A/N: This is very unedited; I absolutely don't have the bandwidth right now to go back and reread. I'm actually shocked I got this done, but it's been a good stress-reliever. One more chapter and part of it's already written.
The barrier was invisible but effective; the men in front hit it hard and the two others behind them ran into their backs. Parkinson's Expelliarmus bounced harmlessly away; there was no chance of it taking Harry's wand even if the shield hadn't been in place. He stared at them impassively, but there was no mistaking the waves of fury rolling off him. One of the dangling ceiling beams gave an alarming crack and the men looked up at it warily. Benton Goyle took a step back.
Dodge rubbed his nose, which had taken the full brunt of Avery's shoulder and gave Harry a baleful look. "Now now, Harry; is this really necessary?"
Harry crossed his arms. "You tell me, since you're the ones who kept my girlfriend here against her will." Dodge's smile grew even more placating.
"Now that's not strictly true; if Miss Weasley had actually asked to leave, we certainly would have let her go." He looked at the other men with him. "Isn't that right, mates?"
"Now wait . . ." began Goyle, until Felix Parkinson shoved him.
"Shut up, Goyle," said Parkinson. "You're lucky Avery and I are letting you stay." He pointed his wand at Harry. "Don't make me take down the shield my way," he said. "You won't like it."
Harry just managed not to roll his eyes. Now that he knew Ginny was safe, the man's threats of Dark Magic didn't scare him. But getting her away quickly meant she hadn't been able to tell him much. He gripped his parents' wands more tightly. "What did you do to Ginny?"
Goyle glared across the barrier at Harry.
"Useless bitch; couldn't even help us by picking up the wands herself. Only good for one thing if you ask me. Not that I'd ever touch a blood traitor like that, no matter how much she begged." He gave a harsh laugh and it was a good thing that Parkinson hexed him with a sharp stinging curse so that Harry didn't have to. Dodge put his hand on the man's arm.
"That's quite enough Felix. We're losing sight of our goals here, aren't we? And I daresay, Harry, that once you hear our plans you may very well agree to join our path forward."
There was another crack from the ceiling above and Harry forced himself to count to ten. Ginny was safe, he reminded himself again, and there was information to be had, and it was his duty as an Auror to gather it. Now was not the time to lose control, especially since he didn't seem to be in immediate danger.
Instead, he took down the shield and feigned curiosity - and obliviousness. "What do you mean? I thought I was just meant to be listing the stuff I want to keep." Inside, he was going over the information Goyle and Parkinson had inadvertently given him. Clearly Dodge had been lying when he said they would have let Ginny leave if she'd asked, but it was Goyle's revelation that Ginny hadn't been able to pick up the wands, and Parkinson and Avery's apparent disagreement with Goyle that Harry found the most interesting. He was pretty sure Ginny had handled the wands in the past, even if just to hand them to him. But now, if he was reading the situation right, he was the only person who could touch them, or pick them up, or use them.
That gave him some protection; the Death Eaters weren't likely to try to hurt him as long as he controlled the wands. He shifted them casually from one hand to the other and didn't miss how four sets of eyes locked on to the movement. The men cast furtive glances at each other, and eventually Dodge cleared his throat.
"Those, umm, you should start with them. On your list, I mean." He pulled a piece of parchment suddenly out of his robes. "Here, I brought another one, just in case. And a quill too. You can get started right away."
Even before Harry touched the parchment he could feel the vestiges of Dodge's compulsion charm; it was stronger than on the first list he'd sent, all those months ago. He took it slowly in his hand and frowned at it, seemingly in confusion. "I really should get started," he said slowly. "Writing down things I want to keep that are . . . nearest to me?" In the back of his head, Harry couldn't help but be impressed with the charm's precision. If he hadn't been both ready for the compulsion and strong enough to overcome it, the first thing he would have written down would have been the wands. Instead, he leaned over into the crib and pulled out the tattered stuffed dog.
"Isn't he cute?" he asked Dodge. "I need to write down that I'd definitely like to keep Sirius." He waved the toy in the air, feeling a bit foolish. "I can tell I really loved him." He plucked the quill from Dodge's hand, watching with satisfaction as the man squirmed.
"I'm not sure . . ." he began weakly. Harry waved his words away.
"Well I am sure I want it," he said breezily. Without waiting for Dodge to say anything else he quickly scrawled "Stuffed dog from crib" on the first line of the list. The animal disappeared from his hand with a small pop and Harry gave a yelp of feigned surprise.
