted and I can assure you none of them will be pleased that you got caught in such a position!"
Unfortunately, whatever Slughorn may have meant, the way he said it told his students that they should not get caught, rather than they should not commit crimes in the first place. Still there was one benefit to his angry lecture. Draco Malfoy was finally learning the importance of cunning.
The next few days saw Draco put that lesson to the test. Everywhere he went, it seemed there were Blood Traitors and Mudbloods in his way. They bumped into him every chance they got, pushing him into walls or tripping him up.
Any complaints he made to his Head of House were ignored who told him to keep his head down. The only time anyone seemed to listen to him was so they could make more trouble for him, recording every muttered insult, every questionable action then bringing a summary at the end of the week to Slughorn who gave the angry young Pureblood a detention washing eyeballs.
During the disgusting, boring and degrading work, Slughorn tried to educate his charge.
"Mr Malfoy, you have managed to anger or upset just about everyone in this school. Normal Slytherins would have availed themselves of every opportunity to avoid the notice of their peers until the incident passes from the minds of the commoners, allowing you to plot once more how to achieve your ambitions."
Draco sneered and nodded. Such things were beneath him.
Horace Slughorn lectured him for the rest of the two hours they were together but he was all too certain that Draco would manage to forget again in the future. While he now knew the importance of cunning, he was poor at ever using it.
The importance of cunning was a lesson that the Dark Lord had also been relearning. One of the most inconvenient facts about his resurrection was that the social and political landscape had changed while he was away.
The next was that he had grown addicted to the fear of the common witch and wizard. With that gone while he was keeping his return hidden, his forces had to operate in far greater numbers since that fear had kept most of them from having the will to oppose him in anything.
Between bad luck and bad intelligence, his forces had yet to kill or capture a single Auror in the weeks since they had started on Severus' plan.
It had to end. With this goal firmly in mind, he came up with a fresh plan. He called in Severus to consult on the matter.
And so it went. Voldemort decided to use the spy's idea, suitably modified, and sent out a team to the property in Kent. It was time to start using his assets.
A Portkey had been made to take the team, arriving in a swirl of colour and avoiding the sounds that would alert their target. Spreading out, Avery led the group to encircle the home of Dedalus Diggle, long time ally of the Muggle-loving fool Dumbledore.
A stentorian call of "Now!" and every Death Eater sent a spell flying at the home, making the wards crash and thunder in the mind of Diggle who dropped his cup of pumpkin juice, scrambling for his wand. His first action after he found his wand, back in the kitchen under his dinner plate, was to take a breath of relief. After that, he poked his head out of the window then hastily drew it back inside as he saw a green jet of light. Whether the spell was the Killing Curse or not, he was not going to get near enough to find out the hard way!
He stuck his head in the fireplace, then pulled it back, embarrassed that he had forgotten to light the fire fire. Doing that and adding a pinch of Floo powder gave him something to do and thus calmed his panic to an acceptable level. Trying a second time, he called out "Department of Magical Law Enforcement!" into the flames.
Two breaths later, a bored voice drawled, "DMLE, Auror Dawlish speaking. What is the-"
"I am under attack!"
Considerably more alert now, Dawlish replied, "Who are you and where are you?"
"I'm Diggle at my home! Come quickly!"
Dawlish nodded, an enchanted memo already on the way to the ready squad with the call, and asked further questions. "How many of them are there? What have they been doing?"
Diggle interrupted again, "At least a dozen! I didn't get a good count on their numbers. I had to duck when they threw a green curse at me!"
Dawlish nodded. The Killing Curse was serious business and no sane wizard would get in the way of that. He was prevented from asking anything further when the ready group rushed into the room, suited up in their full combat kit.
"Coming through!" the lead Auror called, a tall bald black man, and Diggle pulled out of the way just in time for the first Auror to come into his home. He gave the first Auror, Kingsley Shacklebolt, a secret smile as he moved where they told him, hiding near the dining room window.
Kingsley was pumped full of adrenaline and glancing at his colleagues, he saw the same signs of excitement and fear in the rest of them. "Alright, Aurors, settle down." Kingsley's confident voice worked its magic on them all, himself included, and he gave a tight smile.
"I'll take you, you and you with me to defend the front, I want the rest of you to sneak around the back and flank them while we keep them busy. Silencing spells all around and for Merlin's sake, keep your heads down!" He looked to his second. "You think you can handle a little action?"
The witch glared back. "You know I can. Don't worry. We'll take care of them."
Dedalus Diggle was shocked at the Aurors. "What do you mean, you'll take care of them?"
Auror Proudfoot ignored him, already leading the detachment towards the back of his home and taking a few seconds to Transfigure a passage down under the rear wall. As each Auror walked down it, bypassing the obvious target of the door, she tapped their heads, casting the Disillusionment Charm on them one by one. Bringing up the rear, she guided them to walk slowly up the newly made passage and keeping their heads down, crouch-walking around the property.
