Riddle Manor, Little Hangleton, 6/20/1996, 23:29
Voldemort stared at Yaxley as he released the cruciatus curse from his incompetent servant.
"Mr Yaxley, your source inside the auror department is either compromised or an incompetent fool!" Voldemort hissed in fury.
"I a-apologize, my lord," Yaxley whimpered as a trickle of blood dribbled down his chin.
"Save your apologies for someone who wants to hear them! We lost thirteen giants last night!" Voldemort hissed and was forced to restrain himself from casting the cruciatus a fourth time.
"D-Dawlish was not of duty last night, my lord, he mixed up the dates," Yaxley replied as he slowly pushed himself into a kneeling position.
The catastrophe at Greengrass manor was their biggest loss so far from a strategic standpoint. True the numbers were higher at Malfoy Manor but those men were cannon fodder, last night he had lost giants!
Giants the best implements for crashing through wards short of a dragon and he had lost all but three of them!
Voldemort was grudgingly impressed at Lord Greengrass' forethought, using something so simple to protect his wards was very creative and as he had seen, devastatingly effective.
The failed attack should have been the end of it, their mole in the DMLE had been instructed to delay the ministry's response long enough for their forces to retreat and save his giants.
However, Auror Dawlish had not done this and most of the arrival team was cut down as a consequence. Voldemort had been forced to send in four teams of reinforcements to hold back the aurors! He had lost nineteen death eaters in an attempt to get the remainder of the giants to safety and they had still failed spectacularly!
The end result was that a simple skirmish had turned into the largest battle the wizarding world had seen in five decades!
The bottom line was that he had lost most of his shock troops in one night and had been set back months in his plans.
At this moment there was a whole makeshift infirmary setup to take care of the scores of wounded and that wasn't counting the ones who were killed.
He had tallied up the number of soldiers at his disposal and had counted three hundred and twenty-seven death eaters. It sounded like an impressive number but he had already lost far too many death eaters. In the past year, he had lost a hundred and three death eaters, an entire pack of werewolves, and sixteen giants. That wasn't counting the loss of his two best fighters, both of them to the same teenager no less!
The problem was that after Fudge was assassinated, Bones and Scrimgeour had begun fighting his people offensively whereas before they had only reacted defensively (or not at all). The aurors had also become very efficient at reacting to attacks and were far too fast to arrive on the scene.
Furthermore, after the destruction of the prison, the aurors were no longer trying to capture his death eaters which meant his people were at a great disadvantage.
The aurors fought as a cohesive unit while his death eaters were a bunch of rich self-entitled purebloods only looking out for themselves. He had watched the battle last night and saw that most of his people were casting blindly at their opponents and only knew how to use a handful of spells. His people were only effective in ambush-style attacks while the aurors thrived in these open battles.
He needed some competent fighters and he knew just where to find them. He had been putting off tracking down Igor but now he may give the man a way to redeem himself.
Durmstrang was renowned for its emphasis on martial magic. The school was the ICW's recruiting grounds and was where the bulk of their peacekeeping troops came from for the last century.
The rumours of the school teaching its students the dark arts were exaggerated. The advanced classes demonstrated the effects of dark arts spells and even taught courses on treating injuries inflicted by the dark arts but the school did not teach the dark arts in their curriculum.
If he could get a dozen or so well-trained fighters, he may have a chance of turning things around. He could halt further attacks after the incursion of Hogwarts and try and get his people up to scratch over the summer.
He would have to pay Igor a visit and give the spine-less worm a choice to either find him some confident fighters or die... the slow way.
He would handle this task himself but he still needed to find a better source of information inside the ministry and who better to do that than the servant whimpering at his feet?
Turning back to his servant, Voldemort gestured for him to stand before he spoke,
"Corban, I am going to give you a new task."
"Anything, my lord," Yaxley said in a shaky voice.
"I want you to find us a better source inside the ministry," Voldemort said narrowing his eyes.
"Of course, master," Yaxley agreed.
"I want you to find out as much as you can about the ministry's plans, we cannot afford any more surprises," Voldemort continued.
"Yes master," Yaxley agreed.
"Then leave me, you have a week to get this done or suffer my displeasure," Voldemort commanded.
"I will not fail you, my lord," Yaxley assured him.
"You had better hope not Corban, or you will regret it," Voldemort muttered to the empty room.
