Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts
Harry entered the office to find Moody and Moony already there looking grim and determined. The Marauders had the basilisk armour which Harry had ordered while Moody was dressed in the Battle Robes he had bought when he joined the Aurors. Only Dumbledore was not dressed in any kind of gear but was sitting behind his table as if he had all the time in the world.
Harry raised an eye-brow and asked him, "Headmaster, are you not coming with us?"
Dumbledore shook his head, "No, Harry. As the Headmaster of the school, it is my duty to remain here to look after the security of the castle. With you and the defense professor gone for the night, we need some people around here to deal with any danger which may threaten the castle. It is not wise in the current atmosphere to leave the school undefended".
Harry nodded, "You are right Professor. Where are we going?"
It was Moody who answered, "We are going to the Ministry to the Department of Regulation of Magical Creatures. They have information about the whereabouts of the pack or the closest that they can manage. Amos Diggory, Minister Longbottom and a couple of others are waiting for us there".
Sirius, who was visibly excited, said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Dumbledore handed them a piece of rope, "This is a port-key which will take you to the ministry".
They touched the rope and with the familiar tug behind the navel, they all disappeared.
Hogwarts
Neville and Ron entered a deserted classroom followed by the twins and Hermione. After Neville had locked the door with a complex locking spell and Hermione had placed an imperturbable charm on the room, Hermione turned to glare at the others with her hands on her hips, "Now, will you tell me what is going on?"
Neville started, "Do you remember he said that he had something to do and went off by himself after classes? About 3 hours later, he returned in haste to the tower and started rummaging through his trunk. After a few minutes, he had those robes and a mask in his hand. When we asked what was going on, he simply told us that he was going wolf hunting. We tried to get him to take us along but he refused saying that we cannot deal with them yet. Ronald asked him if he thought we are weak and he said no but we cannot fight with a sword. The sword as I recognize belongs to the House of Potter because there was the Potter Crest on the pommel of the sword and as far as I know, he brought the sword with him at the start of the school year".
Hermione said thoughtfully, "It is true that killing a werewolf with magic is hard because they are fast and one would miss their aim unless they are experienced and can cast as fast. They can be killed by silver though and a sword would be the ideal weapon to fight with them. I wonder where he learned sword fighting considering that I have never heard of wizards using swords in battle".
Neville replied, "I know about it. There are many long swords in the Longbottom Family vault mostly the Viking type. They used to conduct their magic through those weapons. But that was during the age of mages when wizards were more adept at magic and they knew more than we do now. Since then the swords just sit in display boxes for others to gawk at".
Hermione as inquisitive as she was could not stop asking, "What are the swords made of?"
Neville sighed, "This is the last question for today. The swords can be made of different metals but the best ones are made of Goblin Silver and do not dent or rust or need to be whetted every now and then. You can bury one such sword in the ground and when you dig it up a decade later, it would not even be corroded a bit and no, Hermione I do not know how those swords are forged. That is Goblin Magic".
Hermione huffed but said nothing. Neville took his leave of them leaving them in contemplation saying that he had work to do.
Hermione turned to the Weasleys who were in the room, "Does your family vault have such swords?"
Gred replied, "Father told us that we used to have."
Forge added, "But they were sold to pay off debts our house had accrued."
Ronald asked her, "Why are you interested in swords?"
Hermione said simply, "So we can help Harry."
Fred and George could not stop laughing at this. When she glared at them, Fred raised his hands in a pacifying gesture, "Easy, Hermione. But do you think you can help him with sword fighting? He is nimble as a cat, powerful as a bull and I can bet that he is a master in sword fighting. Besides I do not think he is going alone on this hunt. There must be a few more people with him".
George added, "Not to mention that he can dodge almost anything. The way he can side step any curse, I would not put it past him to be able to dodge a killing curse though there is a better chance that the caster would be dead before he can complete the incantation".
Ginny scoffed, "He wouldn't do that. He is the nicest person. He cannot kill anyone".
Fred rolled his eyes, "Shows what you know".
Hermione said, "Explain what you mean?"
George started speaking like he was teaching to a small child, "Hermione did you observe nothing in the duels that we have seen him engaging in? Auror Moody is a warrior in spirit and all of us together could not beat him but whenever he fought Moody, it looked like Moody was fighting for his life. When he is fighting someone, his eyes have the bloodlust in them. I can bet he was pulling his punches whenever he practiced with Moody. Hell he defeated Flitwick in minutes and he is a nine-times duelling champion. Yesterday, with Malfoy in the Great Hall, he wasn't duelling. It was more like the way a cat plays with a mouse until the game got boring and he finished the git off. It was strictly a non-lethal duel but he broke several bones, gave him a concussion and the bruises and lacerations could not be counted. I would bet all the money in our family vault that the only reason Malfoy is still alive is that Harry was being very careful not to kill him".
Ronald who had been quiet for sometime said, "Don't you people think it fishy that the defense instructor seems to be very intimately familiar with Harry's power and skills? When the term started, they were even dueling around the lake every day".
Ginny nodded, "Yes, it is fishy. I have noticed too".
Hermione said nothing but took in everything that was being said and tried to figure it out. It frustrated her that she did not know enough to come to any conclusion.
Headmaster's Office
Neville Longbottom arrived for his weekly session with the Headmaster in his office. He found the old wizard lost in thought. Neville had no problem in getting access to his office because Albus had instructed the Gargoyle to let him in whenever he visited. Albus was sitting in his chair, his eyes closed, worry lines on his forehead. Neville could see the wrinkles on his face and realized that the old Headmaster was getting on in years. As per the available records, he was already above 100.
He softly said, "Sir?"
Albus opened his eyes and smiled tiredly, "Neville, take a seat."
Neville sat on a chair on the other side of the table and asked him, "Where did Harry go sir?"
Dumbledore gave him a half smile, "Did he not tell you?"
Neville knew the Headmaster was playing a word game and was not going to tell him, so let it go for the time being. Instead he asked, "What are you teaching me today, sir?"
Albus said, "Since the last time when I taught you how to recognize someone's magical signature, have you had any success?"
