Hey everyone! I'm back with another chapter... Enjoy!
This is Chapter 81...
Severus Snape woke up that morning, full of conviction. He had developed an interesting theory, for Voldemort to consume. And if it were to turn out to be true, it could prove to be a huge chink in Voldemort's armour. However, regardless of whether he was going to be correct or incorrect, positing the theory in front of Voldemort was going to be a challenge.
But, when he received the summon from Voldemort, through his inept messenger, Barty Crouch Jr, Snape was left intrigued. Snape made his way to the Riddle manor and was immediately able to get a solo audience with the dark lord, himself.
"Good Morning, my lord," he greeted bowing down.
"Severus..." hissed Voldemort. "I have asked you here to discuss something... something that I hope you'll be able to shed some light on," he remarked.
"I'm at your service, my lord. What is it that you want to know?" replied Snape, respectfully.
"How well do you know John Smith, and his sister, Jane Smith?" asked Voldemort.
"I had my eyes on John Smith from the moment he set foot inside Hogwarts," replied Snape.
"And what about, outside Hogwarts?" asked Voldemort.
"My Lord, I'm not quite sure I follow where these questions are coming from. Might I know what this is regarding?" replied Snape, calmly.
"You are well aware that John and Jane are time travellers," began Voldemort. "Tell me, Severus... tell me who they are related to?" he asked.
"Related to? I don't know who they are related to... who their parents are, my lord," replied Snape, confused.
"Take your best guess, Severus... Who did John spend the most time with, at Hogwarts?" asked Voldemort.
After a moment's thought, Severus replied, "Hermione Granger and John spent a lot of time together," he said.
Voldemort went silent after that reply. After a few minutes, he spoke up. "Barty has observed that John spent a lot of time together with Daisy, a muggle friend of Harry's. Do you know anything about it?" he asked.
"No, My Lord... I only observed John Smith inside Hogwarts," replied Snape.
Voldemort went into another deep thought. And then he spoke up. "We need to lure Jane Smith out of her hiding," he commanded.
After a few seconds of silence, Snape spoke up. "My Lord," he began. "I have some disturbing news to bring to you," he remarked.
"Yes, Severus," acknowledged Voldemort, with a glare.
"This is regarding our recent unsuccessful attempts," he continued. After a considerable pause, he continued, "In all three of our recent attempts, our attacks haven't gone quite to plan. While we managed to capture Nurmengard, we weren't able to capture the Italian or the German ministry," remarked Snape and took another significantly long pause.
"Severus... What is it that you have found out?" retorted Voldemort, breaking the silence.
"Well, My Lord, I was wondering... maybe, none of your loyalists gave your secret away..." replied Snape, carefully and cautiously. After a few seconds, he continued, "With all due respect, My Lord, I fear the source of the leaks, might be you..." he finished.
"Severus..." remarked Voldemort and gave a big laugh. "Severus... I'm the most powerful Legilimens in this world. Do you believe I wouldn't know if my mind was being penetrated?" he retorted, sniggering.
"Every single one of the death eaters has been scanned. There are no traces that they have been vulnerable," replied Snape, confidently.
"And who would you believe, has the skill to go undetected?" asked Voldemort.
"I don't know, My Lord... I have my suspicions about White. He's somehow involved," replied Snape.
After a few minutes of thought, Voldemort replied, "Let me indulge you in your fantasy, Severus. Do you have a plan to find out?"
"Yes, My Lord..." replied Snape. "We should command Barty, Bellatrix and Redwood to go after 3 different members of the Order... Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, one target for each of ours..." began Snape, thoughtfully. "But," he continued, "neither one of them should know about the other's command," he added. "We should ask them to wait for a couple of days," continued Snape. "In the meantime, I shall be here and monitor your mind," he added, cautiously. "In some time, we'd find out that the Order has placed one or more of our targets under protection. Whichever one it is, we will know the vulnerable link within our ranks," finished Snape.
"And if all three are placed under protection, we will know that I am the leak?" questioned Voldemort.
"My Lord, I shall be here to monitor your mind. If you are indeed vulnerable, then we shall know who the attacker is," replied Snape.
