Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
-oOo-
Chapter 8
28 Apr 2024
-oOo-
August 28, 1996
Hogwarts, Scotland
"Merlin curse that boy!" Albus raged as he threw a stack of parchments onto his desk. In his single-minded attention to finding Harry, he had left Minerva to find a replacement professor for Potions. The letters from the ministry had him raging at his Deputy Headmistress and Harry Potter!
He had avoided ministry interference at his school for decades, until last year. After the debacle with Dolores, he would have figured the ministry knew not to mess in affairs they knew nothing about. The letters from Marchbanks, the head of department for the Department of Magical Education, said otherwise.
He glared at the offending sentences. 'Due to falling standards, it is the decision of the DME to override the Hogwarts Board of Governors and the absent headmaster per Educational Decree Eighteen and Wizengamot treaty with Hogwarts of sixteen-thirty-four when the Board of Governors was created. On August 28, 1996, a team will be at the school to determine the viability of further employment of the following staff and to instil…'
Two days. He had been in Antwerp to talk with an ICW Hit Wizard team he had dispatched to find Potter. He had been on the continent for two days to come back to Binns having been excised, Sybille and Charity fired, Severus and Hagrid under probation and the addition of two classes he had managed to get rid of years ago.
He was looking at four new professors, all posted by Marchbanks with Scrimgeour's approval and without a lick of advice from him. Albus didn't want Rituals and didn't think the Muggleborn needed any introduction to the wizarding world. The packet with the first-year letters was more than enough and usually cost less than fifty galleons, compared to the almost two thousand a full professor usually earned.
Fuming that he would need a staff meeting to introduce and set his expectation for his new faculty tomorrow, he snapped, "COME IN!" when a knock came at his door. He had been so consumed with the letters that he hadn't heard the gargoyle announcing who it was.
The door opened to let Severus into the office. The man gave him a slightly raised eyebrow. "Potter still have you in a right state?" the man questioned looking amused.
Albus just about growled. "Don't get me started. Has he been found by the Dark Lord?"
"If he had been, I have no doubt the Dark Lord would have called me and everyone else to witness the boy die," Severus said.
Albus pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing his glasses up. "Has there been any word?"
"Lucius returned two days ago. He is planning something but is being unusually circumspect about it. I also have suspicions that Draco and Narcissa have been dragged into this and he will use Draco to get at you," Severus informed him.
Albus squeezed his eyes shut. Now of all times was not the time to deal with a child playing at adult games. It also meant he needed Harry and to push forward with his plans to hunt the horcruxes like he had before Harry did a runner.
"There is also this," Severus said.
Albus opened his eyes to see a paper he was certain was from Germany. "What is this?" he asked. He was able to read some of it. In his youth he had learned how to be fluent in speaking and somewhat in reading German.
"It is one of the Dark Lords deepest secrets. One of the teams from the continent brought this and other publications back last night. The man didn't make it," Severus replied.
Grabbing the paper, Albus felt his rage boil. "How?"
"I do not know. Most haven't seen it yet, but I thought you would know since you were in Copenhagen," Severus said.
"Why would I know?" Albus demanded.
"The paper is a few days old. It's becoming a firestorm on the continent. I do not know what will happen when the rest of his followers know. Those that are marked are in too deep, but there are many that haven't committed or could back out," Severus told him.
Albus had never hated Harry Potter before. "Potter," he said disdainfully.
Severus had a small smile cross his face, but it was quickly gone before the old man could look up. "I agree that Potter and Greengrass make a formidable team, but I don't think this is them."
"Why?"
"It is too indirect. I have a feeling it is someone else," Severus said.
Albus's rage settled a little. If they had been able to find out this secret, what others could they know? Albus would need to move on the horcruxes. He had wanted to let the boy of prophecy eliminate them, but that wasn't an option now. Other plans would need to move forward as well. At least until Potter could be found. He needed more information though. He needed Potter.
"You are sure there is no word on Potter?"
"None, headmaster," Severus answered.
"Do you know what the Dark Lord or Lucius intend Draco to do?"
"I do not think Lucius knows about this. My godson has a plan but will not tell me what it is. I am concerned. I have never seen him this focused," Severus said, a genuine frown crossing his features.
"Keep me appraised. Potter is the priority. If you have any information, you must inform me without delay."
"Alastor Moody," the gargoyle above the door announced.
His demeanour brightened. If Alastor was back, then he must have the boy. Severus looked disappointed for a brief moment.
