AN: I hope everyone had a great week, and is ready for the next chapter.

Quill will 1981 - Thanks, that's helpful criticism. Definitely something for me to think about, overloading information and characters. I can at least assure you that a lot of the "OCs" were simply names for me to fill out the Tournament. Some of them will certainly be used later, but will be properly introduced. Moving between stages being tedious? Definitely, but if you want to support your friends, you make sacrifices. Hopefully you won't be disappointed in how I manage the three of them. Thanks for sticking with the story!

Jet22345 - Wait no longer, here it is . . . but you'll have to wait till next week for the next one. It's a vicious cycle.

Arctic Wolf Fury - Glad you enjoyed the matches. Oh, Draco's time will come. Rest assured, and don't worry, more Doom Puppy is coming!

scrappy8 - Thanks!

Mewpagano - Thanks!

Nessinha Cullen - Welcome to the party. Thanks for giving my fic a go, and I'm glad you're enjoying it. I enjoy better endings for some of my favorite characters too (obviously Harry, Remus, Dora, and Sirius are in that list). I certainly understand losses, and am willing to kill off characters for the sake of a story, but at the same time, I generally want happy endings at the end of a good story. Ginny will definitely be important to the story, so hopefully you'll enjoy that. Yeah, I needed Pettigrew to escape. Don't worry, he will definitely get a nasty ending. I have no intentions of Pettigrew having a nice, cozy death.

Chaos Snow Kitsune - Currently my plans are to have Dora end up with Remus . . . or at least have her have a relationship with Remus. I honestly go back and forth on that one, and I haven't written the whole story yet, so I still have some time. Thoughts?

Chapter 25

It was a week later, Dora and Harry were throwing minor annoying hexes and jinxes at each, laughing up a storm since they'd both been antagonizing each other when Sirius walked out of the woods from where the apparition point was and grinned at them.

"Break it up you two! Harry, I've got some news for you," he called out.

Harry, who had grown antlers on his head, and whose skin had turned green groaned, since all he'd managed to get Dora with was a jinx that gave her seaweed hair.

Dora laughed and then quickly waved her wand, undoing the jinxes on her and on Harry, and the two of them, arm in arm followed Sirius into the kitchen.

"Well, Harry, your mornings are now booked in a different way," Sirius said, and Harry frowned in confusion. "The goblins, to my absolute shock, have agreed to teach you how to smith and perhaps even a little bit about swordsmanship."

Harry's eyes widened in shock and he grinned. "Really?!"

Sirius nodded and barked out a laugh. "Yep. Up until you head off for the World Cup, they're going to give you lessons each morning, and then they'll give you some material and information to learn during the school year, and then next summer, they plan to complete your training, that is on the assumption that a "pitiful human can figure out how to swing a hammer correctly," or at least that's how they said it. I don't think they have high hopes for your abilities, but they're taking the gold and determined to find out."

"This is brilliant!" Harry said, interested to see what this whole blacksmith thing was about. "When do I start?"

"Tomorrow bright and early," Sirius said with a grin as Harry's face fell. "They've opened floo access from our home to Gringotts, and you'll be escorted from there. So, you'll floo there tomorrow at six in the morning."

"Bloody hell," Harry said, not stoked about that early of a wakeup call.

Sirius and Dora both laughed.

"Sorry, pup, but you need this. Besides, the quicker you learn, the quicker you're done, so prove them wrong and be absolutely brilliant at this."

**HP**

Harry nervously picked himself up from the floor after flooring into the bank, doing his best not to wince at the various goblins shooting him unimpressed glares. He really hated using the floo network.

One goblin made his way over. He seemed more muscular than a lot of the goblins he'd previously seen, and everything about him just seemed rougher, but if this was his teacher, then it would make sense that a smith would seem and be rougher than the bankers.

"Harry Potter," the goblin greeted with an unenthusiastic tone, his mouth set firmly in a sneer. "I hope you are better with your hands than with your feet, or this is going to be a long and fruitless apprenticeship."

Harry blushed at that.

"Sorry, sir," Harry muttered. "I've only rarely flooed and never quite got the hang of it."

The goblin rolled his eyes. "My name is Gorlok, and I will be your master. Follow me."

Harry quickly fell into step next to the goblin who had turned abruptly and led Harry farther into the bank before they made a turn away from where they'd go to take the carts to the vaults, and instead they wound their way through a maze of hallways and stairways, with the only certainty to Harry being that they were going further down before they finally appeared in a fair sized cavern that held a single forge.

"This is where all apprentices learn," Gorlok said. "This is where you will be taught, free from all distractions. Make no mistake, Harry Potter, I expect discipline and focus, and I will not suffer a fool wasting my time. Are we understood?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, Gorlok."

"Good," Gorlok said with another sneer. "Now, today we're going to discuss the basics. The names of various tools and instruments, types of metals, leatherworking and how it's tied in, and what good quality versus poor quality looks like. I have physical examples of everything we will talk about, and I believe in a hands-on approach, so you will be getting to work today, under my express guidance. You will not do anything unless directed. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir," Harry said firmly.

"Good, let us begin . . ."

**HP**

Harry's summer continued to fly by, with him spending a fair number of his days learning from Gorlok, and training with Mad-Eye, Sirius, and Remus afterwards. Harry could have gotten away with training far less, especially since he spent his entire morning, most of the week, with Gorlok, however Mad-Eye's focus had been on getting Sirius back into fighting shape, which was mandated. Since his family had to train, Harry happily participated when he could, which ended up giving him quite a bit of one on one time with Remus, honing his skills, and learning new things, including techniques he'd witnessed at the Dueling Circuit.

Remus had been struggling to find work because of his affliction, and Sirius had put his foot down and despite Remus's protests had hired him as Harry's tutor for both school subjects and extra curricular interests. Harry had been happy Remus would be around, but that happiness had only increased as he truly got to know Remus more and more as the summer went on.

