Chapter 8

Harry sat quietly near the pond of the Burrow, letting his feet lazily dangle from the wooden pier. All in all it was a beautiful last day before he would start another year at Hogwarts. The sun was already partially hiding behind the treeline in the back, basking the leaves in a golden light.

However, he couldn't fully appreciate the beautiful sight in front of him. Ever since he had talked with Daphne, it was hard for him to focus on anything really. It had gotten so bad that he had almost fallen off his broom today, when they played a friendly game of Quidditch in the backyard.

After the girl had broken down in front of him, they had talked. A lot. First it had been about her fear of basically everything after what had happened during the World Cup. All the time she would jump at the slightest unexpected thing, which had made her incredibly nervous about the upcoming start of the term. And although Harry thought that their talk had somewhat helped her resolve those issues, he knew that she still had a long way to go before things would go back to normal. That was if they ever did.

He knew all too well that some scars, physical or psychological, wouldn't ever truly fade.

After discussing the World Cup incident they had talked about all sorts of things. The new school year and their expectations, their friends and then she had also questioned him if he knew what Dumbledore and her father were talking about.

Luckily he had been able to honestly say that he didn't really know. Dumbledore had not shared much with him over the summer on what he and Moody were doing in regards to Voldemort's resurgence, which had annoyed him to no end but in this case it came in handy.

When the two men returned from the office Daphne and himself had struck up a tentative… friendship? He wasn't really sure.

She had said that they would see each other at Hogwarts but nothing more.

If he was honest he was very much looking forward to seeing her again. He felt like she could relate to some things that happened in his life better than most people could. She was also quite sharp witted as he had found out. Every now and then, even giving Hermione a challenge on the top spot of their year in Hogwarts.

The fact that she was drop dead gorgeous, didn't lessen his anticipation in the least.

But all of those things were not the reason he couldn't seem to focus. No, the problem was something else entirely.

During their talk he had slowly realised that Daphne wasn't the only broken one in the room. He had only gotten very good at suppressing that fact. But he had never really talked with anyone about the traumatic events that had happened in his life so far.

The treatment of the Dursleys during his earlier childhood alone would probably warrant lifelong therapy sessions. And that didn't even include the life threatening encounters he had in his Hogwarts years.

However, just because he now knew that he should talk with someone, didn't help him all that much. Because there was simply no one that he could talk about those things with. His best friend Ron wouldn't understand and Hermione was seemingly avoiding being alone with him ever since he had confessed to have killed those Death Eaters.

Daphne would surely understand, but if he had to be honest, didn't know her all that well.

He supposed that he could write to Sirius about all of those things and vowed to do just that, but exchanging letters was simply not the same as talking face to face.

"You know, I had trouble talking about the stuff that happened in the chamber for quite a while." a voice behind him said, startling him.

Looking behind him with his wand drawn he saw Ginny standing behind him.

Harry relaxed and pocketed his wand again.

"Merlin, Gin, don't sneak up on me like that!" he exclaimed.

The girl only chuckled before turning serious.

"You know if you want to talk, I'm a pretty good listener."

"Did she read my mind?" Harry thought flabbergasted.

"Why do you think I need to talk about something?"

The youngest Weasley looked at him in disbelief and said "Seriously? Ever since that stuff on the World Cup happened, you haven't been the same. And after you came back with Dumbledore you looked even worse. Even Ron has noticed for Merlin's sake!"

Harry had to admit, if even Ron had noticed his changed attitude then he must have been giving off really bad vibes.

He briefly glanced at Ginny, contemplating his next actions. On the one hand he wasn't sure if he was really comfortable to talk with his best mate's little sister about all of those things that lately plagued his mind but on the other she was probably one of the few people that could actually understand what he was going through.

Finally, he made his choice and started with a sigh "To be honest I'm not even sure what bothers me right now. It's just so many small things at once I guess…"

"Well just start with the most recent issue then." she gently told him and sat down next to him on the pier.

"I… I don't feel guilty for killing those Death Eaters. I think I should but… I just can't… I learned so many things about them this summer. What they did… or used to do. It made me sick. And I think the world is much better off without them." he confessed quietly.