The man's thumping peg leg announced him before his arrival through the door. The man was grinning. This had Albus spirits rise even higher. "Tell me you have good news and that is why you are grinning?"
"Aye, I have good news," Alastor stated.
Albus waited impatiently, demanding after a few seconds, "Well, what news? Where is Harry?"
The man's grin grew a little more. "The little bastard is most likely still in Africa, but I have no bloody clue where."
Albus's good mood evaporated, and he snarled as he said, "Where is Harry?"
"Jones and I found him just off the coast of Ghana. Did you know he can apparate? Or that one of them knows some basic warding and I would guess some advanced rune crafting? The boy can duel. He is still rough around the edges, but he has talent. Potter isn't some simpering ninny like you said, Albus. His lass is no push over either," the man said with a chuckle on his voice.
Severus snorted in mirth.
Albus scowled at them both. "This is not what I need to hear. Why aren't you still in Ghana, or wherever he is, trying to catch him?"
Alastor looked absolutely gleeful. "The lad and his lass are adamant they aren't coming back. I underestimated what they could do. After getting the drop on Jones and I, we woke up at the emergency portkey point in safehouse six. We must have been out for hours. I'm telling you, Albus, the power Potter has was something. Blasted a three-foot thick dirt wall and a golem clean apart. He shot a rope that was forty feet long to get Jones. He goaded us right into a trap while his lass protected his back."
Looking at his old friend, Albus failed to find the humour in all this. "You are saying that you and Hestia were ambushed by Harry and Miss Greengrass? Her influence on him is worse than I thought."
Severus snorted in mirth again. Albus turned to the man with an angry expression. "How is this remotely amusing?"
Severus shook his head. "I'm telling you; this is James and Lily all over, except is seems Potter is more like his mother. I'm sure there was a cunning plan from Greengrass mixed in, but his father would never have had the presence of mind to goad Moody."
Albus growled at them both.
"Albus, I think we would do better to hunt down the teams hunting Potter and eliminate them while they are scattered," Alastor put in. "Give the boy a chance to live, then find him."
"Contact this man," Albus said, routing on his desk to hand him the card of the ICW Hit Wizard team lead. "Get back to Africa and bring Harry back. School starts in three days. I want him on the express, even if you have to stun him then tie him to a seat."
Alastor chuckled. "I'll try, but I haven't been on a chase like this in a while."
"Get out! Don't come back without Harry," he warned the old ex-Auror. With a cheeky grin that looked more terrifying than anything, the old man doffed an invisible hat and clumped out of the room.
Severus gave him a questioning look. Albus pinched his nose again. "We need to find him. Harry is the key to everything. I need to know how everyone reacts to this other news as well. How many papers have this story?"
"Six, at least," Severus told him.
Albus squeezed the bridge of his nose harder.
"What about Alastor's suggestion to eliminate the teams looking for Harry?" Severus asked.
"We do not kill people. They are brought before the Wizengamot or the ICW," he told his new DADA professor.
Severus made a small motion with his head letting Albus know he didn't agree.
"Get out!"
Severus nodded his head, then walked out of the room.
Albus pinched his nose again.
This release of Tom's origins would just muddy the waters, distracting everyone from what needed to be done.
How had all his plans gone so tits up?
-oOo-
August 29, 1996
Accra, Ghana
The last twenty-four hours had been rather rough. Neither of them had gotten enough sleep to replenish their magic. They were constantly looking over their shoulders or to the skies. Not having any information on Ghana, they hadn't been able to find any magical settlement and hadn't seen any of the gnomish zeppelins or the large towers it took to moor them.
Feeling a little desperate, they had snuck into a cargo terminal in the airport. The local airport wasn't anything much, but it did have a large warehouse that had some cargo bins to go into the large passenger aircraft that were flying in and out. Daphne had refused to take another ship, and Harry didn't want to buy a ticket and have a chance of being tracked that way. So, they found a crew loading a few small containers. They mentioned it was heading for Brazil, and South America seemed like a good random location.
"It will be alright, Daph. Once we get away, we can sneak out," he told her.
"I just don't want to be as sick as I was on that small boat," she replied.
"I know," he said, kissing her forehead. "Time to go."
They morphed into their animagus forms and made a mad dash for the far side of the hanger. He was able to get a look inside the container before it closed. He knew they were taking a risk, but they had to leave Africa. Behind a stack of crates, they turned back into themselves. Daphne took his hand. She was putting all her faith into him and he wouldn't fail her.
