Chapter Five

The Night of Nights

Wednesday September 1, 1994 (The start of fourth year)

As Harry and Hermione were boarding the train, Harry said, "It will be nice to have a quiet year where someone else has the adventures. I wonder who will be the Champion for Hogwarts?"

"Susan seems to think that Cedric Diggory will apply."

Harry nodded and observed, "He's a good lad. I hope he wins. I'll enjoy watching him compete."

Along the way, they discussed the fire in retired Professor Slughorn's tent, the changes in the government, the loss of the new school head and a dozen other subjects with the different students who stopped by to say hi. Disappointing no one, there was no visit from Malfoy or his pals.

… - ...

Saturday June 24, 1995

It was the afternoon, just hours before the third task of the Triwizard Tournament, which oddly enough had four contestants.

Harry and Hermione were in the Chamber; he was in a grumpy mood. He complained, "Dumbledore had one job to do – one job – Oversee the Triwizard Tournament. He effed that up royally."

Hermione, who had become more of a cynic and who, unfortunately, had lost much of her righteous optimism, along with her blind respect for authority figures – at least human ones, disagreed. She pointed out, "I think it went exactly the way that he wanted. In 104 years, he must have learned that words and details matter." Harry nodded, both in agreement and encouragement.

"He was pressured to make the tournament safer and to cut down the death rate. So he came up with the age line. Everyone laughed when Fred and George ended up with long white beards. It wasn't so funny when somebody slipped in your name. But look! Presto! The ministry officials are in perfect lockstep. It's a magically binding contract; you'll have to play by our rules. It was like they'd rehearsed what they were planning on saying."

She was just getting wound up. "The first task – Let's make it exciting. They imported three dragons and a monster. They couldn't find four Common Welsh Greens? For Pete's sake, they're called Common for a reason and Dumbledore personally knew a dragon keeper. Utterly ridiculous.

"Then Krum went and killed his dragon, then destroyed all of the eggs. He couldn't even give a reason why his did it. He sounded like the Village Idiot."

Harry suggested, "Maybe he'd been confunded."

Hermione admitted, "Maybe." She never liked him. "Everyone gave him zeros for his score and everyone else received 8s, 9s or 10s. Krum was effectively out of the Tournament.

"Your idea of summoning and feeding that monster dragon huge spiders until the quantity of food and their venom put her to sleep was inspired. Neither you, the dragon, nor the eggs were damaged. You deserved your 10s."

She continued, "Naturally Professor Dumbledore blocked every attempt to have your being entered into the tournament investigated."

Harry agreed. "He had no reputation left to shred. I would have thought that he would have wanted... No... Dammit! He's doing it again."

Hermione asked, "What?"

Harry admitted, "As long as I live, I'll believe that he set up the philosopher stone thing to lure Riddle into the castle. He's doing it again."

Hermione nodded and said, "I completely agree, but he never gets his hands dirty; that's not his style. In the second task, Fleur and Cedric took each others' hostage and Fleur's sister almost got killed. They each received zeros and Krum killed one of the Mermen. What did Dumbledore do? Block those two ministry investigators from properly interviewing anyone for a week. Any traces of Confundus charms would have completely worn off by then."

Harry agreed. "He wants this to play out. Apparently he thinks Riddle is going to pop out of the cake, rather than the pretty girl."

Hermione muttered, "Inappropriate charms on goats; he should have tried a simple love potion. The Gringotts people were right. He's not your enemy but he's absolutely not your friend. He might not have initiated the corruption of the tournament, but if he knew who did, he didn't stop them either."

Harry replied, "Andy likes to say that he has a 50,000 foot viewpoint. He wants to get rid of Riddle. By his own words to me, he doesn't have the stomach to do it himself. He probably found out about the plot and is just letting it play out."

She said, "So the plot was to get you into the maze first tonight. Don't touch the trophey cup; it's probably cursed or something. Be like a Boy Scout – be prepared. Wear your basilisk armor, bring your bow, bring..."

He cut in. "I was already going to do those things but I don't need to bring everything that I own. I have my watch and best of all, Little D to call on." He gave Dobby a hug.

After agreeing that he was as ready as practical, the two teens spent a lovely hour eliminating tension from each other.

… - ...

At 7 pm, Harry entered the maze first. He had a 10 minute lead over Fleur, a 15 minute lead over Cedric and a 25 minute lead over Krum. He had but one goal; get out alive. The path was clear for 100 feet then turned right. He reached the turn and just as he turned, took a whispered stunner to the face.

… - ...

Dazed, he felt the sensation of a badly made portkey being activated. Instead of the motionless feeling that he had when using Ragnok's portkey watch, this was a noticeable jerk behind the navel and a thunk upon landing.

"Tie him up, Wormtail," said a high pitched toddler voice.

Harry felt his hands being bound and his wand taken, then Pettigrew went to tend the fire that was burning under a huge brass cauldron. Fortunately, he carried the bundle of blankets with him. There didn't seem to be any attention on him, so he whispered, "Dobby."

Little D appeared and Harry immediately whispered, "Shhh. Listen. Untie my hands. Find Hermione, tell her to get kitted up and to meet me at the portkey point in the Chamber. I'll meet her there as soon as I can."

Dobby desperately wanted to simply rescue his best friend in the world, but accepted his direction. With drooping ears, he whispered, "Yes, Harry Potter."

… - ...

Back at Hogwarts, Junior, in the form of Moody, looked into the maze and didn't see Pettigrew or Potter. The second Champion, the French girl, had just gone into the maze. He had to wait another 15 minutes, until Diggory and the Bulgarian quidditch player were in the maze before he could leave. Most likely no one would notice that Potter was missing for another hour or more.