Instead of having a dozen attackers, something that seemed preposterous enough when the call came in, they saw a full score of Death Eaters. "Bollocks!" one of the Aurors swore under his breath before he got slapped up the back of his head by his neighbours.
Luckily, the heartfelt cry was quiet enough amid the spellfire and shouted incantations that it went unnoticed. Still, she would be having words with Hawkes on their return about proper conduct in the field.
Taking a risk, Proudfoot cancelled the invisibility spell on herself and waved her Aurors in close then set up a low-powered silencing spell around the area. "Change of plans. Half of you with me, we go in first. The rest of you will follow. On my signal, lay down Silencing Spells and Banishing Hexes on these people. Whoever they are, they have attacked a wizard in his own home and they aren't playing around. At the first sign that they are casting Unforgivables, you are hereby authorised to switch to Bone-Breaking and Bludgeoning spells as needed. 'Stun where you can.'" The last was added in a wry tone, acknowledging the stupidity of the order, included at the Wizengamot's insistence, and indicating that she would not expect her Aurors to follow it. "But most of all, make sure you dodge for Merlin's sake! These Charlies don't care about our lives. Make sure you come back alive."
A round of quiet assents came back at her and she signalled to her group to follow her, recasting her Disillusionment spell and a Supersensory Charm. Thirty seconds later, she had to bite her tongue to keep from crying out in anguish or rage. A green spell, clearly the Killing Curse, slammed into the front door of Diggory's home, sending splinters flying.
That was a good enough reason to open fire, she figured, lining up her shot on one of the Death Eaters who had his back to her and throwing off a combo of Silencing Spell and Bludgeoner at the bastard. She had seen in the last war how vicious the Death Eaters could be and she had no intention to let them get the chance to harm her people.
A second later, the other three in her half opened fire, with the four behind them waiting for their spells to hit before adding their own fire. Three of the twenty Death Eaters fell in the first volley, two to the follow-up, but the rest quickly turned to face them, trading spells for a furious minute.
That was a tactical error as Kingsley and his trio fired at their sides unopposed, getting two more. Unfortunately for the Aurors, that was the extent of their success. The Death Eaters quickly divided up into two groups, eight putting up shields and five opening fire on the house.
That was when the second group of Death Eaters, lying in wait, decided to make their presence felt, casting a hail of destructive spells on the flanking Aurors. Only quick action saw any shield put up at all, and the cries of her Aurors told her that at least one of the new enemies was flinging around the Torture Curse. Now under fire from two angles, Proudfoot knew her people were in serious trouble.
The only good thing about the situation, she thought, was that these new Death Eaters were novices. They just stood in place, attacking her people, allowing her time to get a strong shield put up to block the trickle of following spells. Handing off its maintenance to Hawkes, Proudfoot quickly Transfigured some sticks into wolves, her intent sending them to slink off into the bushes and attack the new force. Less than a minute later, the screams of Death Eaters filled the night and she smiled grimly.
"Take that, you bastards!" she muttered under her breath, glad for the respite as the second group took time to deal with her distraction, and grinning as she got the idea, using Transfiguration to create an earthen shield between her Aurors and the first force to stop the Unforgivables while they finished off the novices.
"After all," she justified to herself, "don't they know it's rude to get into someone else's fight?"
Twenty seconds later, her Aurors, now down to six effectives with one down to the Cruciatus exposure and one down to an unlucky Bone-Breaking Hex smashing his knees to pulp, popped up from their cover, returning fire with a round of "Bombarda!" making the ground around their targets explode, pelting them with shrapnel and adding more wonderful cries of the enemy to fill the night.
Within the next ten seconds, the second group was out of the fight completely, either down for the count or fled by Portkey, and they were finally able to turn their attentions back to the first group.
Unfortunately, their delay had been costly for the wizard home, windows shattered and shards of glass everywhere, doors broken, walls cracked or broken as the wards, never the strongest, were blown away by the scale of the attack.
A hurried glance saw Kingsley still upright though bleeding and Diggle flat on his back, his anguished moans somehow cutting through the sounds of the ongoing battle.
"With me!" she called, finally leading the charge to support her leader, and the five with her were on her heels, Hawkes keeping up a shield in front of them while the others threw spells of all colours at their masked enemies.
They had to stop in their tracks, a hasty volley of green curses sending them ducking for cover before they raised their heads cautiously.
The Death Eaters were gone. All of them, taking their dead or injured with them. Looking around the battle area, hearing the sounds of her own injured, Proudfoot couldn't call this a victory. At most it was a draw.
Voldemort was angry.