They waited for a few moments until he saw one of the men moving to the seat of the lorry used to move the crates. He waited. When the man reached down to turn the engine over, he twisted. They landed on a pile of luggage and fell over. "Oomph," he let out as he twisted to have Daphen fall on him. Someone yelled from outside the container. Daphne's blue eyes were wide in fear. He was getting ready to apparate back to where they had come from when the container started to move. He didn't really breath again until the container clicked into something. He was sure they were inside the plane now.
"I think we're safe now," he said. Daphne moved off him so he could get up. After propping himself in as comfortable way as he could, she moved to crawl into his lap as another container was loaded behind them. He held her close to him, hoping that they wouldn't be tracked anymore, and they could finally find a place to stay for a while once they made it to South America.
-oOo-
The same day…
About 40km West of Accra, Ghana
After the way the two teens had flattened him yesterday, Moody was taking his mantra much more seriously. He had allowed himself to be lulled into a false sense of superiority by reports of the two teens from Albus, Severus and others. It was apparent that Potter had hidden a lot from everyone and suspected most of that happened last year.
His two best friends had proven useless. Whatever they knew of Potter was not who the boy… well, young man… was now. He was obviously driven, had learned some useful skills and could match even the best Auror recruits with his resourcefulness.
The lass with him seemed to have the same drive and skill, even if it was obvious she hadn't been blooded like Potter, she was still better than most of the recruits in the last decade or more.
At first, he had been disgruntled to have to track down to wayward teens out on a lark. In the weeks since, it had become obvious the teens weren't doing this as some form of rebellion. They were honest scared of something, and Albus was one of those things.
As he thought of this, his eye scanned around the site where the two sixteen-year-olds had taken Hestia and him down. She was standing by his side, just as weary, as a team of four Hit Wizards from the ICW scanned the area.
"They went east," Hestia said. It had taken him about two minutes to find the apparition traces with his eye, and another few to determine they had gone that way. Hestia had taken a little longer. They had now been here more than twenty minutes, and none of the ICW men seemed to have found it yet. He was itching to go, but Albus had told him to work with this rabble.
"Aye. I would say they headed towards Accra," he said.
She nodded. "They are still trying to stay in Muggle areas."
"A bright thing to do. No magic. Lots of people. No more blood tracker. It will be nigh impossible to locate them," Moody lectured.
"Are you going to mention that to Captain America over there?" she asked, disdain dripping off her as she indicated the man.
ICW Hit Wizard Steven Rogers was already on Moody's nerves. The man was brash, didn't listen to a word that he or Hestia said and thought he was Merlin's gift to wizard kind. Hestia had looked ready to punch him a few times at the condescending tone of his voice and the way he hit on her. The rest of his team wasn't much better. How a team of Americans had come to work for the ICW he wouldn't know but found he didn't trust them.
"He's a big lad, he can figure it out on his own," Moody replied.
Hestia turned her head towards him but was looking east out of the corner of her eye. "I bet they made for that point and them hopped up the coast."
"Aye, that would be the best way," Moody agreed.
"Captain," an older witch called out. She was a decently attractive greying brunette with a scar over her left eye and down her cheek.
"What is it, Baron?"
"I found an apparition trace. We are tracking it now, but I think this one was incoming. The initial scans show it coming from the ocean," she said.
Rogers looked to them. "You said they apparated from a ship?"
"Aye. It was a good ten miles out or more," Moody told him. Hestia looked at her watch. They had been here for twenty-two minutes. If it had been just them, Moody and Hestia would have moved out a quarter hour ago.
The man looked out to see. "How can a sixteen-year-old apparate over so much water? Most adults would have an issue. Are you sure it was so far out?"
"It was probably closer to twelve miles," Hestia said.
Rogers looked a little sceptical. "I still find it hard to believe that two teens could do that, and then take you out."
Moody glared at the man. He may have underestimated the teens, which he was already chastising himself for, but he didn't need some brash Yank pointing it out.
"We found another trace. This one goes east," Baron called out.
"Get me a trace of where," Rogers ordered.
"A shot that it's that point," Hestia said with her arms crossed across her chest.
"That's a losing bet. A shot and a pint that it takes another five minutes to determine that," Moody replied as the four Hit Wizards kept at their investigation.
Hestia snorted in mirth. "You throw in dinner too."
Moody grinned. "I always like a good steak and kidney pie."
"I want a real dinner," she told him. The thirty-something woman was attractive, but Moody didn't think she was propositioning him.
"A real dinner it is, lass," Moody told her. He was scowling when it took another ten minutes while Hestia was grinning like a Cheshire cat.
