I certainly have no rights to Harry Potter, but this won't stop me writing this story. However, you probably already know this. As it is my specialty, and as in my other big stories, this shows how things go if something went different right at the beginning. Please note that I'm not a fan of bashing and also don't expect the pairings to differ from canon. However, the path to them sertainly will be quite different. I also want to try and subvert certain plots and things that became common in the fandom over the years.
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Chapter 33: The Evil Awakens
It was on the first day of 1994 that saw three people on another day of their long quest.
The Carrows and Pettigrew were walking deeper into the eerie forest located in Albania, hoping that this time the information would be correct and give them results. After enough disappointments they had learned to be generally skeptical about information, so right now they had no reason to believe this one to be different.
It had been a long time, over twelve years, since they had started their search to find their Master and help him to come back into power. They however had run into certain... problems on the way.
At first they had been mostly busy with hiding away, waiting until the heat had died down before they could start their task in earnest. Of course that then turned out to be easier said than done, since they had next to no clues to work with - essentially it was like searching for a needle in a haystack. It at times had even felt like a wild goose chase, with them being none the wiser what to actually do.
It didn't help as well that all three of them were not exactly the brightest lights and their lack of smarts had certainly hampered their search significantly. However, in these twelve years they also had slowly but steadily managed to get an idea what kind of information they were looking for. Today, on the first day of 1994, they were following rumors in Albania about a feared forest of death.
This forest certainly did feel weird. The only sound aside from themselves came from the wind. They heard not a single animal, which was highly unusual in a forest. The whole atmosphere in the forest was a bit oppressive, like unseen forces wanted them to turn back. That however almost certainly meant something magical was in play, thus hopefully it would get some results.
"I don't like this forest... It's too quiet, we are the only thing that makes any noise," Amycus Carrow said, constantly being on guard for anything.
"Don't tell me you are afraid," his sister Alecto snorted, though she herself felt rather unwell in this forest, as if this place was telling them to stay away.
"It's not that, but I have the strange feeling someone is watching us..." Amycus said, unable to pinpoint from where this unease came from.
Alecto shook her head, trying to hide her own unease. "You were always a bit of a sissy - I should know."
Apart from being older, the Carrows had changed little in the years since they had disappeared from Great Britain that fateful Halloween night in 1981. If anything, they now looked even meaner and the years on the search had not only hardened them even further, but also taught them many things. While not being book-smart, they had become street-smart, all these years having made them more dangerous than they had been before.
The third person, walking ahead of them, could only snort. "Sometimes it's hard for me to believe you two are in your thirties..."
Peter Pettigrew had changed the most out of them - and that was not about has starting hair loss. He no longer was that overweight, whiny waste of space he had been at the start of the journey. That however had not been by choice. Being forced to travel with the Carrows had meant either to adapt quickly or to sink. Pettigrew might be many things, but he got excellent survival instincts and the years had changed him.
Adapt or die after all was a very good motivator.
While his height was still the same, all the fat had been replaced with muscle. His expression had hardened considerably over the years at the same amount as his personality had hardened in order to survive the company of the Carrows. Pettigrew was a very different man now - a dangerous one at that. Now he was someone much more to Voldemort's liking.
Pettigrew's thoughts were stopped when he spotted something moving over the forest floor. "Stop!"
Moments later they were greeted with the sight of a huge snake raising itself, watching them intently while hissing the entire time. Alecto was about to draw her wand, but Pettigrew gave her a look. "Don't. I have a feeling that this is a sign."
Sometimes I wish he had not grown out of being a whiny little bitch, Alecto thought, feeling Pettigrew was becoming a little too bold.
Any further interaction was curtailed when out of the dark forest a man made of blackest mist appeared, his yellow-glowing eyes observing them carefully. "I am here, my dear Nagini. It looks like we do have visitors... Oh yes, and one of them is a visitor I have long waited to see."
Pettigrew, remembering the shade all too well, knelt before the it. "Oh, Master, finally after all these years we have found you."
Finally realizing what was going on, the Carrows quickly followed his example, not wanting to appear disrespectful to Voldemort.
"Indeed, it has been many years... And look who is with you; Amycus and Alecto Carrow," Voldemort observed.
"Once Pettigrew told us of what happened, we took it upon ourselves to help him find you," Amycus said. "The three of us searched all these years for you, my Lord."
"Really? That remains to be seen since first after all all there is the question of why it took you three so long to find me, as well as where your loyalties truly lie..." Voldemort said, then saw all three of them looking him into the eyes without hesitation.
All three of them were an open book to him. They put up no resistance when he delved into their minds to see the truth for himself. He quickly realized that these three really had done everything to find him, they simply had been ill-equipped for the job. Their motivation... that was more interesting. While there had been fear of punishment at the beginning, their motivation had changed over the years and now they were loyal to him only, feeling that Wizarding Britain would be better off under him.
"Very good! Your loyalty will be well rewarded... unlike all those others who have forsaken me to save their own skin. They will pay the penalty for turning their backs on Lord Voldemort. They have enjoyed their ill-gotten fruits for years, but soon they will serve me," Voldemort declared.
"Master, I assume you especially mean that faithless opportunist Malfoy? He couldn't renounce you fast enough after all," Alecto said, feeling rightfully angry at Malfoy.
"I can feel your anger. Hmmm, wait..." Voldemort delved into her mind again and soon found something that these three had read in the news. How a book enchanted by himself had caused trouble at Hogwarts and unleashed the basilisk until it got destroyed. They personally suspected Malfoy having been involved in it in some way.
"Lucius has made many mistakes. Causing my book to get destroyed was one too many. While they all will feel Lord Voldemort's displeasure, Lucius will do so especially."
All three of them gulped. While Voldemort sounded calm, they knew underneath it was a boiling volcano of anger. They had in the past seen him torture and kill people without losing his cool at all, and thus knew it was just outer appearance. After all, for these spells to work you truly had to mean it, which was the farthest thing from being calm.
"We will do everything you ask of us, Master. How will we start to work on your return?" Pettigrew said, being eager to start on it after all these years of searching.
"Patience. All in its due time. There are several other things we have to do first. This form is not very useful for me, so that has to change first before I can start work on my return," Voldemort told them.
o
The following day arrived quickly and someone was trying to enjoy her vacation in a small town in Albania.
The witch Bertha Jorkins was seen as a hopeless case. She once had been seen as a very reliable Ministry worker- even if a bit too much of a gossip - but in recent years she had become rather scatterbrained. No one questioned why - which mainly was due to her incompetent boss Ludo Bagman - since otherwise they probably would have discovered the sinister reason for her memory problems.
Running afoul of Barty Crouch Senior's biggest secret and getting her mind damaged by his overpowered memory charm was the real reason.
However, right at the moment she was on vacation, though she did not dare to stray too far from the inn or she could get lost. After all, she was aware of her own helplessness and at least tried compensate as best as she could. The small town in Albania she was staying in was not very big - it was not even magical - but the smallness suited her damaged memory well.
