Chapter 76 - Interesting Times
The excitement reached a peak a few days after the story broke. The Daily Prophet was still talking about it for all they were worth, alternately praising the Foundation and emphasizing that the method wasn't ready for general use and might never become available. They had to tread a fine line to get the result their owners wanted, which was acceptance of Selene Lovegood and to let go of personal desires to learn or use the ritual.
The crowd in Diagon Alley had to be broken up. Before the Aurors could resort to offensive spells, Sirius and Remus, in the Alley to check out the latest at Quality Quidditch Supplies, had an idea in true Marauders fashion. Remus cast a Sonorus on his friend then levitated him to where the crowd could see him. An amplified whistle got their attention.
"Hey! Isn't this great news? We have a powerful, intelligent witch now available to help heal our world and keep our kids safe from the Death Eaters and their Dork Lord. Let's grab drinks! The first round is on me!"
The prospect of free drinks distracted the crowd nicely. Everyone 'knew' that the Black fortune was vast and Sirius Black was notorious in his day for his drinking so there was the nice prospect of more free booze ahead if they took up his suggestion quick enough.
Sirius Black grinned at his friend. "Thanks." Sirius commented after Remus cancelled the Sonorus Charm, leading the way to the Leaky Cauldron. Old Tom almost had a heart attack on seeing the nearly endless stream of wizards and witches making their way into his bar, all of them ordering the most expensive drinks they could.
A quick word to Old Tom and they had called in a few specialists from the Foundation who expanded the interior of the pub enough to handle the crowd. Tom himself was busier than he had ever been, serving drink after drink and seeing piles of Galleons before his eyes. 'Maybe keeping the place clean wasn't such a bad idea,' Tom thought to himself, ignoring the fact that it was done by Ministry workers as a punishment for them and a tourism measure for Wizarding Britain. The measure had helped offset a general decline in people eating or drinking in Diagon Alley as most in the Potter Alliance or Lily Potter Foundation went elsewhere.
Tom didn't care. He had customers in front of him and business had never looked so good.
Just before the young wizards and witches went back to Hogwarts for the new term, nearly half of them were getting ready for a party. Earlier in the week they had each received envelopes stamped with the Potter seal. Inside it was an engraved invitation to a party to be held at a hall hired by the Kitsune Clan for the event, not that the teenagers knew or cared about that detail. To them, the important bits were that it was for a good reason, to celebrate the return of Selene Lovegood, and that they had been promised free food and drink, and a small present to remember the occasion. Oh, and there was something about Minister Bones' recognition of Mrs Lovegood's resurrection.
At the appointed times, their invitations became Portkeys that took the teens and their families to an antechamber where they handed over the enchanted parchments in exchange for a magical badge that allowed them to pass through the wards and reach the hall.
Colin and Dennis Creevey were nervous. They had heard there would be a lot of girls present tonight and they didn't want to miss such a chance to start their harems. At the door, their hero's scary adopted father greeted them by name and pointed out the dance floor and the tables groaning under the weight of the food and drink. It was a very near thing but ever-present hunger sent the pair to the tables first. They were growing boys, after all.
Out on the dance floor, Harry was dancing energetically with his lovely Luna Lovegood who kept him on his toes, changing the dance steps without warning and making him keep up. The rest of his Jewels were waiting their turns for their time together in public. Sophie, Tracey and Cho were chatting animatedly about the latest news from China.
While the mainland were no less eager to reclaim Hong Kong after so long, they were becoming surprisingly open to the West in recent years. It was an intellectual exercise for the young ladies but they also knew that the Foundation's international business would be affected by such a big player. These and other stories all showed subtle influences from the Clan's efforts to change the world since they had entered it a decade before.
Beside them, Hermione, Susan and Daphne were having their own discussion. After putting up a minor notification ward, they had got to talking about the good stuff. "You know, we haven't thanked Harry properly yet."
"What for?" Susan asked eagerly. "I'm always ready to thank him, Hermione, but what's the reason this time?"
"How about his patience?" Daphne offered. "He's been so good about waiting for us to be ready."
Hermione grinned. "Yes, why he hasn't slammed me up against a wall and fucked me stupid today."
"Or 'pushed' me to my knees before him and let- er made me worship his big cock yet." Daphne added.
Susan opened her mouth when Anko interrupted the trio. "And Susan wants him to put her on her hands and knees as he fucks her from both ends."
The red-haired Hufflepuff blushed. "You surprised me!" Susan accused the older woman.
"Nin-ja!" Anko replied laughing. "So why are you girls still here? I wouldn't be waiting around."
As the woman walked off, the trio of witches shook their heads at her antics. They could never tell if she was serious about wanting Harry though she had never made a move towards that end, but she did make a good point. They hastily got up and headed for the girls' bathroom, letting clones take their places while they went to the suite Harry had built for them nearby.
Luna woke the next morning, wrapped up in Cho's arms and with Harry holding her from behind. She kissed both her lovers good morning after a quick breath freshening jutsu on all three of them then snuggled for a little while, enjoying this last moment of peace before they got up to start their day. While she no longer feared students at Hogwarts as she had early in her first year, time spent in the castle was time she couldn't be free.
That and all of the Potter Alliance was wondering when Voldemort would reveal himself again. For that reason, they were on high alert. The Auror escort were seconds from discovering just how dangerous a motivated people could be when they Apparated in a little earlier than they were expected. Luckily they chose to ignore the Stunning Spells sent over their heads by a pair of startled fourth years.
Rather than leaving things to fate, Amelia Bones had agreed to the Clan's suggestion to keep their movements a secret right up until the last moment even from most of their allies. The only ones with the itinerary were Harry's parents and the Lifeguards.
