Chapter 72 - Knowledge is Power
In the debriefing from their monthly exams, Harry awarded Hermione with a small plaque for coming first in strategy, ranking around high Chunin. The other Jewels gave her a small round of applause, making her blush. After her award, Harry presented the next one to Cho Chang for being the hardest to hit, around high Jounin skill in her dodging and evasion ahead of the mid Jounin skills of the rest. Surprisingly, Athena had been a close second on that category. The most accurate attack was performed by Amelia Bones again at upper Chunin, something that had the others cheering her on. "I won't let Riddle get away again, I promise."
Amelia got attention in other ways, too. Her more daring style of dress was already setting a new trend across Europe, imitated first by various Veela in international politics then by their fully human colleagues. The fact that the other Jewels seemed to be copying her just added weight to the idea, and all of them were looking the better for it in Jennifer's opinion.
Naturally, Jennifer didn't worry about such things for long. This was one of her increasingly rare days free and she had taken the opportunity to visit the Scottish school in person. The other Jewels aided her through the Muggle repelling wards to enjoy a relaxing Saturday afternoon and evening snuggling in front of a roaring fire.
Once ensconced on a comfortable couch, her head in Harry's lap as he brushed her hair, the beautiful model dropped her barriers against the outside world. She lay smiling up at her young man and pulled him down for a tender kiss.
When Narcissa Malfoy made her next visit to Bewitched, she spied the most wonderful little trinket sitting in the display window. A peacock made with real opal, jade and sapphire that would be perfect for the banquet hall, or maybe on the china cabinet in the hallway. 'I simply must have it!' Narcissa made her way directly to a smiling Jennifer. 'It will be the perfect distraction for my oh so wonderful husband and his complaints about my taste for the finer things in life.'
"Good morning, Mrs Malfoy."
"Good morning, Miss Scott. I noticed you have an adorable little item in the display, this morning."
"Oh, the peacock. Yes, it is beautiful work, hand crafted by a master jeweller. We got it in late yesterday afternoon. I am pleased to see it is already being appreciated."
"I wish to take it." Narcissa made the declaration with a small slip in her usual facade highlighting her intense interest.
Jennifer feigned reluctance, playing her part. "I am not sure that we could part with it, especially so soon."
Narcissa made a rare moue of annoyance, speaking more bluntly than she liked. "I am quite prepared to pay whatever price you require. Really, one would think you would treat your best customer better than this."
Jennifer made a small blush on command. "I will have to ask my manager, Mrs Malfoy. If you will excuse me."
Narcissa waited impatiently. Soon, Diana Wilkinson moved regally over to her. "Ah, Mrs Malfoy. I am to understand that you would wish to purchase a certain item."
"Indeed."
"Very well. Would you like us to add it to your account?"
"That would be acceptable as long as I may take it with me today."
"Naturally, Mrs Malfoy. I apologise for my assistant. She had been informed that it was not for sale to anyone. However, as I explained to her, you are not just anyone."
Narcissa smiled in satisfaction. "That is most alright, Mrs Wilkinson. Perhaps I could have been more understanding. She is only young. It is only to be expected that she does not yet know the ways of the world."
"Her education continues, Mrs Malfoy." Diana seemed to agree with the customer. She signalled to Jennifer to come over then directed her to wrap up the figurine. The young model moved to do so immediately, lifting it up carefully as though it actually cost the Clan close to the three hundred Galleons, nearly fifteen thousand pounds, that they were going to charge for the disguised transmitter. Two minutes later, she presented the trinket that Remus and Sirius had enchanted with a number of yet-legal Compulsion Charms that had made it all but irresistible to Narcissa Malfoy alone, exploiting her Black heritage.
Narcissa called for her house elf, sending it away brusquely with orders to take the decorative piece home and put it in her private chambers. Her business concluded, she visibly relaxed in front of the staff.
"Would Madam like a cup of tea and a fitting today?" Jennifer asked the witch.
"I believe I would, Jennifer. Thank you." Narcissa smiled warmly back, the closest to an apology she would make in public.
Jennifer took her out the back where Harry's clone was already waiting with the warmed oil.
The next day, Harry treated Jennifer and Diana each to lunch at their favourite restaurants before giving the pair the full spa treatment in celebration of their successful mission. That morning, they had already heard the voices of a dozen Death Eaters over breakfast, including Lucius Malfoy himself. Lucius was, as hoped, just as taken with the peacock as Narcissa had desired and gave the trinket pride of place on the banquet table where it received admiring comments from their guests.
Over the next week, Amelia found the information very useful in helping to thwart a dozen crimes incidental to the Death Eaters plans but while they had heard the rich, cultured baritone of the re-reborn Dark Lord, they had yet to hear any of his plans.
At Hogwarts, the use of quills and especially parchment was dropping with the temperature as more students switched to the use of fountain pens, especially some elegant designs in black and gold. The Muggleborn had moved over to pencils, biros and lined paper for their assignments in general.