Having left the inn, she was walking down the road, when... "Oh, sorry," she apologized when she almost walked into a man who had just left the store, carrying a filled backpack.
She then however took a good look at him, and even with her damaged memory she could hardly forget the face from the 'Most Wanted' poster she walked by every day in the Ministry. Her eyes widened in recognition. "You are..."
Pettigrew knew he had been discovered. What had been the chances to run into a witch from home in this place? Nonetheless, he acted quickly and drew his wand. "Imperio!"
Due to her already damaged mind, Jorkins lost the battle almost instantly and her eyes became vacant, suddenly being all too willing to listen to all and every command Pettigrew would be giving her.
Pettigrew cursed, not having expected this to happen, but felt it fell to his Master to decide what now was to do. What the hell is someone from Magical Britain doing here? This has to be the worst luck possible, he thought furiously.
"Follow me," he ordered and she did follow him obediently into the woods surrounding the town.
They silently walked through the woods for some time until reaching where the Carrows were waiting for him together with the Master and his pet snake. They did notice right away that Pettigrew was not alone when seeing Jorkins.
"Hey, Pettigrew, what's with her?" Alecto called, drawing her wand.
"She recognized me, so she must be from home. I put her under my control and felt that it's up to the Master what to do with her," Pettigrew explained.
"Truly? Is that so?" Voldemort's wraith slowly moved towards Jorkins. "I want her to answer all of my questions."
"You will answer the Master truthfully about all his questions," Pettigrew ordered.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Voldemort questioned her.
Due to the curse, Jorkins had no choice but to answer. She also continued to answer to all his other questions as far as her memory allowed her. Voldemort was using the opportunity to get more up to date information about what was going on in Magical Britain. It was... quite informative to say the least, especially concerning a certain future event, and went on for quite some time.
"You have been very helpful, Miss Jorkins. Now to make sure..." Voldemorts eyes flashed and after some moments he seemed surprised. "Interesting... Most interesting. Someone altered her memories and did so in quite a brutal way. Brute force, no sophistication."
"Memory alteration? Why would a Ministry stooge have one of those?" Amycus wondered.
"That is a very good question - one that I will find answers to, even though she will be useless after we are done." Voldemort turned back to Jorkins. "Every memory alteration can be broken, after all."
Voldemort's eyes flared up and even though she was under the curse, Jorkins started to cry and scream, forcing Pettigrew to keep a tight hold onto her. It took several agonizing minutes while Voldemort's followers watched the whole thing coldly. When Voldemort was finally done, Jorkins was little more than an unresponsive, drooling wreck.
"Well... it looks like I have a very eager servant waiting for me. Who would have known that such darkness could dwell in the heart of someone who claims to serve justice?" Voldemort seemed very amused.
"Master?" Pettigrew asked.
"Later... After all, it is a delicious tale and I want to do it justice." Voldemorts dark chuckles underscored that whatever it was, he found it amusing in a way. "Amycus, Alecto! Get everything ready for leaving this place," Voldemort then ordered.
Voldemort then looked to Nagini, who was hissing something. "Time to tie up this loose end. Pettigrew, pocket her wand and then remove these rags from her. Nagini might like her lunch alive, but she does not want digestive problems."
Even someone as hardened as Pettigrew was a little disturbed by what would obviously happen next. Nonetheless, he obeyed and took her wand before he used his own wand to vanish Jorkins' clothes while Nagini was waiting nearby, looking quite impatient.
...Hogwarts Express, January 5th 1994...
The Hogwarts Express was on its way to transport the students of Hogwarts back to the school, now that winter break was over. Most of them were eagerly exchanging their holiday experiences or what they got for Christmas. It was all perfectly normal and innocent in nature, for the moment covering the tense atmosphere that had developed in Magical Britain.
In one compartment Harry was being busy with explaining his part in helping Dudley to escape the horror of Christmas with Aunt Marge.
"Well, and then I got a letter by owl next morning from Millicent that told me to watch from a distance. That's how I managed to see everything I just told you. Was quite a show, most of the neighborhood had watched it," Harry finished his explanation of the events.
"That must have been quite a sight," Ginny laughed, seeing the humor in it. "I know, we never met your relatives, but judging from what we do know from Dudley, they respect money. Must have been quite a shock to them."
Harry could only agree. "They looked like they were ready to fall into the dust before Mrs. Bulstrode, which would have been interesting to watch, considering Vernon's bulk."
Ron meanwhile had a different thought. "Mate, the way Dudley described his Aunt Marge... I had no idea that there could be someone more nasty than Aunt Muriel, but I guess there is a first for everything."
"I have to agree with Ron. My memories of Muriel are almost all not very flattering, but what you told us about that Marge person..." Ginny honestly had some difficulties to understand how someone like that could exist.
"Man, my Gran is way nicer than that... well, as long as you don't get onto her bad side," Neville said.
Harry raised an eyebrow at that. "What happens to people that do get onto her bad side?"
"Well, some she openly challenged to duels, and let me tell you she's a scary opponent. I saw one bloke being flattened in three seconds flat and he left looking like he could vomit any moment." Neville then remembered one rumor he heard. "The most weird one I heard of was that one obnoxious witch who had really ticked Gran off, so she'd cursed her."
"What kind of curse could make that one memorable?" Ginny wondered.
Neville blushed a little. "Well... as far as I heard, for the next two weeks whenever she went to the bathroom, instead of the normal stuff, frogs did come out."
They all got a laugh from it, but then noticed that Hermione only seemed half into it. Actually, Hermione seemed strangely distracted ever since their arrival on the platform, exchanging strange looks with her parents before boarding the train. All of this wasn't like her at all.
"Hermione... eh, is everything all right?" Neville asked.
"What...?" Hermione then realized what this looked like. "Sorry, it's just that I have a lot on my mind. My parents gave me some news and I'm still trying to understand how I feel about it."
"Anything you can share with us?" Ginny asked.
"Well... Ah, no reason not to tell you. My parents told me Mum is pregnant. Come the summer I will no longer be an only child," Hermione finally told them.
"But, isn't that good news? Why is it distracting you so much?" Ron wondered.
"You and Ginny, you have grown up with many siblings, and I think Harry also hardly remembers Mark not being around. Me on the other hand, I've been an only child for my entire life. I know I should be happy, but right now I'm still unsure how to feel about it," Hermione confessed.
The news honestly had caught Hermione unprepared. She had known for some time that her parents were trying for a second child, but she had not been prepared for the moment when it would actually become reality. Knowing something intellectually and being emotionally prepared for it after all were two very different things. Thus her emotion were still confusing on the whole idea.
"I kind of understand that. If my mother suddenly were able to safely become pregnant, I also would be unsure how to feel about it. After all, I had not known any different for all my life," Neville admitted, though he knew this was purely a theoretical situation, since his mother's old injuries made a pregnancy impossible.