"Severus... your plan is quite clever," began Voldemort. After a few seconds, he continued, "But, I have one slight modification in the targets you have chosen. We shall not choose Harry Potter for this exercise. Instead, we will pick his friend, Daisy," remarked Voldemort.
The following morning, Harry managed to convince Daisy into going to the hospital. Her injuries weren't severe. Her knee was the only thing the doctors informed her, needed a couple of weeks of rest to heal. Once they were all back home, Harry had the next challenge of answering the questions Jacob and Olivia had. Fortunately for him, Daisy's spirits were somewhat back up. A few lies mixed with Daisy's witty remarks meant that the topic subsided a little. Later that afternoon, Harry returned back home. As the day went by, he received letters from both Ron and Hermione. While Ron informed him that he was doing much better, he also narrated his version of the events and then asked Harry about Daisy's well-being. Hermione, on the other hand, expressed her shock and concern in a lot of words. Harry, calmly responded to both of them and went about the rest of his day.
Over the next day, whatever Harry did, his thoughts remained rooted in the attack on his 2 best friends. He succumbed to his thoughts, wondering about negative hypotheticals and what-ifs that didn't get him anywhere. At one point, Harry was wondering why Voldemort would go after his friends, and to make matters worse, he was even left thinking if he could have prevented it somehow. "Only if I had another vision... I could have seen them planning the attack," Harry thought to himself.
It was late that evening and Harry had picked up a quidditch magazine he owned to distract himself from his thoughts. He rustled the pages back and forth, read interviews from famous quidditch players, and went through articles describing some of the most exciting quidditch games of the decade, yet somewhere, at the back of his mind, he was still thinking about Voldemort.
Harry had fallen asleep, with the magazine in his hand. But, a short while later, he woke up. But, when he did, something was different. He wasn't in his room, he was in a different room, a darker room. He looked around and then suddenly, a woman with thick, shining dark hair, and long eyelashes walked into the room and bowed down. Harry turned around and realised that he was having another vision, for in front of him sat Voldemort.
"Oh no... I should get out," thought Harry to himself. "But... I wouldn't know what they are discussing. Let me listen for just a few seconds," he suggested to himself.
"Bella... I need you to do something," began Voldemort, in a strong raspy voice.
"Anything for you, My Lord," replied Bellatrix.
"Bring the mudblood witch to me," he remarked.
"My Lord? Yes, finally..." replied Bellatrix, in an excited tone.
"Harry Potter has too many friends... let us take them one by one," sniggered Voldemort.
As panic shoot through Harry, the scene changed. The room was empty once again, except for Voldemort who was seated. And after a moment, in walked... Barty Crouch Jr. Harry recognized him all too well.
"Barty..." called out Voldemort.
"Yes, My Lord," bowed down Barty.
"Kill the muggle and her family," remarked Voldemort.
"My Lord?" retorted Barty Crouch Jr, shocked. "Yes, yes... I have been waiting for this command," he replied, happily.
"We shall bring Harry Potter to his knees," sniggered Voldemort.
"Daisy?" thought Harry to himself. "Hermione and Daisy?" he wondered, shocked. And right just then, the scene changed once again, for one final time. And Eldon Redwood walked into the room and bowed down in front of Voldemort.
"Redwood... You must finish what you started," commanded Voldemort.
"My Lord?" exclaimed Redwood, surprised.
"Isn't that what you wanted?" asked Voldemort.
"Yes, My Lord. Thanks for the command... The Weasley is mine," remarked Redwood and the pair started laughing.
And with that, Harry woke up with a jerk, almost falling over his bed.
"Hermione, Daisy and Ron..." he repeated to himself. "He's going after them all? No..." gasped Harry.
Harry took out his wand instantly and swished it around, muttering, "Expecto Patronum"
A dazzling silvery animal burst out of his wand. The horse-like animal lowered its head and galloped around Harry.
"Professor Dumbledore... I just had another vision. Hermione, Ron and Daisy are all in danger. He is planning to attack them all..." he remarked hastily and slashed his wand. Harry's patronus galloped away from him and after a few seconds, disappeared into thin air.
