Author's Note: This is the last double chapter I'm putting out. From now on I'll be posting one chapter a week on Monday. There is not going to be a lot of fat on this story from here on out. Not every chapter is going to have gun battles but things will happen every chapter.
On a lighter note, I am still getting reviews and PMs from people confused about the timeline. I've started deleting the guest reviews but it's still a thing. So for the last time. The year is 2015. Harry was born in 2000. His parents went to school in the early 90's. I know this is different than the books. I time jumped because I didn't want to look up what movie was playing in the summer of 1996.
Harry was woken up by pounding on the bedroom door. He was out of bed like a shot and to door before Hermione even register the first knock. It was Dora, she was wearing men's boxer shorts and a Daft Punk t-shirt. She was on the phone and Dan was stumbling out into the hallway half asleep in his boxers looking confused. Harry checked his watch and saw it was half past eleven. He did the math in his head. It was half past four in the morning in the UK. That was when the Death Eaters liked to attack.
"What's going on?" Harry asked ready for a fight.
"Luna had a vision. The DE's are going to attack the bank to rob the gold storage vault and kill the blood traitors they somehow know are in the bank and the Order is waiting at the back door to muggle London to capture the ones that get away. This is all coming to a head in the next fifteen minutes. We have to move now." She said.
"Right. I can be ready to roll in two minutes. Go toss on your armor. You too Dan, it's going down now. We need to pop over and help." Harry said rushing back into his room and pulling on the dragon hide pants and vest. They both vanished like the vest leaving him still in his boxers. He pulled on his t-shirt, track pants, and gun rig. He slung his MP5k over his shoulder and his bag over the other shoulder before pulled on the dragon hide jacket which didn't vanish. He jammed on his trainers and stuck his gun in the gun rig and his wand in the inside pocket of his jacket. He pulled on his glasses and looked over at Hermione who was following his lead and was just pulling on her jacket.
"I need you you stay back for now, we're going to keep an open line with our phones and the little Bluetooth ear pieces that came with our phones. If I call for a medic I'll drop a portkey card on the floor and you pop over. It's important that nothing happens to you." Harry said leading her out of their room.
"Why? Because we're together now, and you think you have to protect me?" She asked sounding hurt and angry.
"No, because if something happens to any of us you're the only one that can heal us. You're more valuable to the group as a healer right now. If one of us takes a curse to the face you're the only one that can fix it. I'm for shit when it comes to healing and Dora is just as bad." Harry said.
"Right." Hermione said feeling dumb for questioning Harry at that moment.
"Have Emma act as your nurse and backup. Get her ready to go, make sure she has her armor on and her gun ready. Here keep this on you, it's the portkey I'll drop for you two to come over if we call for you. Hang out in the parking garage for now. I love you." Harry said pulling her into an intense but quick kiss as they met Dan and Dora in the hall and they rushed out of the front door. They rode the elevator to the basement and Harry shrank and grabbed the Beast which confused Dan and Dora.
"In case we need cover. I can always expand it in the alley and we can use it as a wall." Harry said pulling out the portkey to the London branch of Gringotts.
"Good call." Dan said taking a hold of the portkey the same time Dora did. Harry tapped the portkey with his wand and they flew through the air for twenty seconds and landed in a small stone room. Harry and Dan had their guns up the second they landed.
"Where are we?" Harry asked walking to the door. It opened when he got there and a goblin stuck his head in.
"Good you got here quick. Come on!" He said leading them out of the room into a dark muggle bank and out the front doors. Harry looked around and felt lost for a second before he saw the Leaky cauldron down the street. This must be the Goblin's muggle bank where they hold meeting outside Magical London.
"Let's move. They are waiting for us to lock down the bank." The goblin said activating a glamour making him look like a short fat white man in a gray suit. They ran up the block and into the tavern. It was empty and Sam the night barman was slumped over the bar dead. They ran out the back door and to the entryway which was left open. They saw a group of sixteen Death Eaters in full black robes and white masks walking up the alley to the bank. With them they had three bodies floating along. Frank, Alice, and Augusta Longbottom.
"Dora, tell your mum to have the goblins lock down the bank. It's going down now. Then hang up. Dan, what's the best option tactically to kill everyone of these fuckers without alerting them too soon?" Harry asked.
"We hide under our cloaks and take out the guys in the back. It looks like they are posting men ever hundred feet or so up the alley. Get close, hit them with a three round burst in the face and keep moving. We'll work our way forwards up the alley nice and slow to not draw attention to ourselves. They will figure it out at some point but with the silent guns and the cloaks we can get all of them if we keep moving between shots." Dan said.
"Good. Dora, did you get all that?" Harry asked putting in his small earpiece.
"Yeah. I got it." She said.
"Good, as soon as we got all of them call the bank and get the people out through the cauldron. Take this portkey to New jersey, and drive the group to the apartment. Or to Doc Carter's office if we have wounded. We'll make our way around the bank and get eyes on the Order. I want to see which ones are willing to kidnap us for the old man. If he's there then we'll pop right to Paris and drive out of the city before we pop back to the states. I have my little Ferrari with me. I can make it to Bordeaux in a few hours and pop back. We need more portkeys in the US. Is everyone ready?" Harry asked linking their phones with the predownloaded app on the phones.