When they were getting ready to move out, Moody turned his head slightly towards the jungle about a quarter mile away. Hestia caught his movement, and she was immediately on alert. She kept watching the four Hit Wizards as they decided how to do this hop. "What is it?"
"Company," he replied.
"People we know?"
"Aye. The ones that led us this way to start," he said.
"They are going to follow us," she stated.
Moody's false eye was looking at them as he turned back to Roger's when he called them. Moody made a few hand gestures that said they would leave the ICW team as soon as they could and to expect trouble. Hestia acknowledged.
"Okay, we have a vector on the apparition. Delaney and Malarkey, you will take point. Baron says it's about a click and a half that way. Should be that point. Once you clear it, signal us and we will follow," Rogers told them.
Moody rolled his eye. The man acted like this was some military manoeuvre at a training camp. "Moody and Jones, you follow after our signal."
"Aye, aye, captain," Moody snarked back. The man frowned at him then went back to his team. Moody leaned over towards Hestia. "Once they apparate, we go after our visitors and then pretend we got separated. I want to find the trail before it gets too cold."
She nodded and laughed as though he said something funny. The tall man on Roger's team that had been eyeing them turned away as though unimpressed. Moody may think the new recruits coming in were rubbish, but by the time he got done with them, any two could wipe up this Hit Wizard team, even if the other woman was a werewolf.
"Go," Rogers ordered. The big man and the werewolf apparated. "We'll give you a signal a few minutes after we get there just in case we get ambushed to can keep this zone hot for us."
"Aye, aye, captain," Moody said again. The man looked irritated, and Moody smirked on the inside.
A moment later, red sparks announced where the other team was for miles around. Moody let out a small growl. He would have cuffed any recruit for a trick like that. "Let's go, Baron. Wait for our signal."
Moody gave him a salute with two-fingers from his forehead. The man didn't get the slight before twisting and disappearing. Moody tapped the top of his staff. It was a countdown from twenty. After tapping twenty times. He turned to Hestia so their friends wouldn't see him. His eye stopped spinning and looked at the red outlines through his skull. His wand slid into his hand.
"About a hundred and fifty yards back, maybe ten yards into the trees. To point attack, come out about five meters in. They are together in that direction," he said, pointing with the tip of his wand.
"Prisoners?" she questioned, moving in closer.
"Mind as well. Maybe they know more than we do," Moody said.
She nodded. He tapped the top of his staff three times and then they both disapparated. When he came out, his wand was moving within a second. It was a wide area barrage of stunners and low power cutting hexes. The type good for clearing vegetation, but not enough to make more than annoying paper cut style cuts if it hit the skin.
Hestia's spells did the same.
It was a good twenty seconds of hell for anyone they were trying to target.
Birds took off.
The sound of falling leaves, bracken and spell fire faded quickly, leaving behind a general malaise of plant matter that was slowly settling. Hestia looked ready to cast more. "Did we get them?"
Moody was watching the spot that the figure had been in. In the spell fire, there had been too much magic for him to see properly. As it cleared, he could see one form on the ground. "We got one of them. I can't see the other," he told her, his eye spinning frantically to find the other man.
His eye just spun up when he yelled out, "Above us!" His wand was up but the big guy was jumping down from a branch. He roared in anger. The stunners hit and he acted as though nothing happened. He caught the yellow on the man's eyes. "Werewolf!"
The man landed between them. He had a branch in his hand and threw it at Hestia like a spear. She knocked it out of the way just before the man launched himself at her. "DOWN!"
Hestia dropped, not questioning him. Moody twisted his wrist. Silver chains shot out of his wand. It caught the werewolf's arm. It bellowed in rage and pain, yanking its arm as he tried to pull back. Moody was thrown forward.
Hestia turned, her wand coming up. The werewolf reached for her ankle, grabbing it before a rather powerful bludgeoner launched the werewolf back. Moody heard a snapping of bone and Hestia stifled a scream of pain. It roared in rage before hitting a tree trunk about five feet up. Moody struggled to his feet. He started to swipe his wand. More chains and stunners came out. Two wrapped around the man and he shrugged off a few stunners. He managed to rip off the chain, bloody streaks now showing through his ripped shirt.
As he got up, he threw a rock at Moody's head. He shielded against it before Hestia hit the werewolf with another bludgeoner. The man was flung back into the tree. He heard the crack of the head as it hit the trunk. The werewolf's eyes rolled back into his head and came to a rest at the base of the tree.