Luna then noticed all eyes being on her. She did remember the fact that her mother was by now trying for a second child. "My mother's desire is no secret. As for how I feel about it..." Luna then struggled to find words for it. "It is... confusing. I'm very unsure on my feelings about it."
"Thanks for the attempted support," Hermione said, feeling no less confused about the matter than before.
"Well, enough of heavy stuff, and I have something here to get us onto other thoughts!" Ron declared. Reaching into his trunk, he pulled out a stack of comic books."Feel free to read them... as long as you return them of course."
"Oh, Ron," Hermione sighed, priding herself in reading intellectually stimulating books, then saw her friends actually taking advantage of the offer. "Well, when in Rome..." Under Crookshank's unimpressed looks Hermione picked a Wonder Woman comic book and started reading.
In a different compartment meanwhile...
"Both of you wouldn't get my plan anyway. It requires patience and discretion. Sadly, that something the two of you lack," Draco told Crabble and Goyle.
"Well, if you think so, Draco..." Crabble said, with Goyle nodding quickly to show his agreement.
Dunderheads... Draco thought, being surprised that his opinion of these two could get any lower than it already was.
"Why don't you bully some firsties while Draco and me talk shop?" Pansy told them.
"Hm, could be a good idea," Goyle said. Then both of them left them compartment.
Pansy sighed once the two of them were gone. "Finally. I honestly wonder why your father still insists you keep those two around. They are good for roughing up others, but that's it. They are useless for anything else."
"I've given up on finding a reason for it," Draco waved it off. "What I'm about to tell would have gone over their heads. I've used my time to finally get together a game plan."
"Well, you told me long enough it's a work in progress. So, Draco, what did you come up with?" Pansy asked him, leaning closer.
He only now noticed that she was sitting very close to him. "Direct action is out - at least any where we could get caught. We both suffered the consequences of that. No, if we want to hurt them, it has to be indirect, through proxies or in a way that can never be connected to us officially."
"What a pity, I always enjoy seeing direct results... though there are ways around that. However, that does not exclude being nasty to them as long as we don't go over the line," Pansy said, looking a bit disappointed. "Since your Old Man doesn't want to help out anymore, did he at least give a hint what we are to do?"
"He told me I have to work on getting into a stronger position; which in the end means both of us have to do so." Draco then saw Pansy's surprise. "I know most of the girls will never accept a bloke leading them. That will be your job."
"Really...?" Of course that was no different from what she already was working on, but to have Draco being all right with it made it feel special. "That will be hard work for both of us. The years below us are quite rebellious and also start to get contaminated with mudbloods."
"As much as I hate it... we do need patience. We can't afford another big failure," Draco admitted.
...January 6th...
It was the first full day of lessons after winter break and right at the moment it was lunch time in Hogwarts, the students being busy with getting new energy after hours of demanding lessons. At the Gryffindor table, the topic over lunch was electives.
"It's been some months now. How is this electives thing working out? We never got a chance to talk about that," Ron asked while filling his plate.
"Ronald, please learn to moderate yourself. You can always get a second helping if you feel like it," Hermione reminded him when seeing he was overdoing it, causing Ron to stop what he was doing. "Also, if you are so eager, why don't you start then?"
"OK..." Ron said, but first shoveled some food into his mouth. Thankfully, he chewed and swallowed before he continued. "First... it's a bit frightening to see how ignorant many of the other students are. I mean, stuff that I see as normal is alien to them."
"Guess that's because we went to school in town and were exposed to it all our lives. Many of them on the other hand lived in happy, well-sheltered ignorance," Ginny commented. "Of course some would only use that to show that we Weasleys are even bigger blood-traitors."
"Whatever. Professor Burbage must appear to them like she can pull wonders from out of nowhere. Granted, I know what we have right now is perfectly ordinary stuff, but they don't know it. Doesn't make it any less interesting and I certainly don't regret taking that one," Ron told them, before returning his attention to his food.
Neville, who took the same elective, agreed. "I have less exposure, so it actually does feel a bit more wondrous to me. I at first though it would be about outdated things, but Professor Burbage is really good at explaining these things and she even admits she spends a lot of time in the non-magical world."
"Right now it's easy for us, but maybe it gets more difficult later on. I don't complain about it being easy for us," Ron said, clearly feeling this would be an easy O for him.
"Of course your priority is, that it's the easy way," Hermione said, then noticed Luna giving her an interesting look. "Yes, Luna?"
"I find it interesting that you are so intent on improving Ronald's behavior. You are quite invested in him," Luna observed.
Ron looked a bit clueless while Hermione blushed a little. "Well, returning to the topic at hand," Hermione tried to brush it aside. "Arithmancy is a wonderful world opened up by numbers. These literally magical mathematics seem to make the impossible possible and Professor Vector is really thorough in making sure we do understand."
Ginny groaned a little. "Easy for you maybe, but I sometimes feel like my head is about to go up in flames. Makes me feel at times I bit off more than I can chew but I'm not one to just give up at the first sign of difficulties."
"Careful, Ginny! You already got a reputation as 'the girl who takes no crap'," Harry laughed, especially when Ginny actually looked proud of that title.
"Fits me well. After all, you won't see me cry over a broken nail like Lavender Brown did a few weeks ago," Ginny said proudly, making her position clear before taking a jug to refill her cup. "Well, and what about Runes, Harry?"
"Runes is like learning another language. It's... let's say slow-going. We are still working on the basics, but Professor Babbling showed us once we start to understand them properly, we can do all kind of interesting things with them." Harry then looked around. "I guess none of you can actually speak another language besides English?"
Everyone shook their heads with exception of Hermione. Seeing she got everyone's attention, Hermione explained. "I speak French rather well. I learned it on the side over the years." In order to prove it, she quickly switched to said language. "Je parle un assez bon français, mieux vaut le croire."
"I honestly understood not a single word of that," Neville admitted, then looked to Luna, who was being busy with cutting her lunch. "How is Divination, Luna? Is it boring or does it keep up with your expectations?"
Luna put down her fork and knife, before looking up. "Oh, it is highly fascinating. Though it is a bit sad that I most likely have no seer talent, the lessons Professor Trelawney gives us are very interesting. During the last class before Christmas, she gave us the first lesson on how to spot phoney seers."
"I still think that elective is not particularly useful, but who am I to criticize other people's choices?" Hermione said. "Looks like Percy's advice had been quite good in helping us select our electives. And of course Hagrid's classes are quite fun besides being informative. I only wonder what creature he'll introduce to us today?"
Lunch went by and soon enough Harry, Ginny and Hermione left to get to Hagrid's class.
The time of the year so far in the north of Scotland of course meant that it was quite cold with lots of snow, though thankfully the paths had been cleared so the it was not like they had to fight a battle to get through the snow. The students made sure to dress warmly since otherwise they would regret it. However, when closing in on Hagrid's hut they were greeted with a rather strange sight.