"Where . . . where did it go? I thought I could keep it!" he said, hoping he sounded properly distressed. Acting had never been one of his strengths. He pushed the parchment and quill at Dodge, shaking his head as he did so. "I don't want to write anything else if it's going to take my stuff."
"Told you it wouldn't work." Parkinson looked sourly at Dodge and his companions. "Now how are we supposed to capture the wands?"
Once, Harry had thought Dodge was a particularly skilled liar, and maybe he still was when he controlled the narrative. Now he sputtered, turning his back to Harry and shaking his head at the Death Eaters; Harry would bet anything that the man was trying to communicate to them without speaking. He decided to stop playing dumb.
"Why do you want the wands so badly? He held them up, quite certain no one was going to try to snatch them out of his hand. Indeed, Parkinson and Goyle each took a step back. Avery appeared less nervous. He waved his hand expansively.
"They've got power in them, don't they? Maybe his power." The man's voice dropped. "Maybe you can help us get it out." He spoke as if he was offering Harry a grand opportunity and not suggesting he assist in resurrecting that man who'd killed his parents in this very room.
"The wands don't have Voldemort's power in them," said Harry flatly. "He was nearly destroyed here, remember?" He took a steadying breath. These men may be talking big but he doubted they really knew anything. It felt intrusive to have them here, touching his things and staring at his parents' wands but there was nothing they could do to him or the house, not really. Soon the Aurors would figure out how to get past the Anti-Apparition spell and this would all be over. And he could go find Ginny.
Avery made a derisive sound. "But he wasn't, was he? You said it yourself; there were Horcruxes that kept him alive, including in this house. That's power." He glanced at Parkinson, who gave a slight nod. Avery twirled his own wand in his hand. "What's more interesting is what it was that nearly killed him in the first place."
Harry shrugged, nonplussed. "I have no idea." This lie came easily; he wouldn't talk about his mother's sacrifice with these tossers. The wands seemed to agree, vibrating in his hand. Unfortunately, he was still holding it up so the men could see them. Parkinson gave a triumphant huff.
"Seems like you finally got something right, Dodge. The power is concentrated in those wands, even if we haven't been able to get our hands on them." He took a step towards Harry. "Come on, Potter. It's four against one. Time to play nice."
Harry wasn't terribly worried. These men wanted something from him but he sensed they understood that nothing would be gained from his death. Still, that didn't mean they were ready to sit down and have tea with him either. There were any number of things an angry Death Eater could do short of killing him. Indeed, that was likely how Gemelda Hopkirk had died. He gave an audible sigh.
"What do you want, Parkinson?" He took in the rest of the men. "All of you, for that matter. So you found my parents' wands, so what? They put a blood ward on the house, you know. That's likely why you can't touch them." He waved them for emphasis, startling when graying smoke billowed out of the ends in a smooth stream but trying not to show it. He stilled his hand, but it was too late.
"What the fuck is that?" It looked like Avery might have gotten his wand out first, but the other men followed within seconds. Through the cloud of smoke that attached to the ends of the wands like candy floss, the angry faces of Lily and James Potter loomed, growing until they were bigger than life size. Harry stared too, mind scrambling over whether he should try to break the connection before the wands revealed more, but unable to make a move to do so. He was only partly aware of the nervous and shocked chatter in front of him when Lily turned her head and gave him a look that was half smile, half warning. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but no sound came out, whether by design or because something was preventing her, Harry didn't know. A moment later the images popped silently out of sight.
"I knew it." Dodge spoke briskly, and Harry got the impression the man had just decided something. He turned to the three men with him.
"You see? I told you I'd get you proof of the Dark Lord's power. "It's in the house, of course, but the preparations I've done allowed much of it to be concentrated in the two wands there." He jabbed his own wand at them.
"And it can be used to make a Horcrux?" The eagerness in Parkinson's voice was palpable. "You said he'd show us how." He nodded his head in Harry's direction.
"What?" Harry gaped at Dodge. "You told them I'd make a Horcrux? Are you out of your fucking mind?" He shook his head in disgust.
"Are you saying you won't, or are you saying you can't?" Avery pushed past Dodge; his voice was dangerously calm. "Because if we've been brought here under false pretenses . . ."