Moody bound it in ropes and silver chains before turning to Hestia. She was running her wand over her ankle. "Merlin-be-damned thing broke my ankle," she said through gritted teeth.
"You can't heal it, Lass?" Moody questioned.
"It splintered. I'm going to need Skele-gro, if not to banish it first," she told him.
Moody made a face before stomping through the undergrowth towards the other figure. He found the little half-elf man stunned. After binding him in ropes, Moody flicked his want. A white enervate hit the man. He blinked, then looked up to Moody when he crouched to the man. "Afternoon, lad. I think you have something you want to tell me."
The little man looked rather defiant. "British Aurors can't arrest me here."
Moody chuckled. "Ex-Auror and Hit Witch. Not really trying to arrest you either."
The man looked a little hesitant now. "We did nothing wrong. We have a full licence to be bounty hunters."
"Not saying you don't, but you see, I think you are hunting the same thing we are. Now, I can make this easy, you tell us what you know, then you turn around and tell your employer you can't find the lad. Otherwise, I have some friends that would like to meet you," Moody told him.
"What do you mean friends?"
Moody gave a rather disturbing grin. "They don't find much if you visit a dragon preserve uninvited."
There must have been something in the mad gleam of Moody's eye that had the little man swallow hard. "This isn't worth it. You are after Greengrass too?"
Moody cocked his head. "That be the lass, but I be more interested in Potter."
The man shook his head. "We were told the boy was pretty useless. Our employer is an idiot."
Moody gave a chuckle. "Aye, Malfoy is. Now, what do you know about the wheres about of Potter and Greengrass?"
The little man made a sour expression. "Nothing. We had tracked them to this place, and you showed up about an hour after we did. My divining rod went haywire about the same time. It moved off west, northwest too fast to be anything but a Muggle plane. If they are already out of range, it could take weeks to find them, and that is if I knew the general region they went off too."
Moody glared at the man. "How did you get a divining rod to work?"
"Malfoy had some hairs of the girl," the little man told him.
Moody thought to himself that would do it. "Are you going to keep following them?"
The little man scoffed. "We already lost one of us and I didn't sign up to face down some crazed ex-Auror."
Moody wasn't sure he trusted this man. There was something that was truthful and something that wasn't. He was quite sure the part of them losing the trace on Greengrass was correct. He didn't think they weren't going to give up on this mark. "How much is the bounty?"
"Enough for us to originally take the job," the little half-elf man told him.
There was a rustling behind him. His eye spun to see Hestia using a crutch. "What are we doing with them?"
Moody thought about it for a moment. If Potter had fled on a Muggle thing west, there was no telling where he was now. "Bloody Merlin's balls," he cursed.
"We need to go back. I think the lad has fled for the Congress of the America's or the MACUSA," he said.
Hestia had a pretty colourful vocabulary that made him chuckle. If they had gone to the CoA or MACUSA, then there was a good chance they would have hard time finding them. Neither governments were that friendly towards European influence. Too much bad blood when they were still colonies.
"So, what about them?" Hestia asked.
"Let's truss them up in a tree. I think their employer will find them soon enough," Moody said.
"You can't just leave us here!"
Moody laughed. "Oh, I saw you using something that sent off a message. If I had time, I would say my hellos to Malfoy, but I have other business to attend too."
"And Rogers?" Hestia asked, her disdain for the man evident.
"They can keep going on their goose chase. Maybe they will get lucky, but I doubt it. I need to go see an old friend. If Potter makes it to the MACUSA, we aren't going to get him back anytime soon," Moody told her, hoping he could chase the kids down in South America before they could get into more trouble.
-oOo-
August 30, 1996
Little Hangleton, England
It had taken him most of the last week to find this place. Looking down the hill into the copse of trees, he could feel the malevolence of the magic below him. There was generations of foul magic with a new sourness that was perhaps a few decades old.
Glancing up and down the lane to make sure he wasn't being watched, the man in non-descript grey robes slipped between the hedge to an overgrown path. It had the feel that it once was a drive, but nature was slowly reclaiming what was once its domain.
His wand made a few movements and flicks. The magic of the land came to life. He had always had a knack for magical senses. It was why he had been of such interest to the Unspeakables all those years ago. For nearly seventy years he had worked his way through the ranks, becoming the foremost expert on the type of magic he was searching for.