Harry's old professor had always been kind to him, knowledgeable, and a great teacher, but now without the confines of a formal student-teacher relationship, without the worry of looking out for mass-murderer Sirius Black, and without the worry that he'd botch his job at Hogwarts, Remus's personality was showing more and more. He'd been rather reserved during the school year, but now was doing his best to make up for it, telling stories, and slyly messing with Sirius, usually to Dora's and Harry's amusement. He was certainly more calm and serious than Sirius or Dora, but he still had a rather wicked and mischievous side that fit very well with Dora, Sirius, giving Harry a new adult to do certain things with.

Between his work with the goblins, which he enjoyed both for the subject and for the vain reason of enjoying that it was helping to bulk him up, and his studies with Remus, Sirius, Mad-Eye and/or Dora, he was certainly training a lot, but he was also still having a lot of fun, usually in the late afternoons and evenings when everyone was done with work or their exercises or on weekends.

Mad-Eye taught Harry to fish, and there were several enjoyable weekend mornings spent out on the lake on their property, with Harry listening to Mad-Eye's stories, and asking questions about various things that the old Auror was knowledgeable on. Sometimes Dora joined, though she didn't really fish. They'd learned not to let her use a fishing pole after she got a fish hook stuck in her leg, but she was always up for a good spirited discussion, and Harry enjoyed her bubbly personality and watching her end up in the lake at least once per trip, due to her clumsiness. Remus also occasionally joined, having learned to fish as a boy, and was always up for contributing to stories or discussions. Mad-Eye also surprisingly enjoyed card games and board games and was often convinced to stay for dinner and a game, whether that was wizard's chess, exploding snap, or a muggle game like poker, hearts, or Monopoly, which was always guaranteed to start a shouting match mid game.

With Sirius, Harry spent time working on Sirius's motorcycle that he'd gotten back from Hagrid, tuning it up, and learning how to drive it. Sirius was also quite into muggle rock music, and it was always fun to listen to whatever music that he or Dora would bring home. Sirius was also always up for flying and Quidditch, and often participated in pickup games that Harry played in with Angelina, Katie, Alicia, Oliver, Ron, Fred, George, Ginny, and even Skye and Erika on occasion. Lastly, Sirius still loved pranks, and he always enjoyed ensnaring Harry in his ploys to get Remus and Dora, something Harry no complaints with, since the two in turn usually also pulled Harry to help them get Sirius back, and get each other. Frankly, Harry felt like he had the good luck of seemingly avoiding being pranked often, while getting to participate in pranking everyone else.

Dora and he were still going out to see movies every now and then, which Sirius and Remus, and even occasionally Mad-Eye, joined for, and Sirius had quickly got a tv and VCR for their home. They still sometimes went out for their old window shopping, just really as an excuse to get out, and still enjoyed occasional trips to the arcade. She, Harry, and Astra, enjoyed hiking and exploring the land that Sirius had bought, working through the forest, fields, and around the lake, both during the day, and at night under the stars.

Overall, Harry's summer was going great, which should have been his sign that things were about to start turning for the worse. Harry didn't realize it at the time, but eventually he'd realize the start of the dark times was heralded by a dream, a dream that woke him up with a flash of green light . . . and unfortunately a dream that he didn't remember in its entirety.

Harry lay flat on his back, breathing hard as though he had been running. He had awoken from a vivid dream with his hands pressed over his face. The old scar on his forehead was burning beneath his fingers as though someone had just pressed a white-hot wire to his skin.

He sat up, one hand still on his scar. He glanced about the room, which was only faintly lit by a bit of moonlight.

Harry ran his fingers over the scar again. It was still painful. Harry took a deep breath, and then started going through the meditative steps that Mad-Eye had taught him, and tried to remember what he'd been dreaming. Something told him that it was important.

It had seemed so real. . . There had been two people he knew and one he didn't. . . He concentrated hard, frowning, trying to remember. . .

The dim picture of a darkened room came to him. . . There had been a snake on a hearth rug. . . a small man, Wormtail . . . and a cold, high voice. . . the voice of Lord Voldemort. Harry felt as though an ice cube had slipped down into his stomach at the very thought. . .

He closed his eyes tightly and tried to remember what Voldemort had looked like, but it was impossible. . . All Harry knew was that at the moment when Voldemort's chair had swung around, and he, Harry, had seen what was sitting in it, he had felt a spasm of horror, which had awoken him. . . or had that been the pain in his scar?

And who had the old man been? For there had definitely been an old man; Harry had watched him fall to the ground. It was all becoming confusing. Harry put his face into his hands, blocking out his bedroom, trying to hold on to the picture of that dimly lit room, but it was like trying to keep water in his cupped hands; the details were now trickling away as fast as he tried to hold on to them. . . Voldemort and Wormtail had been talking about someone they had killed, though Harry could not remember the name. . . and they had been plotting to kill someone else. . . Harry himself . . . though that really wasn't all that surprising if he thought about it. Honestly it was on par for the course.

Harry took a breath and glanced down at the foot of his bed, where Astra was now glancing at him with concern, but she whimpered slightly and wagged her tail once he noticed her and he reached down and gave her a quick pat on the side.

"It's okay girl," he murmured.

A soft hoot drew his attention to Hedwig, who also was looking at him with concern. He got up and moved over and gave her a quick, soft pet, and started thinking through the situation, just like he'd been taught.

Normally, his scar hurting had meant that Voldemort was close and active, but Harry was sure that couldn't be the case now. Their home had been purchased through the goblins, and it was fairly remote, all things considering, not to mention, quite protected. Sirius had gone all out and the goblins made their home unplottable and had given it an impressive set of protective wards. Finding the house or grounds was hard enough, let alone getting through the protective enchantments. Plus, with as large as the property was, finding the house even if you made it through the enchantments was no easy feat if you didn't know where you were looking.