That was nothing new to his Inner Circle. He had often been in a rage, in fact. What had them scared this time was the unpredictable nature of his wrath. They had expected that he would be liberal with his punishments but nothing. Three days and he had yet to punish even one of the Death Eaters who had gone on the raid.
They would have been surprised to learn that they owed their current lack of pain to Narcissa Malfoy. It was her comments that they had encountered a dozen Aurors, rather than the two or three the plan called for, and faced them with only half a dozen trained followers, that had stayed the Dark Lord's hand. Viewed in that light, the result was rather favourable. Her final comment had him even somewhat pleased.
"You lost only two of the lesser servants in the attack and none of the better trained ones, with the dozen injured able to return to the field in time and far more motivated to do well in your service. By comparison, the Aurors lost four according to their reports. If you continue at that rate, the Ministry will run out of Aurors long before you run out of followers."
So while Voldemort was angry that the attack itself had failed, maybe it would still aid him in the long term. Yes, after all, he was the Dark Lord and all things would bend to his will in the end. Until that time, well, fear of his anger was motivation enough to get his slaves training even harder.
He did not need to tell them that if they presented him with another such failure they would not be so lucky.
Amelia Bones was furious but proud.
The Aurors, her Aurors, had been ambushed. They had charged right into it, in fact. Under the old methods, a report of a disturbance would merit, at most, three Aurors being sent to the location to sort it out. Without telling anyone outside her Department, then-Director Bones had changed that to the whole ready squad, a force of twelve Aurors under good conditions, would be sent out if the situation seemed to merit it, and a dozen attackers was certainly a good reason to send all of them.
Instead, they had run into nearly three times as many enemies with nothing but their ready kit. This was every senior DMLE worker's nightmare. The truth was that there were nearly four hundred wizards in Great Britain for every Auror. Outnumbered didn't even begin to describe their situation.
Normally, this was just a fact of life, annoying but nothing serious. With Voldemort returned to life and the Death Eaters active again, as the ambush had proved, their small numbers could become nothing short of catastrophic.
The Wizengamot were still fighting her tooth and nail on just about everything she was doing, especially her efforts to recruit new Aurors. "We will not authorise a special intake."
'They declared it smugly,' she thought, 'and even if I wanted to, there were few enough qualified applicants, almost half of them from Slytherin with its tainted past and present. Once they had screened out the most obviously bigoted, they were lucky to get even a handful each year to train, and not all of them stuck it out.'
Putting down the after action report, Amelia wanted nothing right at that moment more than to march down to the Wizengamot chambers and rip their lungs out. Two of her Aurors were in critical condition! The other ten suffered at most minor injuries that were easily fixed, a fact that made her proud of how well they had fared against their enemy, but her heart ached that her people were suffering and she hadn't even known about the threat until it was all over.
"I hate this job." Amelia growled then glared at Harry. "And don't you go cheering me up. I have earned this bad mood, by Merlin!"
He nodded seriously. "They were lucky. They walked right into an ambush by superior numbers and their enemy failed to capitalise on their advantage."
"What choice did they have? They had to respond. That is their duty!"
"Of course, they had to respond." Harry soothed. "This Proudfoot made a number of good calls. I think she is the biggest reason they did so well, though Shacklebolt was also good. He kept his head when he learned that things were worse than reported and he led from the front, trusting his people. He immediately volunteered to take the most dangerous position, acting as bait to anchor the Death Eaters while the majority of his force went to flank them. I think they both deserve praise for their bravery and actions."
Mollified, Amelia nodded at the praise for her people. "They do, and I intend to see that they are recognised for it."
"I know you will. No, this battle proves that the enemy have at least one moderately competent tactician in their ranks, and that they knew the Aurors would have to respond. What they didn't expect was there to be that many, nor for them to be that creative."
"And the Wizengamot is still opposing any special recruitment!" Minister Bones growled. "This is far from the first attack they have tried and my people are desperately understaffed. If only the Longbottom's were around. They had a nose for these kinds of investigations."
Harry looked intrigued. "Just how good were they?"
"For some things, they were just about the best around. Everyone speaks about Moody but the truth is that his habits made him very hard to work with for long."
"And an Auror without a partner is only one lucky spell away from death." Harry's voice was grim.
"Frank and Alice made a great team. They had decent power, good reflexes and a satisfactory spell repertoire. But more than that, they had a good sense of when people were lying to them and sharp eyes. Between them, they also had a keen mind for tracing leads."
"Really? It sounds like they would be great to have back. Why can't you?"
"They were tortured into insanity by four Death Eaters in the aftermath of that Halloween. The fanatics were looking for answers on the location of their master."
Harry only nodded. "That matches what I could discover from Neville, but I wanted to see if that was the extent of it. Adults often tell children half truths or lies for whatever reason. The reason I bring this up is that there may be a way to help them."