"You haven't," said Dodge quickly. "It's just as I told you. Mr. Potter is merely uninformed. Or, dare I say, emotionally overwrought?" He quirked his head. "You've been spending a lot of time here alone with your memories, haven't you, Harry? Don't you want to make sure they're protected and preserved for all time?"
Harry spoke slowly to make sure he understood. "By making a Horcrux?" He just barely refrained from asking Dodge if he was really that stupid. The Death Eaters were listening avidly and Harry had the sudden realization that none of them knew exactly what a Horcrux was. He pursed his lips. "They're . . . complicated, you know." Avery made an impatient sound.
"Well, of course they are; otherwise we wouldn't need you, or the power here." He took a step closer. "The question is, are you able to do it?" A puff of black smoke stole out of the end of his wand, punctuating the implied threat.
Despite the fact that he'd spent more time around Horcruxes than anyone except Voldemort himself, and actually been one, Harry had little idea how one was made, other than that it needed a murder, an object, and a ritual spell. The books Hermione had found gave a little more detail, but Harry and the others had skipped over those sections in favor of trying to figure out how to destroy the things. In that, he was quite well-versed.
He didn't say any of this, however, just stared impassively while inside he was trying to figure out the best answer. His silence seemed to make Avery angry; he took another step forward, Parkinson right behind.
"Enough," he said sharply. Best to take the offensive, he decided. "I really don't think you know what you're asking. Horcruxes are not something to be . . ."
Harry had his wand pointing at the door before the crack of Apparition had entirely faded. In his other hand, his parents' wands strained in the same direction and it took some effort to contain them. He stared at the other man, who looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place where he might have seen him before. He was definitely not among the photos of former Death Eaters that the Aurors still followed regularly, nor any more recent suspects. His appearance couldn't be surprise to any of the others though, or else he wouldn't have gotten past the anti-Apparition wards. The man gave Goyle a slight nod of welcome and then narrowed his eyes as he took in the others.
"I thought you'd agreed we'd all come together, Dodge," he said in a thin, reedy voice. "And yet Parkinson and Avery are here, and I've just spent hours searching through my brother's papers for information that apparently does not exist." He shook his head in disgust. "Wolfsbane has nothing to do with Horcruxes."
The knut dropped. "You're Marcus Belby's father." Harry had spent a few Slug Club evenings with the Ravenclaw, whose uncle - this man's brother, it seemed - had invented the Wolfsbane potion. His brow crinkled. "What are you doing here?" He'd never heard even a whisper about the Belby family being involved in anything Dark. The man gave a nonchalant shrug.
"They needed some intelligence," he said pointedly.
Harry was immediately on his guard. As convenient as it might be to assume all Dark wizards had been Slytherins, that obviously wasn't the case; Peter Pettigrew was a prime example of that. A Ravenclaw who'd thrown his lot in with Voldemort's followers could be particularly dangerous. Before he could say anything else, Parkinson turned around.
"Never mind that; did you at least take a look at the area before you Apparated? Do the Aurors know we're here?" Belby gave a short nod.
"Four or five of them outside; recognized Gawain Robards and a few others. They know something's going on but I don't think they know he's here," he said, nodding his head at Harry. "Zabini's there too; disillusioned. He'll come when we're ready; his charmwork's almost as advanced as mine. Quite impressive for someone his age."
The Aurors did know Harry was in the house, of course; that they weren't revealing that fact could mean any number of things. He put that thought aside and focused on Belby's other news.
"Blaise Zabini? What's he got to do with anything?" Blaise had the bored and pompous attitude of a Slytherin but he'd always seemed to exist on the fringes of the trouble his classmates like Draco Malfoy cultivated. Indeed, Harry's interaction with Blaise had been almost non-existent, save for a single Slug-Club meeting and that time on the Hogwarts Express when Harry had eavesdropped on Malfoy and had his nose broken. While Harry had been under his invisibility cloak Pansy Parkinson had suggested that Blaise thought Ginny was pretty, and Blaise hadn't denied it.
He frowned, thoughts swirling at the connections that seemed to be forming. But before he could frame his real question, Goyle did it for him.
"Was his bitch there? She must have ratted us out before we could use her here." He licked his lips. "I was hoping she might show us a few of those fancy moves of hers; she may be a blood traitor but she knows her way around a broom . . . shaft." His eyes glittered at Harry and then contorted in sudden pain. "Ouch!" He pointed his own wand but Harry's shield held true.