Ginny just sat there nodding and gestured to him to continue.

"So, on the one hand I think I did the right thing, but on the other… I still killed that day and feel no remorse. Does that make me a bad person? Am I becoming what I hate?"

For a while the youngest Weasley said nothing but stared at him intensively "You know after you've gotten me out of that chamber, I felt so guilty for petrifying all those people… It took a while and quite a lot of counselling sessions, but eventually I realised that from the moment Malfoy slipped me that damn diary I was never really in control anymore. Back then the only one that really made a choice was Malfoy. He had chosen to doom me and I could do nothing about it. It's the same thing for you really. The Death Eaters decided to attack all of those people that day. They willingly choose evil. You didn't. You only responded to their actions. And I think that's the big difference."

Harry shrugged "I could have stunned them, instead of killing them…"

"Could you? I know you are good with your wand, but could you have stunned five adult Death Eaters?" she asked.

"They would have killed me after I fired off the first spell… I wouldn't have stood a chance." he thought and shook his head.

"No, probably not." Harry admitted. But also remembered that one lonely Death Eater he had executed in cold blood.

His friends and most of the Weasley's didn't know that of course, because he hadn't been entirely truthful about that part of the story when he had arrived at the Burrow. It hadn't felt right to disclose to them what had almost happened to Daphne. Only Arthur, Bill and Charlie knew the truth. The rest thought that he had accidentally bumped into the man and in his panic had fired off the first best spell that had come to his mind.

Not that it mattered. Harry couldn't bring himself to feel anything but anger when remembering that particular Death Eater.

"There. You see! You had no choice, other than walking away." she confirmed and then continued "And as for becoming like them… Would you attack and kill innocent witches and wizards for fun?"

He shook his head.

"Then you have your answer." Ginny said with a slight smile.

That he had indeed.

In truth he had already known that before, but to hear someone else say it was an entirely different thing.

"Thanks Ginny. I think I needed that."

At that she patted his knee before standing up again "Anytime."

Cyrus Greengrass pinched his nose deep in thought, trying to process what Dumbledore and Moody had just told him. Had they not sworn a magical oath to tell the truth he wouldn't have believed them. The fact that those events had happened right under the entire Wizarding World's nose, without anyone ever noticing, was simply ridiculous.

That his two daughters had been in rather close vicinity to those often lethal situations made his stomach turn and he could already feel the tinges of a growing headache.

Nevertheless, if those two were to be believed then there was quite a bit to be done. There was already a plan forming in his head, the years of experience as a businessman paying off considerably at that.

After a while of pondering he sighed before explaining his train of thought "If we manage to substantially reduce his financial support, the Dark Lord will indeed have a much harder time to gain control. However, that will be no easy task. Especially as we do not have a lot of time to make it happen. He has simply too many followers with large coffers behind him. I think the best course of action is to go for the big fishes, namely Malfoy, Avery, Nott, Lestrange, Winter, Rookwood, Selwyn and Mulciber. They undoubtedly make for the majority of his economic and financial backing."

Moody snorted "We already know that. But how do you plan to do it?"

Cyrus rolled his eyes at the man's impatience.

"Well let's shorten that list a bit first, shall we?" he answered easily "As all members of the Lestrange and Rookwood family currently reside in Azkaban, their assets have been frozen. Upon their Death those will be forwarded to their next suitable relative, which in case of the Lestrange's would mean Bellatrix's sister, Narcissa Malfoy, because she is the only living member of the Blacks who has not been disowned. Augustus Rookwood is the last of his line, with no suitable heir to inherit the fortune-"

"So the Ministry will seize the vaults in Gringotts and put the properties up for auction." Dumbledore finished.

Cyrus nodded "Precisely."

The old Auror frowned "How does that help us? Voldemort is going to break them out sooner or later, right? So they ain't dying in prison and even then the Lestrange money will just go over to Malfoy."