"Ready." Dora said pulling on her cloak and vanishing.
"Ready." Dan said following her lead and vanishing under his cloak.
"I read you Harry. We're standing by." Hermione said over the ear piece.
"Good. Let's go. You and me on the left Dora, Dan you're on the right." Harry said leading the group through the entrance.
Harry ghosted up the alley hugging the shadows cast by the buildings on the left side. Harry slipped up behind a Death Eater standing by the apothecary. He swung his gun up and hit the man in the back of the head with a three round burst destroying the man's face and his mask. Harry grabbed him as he fell and lowered him to the ground. A part of his brain, the part that was still a boy, told him that he just killed a man. The rest of his brain gave a sigh and a head shake and said one word in reply. "So" and Harry shrugged. It wasn't the first man he killed. That would be his first year defense teacher. It wasn't going to be the last. Besides, it was a Death Eater, did that really even count as a man? It was more like a rabid dog. Harry blinked and shut all that out of his head.
Harry looked over and saw another DE's face explode and he was lowered to the ground. Harry continued up the alley as the pack of DE's made it to the front of the bank. He slipped up behind a second watchmen and repeated his earlier performance. The man across the street had just enough time to see his friend fall before his face exploded and he was lowered to the pavement. They headed up the alley and repeated the process one more time cutting the number of targets from sixteen to ten. At that moment Harry heard Snape over a voice amplification spell.
"Come out and face us blood traitors! We have your Blood Traitor grandmother and your two vegetable parents!" Snape called out.
Harry saw red at that moment, but he pushed it down. He looked around the alley, the situation and everything fell into place in his mind. The old man set this whole thing up. This wasn't a Death Eater gathering. This was a show for the people inside the bank. The group was being lead by Snape. And the only fools dumb enough to follow Snape... Harry lifted the mask off the man he just killed and saw Vincent Crabbe. He felt sick to his stomach for a second before he lifted the boys left sleeve and saw the dark mark. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and took a deep breath to recenter himself. Nothing changed, these were still marked death eaters. Just young and foolish ones. Just because the rabid dog was a puppy didn't change the fact that he was foaming from the mouth.
"What's going on Harry, why did you stop?" Dan asked.
"I had to check a hunch. This is a show. Smoke and mirrors. Nothing more. We're not facing trained killers. This are our bad seed schoolmates. Hitler Youth. We're going to approach the group and on my say so I want us to light these fuckers up. They are not going to know we're here. Watch out for the hostages they have. Those are friendlies." Harry said.
"Copy that. I'll be standing by the book store." Dan said.
"I heard you Harry. I'll take the doorway to the pet shop.
"Come on out you fat little squib." Snape said casting the cruciatus on Augusta and making her scream.
"I'll take the middle. We don't have to go full auto but the faster they die?" Harry said leaving the thought hanging in the air as he made his way up the alley right up the middle. When he got in line with the book and pet stores he brought his gun up and sighted in on Snape's head from fifteen feet away.
"In position." Dan said.
"Me too." Dora said.
"Go." Harry said letting off a three round burst that hit Snape in the face spinning the man around and dropping him like a sack of hammers.
Like an avalanche the firefight started very quickly and lasted only a few short but violent seconds. Harry just went back to his training. He sighted n on a target's head, squeezed off a three round burst that turned heads into bloody messes and moved on to the next target. By in that time the last Death Eater fell a few seconds later Harry killed four more people as Dora got two and Dan finished off the last three. None of the death eaters got a good spell off. It happened so fast half the Death Eaters didn't know what happened. In a way, it was merciful, one second they were cheering on the torture of an old woman and the next they were just gone. All of these thoughts ran through Harry's head as he ran up to the bank and pounded on the door.
"It's Harry Steel, open this door!" Harry called out.
The door opened and he saw four goblins in battle armor with axes standing in the lobby. He also was Neville, Susan, and Luna standing behind Andy, Ted, Odd, and Amelia. They all had their wands up and panicked, pained looks on their faces.
"Let's go now! It's time to get out of here! Dora get clear of the city and get out." Harry said dropping his cloak hood and waving them out. The group all but ran out of the bank, and over to Dora who was floating the three unconscious Longbottoms. Amelia, Andy and Odd took over the flotation spells.
"Go! We'll check the back and be right behind you." Harry said turning around and tossing his sister the Beast.
"Make sure he gets clear." Dora told Dan before leading the group away. They ran back up the alley heading for the tavern and the muggle world beyond it. Harry watched them go before he turned back to the goblins standing in the doorway.
"Where does the back door let out?" Harry asked.
"Into an alley on Greek street by the corner of Old Compton street." The goblin said.
"Right, lock the door and call the aurors in a few minutes. Tell them there was a disturbance in the alley and you locked down the bank. You didn't see anything." Harry said before he ran for the Cauldron with Dan hot on hos heels. As they ran Harry summoned all the spent brass shell casings into his bag.
"Do you know where the back door is?" Harry asked Dan as they headed for the tavern.