The news that his nephew had given him and his sister just over a week ago had been troubling. He had just barely been able to keep Augusta from charging into the Wizengamot and killing all those that had taken her husband, Frank and Alice from her. Instead, he had contacted Greengrass and liked the man's plan to rake Tom Riddle's name through the mud and weaken his support. There were already signs of it working as the Unspeakables' spies had reported that recruitment by the Death Eaters was starting to lag.
Today, though, he had to concentrate on his task.
He had theorized on how Riddle had managed to survive and come back, and until yesterday, had not been able to confirm it. The graveyard was still full of the dark magic used to make a homunculus and with the taint of a man touched by true evil. After that, it had taken him a little bit to confirm that the old Riddle manor was being used as a gathering point for some of Tom's forces. More importantly, because he had continued to poke around, he had found the old Gaunt lands.
As he walked the path, he was forced to stop a few times to find ways around sensing or trigger wards. He couldn't let the man know he was here.
It was almost two hours for him to find his way to a ramshackled hut. After the number of traps and warning wards that he had encountered on the way to the hovel it was rather disappointing to feel that there were very few here. There was also a difference in the magic.
The others had been intricate, complex and everything he had expected of the most feared Dark Lord on the British Isles in hundreds of years. The wards and traps on the house were clumsier. Their strength came more from the sheer power used to make them than any skill.
It was obvious the other wards were added long after the house had been warded. Why Riddle hadn't come back to redo these wards as well was a mystery he wasn't sure he would unravel, but it made his job easier.
Within twenty minutes he was standing before the gaping hole in the floor. He was not impressed. For all the vaunted skill that Dumbledore and others said Riddle possessed, he felt it rather anti-climactic and disappointing that in less than three hours he was looking at what had to be a horcrux. There was no other thing it could be to feel the malevolence, the way it bashed at his occlumency shields and the compulsion to put it on. The soul piece wanted to live again, and it felt the power that he possessed.
Resisting the urge that was being forced on him, he took out a box made of black obsidian. Runes were etched all over its surface and they were already glowing blue with the power he had infused into them over the last week. Opening the lid, the inside of the box was lined with a quarter inch of cold iron. The box should have been much heavier than it was. He was glad for magic as it weighed only a few ounces, not the fifteen pounds it should have.
Levitating the ring, it resisted and seemed to squirm away. It was the only struggle he had all day. It took a few minutes, but when he dropped the ring into the box and slammed the lid onto it, the attack on his occlumency and the resistance to his magic ebbed.
He was breathing slightly heavier than normal.
Again, the defences on the ring were more about power than subtlety.
He wondered how old Riddle had been when this one was made? He suspected rather young by the clumsiness of the spells.
With that done, he could go back and determine how many of these abominations there were. Most Dark Lords rarely made one, even if each one thought that they were the only ones to 'go further on the path of greatness' than any other.
Replacing the board that had hidden the ring and ensuring that any traces of his magic were gone, Algernon Croaker began his trek back towards the country lane on the top of the hill.
-oOo-
September 1, 1996
Hogwarts Express
Ron had never not wanted to go to Hogwarts before this year.
He was entering his sixth year. He was an excellent Keeper that had helped them win the cup last year. His prefect badge, and the way he wanted to take it more seriously this year, should have added up to the start of a momentous year.
That was until you took into count the detractors: his best mate was missing after having done a runner with a Slytherin girl that he was supposedly betrothed too. His best friend, and the girl he had realized he really liked, were gone. Her parents had taken her away to Australia. To top it off He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named – Ron wasn't brave enough to say his name, not with the stories he grew up with – was back.
The only positive was that it seemed the wanker's real name and family history was now out, and his parents had said it was causing a stir.
That didn't change the fact that Harry was gone, though. As he had thought about it the last month, Ron was understanding that he had really done the wrong thing fourth year and the summer before. Why hadn't he even tried to write to Harry this year? Ron was coming to the conclusion he wasn't that good of a friend. Looking back, Ron had the thought that Harry had never really forgiven him, had he?
Last year, Harry had been very secretive. He was in detentions a lot at the beginning of the year and never said much after he came back. On the nights he wasn't in detention, Harry wasn't anywhere to be found. Hermione and him had thought he was busy with Dumbledore, as he told them. They had been busy running their secret defence club without Harry. Somewhere in all that, they had missed Harry and Greengrass. It was obvious now that Harry had lied to them about where he was.
Then came the night of the Department of Mysteries. Harry had run off without them. They only found out about it from the Daily Prophet. When they had finally seen him in the infirmary, he looked absolutely dejected to know Sirius had died.