Besides this recent unpleasantness, he had other problems, the most troubling of which was the disappearance of Nagini. He had not seen her in weeks and was starting to get concerned. He knew his familiar was still alive as he could still reach across the link to her and see through her eyes but he had no way to locate her, all that he could tell for sure was that she was in a dense forest somewhere.
He also realised that he would have to make his trip abroad this summer regardless of the consequences to the cause. He needed to find a way to deal with Albus Dumbledore and all of his investigations pointed to the item he sought being somewhere in mainland Europe. With any luck, Gregorovitch would know where to find his prize and he could complete the task quickly.
'Now I believe it's time to summon Lucius,' Voldemort thought to himself as he used his connection to the dark mark to send for Lucius.
Malfoy had been receiving nightly punishment for gift wrapping the diary horcrux for Albus Dumbledore. His wife was quite useful to him but Lucius had been demoted to a low-level death eater and a whipping boy of sorts.
Truthfully he was very close to just killing the pureblood imbecile and having done with it.
Voldemort was brought out of his musings when the door to his study opened and a terrified-looking Lucius Malfoy entered the room. Lucius had a stubbly beard and his hair was tangled and frayed. Lucius' robes were wrinkled and Voldemort picked up the distinct scent of firewhiskey on his breath.
Lucius had become a sort of joke among the other death eaters of late. If the rumours were true, Lucius had been kicked out of his own bedroom by his wife who had taken on a younger lover.
"Y-you wished to see me, my lord," Lucius said timidly pulling him from those amusing thoughts.
"Yes, I believe it is time for your nightly penance, Lucius," Voldemort said in a silky tone.
"My lord, I beg yo-
"CRUCIO!" Voldemort exclaimed cutting Lucius off mid-sentence.
He felt a great sense of satisfaction when Lucius collapsed to the floor and began screaming in agony as his body violently thrashed. Lucius' screams echoed around the room and Voldemort couldn't help but wonder if the joy of making Lucius scream was the only reason he kept the man around.
Putting him out of his misery would be a mercy and Voldemort prided himself on being merciless.
Voldemort pushed those thoughts away, he had time for self-reflection later, right now he had to make his servant suffer for his incompetence.
'Brace yourself, Lucius, this is going to be a long night for you,' Voldemort thought in amusement as he poured more power into the curse and Lucius's screams became blood-curdling shrieks.
Gryffindor Common Room, Hogwarts, 5/25/1996, 18:59
Harry sat with Tonks on the couch by the fire. Tonight they were hanging out in the Gryffindor common room to celebrate Gryffindor winning the house cup.
The Gryffindor quidditch team had played their final game against Ravenclaw today and had completely annihilated them. They went 3-0 this season which was quite an accomplishment in and of itself but they had also won the quidditch cup for the second year in a row which hadn't been done since nineteen eighty-nine.
Currently, they were both sipping butterbeer and chatting with Ginny while all around them people were talking and laughing and in some cases kissing. In the background, the sound of music blared from the Wizard Wireless and Weasley Wizard Whizzbang fireworks detonated randomly over their heads.
"You know Potter, I think we did okay without you this year," Ginny smirked.
"True, my first game of the season always turns into some type of calamity," Harry conceded.
"So you're not going to play next year?" Tonks asked curiously.
"I don't know but if I do, I'll have to get a new Nimbus," Harry said thoughtfully.
"Why, there's nothing wrong with the one you have?" Ginny asked in confusion.
"Oh didn't I tell you?" Harry grinned.
"Tell me what?" Ginny asked
"I'm giving you that one, think of it as an early birthday present," Harry said matter-of-factly.
"You're serious?" Ginny asked disbelievingly.
"Yep, you seem pretty good on it," Harry praised before he took a sip from his butterbeer.
"And I won't have to be your personal slave or serve your every need dressed in a skimpy French maid outfit?" Ginny asked, giving him a teasing grin.
"No, of course not," Harry exclaimed as he noticed Tonks narrowing her eyes at him.
"Thanks Potter," Ginny exclaimed happily.
Harry was taken by surprise when Ginny got up from her seat and pulled him to his feet before wrapping him in a bone-crushing hug.
"Ginny, I-I can't breathe," Harry gasped as he gently patted her back, amazed at how tightly she was squeezing him.
"She's definitely Molly Weasley's daughter," Tonks guffawed, making Ginny instantly release her hold on him.
"S-sorry, I am just so happy that you're giving me your broom," Ginny muttered sheepishly, her cheeks colouring a rosy pink colour.