The Lifeguards had taken up position at four in the morning at the station, both on Platform 9 3/4 and on the King's Cross side. Squads two and four, nineteen trained wizards and witches, kept watch over the station. A new squad would relieve an existing squad every two hours until finally they finished their rotation in London at midday according to the schedule. Another squad would stay on the train all the way to Hogsmeade Station where they would be met by a different one who had secured the platform and would escort the students to the gates of Hogwarts.
It was a big task for the Lifeguards, using the majority of their personnel over the course of the long day and exposing them to the students, and vice versa, in a hopefully safe and friendly setting. Should anyone cause trouble, they would have people there to stop them, or that was the plan.
For Harry and his Jewels, it allowed them a measure of safety and relaxation as they went about their day. They played around, ate breakfast and did a final check of their luggage, as well as chatting to each other and everyone else until Naruto signalled that it was time for them to start going to the station. While none of them saw any point struggling with traffic, they had made the decision to go through from the regular station. As such, each of them had a temporary Seal inscribed on them, matching the one Harry had received a decade prior. This locked away their accidental magic so they would be safe to transport via the technique that earned Naruto's father his nickname, the Yellow Flash.
Seconds later, each of them were ready, their arms firmly held by one of the Clan who used the Flying Thunder God technique, teleporting them to a hotel across the street they had booked. There, they met the rest of their friends and wandered as a group to the station proper, getting some pastries and drinks before heading through the portal.
On the far side, they saw four Lifeguards each examining them closely, marking them off on lists and giving a respectful nod to Harry and his ladies. As soon as they were through the checkpoint, the group closed ranks around Luna. News of her arrival had already started to spread and witches and wizards up and down the platform wanted to ask her about the return of her mother from the dead.
Her friends and lovers wouldn't stand for their interference. The busybodies could go hang themselves for all they cared. Shielded from their glares and staring, from their shouted questions and demands, Luna and her mother shared a heartfelt goodbye. Selene was crying as she watched her daughter get on the train to Hogwarts, just as beautiful as she had always pictured she would be all those years ago.
The mother in Diana had her comforting the younger woman a moment later, letting her hide her tears from the crowd while Selene regained her composure. A short time later, she was presentable and able to deal with the world again. The parents in the Potter Alliance watched on as their children were carried off once more to school.
"All that work for nothing." Harry heard Ernie mutter under his breath as they were eating their dinners. The quality of food had risen considerably since the house elves had started taking cooking lessons. There was a variety to the dishes and the range of ingredients, especially spices, had been expanded considerably. It was still food produced for a large number of people but for all of that it was better than most restaurants.
"The security?"
"Yes." Ernie flushed for a second at getting caught but met Harry's eyes directly.
"Not for nothing then." Harry replied firmly.
"What do you mean?" Justin asked his friend calmly.
"Just that. It gave our people good experience in dealing with crowds, let people see them in a protective role again as they were in Diagon Alley and could have forced the Death Eaters to abort plans to disrupt the tradition. Yeah, deploying them like that meant they weren't guarding our farms or the town as tightly but there wasn't any trouble there, either."
"I still can't believe they haven't found out about it yet." Justin shook his head in wonder. "You'd never be able to hide that in the regular world."
"You're right. Then again, it's not a regular town. No roads or rails in or out, no power or water pipes, no visible gas supply. Everything transported in and out by other means."
Ernie looked around quickly, breathing easier when he noticed the low powered silencing barriers. At Harry's grin, he shook his head. "I guess I'm getting paranoid, Harry."
"Nope. Even paranoids can have enemies." Harry nodded his head towards a part of the Slytherin table. There at the end of the long table, Malfoy was sitting in isolation. Even his minions Crabbe and Goyle were sitting a metre away. Every time they had tried to get closer, the Revulsion Jinx on their boss was triggered and they found themselves pushed back.
The guys nodded at that reminder and Roger changed the subject. "So how were your holidays?"
"Great as usual." Harry replied. "And far from boring."
Ernie laughed at his friend's choice of words. "Harry, you have a gift for understatement."
"One does one's best." Harry shot back imitating Justin's aristocratic accent.
"How is she, really?" Roger asked hesitantly.
"Luna? She's- she's ok. Really. I mean, two big shocks close together aren't good for anyone but she really did miss her mother. They spent practically every waking moment together over the holidays, thanks to the clones."
"Shadow Clones really are the greatest, Harry." Wayne said fervently and their friends around them nodded, echoing their own agreement with the statement.
"Exactly. Although even I was shocked that my parents could do it. I mean, you hear stories about this or that but it's another thing to experience it for yourself." Harry shook himself out of a mental tangent. "So they have spent a couple hundred hours so far talking and catching up on everything they missed together. I'd bet a dozen Galleons that their clones at home are still doing it, too."
"I know I would in her place. Merlin, it's a strange new world we're living in these days, Harry." Ernie told him. "An age of wonders."
"Getting poetic in your old age, Ernie?" Justin ribbed him.
Once the students had eaten their dinners after the long ride, Headmistress McGonagall stood to give a quick speech. "Welcome back to Hogwarts, one and all. It is our earnest hope that while you used the break to rest and recharge, that you have not managed to forget too much. For our older students, OWL and NEWT exams are coming up sooner than you think and they will be the harder format that we have been warning you about. I expect that you will all do your best, now and into the future. Thank you for your time."
She looked around the Great Hall. Predictably, many students had let her words sail over their heads, of course but she was satisfied overall. It was short and to the point. She sat down and started chatting to Filius beside her regarding the new term while around her, the students did the same.
