APPY Albus Potter and the Prophesied Year
APPY Ch 17 Meanwhile, Back at Malfoy Manor
After Al and Cleo and the other Aurors were gone, Harry and Ron and a large group were still left at Malfoy Manor.
To everyone's astonishment, the Magi from Jezebel who were in the various rooms of the house marched out in single file, led by an Elf, each Magi with hands tied and accompanied by an Elf, and followed by Thorin.
"Jezebel was not a friend of Elves," Thorin growled.
Harry talked to a counterpart from Germany who had come with some German Aurors, and arranged for these captives to be sent to Germany. Jezebel had brought more allies with her than anyone had anticipated. Just confining them had become a problem.
Thorin picked up the Sword of Gryffindor and cleaned the bloody instrument, before putting it back in its scabbard. The Elves then vanished.
Ron, Harry, and several other Aurors walked into the manor.
The first thing Harry did was to find out where Godiva Malfoy was. She still had the knife in her side, and was convulsing.
Gritrude, Godiva Malfoy's Elf, sneered, "My mistress tried to kill Cleo. She is a bad woman. Has been talking to wicked witch of the island. Captured by the spell of the Crystal Ball."
An Auror was with Harry, so Harry told her, "Take Godiva to a cell. Have Gritrude tell what she saw."
As they were talking Godiva convulsed one last time, and became still. Gritrude sighed, "No need to bind mistress; her own poisonknife killed her."
Harry then went outside the manor. He announced, "We need to get as many capable people to North America as possible, but first we need to make sure we can contain the seventy-five at the Ministry."
Ron looked with horror at Harry and pointed out something on the map.
"I see Al's spell to write in red the names of those who died worked!" Harry exclaimed. "No way of testing the spell before it was used."
Ron pointed again at the map. Right in the middle there were names written one on top of another. Ron was pointing out names, Cho Chang Koizumi, Dawlish, and turning red Max Maximillian, along with several others.
Harry pointed to a couple of Aurors, and yelled, "Find Max Maximillian and get him to St. Mungo's." They rushed in and Max disappeared from the map.
Harry thought, pushing back his grief, 'John Dawlish is single. I mustget some other things in motion before I can attend to Cho.'
Harry told the Aurors and other DMLE officials, "I want about twenty-five Aurors here. Do we have anyone who can do an After Action Report of Malfoy Manor?" A couple of Aurors volunteered, and Seamus said, "I have a team who can stay," quickly pointing to several Aurors.
Harry nodded at Seamus, saying, "You're in charge here." Harry then told Ron "We don't want any kind of a pitched battle. Take most of the Aurors over to the Ministry to confine the group over there."
Ron yelled, "Anyone with expertise in confinement spells, all Aurors not from Europe, go the Auditorium at the Ministry of Magic." He nodded to Hermione, and they Apparated to the Ministry.
Ginny appeared. "I understand that the battle here is over," she told Harry.
Harry turned to Ginny. "We need to let people know that Scorpius will be marrying Rose and Albus Cleo. Let everybody know."
Ginny looked at Harry. "What are you going to do?" she asked.
Harry then turned to Ginny and muttered, "I think Cho is one of the dead. I'd better look." Harry went into the Manor, to the room where the battle was. There had definitely been a pitched battle in the room, scorch marks on the walls, floors and destroyed furniture. There in the middle of the room was a pile of bodies and body parts. Right at the bottom was an Auror uniform that Harry recognized, and from the back of the head, the wand, everything including that damn map and a couple of tokens that Aurors always carried confirmed Cho Chang was one of the first to fall in the battle. By this time, she had been dead for over half an hour. She was way past any chance of being revived.
Harry was glad he had not offered to take Ginny inside the Manor, and he knew she would not be eager to see the carnage inside. When Harry came out he had the all too familiar haunted guilt-ridden look that indicated bad news, and a tough task ahead. "I have to go tell Ed Koizumi and Cho's family," Harry said in a heavy voice. "I think there are four other of our Aurors that went in with Cho that are also dead. Half the team!" Harry pulled Ginny into a hug, and started to cry. "I have to at least tell Ed Koizumi and the family."