In front of his hut was a big bonfire, the radiated heat from it having melted away any snow near it. A big wood pile next to Hagrid showed that the fire had to be constantly fed. The strange thing about were the red salamanders which looked to be quite content in the fire. Yes, they even seemed to enjoy it a lot, lazing around as if this was relaxing. Hagrid himself did wear his thick coat and Fnag was nowhere is sight - he most likely preferred to stay inside in this weather.
"Hagrid, what in all names...?" Harry started to ask, but the big man cut him off.
"Just some patience, Harry. It'll all be part of the lesson," Hagrid told him while putting some more wood into the fire.
Ginny looked to Hermione, seeing the other girl grimace. "Hermione, seeing you twist your face like that means you either forgot to go to the bathroom, or you already know what this is about and are barely holding back."
"Reading ahead sometimes really destroys the surprise," Hermione admitted. "Still, I won't tell you. I don't want to take that moment away from Hagrid."
It didn't take too long for the other students to arrive. While most of them looked in amazement at the display of the salamanders in the fire, Malfoy and Parkinson just complained about the cold and that they still had to do the lesson outside despite the snow and the cold before standing closer to the fire. That resulted in a whispered 'pussies' insult from someone.
Not that these two were in good standing in this class anyway. After the whole thing with the Ministry and Hagrid being sued, everyone else stayed far away from them during Creatures class, fearing they could cause anyother incident. Hagrid for his part kept a close eye on them so they wouldn't cause trouble - it still was puzzling why he did only punish them for missing one class without excuse but not for everything else.
It was pretty clear Malfoy and Parkinson would give up this elective at the end of the year.
"Looks like their majesties feel an exception should be made for them," Harry whispered to his friends, not being impressed with that kind of behavior.
"That's to be expected from them. Some weeks ago I caught Parkinson wiping an already sparkly clean toilet seat before she closed the stall door. Some people always want special treatment," Ginny remarked, remembering the small incident all too well due to how absurd it had been.
"Now that all of you are here, we can start," Hagrid announced to the students. "Considering the weather, I decided to do them next: Fire-Dwelling Salamanders! They are easy to take care of, but I felt things needed to get warmed up a bit."
The students didn't need to be told twice, standing close to the fire and adding fuel to it while Hagrid led them through this rather easy lesson.
...January 22nd, Remus' office...
"You have made great progress, Harry. I honestly never expected someone your age to make such fast progress. I honestly think now you have a natural affinity for counter and protection spells," Remus told Harry after having watched his latest attempt to create a Patronus.
"I also have a very good teacher," Harry told Remus, feeling the man at times was trying to downplay his accomplishments.
"Harry, now you are trying to flatter me." Remus tried hard not to look a bit embarrassed at this praise. "Soon you'll be able to cast a Patronus without trouble considering what I've just seen."
"It was starting to take a shape, but I honestly couldn't get what it was. It was still too vague," Harry admitted.
Remus did give Harry a look of pride. "That means you are very close now to getting it right. Some more training and you should get the desired result. Of course we can have no idea what form your animal will take; that always depends on so many factors."
"You told me it represents my personality - who I am. It made me think yours being a wolf is not only because of your illness but I bet also because you are always watching out for us, like a wolf that protects his pack," Harry speculated.
"You have put a lot of thought into that," Remus observed. "Your father came to the same conclusion and he also speculated that the same qualities influence the animagus form. Prongs had a stag because of his sheer confidence but also his leadership qualities. Padfoot got a dog due to loyalty and closeness to his friends. And we all know now why Pettigrew got the rat, though back then we thought it was because of his cowardly nature."
"So mine will be different from my Dad?" Harry wondered.
"Most certainly. While you do show leadership qualities as well, you are more cautious than your father and - most of the time - also think of the consequences of your actions," Remus explained, seeing part of Lily's personality in the latter bit.
"Uhm, Uncle Remus... Can I ask you what is going on between you and Dora? She is turning up an awful lot during our training. Not to speak of the way you two interact," Harry suddenly asked.
That came out of left field for Remus. "I honestly don't know myself. She made it very obvious she's interested in me in a more personal way, but I'm kind of unsure about it and that has nothing to do with my medical troubles of which she is well aware of."
"Oh, Uncle Remus, you are not that old," Harry said, having guessed what the actual issue was.
"Well, it's not like we will many chances to meet once I'm back teaching at the preschool," Remus tried to stop the topic.
"Sure..." Harry knew Remus didn't want to talk about it anymore. "How did you plan to exit the school without it making too many waves? Just tell everyone your contract is up a bit early to avoid potential trouble?"
"Basically that's what the Headmaster feels is best. It's only thanks to how the Ministry is structured that my status as a werewolf is not common knowledge and I want it to stay that way," Remus explained, still wondering how information was not exchanged between some sections of the Ministry.
Well, that happens when something grows over centuries. It becomes convoluted and inefficient, he thought in amusement.
"It's a bit sad, you know. You've been the best Defense teacher we've had by far. Granted, Quirrell and Lockhart had set the bar low, but you are so far above them..."
"Now I know for sure you are trying to butter me up," Remus remarked, though he knew it was true. He then looked onto his watch. "Well, you better return to your common room before it get too late."
Saying his goodbyes, Harry did as told and knew he shouldn't dally.
Walking through the portrait hole after telling the Fat Lady the password, he saw his friends being busy in the common room. Since thanks to Hermione putting gentle pressure on them - meaning mostly Ron - they were already done with their homework and thus had time for private amusements. Even Ron was seeing that getting it done right away in the end meant more free time.
"Oh, hello Harry," Ginny greeted him when looking up from her book - an adventure novel.
"Hello Ginny." Harry then looked to what his other friends were doing. "Don't you sometimes get a feeling that Hermione is spoiling her cat a bit too much?" he asked Ginny when seeing one of Hermione's hands being busy with petting Crookshanks while with the other she was drawing some kind of mathematical curve - clearly she wanted to test something.
Ginny shook her head. "Oh, let her. Crookshanks after all is making himself useful in multiple ways, like keeping that annoying Mrs. Norris away. He is significantly bigger than that cat and she doesn't dare to come near the tower anymore."
Filch's cat indeed was an annoying little bugger, but considering what Bill and Charlie had told them, Filch himself had mellowed compared how he had been during their early school years and was no longer using her as a spy. Nowadays she just enjoyed annoying students.
"Well, you got a point there." He then walked over to where Luna and Neville were playing some kind of board game. The design of the board looked a bit weird, though it reminded Harry quite a bit of Monopoly. "What game is that? I haven't seen that one before."
"Oh, it is something that my parents developed together and they have sent it to me to test if it is fun," Luna explained while pushing a stack of fake Galleons over to Neville, who grimaced while accepting them.
"It's a really weird game, I can tell you that, especially since the main objective is to lose all your money," Neville added, obviously not doing well considering the stacks of fake Galleons in front of him.
"Does remind me of Go For Broke with having to spend all of your money. We have one set of that one actually stored in our home," Harry remarked.
