Thank you all for the reviews. Harry Potter is not mine, this is a story from a fan.
(BSC 6 C22) C213 The last part before the big battle 2.
They were all looking on as Lily was hugging her son for the first time since she had awakened that day in her own coffin. This time she was hugging him like she was hugging a son, not just a person who she thought of as a son. James who was standing next to Frank knew he would never again be the Lord Potter. He still wanted to be it but looking at all the memories from the past three days He knew better. While he had looked on he knew that his son Harry was the real thing. He was just like his grandfather was and how his own father had taught him to be. He was ruthless if he needed to be and a way better Lord than he could ever be.
As they waited, it was Isabella who was the first to ask if they had all lost it. All the friends looked at Isabella as Harry let go of his mum and walked to the door. This had been the one thing they all had been afraid of. One of the adults would lose it but they never thought Isabella would be the one. "Who of you thought, that it was a good idea to fight a Goblin and a werewolf. Who of you thought, that it was a great idea, to haggle with giants and give free booze to Trolls". It was at that moment she opened her eyes, which had closed before she started to scream and looked at the door where she knew Harry would be. There was no Harry and the only thing she saw, were the friends standing in front of the door looking right back at her. "What did I say that was wrong".
"How, about blaming Harry for trying something" Daphne almost snapped at her own mother.
"Or blaming Harry, for pushing us so far, so we can survive this war and a battle on our own" Susan really snapped because she didn't hold back as Daphne did, or Hermione would do.
"Thinking of other ways than to fight, by for example giving food to the giants and a safe place to live, so we do not have to fight them. Because that was what Voldemort and Grindelwald had promised them if they would fight us first." Hermione told her.
"Giving alcohol to the trolls because they like drinking far better than fighting anyone or anything," Bella said.
"What about fighting the leader of the werewolf pack, just to give them a new Leader that is not out for turning everybody into werewolves, or getting all the werewolves to fight and turn us at every opportunity they get," Neville said.
"For bringing us together, while no one did it before Harry came back into the magical world," Fleur said.
"How about, going that one extra step himself, so we or the rest of the family does not have to do it," Ginny told them all with a pointed look at all of them.
"Or Harry taking the high road where the hard steps are and getting punishment, while we can travel down the side of the road to have an easy way to travel ourselves," Astoria told them all as she looked back at them.
It was now they all looked at Tonks who had stepped next to all of them. "Don't look at me. I ran out of Popcorn so I just went where the action was. Plus if they go all medieval on you. I want to be at the side that wins".
It was now they all saw that not only Harry had left the room but also Augusta and Minerva. Grandmere stood by the pensive and looked at everybody when she spoke. "The friends have told us all they wanted to do and what their main plan was, is, and would be. If it works they will save a lot of lives and they might stop the war before it even starts. Now I will show you all the last memory we have to show all of you. It was the one thing I saw after Harry had left for the last time. He and Neville had done what they had to do and what they had been doing with every house. Harry was brought back unconscious by Neville, he again had given his all. You will see it for yourself. Now he is with Minerva and Augusta at Longbottom manor. I will be going there also and we will be closing the wards for everyone. We will be there for two days to get him back to full health. Poppy will be with us and the friends can join us but no one else. I will leave you all with this memory and after it, you can do some self-reflection. Grandmere started the memory and took out a little rope that reminded everyone of the strings they had at the world cup.
The final memory.
Grandmere looked on as Neville dragged Harry back up the mountain. He had a hard time because the fight with the vampires had taken a lot out of them. Ginny and Stacy had met them halfway and helped Harry back up. Neville could make it on his own but he had a hard time climbing the mountain. When they got to the top Tracy and Ginny started on Neville while Harry was treated by Poppy.
It was a minute later Tracy and Ginny were taken to Longbottom manor with Naville following them only a second later by house-elf. The moment they were gone, Poppy took the Goblin armor from the body of Harry and it was followed by his shirt. It was now they all saw the wounds he had gotten from the last couple of hours. Bite marks from Greyback were all over his arms and claw marks from Greyback and the vampires were all over his body. It was also now that most of them had another look at how his body looked after the life he had. Poppy was healing him but they could all see the new scars the wounds left behind.