"Yes, I think I can find it." Dan said.
"Good, you drive." Harry said rushing out the front doors of the magical tavern and expanding his little black Ferrari.
Harry saw the Beast flying up the street before it hung a right and vanish from sight. He hopped into the passenger seat of his car and Dan slipped in behind the wheel. Dan started the car and speed down the street the opposite direction of the Beast before hanging a left onto Manette Street. He took the street up the block to Greek street and Harry waved for him to stop. Harry hopped out the car and ran to the corner. He looked down the street and saw two men he didn't know the names of but he knew they belonged to the Order. They were standing on the corner at the other end of the block. He was about to advance down the street with his gun up when he saw the old man walk out of the alley up the block. Harry waved for Dan to get out of the car. He shrank it and summoned it. Dan ran over and Harry pulled out his HK416 rifle.
"I need you to Shoot that motherfucker in the Head. Then grab this portkey so we can get the fuck out of here." Harry said handing the rifle to Dan and pointing. Harry pulled out the portkey and held it out with his left hand. He drew his wand with his right hand and waited.
Dan used the corner of the building to steady the rifle. With iron sights, and a short 11 inch barrel, at a distance of three hundred feet, in the dark, Dan knew the odds of getting a head shot were slim. The old man's head looked like a dot at this distance. He moved his point of aim down and dropped the sector switch to full auto. He pulled his cloak hood up, braced the gun, and whistled. Dan watched as Dumbledore turned and looked right at his direction. Dan held down the trigger and emptied about thirty rounds into the old man's chest in a three second burst. He saw a flash of blue as the first dozen or so rounds hit some sort of shield but the last dozen rounds went through the shield as it was overloaded by the overwhelming power of the volley. As if in slow motion the old man fell back covered in blood as his chest was tore open from the hailstorm of bullets. Dan turned and grabbed the gold card as Harry tapped it with his wand. They were standing in Frank Martin's bar a few seconds later. The bar was empty at this time of night. Harry saw one of the men that worked in the backroom standing behind the bar.
"We're being followed, if anyone asks we ran out the front door." Harry said slipping into the back storage room and into the back workroom beyond that. He saw two men brewing potions.
"Can I help you?" One of the men asked in heavy accented english.
"Yes, is Frank around?" Harry asked.
"I can get him." the man said.
"Please do. I have Euros, Dollars, and Galleons and we're looking to buy. We also want to thank Frank for letting us use his bar for our portkey location." Harry said watching the enchanted mirror on the wall by the door which was linked to the mirror behind the bar.
"I will get Frank, have a seat." The man said walking out a back door. Hermione chimed in at that moment.
"Dad, do you think you managed to kill Dumbledore?" Hermione asked.
"I'm not sure. I know I shot him at least ten times in the chest with 5.56 Rounds. But the first fifteen or so rounds hit a shield. He must wear something that blocks bullets. We need to get something like that." Dan said handing the rifle back to Harry and changing the mag in his MP5k. Harry put away the assault rifle and changed mags like Dan. Frank walked into the workroom half asleep wearing a bathrobe and looking pissed off. Harry pull out his case and tossed Frank a pack of $10,000 in hundred dollar bills before he could even say anything.
"For using your bar as a portkey location. We're being followed by UK wizards." Harry said. As he finished talking Kingsley Shacklebolt, Hestia Jones, and three other men in red auror robes showed up in the bar.
"What have you brought into my Bar?" Frank asked.
"We went to rescue a group of our friends and family, we killed a bunch of Death Eaters and we managed to get a shot at Dumbledore. So we took it. Look you see this case? I plan on buying a bunch of your stock at an inconvenience mark up if you can get rid of those fools." Harry said showing him the case.
"Right." Frank said with a smirk as he walked out the door. They saw him walk out the door looking pissed off on the mirror.
"What is going on!?" Frank yelled.
"We are pursuing assassins that tried to kill a head of state!" Shack said showing his Auror shield.
"Okay. Well my overnight guy said four men dressed in black robes with hoods up landed in my bar and ran off. That was about five minutes ago." Frank said.
"Did you happen to see a face?" Shack asked as the three aurors ran out the front door.
"No. They had hoods up. Now you better get out of here, I called the French Aurors a minute ago and they should be here any minute. I know you people have no right to be here in our country so you better leave while you can." Frank said.
"Thanks for the heads up. For your trouble." Shack said slapping a gold Galleon on the bar as they ran out the front door.
"Bunch of morons. Cheap morons at that." Frank said shaking his head as he walked into the back room.
"We saw, thanks Frank. Now Dora said you were going to get another shipment of vest. We'll take everything you have. We'll also need a dozen more of these little MP5ks. Also if we got you a bunch of guns could you add the enchantments to them, if so how much would you charge for that?" Harry asked. Dan and Frank both smiled. Harry was still on an adrenaline high from the gun fight and he was talking fast.
"I have 15 vests right now. I can get more in two weeks. Maybe ten days if I pulls some some strings. I also have that many guns ready to go. As for the enchantment work, it would depend on the gun. Do you have one?" Frank asked waving one of his men over.