No, Voldemort couldn't be nearby. That would be absurd, but that raised a bigger issue. It meant that Voldemort was getting stronger, and thinking of his dream, he was sure it had been Voldemort to cast a killing curse . . . which meant Voldemort could hold a wand . . . but how?

He glanced around his room, and thought about what advice his friends and family might give him. His friends were easy to predict.

Hermione would be all panicky and immediately tell him to write to Dumbledore while she went and scoured the library looking for any information that might provide answers. While writing to Dumbleodre might not be a bad idea, since the man probably would want to know about Voldemort getting stronger, Harry doubted that checking any books for answers would help. Harry was, afterall, the only person to ever have survived the killing curse and thus his scar and symptoms were unique.

While he wasn't sure about writing to the Headmaster, he did quickly move over to his desk and with a quill on some parchment, wrote down everything he could remember about the dream, figuring his memory would only grow worse after he went back to sleep.

Then he thought about what Ron would say, which was also easy to predict. Ron would have worried that Voldemort or You-Know-Who was nearby, and would probably recommend talking to his dad, but no disrespect to Mr. Weasley, Harry had better people to ask. He had two very knowledgeable Aurors living with him, an ex-DADA professor who visited nearly every day, and another retired Auror that he also saw nearly everyday. Dora, Sirius, Remus, and Mad-Eye were probably much more knowledgeable on curses and scars compared to Mr. Weasley.

His family was a bit harder to predict though. He was sure he would see worry and concern from Dora, Sirius, Remus, and maybe even Mad-Eye, but would they want to do research? Would they simply take note and decide he needed to train more or maybe Dora would bring up him going to somewhere other than Hogwarts for school again? He wasn't really sure, but still, they were the best to talk to, so with his dream recorded on paper, he figured he might as well get back to sleep, since there was no point in waking up his guardians at this time of night. He glanced at his clock, seeing it was only four in the morning, so he definitely could go back to sleep for a few hours, as long as he didn't have another dream.

**HP**

"You know, Nymphie, you did warn me," Sirius said with a sigh, and then he yelped as a stinging hex hit his leg, and he snorted before grinning over at a satisfied looking Dora.

"Yep, Harry is a heart attack waiting to happen," Dora agreed brightly. "Now, we can share the heart attacks!"

Mad-Eye, Remus, and Sirius all snorted in amusement at that.

Harry had just left to the Weasleys, to stay with them before going to the Quidditch World Cup. Dora and Sirius would actually join them at the Cup tomorrow, but Harry was staying over with the Weasleys for the night, which Harry was excited about especially since Hermione would also be there.

With Harry's departure, they had decided to have a conversation about what Harry's dream might actually mean, pulling together the four adults in Harry's life.

"The visions concern me," Remus said. "If he's seeing visions of Voldemort from who knows how far, it means Voldemort's getting stronger."

"He has to be if he can hold a wand," Mad-Eye grumbled. "I don't know what the bastard might look like right now, but if he can hold a wand, he's dangerous."

"It's got to be because of Wormtail," Sirius said darkly. "The strongest Voldemort had been over the past thirteen years was Harry's first year, when he possessed Quirrell. Now, he's got a servant again, and something's changed."

"Did Dumbledore say anything?" Dora asked, knowing that Sirius had received a reply from the letter that they'd sent him after Harry had told them of his dream.

"Only to be careful, keep Harry safe, and that he would be on the lookout," Sirius said with a sigh. "Nothing all that helpful."

"Well, at least we know Harry's been keeping up with his dueling training, and actually enjoys us putting him through the ringer," Dora said, and there were nods of agreement.

"The lad's got talent," Mad-Eye agreed. "Being a fourth year, he still has a lot to learn magically, but physically, he can keep up with most Auror Trainees. Last we saw, he was very good with a sword, and I'm sure he's gotten better under tutelage from the goblins. He's a decent shot with a bow, though his speed and accuracy could improve. We can make him compete in the archery competition next year as well. His distance and speed could improve with knives, but not bad at using those either, and it won't be long before he's actually giving me a run for my money while using a quarterstaff, which means we can add that event next year also. He's come a long way, though he still has a ways to go before I'll feel comfortable. Since I'll be at Hogwarts this year, I can look after him, and maybe keep him training throughout the school year."

"I wish I could see his face when he realizes that you're going to be his DADA teacher," Dora said with a smirk. "He'll know that you'll push him extra."

"That'll be a good thing though," Remus said mildly. "Spell wise, Harry's almost through fifth year. Granted, there's still plenty of extracurricular jinxes, hexes, and curses he could learn, but practically, he's almost ready for his OWLs in defense. He'd be bored in the fourth year class if he wasn't pushed. He's just so gifted in that subject."

"He needs to work on his transfiguration and charms more," Mad-Eye grumbled. "Defense is good, but the others can't be ignored."

"They're not being ignored," Remus responded dryly. "We did a little work on both, as well as runes and arithmancy, and that doesn't even factor in his elemental magic, which is astounding, and his sensing is also extremely developed. He was already an O student for Charms and Transfiguration, but we really worked on the fundamentals and theory, so he should find learning both subjects even easier this next year. Honestly, I think he'd be fine skipping to his OWL year in both subjects. He's not ready for his OWLs in both yet, but by the end of the year, I bet he'll be."

"He's gotten very good, from what I can tell," Sirius agreed. "Though, it's a good thing that I got him that exemption. It's taken him nearly over two months and he hasn't mastered those elemental illusions, and he still has three more things to learn afterwards. If he hadn't been working on it this summer, he would have struggled to have it complete by next summer."

"I help him conceptualize when I can, but it's all him," Remus said with a sigh. "That elemental magic is just beyond me at this time because I don't understand it like he does. Athena has helped him, as has Astra, but the stuff he's working on is extremely advanced, and it's just going to take him longer."