Neville enthusiastically replied, "Yes Professor. I can recognize people by their magical signature now. Everyone emits some magic all the time and it is never the same for any two people. I tried this with different people during the time between last lesson and today and I can recognize people by their magical signature now. However I have realized that it would not work for someone I have never met before because I would be unfamiliar with their magical signature".
Dumbledore beamed at him, "very astute, my boy. Now if I may ask, are you working on your skills? I know that you have learned your family Grimoire but are you getting sufficient time to practice those spells?"
Neville shook his head, "No. I do not know of a place in the castle where I can practice my family magic without the fear of someone walking in on me".
Dumbledore said to him cryptically, "There is a room in this castle where you can practice casting to your heart's content. It is a magical room and it only answers to those who are in need of it. I, myself only came across this room once in my hundred years but the elves tell me that the room is always there, waiting to be called".
Neville laughed, "Are you talking about the Room of Requirement? I know about the room but it is hardly secure when you can call upon it easily".
Dumbledore said again, "Don't worry. I will give you a room. I will transform an unused room into a training room with fortified walls and keep it under Fidelius. You can use that room for your purposes then".
Neville prompted him, "What are we going to study today, Professor?"
Dumbledore smiled, "have you learned Legilimency yet?"
Neville nodded, "Great-Uncle Croaker gave me a good idea about the art but I have not yet got the gist of it".
Dumbledore started explaining, "When you detect someone trying to intrude in your mind and is knocking on your mind shields, show them a horrible memory. It does not have to be one as horrible as Dementors swooping in to kiss you but one which can distract would be sufficient. As they are unsettled, throw them out of your mind".
Neville nodded and Dumbledore started casting the Legilimens curse upon him. They kept trying for two hours during which Dumbledore was able to enter his mind 10 times of which Neville was able to throw him out only 3 times.
Ministry of Magic
Harry and the others arrived in the Auror bullpen where Frank and Alice were waiting for them. As Alice saw Harry, she turned to Frank, "Really Frank? Now you are sending a child on a wolf hunt? I accept that Harry is powerful but do we have to ask him to deal with every trouble?"
Sirius mock chided her, "Hush Alice, you will make him cry. You don't want to make a child cry, do you?"
Harry rolled his eyes but said nothing. Alice embraced him warmly and he returned the gesture. Alice loved him like her own son but she never smothered him the way that Mrs. Weasley did. Harry loved both women equally and certainly had no problems with the two mother figures showering their affections on him.
Moody growled, "Alright, alright. That's enough of that now. We have a hunt to go on".
He turned to Frank, "Minister, who else is going on this or is it just we five?"
Frank shook his head, "Madam Bones told me that it would be a bad idea to send just the five of you so, I have picked Kingsley Shacklebolt and Gawain Robards to go with you. Go down to the Department of Regulation of Magical Creatures and Amos will brief you. Remember Alastor, you are the commander of the Aurors but Dumbledore has told me that the commander of this hunt will be Mr. Vikram Rana. He says that he is an expert in these things".
Vikram stepped forward and shook hands warmly with them, "Minister Longbottom, it is an honour to make your acquaintance". He gave a formal bow to Alice before the party went to the Department of Regulation of Magical Creatures. Harry was kept in the center of the formation away from the gawking eyes of the few ministry employees who were still in the ministry building.
Amos received them warmly and handed a parchment and a piece of rope to Alastor, "Last time they were spotted, the werewolves were somewhere near Cardiff. Since outwardly we are seen to be doing nothing, we tried not to follow them too closely but as far as I know, the woods around there would provide sufficient cover for them".
Moody nodded, "Right".
He turned to the group, "So we are going to Cardiff. Once we have arrived there, Professor Vikram will form a plan of action".
As the portkey activated, they all disappeared with a tug behind their navel.
Cardiff
They arrived in the woods and everybody pulled out their wands, alert for the smallest movements. After making sure that there was no one around, Vikram started briefing them, "We have seven people in our group and I believe that there are about 30 werewolves in the woods which means that we will have to take out four or five of them each.
The trees and undergrowth are thick and will provide excellent cover. This will not work to the wolves' advantage, but rather ours. Since the woods are vast and we have a lot of ground to cover, we will divide up into two parties to track them down. Whoever finds them first will send a patronus to the other group and we will regroup before launching our assault. Remember we are not taking any prisoners and are going to kill them. Try conjuring silver weapons and banishing them at the werewolves. Silver incapacitates them better than anything else. However I would also advise you to keep a silver weapon at hand so that if you are in close quarters with them or lose your wand, you are not entirely helpless".
Everyone conjured some sort of silver weapon for themselves except Harry, the Marauders and the defense instructor. The Defense Instructor produced a short sword which had been hidden in his robes while Harry tossed a silver dagger to Remus and one of the Black daggers to Sirius.
Vikram divided them into two parties with the Marauders and Harry being in one while the rest of them were in the other. Vikram pointed Harry in one direction while he went in another.
As they were walking, Harry put his mask on his face. Sirius asked him, "What is with the mask, pup?"
Harry replied off-handedly, "That is my battle gear. I am an honorary member of the Tribe of Mystics and they always cover their faces when in a battle or fight".
After walking for about 10 minutes, they could smell the Werewolf camp before they arrived at it. Fortunately for them, they had approached from down-wind. The sensitive noses of Remus from his werewolf abilities, Harry and Sirius from their animagus forms were all able to catch the scent of the blood from a fresh kill on the slight night breeze while they were all still 400 meters from the camp.
As Sirius started to walk forward, Harry caught him by the arm and whispered, "Look up in the trees around the camp. They will likely have guards hiding in them. We would be walking into an ambush".
He willed his eyes to see clearly and he could see that some of the trees had guards in them. He said to Sirius, "they have around 5 guards in the trees. I will take them out. When I transform, cast a disillusionment charm upon me then send a patronus to the others and wait for my signal".
He transformed and started climbing up into the tree like it was easy for him. Within a second, he was in the tree and strode forward stealthily. The forest was eerily quiet and the silence was over-bearing. He could smell the werewolf perched on a tree just two trees away. He could hear his heart-beats clearly and eagerly walked towards the guard. Perhaps they had killed some animal earlier because Harry could smell the blood and it was intoxicating him. When he was upon the werewolf, he gave a low growl which he was sure would not be heard by the other guards. As the guard turned, Blizz dived for his Adam's apple not even giving him a chance to scream. In a second, he had torn out the werewolf's throat and left it there to choke on its own blood. He crept towards the other guards and in the next five minutes, he had killed the guards. Remus had followed him on the ground and cast cushioning spells on the dead guards so if their bodies fell, they would not alert other werewolves.
