Nothing irks me more than writing a chapter, re-reading it to make sure there are no mistake, and then after posting it, reading it one more time and seeing a bunch of mistakes.
Also, you know what makes a fanfiction writer want to write? Reviews. Just saying.
Chapter 12 Coalition
"Know what's up Katie?" Harry asked, sliding into the seat next to the brunette.
"Nope. Most be important if they called us out of our lessons."
Harry nodded his head in agreement. He had been in the middle of weapons training and was learning how to properly throw a dagger when the lesson had been stopped and they had been called into a conference room. The other trainees were all gathered around, each of them looking at each other in confusion.
The door to the room burst open, making a few jump, as Russo stormed into the room. The man's expression was grim and it did nothing to settle the uneasy feeling that had already filled the air.
"Yesterday evening Voldemort and almost two hundred of his followers attacked the Romanian Ministry of Magic at key locations in one large coordinated effort. As of today, Romania is under Voldemort's control."
Everyone in the room shifted at the news. They looked at each other, each face expressing the anger and frustration at such info. When the Dark Lord had taken over the Bulgarian Ministry, he had only seventy witches and wizards under his command. That number had swelled to two hundred. Harry wondered how many of them were pureblood fanatics and how many of them were just Bulgarian Law Enforcement officials following the will of their new leader.
"All of the surrounding countries have gone on high alert. The International Confederation of Wizards is holding a meeting to decide on a course of action. Pro-Voldemort riots are taking place in Moldova and Slovakia. Things in Eastern Europe are deteriorating quickly."
"Fuck." Gunn-Taylor muttered.
The rest around the room nodded in agreement. That pretty much summed it up. That made two countries under his control. Who knew how many followers he was gaining. And the fact that there were riots in his favor? That wasn't a good thing at all.
"As of right now, things are continuing as normal but, in the near future we might have to speed up the training process. We have experts looking into the kind of potential harm on the body if we were to add an extra time turner rotation into the morning and afternoon training sessions."
Harry winced. Even with all the potions to help, he could feel his body struggling to keep up with his already grueling schedule. He didn't know if he could add another thirteen hours on top of it all. He looked at Katie and judging by her facial expression, she felt the same way.
"The Wizengamot is holding an emergency meeting three days after the ICW meeting is to take place. Potter, you're the head of your family so you will be required to attend. Corvus, Anwell and Cadwallader, as the heirs to your families, if you wish to attend, you are free to as well."
Harry figured it would be similar to when he went for the Nimbus: Lightning unveiling ceremony. He would go through his first two trips of the afternoon and then go to the Wizengamot meeting on the third trip.
"Harry!"
Harry felt himself pulled into a hug seconds after entering the Wizengamot chamber. After a few seconds Sirius pulled away and looked over his godson critically.
"You're taller," Sirius stated. "But you look tired."
Harry smiled. "I am tired. The training has been taking a lot out of me. How are you Sirius?"
Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "Can't complain too much right now. The Death Eaters have been quiet since the attack on the Hogwarts Express but we don't expect that to last. This news of Voldemort though will definitely make them more brazen. We're expecting an attack any day now."
"Any ideas?" Harry asked.
"Somewhere with a lot of foot traffic to send a message of celebration of Voldemort's take over. Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade are our biggest priority right now. Luckily both have added security with a Hit-Wizard base and Auror headquarters being stationed there, respectively. Same thing with the Hit-Wizard base at Gryffin's Path, which given it's proximity to Godric's Hollow, makes it another potential target. Then there is Merlin's Sanctuary in Glasgow as another high traffic target."
Harry knew Gryffin's Path was the wizard hub right outside Cardiff, Wales. It was basically a large marketplace with multiple shops and stores similar to Diagon Alley in purpose but smaller in size and different in its layout. It was separated from Godric's Hollow by several acres of woods, with a small cobblestone path cutting through the woods and connecting the two. The house Voldemort attacked on that Halloween night all those years ago was a cottage on the edge of Godric's Hollow.
Merlin's Sanctuary was located in the hills of Scotland. There were several dozen families who lived there and called it home. However. it was more known for it's economic purposes. There were a few shops sprinkled in on the residential streets, and a lot of restaurants, pubs and cafes between the small residential section and large commercial area. The Nimbus Racing Broom Company had it's factory located there. Gadrags Wizardwear Group Ltd. had it's clothes manufacturing plant there, as well as Madame Glossy's Cleaning Products Ltd. and it's brewing factories. Add to that the Boot family owned industrial sized greenhouses, and Merlin's Sanctuary, during the day, was filled with several hundred working witches and wizards. In fact besides the main Ministry building in London, Merlin's Sanctuary was the area of highest employment amongst the United Kingdom wizarding population.