"For shame!" Dora exclaimed. "The great Professor Remus Lupin dealing with inadequacy!"

Sirius smirked and Remus grinned.

"I know, but we can't all be the incredible, smart, and powerful big sister of Harry Potter," Remus said mournfully. "We all wish we could be Nymphadora Tonks!"

"Don't call me Nymphadora, wolfie," Dora growled, and Sirius and Remus both grinned, while Mad-Eye rolled his eyes.

"Forgive me for my egregious error," Remus said with a bow of his head and a flourish of his hand.

Dora sniffed pompously. "If I must."

"Can we move this along?" Mad-Eye growled out.

"Fine, fine," Sirius said with a smirk.

"What about his smithing?" Remus asked. "Have the goblins said anything?"

"Harry's doing quite well there apparently," Dora said, "and he's been moving along more rapidly than I think any of us thought."

"Well, Gorlok noted that Harry only really needed to learn how to forge weapons, and work with leather or hide and wood, and while there's still plenty to teach with that, it's still a much more narrowed amount of information compared to what they were going to cover," Sirius said with a shrug. "I guess Harry doesn't really need to learn how to forge armor and things like that, at least not for his element, so he's got that going for him. I suspect Harry may ask to continue to apprentice under Gorlok and learn everything that the goblin will willingly teach him, since he seems to be enjoying his time with the goblin, but at least that will be after he's capable enough for Hades."

"Athena backing him makes me feel better," Dora muttered. "Her and Hades together are a mean combo, and I'm sure her guidance has been helping Harry learn everything he's been learning."

"He's made good progress on learning many of the different rites and rituals too," Mad-Eye grumbled. "We went over death and burial rites, blessings, marriage rites, and birth rites . . ."

"The latter two of which scared the hell out of him, thinking he might have to be involved in both," Dora said with a chuckle and Mad-Eye glared at her, and she just waved and smiled brightly at him, which caused him to roll his eye.

"We went over how to celebrate the summer and winter solstices, and went in depth on how he can help others give various types of tribute or seek audiences with the gods through him, and then last thing he and I did was a consecration ritual, which he performed on this house, which will keep certain types of dark creatures away, though it's going to take him a long time to finish that project of consecrating the entire property, like he wants to," Mad-Eye finished. "He still has a lot to learn, but he's making progress."

Sirius snorted at Mad-Eye's repeat line. "We keep talking about how he's doing well, and he's made progress, but in comparison to every other fourth year, he's doing incredible!"

"Every other fourth year doesn't have Voldemort trying to kill him," Mad-Eye responded gruffly. "Harry is doing well, but he can't get overconfident. He still needs to practice constant vigilance."

The other three sighed at that, not necessarily disagreeing, but not liking that a fourteen year old needed to be on watch for something to go wrong, not liking that a fourteen year old might need to be paranoid.

Mad-Eye wasn't wrong though. All they could do for now was try and watch out for Harry, and help him prepare just in case he ended up in a bad situation.

**HP**

"What an incredible match!" Dora said happily, one arm around Charlie and her other arm around Ginny as they walked back to the tents that they'd be staying in for the night.

Harry, Sirius and the rest of the Weasleys were right around them, also talking about the Quidditch World Cup, and how astoundingly fast paced the match had been, how incredible the Irish chasers had been, and how amazing Krum had been. Krum alone had been almost enough for Ron and Harry to support Bulgaria.

"We'll have to tell Erika and Skye to pick it up," Charlie said with a grin, and Dora smirked at that. "England did far too poorly this time."

"They're already aware," Dora said with a chuckle. "Skye dragged me out to help her and Erika drown their sorrows after the loss."

"Poor Uncle Mooney is still having a hard time meeting Dora's eyes after whatever she did when he went and picked her up," Harry said slyly, and Dora blushed before glaring at him.

"Ah," Charlie said with a smirk. "Dora tends to get . . . affectionate when she's drunk, and you know your sister. There's no stopping her."

Dora blushed again, and turned her scowl on her old friend and first love.

"That is not completely true!" Dora protested, and Charlie's smirk turned evil.

"I'm pretty sure Skye, Penny, and myself would disagree with you, love."

Harry and Sirius laughed as Dora removed her arm from around Ginny to punch Charlie but he spun out of her grip and away, laughing.

"Aw, too slow, Nymphie!" Charlie taunted and ran off as she shrieked, pulling her wand and running after him, while everyone else laughed.

Raucous singing was borne toward them on the night air as they retraced their steps along the lantern-lit path, and leprechauns kept shooting over their heads, cackling and waving their lanterns.

When they finally reached the tents, nobody felt like sleeping at all, and given the level of noise around them, Mr. Weasley agreed that they could all have one last cup of cocoa together before turning in. They were soon arguing enjoyably about the match; Mr. Weasley got drawn into a disagreement about cobbing with Charlie, and it was only when Ginny fell asleep right at the tiny table and spilled hot chocolate all over the floor that Mr. Weasley called a halt to the verbal replays and insisted that everyone go to bed. Hermione, Dora, and Ginny went into the next tent, and Harry, Sirius, and the rest of the Weasleys changed into pajamas and clambered into their bunks. From the other side of the campsite they could still hear much singing and the odd echoing bang.

"Oh I am glad I'm not on duty," muttered Mr. Weasley sleepily. "I wouldn't fancy having to go and tell the Irish they've got to stop celebrating. "

Harry never knew whether or not he had actually dropped off to sleep - his fantasies of flying like Krum might well have slipped into actual dreams - all he knew was that, quite suddenly, Mr. Weasley was shouting and Astra barking.

"Get up! Ron - Harry - come on now, get up, this is urgent!"

Harry sat up quickly and the top of his head hit canvas.

"'S' matter?" he said.

