Edited by the mighty pazed!
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Chapter 72
Harry sat up and shook his head, hissing in pain. "That's it! No more Portkeys! No more Floo travel! They can keep them!" he snarled in a whisper.
FX chuckled as he offered a hand to help his young friend to his feet, and spoke just as quietly. "I told you when to step, you're the one that didn't listen."
Grimacing as he stood, Harry began to look around. On the hill stood what looked like an old church. The white paint had turned grey with age or peeled off completely in large sections, the wooden shutters hung loose gently swaying in the breeze.
The church's neglected state matched with the grounds of the small graveyard surrounding them; weeds had taken over reaching up to cover several of the tombstones.
"A cemetery…" Harry whispered. "Oh joy! Just perfect!"
FX nodded in agreement and sniffed the air. "Someone… someone is close by…" he said finally, pointing down the hill. "I can smell something else as well… something acidic… and blood… I think we're early."
Harry nodded. "No way they were expecting me to make it to the center that quickly," he said, pulling his crowbar loose. Feeling its reassuring weight in his hand he pointed towards the church. "What do you think? Take cover and wait for the cavalry?"
FX glanced around. "Yes… but not there. Too obvious…" He pointed down the hill towards an old overgrown mausoleum. "There-" he began only to stop speaking suddenly and drag Harry to the ground.
"GONE?" yelled the Minister. "What do you mean gone?"
"He's not in the maze Minister!" said the Auror as he did the spell again for verification. "There is no one inside!"
"As I said Minister," said Chinthliss, "Harry is no longer here! Your portkey has been directed elsewhere!"
"Impossible!" the Minister shouted. "You must have done the charm wrong!"
"ENOUGH!" Chinthliss yelled. "This is getting us nowhere! If all you are going to do is stand here and argue… THOMAS! NOW!"
An explosion of motion happened all at once as a non-descript man that had been standing in the crowd seemed to blur momentarily then burst into motion, covering the distance between the group and a single individual that stood near the maze. An unconscious Alistair Moody soon lay at his feet.
"What!" The Minister turned. "Auror! Do something!"
Chinthliss stepped between the Auror in question and his brother. "Young man, I suggest you hold off on that order for a moment while I speak to your boss," he said gesturing to the short haired woman pushing her way to the center of the now gathering crowd.
"Madam Bones, I believe you will wish to speak with the man my brother is detaining, and you will most likely find the location of the real Mr. Moody during that interrogation," he told her pointing down towards the maze.
Her eyes widened as her head pivoted back and forth. "I don't know what is going on here, but until I do… Auror, take Moody into custody… like he says, Constant Vigilance! Take his wand… and place him in suppression cuffs. And search him just to be on the safe side."
The Auror nodded and moved away. "I'm giving you and your people a lot of leeway here, Headmaster…"
"And I appreciate it, my good woman," he said cutting her off. "Unfortunately, I fear, explanations will need to wait at the moment. Harry is no longer in the maze, the portkey that was meant to bring the winner to the winner's platform has been redirected elsewhere."
She looked surprised. "Only a few people can authorize portkey travel within Hogwarts grounds… How did-" She turned to face the minister. "I didn't authorize this… and I doubt Headmaster McGonagall, or Madam Pomfrey would classify this as an emergency…"
The minister looked nervous, clasping his hat tightly. "It was just a little thing… no harm... Ludo wanted a big finish, and Dolores assured me that it was perfectly safe."
"Minister!" she yelled. "That authorization was to help facilitate your protection! Not for any other reason! And just who did you get to cast the portkey?" she asked, glowering at the now shrinking man.
He looked down at his shuffling feet and rolled the brim of his hat in his hands. "Dolores said Moody helped arrange it…" he said softly.
Harry rolled with the impact of his best friend, coming to a knee as they stopped. "Holy Hell!" he spat, as he took in the sight of the monster his eldest friend had saved him from.
A snake, a big ass snake! It had to be fifteen feet long if it was a foot! And its head was bigger around than he was!
"On your guard!" said FX. "This is no ordinary serpent!"
"No shit?" Harry quipped as he pivoted for a better angle. "You mean giant vipers aren't native to Britain? That thing is as big as an anaconda!"
"Stop being a smartass and fight!" FX snarled, balls of iridescent red energy covering his hands, "On two….. Two!"
As a pair they sprang forward, one to each side, both trying to draw the animal's attention before it could gather itself to strike a second time.
"Come on you stupid-" Harry began, before dodging a lunge from the snake. "Whoa!"
In the flash of an eye, FX was on the beast's back, his claws now sheathed in glowing red spectral flames as he tore into the creature.
"HARRY!" He hissed, "Now!" as the creature focused solely on him, trying to remove the source of pain.
Harry spun the crowbar in his hands, bringing the hooked end up in a golf-like swing, impacting the beast in the soft spot under its head and up into its skull. "FORE!"
The creature bucked under FX, then let out an ear piercing shriek as the head exploded.
"What the hell?" Harry asked, wiping ichor from his face.
FX looked over the creature a little more closely and said, "Somebody's going to be pissed… I think this thing was some sort of enchanted familiar…"
FX's head swiveled suddenly, his ears twitching wildly. "We've got to go! Someone's coming!"
"What about the snake?" Harry asked.