"It's your broom now," Harry corrected as he retook his seat beside Tonks.
"Thank you Harry, I may have a chance as chaser next year," Ginny beamed as she retook her seat in the overstuffed armchair across from them
"I've seen you play chaser, you have more than a chance," Harry snorted before taking a drink of butterbeer.
He was actually a bit surprised that he had managed to keep a grip on his bottle while being manhandled by Ginny a minute ago.
"Well, I expect something nice for my birthday next year," Tonks said teasingly.
"I thought your birthday went pretty well this year," Harry pointed out.
"I was sore for three days after that," Tonks muttered with a far-off look in her eye.
"Why were you sore?" Ginny asked in confusion.
"Well Weasley, when a witch and a wizard like each other very much-
"Tonks," Harry said, shooting her an exasperated look.
"Sorry," Tonks said unapologetically as Ginny's face flushed a deep red.
"So you two have... done it?" Ginny asked looking at them curiously.
"Maybe," Tonks shrugged.
"Hey, where is Ron at?" Harry asked, hoping to get off of this particular topic.
"I saw him and Lavender go up to the boys' dorms about twenty minutes ago," Ginny shrugged.
"Well good on him," Harry said before he drank the last sip of butterbeer and set the empty bottle on the coffee table.
"He had better hope that he doesn't knock her up," Ginny muttered.
"I would love to see Molly's reaction if he did," Tonks guffawed as she moved so that she was sitting sideways in his lap.
"I don't know if my eardrums could handle that," Harry sniggered.
"Tell me about it, I'll get a front-row seat to that row if that ever happens," Ginny chuckled.
"I am on a contraceptive potion, just so you know," Tonks said in a casual tone before placing a soft kiss on his lips.
"Well that's a relief," Harry said, feeling his cheeks get a bit warm.
"Mum insisted I start taking the potion over break," Tonks said, her own cheeks flushing slightly.
"Right, if you two are going to be all over each other, I'm going to go find Dean," Ginny sighed as she got to her feet.
"Don't rush off," Tonks smirked.
"Sorry but I just won a quidditch cup, I think that I deserve a good snog," Ginny smirked before she made her way over to where Dean and Seamus were sitting.
"I supplied her with the broom that won the cup, I deserve a good snog too," Harry said thoughtfully before leaning down and capturing Tonks' lips in a heated kiss.
Tonks eagerly kissed him back, her finger carding through his hair as she moaned sexily into his mouth. The kiss was starting to get heated when onlookers made themselves known in the form of a group of third-year girls who began giggling and pointing at them.
"Wow," Tonks said breathily when Harry broke the kiss and shot the onlookers a look of annoyance.
"Yeah too bad we're not alone," Harry chuckled as he placed a kiss on her forehead.
"Do you want to get out of here?" Tonks offered.
"Not yet, care to dance?" Harry asked, not quite ready to leave the party just yet.
"Depends, can you dance?" Tonks asked him curiously.
"Nope," Harry shrugged.
"Good, neither can I," Tonks beamed as she hopped up and pulled him to his feet.
"That's a relief, you won't make me look bad," Harry grinned.
Harry led her onto the cleared-out area in the centre of the common room that was being used as a makeshift dancefloor, noticing that quite a few other students were already dancing.
"Just try not to step on my feet," Tonks asked as she put her arms around the back of his neck.
"No promises" Harry whispered in her ear as an old Hobgoblin's song came on the wireless and then began to sway to the music.
If Harry were paying attention to how he looked from an outsider's perspective, he probably would have been mortified. He and Tonks looked utterly ridiculous and got more than a few sniggers from onlookers.
As it was, Harry couldn't care less. He and Tonks tuned out everyone else in the room as they got lost in each other's eyes and tried to match each other's movements.
Harry had more fun dancing with Tonks than he had in months, though he felt awful for stepping on her toes more than a few times.
Tonks had stepped on his as well but he hadn't minded, he was so caught up in the happy smile stretching across her face that he would do anything to keep it there.
As the spun clumsily around the dance floor, one thought kept going through his mind, 'I love this woman so much.'
The rest of the evening was fairly uneventful, though Hermione did end up kneeing Cormac in the bits for pinching her bum as she walked past him.
Harry led Tonks out of the Gryffindor tower when the warning bell sounded, both having enjoyed the after-party tremendously. They made their way to the room of requirement for the night, Intent on having their own private celebration.