A minute later, the desserts appeared and she gave a secret smile at the chocolate mousse in front of her. While she didn't have the greatest sweet tooth, the calorie free confection in front of her was a confirmed favourite. Filius might have been tempted to poke fun at her over that if he hadn't been busy enjoying his own dessert, a raspberry strüdel topped in custard.
Gradually, the students drifted out of the Hall to their House's Common Rooms for a relax before heading to their beds, bellies full and content. In the morning, classes would resume and they would come in their own time.
In the morning, Minerva looked out over the Great Hall. The students were back to mixing at the tables regardless of House colours, something that now seemed far more natural than the rigid separation that was still required for the formal feasts. Her sharp eyes picked out the cause for the change, Harry Potter, sitting with Luna at his side on the Ravenclaw table.
The choice wasn't lost on the Ravens. Many of them had approached the pair along with students from the other three Houses, wanting to talk to Luna Lovegood. The Fifth Year student stuck close to Harry's side in the face of all the attention. Such was his presence and influence that none of the students, even the most curious, persisted in their questioning of the young witch once Harry gestured them to stop.
Her expression tightened as she saw Malfoy stride over arrogantly. The Hall went silent as people awaited the coming confrontation. Minerva gestured to her staff and her Head of Slytherin, Peter Scunthorpe, rose with her and moved in. 'Obviously, despite everything the Malfoy boy has seen, he still thinks he's superior. Merlin, how did he get that insulated from reality?!'
"Lovegood!" Malfoy's voice attempted to cut through the noise as he tried to cut in line.
Luna ignored him as Harry's hand caressed her arm gently, helping her stay calm as she answered questions from an energetic but polite Colin Creevey. "Yes, the funeral was just a family affair. Thank you for your concerns."
Colin opened his mouth to thank her and move on, having run out of questions he felt comfortable asking, when he felt his body pushed away from the table by some spell. "Hey!" He turned around right into the pale, pointed face of Draco Malfoy.
"Out of the way, M-uggleborn." Draco sneered, barely catching himself before he uttered the now banned epithet. It was hard reining in his temper but the Dark Lord had been most insistent that getting information was more important than any of his petty concerns.
Colin turned back to Luna, continuing the students' efforts to ignore Malfoy. "Thank you for your time, Luna. See you in class."
Draco was angry at being ignored but again fought it down. His mission for the Dark Lord came first. He tried to take another step towards the Blood Traitor but found his feet wouldn't move. Looking down, Draco saw that someone had fused his shoes to the floor with a silent Transfiguration. He reached for his wand. "Release me!" Draco shouted at the crowd of Mudbloods and Blood Traitors.
No one even looked at him.
Draco cast three Finite Incantatem spells at his feet before he managed to undo the transformation and then raised his arm, pointing his wand right at that blasted Potter.
"Stop right there, Mr Malfoy!"
Draco heard the hated voice of his Head of House. The man was distantly related to Daphne Greengrass, the traitorous whore who had supplanted him in Slytherin, though come to that he was related to every other British Pureblood to a greater or lesser degree. He ignored the Blood Traitor just as he denied their kinship, a Cutting Curse on his tongue when he felt the magical ropes of an Incarcerous wrap around him, pulling his wand arm to point at the floor.
Luckily for the ferret, he managed to cancel the spell just in time before he sliced his own foot off.
Nodding to his superior, Mr Scunthorpe cast a levitation spell on the bound wizard, pulling him to a side chamber where they could have a modicum of privacy. He took Malfoy's wand from him, conjured a chair for himself and took a seat.
"Now, Mr Malfoy. Do you have an explanation for why you were pointing your wand at a Hogwarts student in front of dozens of witnesses?"
Draco bit his lip to stop the angry retort that wanted to make itself heard. As he fought for calm, he tried and failed to think of a good excuse. Mutely, he shook his head, trying to fake contrition to reduce the coming humiliation.
"You understand that such behaviour is unacceptable at Hogwarts. Now since you were interrupted before your spell was cast, there is a limit to the punishment I can assign. If you can convince me that there will not be a repeat of this morning's lapse of sanity, then I might be convinced not to assign the maximum sentence."
As calmly as he could, Draco shook his head. "I wouldn't dream of being caught doing something like that again."
Mr Scunthorpe glared. "That is not what I meant, Mr Malfoy. Such an assurance is worse than useless. Shall I notify the house elves to expect your assistance cleaning the castle by hand?"
"I'm sorry, sir. I meant that I will not attack Potter or anyone else!" Draco desperately hoped he was sufficiently persuasive. If it meant not spending time with those disgusting creatures, he was willing to do quite a lot. Besides, for once he hadn't meant to attack Potter when he came over.
"I am not so sure of that after examining your disciplinary record. To ensure you have an opportunity to learn your lesson, you will report to the kitchens tonight to render your assistance. If they give a satisfactory report on your work ethic and ability to follow instructions, then we will see about adjusting the rest of your punishment. Now, get to Charms class. After class, Professor Flitwick will recover your wand. You will not need it for Herbology so you may pick it up from me in my office after Ancient Runes."
Draco glared at the man for a long second as his temper betrayed him then looked away for around fifteen seconds as he forced himself to calm down. He looked back and nodded his understanding, getting to his feet and hurrying to class.
He was running late and he hadn't even finished his pumpkin juice.
Professor Flitwick gave Malfoy a telling look when he arrived five minutes late, directing the miscreant to take a seat right at the front that had obviously been left for him. Once Malfoy was seated, the Charms Professor resumed lecturing the class.
The rest of the class were already taking notes on Flitwick's tips for silently casting a pair of Fourth Year spells.
Soon enough, the next Hogsmeade weekend dawned bright and early. Most students had been looking forward to the break and the opportunity to spend pocket money on treats like Honeydukes' chocolates or a trip to the Three Broomsticks. Unfortunately, their peaceful day was never going to be.