"I do. I'm looking to get about twenty of these enchanted for now. Maybe more later." Harry said handing over the custom hand made Sig Sauer p226 X-Five he got from Smith's shop. The other man took the gun, stripped it, and looked it over, he cast a few spells and nodded telling Frank something in French. Frank nodded.
"We can do it for 40 galloens a gun for Stainless steel guns like that." Frank said.
"Perfect. We'll give you half now and drop the guns off to you some time in the next few days with the other half of the payment." Harry said.
It took fifteen minutes to box everything up and it ended up costing Harry $350,000. Frank let them out the back door into an alley. As they walked out of the shop Harry got a call from Hermione.
"What's going on?" Harry asked.
"Harry, Augusta didn't make it. The combination of multiple stunners, the abuse of getting her to the alley, and the short time she was put under the pain curse caused her to die in transport. She was dead on arrival. Dora tried to restart her heart a few times but it didn't work. Amelia tried a few field medic spells but it was no use." Hermione said in a voice thick with tears.
"I see." Harry said as the guilt of her death dropped onto his shoulders.
"There was nothing you could have done Harry, her fate was sealed the second they hit her with that many stunners. You saw what that does to older witches. She was dead before she even got to the alley Harry. Snape just made her die screaming." Hermione said trying to keep it together for him.
"I could have figured out the play quicker." Harry said.
"Harry. This is not on you. You got there faster than you had any right to. You saved everyone else. You can't blame yourself for this." Hermione said.
"Right. Tell Dora to get everyone back to the Potter and hold down the fort. I'll be back later. I want to put some distance between me and Paris before I portkey back to the Potter. We had aurors follow us." Harry said in a voice devoid of emotion.
"Okay. I love you." She said hanging up and not waiting for him to say it back.
Harry expanded his car, they hopped in, Harry cast obscuring charms on the car, and he took off heading southeast out of the city. When they got out of the city proper Harry stopped on the side road and buried a portkey target. Harry got back in the car and blasted south to Monaco 550 miles away. At this time of the morning there was almost no one on the road and with the obscuring charms on the car Harry never let the car drop below 170 mph the whole way. The two men drove in silence with classic rock blasting out the sound system. The only words exchanged were Dan asked where the Aux jack was so he could plug his old iPhone into the sound system, and to offer Harry a cigar. Which he took without a word.
They had to stop for gas one time on the trip even with the huge 100 gallon gas tank in the car. They pulled off the road just outside Valence France and hour and a half into the trip. Harry pumped gas as Dan headed into the gas station. They both ditched their guns into their bags before getting out of the car. Dan came back out with a few cans of Monsters and a bag of candy bars. It took Harry ten minutes to fill up and when they got back on the road and Harry was less aggressive. He was still speeding above 160 mph but there was less intensity to his lane changes. Dan noticed the shift and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"Where are we heading?" Dan asked popping open two monsters and handing one to Harry.
"Monaco. I've got an apartment there, I want to check it out and set up a portkey there. Also I needed to drive. And I needed to think. Figure out the next move." Harry said chugging half a can and burping.
"What conclusions did you come up with?" Dan asked.
"That Dumbledore is worse than the fucking dark lord. That old fuck used his pet death eater to round up the Death Eater youth, kidnap three people, and torture them in front of the bank to force Neville out in the open. I'm sure Snape would have captured the boy and with a few memory charms Neville would have taken my place. The rest of the group would have been collateral damage. I hope he fucking dies but I know he won't. Anything short of a bullet to the brain is curable if you can get to a healer fast enough and the old fuck has a phoenix. The problem is I don't want to kill a bunch of Order members. I know at least half of them are unwitting accomplices. Hell I was a fucking unwitting accomplice up until a week ago. But I know the old man and his turkey club is not going to sit back and let us live. If he's willing to use Death Eaters to flush out a bunch of schoolkids and their parents then what would he do to get his fucking hands on me. Who would he hurt? Well we both know who. She'd be locked up somewhere and I would be made to dance like a good little monkey to the old man's tune." Harry said coldly and Dan knew the boy was right.
"I would die before I let anything happen to my little girl." Dan said.
"As would I. No, for us to live and for that fucking island to claw its way out of the fucking dark ages they all have to go. Tom and his Death Eaters. The old man and his co-conspirators. The old Purebloods that keep the country a hundred years in the past so they can cheat on their taxes and commit crimes with impunity. The Ministry full of backwards pureblood sheep. They all have to fucking go. If they don't go the UK will always be a cesspool of shit." Harry said pulling out a Mini cigar and lighting it with his zippo.
"So they all have to Die?" Dan asked looking at the boy like he might have lost it. He was talking about genocide.
"Don't look at me like I'm fucking nuts. I said Go, not Die. Well, maybe the Death Eaters all have to die. To get the dark make you have to torture and kill for fun in front of the Dark Lord to prove your loyalty. If they have the mark that means they are murders. And you might be saying why not arrest them right? The prison system in the UK is a joke, that's why. You fight with a group like we just put down tonight. The battle is dangerous and maybe one of us dies during the fight to bring them all in. They get a fake trail where they claim they were under the imperius curse and they get off scot free. Of course the minister makes a few thousand galleon for it. So those fuckers have to die. The same with the old man and his inner circle. They have, for three decades, been manipulating the wizarding world in the UK to end family lines and consolidate power and money in the hands of a few "light" families. They use compulsions, memory charms, and rape to do it. Once we have a list of the ones responsible for the line thefts they all fucking die." Harry said flicking ash off his mini cigar and looking at Dan to see if he was still on board.