When Poppy was done she conjured a chair for herself and the others. She sat down and pointed for the others to take a seat themselves. "He is healing again but for now we have to wait. He is not yet ready to be moved so let's sit down and talk about what those kids have done. The memory went on by telling every battle they had seen so far through memories. Grandmere got to her feet and looked at the house through the telescope. Her eyes became big and she turned on the table so they all could look.
There at the edge of the grounds were two figures walking to the Parkinson Manor. Suddenly they stopped and started to look around themselves. "Is that Voldemort and Grindelwald" Poppy asked while Minerva just nodded at her. "What are they doing, they are looking like they are searching for something or not".
Grandmere turned and looked at Minerva. They all could see a little smile forming on the corners of her mouth. "They did it, They really did it" and she patted Harry on the head. "You all did it," she said and thought in her mind. At Longbottom manor, there were three people who smiled and one who frowned because she didn't know anything about it.
"They have done what," Poppy asked as she looked at Minerva with a knowing look.
"Well I can't tell you everything but in the big picture, it is simple. They have placed every Menor under a separate Fidelius ward. So While they all feel their manor and wards, none of them will know where it is because they can't see and find them at all. By the looks of it Voldemort and Grindelwald can't find them either and it means that their magic runs through their souls. Now by the mark, they all have on their lower arms it also runs through the mark and they can't find them either. So that tells me the friends were right. Voldemort and Grindelwald take power from their followers. Now they did not seem to feel it before because it is a little bit of magic. But when all of the manors got the same ward, they too were affected by the same loss that all of their followers felt".
The memory stopped and they all looked at the pensive that was just standing there in the middle. None of them knew what they were on about. Nolwenn looked on and knew there was just one thing she had to look for. She knew all of the plans for the last three days. She didn't know about the vampires, none of them did. She also didn't know why they did the things they did but she knew they always had a reason. The grandmas knew and now she had to see who else knew or who would figure out what they were up to. As Nolwenn looked on she could see that only one realized what their friends had found out.
Alice looked at Lily. "We talked about this. We thought that mark connected them to him. They had done it. They had found out it does and they are somehow using it to work against them".
"What are you all talking about" James yelled because he didn't know anything else he could do. "They have just fought battles with Vampires and Goblins. NO, pun intended Bogrod. But why are you all okay with it? They could have been killed, hell Harry has become a werewolf by all the bite marks he's got".
"No he isn't, at least we don't think so" Daphne screamed. "We have all talked about this".
"That is what you all, always do. You talk and never tell us anything, you all just do it, and keep us out of it," Appoline screamed this time. She had seen the memories and was terrified by the thought of everything that could have gone wrong. "Do you all even realize what could have happened, if you had been found out".
As everyone looked on they were wondering why the kids didn't look down in shame. The last time they had been mad they all did it. They all knew they had frightened them and were embarrassed about it. This time they did not, they just look back at them as if they had known they would react like this.
"The one thing I don't understand is the smile Harry had when he was brought into Hogwarts," David asked. The question was easy and so was the answer, but the way he asked it was not in wonder. No, the way he asked was in an accusing way.
"Do you really want to know" Susan snapped?
"Susan, Amelia, Bones" Amelia screamed.
"Amelia, Susan, Bones" Susan screamed back. "I told you you all would be mad. I told you, you would all scream at us and we have had enough. If you would have sat down and asked us why we did tell the grandmas and not you. Why we asked them for advice and not then this is why. Would you have let us"?
"NO," James screamed. "We would have done it".
"Then you would have all been dead," Fleur said as she stepped in front of the friends. "Her words were soft but had so much power that it was heard by everyone in the room. Gabrielle stepped next to her and hugged her sister. "None of you would have survived any of this. You might have dealt with the Trolls in the same way. You might have dealt with the giants in the same way but none could have gone toa to toa with a Goblin whose only goal was death by battle. None of you would have survived the fight with the werewolf Greyback".
"He turned my son" James screamed again.
"Not yet he hasn't" Daphne screamed back as she looked at one of the Veela Healers that was still with them looking at the friends for any indication they would push their body's too far. She shook her head and Daphne went on. "Arabella has made a potion that is someone like the wolfsbane potion the werewolves use to stay sane. She had made a variant to keep you from taking the cursed blood into your body when they bite you. It is a shield that is working for about thirty minutes. Harry took it before the fight and he is taking it every two hours. Til now he has no sine of Lycanthropy and we hope it stays that way in the next four days. If it does he will not turn and he will not become one. It can be the one thing Healers can use when they treat a Werewolf. Or it can keep them from turning when they are looking out for them at the full moon".