Amelia growled. "And why in Merlin's name didn't you say anything before?!"
"I wanted to get permission from their family first before the process went ahead. I was going to do it as a favour for a friend since I didn't know how much they were needed. You haven't talked about them before."
"They were the last casualties of his first rise, really, and we were all uncomfortable with how they ended up." It took a lot of trust for Amelia to admit that. It had become one of her biggest fears, losing her mind like that while her body lived.
A heartfelt hug later, Harry picked up the thread again. "Madam Longbottom has been refusing any suggestion of a way to restore her son and daughter-in-law since I first hinted at it in a letter. It's something that has been eating away at her grandson and tainting their relationship. She won't even discuss the matter with him. I don't know whether it is because the feeling of hope is painful to her, having been dashed before, or because she likes controlling Neville and everything he does." Harry broke off embarrassed at what he had said. It was true that he had seen the way she ruled his life, and the way Neville resented it, but that didn't mean she was refusing for a nefarious reason.
"Sorry."
"No, Harry, I would have wondered that in your place. So what is this method, anyway?"
"Hm? Oh, right, well, normally, the Clan would dive into the person's mind with a restricted technique, one that allows them to explore or change what they find. It is as powerful as it sounds, which makes it dangerous, hence why it was restricted. It could only be used with the person's consent or by the lawful order of a superior, usually for a quick and painless interrogation of suspects or enemy agents. The therapeutic use of it became the best use of the technique, helping soldiers move past traumas."
"Ah, and it is in this way that you wanted to try the technique?"
"It isn't that simple."
"Of course not!" she said wryly. "What is?"
He smiled. "Due to their magic, it wouldn't be safe for them or for whoever conducts the procedure on them to do it like that. The solution should be to suppress their magic, conduct a full physical exam, to prevent any nasty surprises, then use the technique. After the technique is finished, it should be safe to return their magic, and hopefully a recovery of full function."
Amelia nodded. While more complex than the normal routine, it should be easily feasible. The trickiest part of what he mentioned was suppressing their magic. Authorising the use of that on wizards and witches who had committed no crime was never an easy matter. On the other hand, she was the Minister. Her powers were very broad, especially when she could truthfully claim it was part of an effort to restore two popular Aurors and war heroes back to their society. She would need it to work, however. Success made complaints go away, after all.
"There is one more concern, this time an ethical one. As I understand it, there are two ways they can fix a problem. The first is akin to the Reparo spell, it restores the mind to a fit, healthy state by repairing whatever damage was done. The second way is to use the pieces of the mind that are there and combine them into a whole, one that mostly resembles what was there before using old memories, old habits and traits that the caster moulds into shape. It is much like rebuilding a wall the Muggle way after it has been knocked down."
"So the issue is that they aren't the same person as before, just mostly?"
"And the person performing the technique can choose to an extent what the new mind is. Ino-mum would be the one to do it. It is her family's technique. I would be there to assist and to learn only, if I were involved I mean. I trust her to do the best she can to restore them if this goes ahead but I cannot guarantee that the first method is even possible when we don't know just how badly their minds were damaged. Is the use of the second method, rebuilding their minds, an acceptable price for getting them back?"
"I don't know." Amelia almost responded with an unthinking "Yes" but the truth was she would need to think about it. "Part of the question is: how certain is it that they could be restored?"
"With the first method, that depends on how much damage was done and what has happened to them since. We don't know yet if it can be used but if it can, they will be fine. With the second, as certain as we can be with magic on the table." At her look, he added, "at least ninety-five percent. The chance of doing damage to them, however, is far less than one percent. Sometimes, it isn't safe to try and a good medic will know that before they try it. And the Clan are legendary medics." Harry added with the voice of experience.
Amelia smiled back, activating her Byakugan briefly in support. "Alright, I will consider it carefully, but unless I can think of a good reason not to, I will give Ino a chance to make another miracle."
"Thank you, Amelia. Anyone can see how much he wants his parents and I truly believe this will help him get that."
"It will also get me my Aurors back."
"And it should also cut the legs out from under Augusta Longbottom the next time she tries to say how kids should be treated."
Amelia nodded. The older witch was a terror, always wanting to return to the old days.
She put the matter from her mind and went back to her paperwork. It never stopped, not really, but now that Harry joined her, she enjoyed her lunch breaks more than ever. "Thank Merlin for silencing spells," she muttered as she read over a proposal to alter the minimum cauldron bottom thickness.
Harry smiled as he stood watch over her, keeping her safe so she could do her job.
Thank you for reading. Your feedback is appreciated and any questions will be answered. A number of reviewers have wondered why the Potter Alliance haven't gone on a killing spree against the Death Eaters. Simple. It would break the Alliance and ruin their hard work. Currently, they're taking over Wizarding Britain without open combat.