… - …

Back at the Graveyard, Pettigrew said, "Master, it's ready."

The ugliest thing that Harry had ever seen; sat up inside a blanket that was on the ground. It looked like a zombie version of a two year old. The homunculus directed, "Hurry. Begin."

The rat man lowered the toddler into the pot with a plop. He began a strange incantation. Dust and bone fragments from the ground beneath Harry came out of the ground as Wormtail summoned them and directed them into the pot. He called out, "Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you shall restore your son."

If that wasn't gross enough, Pettegrew took a razor sharp dagger out of a sheath and sliced off his four-fingered hand. Blood was everywhere. He somehow wrapped his belt around his wrist to create a makeshift tourniquet and picked up his severed hand. He vomited just as he tossed his hand into the pot with a splash. Wiping his mouth with his good arm, he said, "Flesh from your most faithful servant, willingly given; it shall renew your body."

Harry watched as the still bleeding man walked over holding the knife,and said, "I need your blood. Your arm, Potter."

Harry said, "Cut my cheek instead. I'm all tied up. Be gentle with that thing. Wipe it off first."

Pettigrew muttered, "Good idea."

He carefully cut the side of Harry's face at his cheek and there was a dribble of blood on the groove of the blade.

Harry winced and said, "That's enough. Don't drop it."

As Pettigrew carefully walked back to the cauldron, holding the knife level, so Potter's blood wouldn't spill. Harry pressed the second and fourth knobs of Ragnok's watch to record the coordinates of the graveyard. He looked around and saw a good location for a hide spot 50 yards to the west.

… - …

Hermione was sitting on the end of her row in the viewing stands when she felt an invisible tug of her hand. Realizing that it was most likely Dobby, she made her excuses and left the stands. As there was absolutely nothing to see, she hardly felt cheated.

When they'd reached the bottom, Dobby said, "Harry Potter Sir asked his Grangie to get kitted up and meet him at the portkey point in the Chamber. Miss Grangie must hurry."

"Dobby, can you pop me back to the dormitories?"

The next thing she knew, she was in her dormitory with her basilisk suit and her Bowmaster bag laid out on the bed, waiting for her.

Dobby was visible now, looking away from the bed, saying, "Miss Grangie must hurry."

When she was ready, Dobby said, "Miss Grangie should be wearing heavier shoes."

"Dobby, what's going on? Is Harry hurt?"

"Dobby doesn't know. Please be hurrying."

After what seemed like an eternity to Dobby, she said, "Ready." She had her wand and the Bowmaster bag. Her hair was tied in a loose ponytail to be out of her face.

With a nearly silent pop, she was in the chamber.

It was empty.

… - ...

"Robe me." Harry watched as a ridiculously thin (now clothed) Voldemort said, "My wand, Wormtail." He caressed it like a lover would. He noticed Harry and said, "Harry Potter, my guest of honor." Faster than Harry had ever seen, Riddle raised his wand and said, "Crucio."

Harry was hit in the chest. Reflexively, he screamed. Whether it was his basilisk suit, or Riddle's spell, the pain was less than the binding removals. He screamed again. After five seconds, Riddle let it up. There was an odd look on Riddle's truly ugly face. Harry didn't want to guess what he'd noticed, but it was something. Hopefully his second scream had diminished the thought. He still appeared to be tied up.

"Come here, Wormtail. Hold out your arm; your other arm." He pressed his thumb over the underside of Pettigrew's left arm. The Mark became jet black. Riddle held it there for over a minute. He was calling his followers – all of his followers.

Harry had seen what he'd wanted to see and this was his opportunity. Unnoticed by either of the other two, he held the face of his watch and whispered, "Activate Chamber." Silently he disappeared.

… - ...

He appeared in the Chamber. Hermione saw him and asked, "Why aren't you in the maze?"

Dobby hadn't blabbed. Harry gave the short version as she carefully tended the wound on his cheek. He asked, "Are you ready?"

With grim determination at their task, she replied, "Yes. Where's your wand?"

"Next to Riddle's father's gravestone." He adjusted the setting on his watch so they would be at the hiding spot. They disillusioned themselves, then he squeezed her hand, said "Activate Graveyard," and they vanished.

… - ...

Riddle was still pontificating, "...Yet you answer my call as though it were yesterday, we are still united under the Dark Mark. Or are we?"

Hermione quickly counted and whispered, "There are 46 plus that thing."

Harry was conjuring and dipping arrows. He had about 30; not as many as he wanted but he desperately wanted to get the first arrows off before they'd noticed that he was missing. Worried that Riddle would be immune to the venom, he said, "Disillusioned broad heads. On go."

They both took aim. She whispered, "3, 2, 1, go."

As the arrows were still in the air, he whispered, "Again." Twang, twing. The disillusioned, conjured broad heads found their mark.

Twing, twang. They loosed disillusioned, basilisk venom soaked arrows into different parts of the crowd. Harry wanted to use two arrows at once but was conscious of their limited supply.

Just then, Junior appeared with a Pop! He saw the other Death Eaters and demanded, "Where's our Mas..." - A disillusioned arrow hit him in the throat.

Hermione said, "Activate the anti-apparition on your watch before they get away, or anyone else comes."

Unfortunately, someone heard her and shouted, "Over there."

Harry complied and whispered, "Loose five each and we'll move over there. Go." Twang, twing. Five pairs of arrows in different locations hit different Death Eaters.

Twenty Reducto blasts hit the area where they had just been standing.

Harry whispered, "Don't run. Go a bit further." They crouched down and he began conjuring more arrows as she dipped them in the venom jar.

"Shite!" She accidentally tipped over the venom jar. The basilisk venom was gone. She had 20 arrows. There were 28 Death Eaters.