"Let me come?" asked Ginny.
Harry nodded, and prayed, "Lord, give me strength."
He looked at Ginny and sighed, "This is going to be hard. I hate, hate, hate this part of being Head Auror. There will be several of these visits today."
He looked at his phone/computer for the address of the Koizumis', grabbed Ginny and Apparated to their front door, inside the apartment building where they lived. Charles answered the door, saying in a loud voice, "Mr. Potter is here! Auror Potter! Has there been a battle? Did we win? Did we kill the bad Wizards, zap, zap, zap?" waiving his wand around and pointing it. "Mum said there might be a battle today! Did she kill anyone?" Looking up at Harry and Ginny's grief stricken faces he said in a quieter voice, "Is mum safe? Is she hurt?" Charles looked at his father, who also looked like he could cry at any moment.
Harry and Edward walked toward each other and hugged each other. "I'm so sorry, Ed," Harry sobbed, as both of them started to cry. "I'm so sorry." They hugged each other for a little longer.
"What happened?" asked Charles, suddenly panicky. "What happened to Mum? She's a good guy! She was wearing her armor. Nothing could happen to Mum?!"
Ginny looked at Charles. "Sometimes very bad things happen to very good people, Charles. Your mum was very brave, but she paid with her life."
"Fix it!" yelled Charles, as tears began streaming down his face. "Bring her back to life! Let me see her! I need to see the battle! It's my Mum and I need to see where she fell! If she's a hero, I need to see it! It's my Mum, and I've always wanted to be a hero, and if she's a hero I want to see it!"
Harry could never tell you why he did what he did next. He had heard from Charles and others how Charles liked the idea of battles, and fighting, and even killing the enemy. Harry knew Cho was very frustrated with Charles's attitude. Harry knew Charles had no idea what the reality was like. So he wrapped his arms around him and Apparated to Malfoy Manor.
"This is where the battle was?" asked Charles, drying his tears and trying to put on a brave face.
"Inside," Harry muttered.
On the way in there was one of the Aurors his mother worked with. Charles did not know his name, but he was six foot four inches tall and slightly heavy, a mountain of a man. It looked like he was wounded, and exhausted, and completely stressed out, sitting down with his head in his hands. He looked up and recognized Charles and sobbed, "I'm so sorry about your mother, Charles."
"Was she a hero?" asked Charles.
"Twernt any hero's, cept maybe Scorpius," the man replied. "We all just tried to survive."
They walked into the room where the battle was. One witch and wizard team seemed to be documenting the scene, while another pair were levitating bodies to get them off each other and better identify each. Cho was still lying face down on the Floor. Charles put his hands up to his mouth. There were at least two heads not attached to bodies, and one of them seemed to be looking at him, plus the headless bodies, a couple of detached arms, and more blood and guts that he had ever imagined. They had removed the last combatant on top of his mother, and were getting ready to turn over his mother.
Charles stared in horror at the scene as his mother's body rolled over. Cho had suffered a grievous head wound. You could recognize half of her face, but as they rolled Cho over the other half of her face fell off, spilling brains out. Charles looked at what was left of his mother, and at the other carnage around him, and lost his breakfast. Harry quickly conjured up a bucket as Charles heaved and heaved and heaved. Harry turned Charles around and walked him outside.
As they went into the gardens they approached two people sitting at a bench. They both immediately arose and motioned Harry towards the bench. Harry nodded at them and brought Charles over to the bench. He had him sit down, which he did, sitting next to the grieving young man. Charles sat there, with his head down, sometimes over the bucket trying to throw up, even thought there was nothing left to throw up, then just staring down at the ground. Charles would hyperventilate, then calm down, then go back to hyperventilating again. There was horror in his eyes, but no tears.