"All reasonable places," Harry responded.
"Harry!"
He saw Daphne Greengrass waving at him, where she sat with her father. They sat in the section around where Sirius stated he had claimed, as evident by the Black family crest. When Harry was in charge of the Black family, he had indicated a change in direction for the family which had lost it all but two of it's loyal houses. Sirius, upon hearing the news, hadn't cared and was glad the dark families were no longer associated with him.
"Go on Harry. I have some others I need to talk to. We'll talk more after the meeting."
Harry nodded in thanks and made his way over to where Daphne sat. There was an open area around Sirius' seat that wasn't occupied by the Greengrass family and the Saunders of the MacAlister Clan. None of the families loyal to him had arrived yet, and there was enough seats there to occupy them all. He would have to claim a seat as his own.
As he made his way over, Daphne greeted him midway with a hug.
"How is everything?" Harry asked, as he pulled away from her.
"Different. Without Malfoy in Slytherin things are a bit calmer in the common room. There are still many supporters of the Dark Lord but they aren't as vocal as they used to be. Right now, it seems they are focused more on recruiting future Death Eaters than anything else."
Harry frowned at that. If Voldemort ever attacked Hogwarts, he wondered how much of the Hogwarts population would flock to his side. That would be something McGonagall was going to have to think about. While it was great trying to stay impartial to help out all of the students, she couldn't have the potential security risk within the walls.
"And the training?"
"It's still going on. Not as good as when you were running them but the others try their best."
"We'll have to talk more after the meeting and catch up Daphne. For now, I have to play the good pureblood lord and go make small talk with my supporters and the like."
Daphne smiled at him. "Of course Harry."
Harry did indeed talk with the Welsh lords that supported him. They all appeared in relative good health and so far had suffered no issues with the escalating war. He stopped to talk with Susan and Mr. Pressfield, who was in charge of the Bone family seat until Susan reached majority in a few months. He had a nice chat with Neville and his grandmother as well.
Then the meeting started, all of the various lords, ladies and their guest finding their seats. It was almost a full house today. Even heavily suspected Death Eaters like Lucius Malfoy were in attendance. The only ones who were not available were those who had been arrested in Death Eater attacks.
"We call this emergency meeting of the Wizengamot into session!" cried Justin Burns, the new Chief Warlock.
Burns was of the Campbell Clan of Scotland, the oldest clan to possess magical ancestry. He was of average height but thickly built. His long brown hair was streaked with gray and tied back at the nape of his neck. His brown eyes still glinted with a fierceness hidden by the wrinkles on his face. He was a former Slytherin, from 1909 to 1916, and had been an Auror for sixty-two years, finally retiring when Voldemort was defeated the first time.
"This session has been called to discuss the recent advances by You-Know-Who and the International Confederation of Wizards response to it. Representative Cassidy if you would."
Cassidy was the United Kingdom's representative to the ICW. He was a 32 year old muggle-born who had started off in 1983 as the assistant to Dumbledore when he was the Supreme Mugwump. He worked for Dumbledore for three years before becoming the Ambassador to France in 1986 after the last one retired. He held that position until Dumbledore appointed him the Representative to the ICW in June. The man had thick blond hair and rugged good looks. He reminded Harry somewhat of Gilderoy Lockhart, except a manlier version of that glory stealing pretty boy.
"Thank you Chief Warlock. The Dark Lord holds power over two countries; Bulgaria and Romania, and it looks like Moldova will soon follow. Many of the law enforcements in these countries are continuing under the Dark Lord as they had with their former Ministries, and when combined with his followers, gives him significant numbers.
"We fear he wishes to take over the entire of Europe, and has already started referring to his captured territories as Regnum Meracus; The Kingdom of the Pure."
Harry snorted at the name. No doubt Voldemort was pandering to all the purebloods out there. Since it was a kingdom of the pure, as long as you were pure of blood there would be no worries under his rule.
Cassidy continued talking. "The International Confederation of Wizards has decided to raise a coalition of fighters to stop the Dark Lord. They ask that by the end of the week, every country able, send fighters to join this coalition."
Cassidy sat down and the Chief Warlock opened the floor for discussion.
"Why should we help out Bulgaria and Romania? Where was our aid when You-Know-Who was setting fire to Diagon Alley? Where was this coalition when whole families were being exterminated?" Lord Brody exclaimed somewhere to the left of Harry. Shouts of agreement rang throughout the chamber.
"We dealt with You-Know-Who for eleven years the first time and the countries of Eastern Europe can't even deal with him for three months?" Lord Vane asked.