"Don't ever speak of Ginny again or I'll give you more than a sting," he said roughly. He glared at the man without blinking and after a second, Goyle lowered his wand. Belby kept talking as if nothing had happened, seemingly eager to distance himself from his associate's behavior.
"The only witch there was an Auror," he said. "Although . . . Blaise did mention running into Ginny this morning; didn't she tell you?" He turned to Harry. "You think your girlfriend's outside waiting for you? I didn't see her."
Harry forced himself to count to ten. It might have taken Ginny longer than he thought to get out of the club and send Ron a Patronus. Or the Aurors might have a very good reason for not mentioning her. Or Belby could have just missed seeing her, anything. But under his attempts at reason were questions. What had Blaise told Ginny that morning? Did he have something to do with her current absence? And back to the basics; where was she now and was she okay?
He was usually pretty good at not letting his emotions get the best of him when he worked; years of putting his closest loved ones in nearly unspeakable danger almost demanded it. If he'd lost focus every time Ron or Hermione nearly died, they very likely would have. And as much as he and Ginny joked about his overprotective tendencies, his love for her rarely interfered with his work, or hers. But everything having to do with Harry's time in Godric's Hollow had been unusual, and unusually fraught with emotion, so it wasn't completely out of character for him not to realize he wasn't entirely protected by his shield.
He wasn't completely distracted though, and managed to jerk his hand back, but not before the edge of Avery's spell hit the tips of both wands, burning them black.
Harry yelped and doused them with an Auguamenti spell, but the damage had been done. He watched in horror as the shield fell down and his parents' images rose out of the wands again. This time they didn't stop with their heads, but kept growing until almost all of Lily and James floated above the group, connected to the wands by their feet. Unlike the other times Harry had seen his parents' images, this time they seemed well aware of their audience. And they were angry.
"We told you he made us stronger," James said forcefully. "I hoped you listened." Lily looped her arm through James' and gave Harry a disapproving look.
"You haven't done what I asked, have you? I thought you were an obedient son. I thought you were paying attention." She turned back to face her husband. "I don't think he's going to do it. He's a disappointment."
Harry held his breath. It hadn't escaped him that this was the first time his parents had acknowledged him directly, or that their attitude toward him felt . . . off. He waited, hoping that the Death Eaters and Dodge would stay quiet. Of course, that didn't happen.
"Why's he a disappointment? He's your kid, isn't he?" Goyle might have walked all the way up to the floating figures if Dodge and Parkinson hadn't grabbed him by the arms and stopped him.
"Shut up," Parkinson hissed. "Don't interfere."
"It's too late," said James harshly. "We were stronger before."
"But we can be stronger again, isn't that right?" Lily ran her hand through her husband's hair. James shrugged.
"Maybe. The power's there."
"How do we get it, can you please tell us?" Dodge spoke in what Harry thought of as the man's solicitor voice. It was soft and reasonable and Harry detected a hint of compulsion in it. But James and Lily ignored him.
"I told you what to do, Harry. Why didn't you do it? It's not like we've ever asked you for anything before." A tear slipped down his mother's cheek.
Harry wanted to speak but he couldn't figure out what to say that would fix things and not make it worse. It had seemed so right these past months, letting his parents share themselves with him. He'd even convinced himself that he hadn't told anyone except Ginny about the visions because he wanted to keep the moments private. Now he had to admit that he hadn't wanted anyone like Gawain or Bill to tell him the wands were dangerous.
He shook his head, trying to clear it. "What do you want?" he asked hoarsely. As one his parents turned and looked at him.
"We want you to free us," they intoned together. The images seemed to grow; they loomed over Harry, blocking out everything else for a single, still moment, and then winked out of sight.
There was a noisy chatter around him; Dodge was trying to calm the others. The voices were furious, and Harry forced himself back to the scene before him.
"Stop it, all of you," he said. His voice sounded as harsh as his father's had just moments before.
"No, you stop it. Accio wands!" Belby said the spell so quickly they were out of Harry's hand before he even knew what had happened. Avery and Parkinson yelled but it was too late; Belby grabbed them out of the air with a shout of triumph that almost immediately morphed into a cry of pain. He jerked his hand back and the wands flew haphazardly into the air. They landed on different sides of the room and then slowly began rolling, dodging furniture and moving with purpose until they lined up neatly next to each other at Harry's feet. He reached down and picked them up, hoping no one could see his hand shaking. When he straightened up, it was to find Dodge's wand in his face. Avery and Parkinson were on either side of him and Goyle just behind. Only Belby didn't have his wand pointed at him; he was still muttering and rubbing his burned hand.