Harry called a special Post Traumatic Stress Disorder unit at St. Mungo's, saying "I have a sixteen-seventeen-year-old boy who has just seen his mother dead from a particularly nasty curse wound. Do you have someone you could send to Malfoy Manor?"
There was some discussion in the background, then a voice replied, "Healer Swart is available, and he is Apparating over there right now." Within a couple of minutes' Healer Swart was there.
Healer Swart looked at Charles, reached in a little bag, and pulled out a potion. He crouched down in front of the teen and gave it to Charles, saying, "Drink this."
"I don't know if I can keep it down," Charles replied. Looking at Harry he cried, "I'm sorry I lost it."
Harry gently told the boy, pulling him into a side hug, "Much older and more experienced Magi have lost it at a scene like that, Charles. I would not have taken you I'd have known your mother was that bad."
Healer Swart then added, "The potion will stay down, and it will sooth your raw throat. You must be tasting and feeling stomach acid in your throat."
Charles nodded yes, and swallowed the potion.
Harry stepped away briefly, and the healer took his place on the bench. Harry then called Ginny, saying, "Charles has seen his Mum, and is sitting down with a healer right now. Give us a few minutes and we will be back."
"Bad?" asked Ginny.
"Yes, Oh Ginny, Yes. More later," replied Harry.
Harry went back to Charles, who turned up to look at Harry and asked, "Is it always this bad?"
Harry took a deep breath. "It's always bad, Charles. I can't think of any death I've seen that hasn't been bad."
"All those people! Bodies in pieces. It's horrible!" Charles almost shouted.
"This was bad," Harry acknowledge. "The Battle of Hogwarts was worse. Much worse, more people and destruction. All violent deaths have their own horror, even if it's not this bad. I saw two people bleed to death. She was pregnant, eight months so you could see where the baby was but it was dead, and shortly after I arrived she died, and then her husband died. Ginny, Hermione and Sidney perfected the spells to heal them, too late. Less than a … it doesn't even matter."
Harry was silent for a minute or so, then softly told Charles, "We saved the next ones, and Professor Stanford and my wife and Mrs. Grainger-Weasley were all hero's, but those deaths still haunt me. Those and too many others, way too many others."
The healer got up and Harry sat down next to Charles and in a very soft voice told him, "I would still like you to become an Auror, if you still want to."
Charles nodded yes. The tears had finally started, and they were coming out in a flood, but still Charles looked at Harry expectantly.
Harry continued, "I would hope you could go through your entire career and never have to see anyone killed. It's been years since we've had an Auror die, not in Britain since I've been Head Auror. Do you understand now why? Why I hate killing?"
"I didn't know," Charles whispered, the tears pouring out. "I didn't know. I didn't know."
"And now you do," Harry confirmed. "Let's get you home. Healer Swart is going with us."
As Harry was getting up an Auror witch, obviously not from Britain since Harry did not know her, said, "Your Auror has been killed by a particularly nasty curse, and it seems to still be capable of being a problem. We would like to cremate her as soon as possible, after a brief autopsy."
Harry replied, "I'll ask her husband; we're going there now. Mobile?"
The witch held out her mobile, and Harry touched his wand to her phone and then his. He then grabbed both Charles and Healer Swart and Apparated to the Koizumi home.
Charles ran over to his father and his sister Cara. Cara had been standing in a doorway watching wide eyed as Harry and Ginny, Ed and Charles met. Now Cara was sitting down next to her father, crying, and Charles fell down on his knees and put his head on his father's lap and started to bawl again, saying over and over, "I didn't know. I didn't know."
Patricia came over and knelt next to her husband and her father-in-law, putting a hand on each of them. She looked at Charles, tears pouring out. Charles held Patricia's hand, head still on his father Ed's lap, as the whole family cried.
Harry knelt down so he was face to face with Ed and asked, "Were you going to cremate Cho?"
"That's our tradition," Ed replied.
"Could we have permission to do it right away? The Aurors at the scene say there is some nasty curse they need to get rid of. You should be able to have the ashes, and Cho's wand, today or tomorrow."