As Harry transformed back, he could taste the blood in his mouth and it nauseated him. His stomach rebelled and he wanted to throw up. He remembered a potion which he had brewed with Prathimaan which could cure nausea. He had his potion belt on him and he quaffed the contents of the tiny phial. As his stomach settled, he cast the aguamenti in his mouth thoroughly cleaning it and then cast Tergeo on his clothes to remove the blood from them.
By the time he was finished cleaning up, Vikram arrived with the others with a similar mask on his face. Harry erected a privacy ward so that their plans would not be overheard by the werewolves.
Robards asked him, "Why are you both wearing masks?"
Moody barked at him, "Just do what you were sent here to do, Gawain. If any word of this hunt gets out, I will skin you alive".
Gawain Robards was acquainted with Moody's temper so he said nothing while Harry turned to Vikram, "Five of them are already dead, Professor".
Vikram nodded, "Alright, make a perimeter and start closing in. Make sure that no one can escape. When you see a werewolf, kill them. Remember if it comes to your life or theirs, your life is always more important".
Remus spoke, "They have a keen sense of smell. I can smell them from here. Thanks to Harry, they have no sentries, however, if one of them is awake in the camp and they smell us coming, this whole thing might not go the way we plan". He pointed with his arm in the direction directly away from the camp and said, "The wind is blowing that way".
Vikram replied, "We are well out-numbered. Surprise is of the essence for our success. We can use disillusionment charms, muffle our feet and scent masking charms".
Vikram tapped each of them in the center of their chest in turn. it was a sensation like being on top of a mountain with a cool breeze blowing for a few seconds before Remus said, " I can't smell any of you! Let's go."
With that done, they took care of the rest of the charms for themselves.
Vikram said, "Alright then. Gawain and Kingsley, you take up flanking positions and make sure that none of them escape. Alastor, you will take position on the right. Harry on the left. Remus and Sirius, move in from downwind. I will go around the camp to the upwind side. I will need about five minutes to get into position. The signal to attack will be when I set the first tent on fire. You will all get the tents burning as quickly as you can and we will take them out while they are still groggy and confused. Any questions?"
Alistor spoke up, "There are sure to be some wands among them. We don't want them disapparating".
Harry said, "They may have sentry wards. We'll have to take care of them if they do".
Vikram said, "While I'm circling around to the right, I'll take care of any wards in that direction. Harry, since you are circling to take position to the left, you can scan that way. Alistor, Gawane and Kingsley, lay down anti apparition and anti-port-key wards while you wait for the signal to attack".
With that, they all fanned-out to take up position.
AS Harry went, he cast detection spells and found no wards at all. Either the werewolves did not have a wand among them (Not all werewolves were wizards or had wands) or they were really over-confident. He cut into the camp as far as he dared and laid down anti-apparition wards and anti-port-key wards on the ground and on the tents on his side of the camp. Just for good measure, he cast a huge earth-wall just outside of the clearing. No werewolf would be escaping in that direction. He observed that the opening of the largest tent was pointing straight at him. With the Elder wand in his right hand and the Sandalwood wand in his left, one trained on the big tent in the middle of the camp, the other at the tent nearest him, he stood ready under his charms and waited for the signal.
The silence was full of the sounds of the usual night creatures. It occurred to Harry that their measures to go undetected had been successful. Another two minutes past, then a massive "Incendio" struck the tent upwind. With brutal precision, a split second later, five more "Incendios" struck the camp and the entire scene was ablaze with the lurid flames of the rapidly burning tents. Harry holstered his wands and drew out his sword and one of the Black daggers.
The disillusionment effect was dispelled by the gleaming goblin-wrought silver, however Harry preferred for them to look at him when they were dying at his hands.
Keeping his sword in his hand, he waited in silence while the other teams began their attack. There were a total of five tents in the camp. Harry was sure that they were enlarged inside similar to the one he had stayed in at the World Cup last year otherwise there could not possibly have been so many sleeping in them. One of the smaller tents was empty probably it had been the quarters for the guards who had already met their fate.
With the opening of the largest tent pointing straight at him, no less than eight werewolves struggled free of the flaming canvas and ran toward him in a howling mass. Then the battle-lust was on him and time seemed to slow down.
As the first one reached him, the point of Harry's blade found his heart. Before the creature even realized that it was dead, Harry kicked the rapidly shriveling body away, pulling the blade from what had been its chest. The basilisk venom would have done the job with a scratch, but this was good practice. The next werewolf had no time to feel pain or terror as Harry's blade passed cleanly through his neck on the backswing. The body toppled to the ground without losing momentum as there was no longer anything guiding the legs and the head rolled on for a few more feet.
There were at least 6 more who circled him now, ready to attack at once.
Harry got into his fighting stance, slightly crouched, with his feet well apart and the blades away from his body. He started to weave the blades in a hypnotic pattern, fascinating the creatures, trying to keep their minds off the fact that a very real flesh and blood war-mage was wielding them. One of them was not taken in. He rushed Harry and got the sword through his heart for his trouble. The blade was lodged firmly in the ribs and Harry let it fall with the body. He moved to one side as he drew out another dagger. With the body dissolving as if it were in a vat of acid, he would be able to retrieve his sword soon enough. He threw the dagger and hit another one of the werewolves in the throat. A moment later he crumpled to the ground in convulsions, his body looking like he had been hit with the blood boiling curse.
There were still four left standing. It didn't take them long to realize that standing back and circling wasn't going to save them, nor was rushing the blades one at a time any better. With a howl, they all charged Harry at once, hoping to tear him limb from limb before he could kill all of them.
Harry read the attack like a Daily Prophet headline and waited until the last possible moment to leap clear. He flipped through the air and landed beside his sword while the hapless werewolves crashed into each other, nearly knocking themselves senseless.