"Daddy will be a bit disappointed that someone had the idea first," Luna remarked, though she clearly saw no problem, since the non-magical board game market was not readily available to most wizards.
Sometimes great minds think alike, Harry thought, having had much fun with Go For Broke.
Finally walking over to Ron, he saw him brooding over a chess board. "Again playing games against yourself when no one wants to be sacrificed?" Harry asked while sitting down at the other side of the board.
"No, I've started playing correspondence chess and am contemplating my next turn. The chess board helps me to visualize my options better," Ron told Harry while never taking his eyes off the board. "I'm taking my time since I can't send in my next turn anyway as long as Pig isn't back."
Harry decided not to distract him, just leaning back and relax for a bit.
Some minutes went by, when suddenly a feathered projectile flew through the opening for delivery owls and landed directly on the chess board, scattering the pieces into all directions. Ron looked highly annoyed. "Damn it, Pig! I told you a hundred times to never land on my chess board!"
The small owl clearly didn't care about Ron's anger however, dancing excitedly from one foot to the other before presenting the letter that was bound to one of his legs. Ron grumbled something about over-excited birds while untying it. As soon as the letter was off, Pig took off and flew some rounds over the table before vanishing though the opening to return t the owlery.
"Admit it, Ron, despite what you say, you would never trade Pigwidgeon for another owl," Hermione told Ron with a knowing slight smile.
Ron grumbled a bit, knowing that Hermione was right about that, before turning his attention to the letter. "Ah, Dad answered me about it..." He then noticed a smaller letter inside the envelope, this one being addressed to Ginny in their mother's handwriting. "Ginny, Mum has sent you something as well."
Accepting the letter, Ginny read it and started to blush. "Mum..."
"Something wrong? What did she write you?" Ron asked, wondering what this could be about.
"None of your concern!" Ginny snapped, quickly pocketing the letter.
No way I tell him Mum wrote me to remind me about using the proper hygiene products. Why did my first one have to happen over the holidays, with Mum there to witness all of it? Ginny thought, feeling some things should have been kept private even from her mother.
...February 5th, Hogwarts Quidditch pitch...
"Quite the contrast to the last Gryffindor game," Neville remarked, looking around while sitting down on his seat in the stands.
"Yes, though having that again with these temperatures would have meant a snowstorm. Thank all goodness we are spared that," Hermione said in relief.
Indeed, it was like the weather gods had felt merciful this time and it had stopped snowing some days ago and the sky now was a cloud-free blue. There also was no wind, just the cold temperatures usual for this time of the year. To make it short, it was the ideal weather for the upcoming Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw Quidditch match.
"Hopefully it goes better than our match last week. Our team still is not cohesive and Hufflepuff managed to defeat us by thirty points," Dudley groaned, remembering the game all too well. "I hardly can defend the goal hoops if the teams allows the chasers to fly through so easily."
"It's a wonder that Malfoy actually got the snitch before Diggory did, but even that didn't help. At least no one blamed Dudley, since he can hardly do his job if the beaters fail to keep the opposing chasers away. After all, it's hardy possible to defend against multiple quaffles at the same time," Millicent added, having had a front row seat to that shit-show.
"Yes, it was bad," Daphne agreed. "We can already forget the cup after two lost games, but perhaps our team can make up for it in the final game and at least give a good showing."
"Perhaps hanging up some oil-soaked laurels helps," Luna suggested. "I did hear that it helps chasing away spirits that bring about misfortune."
"You know, considering the performance of the team up until this point, it's can't hurt to try that out. Worst case is simply that it doesn't help," Dudley agreed, even though he knew it had to be something birthed from that girl's imagination.
"Your friends are really funny, Sis," the younger girl next to Daphne chuckled.
"I think it's mostly Luna. Her mind can conjure the most interesting ideas," Daphne admitted. "Is everything going well for you in Hufflepuff?" she then asked Astoria.
"Oh yes, I actually made some real friends and they don't judge me for my family," Astoria told her sister excitedly. "They didn't blink an eye when I said I wanted to sit here with you today."
"I'm happy you've found some real friends who won't judge you for where you come from," Daphne told Astoria. "You know Mum and Dad are really proud of how much you have already accomplished since starting school?"
Astoria blushed a little. "Sis, please... I don't think using a spell to give someone a running nose or hovering feathers is a big deal."
"You say that now, but everyone has to start small. Wait until third year and the really interesting things start to appear," Daphne explained explained to her sister.
The others watched this interaction between the two Greengrass sisters, almost feeling the love and trust between them. Daphne was big a good big sister to Astoria and the younger girl clearly looked up to Daphne. It was a healthy sibling relationship, though a bit more harmonical than the one Ron and Ginny shared, since those two also bickered at times.
"Ah, there they come," Neville said, seeing both teams walk onto the pitch.
Down on the pitch meanwhile Katie Bell looked around while they walked out. "Well, unlike last time this is much more like it. We can actually play a game under such conditions."
"You don't know how relieved I am about that," Ginny said. "Harry standing back to let me play in this game means a lot to me. I wouldn't want the weather to ruin it."
It had taken Harry some time and patience to convince Wood, but in the end Wood had agreed to let Ginny play in this game, recognizing that Ginny needed the experience in case Harry would not be available and she had to substitute. Ginny for her part was just happy that Harry was thinking about her and didn't want to hog the spotlight.
"If we win this one, we can hardly be stopped anymore," Wood said while they marched onto the pitch, then pointed at a girl with Asian features that was the Ravenclaw seeker. "That's Cho Chang. Be weary of her and don't be fooled by her looks, since she has proven to be good at what she is doing. Do not let her get the snitch, or else..."
"Oliver," Angelina reminded her Captain.
"Oh, perhaps that was a bid overboard," Wood admitted.
Soon enough the game started and it looked like a fairly standard game.
"Take a look at that, mate. That Chang girl means business, this already is the second time she pushed Ginny off course when she'd spotted the snitch. Unlike Malfoy, that one is actually competent," Ron told Harry while they watched the game from the substitution bench.
"I remember watching their last game. She started a massive pissing contest with Diggory and only barely lost. Remember our third game is against Hufflepuff and they have shown they mean business this year. I'm not ashamed to say that Diggory is a better seeker than me," Harry admitted.
"Sometimes you are too humble for you own good," Ron remarked, returning his attention to the game.
The game also was observed closely from the stands.
"Our team is already quite a bit ahead by points. Looks good," Neville said while munching on some peanuts.
"It is never good to be overconfident. The game is not over yet and the lead is small enough that catching the snitch can turn it around," Luna reminded Neville while taking a few of his peanuts for herself. "Enough games have been flipped at the last moment that you should be weary."
Up at the Gryffindor goal hoops, Wood was a bit nervous, since the game right now was going a bit too well for his tastes. He knew being ahead by points meant little as long as the difference was smaller than 150 points. The Ravenclaws also were playing like they had to prove something after the previous loss against Hufflepuff
If we manage to get the difference large enough, even the snitch won't save them, Wood thought while catching a quaffle..