While some of the staff held some nostalgia for the old ways, the Potter Alliance students noticed that they all used fountain pens by now and they overheard fewer complaints about cramps from the teachers.
There were a few holdouts in all the Houses, of course, but the greatest number were in Ravenclaw and Slytherin among the 'old families'. Even there, the beauty of a well crafted fountain pen was obvious and letters were flying back and forth aboard a flock of owls asking if they could make the change too.
As a prank, the Clan sold a crate full of fountain pens to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop in Hogsmeade, curious to see if the Death Eater spawn would buy something so Muggle in origin. They had to sell a second crate to find out as the first one sold out to the local residents and a number of witches and wizards throughout Scotland before the first Hogsmeade weekend.
A little side-effect of the transition was the rapid invention and commercial success of Sugar Pens to replace the now obsolete Sugar Quills in their role of a secret treat.
Hannah was sucking on one now after breakfast while she went over her Transfiguration essay one last time before class. Justin went past her and into the corridor, obviously going for a jog with Ernie and Wayne. That was unusual but Hannah didn't ask. Hermione had promised a reward if she got an Outstanding on her homework and those rewards were always a surprise.
Her studying was interrupted as Susan came into the Hufflepuff Common Room and straight over to her. "It's coming." Susan's whisper sent a shiver up Hannah's spine. Hannah nodded and continued looking over her essay for a few minutes before she put it down with a huff.
The pair stood and walked out with smiles on their faces as they headed up to the East Wing where the rest of Harry's Jewels were assembling. She gave Cho a hug and a hurried "Thank you for your help." She had told the older girl how they had to study the Avis charm for conjuring birds.
"You're welcome, Hannah."
"Do you know what's happening?"
"Not yet. We're still waiting for everyone." Cho gave the younger girl a hug and they settled in to wait. Harry's clones came over and gave the girls a massage to help relax them.
Just then, the last of the Jewels to arrive, Ginny showed up in her Quidditch uniform and closed the door. A dozen and a half wands were aimed at it, firing Locking Charms, Silencing and other spells to provide security.
"Thank you for coming, ladies." Harry smiled. "Susan?"
"Aunt Amelia just confirmed some of the intelligence we have been receiving from our bug at Malfoy Manor. They are planning a major attack and we now know the target. It's a small village in Yorkshire. The locals are left alone in the main. They don't have much to do with the outside world and the road into the place is poor but that's how the locals seem to like it."
"That's the 'Where'. We know the 'What' and the 'Why'. They're going to attack and kill people because they want to and because their master orders it. The village only has a single constable, a middle-aged man who has spent most of his life in the village and has no idea how to handle what's coming."
"That's where we come in. We know when the operation is supposed to start so we can have people on the ground and ready for them when they come."
"There's a problem with that, though." Sophie's voice was grim. "If we're there and ready for them, it will be obvious they have a leak. While I doubt they will find our bug past the Notice-Me-Not and other charms, that won't stop them looking. Once they've ruled out scrying spells and the rest of Divination, they will have to suspect they have a spy."
"I don't see a problem with that." Hermione had an expression on her face that got her dubbed 'brilliant but scary'. "The more they turn on each other, the less they can hurt anyone else."
"Of course." Tracey replied. "However, there really is someone in that house who could be considered guilty by them of spying."
Hermione nodded and sighed. "Narcissa Malfoy. And in a way, she is responsible. She brought in the bug and put it where it could do the most harm to the Dark Lord."
"Exactly. Do we want to see her tortured and murdered for something that she doesn't even know she did?"
The Jewels shook their heads. "Of course not, Sophie." Leanne replied. "But her life isn't the only one to consider. Not only could we save dozens or hundreds of lives by ambushing the Death Eaters, we could put a lot of them out of this war for the duration. She's hardly an innocent, either."
Harry coughed for attention. "I won't be nominating her for sainthood but she isn't as guilty as you might think. She is jointly responsible for raising Draco to be, well, Draco. She is no friend to anyone except her own narrow circle of 'worthy' people, that is, 'civilised' Purebloods. No Blood Traitors, no poor people, no one with a recent scandal and no one with non-magical ancestry in the last three generations, though the longer, the better."
"Well, that lets out just about everyone here." Susan quipped.
"Naturally. She also has knowingly permitted Death Eaters and Riddle himself to stay under her roof, but someone could argue that she wouldn't survive raising a fuss."
"She wouldn't try to raise a fuss about the deaths of people like us anyway." Cho was still angry at the woman.
"She hasn't either." Susan was quick to point out.
"All true, but there is a difference between that and doing the same crimes herself. From what she has been saying in Diagon Alley and at home, she doesn't want to get her hands dirty with any of that."
"So she is collaborating with these criminals willingly, providing a home for them but doesn't want to kill herself? Why should we care if she gets killed?" Ginny asked viciously.