While they were getting themselves sorted out, Harry pulled his sword free of the now shrivelled body and stood up again, ready to kill. One of the werewolves charged him again and Harry kicked him in the chest, throwing him down. As the werewolf fell down, another dagger had left Harry's hand impaling him in his chest. The body began to expand and smoke as the entrails expelling curse took effect. By now, the remaining three were too deep in bloodlust and fear to even consider running. They attacked Harry as one body again. Harry flipped over their heads and cleaved a skull in twain on his way by. The remaining two turned around to see why there companion was no longer with them and Harry bound them both in silver chains with a gesture while they were trying to figure out what had happened. For good measure, he conjured an earth-cage to make sure they wouldn't bother him again while his attention was elsewhere.
The immediate crisis over, time seemed to speed up to normal as he surveyed the rest of the battle. The brightly burning tents provided plenty of light.
Remus had been having an easy time on his side because he could match the werewolves in agility and speed. He shot down two with bone exploding hexes before the third one dodged his curse and sunk his teeth into Remus's off hand. The werewolf hissed in pain and buried his dagger hilt deep into the other werewolf's back killing him. Another was charging him and Remus conjured a silver javelin which he banished towards the other werewolf's heart killing him instantly. He looked around to find Sirius fighting with two at once and joined him. Pulling his dagger free of his slain foe, he threw it and it buried itself in one of the werewolf's back while the other fell almost instantly to a bone exploding curse at Sirius's hand. Sirius growled at him, "Damn you Moony. That was my kill!" Remus looked around and found that Sirius had killed four of them by himself.
They turned to see Harry's blade, sailing through the air, chopping a werewolf's head in two, killing the last of the werewolves. Sirius cringed, "I did not know that he could use a sword so effectively. If Voldemort got in a battle with him without magic, he would make short work of him".
Remus concurred, "I agree, Padfoot, I agree".
They found the Defense Professor who they had connected with the mystics by now due to the mask, to be parrying with two werewolves at once. While Remus wanted to interfere Sirius held his arm, "Moony he does not need our help. He will kill those two in a wink". Indeed as Sirius had finished his sentence, the Defense Professor had buried a dagger in one of the werewolf's chest and impaled the other through his heart with such force that the blade had exited the other side. There were two more werewolves on the ground beside him, dead.
Moody who was fighting with only his wand, was laughing maniacally. Since he had got his new leg to work as well as his normal one, he did not really need his staff anymore yet he kept it with him and now they realized why. He was shooting spells with the staff and his wand. He was not doing parallel casting but it was impressive to watch. He had trapped one in a net of silver spikes and the werewolf was bleeding and dying slowly. The two others who were fighting him were having a hard time to defend themselves. He lassoed one of them in his fire whip and with a jerk he had the werewolf cleaved in two. The other tried to run and was shot with a bone exploding curse from behind and fell to the ground dead. Kingsley and Gawain were standing on the perimeter, their wands out and ready to kill any who tried to escape.
With the battle over, Harry cast a summoning charm to summon all his daggers to him and guided them into his belt as he had been taught aboard the Marichika which seemed like ages ago. Remus had also recovered his dagger and when he tried to return it to Harry but he refused to accept it and told Remus that it was his gift. He noticed the wound on Remus's hand and summoning essence of Dittany from his belt, he cleaned the wound before stitching it together.
Moody, who had been inspecting the dead bodies hollered for Harry, "Peverell, how did you kill those guards in the trees? They are missing their Adam's apples." The Aurors were gawking at the dead bodies in wonder and trying to arrive at some conclusions while Harry replied off-handedly with his face devoid of any emotions, "I vanished them, Master Auror.".
Kingsley in his deep voice asked him, "Why did you leave two of them alive?"
Harry looked towards Moody, "So that Master Auror can torture them to his heart's content and squeeze every bit of information from them".
Moody whipped his wand out and cast a bone exploding hex at one of the werewolves, killing him instantly and grumbled, "One is sufficient. I get enough satisfaction by torturing the recruits every morning". The Marauders laughed while the Aurors shuddered.
Harry, Vikram, Gawain and Kingsley set about the work of taking down the wards and levitating the bodies into the centre of the encampment. When they took stock of the battle, they realized that their only casualty was the bite to Remus's hand and since he was already a werewolf, no real damage done. Gawain and Kingsley, who both had a good view of the camp from opposite sides reported that none of the werewolves had even attempted to flee.
Moody yanked his badge from his robes and tapping it with his wand, gave some commands into it and slapped a port-key to the captive which would take him to a safe house where he would be tortured while he asked others to disapparate to the ministry.
Harry could not contain his curiosity, "What did you do with the badge, Master Auror?"
Moody replied, "Just sending a message to the dispatchers to send the second team this way. Someone has to clear up after us after all".
Harry looked around at the smouldering ruins of what had been the camp. Suddenly, he felt very tired and just a bit sick. He realised he had killed 13 but the feeling remained just for few seconds before he reminded himself that they were criminals. He realized that leaving the clean-up to another crew was a good idea.
Sirius took Harry side-along to the ministry while others apparated in the atrium. Frank was already there with Amelia and Alice who looked anxious. As they landed, Frank asked, "How did it go?"
Moody barked in laughter, "I enjoyed the hunting. Killed three of those scum myself".
Amelia asked him, "How many did Harry kill?"
It was Gawain who answered, "There were more than we had anticipated Ma'am. Since I was not engaged in active combat, I kept a body count. Lord Peverell killed 13 of them, Mr. Black killed 4, Mr. Lupin killed 5, Mr. Rana killed 4 and Master Auror Moody killed 3 of them".
Amelia was surprised, "13? That is extraordinary".
Harry addressed Frank, "Minister, if I may have your permission, I would like to leave. I have classes tomorrow and some very irate friends to deal with".
Frank told him kindly, "Of course Harry. You, Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin can leave".
Harry returned to the Black Townhouse since it was very late in the night and there was no reason to go and disturb his friends. The firing squad could wait till morning.
The next morning, Harry had Dobby bring his uniform from his trunk in the dormitory. He instructed the elf to clean the battle robes and return them to his trunk later with the mask and the sword. Afterwards he sat for a big breakfast prepared by Winky and even greeted Tonks cordially who had come to the Townhouse this morning looking for the Marauders. After breakfast, he took the floo to the Cottage on the Hill. Having had enough adventure for now, he performed glamour charms on himself and took the time to walk back to the school.