Lord Anwell was the next to speak up. "We don't have the manpower! The Hogwarts Express attack has crippled the Ministries forces. We lost eighteen good men and women, and thirteen more are still in St. Mungo's recovering from their wounds."
"I say send the fighters," Lady Kerr stated, the first to express approval for such an action. "If we can defeat You-Know-Who in Bulgaria, we won't have to worry about dealing with him here."
"But what about the Death Eaters still in the United Kingdom?" Lord McNulty demanded. "Who would be left to deal with those scumbags?"
Harry observed Dumbledore, wondering if he could glean which direction the Minister fell on in the debate. Harry himself was undecided. Sure Voldemort was gone, and so were some of his best fighters in the three Lestranges. However, that still left many capable Death Eaters like the Wizengamot's very own Lucius Malfoy. If they sent their best fighters to Eastern Europe, who would be able to handle Malfoy?
It was almost thirty minute of arguments before Dumbledore finally stood. Everyone in the room quieted, as he looked them all over. From everything he had heard, it seemed to Harry that he Wizengamot's decision would be to not join the coalition by a wide margin.
"Voldemort is a threat to the entirety of Europe and must be stopped. It seems, as of right now, that I am the only wizard who can match him in a fight. So the decision for me at least, is very easy. I will go to this coalition and pledge my services."
An uproar followed this. Dumbledore had been Minister for a total of six months so far, and he was just going to leave his post? Harry didn't know what to say. The same feeling he had gotten when he found out Dumbledore was going to leave Hogwarts to become Minister started to take over.
"As of today," Dumbledore started, cutting off the protest, "in my last act as Minister of Magic of the United Kingdom, I appoint Amos Diggory to the position of Minister of Magic and resign from my post."
The yelling from the Wizengamot members got louder. Burns banged his gavel, shouting for order. After five minutes, relative silence finally overtook the chamber. Harry had remained silent the entire time, despite the protest he wanted to voice.
"It is time that we bring this issue to a vote. It is clear that our numbers aren't as numerous as we'd like so if the vote is yes we will only spend a small task force. Does the United Kingdom send men to join this coalition of nations to combat against You-Know-Who?"
Harry looked down at the buttons in front of him. Yes or no. He looked up and saw that Dumbledore was looking at him. With a sigh, he voted yes. He wondered who would be sent. Would it be a few Hit-Wizard teams? A mixture from each department? Would they take all of the Ministries best fighters with them?
Harry felt eyes on him and saw that Lady Mostyn and Lord Gwyther were both looking at him, asking with their expressions, which way they should vote. Harry nodded his head. Was Dumbledore's decision enough to sway the rest of the Wizengamot? Would people be more afraid to send fighters now that Dumbledore would be leaving?
It was several moments of tense silence before Chief Warlock Burns cleared his throat.
"The votes are in. Three members have asked to abstain from voting. We have sixty in favor and forty-two against. The United Kingdom will indeed be sending fighters to assist in this coalition. We leave it up to the Minister and the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to work out the numbers."
Harry twirled the staff in his hand before slamming its end into the ground. A shock wave spread out from his position in all directions. His opponent, one of the instructors, waved his staff at the ground in front of him, raising a small wall of earth that absorbed the energy. The instructor jabbed his staff forward, a bolt of magic flying straight at Harry's chest. With a wave of his staff, Harry deflected the magic into the ground, dirt flying through the air.
When the first wands were crafted they were based off of staffs, which had been around for several hundred years. Wands had taken several centuries to make them what they were today. Staffs weren't as precise as wands. It was all but impossible to channel magical spells through a staff. They were instead used to channel raw magical energy and that was it. Some wondered why people still fought with staffs given the fact that wands let you do so much more. The answer was that you could channel more magic through the staff then the wand.
As Harry prepared to strike out, his staff poised to let loose a spear of magic, a commotion from the facility drew everyone's attention. The fighting training took place outside in the meadow and forest. Moving toward them as fast as possible was Lancelot Russo and he was yelling at them to stop their duels.
Harry leaned on his staff and wiped some sweat from his forehead. The other Knights and Areani stopped what they were doing as well, looking at their head instructor.
"Death Eaters are attacking Diagon Alley in full force. The Ministry has sent in all of its forces. You guys are to act as the reserve units. We're going to move you to Hit-Wizard Bravo Base. It's a few months earlier then we would have liked but that's okay. You have five minutes to get inside and put on your battle robes!" Russo shouted.