"Hey I'm with you so far. If the UK had a real government with a real court system, and a real prison then I'd say let's try to bring some of them to justice. But it looks like a bullet is all the justice we can hope for with these sick fucks." Dan said.
"Okay, now for the tricky part. The old pureblood system. It has to go. If it doesn't then nothing changes. If Tom and his goons, and the old man and his friends were to all die tomorrow. An act of god let say. Then a group of three or four pureblood assholes would step up and take their place and the sheep would bleat with confusion for a few days and things would go back to the way they were. Look at you Dan. How would your life be different if you knew you were a squib? Even if you never did anything with that information, and you still joined the service, and you still ended up destroying your leg in a night jump. You could have at least had a healer fix your leg the way doc Carter did. My god, how many poor bastards are just like you in the UK? How many lives are cut short because the option of magical medicine is not available to squibs because they don't know they're squibs? But forget about all that. How many people in the UK are like Emma? There is nothing wrong with her magical core. She should have gotten a chance to attend magical school. And that magical school should teach witches and wizards how to read and do math or walk among normal people in the street without getting run over by a car for God's sake!" Harry ranted.
"But you can't very well kill all of these purebloods can you? If you do then what's the difference between you and your enemy?" Dan asked understanding the boy's anger but he also understood the way the world worked. If governments weren't full of corrupt assholes the world would be fair and just and that's not how the world worked.
"I know that. It's what pisses me off. If they were all guilty of horrible crimes I could bump them off and be done with it. But they're not all criminals. Most of them are just power hungry asshats. The way I see it there are only a few ways the system gets fixed. One way is sadly the same thing the old man has been doing. Consolidate the power of the old lines in a hand full of families under your control and have them vote for things you want." Harry said flicking his cigar butt out of the car.
"Right, but again, you become your enemy." Dan said.
"Exactly. The other option is to ascend to power and work the system. Become the leader the sheep will follow. But that requires a leader that's powerful enough to take control of the old purebloods and force them to see the light. Sadly there is no one that can fill that role, you would need five to ten leaders, one in every subsection of power in the UK all in lock step and functioning as a power block to take the old man's place. It's doable. With Andy as Minister of magic, Amelia as the top cop, a respectable pureblood like Neville as the head of the wizengamot, and Flitwick, if he can be trusted, as headmaster of the school it could work. But then you would have to watch your back all the time for someone trying to kill you to break the power block and the Aurors can not be trusted to not lead the fucking coup." Harry said.
"We could protect them. Make a separate group like the Queen's guard or the US Secret service. Independent of the cops, funded through the government but cut off from the powers the be, and their only task is the protection of the people in charge of the government." Dan said.
"Okay. Say we could put something like that together. How are we going to make it legal? The Wizengamot controls the country and the purebloods will never sign into law something that will make it harder for them to off the people they don't like. No, the first thing we have to do before we do anything else is we need to seek out a higher authority that can force the situation. That can take over the rotten government and force it to not be shit run by assholes. We need the ICW." Harry said killing the rest of his Monster.
"The ICW. I'm still not sure what that is. Abby said it a few times when she was telling us about how bad the UK is." Dan said.
"ICW is like the United Nations, but for magic. We need to talk to someone with some power in the ICW and see if they can step in and fix it. If not then I'm not sure where we go from here." Harry said.
"Didn't they blockade the island?" Dan asked.
"Yes, but that was when the country was a total write off. We might be able to fix it still. But like I said. It's not going to be easy and I honestly don't know if it's worth it. I'm tempted to put together a team of private military types and have them go over and kill off most of the people on the naughty list and let it be. Maybe we don't fix it, we just collect the people they don't want, and take them off the island." Harry said with a shrug.
"You could do that, it's more than what is required of you, and it's more than a lot of people in your shoes would do. Most people would kill the old man and the dark lord and let the island burn as they pissed on it from across the pond." Dan said.
"I know. And I might be willing to do that. If we head back home and I lay it all out for the group and they all shrug and say fuck em' then fuck em'. If they want to help but don't want to run the country then we'll fight the light and the dark and let the purebloods have the UK. We'll collect the squibs and muggle borns. If they want to act like noble fools then I'll do everything in my power to help them fix it and stay alive. Who know we might talk to someone from the ICW and they might tell us to fuck off. It's a game of ifs at this point." Harry said as they saw the principality of Monaco up ahead.
"It's good to know that you have it all thought out. It's also good to hear you talking about hiring grunts to do the bulk of the dirty work. I know for a fact that some of my old service buddies would be willing to take on the work. And if the UK is like the US and three out of every ten people are squibs then that means there are a few thousand wounded soldiers that are a few healing spells away from being fully operational troops ready for war. Even if we can only get one out of five to sign up then we're looking at few hundred trained fighters. At that point you would be a private military company." Dan said laughing but he stopped when Harry looked at him.