"No choice, leave it!" FX replied. "Come on Harry, we've got to find some cover till the others can get here!"
"Right!" he said as they both began to head towards the mausoleum.
"Let me get this straight," said the head of the DMLE. "You personally authorized one of my Aurors-"
"Ex-Aurors…" said the Minister, as if in defense of his position.
She glared at the man and he looked down again. "…to direct the portkey through some of the most potent wards in the Isles, on the assurance of safety by a Ministry Undersecretary? An action that, by our own laws, has been ILLEGAL since the invention of the portkey because of safety concerns? All for something as trivial as a good show?"
The man had the good sense not to say anything.
"Merlin!" she said, "I'll deal with you after this crisis is over!"
Turning to Chinthliss… "I'm sorry about this… what do you need?" she asked.
"I'd like you to stay with my brother Thomas, and the prisoner, personally. Our family is already on the way to Harry, and I wish to join them as soon as possible."
She nodded, looking towards where the man she now identified as Thomas stood. "So you have some way to track the portkey?" The dragon in man form nodded, but didn't explain. "And you say that man is not the real Moody?"
He smiled. "His disguise will fail within the hour, I believe."
"Do you know where the real Moody is?" she asked, "Or if he is still alive?"
Chinthliss nodded. "I believe he is alive, as the potion the person has been using would have been rendered inert after his death when the magical connection was lost."
"Polyjuce then…" she said softly. "Good… Do you have any idea who he is?"
"We only have a first name, Barty, that's what Pettigrew called him," replied Chinthliss.
"Bart-" She shook her head. "Alright I'll stay with him, you join your family. I'll have a unit of Aurors dispatched as soon as we hear from you… Can you take two others with you?" He nodded. "TONKS! SHACKLEBOLT! You're going with the Headmaster, he's going after Harry Potter. You are to render all possible assistance! Understood?"
The pair both nodded, and fell into step with Chinthliss as he rushed down the stairs and into the darkness of the forest.
The mountains had given way to hills with a startling speed as the Elven Steeds had carried their riders away from Hogwarts.
Tannim had always been somewhat in awe of these incredible animals. Their beauty, grace and intelligence were astounding, but their sheer speed was something all of its own.
"We should be approaching the border into England proper soon," said the disembodied voice of Keighvin over the helmet speaker.
"How long till we are in range of the electronic tracker?" Tannim asked.
"Not long, the town wasn't that far from the border…" Al said. "They'll be fine Tannim, have faith!"
Tannim leaned forward, and urged his steed to go faster.
"I don't know who he is, but he looks like a rat," Harry said ducking behind a large grave marker adorned with a weeping angel statue, which was soon missing an arm as a splash of purple light connected with it, well above him. "And his aim sucks!"
"Peter Pettigrew," said FX as he peeked out from behind his own tombstone, to get a better look at their pursuer. "That's Peter Pettigrew."
"Hnh…. Makes sense then…" Harry said chuckling, as another part of the angel exploded.
"Ok this is going to get old quick!" he said dusting crushed stone out of his hair. "What are we going to do about this moron?"
"Well we have limited options…" FX said. "Run and hide, or fight… Your mom would say run and hide… your dad too. We could veil, and try to-"
The remainder of the angel exploded. "Won't work… he's intent on me, I'd need him to be distracted long enough to construct the veil."
"You did it for the dragon!" said FX.
"And it took me over a half an hour!" replied Harry. "What did you think I was doing during the time up until I walked out into the stadium? I centered myself and constructed the spell! All I had to do was finish it once I had gotten inside!"
"Potter! Come out my Master wishes to make use of you!" yelled Peter.
"Well good for him!" Harry yelled back. "Sorry, but I don't believe that would be good for my health!"
Harry was glancing around as he spoke. Pulling up a clump of weeds he rubbed it between his fingers, it crumbled. A wide smile bloomed across his face.
"Rule two…" he said quietly. "FX, I think we need to break rule two!"
The kitsune's face twisted in confusion, then he began to laugh. "Alright Harry let's do this!"
-interlude-
Once upon a time there had been a young magical boy.
Now, this young boy was quite intelligent and had a talent for picking up the odd magical skill here and there from those around him. The first time this happened everyone was happy, and it was very cute watching him make glowing magical constructs to play with his toys.
The second time… it was less cute, and almost led to the destruction of one of the Fairgrove buildings. This gave rise to the first and second of a new list of rules, it began as follows.
No magic without supervision.
No fire of any kind!
No ….etc,
But tonight all the rules were out the window.
-end-
Amelia Bones had never been under the illusion that everyone in her employ was… competent. No, there was too much evidence to the contrary.
However, the man at her feet showed exactly how deep the problems within her own department ran.
"Bartemius Crouch Jr…" she said with a disgusted tone. "He's supposed to be dead…"
Thomas chuckled. "Lot of that happen here?"
She shook her head. "No… How long will he be unconscious?"
Thomas shrugged. "I can wake him anytime you wish."
She nodded. "Alright, let me get a court scribe and a healer in here, then I'll seal the room," she said, opening the door and calling out to someone.
As they came to a halt, Tannim's head turned to Al who was looking at the box he had been carrying on a strap. "That way." He pointed. "Signal's good. We're not too far."
They disappeared again in a clatter of hooves.