"Because she hasn't committed any capital crimes that we know of, let alone anything we can prove." Susan shot back, feeling she had to represent her Aunt.
"She is still an enemy in all of this."
"She is getting better." Daphne said calmly. "I don't mean she is perfect but she seems to have been sheltered more than anything else. As she gets to know Yvette and Jennifer, she is getting friendlier. Their backgrounds don't matter to her now."
"You can't say that about Jennifer because she doesn't know her background."
"Ok but she hasn't asked, either. That is an improvement over a few years ago. She hasn't looked down on a Muggleborn in months and has expressed disdain for a Dark but dirty wizard."
"So she has been swapping her prejudices. So what?"
"So there is a chance we can turn her, girls." That got their attention. "We could get a real spy among the Death Eaters."
Ginny was reluctant. "She is still a Malfoy. She has still condoned and aided Death Eater activities. And she hasn't yet given any assistance to the Ministry, the Aurors or us."
"If we can give her a chance, she may prove more useful than you think. Or shouldn't we give anyone a chance?" Tracey asked pointedly. "If we blame someone for who their relatives are, how are we any better than the bigots?" When Ginny looked rebellious, Tracey added one word. "Molly."
"Enough, ladies." Harry interrupted before the argument could get worse. "Ginny, Tracey is right that we cannot blame someone for their family's actions. However, the rest of your points stand."
"So does Tracey's point." Daphne said, defending the other Snake. "Narcissa Malfoy is extremely well positioned to spy on the enemy in a place they consider totally secure. She can even provide detailed information on enemy intentions, capabilities, plans, contingencies and resources. Moreover, she is there, part of the scenery, as far as the Death Eaters and their master are concerned. She is there just about all of the time, too. Far better candidate than my old Head of House ever was for a valuable spy."
"I still don't think her life is worth more than a Muggleborn's." Ginny was as stubborn as any member of her family.
"And no one is saying she is." Susan told her fellow redhead. "They're saying that by saving her life, we can save other lives as well. Maybe far more than are at risk in this attack."
"Maybe."
"Exactly." Hermione spoke up. "Maybe. Until she makes a move towards our side, we have no ethical responsibility to protect her and unless she does start providing vital information, knowingly or not, all she is to us is a potential asset. Besides, I don't know if anyone else remember this, but several of Harry's mums, Temari and Kin for example, were enemies of his dad at one point. Harry's dad turned them into assets and apparently that made a big difference in some big battle."
The others' faces took on a contemplative look.
Padma had a good question. "Can't we look for a way to get the best of both worlds? Keeping suspicion away from her would allow that kind of future gain as long as it doesn't come at the cost of innocent people caught in a war they never heard of. That would be the ninja thing to do, right Harry?"
Parvati smiled. "We could make it look like we got the information another way. We could even use decoys."
Hermione bounced in her seat. "Didn't they make a decoy invasion fleet for the D-Day landings? Why can't we make a decoy village?"
Susan and Daphne both liked that idea. "The Death Eaters can come in and do as much damage as they like and they won't cause any harm at all."
"While we can send in the Aurors or the Lifeguards as a 'response', trapping them in their own plans."
"And we 'leak' the idea that they were discovered by one of their own mentioning the village inside the Ministry. They'll go after their own moles for us."
Though the Jewels didn't know it at the time, Harry's clone was informing the rest of their trusted circle of friends about the issues they were discussing. Justin, Ernie and Wayne hadn't been going for a jog, instead they had been headed to their own meeting.
The guys grabbed some drinks and sat down in the Room of Requirement, now configured with a lot of comfortable chairs and soft ambient lighting. Harry knew from the start that this was likely to be a meeting where tempers were high and he used the Room's powers to create a calmer atmosphere.
One of the clones in the corridor outside dispelled once everyone on the list had arrived and the door to the room disappeared. Inside, Harry called upon his training and stood up. "Thanks for coming, my friends. Something big is coming and you deserve to know about it just as much as anyone else. Not only that, I trust you all to protect the secrets we will discuss here today."
His friends sat up a bit straighter at that and he smiled. "We have confirmed that there will be another attack on a village on Halloween. It seems that Riddle wants to have a special celebration of the anniversary of the night fifteen years ago. You all remember how we've been looking for information? Well, now we've got it. We know where and when they'll attack and we have a good guess at how many will be there."
"How did we get the information?" Fay Dunbar asked eagerly.
"By sneaking in a machine to spy on them. It was hidden in a purchase and placed where it could overhear useful information just like this."
"How the hell did you manage that?" Unlike his girlfriend, Neville was bewildered. He still wasn't terribly familiar with technology, though he was studying it like everyone else in the Potter Alliance.
"My Dad got a transmitter and put it inside a trinket. The trinket was made to appeal to the person who bought it and took it inside. I wouldn't be surprised if it had a little magical help to convince the buyer." Harry added. "The transmitter isn't terribly long ranged but it's good enough to be relayed and.. never mind. I'll explain in more detail after if you're interested." He could see the others were getting bored.