"Dan, how hard is it to make a private security company? I mean to make it legal?" Harry asked.
"I'm sure with the right amount of money in the right pockets of the right politicians and you would have the paperwork to make it legal." Dan said also looking shocked at the thoughts forming in his head.
"Steel Security inc.?" Harry asked.
"It would cost a fortune." Dan said.
"I have a fortune." Harry said.
"And it would take most of it. For what? Unless you're willing to take government contracts? In that case it might be revenue neutral." Dan said.
"So we take government contracts. Hell we'll take private contracts. There has to be a bunch of rich guys willing to pay for magical protection." Harry said.
"You would need hundreds, if not thousands of troops." Dan said.
"How much does a soldier make a year?" Harry asked.
"Between fourteen thousand and fifty thousand pounds in Britain. You have to figure it's about the same for US soldiers." Dan said.
"Fourteen thousand pounds?" Harry asked shocked.
"That's entry level mind you. Most grunts make about twenty grand." Dan said.
"Still, even at pay and a half that's thirty thousand a year per soldier. That only three million a year for a hundred men. Even in US Dollars that's only five million dollars. Even if we hired a thousand soldiers at fifty grand a pop that's only fifty million dollars a year. I can run the company into the ground every year and still keep the doors open for what? A hundred years." Harry said looking shocked.
"You have to remember the cost of gear, housing, food, medical…" Dan said but Harry cut him off.
"Dan, how hard would it be to buy or build an apartment building complex in the middle of nowhere USA. Some place like Nebraska, or Kansas. I bet you could build a whole army base for less than fifty million dollars with magic. We know a guy that makes guns and ammo and is willing to sell in bulk. We know a guy that enchants guns, we can buy dragon hide wholesale or kill a few dozen dragons and have someone like Geno make vests. We know a guy that makes armored cars and trucks. We know healers. We can hire House elves to run the base. Tell me where I'm wrong." Harry said pulling out his ring of keys and finding the address for his Monaco apartment and typing it into his phone.
"I don't know, and the more you talk the more it sounds rational. But you would still be losing money in the end. The cost of startup would be a total loss." Dan said.
"So we'll find a way to make money. I'm sure there's a magical solution to a muggle problem that people would be willing to pay a lot of money for." Harry said driving up to a small apartment building.
It took a few minutes to shrink the car and check out the apartment. It was small. Even with expansion charms all over the place it was still just a three bedroom one bathroom hole in the wall. But there were a collection of shrunken boats on the shelf. Harry grabbed a few nice ones. He left a portkey card on the counter in the open kitchen dining room. He held out the portkey for home and they landed in the Potter building twenty seconds later. They took the elevator up to the apartment and found most of the group sitting around library looking at each other. Most of them had drinks in their hands. Neville, Susan, Luna, and Hermione all looked red eyed and tired like they spent a good deal of the last three and a half hours crying.
The sight broke Harry out of he newfound excitement. His plan was pushed aside as the reality of the day hit him again. Hermione was on him as soon as she saw him. She hugged him so hard it hurt and he felt her crying. Luna rushed over next and joined the group hug. Neville and Susan were close behind them. When Neville came over Harry pulled away from the girls and looked at the taller boy with sadness and resignation in his eyes. Neville saw the look and it broke him out of his sadness and made him confused for a few seconds before he looked angry. Harry braced for the punch but it never came. Instead Neville hugged him.
"I'm not mad at you, you fool. You saved our asses and you got my mum and dad out." Neville said in a gruff voice.
"But your gran…" Harry said.
"Was old and sick. She was almost 100. She had Dad late in life and ever since the night they got hurt she's been drinking, a lot. Even mages can die from drinking that much. It aged her. The depression killed her long before today. It's not your fault! It's not your fucking fault. And I'll kick your ass if you keep thinking it is." Neville said pulling back from Harry. Even with the potions and the healing Neville was still a head taller than him and built like a coal miner with big shoulder and arms.
"Okay." Harry said patting Neville on the shoulder with a sad smile. The bigger boy shook his head and punched Harry in the shoulder hard. "Aw! What was that for?" Harry asked rubbing his sure to be bruised shoulder.
"I said I'd kick your ass. It's not your fault! It's Snape's fault! And you killed that son of a bitch right?" Neville asked.
"Shot him right in the fucking face." Harry said coldly.
"Good. It's more than he deserved. He died quick. He deserved to die a slow and painful death full of screaming and begging for his life. It would have prepared him for hell. But I'll take what I can get." Neville said pulling Harry into a tight hug again.
"Okay Brother. Okay. Where is your gran now?" Harry asked.
"Amelia put her body in stasis. She's in a conjured coffin. Hermione took it up on the roof. By the garden. Gran always liked to sit by the garden at home." Neville said, his voice breaking at the end.