However the Greengrass patriarch just grinned shrewdly "Unless we find someone who has a better claim on the fortune. Wouldn't it be unfortunate for dear Lucius if his wife was suddenly disowned by the Lord of her previous family, which would make her unfit to inherit the Lestrange and also the Black fortune?"

"A shame indeed…" Dumbledore mussed, when he had caught onto Cyrus' plan.

"There is no Lord Black anymore." Moody countered.

"In the eyes of the Ministry, no. But luckily Gringotts and magic itself do not see an unjust incarceration as a reason for disownment."

Alastor was silent for a moment before laughing "You mean Sirius is the Lord Black?"

Cyrus nodded seriously and replied "In the eyes of Gringotts and family magic, yes. Which means he can disown Narcissa from the Black family, making him inherit the Lestrange fortune if they ever have an… unfortunate accident."

"You want to kill them?" Dumbledore asked, shocked.

Lord Greengrass shrugged nonchalantly but his voice was cold as ice "Azkaban is quite a hostile and unhealthy environment. Accidents happen all the time…"

"You cannot ask us to just murder them! We'll be not an ounce better than the Death Eaters if we resort to such measures!" growled the headmaster and angrily stood up towering over the much younger man.

However Cyrus was not intimidated in the slightest and furiously bit back "Forgive me Dumbledore, but I was under the assumption that you would want to win the war before countless innocent people need to die!"

Before Dumebledore could even open his mouth the Lord added "Remember you asked me to help you, not the other way around. You may not like it, but you won't win against You-Know-Who without getting your hands dirty. People will die either way. But now you can decide whether that is going to be the innocent ones or those murdering psychopaths. Make up your mind!"

It had been a good half century since Dumbledore had been chastised like that and the wizard sat back in his chair flabbergasted. The thought of killing off another human being just because they were in their way didn't sit right with him. Although he logically knew that this was exactly what would happen.

Moody had no such qualms and excitedly rubbed his hands together, a vicious grin spreading over his marred face "Finally some excitement! When can we do this?"

"Not so fast Mr. Moody. Azkaban is one of the final steps in the grand scheme of things. There is a lot to be done before that." Cyrus said at which the old Auror pouted disappointed.

Dumbledore sighed "Let's say I agree. What do you want to do before that?"

"Well first we need to… let's say set the stage." answered the Lord with an evil glint in his eyes "Our dear friend Lucius won't know what hit him."

On the Hogwarts Express…

As always the entire Weasley family had been rather late for the Hogwarts Express and Harry and his friends just barely made it on the scarlet train before it took off the platform.

"Pew, that was a close one!" Ron panted as they made their way through the narrow corridor of the train. The twins had already disappeared into the other direction to meet up with their friend Lee Jordan, which left Harry, Ron, Hermine and Ginny to look for their own compartment.

"It wouldn't have been so close if someone had finished packing the day before!" huffed Hermione and glared at her red haired friend, who just grunted something unintelligible in reply.

Harry rolled his eyes, as there was no doubt that his friends would undoubtedly start to bicker yet again and pushed ahead to search for a place to sit. Soon enough they had reached the last carriage and he smiled when he saw a glint of the familiar honey blond hair within one of the first compartments. He gave Daphne, who was sitting with an unknown girl and her sister a wave when he passed by, which she returned with a nod and a tentatively raised hand. Only when the girl was no longer in his sight, he realised that his friends were just behind him and had obviously seen the silent exchange.

Hermione basically pushed him into the next best empty compartment and gave him a look of disbelief. Mentally bracing himself for the interrogation Harry magically floated his trunk into the overhead rack before sitting down with a sigh, with Hermione and Ginny taking the opposite seats. Once Ron had closed the compartment door the girls leaned curiously forward.

"Harry, since when did you know Daphne Greengrass?" the bushy haired witch asked.

He scratched the back of his head, thinking about what he could possibly say to avoid answering that question.

Oh, I rescued her from beeing raped by a Death Eater by killing the guy from behind with a piercing hex, was after all not something he was particularly keen on sharing.

"Dunno, I met her at some point last year I guess." he said.

Hermione frowned "But you never mentioned her before."

"So?"