"Still he just went and let himself be bitten" James yelled again.
"You stupid son of a Baboon".
"Hermione" Emma screamed.
"No, mom, It is all the same, just like the last time. You all know better but none will listen. Harry is the only one who could go against Greyback and had the best chance of surviving the fight. If it wasn't him it might have been a Goblin who".
"No, none of the Goblins could have done that. Hell none of us could go against a coven of Vampire and fight as you all did. Hell, we would have lost" Bogrod said as his guards were nodding along.
Hermione was silent for a couple of seconds when she looked at Bogrod. It clicked in her head and she knew she had to say what she wanted to say when she started. "Harry is the only one who could do it. Mad-Eye couldn't and none of us could. He is not only able but he is willing to do everything to win this war. The only thing he wants is Happiness and a long life with Bella and Daphne by his side and Zanita as his third wife. None of this will happen if we sit back. When the vampires attacked we knew it was a turning point. The only reason why they would go after Bella was because they knew she was Bellatrix. It is why Harry went to it right away. Bella is the key to all of this". Bella who was standing by the door was ready to leave when Hermione started to talk about her. "Bella is his all, just Like Daphne became later on and Minerva had become from the moment she entered back into his life. Bella had been there from the start of all of this. He will not fight for her, he will die for her. We might say it but he would. He would do it for all of us. Could you say the same"? and this time she looked right at James.
James thought back. he would he knew it. It was the one thing he and Lily had prepared for. That night Voldemort came they would. It was then his memory of that night stopped. He did lay down his life but not for Harry. He died because he protected Lily, or at least he tried to. Voldemort killed him because he was protecting Lily while he knew she was protecting Harry. That night he only thought about Lily and not Harry. "I would, but you only know for real when you have to do it".
Hermione smiled. "Yes and that is what is different about all of us and Harry. He is a McGonagall and he would do it. Lily did it for Harry by separating her blood from the Potters. It is the same as when Grandma Mini did it for Appoline".
Appoline looked down because she could not do it. She gave up on her own daughter and the only one who kept on going was Harry. Neville went to help Hermione when the vampire struck her. Not Harry he went on fighting just to get all of them out. "None of us would do what a McGonagall would do," Appoline said.
It was at that moment Augusta pulled the Invisibility cloak from her head and let all of them jump up in fear. "You all go to Harry while I deal with all of them" Augusta told the friends as she pointed at the adults. When they had left Augusta turned to the others.
"Now as for you all. Do any of you realize what they have done the last three days". Alice was slowly lifting her finger like she was in class. "Not you, because I already know you have found something they had found three years ago".
"Three years," Alice asked in astonishment.
"Yes, three years, and they were, and are way ahead of all of us," Augusta said while she looked at the others.
"They still risked their lives for nothing but some stupid idea," James said as he folded his arms.
Augusta just shook her head sadly as she saw Frank and some of the others nodding along with him. Her gaze went over to Nolwenn who just looked back. "He, I don't know half they know about this war or what they are planning. I just go for the ride like some of the others.
The gaze from Augusta went to Narcissa. "I go along with everything they plan as long as they keep her" and she pointed to Nolwenn, "Away from trashcans". Nolwenn gave her a dirty look while Narcissa just smiled at her girl.
As she looked on at the others she could see that it was most of the men that just didn't realize what they had been doing for the last three days. "Wel let me explain then" and Augusta almost snapped. "They are going to hate me for saying this. But let me tell you some of it. Now I know they have hidden all of the manors with their own form of wards. You can say they have wrapped them up. The only thing it is missing is a bow on top. What they want to do with it I do know but I'm not going to tell you all. Now for the last three days, they have been making a lot of efforts of slowing down the war. Not only did they slow it down, but they also make it better for themselves".
"Hou is almost killing themselves better for them" Sirius screamed over the shoulder of Frank and James.