Harry held onto the bigger boy tighter until Susan approached them and Harry could pass him off to his girl. Harry patted her on the back as she led her boyfriend back to the table. Harry took Luna's hand and slung his right arm around Hermione's shoulders. The weight of Augusta Longbottom's death was temporarily lifted off his shoulders but the responsibility of everyone in the room replaced the weight. Hermione looked at him and smiled a sad little smile as if reading his thoughts. Both girls led him to the table, and over to Andy. Harry hugged Andy hard.
"I'm glad you came with mum. I don't know if I would be okay with you still over there." He said pulling back from the hug to nod at the rest of the group of adults in the room.
"Me too Harry. It's crazy that a large group of death eaters attacked the bank like that. They risked war with the Goblin nation for us." Andy said.
"It's not that crazy, because they weren't really Death Eaters. I think we should all sit down and I'll bring you all up to speed. I've spent the last three and a half hours driving, thinking and talking things out with Dan. I think we all need to get on the same page." Harry said dropping into a seat at the big library table.
Harry spent the next half hour going over everything he talked about with Dan. He stopped short of talking about Steel Security inc. He wanted to hear what they had to say before he brought up his solution. The ball was in their court after all.
"I agree with you Harry. With the way things are now if you took out the Dark lord and the old man nothing would change. Both the light and the dark would still be there and the pureblood fools would still be in charge. But we don't have the power to change it. There is no way in hell a blood traitor like me will ever be minister for magic. Not even with the backing of the boy who lived, and that's if you still even have the reputation to back me. You tried to kill the old man. You robbed him of his prized cow and his spare, who knows what kind of shit he'll print in that gossip rag in the next few days. You might become a wanted man." Andy said.
"I know all that Mum. But would you take the job if you could? If everything fell into place would you become Minister for Magic?" Harry asked.
"Sure, if it could happen. But it can't." Andy said.
"What about you Amelia, can you get control of your department with our help? How many Aurors do you trust?" Harry asked.
"Not as many as I'd like to. Of a department of 86 I wouldn't trust half of them not to turn on me if a better deal came along. I have maybe 28 loyal aurors on my payroll. What's the point to all of this?" She asked. She was pissed that she had to run away but she was more pissed she lost the office she worked so hard to get.
"The point is if you had powerful backing, and security could you run the country?" Harry asked.
"Sure, are you going to run the school and the wizengamot?" Amelia asked in a snippy tone.
"No, I'm going to handle the security and hopefully the ICW will handle the initial power struggle and transition of power." Harry said laying out his plans to contact the ICW and start a private security company.
"How much would all this coast you?" Andy asked.
"We figured out a rough estimate of about a hundred million to get it up off the ground and about eighty to a hundred million a year to run. But we're hoping to make about that much back a year in private security contracts. Also I'd like to brainstorm ideas to make more money. The more we make a year the bigger the company can get. This has the potential to outlast all of us. A family business we can pass on to our kids one day." Harry said.
"You know, there is one thing I've always said was a billion dollar idea that no one is picking up. Insurance investigation." Ted Tonks said.
"What?" Harry asked.
"Say you have a famous painting worth five million buck right? You put insurance on it in case someone steals it. If it does get stolen, insurance companies hire people to track down the stolen property and steal it back. It's a hard job and companies pay out huge claims on stolen property every year. But say a wizard was to cast a blood tracking ritual on the panting and someone was to steal it. The mage would be able to find it easy enough and a mage would be able to steal it back. If you charge the client a one time fee of one percent of the value of the painting to set up the policy and a finders fee of ten percent of the value of the painting when it's returned then on a five million dollar painting you'd be making $50,000 for the sign up fee and $500,000 for the return of the painting. You do that a few hundred times a year and you'd be making real money. And people would be willing to pay double that price for the piece of mind that comes with the guarantee their valuables are safe. After all what's $550,000 to a person with a 5 million dollar painting just hanging on their wall? The real money comes when you can insure all the paintings in a museum. The initial fee alone would be enough to cover a year or two of company costs." Ted asked with a grin.
"Right, so I'll be opening Steel Security and Insurance. Or maybe Investigation? We can handle missing persons cases and things like that too. Something for the mages in the company to do. I'll be opening that soon." Harry said thinking out loud.
"That's a nice idea but don't you think you're getting ahead of yourself? Don't we need to talk to the ICW first? How do you even get a meeting with them?" Amelia asked.
"That's not a problem, I only need to make one phone call. What we need to do now is get everyone a room, and try to get some sleep. It's only just after five in the morning here and nothing is going to happen for another four hours. We need to get you all to a healer. A real healer. I don't how if Hermione told you about the magic world outside the UK…" Harry said and Neville cut him off.
"We know, I hope your healer can do something for my folks." Neville said.
"Where are they?" Harry asked.
"I put them in bed in the pink room." Hermione said.
"Good. Then we'll head to a wand shop and get you guys wands without tracking spells on them. You guys have your wands in a sealed box right?" Harry asked.
"It's the first thing we did as soon as we got in the Beast." Dora said looking dead but holding her mum and dad's hands.
"Okay. At that point I hope to have a meeting set up with someone from the ICW. I'd like Andy and Amelia to join me for this meeting. As an authority on UK wizarding law and a high ranking member of the ministry you two can lend the most the meeting. I also want Dan there for tactical and logistical support. " Harry said.