Dimly, he could tell that something was wrong. The noises in the campsite had changed. The singing had stopped. He could hear screams, and the sound of people running. He slipped down from the bunk and reached for his clothes, but Mr. Weasley, who had pulled on his jeans over his own pajamas, said, "No time, Harry - just grab a jacket and get outside - quickly!"

Harry did as he was told and hurried out of the tent, Ron at his heels.

By the light of the few fires that were still burning, he could see people running away into the woods, fleeing something that was moving across the field toward them, something that was emitting odd flashes of light and noises like gunfire. Loud jeering, roars of laughter, and drunken yells were drifting toward them; then came a burst of strong green light, which illuminated the scene.

A crowd of wizards, tightly packed and moving together with wands pointing straight upward, was marching slowly across the field. Harry squinted at them. . . . They didn't seem to have faces. . . . Then he realized that their heads were hooded and their faces masked. He'd seen those masks in some of his history lessons with Mad-Eye. He knew who these men were.

Death Eaters.

High above them, floating along in midair, four struggling figures were being contorted into grotesque shapes. It was as though the masked wizards on the ground were puppeteers, and the people above them were marionettes operated by invisible strings that rose from the wands into the air. Two of the figures were very small.

More wizards were joining the marching group, laughing and pointing up at the floating bodies. Tents crumpled and fell as the marching crowd swelled. Once or twice Harry saw one of the marchers blast a tent out of his way with his wand. Several caught fire. The screaming grew louder.

Harry felt rage rise up in him, and at his legs, he could hear his familiar snarling as Astra grew from her now young dog look to her full size, which was bigger than the full size she'd had as a puppy.

"Harry! You need to take your friends and get out of here," Sirius said, coming up from behind him. With him were Dora, Hermione, and Ginny, the Twins, Charlie, Percy, and Bill. The three oldest Weasleys were fully dressed, their sleeves rolled up, and their wands out.

He knew his godfather was right, but at the same time, something in him was furious. A part of him, perhaps the part that belonged to a god of justice and punishment and a war goddess, wanted to punish these murderers who had escaped judgment. These cowards who followed Tom Riddle. The people who had scarred and injured Mad-Eye, the people his parents and family had fought. It didn't help that it was dark out. . . because the dark gave him strength.

Harry glanced at Astra, and felt her approval and then he ran towards the Death Eaters, ignoring the sounds of Sirius, Dora, and Mr. Weasley, telling him to come back.

**HP**

Dora was considering stunning Harry herself when he flicked his wand and seemingly disappeared in front of her eyes, and she had to curse his proficiency in his chosen element.

"No," Arthur said fiercely. "Fred, George, look after Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. We're going to help the Ministry and get Harry. You lot - get into the woods, and stick together. I'll come and fetch you when we've sorted this out."

"But, dad!" Ron protested.

"No," Dora said firmly, irritated that they were here stopping the rest of Harry's friends, rather than helping Harry. "Harry's got a god, goddess, and a hell hound watching his back in the darkness. You all do not. Get out of here and let us do our jobs."

With that, she ran off after her infuriating little brother, towards the large gaggle of Death Eaters who were still torturing the campsite manager, Mr. Roberts, and his wife and two small children, while some of their outer number engaged Ministry wizards, many of whom looked scared.

It wasn't easy though. She, Sirius, and the elder Weasleys were all trying to fight through the crowd that was screaming and trying to get away, and having to dodge as random spells came flying towards them, or flaming tents and other debris was sent towards them and the crowd. She was hoping that Harry was having just as much trouble getting through the crowd, but she doubted that would be the case. She wasn't that lucky, and Harry had a knack for finding trouble.

Dora saw the first sign of Harry just as she was breaking through to engage the first row of Death Eaters when one of the Death Eaters, who was hollering in joy suddenly went flying after something dark exploded against his chest. He had been holding one of the children, who dropped, but the young boy landed softly, and then seemed to disappear into the darkness.

Dora couldn't stop the grim smile from appearing on her face as she saw several of the closest Death Eaters glance around in shock and confusion, obviously wondering where the spells had come from, and why they hadn't seen the tell tale colors of an actual offensive or defensive spell being used. Unfortunately for them, Harry's most destructive spells couldn't easily be seen on a night like this . . . perhaps not even at all.

Dora, Sirius, and the Weasleys all started firing off, engaging the first line of Death Eaters who unfortunately outnumbered them, and made it hard for them to make any headway towards where she suspected Harry was. Dora herself was facing three opponents.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Death Eater Harry had hit groan and then disappear into the darkness.

"Where did he go?!" another masked man yelled.

Dora blasted away one of the masked Death Eatesr with a furious bludgeoning spell, before she was forced to shield herself from a volley of dark curses.

Suddenly, another one screamed, drawing everyone's gazes and Dora could see that the now kneeling man's wandarm had been severed at the wrist, and she couldn't help but feel a bit surprised at the viciousness of the attack. Was that Hades's influence? Athena's? Harry's own choice? An accident? Mad-Eye's influence? Her own or Sirius's? She certainly didn't disapprove, but was a bit concerned.

The injured Death Eater had been holding up the young girl, and she too, like her brother, landed on the ground softly, and disappeared.

"What the hell -" another Death Eater started to say and Dora watched as suddenly the man went down under Astra's weight as the Grim appeared out of nowhere and latched herself onto the man's throat.

"Avada Kedavra!" one Death Eater yelled and Dora saw the infamous green spell go towards Astra who faded away in the darkness, causing the spell to hit the Death Eater she'd attacked. In the distraction, Mrs. Roberts disappeared into the darkness.

Dora took advantage of the rapid distractions to stun another of her opponents, and the last man started falling back, his entire bearing screaming that he was nervous. Around him, the rest of the first line of Death Eaters was also falling back as other Ministry employees and witches and wizards started finding their backbones and fighting back.

"IT'S A GRIM!" a different Death Eater shouted, sounding panicked.