Meanwhile, in another part of the country...
Snape had his wand pointed at Voldemort, who was leaning across his chair, with his eyes closed. And then suddenly, Snape's eyes lit up. After a long time, there was some change he noticed. Snape was correct, there was indeed somebody who was penetrating the dark lord's mind without him realising. In fact, even then, Voldemort hadn't realised.
"My Lord," exclaimed Snape. "I sense something," he remarked. After a few seconds, he continued, "It is foreign..." he added.
However, just when Snape got a reading on the foreign mind, his heart stopped momentarily.
"It can't be..." he thought to himself, shocked. "But... how?" he wondered. "He... he is... he is just a kid... How is this possible?"
"Severus... Who is it?" asked Voldemort, after a long silence.
"My Lord..." replied Snape.
"Severus," exclaimed Voldemort. "Who is it?" he repeated.
"It's... My Lord... It is the Potter boy," replied Snape, with a heavy heart.
"Harry Potter?" exclaimed Voldemort, shocked. And Severus Snape nodded, reluctantly, in response.
"Hello... Hermione?" asked Harry the moment the call was picked up.
"Harry?" retorted Hermione, surprised.
"Hi, Hermione," remarked Harry.
"Harry, this is a pleasant surprise," replied Hermione. "I wasn't expecting you to call me," she added.
"Yeah... I just wanted to speak with you," replied Harry.
"I know..." she remarked, softly. "How is Daisy doing? I can't imagine how terrified she must be," she added.
"Daisy is fine. She is scared but she is doing a lot better now," replied Harry. "It's her parents that I'm more worried about," he added. "I couldn't tell them anything about what actually happened," he finished.
"It must be so difficult for them," replied Hermione, mournfully. "How are you holding up?" she asked.
"I... I'm fine," replied Harry. "I didn't expect any of this to happen. I can't believe he went after my friends," he added.
"I'm glad Ron was with Daisy at the time and he was able to fight Redwood and get away," remarked Hermione.
"And that they had their totems," added Harry.
"Yeah," sighed Hermione.
After a few seconds of silence, Harry spoke up. "Hermione, I hope you have your wand with you all the time," he began. "Even when you are home," he added.
"Not all the time, no," replied Hermione, causally.
"You should, Hermione," said Harry. "And be careful of any strangers who come to your house... I'm worried You-know-who might go after you... I mean, my friends, all of you, once again," he remarked.
"Okay, Harry... I'll have my wand with me," replied Hermione, lightly.
"I think the Order should have someone outside your house as well. Ron has his parents, brothers around him all the time. But, you reside around muggles," continued Harry, in a worried tone.
Hermione chuckled in response. "Come on, Harry... I know you are worried, and rightly so, after what happened with Ron and Daisy. But asking Aurors to be around my house is a bit much, don't you think?" remarked Hermione.
"Why are you not taking this seriously? He's done it once already, he is going to do it again," retorted Harry, harshly.
There was silence for a few seconds, and then Hermione spoke up. "Harry... What's going on?" she asked. "Do you know something that I don't?" she asked, in a whisper.
"No... Uh, no, Hermione... But I don't see why he wouldn't attack someone else once again, during the Christmas break, when he has the chance to do so," replied Harry, a little more calmly.
And with that, Harry somehow managed to convince Hermione and a few minutes later, the couple disconnected their line and went to sleep.
The following morning, the moment Harry woke up, he made another call, this time to Daisy.
"Hey, Good Morning," greeted Harry.
"Good Morning, Harry... what's up?" greeted back Daisy.
"Since you are going to be confined to your home for a while, I was wondering if you perhaps wanted some company," suggested Harry cautiously.
"Harry... Is that something you even need to ask? Of course, I'd love for you to come over," replied Daisy. "When would I ever say no to something like that," she chuckled.
"Perfect..." replied Harry, relieved.
"Let's do a movie marathon?" asked Daisy.
"Yeah, sure..." replied Harry.
Meanwhile, in another part of the country...
"Bella, listen to me... The Order knows that Miss Granger's life is in danger, they have her under a lot of protection. You are not getting anywhere near her," remarked Snape, annoyed.