"I'll use broad heads," said Harry. "You take those guys over there. I'll get these idiots. They've mostly got protego shields up. They only work in one direction like a police riot shield. Get to the side or behind them."

A group of four was heading toward him. As quietly as he could, he conjured aluminum broad head arrows. He notched two disillusioned arrows, pulled back the string and let them fly. One missed and one hit the Death Eater at the back of the group. As fast as he could, another arrow flew, hitting the Death Eater in the chest. He made enough noise to be heard then quickly crouched down and moved to another tree.

Two jets of green came to where he'd just been. Harry was too close to the Death Eaters. They could easily hurt him if he was hit. He moved away from them and launched an arrow at another Death Eater, hitting him in the neck. He was between two groups; not a good place to be. He tossed a rock into a spot behind the two Death Eaters. Another arrow, another hit.

He looked around and did a quick count. There were 16 Death Eaters who were visible plus a few who were wounded, who could still be deadly. They were still badly outnumbered. He carefully walked back to Hermione's position.

… - ...

Lucius, Nott and Narcissa crouched behind a large bush, thinking that they were out of sight. Goyle's wife had tried apparating away and had splinched into three pieces. No one wanted to join her in her plight.

Narcissa carefully searched the treeline. Unfortunately, she started 180 degrees away from the teens. Ten of the remaining Death Eaters fell to their arrows before she pointed and whispered, "There. Blasting hexes. Go."

"Reducto, Reducto, Reducto." The three of them peppered the area for a minute. The closest blasts were near misses, but the teens were covered with dirt. Hermione had ten arrows left.

Since they were disillusioned, Harry held, then pointed her hand and whispered, "You go to that tree, I'll go to the one on the other end. Love you."

Surprised by his out of the blue admission but completely delighted, she replied, "Me too. Go." They hadn't left a moment too soon. The three Death Eaters fired another barrage of blasts where the teens had been ten seconds earlier.

Unfortunately, Hermione was headed right to where Wormtail was hiding in his rat form. Thinking that the disillusioned form had seen him, he transfigured back into human form. Pettigrew yelled, "Avada..."

Harry's broadhead went clean through his throat and spinal cord. The rat man dropped like a bag of rocks.

Narcissa saw Pettigrew go down and said, "Avada Kedavra." Nott and Lucius followed up with their own spells. Two of them missed Hermione and Lucius' spell fizzled before it reached the area.

Waldon Macnair had been the Dark Lord's go-to assassin for five years before he fell. The Dark Lord might not survive the night but Macnair intended to. He'd seen the confusion and fear on the faces of his colleagues. What he hadn't seen was spellfire. He disillusioned himself, found a vantage point and waited. While he didn't have his signature ax, he was carrying two wands and a blade. What he didn't have was the ability to cast silently.

Macnair was highly skilled. However, he had no defense against a determined elf. As Macnair prepared to cast against one of the disillusioned attackers, he suddenly found himself with his hood on backwards and his cloak wrapped around his arms.

"What the..." Dropping his shield, he shouted, "Disillusion yourselves."

Harry heard him as he rolled on the ground, expecting to be dodging a spell. He ran to a different spot.

Twing.

Hermione's aim was true.

Several of the Death Eaters were slow or ineffective with their disillusion charms.

Twing.

Twang.

Felsenthal saw Harry and cast a sweeping Diffindo. Harry was hit just below the left knee. Fortunately, the cutting spell was no match for the basilisk armor. Several Death Eaters cast into the general area. Hermione saw where one of the spells originated from, took careful aim and loosed an arrow. There was a yelp.

Harry's movement made enough noise to draw the attention of all of the Death Eaters.

Twing.

Twing.

Twang. Harry loosed two arrows and got one hit.

Twang. Two more. He'd been hit several times and had felt several near misses from Reducto curses.

… - …

Fifteen minutes earlier at St. Mungo's.

As he felt the call of his Master, Severus Snape finally awoke from his fog. He saw Draco with him and in a long disused voice croaked, "Go stun someone, steal their wand and come back." He flexed his hands that hadn't been used in some 18 months. They were stiff, but he could move his fingers. Draco returned and Snape said, "Transfigure two black robes."

As Draco was making the robes, Snape thought about what to do next. He said, "Summon some strengthening potions and blood replenisher." He saw them coming and between them, they caught two of the strengthening potions and one blood replenisher. The other vials crashed to the floor and broke. Snape opened one of the strengthening potions, sniffed it to identify it and drank both doses.

After a minute he felt better, conjured two masks and handed one to Draco, saying, "Put it on." Waiting another two minutes as he walked around the room a few times to get some feeling back in his legs, he grabbed Draco's wrists and then answered Voldemort's call – even if it was 15 minutes late.

… - …

Meanwhile, Harry had crept back to Hermione's position and whispered, "There should be eight of the idiots left. We've gotten the dumb ones. They don't know it but the watch ward is down. We'll keep walking down to that section of the graveyard. Have your wand out; I'll pick them off."

Suddenly, Harry had an idea. He whispered, "Dobby." Little D answered the call but didn't say anything. Harry asked, "Please go to the Chamber and bring back one jar of basilisk venom." Seconds later, he was back. Harry whispered. "Thanks," and hugged his little friend.

Harry began transfiguring arrows while Hermione dipped them. Hell would freeze over before she'd ever spill another drop. Without warning, they heard another POP! It had been 200 feet in front of them. She finished with the 20 arrows that they'd made. They crept closer. Twang. Lyle Borgin had made his last sale.

They kept going. Twang. Tom Felsenthal would never make another shady loan. Harry whispered, "If you need to use your wand, use a cutting curse."