Lord Voldemort had made it clear to his followers that he must get the information on the resurrection method used to bring back Selene Lovegood. Whoever succeeded would be rewarded beyond their wildest dreams. The rest would suffer their master's displeasure. The Dark Lord had also told them that he would not accept attempts to sabotage each other in this matter.
While Lucius Malfoy and others were trying to go it alone, believing that their talents and connections were sufficient to the task, Alecto and Amycus Carrow took a different view. The brother and sister pair were long used to working closely together and immediately knew that if one of them brought back the information, he or she would share the reward with the other. As such, they were already far more disposed to cooperation to achieve their goals than most of the Inner Circle.
Within a day, the pair had worked out that there was no way for them to beat the wealth and connections of Lucius Malfoy or the viciousness of Bellatrix Lestrange. Not on their own, at any rate. However, there was nothing stopping them from using other Death Eaters to help them.
And so the pair went around to as many of the lower ranked, newer Death Eaters as they could, inviting them to join their cause, and using threats and pain to obtain their cooperation when persuasion failed them. A week after they had started, they had both a plan and a suitable force to carry it out. All they needed was the correct time.
On that Saturday morning of the Hogsmeade weekend, the chosen Death Eaters were all present and in position. Amycus and a dozen other Death Eaters were waiting at one end of the village close to the path from Hogwarts, while Alecto Carrow was doing the same at the other end with her own dozen minions. A further six were spread out around the perimeter of the village, all keeping watch for their targets.
At the top of their list were Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood. The obvious Auror presence, a full squad on patrol, made the pair of Sixth Years a very hard target to take alive, even if they managed to spot them which so far they hadn't.
As the morning dragged on, the waiting Death Eaters found their patience waning. The sharp cry of joy from one of the smaller students, a Pureblood boy in Muggle jeans and t-shirt, snapped the last thread of Amycus Carrow's patience. He stood up, breaking the Disillusionment Charm on himself in the process, and snapped out his wand as he charged toward the startled boy.
Following their leader, his group of Death Eaters rose and charged in after him. From her perch across the village, Alecto heard her brother's voice and saw reflected flashes of spells being cast. She commanded her troops to follow before she activated the Portkey to her brother's previous position. Without bothering to look at her group, she hurried after her brother.
In the chaos of the battle, both students and villagers panicked. They ran every which way, trying to escape the danger, many screaming in fear or pain.
For Harry and his friends and jewels, it was a nightmare scenario but one they had trained for all the same. The Death Eaters had used such terror attacks the last time around to great effect, hitting at soft targets which no normal government could guard effectively. They had no reason to think the Death Eaters would refuse to do it again.
The fog of war could work to their advantage, however. Harry and his clones spread out through the village. Though the disguised clones tried to stay hidden, they could afford to be less careful than normal. Within five minutes, they had already taken down their first Death Eaters. Harry's clone had knocked out one masked attacker and Susan had Disillusioned him after Harry had dragged him out of sight. Elsewhere, Death Eaters were attacking full force but found that many of their targets refused to be put down, dodging at the last instant or otherwise evading the deadly spells.
By this stage, most of the students had fled the village, heading in all directions, while students like Justin and Ernie tried to shepherd them into defensible locations, often failing miserably. Regardless, they were doing their best.
Harry was pleasantly surprised when he saw a dozen LPF employees sticking together, fighting back. They were fighting as individuals rather than as a group as Lifeguards would but they had managed to tie down a number of the black cloaked figures. He took advantage of that, coming up behind the Death Eaters and cutting their Achilles tendons of three of them. The rest turned to face the new threat.
Harry faded away before they could target him with their spells. While their backs were turned, the LPF employees cast a wave of Stunners at the Death Eaters, knocking them out. Harry appeared long enough to tie up the enemies, the work of half a minute, before moving to find more combat.
By the time he had finished, however, it was clear that the attackers had retreated. One hoarse voice had shouted out "Morsmordre!" throwing up the Dark Mark onto the clouds above the village, and then the remaining attackers vanished in the streak of colour that accompanied Portkey travel.
In the aftermath, he talked to the Aurors who had been stationed in Hogsmeade. Three of them had been injured, only one badly, while they had taken down half a dozen Death Eaters between them. Their own prisoners had been thoroughly searched and secured, ready for transport.
A quick check confirmed that all the Floos in the village were down so Harry got out a satellite phone, passing it to the senior Auror who spoke to his boss. Minutes later, about half of the DMLE Apparated into Hogsmeade along with a number of Healers who examined the prisoners. Once they were pronounced fit to travel, two Aurors grabbed onto each prisoner, taking them back to the Ministry and the holding cells that awaited them.
There was more bad news, however.
"What did you say?!" Headmistress McGonagall demanded coldly later that afternoon after the head counts were made and rechecked.
Senior Auror Shacklebolt gulped and repeated himself. "I said, there are eight students missing. In the chaos, the Death Eaters must have grabbed them and taken them away."
He passed over the list to the Headmistress who examined it rapidly and paled. "Over half of them are from my own Lions. Merlin, how did it come to this? Ron Weasley and his girlfriend Ms Vane, both Creevey brothers, Ms MacDougal and three Third Years, all Muggleborns."
"Yes, Headmistress. We haven't received any word yet from their captors and our investigators haven't found any leads yet. They traced the Portkeys to a field in Sussex, but the criminals obviously used that as a diversion. There is a mass of Portkey residue there, heading to places up and down the country, but by the time we check them all, any trace of their next destination will have faded. We'll keep doing our best, of course, but right now, we would have to get lucky to find them. This was a well-planned retreat."