"Now Harry, don't you think it's time to be reasonable?" Dodge was still using his solicitor voice. "You may be able to touch the wands, but your parents clearly are unhappy with what you've been doing with them." He gave Harry a pointed look. "You have been consorting with them, have you not?"
Harry didn't answer and Dodge gave a satisfied huff, obviously taking his silence for admission.
Parkinson and Avery wore identical looks of impatience. One of them cleared his throat and Dodge gave a slight shake of his head. "I'm not sure what you've done, Harry, but I think we are all properly concerned about how you might have . . . corrupted the power in the wands with your interference."
Harry found his voice. "Interference? They're mine. Everything in this house is mine; you said so yourself to my face and in all your blasted letters." For a brief moment he wondered what would happen if he tried to Stupify the men using all three wands he held, and just as quickly dismissed the idea. Don't trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain. He'd thought the wands kept their brains with his parents, but now he wasn't so sure.
Dodge seemed to guess where Harry's thoughts had gone.
"I didn't just give you that list to help you keep things organized," the man said softly. He took half a step forward and Avery and Parkinson followed like two shadows. Belby's hand had healed and he and Goyle spread out and took up places behind the first three. They all watched Harry warily, but seemed to have finally agreed to let Dodge do the talking.
"If you'd filled out the list the first time you came to the house all of your possessions would have been catalogued, assessed for curses, and then sent to safe and protected storage in Gringotts." He pursed his lips in disapproval. "I know you're an Auror and not a cursebreaker, Harry, but surely you knew better than to unleash the wands' latent power without considering safety measures first." He didn't quite say "tsk tsk,'' but the intent was certainly there. The other men nodded seriously.
Harry didn't bother telling Dodge that he'd been entirely surprised by the wands himself, and certainly hadn't intended to release any "latent power" from them, whatever that meant. He suspected Dodge was exaggerating, if not lying outright; the story sounded too much like what he'd told Harry about signing the engagement letter. But that didn't mean Harry hadn't done something to damage the wands on his own. Nevertheless, he shook his head.
"I really don't know what you're talking about, Phineas. You certainly didn't tell me anything about protecting my possessions before this." He held up the wands. "If you're that concerned, I'll just take them to Bill Weasley and let him make sure they're safe. I'm sure he knows the necessary spells to clean them of any curses."
Not surprisingly, his words had an immediate impact. The four Death Eaters began yelling - whether at Dodge, each other, or him, Harry couldn't tell at first. He just knew that the idea of having Bill Weasley strip the wands of their curses - and possibly their magical power - was intolerable.
But Dodge calmly held up his hands and waited until the men around him quieted down. Not for the first time Harry wondered just exactly what he'd promised them to make them so obedient. He shook his head.
"You know you don't want to do that, Harry. If you give the wands to Bill, you'll lose their magic too, and I'm sure you don't want that."
The compulsion had slipped back into his voice again. Harry had no trouble fighting it, but on either side of Dodge, Avery and Parkinson were rolling their wands in their hands, apparently ready to do whatever was necessary to get Harry to obey. He filed that fact away before giving a grievous sigh.
"What do you propose then, Dodge?"
The man smiled as if he'd been anticipating Harry's question. "The wands are clearly unstable, but Belby here's been assisting me with the development of a binding and release ritual. It should be quite effective in preserving the wands' magic while ridding them of anything . . . unsavory."
Harry pretended to think about this for a moment. If he was honest with himself, he didn't want to turn the wands over to Bill Weasley either, not that he had much of a chance at the moment of getting out of the house. The Death Eaters were looking restless but Belby stared at Harry impassively, clearly conveying the superiority of his intellect over his associates' brawn.
"And what exactly is in it for you?" he asked, directing his question back to Dodge. "Or to be more specific, what did you promise your companions here?" He knew the answer, of course, but was curious about how Dodge would frame his response. Or maybe he was simply planning to rely on the sheer imbalance of numbers to force Harry to comply.
"Nothing that concerns you, I assure you," said Dodge silkily. The compulsion in his voice was stronger and even more blatant. Fortunately, that made it even easier for Harry to ignore it.
"It's my house, they're my things, and you're trespassing." Harry was getting impatient. He raised his wand, intending to send his Patronus to the Aurors outside.