Hermione whispered, "How long does it take to recharge your watch?"

Harry could have kicked himself. He put his hand on the face and said, "Recharge." He could feel the energy draining away from him. After 30 seconds, he stopped. The watch read, 25%. For a moment, he felt light-headed but it passed. He didn't dare fast-charge it any further.

… - …

In the meantime, Snape had found Voldemort with his back against a tree. He had nearly bled out and was taking wet, labored breaths. Snape sealed the wounds as best as he could and forced the vial of blood replenishing potion down his Master's throat. It was nowhere near enough. He said, "Draco, go apparate back to St. Mungo's and get six vials of blood replenisher."

Harry heard him and reactivated the watch's ward feature.

Seconds later, Draco had splinched himself into four pieces. Everyone saw it and assumed that it was a still active, ward against outbound apparition. No one else tested it.

Narcissa watched in horror and wailed, "Nooooooo."

Harry and Hermione were back to using their bows. Twang, twing. Goyle and Nott slumped to the ground, leaving Lucius and Narcissa behind the bush, Walden McNair behind a large gravestone along with Snape and Riddle behind an old oak tree.

Snape pondered the situation. Apparently the attacker(s) were using overpowered Percuttio hexes – a short range spell that was effective for about 25 feet.

Twang.

Waldon McNair had used his ax for the last time. No one heard the bow and no one saw the arrows fly.

They crept closer to the tree. A Death Eater appeared to be tending to Riddle.

Twing, twang.

Two previously venom dipped arrows hit Snape in the back, piercing both lungs. He'd berated his last student. Harry took out his last broadhead and loosed the arrow into Riddle's forehead.

Narcissa called out, "Who are you?"

Silence.

"Answer me."

Marginally out of range of her wand, Harry replied, "I call you both oath breakers and cast Narcissa out of the Black family."

She screamed, "Ha. You broke your oath with Draco."

"No, he splinched himself. I simply did nothing to stop him."

"Your own oath prevents you from harming me."

Twing. Hermione said, "I have no such oath." She loosed another arrow at Lucius, hitting him in the leg. She watched the life flicker from his eyes while Harry retrieved his wand. He sent a few basilisk arrows into some of the people wounded by the conjured broadhead arrows.

When he returned to Hermione, she asked, "What do we do with them?"

He replied, "Neither of us cast any spells. There are no more survivors. Let's portkey back to the Chamber and I'll portkey back into the maze. I doubt that anyone's finished yet."

… - …

They did.

Harry said, "We've only been gone 45 minutes." He left his bow set in the Chamber, touched his watch and was back into the maze. Hermione walked back in the stands and sat by Susan and Hannah. As she sat down, she gave a one word explanation, "Cramps." The other two teens nodded in complete understanding.

Five minutes later, Cedric reached the cup and was portkeyed to the Winner's Stand. The crowd saw him and cheered loudly. Amelia had personally brought the cup right before the event to avoid tampering. That had forced Junior and Pettigrew to hastily revise their plans.

The maze hedge magically disappeared. Harry was hanging upside down by a gaseous cloud. Fleur was tangled up in some branches and Krum was at the center of the maze battling a spider. The staff helped the unfortunate Champions. No one considered that anything may have been amiss.

… - …

An hour earlier.

Newly promoted to Gringotts Book of Death Attendant, Gumeye's job was to watch a book. He understood that most people would pass the time reading a book and his four brothers – Redeye, Blackeye, Sharpeye and Blindeye constantly teased him about it (though they were all proud of him for his promotion) They were still corridor guards. They stood on their feet for their entire shift; Gumeye had a stool. He could sit when he wanted to and stand anytime that he wanted. All he had to do was watch the book.

Normally, if something happened, he was to ask a runner to mention it to one of the Account Managers.

His brother, Redeye was a day guard, meaning that his shift was from 8 – 4. He was visiting Gumeye, which technically was allowed, but usually didn't happen.

There was only one stool. Redeye stopped by to tease his brother and bring him a bit of peppered rat jerky along with some water.

Redeye greeted his brother, "How's the book?" Actually he was grateful; not that Gumeye was the night bookwatcher, he'd gotten his old job as day shift corridor guard.

Gumeye said, "Nothing yet. Did you get to see Maysong today?" He knew that his oldest brother was sweet on the young Healer.

Redeye mooned, "I saw her last night. That hair... So orange..."

Then it happened.

The magic pen wrote a name in the Book of Death. Tiberius Ogden. Gumeye checked the name against the various lists. Tiberius Ogden's name was on the Black List. Those names were to immediately be brought to the attention of Senior Account Manager Barchoke. The runners were usually busy and only came by once or twice a shift.

Gumeye asked his brother, "Is a runner outside?"

"No."

Gumeye pleaded, "Go find a runner."

Redeye looked up and down the corridors. There was no one nearby.

Thorfin Rowe's name appeared – another Black List Name.

Gumeye pleaded, "Go tell Senior Account Manager Barchoke. He'll want to know."

"It's forbidden to enter the Account Manager corridor without a Runner escort.."

"Please..."

"OK. I know the way." He climbed six flights of stairs to reach level one. He dashed down the corridor. He reached the door, knowing that he had a problem. He didn't know the special knock. He took a chance, hoping he'd still have his head.

Pound, Pound, Pound!

… - …

Barchoke knew something was amiss. With his knife in his hand behind his back, he answered the door.

"Who is it?"

"Sir, I'm Redeye. My brother, Gumeye, is the book attendant. He asked me to tell you that there were two new names in the book, sir – Black List names."

Barchoke opened the door and replied, "I see. Where is the regular Runner?"

"I don't know, Senior Account Manager."