Neville nodded and sat down.
"Anyway, we've got a chance to do some actual damage to the enemy. Unfortunately, 'we' doesn't include us. No one is allowed to go unless they've got sufficient training by the Clan."
"So you're going?" Becky Smith challenged him. The Muggleborn Gryffindor clearly wanted to get her hands on the bastards that threatened her family.
"No. They've banned me too." Harry sighed. "My parents told me that they weren't going to allow me within ten miles of such an unimportant battle. The risk of me getting hurt is too great when there is no need for my presence. They're confident that the Lifeguards will be more than enough. They're eager to restore their honour after the occupation of Diagon Alley, apparently."
Some of the guys and girls in the audience nodded. Their own parents had passed along those rumours too.
"So what are we going to do?" Morag MacDougal asked.
"Well, what we're not going to do is attack the Death Eaters' children here at Hogwarts any time before Halloween. That would only warn them that something is up! We don't want to give the game away and have them switch targets, getting more people hurt. It's going to be hard but we have to respond as if we don't know anything unusual is going to happen. However, I told you because, difficult or not, you are my friends as well as my allies and you deserved to know."
"Thanks, Harry. While a lot of us would rather go with you to get the bastards first, we really do appreciate you telling us." Justin spoke up on behalf of the group.
Elsewhere, the Kitsunes were having their own council of war with the adults, and their own deliberations ended up at a similar point. It was decided that preserving Mrs Malfoy's life was worth making some effort. The next day, the villagers were evacuated to a cruise ship bound for a tropical resort. The booking on the liner was real but the contest was a fake and a minor Genjutsu was used to make the holiday offer simply irresistible. Their village was studied and stripped down to the bedrock before workers from the Foundation rebuilt it. The new buildings were reinforced and built for defence against the Death Eaters and a number of surprises laid in for the Purebloods who would be visiting on Halloween.
In the run up to the Feast, Harry was determined to stay relaxed. He most of all had been forbidden from risking himself in the coming battle. The logic was simple. He was too valuable to risk on what was only a minor battle in the campaign. None of the other parents let their children go, either, so he wasn't alone.
What really helped him was the attention of his friends and his Jewels. They blew off steam with games, music and pick-up games of Quidditch. With the Feast on the Thursday, the first match of the House Cup was only two days later. He got to have fun with the Gryffindors, watching little Athena play as Seeker against the lanky Ron Weasley. The physical mismatch was reversed in terms of their performance in the air. Ron was older, more experienced and bigger, which meant his broom had to work harder to wring equivalent performance.
Katie Bell was glad her Chaser friends had returned for another year. She didn't want to try to keep the temperamental Weasley boy under control by herself. Angelina led them in a friendly practice match against the Hufflepuffs on the last Sunday of October with Ron lucking out with the Snitch, giving Gryffindor the match by ten points.
On Wednesday evening, Harry went to bed surrounded by Hermione, Susan and Daphne in the Hufflepuff girls' dormitory, waking up with a curtain of red and brown hair tickling his nose and bone deep feeling of love from the Jewels.
During the day, Harry had a light breakfast followed by Arithmancy with Professor Vector and most of the Ravenclaws, along with a smaller number from each of the other Houses. After class, where they had to observe a silent spell, identify it from its colour and effect, then derive its equations and incantation, Septima Vector called him back, offering to lend an ear if he wanted it.
"Thank you for your kind offer, Professor. Really, I'm fine."
"Ok, Harry. Just keep me in mind, please." It wasn't the only time she had made the offer to him, and she was mildly concerned that she never saw him talk about it.
Harry gave her a soft smile. "I am keeping you in mind. You don't need to worry about me, though. My Jewels have a good way of helping me through this day."
She smirked. "I'm sure they do."
"Oh. Nothing like that." Harry gave her an impish grin. "Whenever they think I'm feeling down, they hold me until I'm feeling better."
"Ah. Well, I could do that too." She teased him.
"Maybe you could at that." Harry laughed as he ducked out of the classroom.
During the free time before lunch, Harry was dragged off to the Library. The Ravenclaws in their group of friends rolled their eyes at the antics of the others but admitted that they weren't disruptive. Whatever the dour Ms Pince might think, they kept their antics out of sight and utterly silenced for the other students in the place.
In the evening, Harry found himself the target of a number of girls in need of cuddling. He had to laugh when a number of them weren't his Jewels, though he wasn't sure what to think when Pansy snuck into the line. He turned her down like the rest, however, and smirked when he saw she was frustrated by her failure to 'woo' him.
Headmistress Minerva McGonagall started the Halloween Feast, well aware of the planned attack that would be going on at the same time. She put away those thoughts by looking at the faces of all her students in front of her. "Welcome, staff and students, to another Halloween Feast. Before we begin, I would like to call for a minute's silence for James and Lily Potter, whose sacrifice gave us a dozen years' respite from the Death Eaters, and for all the victims of the Death Eaters and their so-called Dark Lord."