Hogwarts, the next day
Harry's absence from the castle was noticed in the morning when the students had turned up for their morning exercises. Susan had asked Neville and he had mollified her by telling her that they would discuss it later. Daphne had been hovering near them to know what had happened and was frustrated when Neville had refused to tell Susan anything. Daphne had been worried about Harry since last evening when they had abruptly ended their outing and returned to the castle.
As the students were getting ready for breakfast, Susan had dragged Neville to an unused classroom just off the great hall. Casting the imperturbable charm, she had elicited every bit of information about Harry and was determined to teach him a lesson for making her worry.
Breakfast was about to finish when Harold Peverell entered the Great Hall. Those who knew he had gone out Wolf hunting breathed a sigh of relief to see him back.
Susan Bones walked towards him, her wand in her hand and shouted, "Harold Peverell!"
Harry cringed internally and before anyone could say anything, he took her by her wrist and dragged her out of the Great Hall. Susan's admonitions and shouts were heard throughout the Great hall as he dragged her away from the rest of the students, making others laugh.
Harry dragged her to an empty classroom and after locking the door and casting a privacy ward, he turned to her, "What happened Sue?"
She glared at him, "What happened? You are an idiot, which is what happened. Could you not drop me a line telling me that you are going to play the hero without us? Longbottom told me about it this morning".
Harry gave her his lop-sided grin, "Sue, it was not my intention. It is that I was called at short notice which made it hard for me to inform anyone. I promise I will not do it the next time without informing you".
She said, "See to it that you do. Next time, I will hex you with all the dark curses that I know".
Hermione cornered him during lunch and insisted that he explain everything that had happened and answer all her questions. He refused to tell her everything but agreed that a meeting was in order to bring all of them up to speed about the happenings of the Wizarding World. He asked them to meet him on the fourth floor in the right wing of the castle after dinner.
He remembered that he was to meet the Ravenclaws this morning on the top of the Astronomy Tower but he had not turned up and they would be angry with him. He sent a message to the Ravenclaws to meet him in the Room of Requirement to talk.
All of his year mates from the Ravenclaw tower came to hear him and he escorted them inside. Lisa Turpin immediately made it clear that they were angry with him.
She looked at him scowling, "So Peverell, would you tell us why you made us miss our sleep and come to the Astronomy tower at dawn when you had no intention of turning up? Was this supposed to be one of your pranks?"
Harry said, "I am sorry. This was no prank. I was called away suddenly". He produced today's Daily Prophet for them, "Read the news on the third page and you will know".
The third page had a story of few paragraphs with a headline:
"WEREWOLVES FOUND DEAD
By Amycus Armdale
Yesterday, badly mangled bodies of three werewolves were recovered from the woods in Cardiff. The head of Department for Regulation of Magical Creatures, Mr. Amos Diggory said that they were entering the country illegally. They were wanted for capital crimes in France. The plan was to arrest and deport them according to our international expedition treaty but they were killed while resisting arrest.
The Department had received a notice from the French Ministry of Magic that 30 criminal werewolves had escaped their jurisdiction and were trying to enter Wizarding Britain to evade capture and punishment for their crimes. Acting on the tip-off of the Department, the head of Aurors Master Auror Moody led a team of 10 Aurors and apprehended them in the woods of Cardiff.
The werewolves refused to surrender and chose to fight them. In the battle that ensued, the werewolves had to be killed. A statement from the office of the Minister of Magic states that the act was authorized by the minister to curb illegal activities and to keep criminals from threatening our peace.
Meanwhile Master Auror Moody remains unavailable for comment on the issue.
While this is a good move, it raises some questions which need to be answered. Firstly how were so many werewolves travelling together? As it is known, there are no packs in England but all the werewolves seem to obey Fenrir Greyback, the most savage werewolf of modern times. Does it mean that they were taking orders from him? Secondly, if the ministry will authorize execution orders for magical creatures whose guilt is in question, will it not cause unrest among werewolves and disturb what little peace we have recently acquired thanks to the reforms made by the minister himself since taking up his office?"
As the students had finished reading the paper, they turned to Harry and Anthony asked, "What does it mean?"
Harry replied off-handedly, "I will only say that I was involved in it and it was due to this reason that I could not meet you people atop the Astronomy Tower. I promise that if you all were to turn up tomorrow I will more than make up for this occasion".
Harry gave a pleading look to Parvati which seemed to convey what he wanted to and she turned to the others, "So long as we have known Harry, we have not found him to be lying so, he has no reason to lie now. I believe what he says".
After Parvati had vehemently pledged her support to Harry, there was no room for grumbling or disagreement however Harry had to ask a question of his own, "Guys, I do not see any sixth years among you all or any seventh years or a fourth year for that matter. Is there a reason for it?"
Michael answered, "The seventh years will be gone by the end of the year and will need to be replaced if the war is not ended by then. The sixth years have many with shaky loyalties or they are disinterested. We figured that the fourth years would be too young so the only ones fit were us and here we are".
Harry nodded and dismissed them. As they left and he was sure that they all were away, he started making his way down to the fourth floor where Hermione, Neville, Daphne, Susan, Tracy, Hannah, the Twins, Ronald and surprisingly Luna were huddled in a room waiting for him. He found them on the Marauder's map and when he entered, he asked them to follow him out and led them to the mirror.
Gred who had realized where they were going said, "If you wanted to go to Hogsmeade".
Forge added, "You should have just said so, Harrykins".
Harry smirked, "Will you two idiots shut your mouth for a minute?"
He tapped the mirror with his wand and gave the password under his breath. The door opened and others climbed in behind him. The twins, who were bringing up the rear, closed the door behind them.
Harry took them some way forward and they reached where there had been a cave-in. Fred asked, "What happened to the cave-in?". George added, "The way was entirely blocked and we had to try the humped witch".
Harry gave them a big smile and said, "I repaired the way and fortified it with runes. The ceiling will not collapse again. And just so you two idiots do not get any ideas, I have put a ward on the mirror and you have to give a password to open it".