They had seen how bad Harry was, but he thought Harry just needed time. Like Dumbledore had said the summer before. They had done such an excellent job of giving him space that Harry had taken it. Harry had taken miles and miles of space and left them behind.
Thinking of all that space and who had run with him, it was a gut punch pain to understand that Harry didn't trust them anymore.
To be down his two best friends, Ron was not looking forward to this year. Not in the least.
Ginny was upset as well. She looked rather dejected as he followed her onto the train, only nodding over his shoulder as their mum said goodbye to them.
"I'm going to find Dean," Ginny told him and took off towards the back of the train.
Ron scowled, not liking the idea of Ginny dating… well, it was more the idea of what the boys would want of her that he didn't like. Being a boy, he knew how someone his age would look at a girl. He turned towards the front of the train. Halfway up the car, he found a compartment with Neville and Luna. Opening the door, he poked his head in. "Mind if I put my trunk here?"
"Sure. Need a hand?" Neville asked. Last year, with Harry distancing himself from them, Ron had struck up a tentative friendship with Neville, then Luna from their study group.
"Sure," Ron told him. Once his trunk was up, Ron told them, "I have to head up to the prefects' carriage. I'll be back when I can."
"Sure. Are you alright? We've seen all the newspapers about Harry," Neville said.
Ron made a face. "I don't know, Neville. How was your summer?"
"It was enlightening. Have you seen Susan?" There was something different about Neville, but Ron couldn't place it.
"Bones? Not yet. I must head up to the Prefects' meeting," Ron told him. "I'll let Bones know you are looking for her."
Neville nodded. "Can you at least tell us if Harry is alright? And Greengrass? Did you know?" Neville enquired.
Ron frowned. "I don't know how Harry is."
Neville frowned at Ron's forlorn face before he left Neville and made it to the prefect's carriage. Malfoy was sitting in the back with Parkinson. He gave Ron a glare but didn't say anything. Ron had a spike of anger flash through him, especially to think of how the pureblood was probably kneeling before a half-blood. He bet that burned the brat. Ron returned a scowl.
"Ron, come join us," a buxom brunette said. He looked to see Lavender waving him over to the other sixth year prefects. He didn't look happy to see her instead of Hermione, but not having anywhere else to really go, sat with the group. Hannah Abbott and Ernie McMillan from Hufflepuff were jammed in with Padma Patil from Ravenclaw. Micheal Corner was leaning over the seat to investigate the one Lavender was in.
"Hey," Ron greeted everyone as he sat.
"Is it true?" Hannah asked before he even got comfortable.
"Is what true?" Ron shot back.
The blonde girl rolled her eyes. "Potter and Greengrass? Did they really run? Are they betrothed?"
"My mum saw the announcement last week in the French papers," Lavender said.
"Why would they run though? Potter is supposed to fight You-Know-Who. The minister said Potter is the Chosen one," Corner said.
"I think its romantic. A Slytherin princess with the brash Gryffindor knight. Could you imagine anyone approving of that? I mean, look at the animosity between the houses. I wonder how long they were hiding it?" Padma questioned.
"It is rather romantic, isn't it," Lavender agreed. "I wonder if someone would just throw everything away for me if I asked?"
"Why would you say that?" Ron questioned.
"Isn't it obvious? Harry would never abandon anyone unless he had a good reason. Obviously Greengrass must have convinced him," Hannah told him.
Corner snorted. "You mean she probably is leading him around by his dick. I heard she was cold, but she's a looker."
"You are so crass," Padma said.
Ernie shook his head. "I don't know. Potter never seemed that happy with any of us. Why wouldn't he run? I mean, You-Know-Who is after him."
Ron scowled at them. They didn't know anything about Harry. Ron had the painful thought that he might not either.
"I always knew he was a coward," Corner said.
"He is not!" Ron yelled at him. "You have no idea what Harry has done. He fought off You-Know-Who more times than you know and beat him every time. Can any of you say that? Can any of you say that your parents did the same and gave their lives for you? Can you say that you were even nice to him most of the time we've been at Hogwarts? No. You can't! Harry is no coward. If he ran, I can tell you it was because he was protecting someone that is more important than anyone else to him…" Ron said, as he trailed off.
The others looked at him with large eyes. He hadn't realized that his magic had reacted with his temper.
He groaned. "Oh, bloody hell. He loves her," he said as he came to the profound realization. "He loves her and probably doesn't think any of us are even worth it anymore. Bloody hell!"
He shot out of his seat. He couldn't stand to be here at the moment.