Augusta gave a deep sigh. "Let's start with the Goblins. They have taken all Goblins to be with the one leader of them all. You do have to realize that, Bogrod is that Leader. Secondly, we have the giants. Now they have been taken home so we do not have to face them when we go into battle. Some of them are still there because they are too weak to travel right now. But when they are all better we will take them back to live with their own kind again, far away from all people, Magical and not".
"That still does not explain why Susan went one on one with a Goblin," Amelia told her softly.
Augusta heard it and she wanted to snap again. But this time she heard the sadness in her voice so she pushed her reaction down. "She isn't your little girl anymore Amelia. After they had seen Harry with all his scars floating above the bed. They had all grown up in a couple of minutes. I had the same thing with Neville. They all called us with their emergency jewelry when they found out he had been beaten for most of his life. After that, they just took it out of our hands and went crazy".
They all knew Augusta was right. Some of them hadn't been there but they had seen it all in a pensive. Lily had stepped back with Alice as she asked her. "How could we have missed it".
"They are our boys, they would find a way just like we did. The things we did without Croaker knowing it".
"Just keep on thinking that," Croaker said from their side. "You kept some things from me but only the ones you did at home. Those boys and their friends are something else. They do things right under your nose and you still don't get it. For instance, do you know where Potter manor is"?
"Of course, it is in the. You go left at the, and then you go back" Lily told him as she looked at Alice. "Those little shits" Lily screamed. Augusta looked up and smiled because it was the one way they always reacted when the friends had done something none knew how.
Croaker gave a knowing smile at Augusta and went on. "Two teens who outflew two dragons and were smiling while they were doing it, is not normal. Just like them fighting a Goblin war".
"That is nothing," one of the Goblin guards said. "The fight with the vampires was more than we could even do. They have only trained with us, They know our fighting style and it is what Susan had done with the Goblin and Harry with Greyback. What they did there is thinking on the spot. Some of us can do it but none can do it while they are telling people how to fight. Not even when they themselves are flying across the room". Croaker was stunned when he heard it. "Now we knew they would be better than us in the war. They came and took over. They were faster than we were and even outsmarted our leader". Bogrod grumbled about it. "No, our Lord and his family are more than even we are capable of," the Goblin said to them all.
Croaker looked at the ground as he started to drift off a little. For some of them, it was clear that he was thinking about something. Then he looked back at Lily and Alice. "What did you mean when you said they had found it out and are using it against them".
Augusta smiled as this had been the one thing they had wondered about. In one of the late-night talks, the grandmas had after the talks they had with the friends. All of them knew Lily and Alice had been working on a lot of things while they were unspeakable. So while they had been looking at ways Voldemort had been in contact with his Death Eaters. The mark had been the one thing they had been focused on".
"Wait, Daphne had read about the mark on the book of blood," Augusta said. "She read something about they are sucking out the magic from all of them. So if we kill them, we can kill all the Death Eaters at the same time".
"No, we can't". All of them stopped and looked at the doorway. Most of the time someone interrupted them in this way, it was Harry most of those time. But now they were looking at Neville. "In theory you are right. Voldemort and Grindelwald could suck out the magic when they are needing it. But we are only looking at one/eight parts of his soul. That part sucking out magic is just like a bloodsucker sucking out blood. It takes some but not enough to kill them. We are hoping for something but that is all. Bogrod has found all the other soul containers so there are only a couple left. Voldemort, Grindelwald, and the snake. On the Battlefield, we will kill the other parts and watch the magic do what it does. So for now I came to get my grandmother. We have another idea and we need them. Harry is out of it and will be sleeping for another two days, we hope. So for now we are on our own". He was about to leave when he looked back at the others. For all of you start to place the students in their places for the protection of Hogwarts. It will be in the near future that they will attack so get them ready" as Neville gave Amelia a pointing look. After it, he left and Augusta followed without a word.
Frank rushed to the Floo but he was blocked off. "Neville has closed the Floo, we can't get in," Frank told them all.