Draco wanted to rant, wanted to ruin the honour paid to the fallen, but he had been silenced and magically frozen in place by Tracey Davis for the duration of the speech. Along the Slytherin table, others were watched and dealt with as needed.
"Thank you. In these trying times, it is more important than ever that we do not forget those who have given so much of themselves. The rise of intolerance is something we must all face and combat. Let these cowards find no support within these walls.
"However, we should also remember to take joy where we find it. Tonight, I want you all to set aside your differences as we celebrate those things which unite us, our shared humanity, our magic and our bonds to one another. Let the Halloween Feast begin!"
Minerva knew it wasn't her greatest speech but hoped that her message wouldn't be lost upon the young minds present. The food appeared on the tables and she tucked into her own Italian meal, spaghetti alla matriciana and a small glass of wine, while around her the students at their tables reached for the platters of food.
Harry smiled across at Susan and Hannah and squeezed Hermione's hand. The foursome ate slowly, chatting on a wide range of subjects until they could escape back to 'their' Wing of the castle where Susan and Hannah curled up on either side of him as they waited for news.
In York, on a rise just above a small and sleepy village, a number of 'pops' echoed right before a large swirl of colour heralded the arrival of the main formation. The Death Eaters were here in force and they meant business. Within ten seconds, a squad of them had apparated again to pre-planned positions, taking only a handful of seconds to do a last check before erecting powerful anti-Apparation and anti-Portkey wards around the village.
Within the village, an obviously poor and dirty man checked his new watch as he waited for the attack. "They're late. Two minutes of our planned five minute delay have been used up by their tardiness. It's as they say. No battle plan survives contact with the enemy."
The captain of the Lifeguards had also noticed the enemy's arrival and had to decide quickly if he wanted to delay his forces or not. His second in command had tried to object to him being here but he needed to be there to make the decisions. As he watched from the top of the tallest building, the Death Eaters flowed together into a mob more than any military formation. The poor roads into the village acted like bottlenecks for the attackers.
There! He saw four riders silhouetted against the evening sky. Shaking his head at their arrogance, he sent the call for the rest of his forces to make their way to their planned positions. While the man would far rather have had his people in place from the start, he understood the value of the intelligence that had warned them in advance. The decision to try to preserve that asset was above his head. Right now, he had a battle to fight.
Lucius was leading the Death Eaters into this disgusting little village. His lip pulled back in a masterful sneer as he glanced dismissively at the buildings around them. He was in command of this force of Pureblood might, staying in the centre of the pack so that he could be heard by all the wizards and witches under him.
The first inkling Lucius received that the raid was going badly was five minutes after he gave the signal to his forces to begin the attack. The Muggle buildings were starting to burn sluggishly at most whereas they ought to be blazing merrily to the accompaniment of the screams from inside. That could be passed off as cold weather, wet buildings or similar. No, the proof that everything was going wrong came when a hail of black iron spikes came slicing out of the sky onto the path in front of him.
He turned around looking back for the source of the deadly rain, seeing those Muggle-ish uniforms that the Lifeguards wore on dozens of wizards arrayed at the rear of his forces, and others moving in to surround them on all sides, breathing hard at having run from outside his wards.
"Ready! Aim! Fire!" a sergeant in the Lifeguards called out and another volley of spells launched out at his wizards. Each Lifeguard had chosen a different target, remembering their long training.
The Death Eaters responded with their own spells, yelled out and cast at whoever caught their eye, leading to many Lifeguards being left alone while a couple of unfortunates at the front were the target of over a dozen spells that came in a variety of types. The Death Eaters' training paid off as their spells were aimed far better than before.
In response, the pair of wizards dropped to one knee to let the spells pass harmlessly by and fired back from there with Bombarda curses at the ground in front of their enemies, pelting them with shrapnel. Some of the Death Eaters had laughed when they saw the spells missing them, jeering at their bad aim. Those Death Eaters were now spitting out their own blood as they groaned in agony. The majority had raised shields when they saw the return fire.
The Lifeguards retreated in good order to cover inside the buildings, the same buildings that were magically hardened against the spells that hit them. So far, the Death Eaters had lost several of their number to injury while the Lifeguards had lost no one, and the Captain intended to keep that ratio as long as possible.
As the spells flew back and forth, his troops took advantage of their cover, firing from all angles on the Death Eaters in the village square. They exploited their advantage ruthlessly, a quarter of them on defence, conjuring earthen walls to absorb more spells and creating magical shields to block others, while the rest took turns firing off explosion curses.
In response, the Death Eaters showed the value of their training and their re-acquaintance with the Dark Lord's feared punishments. They held their ground and fired back with a variety of Dark spells including half a dozen Killing Curses, all of which impacted on the earth wall in front of the church.