"Let us go look for ourselves. Did you see any of the names?"

"One, sir."

"Who."

"Tiberius Ogden, Senior Account Manager."

And there was another Black List Name as well?"

"Yes."

He stopped and said, "Go find my runner, Chiptooth. He'll be on the first level on my corridor or the next. Ask him to go to Ragnok and tell him there are multiple Black List names in the book. Go."

By the time Barchoke reached Gumeye, there were eight names listed. By the time Ragnok arrived, there were ten – all Death Eaters. Ragnok told Gumeye, "Wait at the end of the corridor."

Barchoke surmised, "There's only one logical reason that they'd all be together to allow this to happen."

Barty Crouch Jr.

Betty Crabbe Two more names appeared.

He continued, "If Riddle was renewed, the most likely method was the Blood of the Enemy ritual. That means..."

"Harry Potter."

Thorfin Rowe

Donna Goyle

"I gave him a second Bowmaster Bow."

"For the girl?" Barchoke nodded.

Amycus Carrow.

Conrad Parkinson

Kathryn Parkinson

Ragnok remarked, "Delicious." He called, "Chiptooth, Contact Roundhead. Have him ready a Security Team."

Peter Pettigrew

Tom Avery

Alice Avery

Draco Malfoy

In one block, there were six names, mostly female. The majority had been male.

Wolfred Nott

Thomas Felsenthal

Severus Snape

There it was; the name they'd been looking for.

Tom Riddle

Ragnok exclaimed, "He's done it."

Barchoke frowned and remarked, "The script is lighter. We never found the 12.5% horcrux. The Security Team knows it's in London; they have a section of street identified but not the exact house."

Ragnok directed, "Burn it down. Call Oneear. Have him assemble two Security Teams and burn it down tonight."

Narcissa Malfoy

Lucius Malfoy

During the next few minutes, five more names appeared. The goblins didn't know it but Harry had just finished off the wounded Death Eaters. Ten minutes later, the two Goblins concluded that the activity was finished. Ragnok brought in Roundhead and gave him the location coordinates, with the instructions that they should search the bodies, keep the gold, return the keys to Barchoke and the wands to Ragnok. The bodies were never to be found.

An hour later, Gumeye (who now had a runner assigned to him by Director Ragnok) said, "Call Barchoke. Tell him it reappeared." Grimmauld Place was a blazing inferno that would burn out of control for another hour. Miraculously, no one was in their homes at the time.

… - …

Sunday June 25

The next day, at the teens' request, Ted Tonks and Dan Granger walked into McGonagall's office. She would have let the two students leave early with just a note from their parents. It was fairly common for students not taking OWL or NEWT examinations.

Ted seemed to have a fairly thick stack of paperwork for each of the students. Her two favorite students were being withdrawn from Hogwarts, citing multiple instances of negligence, neglect, failure to report injuries as required, failure to report a multitude of evidence of child abuse, bullying by the staff and thirty pages of gross negligence relating to knowingly allowing grossly unsafe conditions!

She attempted to stall, saying, "I'll have to get the Headmaster's approval on this."

Ted replied, "Professor, we're not here to debate the items documented here; simply to give you a courtesy call. Neither the students, nor Dan, nor I are here to ask your permission; simply to say goodbye. As for the Headmaster's approval, this school doesn't have one. The students in question have already left the building.

"Good day Professor."

… - …

As planned, Dan and Ted took the portkey to Gringotts. They were led into the Gold Conference Room where they were met by Ragnok, Barchoke, Head Healer Windsong and a tall, thin looking goblin named Walt.

Dan asked, "Where are Harry and Hermione?"

Windsong replied, "They are currently visiting with one of my colleagues, Maysong. Harry has a memory that he wanted us all to see."

Dan was used to the memory cubes. The news that the teens were visiting with someone didn't sound especially ominous. After glancing at the serious look that the others were wearing, he was less confident in that assumption than he had been a minute ago.

Barchoke stated, "As a bit of context, the memory started with the final event of the sporting contest." He pressed the start rune.

When they reached the point where Harry's cheek was sliced, Dan said, "Pause this please." Barchoke did.

Dan said, "Harry didn't look excessively worried. Did he know about this in advance?"

Walt replied, "In generalities, yes. He did not know the exact moment that it would happen. To your greater question, he's wearing a world class set of lightweight protective body armor. Your daughter owns one just like it. They routinely wear them. He was stunned in the face inside the maze and was abducted by means of a crude portkey that took them to little Hangleton in Wales. He's received weapons training and consultation over the last nine months. Please continue."

In Ted's darkest nightmares, he couldn't imagine anything as hideous as the Riddle homunculus. That was until he saw a naked Voldemort climb out of the brass pot.

Dan could have consumed every glass of spirits in Gringotts, watching the horror show up to this point. He nearly flew into a rage when the monster cast a torture curse at Harry. A moment later, Windsong was laughing. Barchoke stopped the memory.

Dan demanded, "What could possibly be funny about that?"

She replied, "He's faking it. Did you notice the slight gap in time between when the spell hit him and when he started screaming? I've seen Warrior Potter in actual pain and have been responsible for inflicting a great deal of it. I can state with absolute certainty that it was all he could do to not laugh at his attacker."

Ragnok said, "Obviously we're observing the effect of the prior destruction of many pieces of Tom Riddle's soul. He's undeniably quick, but his spells lost some of their effectiveness. That, combined with Harry's remarkable suit of armor, clearly diminished the anguish that Tom Riddle intended to inflict. Are we ready to continue, or does anyone need to use the restroom or get additional refreshments?"

Dan poured and Ted didn't argue. Ragnok pressed the start rune and the memory resumed.