Minerva nodded tightly, acknowledging the wizard's words. She didn't need to say anything to him about doing his best to find her missing students. She knew without a doubt that Minister Bones would have already ordered exactly that. Besides, whoever they were, they had made the Aurors look like fools. They would want their own revenge.
"Understood. I will let you return to your duties."
Shacklebolt turned and left hastily, grateful that the older witch's temper had held. Once he was gone, Harry's clone came out of hiding.
"Harry. Tell me some good news."
"The Lily Potter Foundation has given just about all our employees time off from their regular jobs to help search. Only a handful remain, enough to answer queries and placate customers, while the rest are organized into search parties. We now have over two thousand witches and wizards hunting for our missing people. That's the biggest search party in the history of Wizarding Britain."
Her lips twitched in a half-smile. "And the Lifeguards? I notice you didn't mention what they were doing."
"Just under half of them are out there, looking, leading the search parties. The other half are waiting at base for any word of the location of the missing people. Once they get it, well, I wouldn't want to be in their way."
Minerva bared her teeth. "Good!"
Before Harry could reply, the Wizarding Wireless set in the corner squawked for attention. Wordlessly, Minerva flicked her wand at it, putting on the news.
"And this just in! In a stunning development, a number of concerned citizens acted to oppose the growing Muggle filth and corruption in our society! Their strong step forward towards a pure future for our world was made necessary by the unnatural and disgusting actions of Blood Traitors. These Blood Traitors perverted the order of our world and our government, managing to resurrect Selene Lovegood, mother to one of the whores of the Potter boy, obviously her payment for special services to the master and owner of that source of evil and corruption, the Lily Potter Foundation. We here at the Wizarding Wireless Network wonder how long it will be until these traitors to wizardkind use other foul means to destroy our society-"
The broadcast cut off there as the Wireless set blew up. Minerva lowered her wand and blushed, realizing only after the fact just what she had done in her mounting rage.
At the office of the Wizarding Wireless Network, two Death Eaters had taken over. While one kept her wand on the tied up group of workers, the other kept the regular announcer under the Imperius Curse. Once he had finished reading the prepared speech, he was hit by a Stunner as were the others in the office. One at a time, the Death Eaters hit each of them with Memory Charms, erasing the last half hour and replacing it with false memories of their patsy 'revealing' himself to be sympathetic to the Death Eaters' cause, tying them up and giving his own speech before Apparating out.
Once that was done, the first Death Eater left with the announcer in Side-Along Apparation and the other prepared his Portkey. He got behind the office workers, hitting them with a low-power Ennervate Charm that would bring them around slowly while he left.
Back home again, the Carrows levitated their pet and headed out to their garden. While Amycus kept him off the ground, Alecto quickly prepared a hole for their victim with Vanishing charms. Amycus let the unconscious Blood Traitor fall into the hole before hitting him with another Ennervate spell. As the announcer woke up in the six foot hole, the Carrows dumped the soil back into it, burying him alive. No need to risk him telling tales of his own innocence or their guilt.
They headed back into their home where pilfered broadcasting equipment waited. Gathering their minions together, they ordered them to bring in the prisoners. Soon, they were ready for their second broadcast, their first live performance for the fools of Wizarding Britain.
At a nod, Alecto and Amycus grinned to each other. Soon, they would have their master's reward but first, they got to have fun before a big audience. Though they didn't give their names and had disguised their voices, soon everyone would know better than to oppose the Dark Lord.
Despite their fervour, the Carrows fumbled a couple of their lines at first. But that was ok. They knew their real message got through to the people as the Mudbloods screamed under the Cruciatus Curse.
"Enough!" Amycus Silenced the latest victim. "If our demands are not met, we will kill one of the Mudbloods every hour!"
"But what do you want?!" Colin Creevey called out through his pain.
"We want to know just how the Lily Potter Foundation resurrected Selene Lovegood! Such information obviously cannot be trusted to anyone other than proper wizards and witches, not filth. We also demand the resignation of the fake Minister, Amelia Bones, and her trial for fraud and corruption! In her place, Minister Runcorn will cleanse the Ministry of the cancer that is eating away at the heart of our government, supported by the true guardians of propriety in the Wizengamot."
The demands continued, getting ever more ridiculous, but that was expected. The Carrows knew that they would never get everything they asked for and included impossible demands to justify killing hostages.
At the end of the first hour, Amycus made another broadcast. It was short, sharp and shocking.
"Our just demands have been ignored by the corrupt Blood Traitors. We have no choice but to prove our commitment to the cause of saving Britain from the corruption that is destroying it."
"Speak, William Gardiner. Speak your final words for the wizards and witches of Britain."
The man didn't respond verbally, mustering up enough defiance to spit at his captors. The shocked listeners could imagine all too well the blows that rained upon him at the sounds of flesh hitting flesh. Though they couldn't see him, they would have applauded his courage as he glared at his murderers.
"Avada Kedavra!" The roaring sound which shocked many in the audience came just before the audible thud of a body hitting the ground.
"Thus dies a Blood Traitor! Heed our warnings. You have one hour before the next!"
For all their success in covering their tracks, the Carrows had neglected an important detail: getting a way to contact them so they could conduct negotiations. By the time the body had been cleared out, the pair realized that no one had tried to talk to them about their demands which quickly led them to the error in their planning.
At Malfoy Manor, the Death Eaters were gossiping like a bunch of old women about the raid and the demands. It took only a few minutes after the first execution for one of them to let slip the name of who they thought was behind it. The bugs Cissy had unknowingly planted did the rest.
"All right, people! We're moving out!" Captain Anderson told his troops. As Harry had told the Headmistress, fully half of the Lifeguards had been left behind in case they got a lead. Now that they had, heard by a corporal detailed to listen to the take from the bugs, the Lifeguards' commander wasn't going to waste any time.