Quickly, the peaceful village was filling with smoke, fire and the screams of the wounded. Lucius had recognised that he had walked into an ambush but he was certain that he had the Mudbloods and Blood Traitors outnumbered. More importantly, he knew what the Dark Lord would do to him if he retreated too soon like a coward. He knew that it also would happen if he lost too many minions, but that was the risk when you signed up with a Dark Lord.
On the whole, Lucius preferred to stay and try to kill the filth rather than run just yet, so he ignored the fear hammering in his chest, calling up his hatred for the scum before him as he cast his third Killing Curse that night, nailing one Mudblood who had painted his face in dirt. Only the bastard lived, his last-second conjuration of a physical shield absorbing the spell at the cost of exploding in his face. His dirty blood was flying in a glorious spray of bright red highlighted by Crabbe's and Goyle's spells hitting the roof over his target.
The Lifeguards also refused to quit the scene of battle. As much as their enemies, hate drove them on as well as their training. These were the bastards who had bullied them in Hogwarts, insulted them and their families, and denied them decent jobs. They were going to make them pay for all of that abuse with their lives.
One Death Eater, too intent casting a pain curse on a lone Lifeguard, didn't even see his victim's squadmates flanking him. While their fellow soldier was writhing in agony, the quartet approached and at a signal, unleashed the most powerful cutting, bone-breaking and explosive spells they could cast, anticipating that the terrorist in front of them would try to block or dodge their attacks. The result was decidedly gory, splattering three other Death Eaters with their late fellow's bloody entrails and brains. They were disgusted and enraged, turning to face the Lifeguards who had fallen back towards cover. That wasn't how it appeared to the other Death Eaters, who took their running as the first stage of a retreat. Since they had been uninjured themselves until that point, more out of luck than any skill, the sudden covering in hot blood and guts was all the more shocking and they broke, running toward the only exit they could see.
When they were cut down, too, half a dozen piercing and cutting curses devastating their unshielded bodies, their screams finished off the Death Eaters' morale. In ones and twos, then five or ten at a time, the Death Eaters turned and ran away. Unfortunately for them, the Lifeguards had been trained well for this situation, too. Rather than break off their attacks, the Captain called for them to press the Death Eaters all the harder, knowing that a broken force was a vulnerable one, and the only good Death Eater was a dead Death Eater.
On the rout out of the sleepy village, a further score of Death Eaters fell, most only injured but eight died within a minute and a ninth as the Lifeguards' medics tried to save his life. Sadly for the Healers, their efforts were in vain and they lost the opportunity to interrogate the enemy.
Thirty seconds later, the anti-Apparation and anti-Portkey wards were broken and Amelia Bones' Aurors arrived en masse. The Lifeguards took one look at them and dismissed them, concentrating on their own. Among the new arrivals, Tsunade charged forward, hidden from the Aurors by the chaos of battle, and added her own efforts to save the lives of the Lifeguards, the people sworn to save her son.
While Tsunade, Amelia and their people were busy in post-battle cleanup, Lucius was kneeling before his Lord. Summoning what courage he possessed, he looked into Voldemort's eyes, feeling again the mammoth power of the older wizard's magic drowning his being. After a small eternity, his Master broke the Legilimency connection and Lucius dropped his head obediently.
As the proud Pureblood recovered from his ordeal, Voldemort took a moment spent seemingly in reflection. However, Voldemort too had to recover from performing the spell. It was one of his tools for keeping his minions in line, to overpower the probe to increase his aura of power, making each Death Eater feel in their bones that opposing the Dark Lord was suicide. It also cost the reborn wizard in his reserves and in the form of momentary dizziness.
"Hmm." Voldemort pondered the memories he had examined, sorting and storing them even as he thought about their contents. "You walked right into an ambush, Lucius." The Dark Lord's voice hissed out.
"Yes, my Lord." Lucius knew lying was pointless, especially now that Voldemort had seen events for himself. "I was concerned with keeping my assigned force in good order for the cleansing of the Muggle filth. The lookouts I had assigned reported nothing untoward nor did I see anything myself out of the ordinary until the ambush was sprung upon me."
Voldemort nodded, mollified that the fanatic before him hadn't tried to conceal his mistakes. "Indeed, dear Lucius. As a result of your blundering into a trap, thirteen Pureblood wizards and witches lost their lives tonight. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"They must have known we were coming, my Lord! I know not how they were forewarned as I have spent my time here at the Manor on your orders, preparing your forces for the attack and exhorting them to greater efforts!"
Voldemort paused a moment. It was obvious that Lucius wanted to absolve himself of any guilt in the affair. However, it happened to be true. Punishing the man for following his Master's plan would be an obvious attempt to shift the blame that the rest of his Inner Circle would see and they would react accordingly. 'No. As tempting as it is to make the dandy scream for costing me a dozen wands tonight, it would be the wrong course of action in the long run. I must find who has betrayed me. Lucius will be motivated to finding the traitor, of course. Anything to save his own neck.'