The halls were empty as they crossed the seventh floor and they walked in silence enjoying the peace and quiet after the loud atmosphere of the Gryffindor common room.
Harry knew things were just about to really kick off at the party, once the prefects sent the younger students to bed, the party would get much rowdier. The Weasley twins would undoubtedly bring out bottles of mead and firewhiskey and couples would become more... amorous.
Harry had a feeling this party would go on until late in the morning. He was tempted to stay for the rest of the party but he knew that McGonagall would inevitably bust in around one or two in the morning and demand that everyone gets to bed which could pose a problem for Tonks as she wasn't supposed to be there, especially after curfew.
"Are all the parties like that?" Tonks asked as soon as they entered the room of requirement.
"Yeah, that was pretty normal," Harry assured her as he watched Tonks' features shift from Wendy to her pink-haired older self.
"And Hermione kneeing McClaggen in the bits?" Tonks asked as she took off her outer robes.
"McClaggen has a thing for Hermione but she doesn't feel the same way," Harry chuckled.
"Can't blame her, there," Tonks conceded as she kicked off her heavy combat boots.
"No, he is getting very close to her casting a boil hex on him," Harry admitted.
"What happened with her and Boot, weren't they a thing?" Tonks asked.
"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen them together in a while," Harry said thoughtfully.
"I didn't figure it would last long," Tonks shrugged.
"So do you know anything about Nott?" Harry asked, hoping for a change of topic as this felt a bit too much like gossip.
"No but I did find out that the ministry is sending three teams of aurors to the village so they can be on call in case he succeeds in fixing that damn cabinet," Tonks answered, looking a bit annoyed.
"Why don't we just destroy it?" Harry asked.
"I don't want to talk about it right now, care to join me in the hot tub?" Tonks asked with a knowing smile.
"Hell yes, just don't leave me hanging this time," Harry almost demanded.
"Don't worry about that, as long as you give me another one of those massages, I'll do anything you want," Tonks assured him.
"Yeah, sorry I kept stepping on your feet so much tonight," Harry said sheepishly.
"Don't be, I stepped on yours quite a bit too. I never could dance," Tonks sniggered.
"I learned the waltz last year for the Yule Ball but I wasn't very good at it," Harry admitted as he pulled his tee shirt over his head.
"Mum tried to teach me when I was little but I'm not very graceful," Tonks said as she slid off her jeans.
"You're pretty graceful when we duel," Harry said in confusion as he kicked off his own boots.
"I've always been good at fighting, so are you going to give me a rub?" Tonks asked hopefully as she pulled her shirt over her head.
"Alright, but could you keep your hair pink tonight?" Harry asked nervously.
"Oh, so you prefer Tonks to Wendy?" Tonks smirked.
"They're both bloody gorgeous, I just like the way your pink hair looks in the moonlight," Harry admitted.
"Oh you are definitely getting lucky tonight," Tonks exclaimed before she practically dragged him out to the hot tub.
A few minutes later they were both relaxing in the hot tub that looked out over the recreation of Andi's garden. Like last time Tonks was seated across from him as he massaged her feet under the water.
Harry wondered if this was an accurate recreation of the garden as the vine roses growing up the latticework of the gazebo were in full bloom, their sweet fragrance filling the air.
Tonks had asked the room to alter the gazebo so that there was no roof on it. This allowed the artificial full moon the room had created overhead to bathe them in its silvery light.
"I think I may have to keep you around," Tonks sighed in contentment.
"Thanks, I don't want to let you get away either," Harry chuckled, giving her a genuine smile.
"So what was Ginny talking about a French maid outfit?" Tonks asked giving Harry a curious look.
"We used to flirt with each other to mess with Ron. One time she told him that I threatened to make her be my personal servant if she lost a game on the Nimbus," Harry explained.
"And the outfit?" Tonks asked with interest.
"I told her that she would have to dress like a French maid, you should have seen Ron's face," Harry guffawed.
"I bet Weasley resembles a landed fish," Tonks guffawed.
"He did especially when she seemed thrilled that I was letting her wear clothes," Harry said as he continued his ministrations.
"You know, I could probably change my face and hair to look pretty close to hers if you like" Tonks offered.
"Huh?" Harry asked in confusion as he switched to massaging her other foot.
"If you want, I can make my features look like Ginny and wear a French maid outfit," Tonks explained.
"No thanks, if you want to change your hair colour when we shag that's cool, but it would be so wrong for you to look like somebody we know," Harry exclaimed a bit surprised she would offer to do something like that.