"Weasley, get back here!" someone called out. "The meeting starts right after we leave."
He rushed towards the door. Malfoy sneered at him. "Potter has it right. You are all worthless."
Ron stopped. His body was shaking in rage and he turned to look at Malfoy. Ron didn't even notice he had pulled his wand from his pocket. Malfoy saw it and moved to draw his own wand. Pansy screamed as she was pushed from the seat. As she did, she grabbed Draco's left arm. He hissed in pain and had to throw her off. As he did, his sleeve rode up his arm as he jerked it up. Half of the all-to-terrifying black snake and skull on his arm came into view.
"DEATH EATER!" Ron bellowed.
Draco looked terrified. His wand came up. Ron was already yelling, "STUPIFY!"
The other Slytherins around him had varying reactions. Both seventh-year prefects pulled their wands. The fifth years and Parkinson scrambled out of the way. Draco was slammed hard into the wall when Ron's spell hit him.
Ron dove out of the way when the boy next to him rose his wand to Ron's head. He felt the crackling energy as the spell just missed him. A second later, the door and part of the wall exploded.
There was a cacophony of noise before it all went silent. Ron looked up, his eyes huge, his heart pounding and his wand whipping around as others pointed at him. "STOP!" the head boy, Eddie Carmicheal from Hufflepuff, bellowed.
Ron's hand was now shaking as he took in the scene. Lavender was holding her arm, blood dripping from her fingers. The two seventh-year Slytherin prefects and Parkinson were down.
"Get the Aurors from the platform. NOW!" Carmicheal ordered.
A fifth year in Hufflepuff colours rushed out the door at the front of the car. The train hadn't left yet, and he could hear the girl screaming for an Auror.
"Weasley, what the hell was that?" Carmicheal demanded as he edged towards them.
"Malfoy! He has the Dark Mark," Weasley said, pointing towards the blonde.
"Bloody fuck!" Corner exclaimed.
"Oh, shite," a fifth year Ravenclaw said.
Carmicheal inched down, his wand on all of them. He knelt and undid the buttons on the seventh-year prefects and pushed up their sleeves. Ron's stomach roiled to see more Dark Marks.
"Wands down! Aurors," a woman called out as three people in burgundy robes crashed through the door on the far side of the car.
"Aurors, these are Death Eaters," Carmicheal exclaimed, not putting his wand down.
"Bloody hell! Stebbins, tell the conductor not to leave, then get Shacklebolt," the Auror in the front commanded.
-oOo-
Same Day…
Beauxbatons, France
Astoria was feeling a little overwhelmed. Beauxbatons was probably large, at least as large as Hogwarts. There were dorm wings, but they weren't secret. They didn't require a password or anything that only those that belong there could use. There were numerous common room areas. She had been separated from Susan when they were both shuffled off to different dormitories in the giant 1700's style castle.
Even with these changes, one of the largest ones was the number of students. There must have been six or seven hundred. She was positive Hogwarts maybe had three hundred.
She was starting to understand why the Beauxbatons students didn't seem as impressed with Hogwarts.
She had been emptying her trunk into her dresser and armoire when a girl floated into the room. She started to jabber away in French. Astoria looked at her. "I'm sorry, I don't speak French yet," she told the girl.
"Oh, you speak Anglish," the girl said a little haltingly.
Astoria smiled at her. She had to admit the girl was very pretty. Her light blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes would win over many boys. The girl was also starting to show the signs of a shapely body. Astoria felt a little jealous she wasn't that developed yet, but she was only thirteen. The girl was within a year of Astoria. "I would like to learn French," she said. "Astoria Greengrass." Astoria stuck out her hand.
"Gabrielle Delacour. I met Greengrass over summer," the girl told her.
Astoria's eyes widened. "Greengrass? Did you meet my sister? Daphne? About this tall. Blonde. Blue eyes. Was she alright? Was she with Harry Potter? A boy just a little taller, messy black hair and green eyes," she said rapidly.
The girl blushed a little. "Harry Potter. Daphne Greengrass. I see... " Gabrielle said, before saying something in French before saying, "Are you sister?"
"Oh, Merlin. You saw Daphne!" Astoria grabbed her hand. "We have to go find Susan and then the owlery. Mother needs to know!"
The girl looked confused as she was dragged out of the room.
-oOo-
Next time on Dear Order: Harry and Daphne get to explore Brazil some while Malfoy and Dumbledore curse out Potter. Tabitha also finds a way to contact her daughter…
-oOo-
END