Harry produced a few blocks of wood from his bag and with a tap of his wand; he transfigured them into a big table like in the meeting room at the Black Townhouse and other blocks into chairs around it. As the students sat, Harry started telling them, "This is the first official meeting of the Order of the Snow Leopard. As you all can see we have a few vacant chairs here, they will be filled later with people I trust. We are independent of the Order of the Phoenix. Our only aim is to ensure the survival of the students and the wizarding world. In the last few days, a plan has been devised to lure Tom Riddle out. The finer details have been worked out. Around the time of Yule, the plan will be executed and we will force Tom Riddle into the open. After that, the war will escalate quickly, meaning that within 6 months at the most, we will have the final battle on our hands. We will face dementors, werewolves and maybe some inferi in addition to the death eaters. I initially feared that there may be Vampires but I am told that they are on the run being pursued by a renowned Vampire hunter and his squad. Yesterday the light made its first strike in this war and in one stroke, we have removed 30 werewolves who were coming to join him. I had been sent for by the Headmaster because he wanted me to be a part of this hunt. Now any questions?"
As expected Hermione had questions and lots of them, "What was with the robes? And the mask? And where did you learn sword fighting?"
Harry sighed, "Hermione you know that I cannot answer even one of those questions. There are bigger secrets at stake if I answered any of those questions. Just to satisfy your curiosity, the mask is part of my battle gear. Those robes are battle robes sold mostly to Aurors but can be obtained with permission of the DMLE".
Daphne asked him, "So what happened yesterday?"
Harry smiled, "Miss Greengrass I have just told you all that I can. I dare not say anything more about the matter. Suffice to say that it was a very satisfying hunt".
Neville asked him, "Harry I had been meaning to ask you if you would teach us sword-fighting?"
Harry shook his head, "Sorry Neville but I was taught sword fighting by some of the teachers I had this summer. They trained me to wield a sword and it is expressly forbidden for me to teach it to anyone else. However if you all can procure some weapons, I will make sure that you at least know how to swing them".
Harry then started again, "another piece of information which I thought I should share with you all. Voldemort has recruited 30 Giants who are on their way to Magical Britain. Hagrid who had been sent as an envoy to them is returning but our spies report that he is having a hard time of it due to certain problems which he is facing. It is expected that he would be able to reach here sometime in the next month. As for the Giants, we all know they are creatures of massive Magic resistance. As such, it is impossible to kill them with a single killing curse. Ordinary spells do not even work on them. To that end, I managed to convince the Goblins to construct some catapults which can be used to kill them or incapacitate them with boulders, stones etc. Once they are disabled, the ministry can do with them as it sees fit. To operate the machines, I have convinced Seamus Finnigan with his propensity to cause explosions (Everyone laughed here), however I need a few more people so I have solicited the help of the Ravenclaws".
When he finished, the twins asked, "Why didn't you ask us, partner?"
Harry grinned at them, "As it happens I need you to make a device for me. A device which turns liquid to fumes and disperses it in the air. The only catch is that the said devices would be planted inside a ball the size of a fist and would go off the moment the ball touches the ground. Do you guys think you are up to the task?"
The twins's eyes were gleaming with mischief, "Of course. But we will need time to create those things because we will need to research the charms to be introduced and the metals to be used in addition to the NEWTs at the end of the year. We can do with a researcher though".
Tracy Davis eagerly presented herself for the task, "I can help you both with this. I have a little knowledge of metals and I am very good at charms".
Everyone was snickering while George tried to look poker face and said to her, "Are you sure you want to help us or do you just want to sit there making googly eyes at my stupid twin here?"
Fred said to him, "Forge, who you are calling the stupid one? Are you forgetting that I am the brains of this operation?"
Harry admonished them laughing, "Enough or I will ask someone else to help me. Miss Davis can do the research and I will procure someone else's services for the design. The one who does will also get the patent.".
The twins unanimously replied, "We will do it, Harry".
Hermione asked him, "Do you not have any task for me, Harry?"
Harry gave her a smile, 'Not at the moment but when I do, I will be sure to ask."
He then turned to Daphne, "How are conditions in the serpent pit right now?"
Daphne briefed him, "Things are quiet right now while Malfoy is in the hospital wing. During a trip to the Hospital wing earlier today, I asked Madam Pomphrey about his stay and she told me that she would release him by tomorrow morning. He has been grating on her nerves with his whining and tantrums. She even had to petrify him twice to feed him potions. A few students contacted me about coming over to your side and I just told them that I would convey their words. You can see them by yourself later".
Harry nodded, "I will meet them one on one and determine where their loyalties lay". He turned to Susan, "Sue, what is the condition in the Badger's Hole?"
Before Susan could reply, Hannah spoke up, "Sue? Since when have you been calling her Sue and why did she not tell me about it?"
Susan hushed her friend and turned to him, "The Badgers are all with you, Harry except for a few of them who are either too pompous or their families are involved in back-door deals with Tom Riddle."
Harry turned to Luna, "Luna, what is the condition in the Eagle's nest?"
Luna said in her dreamy voice, "Oh, the Eaglets are fine. Some of them are corrupted and you need to watch out for them. The Blibbering Humgdinger says they were rotten eggs". After telling her share of information, she sat quietly. Harry, looking at her, noticed that her shoes and her jewelry were back. It looked like his message to the Claws got through. Knowing her to be done, Harry dismissed the meeting.
As he was left with the Lions, Hermione asked, "Harry why did you let Luna in?"
Harry looked at her curiously, "What is your problem with Luna? I did not even know that you were acquainted with her before this year".
It was the twins who said, "She lives near the Burrow and used to come over to play with Ginny. She came a few times and Hermione thinks that she lives in some fairyland".
Harry turned to Hermione, "I understand that she seems a bit odd. But she is powerful. Magically she is well above the average of Wizarding Britain but there is a power in her which others do not know about. Her queer way of being around others is the only refuge she has to stop others from hounding her. Are you scared that she knows about your extended night patrols?"
Hermione turned red and tried to say something but could not form coherent words. Ron snapped at him, "What are you even talking about, Harry?"
Harry said in undertone, "Prefect Patrol, Third Floor, Broom cupboard". The red head shut his mouth with an audible click while his face turned beet red. He was thankful for the small mercy that the twins had gone in search of something for some prank they were planning.