"Huh, so what about like a veela or something?" Tonks questioned, giving him a knowing look.
"Nymphadora the veela cheerleader would be pretty hot," Harry said thoughtfully.
"I do a pretty good Bulgarian accent," Tonks smirked.
"Go Bulgaria," Harry muttered dreamily.
"Well if you ever want me to play around with my morphs, just let me know," Tonks offered.
"Alright, but I like the way you usually look, especially the pink hair," Harry admitted, looking up to meet her eye.
"I see," Tonks muttered as she got up from her seat and waded over to him causing the water to slosh as she moved.
Harry watched her with bated breath as she placed her palms on his shoulders and pushed him back against the wall of the tub before she straddled his lap.
Harry had a moment of deja vu as she tilted his head upward so he was looking into her grey eyes. This was exactly how things had started the last time they had been in the hot tub and he just hoped this time ended a bit differently.
"Don't look so nervous, Potter, I'm not going to leave you hanging... again," Tonks whispered into his ear as she grasped him under the water.
"Can you blame me, last time was just evil," Harry muttered before he pulled her head down and captured her lips in a soft kiss.
As the kiss deepened and they began making love in the hot tub with the light of the full moon shining down on them, Harry couldn't help but feel happier than he had ever felt in his life.
Just like at the party earlier, one thought kept going through his mind, 'I love this woman so much!'
Great Hall Hogwarts, 6/10/1996, 09:49
Harry took his seat at the single table with a tiny nameplate reading H.J Potter on it. Today was the beginning of O.W.L exams and his first exam was the theory of charms. Charms had always come naturally to him so he was pretty confident that he would get at least an exceeds expectations on the test.
Yesterday they had spotted the examiners arriving in the middle of dinner. The examiners were a collection of the most ancient witches and wizards Harry had ever seen.
The group was led by a gruff older woman named Griselda Marchbanks. Madam Marchbanks had an aura about her that made Harry think she was not a woman he wanted to cross. Though if what she said was true, she had given Dumbledore his O.W.L exams, so she had to be pushing two hundred.
The arrival of the examiners had an unexpected side effect as many of the fifth years had lost their appetite when the examiners entered the great hall.
Hermione in particular had completely lost it and had been a nervous wreck last night. Worse still, she had done nothing but study and snapped at anyone who made noise in the common room.
Harry could already predict that they had a long two weeks ahead of them if Hermione was going to be this temperamental the night before every exam.
Harry noticed that Professor McGonagall was assisting the ministry examiners instead of Professor Flitwick for this exam. Harry thought there may be some rule about teachers not being able to oversee the O.W.L exam for the subject they taught.
Harry watched as McGonagall finished ushering the last students to their seats and made her way to the front of the hall where the examiners were seated at the head table.
Tonks was not seated with them for the exams, she was taking advantage of the time the rest of the fifth years were sitting their O.W.Ls to relax. This morning she had gone back to sleep after their morning P.T and said she planned on sleeping until lunch.
Tonks had confided that the two weeks of O.W.L exams would be like a vacation for her. As if to emphasise her point, she had transformed the room of requirement to look like a sandy beach with gentle waves crashing on the shore.
They had run on the simulated beach this morning and just like on Black island, she had run in her pink bikini, much to Harry's delight.
Harry couldn't help but grin when he remembered Tonks laying down on a hammock that was strung between two palm tree trunks when he had left for breakfast. Thinking about this made him really regret having to leave her to go take his O.W.L.
Harry was pulled from his thoughts when Madam Marchbanks rose from her place at the centre place of the head table and cleared her throat, getting the attention of everyone in the hall.
"Good morning everyone, my name is Griselda Marchbanks and I will be overseeing your charms theory exam. In two minutes and forty-four seconds, I will ask you to flip the packet in front of you over and begin your testing. You will have exactly two hours to complete the written exam and then we shall break for lunch."
"You may notice that there are two quills on your desk and a single bottle of ink. These supplies have been supplied to you by the wizarding examination authority and are enchanted with anti-cheating charms as is your test packet. You may only use these writing implements to answer questions on your test paper."
"I must warn you ahead of time that the most stringent Anti-Cheating Charms have been applied to your examination papers so it would be most unwise to attempt to cheat."