The young adults began to scramble up toward the training facility. While they wouldn't be joining the fight, that didn't mean they might not see some action if they were needed. It was decided that the United Kingdom would send two Hit-Wizard teams and half a dozen Auxiliaries to assist the coalition. Sirius' team was one of the two teams chosen, and Harry hadn't been able to say goodbye to his godfather before the man had left. Already short fourteen members from their already depleted Magical Law Enforcement, it was no wonder the still in training Knights would be needed as back up.
As Harry was running by Russo, the man stuck his hand out and stopped Harry in his tracks.
"You have a different mission that the Minister picked you for specifically. The Death Eaters have extremely powerful wards up keeping people from leaving the Diagon Alley District. Several hundred civilians are still trapped inside the alley. We have Curse Breakers trying to bring down the wards but it won't be for several hours. However, if we could destroy some of their power stones we could bring down the wards faster."
"You want me to find and destroy the power stones?" Harry asked.
"Aurors took care of two found on the main strip of Diagon Alley but intelligence believes most of them are hidden in Knockturn Alley, behind the main force of Death Eaters."
Harry nodded his head. "Why me? Why not one of the other Areani? They are older."
"You are the better fighter and are the best at stealth. Plus it seems the Minister has a personal interest in you. He's testing you." Russo shot him a look, warning Harry with a glance what it meant when the higher ups had a personal interest in you. "Go and get ready. You'll be getting debriefed and dropped off in five minutes."
Harry ran to his dorm where he quickly strapped on the armor he purchased last summer. He strapped on his extra wands, holstered a dagger to his thigh and tied his combat belt, which was a gift from Moody last Christmas, around his waist. The combat belt contained the first-aid kit he had gotten from Sirius during that same Christmas and a handful of gems to use to set up quick wards. He also shrunk his staff and stuck it in one of the pouches. Grabbing his invisibility cloak, Harry took a deep breath and left the room.
The back entrance to Knockturn Alley was blocked. The Death Eaters had sealed the entrance from inside Knockturn to prevent Ministry forces from attacking their rear. That meant Harry had to move in from Diagon Alley.
The block of Charring Cross Road that the Leaky Cauldron sat on was blocked off. Auxiliaries, dressed as muggle policemen, had cordoned the area off to prevent muggles from getting close. The bookstore that sat next to the Leaky Cauldron was on fire. Several Magical Repair squad members were fighting the flames. The third floor of the Leaky Cauldron had collapsed onto the second floor. Making his way into the pub Harry saw that the bar that ran along the length of one side of the main room was hit with an explosion hex and a large chunk was missing from the middle. The tables and chairs were either blasted into pieces or thrown about the room.
Moving into the courtyard Harry saw that the brick wall, that when tapped correctly turned into a doorway, had been blasted into smithereens. Both the apothecary on the right and the cauldron shop on the left, the first two stores you saw when entering Diagon Alley, had collapsed. Gladrags Wizardwear, which was next to the apothecary, was still standing and had been turned into a casualty collection point by several Healers and Medi-Wizards.
Harry pressed himself against the wall of Gladrags as a Hit-Wizard holding his bleeding stomach stumbled into the clothing shop. The sound of spell fire and explosions could be heard further up the alley. However, helping out in the fighting wasn't why Harry was here. He needed to get into Knockturn Alley, behind enemy lines. He pulled his invisibility cloak tighter around himself and walked further up the alley. He had several silencing spells on his body as well as ones that would mask his heat signature and whatever odor he might be giving off. Hell he even had cast a disillusion charm on himself too, in case his cloak was removed from his body.
The fighting wasn't just limited to the intersection of Knockturn an Diagon. The Death Eaters had spread far enough down Diagon that they were at the intersection of Diagon Alley and Eagle Street, the side street which was located between Madam Malkin's and Flourish and Blotts. Hit-Wizard Alpha Base was located on Eagle Street and seemed to be the area where the most intense fighting was taking place. How was Harry to get by several dozen meters of Death Eaters and Ministry forces trading shellfire?
He glanced up at the rooftops and found his solution. The front half of Quality Quidditch Supplies had collapsed but Harry was sure he could still get in and grab a broom. It was far enough away from the fighting where no Aurors or Hit-Wizards were using it as cover but still close enough that he had to dodge a stray spell every now and then. He carefully climbed his way over the rubble, his foot slipping on a slick piece of debris.
Glancing down his eyes took in the blood soaking some of the collapsed masonry. Looking closer he saw the crushed remains of a father and young son under all the rubble. Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath before moving further into the room. If he didn't hurry and destroy as many power stones as possible, there would be more dead fathers and sons.