"And me too of course." Hermione said with a smirk.
"Actually I was hoping you would look after the group. You know the city and I'd like them all to head to the bank to establish their accounts here so they have access to them. I'd also like them all to relax for the day. In fact I want us all to try to take a few days and just release some of the tension and adrenaline of tonight out of your systems. Eat, drink, be merry. Go see a movie, take them to Macy's and get them all outfitted for life in the states. Ted I know you play golf, we're members at a very nice course not too far from here. We can set up a tee time whenever we want. They have a sporting clay range and I know you're avid hunter. You will all be given dragon hide vests and guns. We have a shooting range in the house along with a big game room, and movie room. Help yourselves. What's mine is yours. We've had a about a week to get used to life in the states. We will help you adapt as quick as we can. Does everyone have a room?" Harry asked.
"We're in the room with the birds." Andy said.
"Susan and I are sharing the gray room." Amelia said.
"Mia turned the couch in the pink room into a bed for me." Neville said.
"She did the same for me. Dad and I are in the room with the deer heads." Luna said.
"Good. If you need clothes or toothbrushes…." Harry started to say but Andy cut him off with a smile.
"Harry, relax. We'll be fine." She said taking his hand.
"Okay. Then off to bed with you lot. We'll have a late breakfast in the kitchen around ten." Harry said with a smile as they all got up and shifted out of the room in ones and twos. Andy pulled him into a tight hug again.
"Good night son." She said softly.
"Night mum." Harry said watching them walk out of the room. The only ones still in the room were Luna and Hermione. Harry turned to Luna who looked like she wanted to ask him something but was too shy.
"Can I help you with something Luna?" Harry asked putting his arm around her shoulder.
"Harry, can we get Collin and his family out soon?" Luna asked.
"Sure. They were supposed to come over in a week. With Andy over here now it's going to be harder to organize group transfers. But I'm sure we can get them out. We still need to get Oliver Wood out. Also Katie's Bell, Dean Thomas, and their families. They're both Muggleborns. We're going to try to get all of the muggleborns out over the next month. The dark lord is still down for the count and they hold no value to the old man so we have a bit of time. Do you have their number? We have phones for you guys." Harry asked.
"We've talked on the phone a few times I have his number." Luna said blushing.
"Okay. Tomorrow first thing we'll set you up with a phone and you can call him." Harry said yawning.
"Thank you Harry. I know right now is not a good time to make requests but I'm worried about him." Luna said ducking her head and turning a brighter shade of red.
"I understand. I'm worried too. I will personally pop back to the UK and get them out if I have too." Harry said and Luna pulled him into a hug.
"Thank you. I love you Harry." She said softly, before she jerked back. "I mean like a brother…." She tried to backpedal looking panicked at Hermione.
"Luna, Little sister, we love you too." Harry said pulling her back into his arms as Hermione hugged her too.
"Relax Luna, you're family. You don't have to worry about saying you love us." Hermione said with a smile.
"Well I do. The DA was everything to me. Especially you two. I felt like you two took me in." She said.
"How could we not? Now get some sleep. We're right down at the end of the hall if you need anything." Harry said rubbing her back and leading her out of the library.
Harry left most of the lights in the hallway on so people could find their way if they got up. At her door they hugged her again and watched her go inside the room before they headed to their room. They walked into their room and saw the mess of bed covers their bed was because of their rush to get dressed. Harry stripped out of his armor and gear down to his boxers and slipped into bed. Hermione followed his lead and got in next to him. Hedwig who spent most of her days in the big room hopped up on to the bed and looked into Harry's eyes. She hopped up onto his chest and licked his face before walking back to the foot of the big bed and too her spot on the wide bench built into the foot of the bed. Hermione rolled over and up onto his chest to look in his eyes too.
"Penny for um?" She asked.
"I killed eight people today. Executed them by shooting them in the face. I killed four of them knowing they were most likely kids we went to school with." Harry said looking tired but not sleepy.
"Harry, they stopped being kids the second they put on black robes and white masks and decided to be death eaters." Hermione said.
"Still, I felt nothing in the moment. I thought about the fact that I was killing people but my brain just shrugged and reminded me that it wasn't the first time I killed. Do you think less of me for killing?" Harry asked.
"No. Not now, not never, will I think less of you. Harry they kidnapped three people tonight and used them as pawns in a sick game. They killed Neville's gran. She died screaming. They would have killed his parents, our friends and their families. They would have done it and they would have slept like babies afterwards. Death Eaters are a pack of wild dogs. Putting them down is not murder, it's a public service." Hermione said.
"Okay. I love you." Harry said holding her to his chest.
"I love you too, now go to sleep." She said kissing him.
"Okay." Harry said holding her to him but sleep didn't come for a while.
Harry laid there looking at Hermione. He watched her sleep and he ran his hand up and down her back. When he finally drifted off to sleep he saw images of the night's activities play out in his mind. Harry watched them a few times but then he pushed it aside and studied it from a tactical standpoint and thought of things he could have done better. He had to admit there were very few things he could have done to improve the outcome of the situation. By the time his mind relaxed and he got some real sleep he only got two hours.