"Finally, if you finished your test early, you may draw, sleep, or contemplate the meaning of life as long as you do so quietly and do not disturb your peers. Regardless of what you do, you must stay in your seat until the testing cycle is complete," Madam Marchbanks explained to the thirty-seven nervous students.
Harry jumped when the school bell on the desk in front of the examiners floated off of the table and began to ring loudly.
"You may begin," Madam Marchbanks instructed as one of her colleagues flipped over a large hourglass and sand began to steadily trickle into the lower portion.
Harry flipped over his test packet and read the first question with bated breath.
1. a) Give the incantation and
b) Describe the wand movement required to make objects fly.
Harry let out a sigh of relief as he remembered the lesson in his first year and quickly began to scribble out an answer before moving on to the next question.
2. Describe the complex interaction between the colloportus and alohomora spells.
Harry began to relax as he realized the next few questions were as easy as the first two. The questions went through all of the charms they had covered over the previous five years. There seemed to be ten questions from each year and he answered them with little difficulty.
The exam didn't get challenging until he reached question number forty-one. The next few questions started asking for technical information on the more complex spells they had covered this year.
Fortunately, this was where all the work he had put into his occlumency training came in handy as it enabled him to recall information with little effort. He could remember minor details from lectures Flitwick had given the class months ago without much thought.
As he moved on to the last question, Harry couldn't help but think his chances of passing this exam were pretty good.
Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London, 6/14/1996,22:39
The four highest-ranking members of the order were meeting tonight to try and work out a strategy for the looming attack on Hogwarts. They were anxiously waiting for Snape to return from the meeting he had been summoned to just after dinner tonight.
Albus was seated at the kitchen table of Grimmauld Place with Mad-Eye Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Sirius Black. All four men were silent and lost in their own thoughts. Albus was fairly certain that all of their thoughts were most likely centred on the same thing, the coming attack on the castle.
Albus had been keeping a close watch on Theodore Nott in hopes that it would give them a clue as to when the attack would happen. He was also a bit concerned about Nott's safety as he was convinced that someone from another house had killed young Draco Malfoy and he did not wish for history to repeat itself.
Hogwarts had been running smoothly since the return from the Easter holidays and the ministry examinations were going as smoothly as ever. In his opinion, the Defence classes would do much better than usual between Mr Potter's little club and his own efforts in teaching Defence against the dark arts. The only hiccup inside the castle was Mr Nott's mysterious mission, which led them to where they were now.
The past few months had been a rollercoaster in the wider wizarding world. April had been plagued by the death of the Diggory couple, Madam Longbottom and the swarm of inferius that had terrorized Devon over Easter.
The end of April and a good chunk of May saw a wave of giant attacks that cost quite a few people their lives. Though Thankfully after the failed attack on Greengrass Manor, things had gone quiet.
The order had been meeting weekly since the Easter attacks but there hadn't been any new developments coming out of Riddle's base. The giant attacks had seemed somewhat spontaneous and Severus hadn't gotten any forewarning of Voldemort's intentions. Albus was starting to fear that Tom was becoming more paranoid of late and had stopped confiding in Severus.
Every head in the room snapped to attention when the door was thrown open and Severus barged into the kitchen looking very agitated.
"It won't be long now, Albus," Severus said without preamble as he took his usual seat at the table.
"What did you learn tonight, Severus?" Dumbledore asked, giving his spy his full attention.
"He is setting up four teams for the night of the attack. A large team composed of recruits will attack the residential area of Diagon Alley. At the same time, two smaller teams of older hands will enter the castle. And from what I picked up tonight, Thorfinn Rowle will lead a team to confront the aurors stationed in Hogsmeade," Severus listed off before he poured himself a healthy measure of Ogdens.
"Fucking hell, he's launching a three-prong attack!" Moody exclaimed angrily.
"It gets worse, Mad-Eye. He already knows we're preparing for an attack inside the castle," Snape replied, big grey puffs of smoke issuing from his mouth as he spoke due to him having just swallowed a large sip of whiskey.
"How could he know that?!" Sirius demanded, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.
"He has Pius Thickenese under the imperius curse," Snape answered flatly.
"He has the head auror under the imperius curse!?" Kingsley asked, sounding as if he hoped that he had misheard Snape's last statement.
"He does, Thickenese was at the meeting tonight," Snape confirmed.
"This is bad, this real damn bad," Moody muttered, a note of worry apparent in his voice.
"I know, he'll have all sorts of top-secret information now," Kingsley confirmed looking very troubled.