But he'd gotten cocky, assuming he was safe from harm as long as he was the only one who could touch the wands. And he'd underestimated the Death Eaters' greed and blythe willingness to injure anyone who got in their way. Goyle may have been the most stupid of the group but he was fast with his wand. The slashing spell cut a long gash across Harry's shoulder and down his right arm. He yelped in surprise and pain and only years of experience kept him from dropping the three wands he held. He couldn't immediately return the curse though, and in the few moments of chaos that followed, Parkinson added a variation of Stupify that slammed him against the wall and then froze him there. Dodge gave an aggrieved sigh.
"I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this," he said. Disappointment in Harry's behavior dripped from every word. "You may be an Auror, but it's clear you have no idea what kind of power resides in these walls. You spent too many years ignoring your legacy while I . . ." He let his words die away but the implication was obvious. Dodge rubbed his hands together.
"We should get started. The ritual takes a while, does it not?" He directed his question at Belby, who gave a short nod.
"Twenty-four hours for full effects."
Despite everything, Harry thought suddenly of Ginny. He'd promised her twenty-four hours together, just the two of them loving each other and making love, away from everyone and everything else. The knowledge that she was waiting for him was immediately calming. He took as deep a breath as he could through the effects of the curse.
"Okay Dodge, you've made your point. Tell your goons to ease up and let me know what your plan is."
Dodge sighed again. "There's no plan, Harry. It's like I've been telling you since the beginning; my only aim is to help you protect the legacy your parents left you." He glanced to the left and right. "And because doing that requires the elimination of any . . . vestiges of past events, I simply called in those best able to assist us." He held his arms out wide and for a wild moment, Harry wondered if the man meant to hug him.
Goyle opened his mouth as if to speak, but a sharp look from Belby closed it again. Harry knew the four other men had very different objectives but strangely, he believed Dodge really did want to make sure the items in the house were preserved. Notwithstanding whatever his other motives might be, of course. He decided to play along, not that he had many other choices right now. Until he got word that the Aurors were able to get inside he needed to assume they weren't coming; it was likely they were waiting for a signal from him that he needed help.
"Can someone at least heal this?" The wound wasn't deep, but long, and blood had been flowing freely down his arm. Most of it had been caught by the edges of his torn robes but a few drops fell on the floor, where he watched with interest as they sizzled for a moment and then evaporated into the wood.
Another look from Dodge and Goyle stepped forward with his wand out. Harry braced himself for pain and almost considered telling them to forget it, but after a moment the pain eased. He glanced down. It was a messy job but at least his skin appeared closed. The Ministry matron - or more likely, Ginny - could clean it up later. He didn't bother saying thank you.
"Where do you want to do this?" he said instead.
Dodge looked at Belby, who cleared his throat. "I think in here is good." He looked around the room as if expecting the walls to give up answers, then nodded. "Yes, here. Since the magic is likely concentrated in this space." He motioned to the small round rug in front of the crib. "Everyone needs to sit down in a circle. This is going to take a while."
"So you said," muttered Avery. "What about him?" He nodded his head at Harry, who was still frozen against the wall..
Belby shrugged. "He won't be any trouble."
Harry had to suppress a grin at the man's arrogance. Easy to do with three Death Eaters ready to back him up. They hadn't even bothered to take his wand, which still hung loosely in one hand, his parents' in the other. "Am I to stay here for the next twenty-four hours?" he asked. "It'll be rather hard for me to help you if I can't move more than my head."
"Let him go," said Dodge. "I'm confident Mr. Potter has seen the benefits of helping."
Harry bit back any sort of sharp retort. "I have," he said instead. Still, he couldn't resist a grimace. "Not that I'm entirely clear on what you expect me to do."
Belby flicked his wand and Harry fell away from the wall, just managing not to fall over in the process. "You're going to communicate with the wands, of course," he said. He pointed at the edge of the braided rug. "Sit there and we'll get started."
For another moment, Harry considered sending an emergency signal. He'd have the time, although it was likely to get him cursed again as a result. And the Aurors would use all due force and power to break into the house, destroying anyone - and anything - necessary. As if guessing his thoughts, his parents' wands vibrated in his hand. It felt like a warning. After another moment of thought he shoved his own wand in his robes and carefully sat down, watching carefully as the others took spots around the circle. Dodge smiled.
"I think we're ready to begin then."