"And how is it that your friends found out, Severus?" retorted Bellatrix.
"You are to not attack the girl. And this is from the Dark Lord himself," replied Snape and without saying another word, walked out of Bellatrix's sight.
A similar conversation went down between Snape and Redwood a while later.
"You can have your vengeance sometime later, Redwood... Half the Order is there with the Weasley kid," remarked Snape.
"I don't understand... One day he tells me to finish what I started. The next, I have to be careful?" retorted Redwood, unamused.
"It's not your precious life that the Dark Lord cares for, Redwood. You will simply fail miserably if you attack him right now. Think of it as a gift of life," retorted back Snape.
"One day, I'll get my vengeance... and on that day, even the Dark Lord won't be able to stop me," sighed Redwood and walked away from Snape.
Meanwhile, in yet another part of the country...
"Dad... I don't understand," remarked Ron.
"The Order has received information that You-know-who is planning another attack on Harry's friends," replied Arthur, concerned.
"Harry's friends? Where did the Order receive this information from anyway?" retorted Ron, confused.
"All Dumbledore informed us, son, is that we go to Grimmauld place right away. Aurors have been sent to Hermione and Daisy's houses for their protection," replied Arthur calmly.
"Hermione should be there with us... So should Daisy," said Ron.
"You need not worry about them, Ron... We will be there with Hermione and we won't let anything happen to her," replied Tonks reassuringly, as she glanced at Sirius.
"And Daisy?" asked Ron.
"We will have Aurors protecting Daisy. She's a muggle and we can't risk the statute of secrecy," replied Arthur.
"Harry will be there..." suggested Sirius in response.
"One of us should be there as well. Isn't Harry in danger as well? None of this makes any sense," replied Ron, exasperated. Sirius, Tonks and Arthur stared at each other helplessly. They knew very little of what was going on.
"We trust in Dumbledore, the man knows what he's doing," retorted Arthur, finally and with that there was very little Ron could say that change the matters.
It was late in the evening. Harry had spent the better part of the entire day with Daisy, anxiously waiting for the moment when Barty Crouch Jr would arrive at their doorstep. He had received specific instructions from Dumbledore earlier that morning. At the first sign of an attack, he had to inform Dumbledore and a legion of Aurors would immediately arrive to take Barty Crouch Jr into custody.
"Professor, we cannot put Daisy's life in danger just because you want to lay a trap," exclaimed Harry.
"Her life will not be in danger and neither will yours, Harry," replied Dumbledore, calmly. "As I understand, Daisy will be completely safe inside her house. Nobody can harm her there," he added.
"You... you know about that?" asked Harry, surprised.
"Yes... Mr Smith informed me of the protections he had placed there," replied Dumbledore.
"But what if it doesn't work? What would happen if the Aurors are late?" asked Harry.
"Harry... Everything will be fine. You have nothing to worry about... There will be a couple of Aurors with you. And more will arrive immediately," assured Dumbledore.
While Harry was also informed of the protection that Ron and Hermione were provided. Both Eldon Redwood and Bellatrix Lestrange, if they were to attack Ron or Hermione, were going to be neutralized immediately. With all the information inside him, Harry waited with bated breath for the moment he knew was coming.
"Harry," called out Daisy for the second time. Harry glanced at Daisy with a sheepish look.
"Hmm?" he responded.
"You have been acting a little strangely today... Are you still thinking about what happened the other day?" she asked.
"What? Uh... No," replied Harry. "No, I wasn't thinking about that," he added, a little more convincingly.
"Come on, Harry... who are you kidding?" chuckled Daisy. "You have been with me all day, you haven't once smiled or shown any amount of happiness in your face and you have this look of worry and anxiety..." she sighed. Harry stared at her wondering how correct she was in reading him.
"I'm worried that something might happen," sighed Harry in response.
"You know, when you told me... everything," began Daisy. "A part of me knew that... that days like this would come. That I'd be in danger at times," she added. "And all the warnings that John gave me didn't help of course," she chuckled as Harry stared at her nervously.
"I'm sorry, Daisy, that you're caught up in the middle of this. I wish I had never..." began Harry but got cut off by Daisy.