"We may have to ghost Pius, though he's probably already spilt all of the DMLE's secrets by now," Moody grunted.
"Where would we stash him?" Sirius asked.
"I know a place but we need to alert Amelia to this, our protocols are all compromised," Kingsley answered as he touched his wand tip to his auror badge.
"In other words, the auror corp won't be of much help for this incursion at Hogwarts. If Snape's information is accurate, then we'll have our hands full in the alley," Moody said looking very unhappy.
"We can post more order members in the castle but all of our best people will be in Diagon Alley," Sirius said.
"I believe I and the staff will be forced to protect the castle," Albus sighed.
"I will try and get some people back to the castle if we can spare 'em," Kingsley offered.
"That would be much appreciated," Albus nodded gratefully.
"What else did you learn, Snape?" Sirius demanded.
"The dark lord is on edge, something has spooked him pretty badly," Snape admitted.
"What do you mean?" Albus asked sharply.
"He is planning to enter the castle himself during the attack," Snape replied.
"That is most unwelcome news," Dumbledore muttered.
"He didn't say why but I got the impression that he wishes to retrieve something," Severus elaborated.
"Great, maybe you should think about a way to evacuate the students," Sirius suggested, looking very troubled.
"I have considered it but moving them all on such short notice would be very difficult, especially when I will need the staff to repel any attack that may arise," Dumbledore admitted.
"You could send the younger students home anytime, the fifth and seventh years are the only ones that need to be at the castle for testing," Kingsley pointed out.
"That is true," Dumbledore said thoughtfully.
"I give it a week if that before he makes his move," Snape said.
"I take you have been monitoring young Mister Nott's progress?" Albus asked.
"I have, he is very close to repairing the vanishing cabinet," Severus confirmed.
"I still say we should just destroy that damn cabinet and have done with it," Moody grunted.
"Unfortunately it is more complicated than that, Alastor," Albus sighed.
"Give it a rest, Albus, if anyone is killed in this attack I will arrest the little shit myself for accessory to murder," Mad-Eye exclaimed.
"I am confident that everything will work out just fine," Albus assured him.
"You better hope so or I'll shove the little bastard through the veil myself," Mad-Eye grunted, ignoring the angry glare Snape was giving him
"I believe that will be all for tonight," Albus said, giving Alastor a look of disapproval.
"Good, I have to go and meet with Madam Bones. We have to try and put a lid on this," Kingsley muttered as he stood up and rushed out of the room without a backwards glance.
After this, the meeting broke up and Albus made his way to the fireplace the worry of the coming attack weighing heavy on his mind. Regardless of what he had told Alastor, the thought of those monsters roaming the halls of Hogwarts terrified him. If he wasn't so concerned for the repercussions on young Theodore and by extension, the Davis family, he would nip the problem in the bud.
Albus knew there was a very good chance someone was going to get hurt or worse in the attack. Still, he could not allow young Theodore to be killed because of his actions.
Albus had been watching Mr Nott closely over the past few months and couldn't quite understand how the boy had gotten involved with Lord Voldemort.
Theodore was a quiet lad and spent most of his free time with the young Tracey Davis (well up until his return from the Easter holidays). Yong Theodore seemed quite fond of the girl even though she was considered beneath him by purebloods standards.
Tracy Davis was a half-blood, her father had married a muggleborn girl named Miley Brooks a year after he had graduated Hogwarts and two years later, Tracy was born. The Davis family was a minor pureblood house and was not part of the sacred twenty-eight. This move had still upset those from the conservative faction, the Davis line had been pure for eighty years before Alan Davis had married a muggleborn.
Albus had actually been surprised that the Davis family hadn't been attacked like the Abbotts and the Cattermoles last winter until he had brought the subject up with his spy.
According to Severus, the only thing keeping the Davis family from being killed was Theodore Nott's request that they be left alone. The dark lord had graciously agreed but a few months later, he had asked Theodore for a favour in exchange.
Theodore had no choice but to agree and had taken on the task with vigour. The boy had a knack for runes work and seemed to have no trouble with etching replacement panels for the centuries-old cabinet.
Mr Nott's motivations were the main reason Albus was so determined to save the boy, Theodore seemed to be trying to protect the Davis' family and Albus knew if the boy failed then the Davis family would be killed as punishment.
Albus knew he was taking a big risk letting the plan go ahead but he had to try, what was the point of fighting the dark if he could not save the innocent?
Albus was preparing himself for a pitched battle but he may very well send as many students home as he could.