Most of the brooms were on display in the front of the store and so had been crushed when it had collapsed. Still, the older models sat in the back of the store and Harry grabbed one. He didn't need a Firebolt to fly up to a roof. He could have just used the broom to fly into Knockturn Alley but the magic a broom gave off when in use could give him away as any smart commander would put magic sensors around his position to help detect stealth attacks. He couldn't allow that, he needed to remain undetected.
He hopped on the broom and shot into the air, flying above the rubble of the front half. He made his way to the rooftops of the stores across the alley and landed softly, discarding the broom. He made sure the cloak was still wrapped around his body and made his way over the rooftops. There was small gaps between them that he had to jump but he did it all easily enough. He moved over four stores before coming to a dead stop.
Three Death Eaters were moving towards him, their wands clutched in their hands. They were looking down at the fight going on the ground. Apparently they recognized that moving above the battle allowed them to move behind enemy lines as well. He had two options; let them pass and continue with his mission undetected and let them potentially wreak havoc or attempt to take them out without alerting others to his presence. The answer was obvious. He was Harry Potter. He wasn't always about doing what was smart but he always did what was right.
He moved forward , quietly discarding his cloak to allow him free movement. The disillusion charm didn't make him invisible but since the Death Eaters weren't paying attention to the area they were moving towards, rather keeping their focus on the ground, they didn't notice the chameleon like body in front of them.
Waving his hand Harry cast a wandless silencing charm on all three of them before stepping into them. His fist slammed into the throat of the middle Death Eater, causing him to stumble backwards and instinctively grab his throat. Harry grabbed the wand arm of the Death Eater on the right and twisted it so the man dropped his wand in pain. Slamming his left elbow onto the Death Eater's arm, he felt the man's elbow give way under his blow, breaking and bending the wrong way. Still holding the now broken arm, Harry kicked out with his left leg and nailed the last Death Eater in the stomach, causing him to bend over in pain.
He released the broken armed Death Eater and shifted toward the middle Death Eater who had raised his wand, even though he still clutched his throat with his free hand. Harry used his left arm to bat the man's arm away before he could fire a curse. He slammed his open hands into the side of the middle Death Eater's head, right in the ears, disorienting him. Before the last of the Death Eater could recover from the kick to his stomach and stand up from his bent position, Harry stepped forward and punted him in the face. The wizard's head snapped up as his mask cracked in half from the blow.
Harry shifted toward the middle Death Eater and gave him a quick two-jab-left-hook combo that sent him sprawling to the ground. Spinning he delivered a backhanded strike to the broken armed Death Eater, causing the mask to fly from the man's face and make him stagger in pain. The man looked like he might go tumbling off the edge of the rooftop but Harry grabbed him by the robes and prevented him from falling. He pulled the broken armed Death Eater toward him and drove his knee into the wizard's stomach before delivering an elbow to the back of the man's head.
As the first of the three slumped to the ground unconscious Harry turned toward the other two. The one he had punted in the face had recovered and had his wand pointed at Harry's disillusioned form. Ducking underneath the silent spell sent his way, Harry withdrew the dagger from his thigh and lunging forward, slashed at the man's wand hand. He severed the thumb and cut the wand in half. The man lurched backwards in shock as blood spurted from the stump that used to be his thumb. Harry flipped the dagger in his hand from holding the blade upright to holding it with the blade pointing down. Swinging the dagger again, he caught the man in the temple with the hilt and the Death Eater crumpled to the ground.
The final Death Eater was trying to struggle to his feet but Harry's attacks to the throat, ears and nose must have effected the man more then Harry would have thought. It appeared Harry had given the Death Eater a severe concussion as he had trouble rising to his feet. Walking toward the groggy figure Harry lifted his foot up and delivered the hardest kick he could with the heel of his foot right to the forehead. The final of the three Death Eaters slumped to the ground. Harry sheathed his dagger, no longer needing it.
Harry looked at his right hand, which was bruised from delivering punches to the mask of the Death Eaters. While the mask weren't made from the strongest material, that didn't mean they didn't hurt when you punched them. He looked at the unconscious Death Eaters and decided what to do with them. Withdrawing his wand, he pressed it into the side of each of the three and cast a stunner, smothering any light from being seen. He'd tell Russo about them when the mission was completed. He collected his invisibility cloak and draped it back over himself. Hopefully no one on the ground had spotted the stray spell and would send someone to investigate.
He finished making his way over to the intersection of Knockturn and Diagon. Looking down he could spot several dozen Death Eaters trying to decide on a course of action. Across the entrance to Knockturn Alley, Gringotts appeared to be in a magical lock down; a glowing dome of brown magic encircling the bank that deflected all curses that hit it.