Ginny meanwhile cursed at Cho Chang. "Are you enjoying fouling me?!"
Chang actually laughed. "Me fouling you? Did you hear any whistle? That means I was fully in my rights to do that."
Ginny bit back another curse. While that technically was true, bodychecking a seeker like that was something she more associated with Malfoy. Also, something about that girl rubbed her the wrong way, not being helped by the fact that she acted like a jock. It perhaps was a dislike on first sight, though unlike with girls like Parkinson it was perhaps a bit irrational of her to think so.
"Well, that's intense," Dudley commented from the stands. "I can't see her face, but Ginny will be quite pissy after this match."
"Not that anyone can blame her. That Chang girl is getting a bit too physical and it looks more like Malfoy's style," Daphne commented.
"She is quite rough," Astoria agreed with her sister.
"Ahhhhh!" "Ahhhhhh!"
"What the...?" Neville wondered when screams started to erupt from the stands - screams of panic that is. Trying to spot anything unusual, he looked down on the pitch and... "What in all names?"
Down at the edge of the pitch two figures that very much looked like the werewolves they had seen in a book about lycanthropy had appeared, though it was a bit difficult to tell from such a distance. Of course it was absurd, since it was in the middle of the day and not near a full moon either. Nonetheless, more and more students were spotting these two figures, getting panicked at the sight due to the ongoing Greyback situation.
"Those can't be werewolves. It's not close to a full moon and not night!" Hermione gasped while around them the screams of panic became louder.
"Tell that everyone else!" Millicent yelped when finally the panic around them hit boiling point and students tried to flee in a complete chaos, forcing them to jump on the benches in order to not get shoved away or trampled over.
"Help! I can't... woah!" Astoria gasped when Dudley lifted her up and put her down next to her sister. She blushed a bit at the help. "Oh... thanks."
"Eeeek!" Luna suddenly stumbled and almost got crushed by the crowd, if not for Neville taking hold of her hands and pulling her up onto the bench. Granted, Luna then didn't need to hold onto him like her life depended on it, but it surely helped t calm down her hammering heart.
For his part, Neville found nothing wrong with it, though it confused him.
"Oh crap..." Ginny gasped, from this high up having a prime seat watching the growing chaos on the stands, the panicking students starting a dangerous chain reaction.
On the Gryffindor bench, everyone had jumped up as well. Being so much closer to the supposed werewolves, they could see something was wrong, especially since these monsters were much smaller than what the books described as their normal height. Several Aurors were reacting fast, running towards the two figures with wands drawn and shooting stunners. That however helped little with the panic.
"Mate, this is bedlam!" Ron gasped, feeling helpless in light of the growing chaos around them, the screams from the students creating a horrible symphony.
Looking around, Harry spotted something and got an idea. "I've got an idea! Come on, Ron!" Harry called, jumping onto his broom.
Both boys quickly shot towards the commentator platform on their brooms. The student manning it had left like a headless chicken in a panic. Landing on it, Harry took hold of the mouthpiece of the amplifier, then looked to Ron. "Crank up the volume to maximum and hold the button!"
Ron did as told and Harry took a breath before he screamed. "STOP IT, YOU HEADLESS CHICKENS! THOSE CAN'T BE WEREWOLVES! IT'S NOT NIGHT AND NOT CLOSE TO A FULL MOON! STOP IT, YO ARE HURTING OTHERS!"
That was almost deafeningly loud - thankfully the enchantments on the amplifier meant that Harry and Ron did not suffer any hearing damage - but it did the trick and it stopped the chaos dead. Nothing was heard while Harry looked around, seeing that the students finally realized what he had said and numerous of them clearly were looking at students that had been injured in the chaos.
"Harry, you actually did it. Wow... you stopped them dead in their tracks," Ron said in awe. He then looked to a spot only some distance away and groaned. "Ah, crap."
Looking to where Ron was pointing, Harry saw two girls hovering on their booms not too far away. Ginny was sending dark looks to Cho Chang and her body language spoke of barely held back anger. The other girl was holding the snitch in her hand and clearly only now realized how opportunistic it had been to make a grab for it during the chaos, though the game had never officially been stopped. Chang most likely would be quite unpopular for some time after this stunt.
Down on the pitch meanwhile McGonagall approached the Aurors, who had apprehended the two still stunned figures.
"These are costumes, well-made ones at that. On a glance you wouldn't know, though using them during the day is rather stupid," one Auror told her.
"Well then, remove the costume heads. I want to see who is underneath those," McGonagall said while noticing several other teachers joining her. Her cold voice was testament to how angry she was.
The costume heads were removed, revealing two teenagers, a boy and a girl. The girl was the weedy, bespectacled girl from the girl-posse Pansy met with. Hearing a gasp, McGonagall saw that Slughorn looked stricken. "Horace, these two are your students?"
"Yes... Marianne Wyvern and Ludwig White." Despite the cold Slughorn had to wipe sweat from his forehead. "What drove them to do something like this?"
"I don't know..." McGonagall gave the still unconscious teenagers a hard look. "However, I will find out."
Considering there almost surely would be a big number of injured students, there would be serious consequences.
...almost two hours later, office of the Headmaster...
To say the atmosphere in the Headmaster's office was chilly was an understatement - and that had nothing to do with the weather.
The two Slytherin students who had caused the panic with their highly ill-conceived idea of trying to distract the Gryffindor team with werewolf costumes were the center of attention in the room, even the many portraits of headmasters past were giving them their full attention due to the fact something was about to happen. These two, Marianne Wyvern and Ludwig White, clearly wished to by anywhere else but their current position.
This was not helped by the fact that their parents were present as well, having being called due to the severity of the situation. The Wyverns and the Whites were both prideful pure-blood families, just not on the obscenely rich side like the Malfoys or Notts. They still held some influence despite that. However, considering what happened, that influence would matter little.
Three members of the faculty were present.
Dumbledore sat behind his desk, looking very grave due to this day's events. He always held the safety of the students as his first priority, thus the panic caused by these two was taken very seriously. To his right stood Professor McGonagall. As the Deputy it was her place to be present for this and she clearly was fighting to keep herself composed. To his left stood Professor Slughorn in his function as Head of Slytherin, who made no secret of his grave disappointment in these two students from his own house.
"What is the final report from Madam Pomfrey?" the Headmaster finally asked McGonagall.
"Over thirty injured, five of them heavily. The injuries were caused by them either being squeezed against the walls or being trampled over in the ensuing panic. We were very lucky that no one died in that panic," McGonagall reported. "We have to thank the Aurors that were present for how quick they took control of the situation after the crowd calmed down, or it could have been worse."
"I see. Professor Slughorn, what has your questioning of the two culprits managed to bring to light about their motives? Why did they do something this foolish?" the Headmaster then asked Slughorn.
Slughorn continued to look at the two students in gave disappointment while he answered. "Their motives are downright petty. They simply wanted to ruin the chances of the Gryffindor team to win the Quidditch cup. They thought disrupting the game was a good idea and did not waste a thought on the effects this could have."