Daphne and Tracy were on their way to the Serpent's pit after the meeting when Luna seemed to appear out of nowhere and pulled Daphne aside, "Daphne, can I have a moment?"
Daphne had never spoken with the Ravenclaw before, but she had seen her talking to Harry at times and he apparently held her in high regard. Also the Ravenclaw had the tendency to cause chaos with her words. All things considered, it looked like she should talk to the Ravenclaw. She could not afford for Luna to blurt out in front of everyone that she was infatuated with Harold Peverell. That would open a can of flobberworms.
She turned to Luna, "Yes Heiress Lovegood". The Lovegood family was old and a part of the Sacred 28. The House had a seat on the Wizengamot and by rights she was called Heiress Lovegood.
Luna gave her a brightening smile, "You do not need to be formal with me".
Daphne deadpanned, "Of course, Luna. Now tell me, how can I serve you?"
Luna said to her simply, "You should stop chasing Harold Peverell".
Tracy asked her a bit coldly, "And if I must ask, why do you say so?"
Luna was unfazed by Tracy's cold demeanor and looking Daphne directly in the eye, said, "The future is full of sorrows for him if you decide to pursue him. There will be too much pain and strife that he will have to face if you continue on this path. I felt like I should warn you because the war will already bring too much death and misery".
Luna drifted away after saying her piece leaving Daphne standing there. Tracy had to shout in her ear to bring her to her senses again, "Daph, where are you lost?"
Daphne looked at Tracy as if she was disoriented and asked her, "Do you have any idea what she meant?"
Tracy shrugged, "I have never seen her like that. Usually she is dreamy like, has a singsong voice but this time she sounded like she was sane and knew what she was talking about. Maybe you will have to ask Harry about it". Daphne decided that she would talk to Harry about it and ask what Luna might have meant.
As they were nearing the dungeons, they did not notice the shadow which was following them and Tracy chastised her, "You have not told me about what happened on your date yesterday yet".
"What? You had a date with Harold Peverell and you never told me?" They were both so shocked by the voice that they jumped. Daphne turned around to find Astoria standing there, her hands on her hips, looking furious. Tracy muttered under her breath, "Uh oh... here is trouble".
Astoria glared at her, "I will give you trouble alright, Davis. You also did not see fit to tell me anything after all the times I have spied on Daph for you?"
Tracy snorted, "It's not like you were doing it for me as a favour. You were well paid for all the information, Astoria. It was business, plain and simple. However she went on an impromptu date and I did not know anything about it until she returned to the dorm grumbling that the Headmaster was an old coot who ruined her date. She is yet to give me the juicy details though".
Daphne glared at Astoria, "What are you doing here? Don't you have your own dorms to go to?"
Astoria grinned, "I asked Professor Snape for permission to stay in your dorms for two hours after curfew".
Tracy grinned, "Excellent. Now come along and we will see if we can thaw the Ice-Queen a bit."
Next day
It was Saturday meaning there were no classes. Harry woke up before dawn and taking Seamus went to the top of the Astronomy tower. There were Michael Corner, Anthony Goldstein, Lisa Turpin, and Mandy Brocklehurst. He asked them to mount their brooms and follow him. Some of them told him that they did not have brooms and he sighed. He simply assumed that all the students would have their own brooms from their second year up. He also knew that school rule or not, several of the first years smuggled in brooms too. It was almost inconceivable to him that fifth years would not have their own brooms. He whipped out his wand and raising his voice he firmly intoned, "Accio Madam Hooch's Brooms.". A few seconds later three or four brooms were sailing towards them from the other side of the castle. They each mounted their brooms and followed him. Some of the school brooms were pretty rough. Harry made a mental note to see about getting the worst of them replaced.
When they reached the top of the outer wall, he told them the Fidelius Secret, "The catapults are located atop the battlements of the castle.". They all could see the catapults in front of him and Harry asked Seamus to teach them the operation of the siege engines.
After Seamus was done, Mandy asked him the obvious, "Peverell we are supposed to launch boulders with them but I cannot see any here".
Harry told them that there would be a few types of ammunition and that it would be brought in a matter of a few days and that he would find three more people to crew the last two remaining catapults. As it was, he was at least one person short.
The members of the newly formed Order woke up early in the morning and started running their laps around the lake. The weather was turning bad. It was assumed that rainy season would soon start and that meant Harry would have to find someplace else for morning runs, somewhere preferably where the rain could not bother them.
After he was finished instructing them, he stripped down to his trunks and dived into the lake to begin his swim. Some of the student's teeth chattered just looking at him. Neville followed suit and dived in after him.
Harry was happy it was a Saturday. He had been too busy to get much of his homework done all week and the situation was getting desperate. He was usually diligent in finishing everything on time but between quidditch practices, wolf hunting, private practice sessions, Daphne and Susan, it all took a lot of his time. As it turned out, even Neville and Ron were over due for homework and as it was, they had joined two tables together and spent four hours in the Library pouring over tomes and finishing their work. He had no problem in potions where he had just copied his notes with a Geminio spell. Transfiguration had required him to read thoroughly because although Ambar had taught him the practical side and his casting was unequalled, McGonagall insisted that all the theoretical terms be correct and those came out of the books. Harry was determined that nothing less than an O grade would do so he put in the work.
Charms were easy. Flitwick had laid down the groundwork during the previous four years and the theoretical component was nicely organized in Harry's head now. Add to that the extra practice he had during the Triwizard tournament and the intense training he had with the mystics and Harry had to do very little looking up to finish those assignments.
Herbology was a different matter. The training with the mystics helped a lot, but Harry still had to do a lot of reading. It amazed him how many plants there were. To make matters worse, some plants had dozens or even hundreds of variations. If that was not enough, The same plant might have dozens of different common names. The Latin classification of plants was standardized by the ICW and when in doubt, Harry could always fall back on that. Neville was helpful, he was quiet, studious and had a real talent for plants. When Professor Sprout was not available, more often than not, Neville had the answer to Harry's questions.
The one which frustrated him and made him want to pull out his hair was Runes. Again, like transfigurations, his training had been practical. Harry could do things with runes and wards that not even the top NEWT students could do, but he still had to read volumes to understand the languages and translation of the runes he used. Pawan had drilled him in practical learning but neglected the theory portion leaving it for Harry to finish. He had learned the seven languages but the complicated principles and theories required time.