Harry turned to the left when the rooftops he was walking on turned left. He could see, as he started making his way over the roofs of Knockturn Alley, that the quality of the roofs declined the farther he went in. They were definitely dirtier and some looked to be worn out. He found the shortest building he could and carefully lowered himself as far as possible before dropping the last few feet to the ground.
He landed in a crouch and made sure his cloak was still securely around him. Reaching into one of the pouches of the combat belt around his waist he pulled out the ward powering stone sensor the Ministry had. It was a rare item that the Ministry kept a heavily guarded secret. Anyone and everyone who knew of their existence signed numerous magical contracts before even being told about them, let alone being able to use one. If such a thing fell into the wrong hands, wards could be circumvented a lot easier. Only two were in existence, at least in the United Kingdom. They didn't locate the power stones for you but if you were near one, they let you know.
Harry moved into the first shop he came across, noting the fancy looking glass pieces that littered the shelves. He walked quickly around the store but the sensor in his hand didn't do anything at all. He went to leave, pausing at the doors, letting a pair of Death Eaters run pass him and toward the fighting.
He met the same result with the next two stores but paused at a small alleyway between some stores. Two Death Eaters stood in the relatively small space between the two buildings, standing shoulder to shoulder. There was a few inches between the Death Eaters arms and the side of the buildings, meaning there was no space to move. Harry took several steps into the side alley and the sensor in his hand pulsed.
Harry put the sensor away and moved as close as possible. Taking a deep breath he tossed off the cloak. The Death Eaters saw his chameleon like form and went to raise their wands. Harry slammed his open palm into the chest of one of the Death Eaters, making the wizard stumble backwards. He grabbed the second one by his robes and slammed him into one of the walls before slamming him into the other, watching with satisfaction as the man's head hit into the brick wall. As the Death Eater fell to the ground, Harry turned toward the first one, only to see a wand being aimed at him. He grabbed the outstretched arm and jammed his thumb into a pressure point on the wrist. The Death Eater's hand spasmed as he tried to jerk it away from Harry's grip, his wand falling from his twitching fingers.
With Harry's grip still on his hand the Death Eater started to scream. Harry lashed out with his free hand, punching the man as hard as he could in the solar plexus and knocking the breath out of the man, cutting his scream off. Harry saw out of the corner of his eye the second Death Eater struggle into a sitting position.
"Hel..."
The second Death Eater didn't get to finish his yell for help because Harry's foot connected with the side of his face. The first Death Eater struggled to regain his breath, Harry's thumb still digging into the pressure point. Harry jammed his elbow against the man's temple and saw through the eye holes in the mask as the Death Eater's eyes rolled into the back of his head. Harry let go of the limp figure and stepped toward the back of the alley.
He could see the power stone embedded in the wall about ten feet off the ground. Harry walked back to the downed Death Eaters and grabbed one of their mask. He moved back toward the wall and tossed the mask on the ground. He crouched down and jabbed the mask with his wand. The mask shifted into a giant spider. With a mental nudge from Harry the spider climbed up the wall and made to grab the stone. However, the spider instantly started to thrash around before turning into ash.
It looked like the power stone wasn't just powering the wards that surrounded the Diagon Alley District, but also a defensive ward around itself as well. Harry reached into his combat belt and withdrew a few gems. He grabbed his discarded invisibility cloak, threw it over himself and began to use his wand to etch runes into the gems. It took him five minutes of quick etching before he was satisfied. Moving back toward the entrance, Harry sat gems down at either side of the entrance and activated the ward. A notice-me-not ward and a silencing ward popped into existence over the entrance.
Walking back toward the power stone, Harry carefully aimed his wand and launched a beam of raw magic right at the power stone. A loud 'gong' sound echoed throughout alleyway as the ward around the stone failed. Taking a deep breath, Harry launched another beam of raw magic, this one slamming into the stone. The stone exploded with a large 'boom' and a fiery explosion. Bits and pieces of the surrounding brick was thrown through the air and Harry had to cast a shield to prevent his cloak from being shredded by the shrapnel.
"Right," Harry breathed. "Let's hope my wards kept that explosion from being heard."
Harry looked at the building in front of him in curiosity. He had no idea the wizarding world had brothels, though it made sense that it would be in Knockturn Alley. The building was three stories tall and a little grubby looking but could easily be mistaken as an inn. The name "Wild Veela" and the painting of a scantily clad female on the sign hanging above the door gave away its true attentions.
A loud explosion echoed throughout the area and shook the ground. He was itching to join the fighting but he knew how important his job was. He had been in the Diagon Alley District for a little over thirty minutes and the fighting had been going on for almost an hour. This needed to end for the sake of all the civilians trapped in their townhouses along the side streets or the ones who had been doing their morning shopping when the attack had taken place.