'I am growing wary of all of this constant fighting,' Albus muttered to himself as he stepped into green flames.
Entrance Hall, Hogwarts, 6/22/1996, 16:09
Harry stepped out of the great hall feeling mentally exhausted. He had just finished the final exam which was by far the most difficult one he had sat. History of Magic was nothing but essay questions. He had been cramming the notes on the class all morning and he was running on fumes. Last night's practical astronomy exam had kept the fifth years up until three this morning and he had gotten up a few hours later to run morning P.T. Now exams were officially over!
Last week had gone pretty smoothly, Harry had sat all three of his wanded classes exams. He thought that he had done well on the theory exams and was confident that he had passed the practicals with flying colours. He had even shown off a bit and cast all of his spells nonverbally, much to the delight of the examiners. He was way ahead in defence and Transfiguration due to the training he had been doing with Tonks and charms had always come naturally to him.
He wasn't as confident about the herbology exam which he was pretty sure he had passed though he had made quite a few mistakes on the practical. He had been bitten by a fanged geranium and had to make a quick visit to the infirmary after the exam to get an antidote to reduce the swelling in his hand.
This week had been hell, potions on Monday which he knew he had done well on but he wasn't confident he had gotten an outstanding.
On the upside, the creatures exam was ridiculously easy and he didn't have any problems identifying the creatures for the examiner.
Yesterday had been the longest exam day by far. In the morning he had sat the practical divination exam, though he hadn't put much effort into it, he knew that he never should have taken that ridiculous class. After lunch they had taken the theory exam for astronomy and to top the longest day off, they had met at the astronomy tower at midnight.
Which led to today, they had taken the history of magic exam after lunch and now Harry could finally relax. Harry was just glad that Hermione would finally settle down, she had been driving the whole common room mad for the past two weeks.
Harry was pulled from his thoughts as someone took his hand and began to steer him outside. Turning, Harry smiled when he saw Tonks in the guise of Wendy smiling at him.
"Hey," Tonks said as they stepped through the doors and out into the bright sunshine.
"Hey, how was your nap?" Harry grinned.
"Good, though the room actually created live seagulls, I woke up with one perched on my head," Tonks scowled.
"So the room decided you had lazed around enough," Harry chuckled.
"I think the room wanted to wake me up for lunch," Tonks corrected.
"Well we're both free tomorrow, maybe we can do something together," Harry suggested.
"Well, we've run sex on the beach into the ground so how about we have a picnic on the beach?" Tonks asked.
"That sounds good, we can probably ask Dobby to pack us a lunch," Harry offered.
"That sounds great, make sure he throws in some of that chocolate cake" Tonks agreed.
"I heard Seamus is throwing a party tonight," Harry pointed out as they took a seat on the lakeshore.
"Well I imagine with all of the lower years gone, they have free reign of the common room," Tonks said thoughtfully.
Last Monday the first through fourth-year students were sent home and the remainder of the school was scheduled to return home this Saturday. At first, Harry had wondered why they were being sent home a week early but Tonks had explained the danger they were in due to the vanishing cabinet, it seemed Dumbledore was trying to keep as many students safe as he could.
"So do you want to go?" Harry asked as he wrapped his arm around her.
"No, we are getting down to the wire now. If the death eaters are going to attack it will be soon and I need a clear head," Tonks stated flatly.
"Oh, does the order know anything new?" Harry asked as he watched a group of girls swimming out in the lake.
"Just that Nott's getting close to finishing the cabinet according to Dumbledore," Tonks admitted.
"Why the hell doesn't he just destroy the damn thing?" Harry muttered.
"Moody said the same thing but Dumbledore is being stubborn on this," Tonks sighed.
"At least he sent the younger kids home," Harry muttered darkly.
"Yes, it should keep casualties low in the event of an attack," Tonks agreed.
"I guess all we can hope for is that Nott Won't finish mending the cabinet," Harry muttered.
"If you want to go to that party tonight, you can. Just keep your hands to yourself," Tonks said in an attempt to change the subject.
"Nah, I'll keep you company. I could do with a quiet night," Harry waved her off.
"If you're sure," Tonks said in an unconcerned tone but there was a soft smile playing on her lips.
They spent the rest of the afternoon by the lake enjoying the summer air. Neither of them talked about Not but it weighed on both of their minds.
"Two more days and we'll be home," Harry thought to himself as they headed inside for dinner a few hours later.