Normally, he would have left this to his sergeants but he was determined to get there as quickly as possible.
"By squads, move! Squad 1, go!" Anderson watched in satisfaction as they double timed it to the Apparation point where the corporal would be waiting to give them the coordinates. Pointing at each squad in turn, he got confirmation of their order and charged after his men.
The Clan were well aware of the Lifeguards' movements, particularly that they hadn't waited for their employers to give the word. "Commendable initiative." Naruto noted. "Still, we had best clear this with Amelia and her old department."
Tsunade smiled. "Already done. My clone just got off the phone with them, passing along our intelligence and the news that our Lifeguards are already on their way. She's unhappy about being the last to know, her words, but she's sending along half a dozen Aurors along with official authorization for the Lifeguards to participate in the rescue operation."
Naruto smiled and called Captain Anderson.
"We're just a bit busy here, sir." Anderson replied, hands taking over and snapping out to give his orders non-verbally as he multi-tasked.
"Captain, you are to expect Auror support shortly along with official backing for your rescue."
"Thank you sir. Is that all?"
"Just one last thing, Captain. Good luck and good hunting." Naruto hung up the phone, knowing his hand-picked commander would appreciate losing the distraction.
He was right. Now free to concentrate fully, Anderson Apparated to the coordinates and took in the situation at a glance. Two squads were already at work. Half of them were setting up notice-me-not wards and transfiguring the area to create defences while the others were spreading out to scout the area.
The home visible in front of them matched the unwarranted arrogance of its owners, in Anderson's opinion. Lots of decorative features crowded into a two-story stone pile on the theory that more is always better. There was a lot of gold paint, protected by various charms, where no paint at all would have been better. The Captain shook his head of such useless thoughts.
His sergeant came up to him with a copy of the plans for both the home and its defences, made from both the Ministry records and from various visitors' recollections. His small 'staff' gathered to him at a gesture.
"We need to do this right. We want to be in and rescue the hostages before they have time to kill them. Suggestions?"
"Sir, they've got everyone inside. They're relying on their wards to give them warning."
"Of course. It's lazy but I expect nothing more from them. It's also normally very effective. However, I don't want to give them that time to prepare for our arrival."
"So can we go underground? Jenkins has an Earth jutsu that will create a tunnel for us easier than the equivalent spell."
Anderson stroked his chin as he quickly thought it over. "Do it. Leave 2nd Squad above ground on lookout and to distract the opposition. The rest of us will enter via this cellar here."
"Yes, sir!"
From behind their new wall, Jenkins carefully cleared out a tunnel for the Lifeguards who followed him. Unfortunately, the cellar wasn't where he expected it on the first, or even the third attempt. While he was hard at work, a short series of noises alerted the Lifeguards to incoming Apparations. The Auror squad who arrived this way found themselves surrounded by twice their number of Lifeguards, all of whom had their wands trained on them.
"Stand down!" The Lieutenant ordered quickly and the Aurors were relieved to see the wands point at the ground in front of them instead.
"I'm Shacklebolt. These are my wizards. Minister Bones gave us the message that you were here and that we're to work with you." The dark skinned Senior Auror got that out as rapidly as he could, not wanting to waste yet more time after taking a disgraceful thirteen minutes to get to the scene.
"We're digging under their wards and you're welcome to back us up. You understand I don't want to risk the Death Eaters discovering us by unnecessary movements aboveground."
Kingsley 'Shack' Shacklebolt nodded, hiding a grimace that he and his men were relegated to support but had to concede his point. "Very well, lead the way. There should be another squad after us any minute now."
The Lieutenant nodded to his sergeant who directed a private to take the Aurors down. When the other Aurors arrived just as the first group got underground, they all moved into the tunnels except for their sentries.
The Death Eaters were suspicious but hadn't seen anything really concerning. From the house, all that could be seen was a bunch of those damned Lifeguards turning up then they disappeared again.
Amycus had sneered when he heard the report. "Fools and Mudbloods. They must be frantic, checking every Dark hideout in Britain."
Alecto wasn't so sure but couldn't see what they would gain from this. 'They never did make sense.'
A quarter hour later, with time running low before the next execution, Jenkins found the wall of the Carrow's wine cellar. Very carefully, the Lifeguards breached the wall, using Silencing spells liberally to stay undetected as long as possible. Once they were assembled, they split up into their four-man teams and stayed under Disillusionment Charms as they spread out from the cellar looking for the kidnapping victims.
It was a balancing act between their need for speed to reach them before any others died and their need for stealth for they couldn't take risk that the Death Eaters would slaughter the hostages if they were discovered. Staying in touch over radio, they cleared the ground floor and were running out of time as they ascended the staircase as quickly as their camouflage would allow.
Getting desperate, Captain Anderson strongly considered breaking their stealth but decided against it. The question was made moot a moment later as a Death Eater bumped into an invisible Lifeguard. As he opened his mouth to raise the alarm, the unlucky Lifeguard's teammates whipped out Stunning Spells at the Death Eater. The Lifeguard tried in vain to cushion the body's fall as it made a thump.
"Go! Go! Go!" Anderson told his troops. Already the Death Eaters were stirring, coming to find out what the noise had been.
The Lifeguards sprung into action. Each squad of two fire-teams took a wing of the home, advancing in leapfrog fashion and checking each room quickly. The defenders realized they were under attack and sickly yellow and green spells flew around. The Lifeguards ducked and covered, putting finding the hostages ahead of killing the Death Eaters. Despite that, a couple of defenders died to the counter fire from the Lifeguards. The Aurors behind them did their best to subdue the Death Eaters, stunning and tying up the ones who survived the onslaught.