"Do what you have to do," replied Ed.
"I'll never see Mum again?" asked Cara.
"You don't want to see her now," Charles volunteered. "I guess you are an Auror to keep people from dying, not to get into battles and kill people."
"That's a wise thing to say, Charles," Harry replied. "I'm sorry you had to pay such a terrible price to learn it."
The Potters stayed another ten minutes, and then left, leaving healer Swart to help the Koizumi family work through their grief.
When Harry and Ginny arrived back at the Ministry Ron approached them. "Kingsley is going to be visiting all of the other families of the Aurors who have died," Ron announced. "There is too much for you to do, and Kingsley told me to tell you that you do not have the option of doing any more visiting. That is an order!"
"But we lost half of Cho's team!" Harry cried. "Who else?"
"Some foreign Aurors taking down those outside, but I don't have a good count," Ron replied. "Not too many."
"I should go back to the New Burrow and work with Mum to schedule Al and Rose's weddings after James on the twenty-third," Ginny told her husband.
Ginny felt relieved that she and Harry did not have to visit the other families, but she knew Harry would feel guilty about not visiting them, and she did as well.
Harry quickly checked on Albus. The battle on the Island had just started. It seemed to be going reasonably well, partly because of the overwhelming forces that had been gathered, but it was still dangerous. Everyone there had a skull and crossbones next to their name on the maps Harry had, showing they were in great danger.
Neither Harry nor Ron really wanted any kind of pitched battle at the Ministry. The less drama the better. The fifty were in one group. There were a number of Aurors who were experts in shields and confinement spells. Together the experts devised a way to separate the fifty into three groups of fifteen to twenty. There was another group of ten that had survived the battle, plus five at St. Mungo's that were wounded. They agreed that the best tactic for the time being was to just continue to confine the groups, and wait until everybody knew what had happened to Al and Cleo and the group's island home.
Hermione stayed with Ron and helped with the spells, making sure that any new spell or variation would work. Harry was also in touch with someone in North America as Al and Cleo and the Aurors took over the island. He kept Ginny informed, and she passed the information on to various family members who passed the information on to others. The battle of the Island sounded like it was so difficult that Harry checked with Ron and the other supervisors, who agreed that they could handle the situation with only two hundred or fewer Aurors, and they sent two hundred more to help secure the Island.
The healer that had Portkeyed Scorpius to St. Mungo's arrived in what looked like a busy Emergency Room. The stretcher appeared on a bed, and several healers rushed over.
"He was cut by a knife," Rose exclaimed.
"I can see that," one of the healers replied. "IV with blood replenishment potion, right now!"
Someone put an IV in Scorpius's arm.
"Blood to duplicate," the same healer announced. Someone used a wand and blood flowed from Scorpius's gut into some sort of an instrument. It looked like for every unit of blood they put into this device three or four units came out. This blood was then sent to the IV bag to flow back into Scorpius. One healer was doing nothing but trying to capture the blood flowing out of Scorpius and send it to this instrument which, Rose later learned, it was cleaned and duplicated. It was far better reusing a patient's own blood than just using blood replenishment potions when a patient was bleeding as profusely as Scorpius.
All of Scorpius's clothes were magically removed, and one of the healers started to wave her wand over Scorpius's gut. Very quickly Rose and Rich Hudson were maneuvered out of the way. Scorpius was transferred to a private room, and Rose and Rich were told to wait outside until Scorpius was stable.
"What happened?" Rich wondered.
"There was a big fight, and the Aurors were losing," Rose started. "Scorpius asked, 'Where is the Sword of Gryffindor when you need it?' and the sword appeared in his hand. He waded into the battle and killed or disabled several of the enemy, but one of them was using a knife instead of a wand and just about cut his insides out before he was, I think, killed. It is a real mess in there, and I cannot give you anything like an accurate description of the battle."
"A real mess where?" Rich wondered, not knowing if Rose was talking about Scorpius's insides or inside Malfoy Manor.