"Silly... You will never have to apologize for telling me the truth. You are my best friend... If I can't be there when you are going through something, who will, huh?" retorted Daisy as she awkwardly grabbed Harry into a hug, hurting her injured leg in the process.
"Ouch! Ow! Ow! Ow!" winced Daisy a little and let go of Harry momentarily.
"You're so clumsy," chuckled Harry as he put an arm around Daisy.
But just then, there was a loud bang and the whole house seemed to vibrate a little. Harry's heart was almost in his mouth.
"Harry..." exclaimed Daisy, loudly. "What was that?" she asked, panicked.
"He is here..." muttered Harry under his breath. "Daisy, stay here... I'm going to go down and see what's happening," he remarked and got up as he took out his wand.
"Harry, let me come with you..." remarked Daisy as she tried getting up.
"Absolutely not... You are injured and you are a muggle... You wouldn't do any of us any help," retorted Harry hastily.
"Fine... Be careful," wished Daisy and with that Harry left her room.
As Harry ran downstairs, he was interrupted by Jacob, Daisy's father, "Not now, Mr Williams," he yelled and brushed him aside continuing towards the entrance.
The moment Harry got to the gates, he saw the 2 Aurors stationed outside the house, engaged in a losing battle against Barty Crouch Jr. A jet of green light flew out of Barty's wand and hit one of the Auror as she collapsed onto the ground, motionless. Barty flicked his wand and another jet of green light escaped his wand towards the other Auror.
Just then, Harry swerved his wand at the Auror and just as the killing curse approached him, he got pushed out of the way vigorously. Barty turned his head around and his eyes fell on Harry, standing behind the gate. Instinctively, Barty flicked his wand towards Harry, but whatever spell he had hit Harry with bounced away the moment it approached the gates, creating another massive tremor around the house. Barty clenched his jaw and heaved in frustration.
Harry jumped over the gates and came face to face with Barty Crouch Jr.
"Harry Potter... it has been a long time," smirked Barty. The last time they had come face to face, was the time Lockhart and Barty had taken John and Harry to the Little Hangleton graveyard.
And almost instantly, a jet of red light escaped his wand and made its way towards Harry. At the very same instant, Harry pointed his wand at Barty and a jet of white light escaped his wand and collided with the red light. Furiously, Barty launched a barrage of attacks at Harry and Harry returned the favour managing to create a stalemate between the pair.
Harry decided to dip into his bag of tricks. As Barty kept his attacks towards Harry going, Harry apparated out of sight and reappeared behind him and launched an attack of his own. But, Barty was quick in the defence. It only took him a few seconds to regain control of the duel.
Barty flicked and swished his wand around and a den of snakes slithered out of his wand at Harry. The moment Harry's eyes fell on the snakes, something turned on inside him. The next moment he was telling the snakes to stop moving and instead attack Barty. The snakes that Barty had launched at Harry turned around and began slithering towards himself.
Panicked and shocked, Barty incinerated the snakes and launched another set of curses at Harry. This time, however, Harry was slower on the defence and he got struck. As Harry fell back on the ground, Barty launched a barrage of stunners at Harry. With his back on the ground, Harry managed to still shield some of the stunners, but he got hit by a few as well.
Carefully, Barty walked closer to Harry. When he realised that Harry was almost knocked out, with a zig-zag motion of his wand he pointed it at Harry and muttered, "Crucio"
But, before he could cast the incantation, a vigorous gust of wind hit Barty and he flew and fell about a few metres away.
Annoyed, Barty got up, brushed himself away and glanced towards the direction where the spell had hit him from.
"You..." exclaimed Barty.
"Yes... I..." retorted Jane and purple sparks flew out of her wand and pointed towards Barty.
Barty had his wand up and shielded himself, but to his shock, the spell penetrated his defences and hit him like a few thousand burning hot, sharp needles.
"Aargh..." exclaimed Barty, loudly, wincing in pain. Jane flicked her wand at Barty and once again purple sparks flew out of her wand aimed at Barty. However, this time, Barty apparated away and reappeared a few feet away.