"So? She's a Slytherin!" Ginny exclaimed "How did you even meet her?"

When mentioning the house of snakes Ron next to him peaked up as well "A Slytherin? No way mate!"

Harry rolled his eyes in annoyance "Yes, yes! I know a girl from Slytherin. What's the big deal?"

His best friend gaped at him in disbelief before he yelled "What's the big deal? They are slimy, backstabbing snakes, the whole lot of em'! Just look at Malfoy! You can't seriously be on speaking terms with one of them!"

"First of all, not all Slytherins are like Malfoy. Heck I was almost put there by the hat." Harry pointed out with a shake of his head at the red head's narrow minded view and then turned to Hermione "And second. Why was I supposed to mention her? We are just acquaintances."

All of his friends went beet red when he finished his rant and he raised one of his eyebrows, daring them to contradict him.

When none of them did he leaned back in his chair, trying to enjoy the silence.

Harry knew very well that he couldn't keep his friends out of the loop on all of the recent events indefinitely. Eventually he would have to come clean with them, that he started to realise now.

"I should probably ask Dumbledore or Moody if I can reveal a bit more." he thought.

After all, the fact that he had received some additional training in the summer was hardly important enough to remain classified. Revealing that piece of information to his friends would probably be enough to get them off his back.

Eventually it was Ron who disrupted the awkward silence in the room when he asked "Anyone up for a game of chess?"

Relieved, Harry nodded eagerly.

The majority of the train ride was rather uneventful after that, with the exception of a high pitched squeal of pain that came from the cabin that Daphne and her friends were situated in.

When Harry had stepped out of their compartment to see what the commotion was about, he managed to catch a glimpse of Draco Malfoy limping in the other direction, one hand pressed to his groin. Apparently the idiot had bitten off more than he could chew.

Sensing a funny story, Harry had vowed to question the Slytherin girl later about that incident.

However, right now, as they were about to get into the carriages he had a different issue. Namely the scary skeletal black horses that were pulling them.

"Uh guys?" Harry said and pointed at the creatures "Does anyone know what those… things are?"

Ron looked at him confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Those creatures pulling the carriages!" he exclaimed and once more pointed at them.

"Uh Harry, nothing is pulling the carriages. They always drive on their own." his friend replied with a frown.

Hermione too gave him a bewildered look and then he realised that his friends were actually unable to see the creatures in front of them.

"Looks like I'm finally going crazy…"

Taking a deep breath, he mustered up the courage and stepped up to the skeletal horses who eyed him wearily but were otherwise calm. Taking that as a good sign he tentatively reached forward and brushed his hand over the creature's snout. Harry sighed in relief partially because he could feel a leather like skin, meaning it was real and he was not going crazy and on the other hand because the creature hadn't mauled him immediately.

"Harry? Everything alright?" Hermione gently asked from behind him, evidently worried.

Instead of answering her he just took her hand and led it over to pat the horse.

The girl gasped in wonder when she made contact.

"W-what is that? Why can't I see it?"

"That's a Thestral. You can only see them if you've witnessed death." came the unexpected answer from behind them.

They all turned around to see a small girl with dirty blond hair standing next to Ginny, who introduced her as Luna Lovegood.

"So I guess you can see them too?" Harry tentatively asked.

"Yes, I can." replied the girl in a dreamy, almost absent minded voice.

Even Ron had the tact to not question her further on that matter. Although Hermione's foot colliding with his shin as he was about to open his mouth seemed to help that matter.

"Shall we get up to the castle then? I hope they have pudding!" said Luna and climbed into the carriage, followed by Ginny and Hermione.

Ron looked at him questioningly and Harry shrugged.

"Well, at least it's not the Whomping Willow."

AN: First of all, sorry about the delay, but life has kept me rather busy lately and the chapter required quite a bit of detailed planning for the future.

Anyway what is your thought on the story so far? Do you like the addition of Lord Greengrass? Personally, I like how he changes the dynamic between the peaceful Dumbledore and the unhinged Moody.

I'm rather curious about your opinion.

-Inverted Logic