They watched carefully until Barchoke paused at the moment when Riddle pressed his thumb of Pettigrew's Dark Mark. He said, "In context, at this point Tom Riddle, also known as the Dark Lord Voldemort called on his followers to join him – all of his Marked followers. Anyone who answers Riddle's call is doing so of their own free will."

Ted immediately understood the implication and clarified, "That would include a number of my In-laws."

Barchoke added, "Since the teens are down the corridor visiting Maysong, that would imply they either escaped, prevailed, or both. If either of you would prefer to not see the remainder, Chiptooth would be happy to escort you to the Lobby."

Dan was originally going to retort, They? when it became obvious that if one was involved, they both would be. He said, "Please continue."

Walt stopped the memory at the point immediately after Hermione began counting. He said, "Dr. Granger, I was told that you have some military experience?"

"Yes. As a medic and dental surgeon. I've seen my share of action."

Walt replied, "By my count there are 47 adversaries that we've seen so far. What would happen if the teens were a distance away armed with sniper rifles and the adversaries were armed with pistols?"

Dan replied, "If the snipers were careful, they could reach out and touch the enemy without ever being in the pistols' range."

Walt nodded and said, "Please continue."

Dan was about to comment on the absurdity of their using bow and arrow until he saw the first four arrows become invisible then get launched, fly and silently hit their mark.

Ragnok paused the memory. "I will point out that Tom Riddle, who you just saw hit by four arrows, has personally murdered more than 1,000 innocents. All of the others wearing the black garb and masks are also killers – every one. They all willingly joined Tom Riddle. Voluntarily torturing and murdering an innocent is a requirement." He pressed the start rune.

After Crouch Junior arrived and Harry activated the watch anti-apparition wards, Barchoke added, "Harry activated a new feature that Director Ragnok commissioned to prevent the Death Eaters from escaping, or sneaking up on the young warriors. Now your pistol and rifle analogy is even more apt."

Dan and Ted refilled their glass.

Dan asked, "How do they turn invisible?"

Ragnok replied, "It is an advanced skill that one of our operatives demonstrated for them. The teens spent long hours developing and honing the skill to the level that you're witnessing."

Walt added, "The same holds true with their archery skill and stealth. Their advisories didn't know that they'd been targeted until they'd been hit. I spent several days teaching Harry the basics of archery. He practiced until he became skilled enough to teach Miss Granger. With their ability to turn themselves invisible, their stealth skill now exceeds my own and I cannot create an arrow out of thin air as they have taught themselves. They spent many mornings honing their skills, hunting rats and large bugs."

As the battle was winding down, Ted recognized Lucius, Narcissa, Snape and Draco. He pointed them out.

Barchoke pressed the start rune again. The memory concluded when the third task maze came down. He commented, "No one outside of this room knows of their extraordinary achievement and incredible bravery."

Dan asked, "What do you mean achievement?"

Barchoke pointed out, "They literally stopped a war before it began. Thousands likely would have been killed; tens of thousands if the nonmagical military had gotten involved."

Walt added, "That said, no one – professional soldier, career politician, or two teenagers – no one takes 50 lives without being affected by the experience. They are welcome to speak with Healer Maysong for the rest of their lives should they choose. Mr. Tonks, please realize that everyone that they faced last night was willingly wearing an enemy uniform. For the most part, the identities of those killed last night are unknown to the teens. Our Security Team went to the battle site late last night and cleaned up the mess. Most of the Death Eaters were influential people. Some were wealthy; several very wealthy. Not everyone will be pleased with their demise.

"It may be weeks or months, if ever, until a serious investigation takes place regarding their disappearances. There is no direct evidence that anything happened. Some of the unmarked spouses may know that the Dark Lord called their mate. They simply haven't come back yet. Our recommendation is to keep the number of people who know of this to an absolute minimum; especially as it may relate to survivors, or the ministry.

"The teens will need each other's support and they will also greatly need yours. With your permission, we'd like to offer them quarters for the evening."

Ragnok added, "I'd suggest that they might do very well at the Salem Institute. Dr. Granger, your daughter has mentioned aspirations to become a healer. Barrister Tonks, Harry has expressed interest in becoming an enchanter. From my direct observation, I believe that they both would be successful in their respective occupations. Further, Gringotts would be more than willing to assist them in their endeavors. The Salem Institute would help them achieve their goals, as well as keep them both grounded in the nonmagical world. Beyond that, it holds no bad memories for them. They both shall be rewarded for their extraordinary achievements. We all want them both to be happy with their family, each other, and to succeed in their eventual careers."

No one disagreed with his words. They left to go home.

… - …

Down the hallway, Windsong's granddaughter, Healer Maysong was doing her best to be anything and everything for the teens. While one of the other healers was taking the opportunity to poke and prod Harry, Hermione was learning contraceptive charms, hair charms and basic elements of wandless magic. Later, the roles were flipped and Harry was taught the concepts of wandless magic. He was given another supplement routine which would put him on par with a finishing fifth year physically. Given that Hermione was almost a year older to begin with, they would physically be an even better match. Dan and Ted would pick up the teens the next day after lunch.

… - …

Immediately after Dan and Ted left, Ragnok and Barchoke went to work. The long-term cover story would be that in a botched attempt to be restored to a body, Riddle called all of his followers together. As part of their recompense for abandoning him for thirteen years, the Dark Lord demanded an 80 percent tithe of the cash in their vaults. Eventually, he apparently sacrificed them in an unsuccessful attempt to strengthen his magic. The bank records would be carefully adjusted to reflect that story. The 30/30/20 split between the teens, the ministry general fund and Gringotts would keep a lot of questions from being asked when the vault keys were eventually presented.