"It's Potter's!" another voice growled out. "Find the brat!"

"I'm right here," Harry said, and Dora felt her eyes widen as Harry's voice seemed to echo in the dark, almost ominously, and he appeared, looking calm, standing not far from where the Death Eaters just beyond the first line were.

Dora put some extra power into her spell and blasted her opponent away, determined to get to Harry, and then cried out as three spells went flying towards Harry, but he slashed his wand and he seemed to disappear behind some sort of dark shield that absorbed the spells before it faded, and Harry countered with another elemental curse, which blew through one of the Death Eaters shields and he went flying.

Harry ducked another spell and spun away, launching something else that impacted a Death Eater and the man dropped for unknown reasons. Harry raised another elemental shield, which absorbed a few Death Eater curses, causing several of the masked men to curse in anger as Harry faded from view.

"You think your tricks will save you Potter?!" one Death Eater yelled. "This isn't the Dueling Circuit!"

"It wasn't about me," Harry's voice echoed eerily through the darkness, seeming to sound over the screams of panic that still filled the air, and suddenly Mr. Roberts, who had still been floating in the sky, still spinning disappeared as Astra jumped through the sky, connected with him, and they both faded in the darkness.

Dora grinned proudly, and she made one last push, with Sirius, the Weasleys, and several Ministry employees, and they finally broke through the first line and then started engaging the inner Death Eaters, destroying any semblance of a line.

Dora engaged a larger Death Eater, firing off a volley of stunners and disarming charms, but the Death Eater shielded himself before returning with several nasty curses that Dora dodged, rather than shielding herself from.

She traded back spells before the Death Eater was hit from the side by a stunner, and Dora glanced over to see Harry having reappeared and was now firing stunners, disarming charms, and some of his elemental spells at the various Death Eaters who were trying to fight Sirius, the various Weasleys, and Ministry personnel.

Suddenly, the night sky was lit up by something vast, green, and glittering. Dora glanced up and paled, seeing a colossal emerald green skull, with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue.

All around, screams erupted, and Dora swore as the Death Eaters glanced at it, and immediately started disapparating away, leaving most of their few comrades that had been stunned, disarmed, or killed, in the case of the one hit by the killing curse.

"Arthur!" a wizard shouted, drawing Dora's attention. "Come on! We might still be able to catch the one who cast the mark!"

With those words, several of the Ministry wizards, including Arthur, disapparated together, leaving Dora with a still decent large group, including Sirius, the elder Weasley brothers, and Harry.

Dora glanced over, relieved to see that Harry seemed to be unharmed. She glanced around, and saw that Sirius looked unharmed. Bill had a cut on his arm, Charlie had a large rip in his shirt, and Percy was sporting a bloody nose. She could see several other Ministry officials who had burns, cuts, and bruises from the fight. It wasn't all that surprising. Dora would have estimated there to be thirty to forty participants on the Death Eater's side, though she thought a few of them had simply shrouded their faces, implying they never had Death Eater masks. She glanced back and wanted to curse seeing that one of the three she'd first engaged had escaped, since she'd never disarmed and bound him. The other two were still out cold.

"Where did the muggles go?" one man asked, staring at Harry with a frown. "What did you do to them?"

"He saved them, if you didn't watch correctly," Sirius said sharply, as Harry waved his wand, muttering quietly, and Dora watched the darkness around them fade slightly, revealing the four muggles off to the side, safe, but clearly out of it due to the experience.

Additionally, one Death Eater appeared, and Astra immediately appeared next to Harry, standing on two Death Eaters. Including the one killed by his own mates, and the one who was still sobbing and looking at his missing appendage, Harry and Astra, with assistance with one from Dora, had taken down six Death Eaters. She had knocked out two, meaning they'd captured eight of the thirty or forty participants. Not nearly good enough, but a start.

"Johnson, Lowell, take control of the two with Mr. Potter's familiar," a voice ordered, and Dora glanced over seeing Savage walk into the center and take control, though his saying Harry's name got a lot of murmurs of wonder and incredulity. "Littles, tend to the injured one. Proudfoot, check on the deceased one. Tonks, take control of that big one that you and Potter took down. Sirius, disarm and secure the two that Tonks took down."

Savage reached the one that was unmoving on the ground, and hadn't been hidden in Harry's illusions, and then he turned back to Harry.

"What did you do to this one?" he asked.

"Elemental sleeping charm," Harry said. "He'll wake up naturally if you want, but not for a while, or I can counter the spell."

Savage nodded and grinned. "Nice job, kid. Caleb, check this one, and secure him."

"Rick, he's underage," a wizard protested. "You shouldn't be encouraging him! He shouldn't be involved, and him and that beast of his being involved led to a death and the amputation of another!"

"Maybe not," Savage said firmly, "but his actions got four muggles out of harm's way, and last I checked, he's the one that captured five Death Eaters, while one of my off duty Aurors caught two. I'm not seeing anyone else for any of the rest of us, how about you? If you haven't noticed, he's a shadow elemental, and it's dark as shit out here. He had a tactical advantage, and obviously was able to hide and make his way through the crowds, which we were struggling to do. Besides, it was one of the perps that threw that killing curse. Not Potter's fault. Not Astra's fault. The severing charm wasn't outside of the box either, since they were throwing around killing curses and other lethal but lethal and illegal dark curses. Potter was defending himself and the muggles. That curse was alright in my book and in the law's book."

"They threw the killing curse at that beast!" another wizard protested hotly. "I don't blame them. That thing's an abomination."

"Her name is Astra, she's a grim, and she's not an abomination," Harry responded coldly.

"She's dangerous," the man responded shortly. "She led to a death here, and that's not counting what she did at Hogwarts."

"If you're talking about the killing of dementors," a female voice cut through the darkness, her tone cool, "then you would do well to remember that Mr. Potter and his familiar were cleared by the Ministry, since they were acting in self-defense when the dementors attacked them without provocation."