*#
Grindelwald had been in bed when Voldemort awoke in the middle of the night in another room. He started walking from left to right, up and down, on and on. Or Narcissa's room which he had stolen from her. One of his finer moments. He could not have a better time than to frustrate one of his Death Eaters or the wife of one. He kind of missed Narcissa because she was one that would stand up to him and he could always take it out on Lucius after it. He also missed Bellatrix because she was even more vicious than he himself was. "Bellatrix" he screamed all of a sudden. He pulled up his cloak and rushed down the hallway to Grindelwald. He pounded against its door and waited to hear the stumbling behind it. When Grindelwald opened the door he stepped back. He still needed to get used to looking at Albus. Well, it was Grindelwald he had made his way to be Albus without the Polyjuice potion. But most of them had believed he had been Albus and that was the face they still saw.
"It's in the middle of the night men, what in Merlin's name do you want" Grindelwald snapped.
"Bellatrix. We know, whether the vampires got her, or not. And we would wait until the morning to see her. We can't wait because if they have her those brats will be going after her to get her back. I had a talk with Narcissa once to get Harry into the ministry. Do you know about that time he locked me up in his mind? Well, she told me I couldn't take Minerva, Daphne, or Bella. Harry would have kept his eyes on her all the time just like on all those other brats. So if they had gotten her and they would tell us in a couple of hours we might already be too late. So I took his godfather who was on a mission from you while you were leading the order. That is what Narcissa told me".
"Sirius was never on a mission for me. I always did my best to make sure that the Order didn't do anything to bring down your numbers. The only ones I had that went against my orders were Lily Potter and Alice Longbottom. I lost quite a number of the Order members and those were all the ones that wanted to kill your Death Eaters". Grindelwald held his breath for a moment and looked out of the window. "I think you are right. If we got her they will be coming for them really fast. So let's get to it. If she is there we will grab her and take her back. We will not be staying there because if we stay there we might run into them ourselves. I would like to battle them when they have a battle behind their backs and are not fresh enough to attack us".
It was about ten minutes later the both of them apparated near Parkinson's manor. They were a little away from the wards because Grindelwald was a little afraid of the brats. Voldemort didn't understand it but he knew Grindelwald knew more about them than he did. He hated it that Grindelwald didn't kill them when they were at Hogwarts. Then again, he still had to find out if he was him or that riddle boy with Magic. The moment he did, he had stood before his door and scared the shit out of Lucius. That had been a beautiful side to see.
Slowly they were making their way up to Parkinson's manor when something happened in their minds. They knew they had to go to Parkinson's manor they knew Bellatrix would be there and they also knew where it was. It was on the mountainside on the left. But now they just couldn't see it or find it. It should be here but it was not and they knew they were at the right place. As they walked on a couple of steppes they had a push to the other side. They took a couple of steppes the other way and got the same feeling.
"They have done something with the Parkinson Manor. Think of the Grabb Manor" Grindelwald snapped. They both did and got the same feeling. They knew where it was. They could feel that little magic that ran through the mark on the Death Eaters. They felt the wards and knew where they had to go. It was close because they knew they all lived close together. But as they took a couple of steppes to the Grabb manor they got the same feeling. They knew where it was and they knew how to get there. But after a couple of steppes, they were pushed the other way.
This time Voldemort told them to think about the Nott Manor and got the same feeling again. when they wanted the Goyel Manor they got the feeling again and again. "They have hidden everything from us. They must have used a Fidelius charm or something like that".
"No that can't be it. We still know where all of the manors are. We still know where to go but when we do we get pushed back. A Fidelius doesn't do that. It makes you forget everything about the Manor you're hiding". Grindelwald said. "I did it with the Potter house, Well I didn't do it. I only hid the secret door I had to the secret room in the back of that house. I have been keeping an eye on everything they did and I never found out what Lily had done to protect Harry the way she did".
"You were there that night," Voldemort asked.
"No, I was not there that night. It was the one night I was dealing with Sirius and Remus. I made it look like Remus was the one they could not trust, But I already knew Peter was one of yours. Still, I had to keep the heat on someone else so Peter could tell you a secret that wasn't there".
"How did you fool them then".
This time Grindelwald smiled. "That was a simple one. I just did like I placed the Fidelius over the house. But in truth I only placed a Muggle detection ward I changed to a Wizard detection one. So every time one of them walked through the ward It would feel like they walked through a wall. Just like with the barrier on platform nine and three quarters.
"So they have hidden the manors in some way, but not the grounds they stand on," Voldemort asked in a thoughtful way.
"No, but how they have done it, Or what they have done is the big question. If, and I'm certain they will not tell us. So we just have to attack sooner. If we kill them the ward will fall and we will be able to get back into the manors".