… - …

In the meantime, no Death Certificates were being issued, though travel documents and a complete set of paperwork including birth certificate, school records, medical records and authentic passports had been assembled for each of the teens.

… - …

Last, but not least, Maysong sent the teens to bed. There was no Tab A in Slot A activity but there was the opportunity for a level of intimacy that the teens desperately needed. There were no screaming nightmares, or cold sweats; just two teens who believed themselves to be in love, each desperately clinging to the one person in their life who they absolutely trusted.

… - …

Ragnok and Barchoke watched the graveyard memory again. Just before the first arrows were loosed, Ragnok paused the memory and asked, "How many did you count?"

"Riddle plus 46 Death Eaters."

"Agreed."

"How many bodies did the Security Team find?"

"They reported 50."

"At the first opportunity, you should report to the Archers that there are no known witnesses."

Ragnok continued, "While the teens had been greatly outnumbered the entire time, they had several advantages.

Stealth. Harry and to a lessor extent, Hermione had actually practiced moving about without making noise.

They knew the numbers.

They didn't feel the need to talk or panic.

Their weapon of choice didn't expose their position and had range superiority.

They had Dobby to point people out.

Barchoke added, "The Death Eaters all assumed that Riddle was still alive and were afraid to leave. The Archers played the hand that they were dealt and won. I expect many positive changes will occur as a result."

… - …

Monday June 26

Draco Malfoy's parents had taken him out of school the afternoon of the third task for the last three days of the school year, so he could spend time with his Godfather. Harry and Hermione had resigned on a permanent basis.

Unlike the previous decades, the 1995 Albus Dumbledore didn't have three jobs competing for his attention. When Harry and Hermione weren't in his last fourth year potions class, he immediately noticed. By dinnertime, he'd also learned that Draco had left early with his parents while Harry and Hermione had withdrawn from the school. This was too much for him.

McGonagall and the old meddler got into a shouting match that lasted for hours. Finally the collective management team of the castle – McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout had had enough and declared, "Albus, you're sacked!" They gave him 24 hours to remove his personal effects from the castle.

… - …

Ted and Dan decided that the teens needed an extended vacation. Their plan was that the Grangers would be with them for the first two weeks while the Tonks would take care of the following two weeks. Neither family could simply take an extended holiday off on short notice. Dan decided on two weeks in Nice, France. Since Gringotts offered to make the arrangements as well as find two substitutes for their practice, it was an easy thing to say yes to. They would leave the next day.

The second two-week leg would be a trip beginning in Newfoundland, driving down the coast to the States, finishing up in Salem.

… - …

Tuesday June 27

Albus Dumbledore had never been unemployed in his life. After he moved his considerably pared down set of belongings to the Dumbledore House, which was both unoccupied, as well as empty, it dawned on him that he had no house elves. He sat on a conjured chair, a lost man. He'd spent 75 years in the castle that, at one time, he'd erroneously considered to be his – 7 years as a student and later in his life, 68 years as an instructor and headmaster.

The Hogwarts elves had specifically been instructed to ignore his calls. Albus did what many suddenly unemployed or retired people did. He made a list of things to do.

Visit Hall of Prophecies

Find Granger Residence

Talk with Harry

Search for Horcruxes

Like most older men with lists, not everything had been done by the end of the day. Visiting the Hall of Prophecies was enlightening but frustrating. The orb had gone dark, meaning that the action described had either been accomplished, or was no longer possible.

Since he was all but positive that Harry was alive, Dumbledore pondered, What action or event had completed the Prophecy?

He admitted to himself that he hadn't visited the Hall since November 1981. Had Harry's choice to have the leech removed from his head ended the Prophecy? His forehead was no longer marked. Did he lack the power?

Or perhaps destroying the diary, or one of the other horcruxes that no one was willing to provide him details on had completed the Prophecy?

If Harry had been born as an equal and more than half of Tom's soul had been destroyed, then was Tom considered vanquished?

He briefly considered the possibility that Riddle had somehow been restored to a body and had been hit by a dump truck, or encountered some other misfortune, as Harry had suggested. He quickly discarded that idea.

He settled on the light anchor theory – that a sufficient number of Tom's horcruxes had been destroyed and Tom's spirit had just faded away. It was possible that some of the minor horcruxes had unknowingly been destroyed between 1981 and 1991, In that case, Harry's lucky destruction of the diary may have tipped the scales.

He revisited the shelf-life theory that having a horcrux wouldn't keep a person alive forever. To his knowledge, there were no 3,000 year-old Egyptians running about. Perhaps the horcrux had a shelf life and was only viable for so many years.

He went back and reflected on Harry's poor performance in the third task. Having such a large time advantage over the other champions hadn't bought the teen any glory. The old wizard honestly hadn't expected that any of the champions would have been captured by the upside down cloud.

If he still had his, he meant the Potter's pensive, he could have asked Harry to have shown him the event in the Chamber. Perhaps it had been on par with his managing to shoot Gellert in the back with that Webley revolver.

Lastly, he considered, if an epic event took place and no one witnessed it, was it truly an epic event?

… - …

Back at Gringotts, Maysong's parting words to the teens were, "Trust and intimacy are the mortar that will bind you both together for a lifetime. You'll always have each other."

… - …

Wednesday June 28

Dan had to admit, magical travel was beyond special, it was magical. In the time that it normally would have taken to load up the Range Rover, they had put all of their vacation clothing into something called a mokeskin bag, and also packed the shrunken Range Rover. Ragnok had given Harry a book with safe portkey locations all over the world. They could be in Nice in five minutes.