Everyone glanced at the newcomer, seeing Madam Bones, moving towards them from the direction of some of the burning tents.

"In addition, Mr. Lee, your department has been warned to stay away from Mr. Potter's familiar, and I would advise you to remember that, especially since his familiar has once again helped to safeguard lives and helped bring in dark wizards," Bones continued. "Now, Captain Savage, let's identify our perpetrators, and get them transferred to the Ministry so that Auror Black and Auror Tonks can check on their ward and get him to safety, since he is underaged."

Dora wanted to sigh in happiness at Bones's orders. The quicker she could get Harry away, the happier she would be.

"Yes, Director," Savage responded promptly, before he turned to Sirius.

June Caleb pulled off the sleeping Death Eater's mask and then she scowled. "Sylvester Bulstrode."

"Mr. Potter, how long will the elemental sleeping charm last?" Savage said, turning towards Harry.

"A couple hours, sir," Harry responded.

"Good, we'll leave him sleeping then," Savage said with a nod before he turned to the other Aurors who were all de-masking their Death Eaters, except for one of the ones Harry had knocked out, who had a concealment charm on his/her face instead of a mask.

"Our dead one is Norman Bletchley," Proudfoot said.

"Got Carson Flint over here," Littles said, while Flint cursed silently, having been put under a silencing charm, still clutching his arm in pain.

"Like father, like son," Lowell said, canceling the concealment charm. "I believe this is his son, Marcus. Mr. Potter?"

Dora saw Harry glance over and then nod.

"Yes Auror Lowell," he responded. "That's Marcus Flint. We were at Hogwarts together."

"Got Callan Harper over here," Kenneth Johnson, Angelina's father, said.

"Carlos Dobbin and Todd Higgs over here," Sirius said, having taken the masks off the two that Dora had knocked out.

Dora leaned over and removed the mask from the big one that she and Harry had fought.

"That's Garrett Goyle," Savage said, and Dora thought she saw a hint of satisfaction on the man's face. "Seems to me, we got quite a few formerly accused Death Eaters that claimed to have been under the imperius. I guess that was a load of hogwash."

"Caleb, Proudfoot, Lowell, Littles, Johnson, gather the seven prisoners for movement," Savage said. "I'll stay with the cold one. Black, Tonks, take care of Potter and report first thing in the morning."

"Understood, sir," Dora and Sirius both responded, before Sirius moved over to Harry and the Weasleys who had all gathered around Harry.

Dora started to move, but Savage leaned close to her and grinned. "That kid better be an auror someday. His resume already beats half of our younger force."

She smiled tersely and nodded in agreement before joining her friends and family.

"Let's get out of here," Sirius said, and they all turned and started heading back towards the tents.

"Blimey, Harry," Charlie said, sounding amazed. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Mad Eye's been teaching me, and Dora, Remus, and Sirius too," Harry said, and Percy sniffed.

"It's illegal to do magic outside of school," he said haughtily. "You can get into real trouble for that."

"Because of how often he's been attacked, the Minister gave him a partial exemption at the end of the last school year," Dora responded sternly, causing Percy to blanch. "He can only perform magic under Mad-Eye's, Sirius's, or my tutelage, so it's really more like approval to homeschool during the summer, but we are allowed to teach him to defend himself, including defensive magic."

"Looks like it's paying off," Bill said. "That was impressive, Harry. Those Death Eaters just weren't expecting an elemental, especially a shadow elemental, to engage them like that."

Harry nodded slowly. "Surprise, concentration, audacity, and tempo," he said. "Those are the major characteristics of offensive operations, according to Mad-Eye. Figure out how to utilize at least two characteristics, and most fights will go your way. I utilized three and you guys brought the fourth."

Bill and Charlie both laughed slightly as Sirius and Dora both sent Harry reproving and yet also proud grins.

Conversation fell away as they reached the tent, but nobody had yet made it back it seemed, which caused the three elder Weasley boys to worry about Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, who were still out in the dark.

Still, waiting a bit longer seemed prudent, since Arthur might have found them, so everyone sat around the small kitchen and living area, and Dora started tending to Bill's gash first, while Percy grabbed a cloth to put pressure on his nose.

It was only a few minutes before Fred, George, and Ginny came stumbling in, looking unharmed but shaken, much to the relief of everyone, but that relief was tempered when they revealed that they'd been separated from Ron and Hermione.

Fred, George, and Ginny started demanding to know what was happening, but Bill quickly told them to hold off until their dad got back, hopefully with Ron and Hermione.

Thankfully it wasn't much longer before a noise outside drew their attention, and Charlie poked his head out, and they heard him say, with a bit of relief, "Dad, what's going on? Fred, George, and Ginny got back okay, but the others -"

"I've got them here," Arthur answered, and she watched him enter the tent, Ron and Hermoine right behind him.

"Did you get them, Dad?" said Bill sharply. "The person who conjured the Mark?"

"No," said Mr. Weasley in a disappointed tone. "We found Barty Crouch's elf holding Hermione's wand, but we're none the wiser about who actually conjured the Mark. "

"What?" said Bill, Charlie, and Percy together.

Sirius, Dora, and Harry exchanged stunned looks.

"Hermione's wand?" said Fred.

"Master Crouch's elf?" said Percy, sounding thunderstruck.

With some assistance from Ron and Hermione, Arthur explained what happened in the woods. How Ron and Hermoine had been separated, and were moving away when Hermione realized she didn't have her wand, how they ran into Draco Malfoy, who they felt all but admitted his parents were part of the masked men, and how eventually they heard some man speak some weird incantation from where they had settled, an incantation which launched that green skull into the sky. Not long after, Arthur and those with him had arrived and stunned them both, but also stunned Crouch's House Elf, named Winky, who had been where the mark had been conjured from.

