Chapter 28: Message to Molly

Malfoy Manor, 12th November 2010, 1200 GMT

Hermione looked at Percy and smiled, even as the rest of the group were silent.

"Percy, are you ready? I could have sent Penelope but I need her here for some critical plans."

Percy smiled, "I am fully ready. Do you want me to repeat the message to Mom?"

Hermione shook her head, "I want you to recount the entire sequence of planned events."

Percy nodded, "Right, this is the sequence. I Apparate to a spot, 700 meters from the entrance gate of the Safe House. I prominently carry a White Silk flag, indicating to the captors that I have come in peace. Bowing to them, I say that Hermione has an uplifting morale boosting message to Molly. I then act casual, allowing them to insert a spying device. Once I meet Mom, I relay her your message, verbatim.

"Irish Ice-cream is the best ingredient bringing a perfect edge to the finest day."

Then I will see her food levels, replenish them with my spell and come back here."

A genuine smile lit up Hermione's face as she said, "Perfect, Percy."

Everyone except Athena, Adena, Luna and Penelope wore a blank look, and these 4 wore warm smiles.

Ron moaned, "Mione, what does this message even mean? What will Mom understand from this?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and looked at Ron with a snide, "Ron, you do realize that this is a message to the Dark side and not Aunt Molly, right?"

Harry interjected, "Of Course we know that, Hermione. As much as we look like ones, we are not babies. However, what does this message mean?"

Hermione gave Harry a scathing look, "In our childhood, I asked you to visit one building often and that was the Library. Even now, at the Ministry, I will give you that privileged access. All your answers are in there. However, from now on-wards, I will not be babysitting you. We will communicate to Molly and the dark side in simple coded messages and apart from the 4 of the girls, and possibly Neville, Fred and George, rest of you boys and girls, need to seriously catch up. I can give you hints in writing but never in words, in case we are monitored."

Harry smiled sheepishly, "You appear to be a stern school teacher. Professor McGonnagal would be so proud of you- stern but caring. I promise you that we will enlist the help of Fred, George and Neville and decode your messages."

Hermione looked at Ron sternly, "I expect better from you, Chessman. These puzzles are your forte."

Ron gave her a shy smile.

Hermione returned her gaze to Percy, "Percy, are you ready to go in half an hour?"

Percy nodded, "I am absolutely ready. I have asked Harry about the Safe House location. The white silk flag is prominently displayed from my collar. I don't intend to get Hexed. I will meet you back here in 30 minutes. I am going to my own couch now for some quiet contemplation. See you soon, folks."

Adena, Athena, Penelope and Luna surrounded Hermione as others took a break to drink and relax.

Adena spoke to Hermione in admiration, "Hermione, if your message content is true, it will ruffle plenty of Dark feathers. This impact will be even more than my constant thumbing them down under pressure. However, do you think it is wise to send them a veiled threat?"

Hermione nodded, "I hate that they alone have the monopoly of fear as a weapon. They ought to get a taste of their own medicine. And by the way, the message is true. It is just that the timeline is more expanded than the message details. We need not tell them everything. They also drop hints, not let us know very bit of their arsenal."

Athena smiled, "You are even braver than me. Even with my immortality boon, I have never considered taking them on in an intellectual battle, let alone a physical one."

Hermione agreed, "As times change, so must the strategies. To avoid the latter, we must engage in the former. I do not wish for another bloody war, for neither of the 4 worlds. I have Natalie and Adena from the Dark and Middle worlds, as well as Celia and Dudley, from the Muggles, and I wish the whole world, well."

Natalie lost a grip on herself and smiled and tears and so did Dudley and Celia. Adena also smiled in true admiration as she spoke, "I was so wrong about you, Hermione. I thought you were power obsessed. Instead, you are an inspiring leader, holding everyone together with your kindness and intelligence. No doubt I deserved the final scolding given by Jack and Lucas. I don't think Lucas will be too much into the affairs of running the empire, after returning from his Zen excursion. He will take time to mourn his best friend."

Hermione shook her head, "I like power but I use it well. A lot of this credit goes to Uncle Arthur, who mentored me step by step, for 6 years. He disregarded the fact that I was a Witch. I can never thank him enough."

Malcom appeared, "Hermione, Percy want to have a 1-2-1 discussion with you, before he leaves." He bowed and vanished.

Hermione nodded and went to the front gate.

Percy bowed to her, "Thank you for giving me this chance. Throughout my life, I have always been part of the system and done nothing extraordinary. With this mini mission, you make me feel that I make a difference. Even Neville killed a Horucrux but I have never did a single extraordinary thing in my life."