They were just about to leave, when Emma said, "This feels like cheating; let's take the Channel Tunnel." Harry put the Range Rover back in the garage, carefully set it down, tapped it with his wand and a minute later, it was back to normal size. Since they were all packed, they left, heading for Folkestone, where the SUV would be loaded onto the car train that would take them to Calais.

… - …

Ted had a dilemma. He hadn't told Andromeda about The whole thing yet. There was an entire host of reasons – client privacy, security and the fact that the ministry hadn't been notified. Beyond that, aside from a few terse words at the Will reading, Andy hadn't spoken with Narcissa since 1972, when he'd married her.

He did the right thing. After breakfast, he showed her the memory. When it finished, there was silence in the house for fifteen minutes.

Finally she reminisced, "It was fun being a little girl in the family. Bella was always aloof, but I was convinced that was how grown women acted. Cissy went back and forth; sometimes she'd try to imitate Bella, other times she'd be my big sister and play with me. By the time I went to Hogwarts, Cissy was a third year and Bella was in fifth. Out of all the people in the world, Bella fell in with the Lestrange brothers. They acted like the crown princes of Transylvania. Why she married two brothers who were more in love with each other than anyone else will never stop amazing me. They were good memories.

"Mother wanted to match me with Lucius. I'd have killed him before our wedding night if that had happened. Abraxas at least had a business to run. Lucius just played on his father's name. After he and Cissy were married, and Arcturus, who was Lord Black died, I suppose she allowed Lucius to pretend that he was the Family Steward, so he could run his influence caper.

"It all turned to dog ends when Riddle captured Bella's attention. She should have remembered that she was above all of that and allowed Abraxas to elevate him to a peer, then a leader. They gave him money – enough to let him look like one who was born into it.

"After Cygnus, who had been running the Black family business, died in 1992, Lucius let the Black family business die on the vine rather than put in the long hours needed to run it. He spent his time talking big and making backroom deals with the Wizengamot members. Harry was left as the head of a shell family with a diminished bank account.

"At least Harry cleaned house for our society. The Notts acted like Sultans. Odgen funded the systematic murder of first generation witches until Twycross and Thicknesse got cold feet. They didn't know how to act after Voldemort fell in 1981. Too many of them had been too open in their activities and believed that Bagnold would never go after those with real money like Ogden, Parkinson, or Nott. Bella could have blended back into high society if they hadn't gotten involved with the Longbottoms; maybe not – too many people were opposed to the brothers."

They sat in comfortable silence for another five minutes before she asked, "Where are the bodies?"

"The Gringotts Security Team..." He didn't need to go into specifics. They both knew that the bodies would never be found. Ragnok had a bag of tagged wands someplace. No one would ever find those unless he wanted them found, or voluntarily handed them over. A segment of their society had vanished in the last year – Fudge and his dirty politics, the worst of the ministry and now all of the Death Eater crowd.

Harry had ended a war before it started.

Finally she asked, "Where's Harry?"

"Dan Granger and I withdrew them from Hogwarts the day after the tournament ended. They spent the day yesterday getting checked over and talking with one of the Mind Healers at Gringotts. They left this morning to spend two weeks in France with Hermione's parents. We have them for two weeks of holiday after that. They applied at the Salem Institute, starting just after the first of September."

Andy remarked, "I'll miss seeing them on weekends."

"Why? They can portkey back and forth any time they wish. Maybe we could get a couple of their watches and go visit them."

"I'd like that. There's just one other thing; I don't know their names, I don't want to know them."

Life would go on at the Tonks household.

A/Ns

… - ...

As far as I know, my storytelling in the HP fanverse preceded the genre of Dumbledore Bashing or MOB. My No Thanks tale painted what I thought was an objective portrait of him, given that books six and seven hadn't yet been published. I believe that She wrote book one in such a way that experienced readers would see that he had essentially used Harry as bait, believing that he (Dumbledore) could somehow subdue Riddle in his weakened form.

Did Dumbledore sacrifice young Quirrell, by suggesting that he go to Albania? Perhaps. That's an interview for another tale.

My stated thought on Dumbledore – He's not your enemy but he's not your friend either, needed to be said. I woke up one morning with that thought early in the story. To me, it serves as a reminder that no matter how annoying Albus or Molly may be, they aren't the two true enemies in the Potterverse. Riddle and the good old boys mindset are.

In this tale, Riddle and a generation of the DEs are gone and some of their wealth has been removed from the playing field. That said, mindsets cannot be mandated by a government. At best, they bought a few years of calm. Harry and Hermione's next task will be in finding a way to level the playing field for those who are currently disadvantaged.

This is a completely different set of circumstances than I've previously seen or written. They went back to get him/them. The self-defense rationalization went right out the window.

As for the lethality of the arrows dipped in basilisk venom, my thought had always been that Harry had been bitten in the fleshy part of his arm by a tooth, not one of the major fangs. Contrast that with an arrow dipped in venom to the chest, I presumed that the basilisk venom would act very quickly. Add to that the reality that a good number of the couples would have been at the sporting event when the call came. I believe it highly unlikely that any except Junior would have been wearing any armor.

Someone suggested that they would immediately create shields. I always envisioned them much the same as the plexiglass police riot shields – effective in one direction. I doubt that any of them would actually run away while Riddle was still alive.

I considered having one of the DEs cast Homenum Revelo and create a friendly fire situation, but thouht it would likely come off as confusing.

Given the recent details presented in the story, I believe that the true challenge for the Tonks and Granger families will be to give the two teens the time, space and acceptance to heal themselves. Those are exceptionally hard challenges for caring parents to live with.

Part Two begins with the next chapter. Harry and Hermione are out of Hogwarts. Their lives will change, hopefully for the better.

The chapter is better due to Alix33's keen eye. Thank you very much.

Thanks for reading.