Near the end of their rapid advance, Anderson's command squad found the hostages. He nodded to his sergeant who sent in the men, checking for traps before stunning them all and putting them in a warded and expanded bag. Once the objective was secured, he ordered his people to switch to normal tactics against the scum who would kill children.
The reaction was a roar from the Lifeguards who were now free to attack the enemy without worry about hitting innocents. Alongside them, the Aurors did their best to keep up but found themselves too slow as a rule. Each room was entered not by opening the door but by blasting a hole in the wall beside it. The debris was still falling as each team flooded the room with simple but dangerous spells.
The defenders were in a panic. Nothing they did slowed down the Mudbloods and even their favourite spells, the Unforgivables, were useless. Any Killing Curse was intercepted by summoned debris or more commonly by conjured physical barriers. Casting the other two was almost worse. A rain of Banishing Hexes and, of all things, Cheering Charms met any attempt to cast the Cruciatus, ruining the concentration and mindset required and destroying the caster's will to fight. And the Imperius was met by Confundus and other compulsion spells telling the caster to break their control.
As soon as they could, the Lifeguards put each enemy out of the fight with a vengeance. Multiple broken limbs, immobilised and tied up, then stunned to make sure they couldn't cause any trouble or die of shock before being stuffed into magical bags for later trials, each Death Eater met their end this way if the Lifeguards got to them first. If the Aurors did, well, the finishing place was the same even if they felt a little less pain on the journey.
And suddenly, it was over. Amycus and Alecto Carrow had tried to leave, abandoning not only their underlings but their family home, when they discovered the invasion. It was not to be. The Floo had been put out of commission by them as a basic precaution, of course, and restoring it took more time than they had left. Apparation and Portkeys had been tried only to find they were blocked.
It was an ironic reversal of the tactics and fortunes the Death Eaters had enjoyed in the first civil war.
The light and noise of a dozen spells filled their vision as the Lifeguards burst through the wall and they knew no more, killed by those they had dismissed as their inferiors.
Minerva McGonagall was sitting by the Wireless set brought in to replace the one she'd destroyed in her frustrated rage. She dreaded the next broadcast from the kidnappers but could never have forced herself to leave. Like thousands of wizards and witches up and down the country, she wanted to know what would happen next. The burst of static made her jump, she was that twitchy, then she heard a half-recognized voice come on.
It wasn't the kidnapper, though, that was made clear with his opening sentence.
"This is Captain Anderson of Potter's Lifeguards. We have found and rescued all of the remaining hostages and taken down all of the kidnappers. As I speak, my people are handing over the criminals to Aurors under the command of Senior Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt to await their trials. The hostages will be given a full examination at the expense of the Lily Potter Foundation then returned to their families. We would request that their families report to the main LPF office in Diagon Alley or the satellite office in Hogsmeade to speed up their safe return."
And with that, he cut the transmission, returning listeners to normal programming.
Within an hour, the hostages had all met with their loved ones as the Healers finished their examinations, releasing them after healing up cuts and bruises. They told the story of the brave Lifeguards who had burst into the room and rescued them, and waking up in the LPF hospital. Of the Aurors, they had seen nothing at all.
Molly Weasley had to be sedated when that came out to the relief of her son Ron and his girlfriend who just wanted to rest. For their part, the Creevey brothers and Morag MacDougal only wanted to get back to their dorms at Hogwarts and away from the attention. Minerva McGonagall turned up in person with the Heads of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw to aid their escape from the spotlight. Once they were back in the castle, Morag found herself running into a surprised Harry's arms.
"Thank you!" It wasn't the distraught witch but the Creevey boys saying that. "The Death Eaters told us that you took down half a dozen of them trying to protect everyone. While everyone else seemed to be running away, you charged in like a Gryffindor to fight them."
Harry heard a "Hear, hear!" and looked over at Ron who had his arms around his girlfriend, Romilda Vane. The youngest Weasley boy nodded in support of his declaration then turned around to head back to his table, catching up on his missed meals. Eventually, Morag let go of Harry and headed up to her dorm to recover in private. Padma slipped out of the Hall after her, taking a few of the witch's favourites with her.
By evening, Amelia had managed to schedule their trials filling the coming week of the Wizengamot. As such, she had come out of the affair with stronger support than ever. She had also announced in a special edition of the Daily Prophet that she had authorized the Lifeguards to lead the rescue when they asked since they were ready and the DMLE personnel were already scattered across Britain looking. While Aurors gathered from up and down the British Isles, the Lifeguards were allowed to go in and she was proud that her people hadn't let their pride get in the way of the rescue, performing admirably under the pressure and chaos.
The Death Eater trials were a foregone conclusion. Their allies would complain about excessive force but no one would care much. The papers were carrying pictures of their dead victim and interviews from the survivors. Amelia knew they were all dead, only their bodies hadn't stopped breathing just yet. She would strip their properties from them and divide up the proceeds between their victims, all of them, not just those they had kidnapped in this latest attack. After their convictions, Minister Bones wanted the condemned to be given Veritaserum to discover the full list of their crimes.
Amid the flurry of Wizengamot business that evening, no one noticed the Minister's addendum to the bill on dealing with the prisoners, one granting full legal recognition of one Selene Lovegood and any like her.
The next morning, Minister Bones arrived for her delayed meeting with the Prime Minister.
"Ah, Minister!"
"Prime Minister" Amelia curiously noted the smile on the older man's face, taking her seat when invited.
"Tea?" This once, Prime Minister Major went through the full formalities, studying his guest. "I was surprised that you had to cancel yesterday's lunch at the last minute. I do hope you were able to deal with whatever this mysterious emergency was that your secretary mentioned."
"I was, thank you."