He stepped into the brothel and immediately the sensor in his hand gave a small pulse. Harry glanced around and spotted two Death Eaters standing near the back of the pub that seemed to occupy most of the first floor. One was sitting at a chair, his feet propped up on the table. The other was pacing anxiously back and forth in front of the bar, ranting.
"Guard duty! They give us guard duty! We should be out there fighting. I didn't join the Dark Lord to guard things. I joined to teach mudblood and blood traitors their place in society!"
Harry tuned out the rant of the pacing Death Eater and made his way over to the one sitting down. He jabbed his wand into the wizard's side and before they could react, cast a silent stunner. The body went limp and Harry had to make sure they stayed in a sitting position, otherwise the other one would get suspicious.
After making sure the stunned Death Eater wouldn't fall out of his seat, Harry moved over to the pacing one. Sliding his cloak off his body, he maneuvered himself behind the pacing Death Eater and quickly grabbed him in a blood choke hold. Using his forearm and bicep he applied pressure on the carotid arteries. Within seconds the Death Eater went unconscious due to the lack of blood going to his brain. Stepping backwards Harry laid the body on the ground.
Taking out his wand, Harry drew a complicated rune in the air. After completion the rune pulsed twice before a wave of yellow magic shot from it and engulfed the room. Silencing charm up, Harry looked around the room, wondering where they would hide a power stone. Twisting his wand he started transfiguring the furniture in the room into little monkeys, which he sent out in search of the stone. He hoped the stone had a defensive ward like the last one and would give itself away. The monkeys climbed along the wall and ceiling, throwing bottles of liquor against the floor and banging their fist against everything. One of the monkeys went to grab a bottle of goblin mead but twitched violently and its skin melted off its body. Harry grimaced but made the rest of the monkeys throw themselves at the bottle. The ward around the bottle flared brightly as the almost two dozen monkeys began to twitch and have their skin melt off.
Harry frowned as the ward stayed strong. Some wards you could overload by making it work a lot in a short amount of time. Apparently either this ward wasn't one of them or two dozen monkeys wasn't enough to overload it. Aiming his wand, Harry let loose a blast of raw magic, where it slammed into the ward. The ward collapsed with the sound of twisting metal. Twirling his wand, a hammer made of pure magic formed at the tip of Harry's wand, which he used to hit the bottle containing the power stone. The bottle shattered, goblin mead spilling everywhere. Raising the magical hammer again, Harry slammed it into the stone, which cracked. He slammed it onto the stone again, shielding his face with his free arm as the stone exploded.
The second stone was destroyed, weakening the wards by that much more. Harry figured one or two more would do the trick and get the wards weak enough to be brought down easily. He scooped up his invisibility cloak from where he dropped it and made his way out of the brothel.
Harry finished making his way up one side of the alley, reached the end and turned around to check the other side of the alley. He had a feeling he knew where another stone would be. He walked into Borgin and Burke's and the sensor gave a little pulse. However, a power stone wasn't the only thing waiting for Harry in the store.
"So our mystery guest has arrived. When Mulciber told me he felt his wards weakening and that someone was destroying his power stones, I knew I had to look for myself. How could someone have gotten behind our forces? Your wards on the side alley were decent but I was easily able to take them down. When I saw that you hadn't eliminated this stone yet, I decided to sit here and wait for you."
Augustus Rookwood was easily a half a foot taller then Harry. He probably had three and a half stones on Harry too and it didn't look like fat. Rookwood was a former Unspeakable but no one was sure exactly which part of the Department of Mysteries he used to be a part of. It was said that he was second in terms of fighting only to the Dark Lord.
Harry clenched his cloak tighter around himself. Should he run or try to find that last stone and destroy it? The store was filled with hundreds of dark arts items and had a back room he had never been in before. It would be difficult finding what he needed.
"Why don't you take off your cloak and introduce yourself mystery guest," Rookwood muttered, a feral grin on his face. "No? Pulvis."
A white powder flew from Rookwood's wand. Harry stuck his wand out of his cloak and a blast of wind threw the powder back at Rookwood. Harry threw himself to the side as Rookwood launched several spells at the area he just occupied. Getting to his feet Harry launched a pair of cutters.
Both of his cutters were blocked easily and a barrage of spells were launched at Harry. The continuous use of magic made the disillusionment on Harry fail, exposing his arm and wand whenever he had to stick it outside the cloak to cast a spell. Harry dropped to the ground and rolled away as various shelves were destroyed under the onslaught of spells, some of the items detonating in violent magical explosions.