"He knew you'd come..." exclaimed Barty, laughing sinisterly. As Harry, barely got to his feet, his eyes fell on Barty, who had lifted the sleeves of his left arm and in a practised motion, he dug his wand deep into his arm. Instantly, Harry's scar started burning up and the air surrounding them seemed to have vanished. A silence fell around them as Harry fell to his knees, clutching his head. Jane hit Barty with a stunner and he did not seem to care, for he fell on his back with a thud. And just then, a figure appeared behind her.
Jane turned around swiftly and her eyes fell on him, the monster she had made her life's mission, to destroy.
"Miss Smith," exclaimed Voldemort, smirking.
Jane pointed her wand at him, but before she could do anything, Voldemort motioned his wand at her and she got pushed back a few feet.
"I've waited a long time for this..." exclaimed Voldemort and sent a jet of white light at Jane. Ready for the attack, Jane blocked easily. And immediately, she sent a vicious burst of flames at Voldemort, but he extinguished them effortlessly.
"I'm the greatest wizard of all time. You think you can defeat me with flames?" sniggered Voldemort and hit Jane with another spell. This time, despite her shield, Jane got blasted a few feet away.
"Expelliarmus," screamed Harry, and flicked his wand at Voldemort, knowing exactly what he was doing. Voldemort, who had seen Harry, barely able to stand up, hit him with a curse at the same time.
"Harry... No," exclaimed Jane from far away as her eyes fell on Harry. And just as she had feared, Priori Incantatem took effect.
To Harry's delight and Voldemort's utter shock and dismay, for the second time in as many duels between the pair, a narrow beam of gold light connected Harry and Voldemort's wands. The next instant, the pair found themselves being hoisted up into the air and within seconds, a transparent golden dome engulfed them within. And then suddenly, Harry's wand began vibrating and made it almost impossible to hold on to it. And the very next instant, he watched Voldemort's wand echo screams of pain. A dusty smoke erupted out of Voldemort's wand.
Just then, there were multiple loud cracks and an army of Aurors appeared, including Benjamin White and Albus Dumbledore.
Voldemort let go of the connection, with all his might and power and the golden thread broke, the dome disappeared and Harry found himself falling to the ground. Voldemort, on the other hand, flew away towards Daisy's house and decided to blow it up. To his, yet another shock of the evening, an invisible barrier kept him away from the house. Angry and frustrated, Voldemort apparated away.
As Harry fell to the ground with a thud, Dumbledore and White surrounded him immediately.
"Are you alright, Harry?" asked Dumbledore.
"Are you hurt?" asked White.
"I'm fine... I'm fine..." replied Harry as he got up and turned around to look at Jane. But, she was gone.
"Sir... Sir..." called out one of the Aurors, presumably looking at Dumbledore.
"He's dead, someone killed him..." exclaimed another Auror from behind.
"This is the most horrific thing I have ever seen," exclaimed another Auror. As Dumbledore, White and Harry made their way towards the commotion, their eyes fell on the horrifically cut-up body of Barty Crouch Jr.
"Oh my God," gasped Harry, shocked.
"They won't wipe out Daisy's memories, will they?" asked Harry.
"No, Harry, they won't," reassured Dumbledore. "But her parents have seen enough. We need to wipe their memories," he added. "I can't help it," he finished.
Harry stared at Dumbledore, a little relieved. "I can't believe Jane did that to him," he sighed a moment later.
"I'm sorry we weren't there sooner," replied Dumbledore, apologetically.
"I should be the one to apologise, Professor. I was supposed to inform you the moment Barty arrived," remarked Harry. "But I just got carried away," he added, mournfully. "Who told you about the attack?" he asked.
"Ron alerted us about the danger that you were in... And the Auror you saved alerted us that Barty had arrived," replied Dumbledore. "But none of this should have happened, Harry... I put you in unnecessary danger," he added.
There was a silence between the pair for a few seconds before Harry spoke up.
"If neither of us can attack each other, how does it end, Professor?" asked Harry. Incidentally, it was the exact thing Voldemort was wondering at that exact moment.
Hope you liked this chapter. The next one will be out in a few days' time... Until then, Ciao!