"Inside Malfoy Manor," Rose elaborated. "Albus and Cleo were fighting Jezebel, and, I think, won. I didn't see it, though. I was too busy trying to keep Scorpius safe.
Rose spent some time telling Rich all she knew about the events leading up to the battle, and about the battle.
That evening one of the two headlines in a special edition of the Daily Prophet was;
Scorpius Malfoy a Hero Again
Late this morning Scorpius Malfoy, along with Rose Weasley, Albus Potter and Cleopatra Smith,four Hogwarts Students, confronted the Pirate Witch Queen of the Caribbean and her followers.
While Albus and Cleopatra battled the Pirate Witch Queen, Scorpius and Rose joined a team of Aurors battling a large group of the Pirate Witch Queen's followers. The battle was not going well for our Aurors until Scorpius called for the Sword of Gryffindor. Once the sword magically appeared in his hand, ignoring his own safety, he charged into the enemy, slaying or disabling many of them.
Some of our readers may remember that the Sword of Gryffindor came to this prominent Slytherin once before, when he, Albus and Cleo found a new way into the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts. That time he had to kill a number of basilisk.
Rose Granger-Weasley was hurt and Scorpius was gravely wounded in the battle.
The healers at St. Mungo's say Scorpius will recover, but he has a long recovery ahead of him. His abdomen will never be the same, although with good care he should eventually be able to live a long healthy life.
This reporter has found out that the Pirate Witch Queen was lured to Malfoy Manor to witness the marriage of Scorpius and Cleopatra. It turns out that this was all a ruse to get her off her island and into a place where she could be confronted. Rose confirmed that she is pregnant with Scorpius's child. They have signed formal betrothal papers, and Rose anticipates them marrying over the Christmas holidays.
Rose also reported that Cleopatra is pregnant with Albus's child, and that they too should be marrying over the holidays.
As of the time this reporter submitted this article much was still unknown.
Rich Hudson
Draco took Astoria to Diagon Alley, to the office of the Malfoy Properties, and then to dinner. At dinner Draco suggested, "We really ought to see if we can go back home to Malfoy Manor tonight."
"Why?" Astoria wondered.
"It is our home," Draco replied. "I am very glad you and I survived."
"Why do you care if I survive," Astoria wondered. The spells or whatever they were from those Magi from Jezebel were working on her, and she wondered if … that was the problem. Any though of becoming intimate with Draco brought up memories of her being raped, and she couldn't deal with it. Except …
"I've been told I should just take my pleasure, and not care about what you think," Draco told Astoria. "Except I cannot do that. That is not what marriage is about. I may not be the best husband in the world, but I have tried, in my own way. We are married, and I care for you."
"Let's go home," Astoria agreed. They Apparated to the front door and went in, being careful to stay as far away from the living room, which was still being cleaned up, as possible. As they walked through the front door and skirted the living room Seamus Finnegan, who was trying to finish his After Action Report, spotted them.
"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Seamus confronted Draco, blocking his entrance.
"I live here!" Draco exclaimed as if Seamus was an idiot.
"Were you here during the battle?" Seamus asked.
"Astoria and I escaped just as the battle was starting," Draco replied.
"I understand that the battle started when Jezebel appeared," Seamus tried to confirm.
"Yes," Draco replied.
"Were you handcuffed?" Seamus wondered.
"Both of us," Draco replied, nodding towards Astoria.
"But the handcuffs came off as the battle started?"
"Yes."
"What caused the handcuffs to come off?" Seamus persisted.
"I have no idea," Draco replied.
"And instead of trying to defeat Jezebel and her allies you ran?" Seamus sneered, obviously getting angry. "And we lost five or six Aurors, killed in the first moments of battle saving your family and house, and instead of helping you ran!"
"Let us go up to our bedrooms," Draco told Astoria, as he took her hand and haughtily walked passed the angry Irish man.
Seamus shook his head. "You are a pathetic Son of a B****, Draco!"
2022