Shaking his head, Major bit. "Would you care to enlighten me about this matter that was important enough to disrupt our schedules?"
Bones waited until he had finished his sip of tea. "The terrorists launched a raid on Hogsmeade yesterday. Since it was a Hogsmeade weekend, hundreds of students were in the village at the time."
"I had wondered if they were being too quiet." Major said mildly, the rage in his eyes belying his thoughtful tone. "They have not hit any of our villages or towns in a while."
"It is possible they felt provoked into taking action by some recent news on our side of the fence," Amelia allowed. "Further 'corruption of our world' by 'Muggle filth' and the 'fake Minister', naturally." The scorn in her voice as she quoted the Death Eaters kept the Prime Minister from taking offence at her words.
"So what happened next?"
"Panic. Chaos. Civilians including students running in every direction while the squad of Aurors tried to defend them and simultaneously deal with the terrorists. My people got some help in the task thanks to some of the civilians standing up to the attackers, taking the fight back to them. While untrained in proper police procedures, most wizards and witches have moderate training in self-defence and some of them remembered it yesterday. They outnumbered my own Aurors on the scene and were able to contribute to the defence enough that the terrorists left without getting their primary objectives."
"And what were those objectives?"
"The capture and interrogation of a couple of high-profile students, particularly Mr Potter, who were expected to attend the outing. Indeed, Mr Potter helped to defend his fellow students as they evacuated back to the school, evading their attempts to capture him as he and the other volunteers took out a dozen of the terrorists between them."
"This would be the same Potter involved with the Lily Potter Foundation, if memory serves."
"Exactly, Mr Major. His return to our society heralded a number of major changes, mostly good. Already a household name for surviving a personal attack by the terrorist leader fifteen years ago, his philanthropy and commercial actions have only boosted that. His loss could devastate our society." Amelia had to work hard to control her voice and expression as she discussed the theoretical possibility, for the personal effects of his loss would be even worse for the witch.
"If he's so important, why did he risk himself in the line of fire?"
"He felt it was the right choice. The young man has undergone extra training beyond his age group and he is gifted when it comes to our sort of combat. He is better than half of my Aurors even at his tender age. Not only that, the civilians who fought back were all employees of his company. Loyalty up and loyalty down, you might say. Regardless, he fought smart and was never in any real danger."
Major looked skeptical at that claim but let the matter drop. "Was that the end of the matter?"
"Unfortunately it wasn't. When they retreated, they took with them a number of hostages, mostly children." Amelia had to bite back various comments about what she thought of anyone who would do such a thing. She saw from Major's face that she wasn't the only one. When they had taken a moment to calm down again, she went on.
"They escaped via Portkeys, appearing a second later in a deserted field dozens of miles away, then took more Portkeys from there to prevent us tracking them. Although we conducted a search for them, with about a quarter of the Ministry and one in seven citizens taking part, we had no leads on where they could have gone. Search parties checked a long list of hideouts and other places while search warrants were requested for the homes of suspected individuals who might have been involved. None of that was needed in the end. Some associates of the kidnappers were overheard discussing the matter, leading us to suspect the people truly behind the attack and teams were dispatched to investigate and rescue the hostages. This came too late for one of the hostages, however, who had been executed by the kidnappers while they were on air when we failed to meet their demands.."
"Why didn't you talk with them, at least to stall them?"
"We couldn't. These geniuses of planning had left no way to track them, no way to send them a message, since any such means could have been a trap. They executed a hostage live on air and blamed us for failing to meet their demands."
"I've often thought they must be insane."
"The leaders of this little band were known to be off for years now. It still won't save them from justice."
"Good." And Major meant it. The more of these loonies who were off the streets, the happier he was, and the sooner the better.
"As I say, one of the hostages had already been tortured and killed before we tracked them down but the rescue operation was a complete success. The remaining hostages were found and retrieved with nothing worse than some cuts and bruises from the initial fighting and have already been treated for their injuries and returned to their families. Six Death Eaters died at the scene or later of injuries sustained with all the rest, including the brother and sister pair who organised the attack, captured and awaiting trial and execution."
"You had quite a day."
"Indeed. Between organising the relief of the village, the nationwide search and later the trials for fifty criminals, I didn't have a free moment to speak to you myself."
"I quite understand."
"However, overall this is progress."
"It certainly is. The lack of further attacks on our people has removed most of the internal pressure on me to crack down on the Death Eaters from our side. The newspapers have also laid off the issue, more than I expected, to be honest."
"I am grateful for that. Losing all our hard won progress on cooperation between our societies would be bad enough but the spectre of a war on magic terrifies me."
"And losing your independence does not?" It was the one thing he had wanted to ask ever since the woman first hinted at reunification.
"If you had asked me five years ago, I would have been. We had that fool Fudge in the Minister's chair and the previous PM had no reason to trust any of us, let alone protect us. It would have been a disaster. Now, though, now we have a plan and a timetable that we can work towards. We have good jobs lined up and a positive outlook."
"As long as you get rid of your terrorist problem."
"We're working on that. We've removed most of the support and connections they used, reduced their fortunes, taken back control of the media and the courts and forced them to retreat to their supposedly impregnable defences. Their internal morale is falling and they've suffered numerous defeats, wearing down their numbers. Yes, I'd say we're working quite nicely on that problem. By midsummer, they should be gone. Certainly they will be unable to make any more raids on the helpless." Amelia's smile could have done a shark proud. "And soon enough, they won't be able to do anything ever again."
Prime Minister Major found himself sharing it at the prospect.
Thank you for reading and for your patience. Reviews as ever are welcomed and questions will be answered. Thank you Cloud Zen and Daisy Duck for your continued work as my beta readers.