"Where are you mystery guest?" Rookwood demanded, launching a cloud of powder at the area to Harry's left.
Harry swept his wand toward a shelf and banished the entire thing at Rookwood. The former Unspeakable threw up a dome of crackling blue defensive magic. The shelf slammed into the shield and exploded in a shower of splinters, most of the items that sat on the shelf disintegrating against the shield. One item, a gold chain made it through the shield and made a beeline right toward Rookwood's neck. However, Rookwood swatted the gold chain with his wand and it shattered into pieces.
"Expello."
Harry's spell slammed into the shield and ricocheted back at him. He side stepped the spell and was forced to shield himself as Rookwood attacked with a piercer. With Harry's position exposed he was forced to dance away from another series of curses thrown his way. He made his way behind the sales counter and crouched down. The backroom was right behind him and he knew he had to look inside because that is where the power stone probably was.
Harry hit some debris with transfiguration spells, creating a few wolves and a falcon to hopefully distract Rookwood long enough. Harry crawled into the backroom and gave his creations the signal to attack.
As the snarls of the wolves and muttered spells from Rookwood filled the shop, Harry carefully looked around the cluttered mess that was the backroom. It would be impossible to locate the stone in all this mess. He twisted his wand and watched as half of the mess lifted off the floor and shot for the doorway. He dove out of the way as several stones worth of dark items went flying through the doorway and, with a flick of his wand, right at Rookwood.
Harry could hear Rookwood growl in frustration as he made the other half of the mess go flying out the backroom and toward Rookwood as well. The only things remaining in the room were several creepy looking things and the power stone, which had fallen out of a pile of items. The nature of the stone and the ward around it wouldn't allow it to be manipulated by magic, making it dead weight.
Harry launched a powerful jet of magic at the stone, the ward around it flaring brightly before disappearing with a pop. He launched another one at the stone and smiled in satisfaction when it exploded. He turned toward the doorway to be met in the face with a cloud of powder, which coated his invisible form. Rookwood stood there, his eyes wide with victory.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Harry dove out of the way, the hair on the back of his neck standing up as the spell flew by him. He came up in a roll and maneuvered the cloak so it still covered his head and fluttered out behind him. He was forced to dodge a bludgeoner aimed at his knee cap.
"Come on you headless fucker!" Rookwood shouted. "Let's see how good of a fighter you are without anything to help you out."
"Inflatus!"
The five jets of light were deflected back at Harry and he had to dive out of the way to avoid them. Rookwood launched a dark gray jet of light that Harry tried to shield himself from. However, the spell broke through his shield and he had to quickly dodge out of the way.
"Flamen!"
Harry's spell was batted away as if it was nothing more then an annoying fly. Rookwood threw a cutter at Harry that the teen tried to dodge but it caught him in his upper right arm. Harry cried out in pain as the spell cut deep enough to nick his bone. His arm went limp, his wand falling from his lifeless fingers.
Rookwood launched another spell but Harry managed to throw himself out of the way in time. He unholstered the secondary wand on his hip and used it to shield himself from a flesh-eating curse. He summoned his holly wand, which he managed to grab with his already occupied left hand. Using both wands, Harry channeled a pair of bludgeoners.
The bludgeoners were reflected back at Harry and he hastily shielded himself from them. He ducked underneath a spear of purple light that left the smell of burnt ozone in the air. He needed to force Rookwood from the door so he could make a run for it. There was no way he was winning this battle.
Harry struck the ground in front of Rookwood with a few explosion hexes, forcing the man to shield himself from flying shrapnel from the floor. Harry holstered his secondary wand and waved his primary one. A large tiger appeared out of thin air and launched itself at Rookwood. The man didn't even move as he hit it with a Killing Curse and then banished its corpse at Harry.
Harry reversed his conjuration and the tiger disappeared in thin air before it could hit him. However, Rookwood had launched a curse that was hidden by the flying tiger corpse. Harry got slammed in the chest with a powerful bludgeoner that not only cracked some ribs, but sent him flying backwards and into the wall.
"Pathetic," Rookwood sneered. "You weren't even worth my time."
Harry struggled to rise but couldn't. It was really hard to breath. Suddenly Harry felt as if a heavy blanket of magic he hadn't even known was there was lifted. Rookwood looked around with faint amusement before looking at Harry's still headless form.
"Looks like your actions weren't in vain my headless mystery guest. You managed to take down the wards! I'm sure they'll give your dear parents a metal for your brave actions. Avada Kedavra!"
As the green jet of light flew at Harry, the teen closed his eyes. Then, with a hook behind his naval, Harry was gone.