"Lucius, I am charging you with the investigation. Discover how we were betrayed to the filth. Find the one who leaked our plans to the enemy. Bring them before me alive and sane. That is all." Voldemort's voice had returned to the smooth, cultured tones that both soothed ruffled feathers and bent others to his will.
Lucius bowed further and backed out of the Dark Lord's throne room, making extra sure he didn't turn his back on Voldemort in the process, before he scurried away. He didn't consciously notice Voldemort calling for a blond Muggle to torture. He scattered junior Death Eaters in his path as he returned to his quarters where he poured himself a generous measure of his favourite looted whisky. His eyes landed on the beautiful peacock sculpture that his wife had found not long before, letting its beauty and craftsmanship ease his mind as he tried furiously to think how the plan could have failed.
He was unaware that he was speaking his thoughts aloud. Down in Cranleigh, in the Clan's war room, a clone was writing down his every word.
In the days following the attack, the Lifeguards provided security as others from the LPF restored the battlefield into a near-exact replica of the original village, plus the protections and some general cleaning that they provided before the inhabitants returned from their impromptu trips.
The DMLE had questioned the Lifeguards under the supervision of the Director, while Naruto looked on from an adjoining room through the one-way Obscuring Charms. The soldiers in the private army had cooperated with the investigation on the understanding that there would be no charges laid against them without good cause. A couple of the Aurors came across as rather belligerent in the interviews, something Naruto attributed to hurt professional pride. Overall, there were no major problems as the other Aurors were just as glad that someone had taken out some of the trash and none of their own had been hurt.
The Clan got good laughs out of some of Lucius' guesses for who the traitor could be, or how they got the information. However, it was obvious that he had no clue how it was done. He had had the Manor examined four times by specialists, two with Death Eater ties, two by different independents who needed the money and the place had come up clean of magical eavesdropping. His intense questioning of both his own combat force and of random Death Eaters had likewise turned up nothing of value or interest for the senior Pureblood.
His hidden listeners, however, were interested in every word. They had snuck in a total of three bugs by this point, one for Lucius' study, one for the banquet hall, and a third to capture casual conversations elsewhere in the Malfoy Manor. Most of what they recorded was useless in the short term but it did lead to the arrests of another five Death Eaters on various charges.
It did leave the problem of how to end Lucius' investigation, and after listening to the many suggestions, the Potter Alliance decided to plant a rumour that they heard the information right in the Ministry building itself, overheard by some worker in a stall as a couple of Death Eaters were using the toilets.
Lucius seized on that lifeline, presenting the information to his Master along with a partial list of Death Eaters who had visited the Ministry in that period. Close questioning and the threat of torture failed to reveal who had been so utterly careless but Voldemort used the incident to encourage a more security-conscious approach.
In the papers, the Lifeguards were roundly praised for their proactive stance and their protection of wizards and witches from a further breach of the Statute of Secrecy. The Ministry's late arrival was glossed over and Amelia had to content herself with that. Her meeting with the Prime Minister had been far more cordial than any previous one between their offices in the last twenty years as she was able to report that wizards and witches had stopped an attack on his people.
At Hogwarts, however, there was something far more important happening. The first Quidditch match of the season opened that first Saturday of November with clouds and rain dampening the teams but not their rivalry. The Gryffindors and Slytherins lined up, ready for Hooch's whistle. Now that Snape was long gone, she had been calling the games far more evenly. At her signal, the teams peeled off, racing for their planned positions and the balls were released.
The hundreds of students watched as Crabbe and Goyle tried their best in the opening minutes to intimidate Ginny Weasley, one of the new Beaters for the Gryffindors, only for the males in the audience to wince when she returned a Bludger at high speed right at Crabbe's groin. Luckily for the Slytherin, a last-second evasion saved his chances of continuing his family line at the cost of a rather brutal hit to his upper thigh, an area almost as sensitive.
The burly wizard moved slower after that before recovering at a time-out with the aid of some painkillers. While he was affected, though, the Gryffindors had far less interference than their opponents and exploited that chance. Angelina, Alicia and Katie moved seamlessly, getting a lot of shots on goal in that half hour and getting a moderate early lead. They would have done better if their own Keeper McLaggan had managed to save as many as his opposing number.
All good things come to an end, and the red and gold team's advantage was no exception. After that, both teams worked harder to tip the balance their way. Crabbe and Goyle tried a number of dirty tricks until they were ordered by their captain, Vaisey, to stop as they were conceding too many penalties that way.
The game was a rugged, low-scoring affair as the Keepers stepped up their game and the Beaters concentrated on defence over offence. Bludger hits mounted up and on the ground, Ginny's friends were glad that the Bludgers weren't the solid iron balls they were supposed to be. At over a hundred pounds, a hit from one of them would have been lethal rather than the painful that they were. The fiery redhead gave back as good as she got, however, nailing Goyle in the left leg, mirroring Crabbe's hit, and then a hit between the shoulder blades had Zabini moving much slower.