"You are not forgetting that we still have a lot of prisoners in those dungeons. All of them will be dead when we have killed those brats" Voldemort said like he was losing the little presents that he would keep under the Christmas tree. "How soon do you think we can Attack Hogwarts because that is where they will die? Diagon Alley is in their hands but it is empty. The stores are there but they have somehow moved the people and the content of all of them. I had a couple of junior Death Eaters walking down the alley but everything is closed and boarded up. The only thing that is open is Knockturn Alley. We both know that the store owners in that Alley think the same way as we think about things". Grindelwald listened on as Voldemort added everything up. "Now we did get the ministry under our control but somehow we can't run it. All of the employees we wanted to keep all there who we wanted to run the whole ministry, while we threatened them by telling them we would kill their families if they would not do it. Somehow they all disappeared the moment we took it over".
"We don't have it anymore do we," Grindelwald asked him.
Voldemort shook his head slowly. "No, I don't know how, but I have seen in the minds of some of my people that it was something with a terrible smell going around".
Grindelwald shook his head slowly. "Have none of your men ever heard from a bubble head charm. If they would have done that, they could have gone and looked for the cause of the smell".
"I don't know what has gotten into them this time around. In the last war, they use to be on top of it all. Everyone was afraid of them. Everyone except Lily Potter and Alice Longbottom that is. I still remember the time they put on their masks and everyone would run away in fear".
Grindelwald thought about those spineless people, Voldemort called followers. Lucius might have the money they needed but he was the worst of them all. He had seen it himself when he had looked into his mind. Harry had him by the balls so to say and he did nothing about it. What Harry had on him he did not know but it was something big. When he thought about the Death Eaters he had to think about his own people. They weren't any better. His men had lost on their first day here. Walter his number one man had been looking worse and he still had to get back to what he used to be. Those brats had really done a number on him. He knew his men had given as much as they got but it had even put fear in Walter, his top fighter. If they could do this to his men then how dark had they become?
They never went against people like this. "We are Dark grey while they are really dark," Grindelwald told him. "We always said we were dark but they really are. So we have to put a stop to it to save the world. If we do not, things will go down to a place we don't want to live in. Before you know it, we have to sit with Goblins and Muggles".
Voldemort gave a shiver at the thought of sitting next to a muggle while he was handed the salt and pepper by the muggle. "But how do we do it. We can't Attack right now because it is still full moon, and the Werewolves have to have at least two days to get back to full strength before we can do it".
Grindelwald gave him a small nod as he thought about what to do next. "We can still go to the grounds"
He asked and Voldemort focused on the grounds around the manors. He still knew where they were but the moment he focused on the manor it was gone. "We can get to the grounds where our army is, but we can't reach the manors because I still don't know where they are. I feel the wards through the mark but no Manor".
"Alright so let's go back to Malfoy Manor and rest for a little bit. Later today we will start going to inform our Army and tell them to get ready" It was then the both of them Apparated back to Malfoy manor and into their own bedrooms. Grindelwald sat on his bed and knew they had lost that chance to get Bellatrix back. He wasn't really sad about it because he had seen her all over Hogwarts. It looked like she had been the one that had pulled him into her mind. It was also her that had pulled Harry in there with her. How she had done that was still a mystery to him, but she had been a natural so she could do more than he could. Still, it was a loss but not a big one according to him. He lay down and closed his eyes.
In the room next to him, Voldemort had not gone to his bed. He had sat down in a chair that stood in the corner and looked at the rising sun. He missed Bellatrix and he needed her. She had been the one Death eater he would have stepped before Walter and wiped the floor with him. It was also at that point he missed the Lestrange Brothers. They too could fight hard and be ruthless if they needed to be. So they just had to kill all the others while he took Bellatrix back and brainwashed her, back to be his servant, for the rest of her life. A little smile crawled over his face as he thought about killing Grindelwald. If the battle was over he would turn on himself and kill himself. The spirit that would leave that Body, like he had done when he left Quirrell. He would capture that Spirite and keep it in a container to keep himself alive forever. He still had all his other Horcruxes. But this was the original soul so he had to keep it safe.
This was it again for this time. See you all the next time.
Gr Winmau