Hermione smiled, "Each of us have their unique gifts. Imagine, Harry handling Admin and Ron teaching Botany. You are the best as what you do and when I can ask you something, I have a 1000% faith that you will do an excellent job. Harry, Draco and my core team have a glamorous profile but they can't function without proper input of a million heroes who provide the wind to a soaring eagle."

"Thank you, Hermione. You have a way of letting everyone feel good about themselves and also to pull them back to ground, when they start feeling vain."

Percy and Hermione did a light HI5 before he went away.

As he touched on the grounds of India, Percy looked around. At a distance of 2 Km, he could make out the Sprawling Building of Bangalore International Airport. Wafting smells of Indian and Western cuisine salivated his senses from the shops outside and he took in the sights and sounds of India. Moments later, he was fully alert and made out a Wizard in Muggle clothing. Percy had also changed into the same.

Percy secured his wand in his clothes, took out his silk white flag and walked to the wizard. This was a local Dark Wizard, with olive brown skin tone. There were 4 others, all looking at Percy now.

"Greeting from the Good World. I am a bearer of Hermione's message to Molly. I am ready to hand over my wand and any other security checks before I meet my mother, your in house captive."

The tall boy gave a curt nod, "Please wait here a moment, while I talk to my boss." He ambled into an AC Cabin.

Moments later, he came out and asked Percy to deposit his wand and valuables in a box and from the corner of his eye, Percy saw the boy insert a miniature spying device shaped as a tiny watch. He smiled. The plan was working.

Percy entered the safe-house. As soon as he saw Molly, for a moment he lost a hold on himself. He was for those few moments, just a boy, embracing his mother.

Then he carried the box around with him as he replenished the food supplies. Then keeping the box fully in audible range, he said, "Mom, keep your chin up. I have a special message to you from Hermione- "Irish Ice-cream is the best ingredient bringing a perfect edge to the finest day.""

Percy them embraced Molly again, told that Hermione had more messages coming and went out of the front door, took his wand and valuable, purposely leaving behind the hidden watch, and Apparated away.

Moments after Percy vanished, Nathan appeared.

He asked the local man, "Did you do what I instructed you?" The tall boy gave a curt node. Nathan smiled, took the watch and Apparated to the Slovenia forest cave.

When he saw Wolff, he smiled, "That Indian Boy is like a robot. He barely has any emotions."

"That is why he is an ideal Dark World pawn."

Both took the watch to the Senior Dark World leadership. All of them heard the message and as some of them wondered what it meant, Nathan had already decoded the message.

"IRIC (Imagination Reaction and Instinct Controller) is being perfected. If they have that weapon, we might as well surrender. If she can control the cream 60-80 wizards and witches here, they can take over the dark world. It is the most powerful next generation machine that amplifies the Imperius Curse manifold."

One leader shook his head, "It is BEING perfected, not yet perfect. We still have hope."

The only 2 witches in the senior leadership nodded and said, "This is a coded threat from the Good World. Hermione may be kind but they as a group are no pushovers. With their intelligence, they can take on and win any war, defending as well as gaining new territories and resources after each war. They already did that on their own in 3 wars and now they have allies in the Middle World. We need to decide our strategies carefully. We no longer have a monopoly on fear."

Percy landed back to Malfoy Manor living room. Hermione was the lone secret keeper of her home and arranged the property wards to accommodate the entire order of Phoenix, Adena, Athena, Natalie, Celia and Dudley.

Percy announced to the group, "This message has created an even bigger impact than we anticipated. Rafael from the Auror Department has an informal liaison with me. He has moles in the Dark World. In the last 7 minutes, the dark world is seeing plenty of activity."

Hermione spoke, "That is precisely what I wanted. I wanted them to be alert and not think that the Good World are toys to be played with. If this is a 3 side chess game, with 2 of them combining together, the Dark World ought to know the stakes that face them in the event of a full war. It is only fair to them to know it even as they agreed to Natalie's proposal and postponed the war."

Adena, Athena and Natalie thanked Hermione for her vision and empathy and finally, all of them sat down to a hearty lunch, prepared by Pernie, Patrick and Kreachera. All of them had a lot of work left to do, but things were looking up for all the parties concerned.

A/N: The whole story thus far has assumed a meek Good World and a Menacing Dark World with a sly Middle World. The world is not Black or White. It is grey. Every group has a mix of straight and pragmatic characters. The latter sect make any battle interesting, be it in a brainy contest or a physical war. This story is meant to celebrate Hermione, one of the greatest fictional Heroines apart from Scarlett O Hara, Jane Austen characters and the fantasy Marvel, DC and Star World series.