That seemed to be the break the Lions needed. The loss of Zabini's performance made the Snakes' line up far weaker and the goal difference increased once more. In a bit of a letdown, the Snitch was spotted flying up from the stands right into the Gryffindor Seeker's face, an easy catch even a five year old could make.
Harry got questioned intensely in the stands by his friends but for once he was completely innocent.
After the game, the girls on the Gryffindor team endured a relatively short speech from their captain in Angelina Johnson before she dismissed them. Not wasting time, they dived out the door, crashing into the Hufflepuff team quarters where Harry was waiting with the hot massage oil. Angelina tried to push to the head of the queue but her efforts saw her sent to the back while Ginny gave her spot to Katie. Of them all, Katie had been hit the most by the Bludgers during the game. The often retiring girl had been as loud as always on the pitch, attracting the attention of the Slytherin Beaters more to let the other two Chasers get more shots on goal. Katie took one look at the oil and got out of her robes and took off her shirt while Harry respectfully turned his back. She allowed a relaxed moan to escape when his warm fingers began their work.
The witch hunt in the ranks of the Death Eaters offered up three young and naive recruits from the Continent, rash Purebloods who were brought in by the lure of regaining lost glories that had never been. Their tortures and deaths served both as warning and vengeance for the audience. Their bloodlust was sated for now and Voldemort found himself reconsidering the wisdom of his earlier declaration of power. Obviously the witches and wizards of Britain were not behaving like the collection of frightened sheep he remembered from his first rise and he knew who to blame. Potter. Their precious Boy-Who-Lived had parlayed his fame and innocence into a dominant political and economic position. Until he could work out how the opposition were countering him so effectively, he couldn't win and there was little point sending out his minions on raids. Instead, he would have to plant his Death Eaters into places where they could get the vital intelligence that the Dark Lord lacked.
In the staff room, Headmistress McGonagall was doing something she hated: holding a staff meeting. Somehow, the process turned a group of otherwise interesting and mature professionals into boring and petty individuals. The thought crossed her mind that Albus had to endure these for decades and she wondered if that contributed to his mindset of treating everyone else as children. 'Merlin knows I have that tendency.' She suppressed a grimace and listened as Professor Flitwick made his report.
"And so having reviewed results from our Fifth and Seventh Year students, I am confident that they will do well with their OWLs and NEWTs. I am also pleased to report that the newly approved anti-cheating charms are handling the ah, diverse array of methods our charges have used to try to fool them."
"Purely in a spirit of enquiry?" Septima dryly enquired.
"Oh, of course that was their reason." Flitwick gave a wry smile.
"Naturally."
"Thank you for your report, Filius. And that finishes the reports." Their chorus of relieved sighs brought a brief smile to her face. "In conclusion, I am generally pleased with what I have been hearing. While one or two of our new Heads of House had issues remembering the changes since their own time here, those troubles appear to be fading. And in support of Filius' point, the use of pen and paper has made my own students' essays easier to read. I think we can all be grateful for that."
As her colleagues stood up, Minerva noted that Filius had decided to stick around.
"Was there something you wanted to discuss, old friend?"
"Not as such. I wanted to thank you again for choosing me as your Deputy. I know there must have been pressure on you not to hire someone with my mixed ancestry."
"You're right. There was. All of it from people you could name and none from anyone I consider worth listening to. There was a little concern expressed in a surprising quarter about not reaching out to others in an effort to bring them around, but I found the argument invalid. You are the best person I could think of for this job. That's all there is to it."
"I know, Minerva. You have said so before. At first, I wondered if that nameless person might have had a point about someone else being a better choice."
"Was that before or after you saw the paperwork for your new responsibilities?" Minerva asked as she raised a small glass of sherry.
"Oh, after, definitely!" Filius laughed and raised his own glass in salute.
"And now?"
"And now, I know Albus was wrong."
"About so many things, too." Minerva sipped her glass as she got her thoughts in order. "I wonder if it was being hired straight out of school to teach himself that had an effect or was he always like this inside?"
"From what I have heard, there was some incident that changed him into the man we knew. I haven't been able to get any details however." Filius finished his drink and set the glass down on the table. "I shall see you in the morning, Minerva. Do try not to stay up too late."
"Speak for yourself, my friend. The Ravens have told me how you're often found in your office until all hours. Don't forget to take a little time for yourself too."
"I won't forget, Minerva. Thank you and good night." He bowed and left, heading to his quarters for a night in with a good book.
Minerva called an elf to clean up the detritus from the meeting while she gathered her papers together and reflected on the state of Hogwarts after a year as Headmistress. As she had told the staff, she was rather pleased overall.
If only she didn't have to worry about young Malfoy and his fellow bigots.
Thank you for reading. Your feedback is always appreciated. My thanks again to my hard-working betas, Cloud Zen (ID 894440) and Daisy-Duck39 (ID 5921525).