"I understand." Dumbledore then turned his attention to the two students, who seemed to shrink under his disappointed looks.
"Ms. Wyvern, Mr. White, I certainly do not need to explain to you how your actions have severely endangered the other students. You should have known better, especially in light of the current state of affairs. With your callous actions resulting in many injuries, you have proven to not be fit to continue attenting Hogwarts."
Dumbledore looked up to the soon to be ex-students' parents. "As of this moment these two are therefore expelled from Hogwarts. You are to take them to your respective homes right away and we will send their belongings to you. By the end of the day they will be struck from the register and the expulsion, together with the reason, will be marked down in their files."
The Wyverns and the Whites knew that protest was useless, as the proof was overwhelming.
The faculty members waited until both respective families were gone before they allowed their own feelings, carefully hidden up until this point, to come out. All three of them looked tired and even a bit defeated.
"Despite all my efforts, things like that still happen. I was shocked enough when certain internal structures inside Slytherin were revealed to me, but to think it would breed such callousness," Slughorn sighed, looking like he could use a drink. Right now he had nothing of his normally relaxed attitude.
"Horace, you have already done a lot to make Slytherin a better place, otherwise the Sorting Hat would have never even considered again admitting muggleborn students into it," McGonagall told the man, seeing how personally he took it.
"I still feel I didn't do enough, Minerva," Slughorn protested.
"You might feel like that, but that doesn't change the facts. Also, you know like me that in a mere few years, Slytherin will be forced into massive change anyway with the influx of children from radical families drying up," McGonagall reminded Slughorn.
Slughorn of course knew that that would inevitably destroy the network of radicals which had existed for decades and held Slytherin in a stranglehold. "Yes, but I fear before things will get better, they will get worse first."
They knew there was a sad truth to that. Question only was, how that faction would react once it came to that.
o
The news of what happened in the Headmaster's office spread quickly and soon enough reached the common room of House Slytherin.
"Expelled? Are you sure about that?" Draco asked to make sure he'd heard right.
"Yes, they already are no longer students at Hogwarts and the elves are packing the belongings for shipping," reported the girl with severe acne, who was part of the circle that Marianne Wyvern - the weedy bespectacled girl of the group - had been part of together with Pansy and Sevenstone.
"Morons. What were they thinking? That's something I would more think Crabble and Goyle would do. Why did they suddenly became so brain-dead?" Pansy asked, still in disbelief that Wyvern had done something this dumb. "After all, I remember her telling me to be patient about my own ambitions."
"Well..." Acne-girl clearly knew something, but didn't want to tell.
Pansy rolled her eyes. "Come on, Ciella, what happened that she did something that stupid?"
Said Ciella decided to reveal what she had found out. "Well, both of you probably know Marianne and White were an item?"
Draco waved it off. "If you mean that they were shagging, White boasted with it often enough that everyone knew."
"They originally got the costumes to play a cruel prank on the first-years to get them back in line. However, the evening before the day of the game they shared a bottle of firewhiskey they had smuggled in and when they woke up in the morning..:" Ciella continued.
"You mean to tell me they both got thrown out of Hogwarts because they got piss-drunk and at the morning still had enough alcohol in their system to make such an idiotic decision?" Pansy asked in disbelief. When getting a nod of confirmation, Pansy sighed. "I can't believe it..."
"That's it, I'll never get drunk," Draco decided, seeing where this could lead to.
Draco also knew now that he had been damn lucky last year when he conjured that snake at the Duelling Club, that the teachers had managed to quell the panic quick enough. Had something happened back then, his head probably would have landed on the chopping block. He'd been standing on thin ice without knowing.
Ciella, seeing she should better leave them alone, said "Well, I'll see if I can find out more." She then left them alone.
"Someone like her doing such a beginner's error..." Pansy clearly still had trouble to fully believe it. "Now I know why you told me we have to be smart about it. That was about as dumb as it can be... Better make sure to tell your two morons not do anything without your approval."
Knowing how dumb Crabble and Goyle were, Draco couldn't help but to agree. "Yes. As doubtful as their worth at times is, I don't want to risk losing them due to their own stupidity. I thought the Headmaster is a bleeding-heart weakling, but this proves he's not above expelling troublemakers, even if they are from important families."
The realization that Dumbledore would not hesitate to expel them should they be caught doing something especially heinous or damaging was another wake-up call. Now they knew for sure that they had to be really discreet about their activities. Being jerks to others was alright, but anything above that had to be treated with care.
...February 8th...
The higher-ups of the MI-X were again gathered to go through the current developments. Central of course again were the developments in the Greyback case. The man and his followers still had not been caught, but the last time they had only escaped very narrowly.
"They clearly have changed their strategy. On the last full moon, there was only one attack, the one at January 27th in Dundee. Just like that last two single-night attacks in Edinburgh and Glasgow the two previous instances of full moon. Have we gained any insights what that could mean?" the Chairman sitting at the head of the table asked.
"Well, the magical side is not very helpful, as they are very stingy with details. However, while they seem to be puzzled by this change in pattern, they mostly just see it as the blood toll going down and don't question it," one man reported.
"It certainly makes catching them more difficult. They must have realized that the noose was tightening around their necks and thus became more careful. After all, the last time the police almost managed to corner them, though we all know how that ended," a woman further down the table speculated.
Everyone sitting at the table remembered the events from almost two weeks ago.
The police had after the night of terror in Dundee almost managed to corner Greyback and his pack after managing to be on their trail for some time through hard work. It had resulted in an utter mess of a stand-off, a shootout - god only knows where they stole handguns from - and a chase when they were escaping in stolen cars and motorcycles. Which had ended with finding the vehicles abandoned and the pack having fled into the wilderness of the Highlands. Finding them there would be very difficult, if not downright impossible.
"They moved consistently north the entire time. We have to ask ourselves: what is their goal? What is found up there that is of interest to them?" the Chairman asked.
"Hogwarts."
Everyone looked to the man who had said this. It was the man with the unusually good charisma, who had a few scales on the back of his right hand. The man who clearly was no entirely human and actually had a wand on his person, marking him as a wizard. He also seemed disturbed by his own realization.
"I know we dismissed the idea due to how well-protected it is, but we forgot that Greyback is a fanatic. He would have the mindset of a suicide bomber, that as long as the damage is big enough, he could accept his own death and that of his pack. Also, what would be better suited for his goal to hurt magical society than to murder and infect countless children? And we just though the body they dumped there was only a scare tactic," the man realized, looking more and more unsettled.
"Crap..." That was the major reaction to this revelation. They had neglected the fact that Greyback was like these religious fanatics, who would gladly put down their own lives for the cause.
"That's... a problem. While we can have one or two covert operatives in Hogsmeade, we can't enter Hogwarts itself. Also no chance we can do any kind of action against Greyback near Hogwarts," one woman said with a grimace.