From there, they talked about how Crouch had tried to claim that Hermione had conjured the mark, but when it was pointed out that she was muggleborn . . . and only fourteen, not many took Crouch's claim there, which led to her and Ron mentioning the voice, which was what revealed Winky, holding Hermione's wand, which had greatly shaken Crouch. They then talked about how Crouch had taken control and punished Winky by freeing her.

When they had finished their story, Percy swelled indignantly.

"Well, Master Crouch is quite right to get rid of an elf like that!" he said. "Running away when he'd expressly told her not to . . . embarrassing him in front of the whole Ministry . . . how would that have looked, if she'd been brought up in front of the Department for the Regulation and Control -"

"She didn't do anything - she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time!" Hermione snapped at Percy, who looked very taken aback. Hermione had always got on fairly well with Percy - better, indeed, than any of the rest of them.

"Hermione, a wizard in Master Crouch's position can't afford a house-elf who's going to run amok with a wand!" said Percy pompously, recovering himself.

"She didn't run amok!" shouted Hermione. "She just picked it up off the ground!"

"Look, can someone just explain what that skull thing was?" said Ron impatiently. "It wasn't hurting anyone . . . Why's it such a big deal?"

"I told you, it's You-Know-Who's symbol, Ron," said Hermione, before anyone else could answer. "I read about it in The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts."

"And it hasn't been seen for thirteen years," said Arthur quietly. "Of course people panicked . . . it was almost like seeing You-Know-Who back again."

"I don't get it," said Ron, frowning. "I mean . . . it's still only a shape in the sky . . ."

"Ron, You-Know-Who and his followers sent the Dark Mark into the air whenever they killed," said Arthur. "The terror it inspired . . . you have no idea, you're too young. Just picture coming home and finding the Dark Mark hovering over your house, and knowing what you're about to find inside . . . ." Arthur and Sirius both winced. "Everyone's worst fear . . . the very worst . . ."

There was silence for a moment. Then Dora moved over to check Percy's nose and hit it with a quick "Episkey!" before Bill said, "Well, it didn't help us tonight, whoever conjured it. It scared the Death Eaters away the moment they saw it. It was good Harry and Tonks got a few of them, and got the Roberts family down, otherwise the night would have been a complete failure on our part."

"We only got eight," Harry said a bit sullenly. "There had to have been nearly forty out there tonight."

"Eight is still something," Dora said comfortingly. "We'll interrogate the seven brought in, and maybe we'll get some more off of them."

"What are Death Eaters?" Ron asked as Hermione said, "Harry and Tonks got them?"

"Yeah, Harry and Tonks nabbed quite a few of them," Bill said to Hermione before he turned to his brother. "Ron, it's what You-Know-Who's supporters called themselves," said Bill. "I think we saw what's left of them tonight - the ones who managed to keep themselves out of Azkaban, anyway."

"We can't prove it was them, Bill," said Arthur. "Though it probably was," he added hopelessly.

"It seems they've recruited too,"Sirius said with an angry huff. "That Flint kid certainly didn't have a mask. He's just following dear old daddy. Lot of good it did him."

"Flint?" Ron asked.

"Marcus Flint was one of the ones apprehended," Harry said.

"Didn't he just graduate from Hogwarts?" Hermione asked, and Harry nodded, before he turned to the adults.

"Something I don't understand is why Voldemort's supporters -" most of the room flinched - "were levitating the muggles. What was the point? It made it far easier for me and Astra to engage them."

"The point?" said Arthur with a hollow laugh. "Harry, that's their idea of fun. Half the Muggle killings back when You-Know-Who was in power were done for fun. I suppose they had a few drinks tonight and couldn't resist reminding us all that lots of them are still at large. A nice little reunion for them," he finished disgustedly.

"Though, hopefully your actions tonight, Harry, will have put a little bit of fear in them," Sirius said grimly.

"Wait, what did Harry do?" Hermione asked, while Ron asked, "Why did they Disapparate when they saw the Dark Mark?" said Ron. "They'd have been pleased to see it, wouldn't they, if they were Death Eaters?"

"Use your brains, Ron," said Bill. "If they really were Death Eaters, they worked very hard to keep out of Azkaban when You-Know-Who lost power, and told all sorts of lies about him forcing them to kill and torture people. I bet they'd be even more frightened than the rest of us to see him come back. They denied they'd ever been involved with him when he lost his powers, and went back to their daily lives. . . . I don't reckon he'd be over-pleased with them, do you?"

"As for Harry," Sirius said, looking at Hermione. "Harry captured five Death Eaters tonight, with Astra and Dora's help. Dora got another two."

Fred, George, Ginny, and Ron all looked at Harry impressed, while Hermione frowned before she glanced back at the adults.

"So . . . whoever conjured the Dark Mark . . . " said Hermione slowly, "were they doing it to show support for the Death Eaters, or to scare them away?"

"Your guess is as good as ours, Hermione," said Arthur. "But I'll tell you this . . . it was only the Death Eaters who ever knew how to conjure it. I'd be very surprised if the person who did it hadn't been a Death Eater once, even if they're not now . . . Listen, it's very late, and if your mother hears what's happened she'll be worried sick. We'll get a few more hours of sleep and then try and get an early Portkey out of here."

Dora looked at Sirius who looked as unhappy as she was. She wasn't old enough to fully remember everything back during the dark times, but she knew that the Death Eaters coming back into the open couldn't be a good thing, especially for Harry, and especially since he'd just talked about his scar hurting and Voldemort making plans that would lead to Harry's death.

While Dora had been a little concerned, despite her pride, watching Harry's actions tonight, she couldn't help but be glad that Harry's sort of apprenticeship under Mad-Eye was going to prove to be a very good thing. She had a bad feeling that Harry was going to need all the help he would get in the too near future, and that scared her immensely.