"And no way to inform them, since it would create the question where all that information comes from. Not to mention they wouldn't believe us anyway, even if we try to convey it anonymously" the charismatic man reminded them.
"What a mess..." The Chairman took hold of his desk phone. "Searching for them in that environment will be next to impossible and we can only hope the magical law enforcement realizes his goals as well. And me... I now have to report all of this to the Prime Minister."
Thinking about it, that had to be a thankless job, since it meant telling the Prime Minister that new problems had just arisen.
o
"You know as well as me that they probably will hold a party behind closed doors that they finally got rid of me," Moody said, not even bothering to hide how disappointed he felt about it. "Retired due to old age? Considering how old some Ministry workers are, it's obvious why this really happens."
"I know, after all we talked about it multiple times. Protecting Hogwarts and Hogsmeade from Greyback is your last assignment before the powers there be forcibly retire you. I'm losing my best man in the entire force," Rufus Scrimgeour, Moody's direct boss, told him.
Both men sat in Scrimgeour's office in the Ministry behind multiple freshly applied privacy charms - blame Moody for feeling there were too many curious ears - and while Moody originally had come to talk about the situation at Hogwarts, it had moved quickly to the fact that Moody soon would no longer be available to the Auror Office. They both knew it was purely politically motivated, since many powerful people years ago had been exactly the kind of criminals - meaning Death Eaters - that Moody had been hunting. No wonder they wanted to get rid of him.
Not that both men felt that these people had some change of heart, only that it nowadays was hidden better.
"The Ministry has taken a dangerous course. Our budget has been reduced again - if this goes on I will be forced to start to lay off people." Scrimgeour shook his head. "Well, enough of that. Not that we can change anything about it. How is the situation at Hogwarts?"
Moody snorted. "Not much to report. I guess you already heard about what these two idiotic children did some days ago?"
"Makes me wonder how anyone could think that was a good plan. They caused more damage to the students than Greyback did. And you still think he will dare to try and attack the students?" Scrimgeour asked, hoping that Moody was wrong with his prediction.
"I know how scum like him thinks. I also studied his ways; he will strike where it hurts and he has moved north." Moody's artificial eye then spun to show his displeasure. "Yet when you told the Minister, he refused you more resources for the protection detail."
"As I said, politics... Lucius Malfoy has the ear of the Minister and as much as I want to believe he has changed his ways, I know that would be a lie. Not to speak of Fudge's Undersecretary. Umbridge has done nothing but to pour oil into the fire with these new laws," Scrimgeour said, looking pretty disillusioned.
I would be a horrible politician, Scrimgeour added in thoughts, knowing he had no qualification for the job. I actually thought Umbridge is a good, hardworking Ministry official until she made the situation worse with these laws, so what does that say about me?
"And of course once something does happen, everyone will cry that we are incompetent," Moody added his thoughts to it, knowing all too well how the blame game worked.
Both men knew they were in a bad position, and there was little they could do about it, being neutered by politicians who were egoistically working on their own agendas.
o
While the MI-X and the top of magical law enforcement were talking, the subject of their discussions was being busy with advancing his own plans further.
After the last narrow escape Greyback had decided to concentrate on their main goal - though some small groups would be sent out on full moons to some towns far away to create confusion. He now knew his non-magical opponents were to be taken very seriously after they had almost gotten them. The time for games now was over.
Typical for the Highlands of Scotland, the valley in which Hogwarts, its lake and Hogsmeade were located was surrounded by rather high hills and mountains, many of which were densely forested. Despite first impressions, the dimensions of the valley were impressive, spanning numerous kilometers from one end to the other, not to speak of the length of it.
At a position on one of the forested slopes which allowed an excellent view of the valley, and thus Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, there was rather unusual activity going on compared to the normal tranquility.
"All right, now put the camouflage netting over it and make sure its the correct one for this time of the year," Greyback commanded his men.
"Mr. Greyback... won't the electonics fail?" the punk asked while watching the hidden observation post take shape.
"No, they won't." He then snorted. "I have no idea where idea comes from that magic will generally cause modern electronics to fail. Guess they only tested it in a saturated area like the Ministry. Even so, we are far enough away that it won't be any problem."
The punk looked at the valley far below. From this far up Hogwarts looked like a toy castle, the Black Lake like a puddle and Hogsmeade like little more than a number of toy blocks. From down there it would be pretty much impossible to even notice them and all of the protective enchantments had a very limited range. No one would disturb this observation post or the other two located on different slopes.
"Too bad we couldn't get any sniper rifles. From up here... bang. No chance for them to even realize what happened," the punk noted.
"Stealing all the observation equipment like the binoculars and the radios already was difficult enough. Stealing handguns had been a gamble. Trying to steal from the army? I like to take my chances, but a guarantee of being pumped full with lead made me dismiss the idea," Greyback waved it off.
"The nets are up and secured, boss," one of the men reported. "But I don't get it. What exactly will we be doing here?"
"Observing, what else?" Seeing the man still not getting it, Greyback gave him a slight slap on the back of his head. "You must be a little slow. It's all about observing the Aurors and their rounds in and around Hogsmeade. According to what I acquired, the next Hogsmeade weekend is in five days, which gives us four full days for observation."
"Mr. Greyback, won't the Aurors alter their behavior while the little students are in Hogsmeade?" the punk asked, barely holding back from calling the students cattle.
"Trust someone who experienced them for decades. These Aurors are like all law enforcement and thus are animals of habit. Their motto is, 'if it's not broken, don't fix it'. They will be utterly predictable and that will give me the perfect chance to get the Potter brat. Once we got him, we keep him until we are ready to introduce him to our ranks... then we return him. Of course, if they still want him at that point... he he," Greyback explained.
The punk arched an eyebrow. "You personally?"
"This is too important to leave it to anyone else." Greyback then chuckled. "Also, dear Harry should meet his Uncle Greyback as soon as possible."
to be continued...
Next Episode:
"Ambush at Hogsmeade"
Notes:
Here the notes.
Finally it happened. Voldemort was discovered. It always bummed me since the books were almost exclusively from Harry's POV we missed lots of important story points and were left wondering what the hell happened (I my opinion a bit lazy of Rowling). I hope I also did manage to convey the casual monstrosity that Voldemort represents, where he commits crimes while acting like it's as normal for him as binding his shoes.
I hope you also like how Pettigrew changed in these years. Being forced to travel with the Carrows, it was swim or sink and Pettigrew if anything has good survival instincts.
Now you know what is happening in the Granger family. That Hermione's feelings about it would be more confused than anything I think is realistic after being an only child for so long. We also get more hints at Draco's future plans.
Besides seeing more of Harry's Patronus lessons and regular school life, the second Quidditch game goes much different. I felt I should show the realistic consequences of such an idiotic action, which of cause would result in expulsion. It does help to solifify Draco's decision on his future course.
And lots of developments surrounding the Greyback case, including MI-X talk, developments at the Auror Office and of course Greyback revealing his next horrible step.