History of Magic was onerous. He was happy that Professor Hughes was teaching them with enthusiasm. But, she was a hard task master. She made them read a lot. Her homework alone took a better part of an hour to just read the theory. After they were done, they went down to the Great Hall for lunch. It was during lunch that Neville proposed that they should do something which would break the monotony of the day. Susan who always had ideas of her own, suggested going to Hogsmeade and the idea was accepted almost instantly by the majority (read Hermione, Hannah and Susan).
Harry asked them to gather on the fourth floor from where he led them through the mirror to Hogsmeade. As they exited on the other end, without a word, the teens paired-off. Neville and Hannah went one way, while Hermione and Ron went another. That left Harry and Susan watching as their friends disappeared into the town.
With his lop-sided grin, harry said, "looks like you are stuck with me".
Susan asked him with mock indignation, "What? Don't you enjoy my company?"
Harry said quickly, "No, it is not that. I just thought that you would have preferred to stay with the others".
Susan off-handedly said, "Hannah and Neville spend every spare moment together. I also suspect that Hermione and Ron are dating so I don't want to cramp their style".
Harry grumbled something which she ignored and taking him by the arm, dragged him along, 'Come along Harry. We are going to the Hogs head".
Harry looked at her in disbelief, "The Hogs Head? Why there? We can have some good food in the Three Broomsticks".
She looked at him strangely, "What? And broadcast to the entire wizarding world that we have snuck out of school? Auntie will hang me by my toenails and you along with me. No one will identify us in the Hogs Head".
When they entered the Hogs Head, they realized almost instantly that it was a bad idea. Sitting on the bar talking with the barman was Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Harry almost yelped and started to turn around when the Headmaster called him, "Harry, come and join me".
Harry approached him nervously, "Hello Professor. I did not think that I would find you here".
Dumbledore chuckled, "This is one of the few places outside Hogwarts where I can be found, Harry".
Harry raised an eye-brow questioningly and Albus nodded to the barman, "Allow me to introduce you to my brother, Aberforth Dumbledore".
Harry gasped, "you... you have a brother. I did not know". But now that Harry looked at the two of them, the Headmaster's brother had the same electric-blue eyes apart from sharing some more facial features.
The barman said gruffly, "What did you think lad? That everyone in his family had already passed on to what he calls the next great adventure?"
Dumbledore chuckled, "Abe, don't scare the lad".
Dumbledore then turned to him, "Do you know it is a bad idea to have a sensitive meeting like the one you had in a place like this?"
Harry said nothing but averted his eyes looking downwards and Albus turned towards Susan, "Miss Bones, it is good to meet you outside of your classes or training sessions. I suppose you do not want me to tell Amelia about your little excursion".
Susan nodded eagerly, "She would be livid if she ever found out. Please headmaster, you must not tell her".
Dumbledore chuckled before he stood and said to both of them, "For this once, I will pretend that I did not see you both here".
After Dumbledore left, Aberforth gave them a room upstairs and told them that he would be sending food up to them. As they entered the room, Harry raised some wards around the room and then sat with Susan.
Susan turned to him, "You know, with everyone around us all the time and so many things going for you I never get the time to ask you questions that I would like to".
Harry said to her very eagerly, "Then please ask your questions, Sue. I will try to answer them".
Susan started with a question he was still not comfortable with, "Harry, how did the muggles treat you?"
Harry did not want to tell her anything as had been his habit in the last 4 years but the sessions with Charak had taught him that it was cathartic to talk to someone. He was sure that Susan would never betray his trust. He started telling it slowly, "It all started with my mother, Lilly and her sister, my Aunt Petunia when they were really young. Although neither of them knew it but we do know now, my mother was adopted and was actually the heiress of two powerful magical families, the Weber's out of Germany and the Rosier's, one of the sacred 28. Petunia and her parents were ordinary muggles. When my mother's powers began to manifest in the form of accidental magic, Petunia was both scared and jealous. The Evans, knowing the truth about their daughter's adoption were both pleased and proud. They cheerfully sent Lilly off to Hogwarts so that she could develop her talents. Lily came home for the summer after her first year at Hogwarts, full of stories about the school and her friends there. Petunia had been deprived of her sister, she knew that Lily was doing well and popular in a world that she could never be a part of. You see, Petunia was a skinny, horse-faced girl with no magical ability and not much of a personality for that matter and there was her sister who had looks, brains, popularity and magic. It didn't matter that Lilly was her only sister, her only friend or that Lilly had always been kind and generous to her. That was just like rubbing salt into the wound. Perhaps that filled her with hatred towards everything magic. Sirius told me that Petunia turned cold towards her when she returned home after her first year. With every year that my mother excelled in magic, Petunia turned more and more spiteful. Then she met Vernon Dursley who believed in normalcy of things and would never have believed that magic was real. She was infatuated with him and a couple of years after my mother passed out of Hogwarts, she had been married to him. That was the last time that my mother and father saw her. She thought that she was shot off her sister and told her husband about my mother and the little bit of information that she had about the Wizarding World. A few years later, I turned up on their doorstep with a letter in my blanket that my mother was dead and Dumbledore had raised a blood ward around their house which would protect them and me as long as I lived there. Reluctantly they took me in but I was never loved. My cousin, Dudley, their natural and normal son was pampered while I was forgotten in their household. I was given his cast-offs to wear, never given enough to eat and made to sleep in a cupboard under the stairs."
"When I was very young, my powers began to manifest in the form of accidental magic. They had this idea that they could beat the magic out of me and make me normal. Every tine I did something wrong, I was punished. I was their slave and treated worse than a house-elf. In the cupboard, where I slept, There was the blanket I came in, a youth mattress and lots of spiders. I was locked in there a lot, sometimes for days at a time or even weeks. Vernon would beat me with his fists, choke me, yell at me, or threaten me. If there was any chance that I might get something that would make me happy, Dudley would throw a fit and they would give it to him. Vernon vented all his anger on me whether it was my fault or not. This continued for 10 years before I got my Hogwarts letter. Things became a little more bearable after that, but not much".
Susan had been crying while he told of his life with the muggles and when he ended his narration, she said in a choked voice, "If they were not already in prison, I would have hexed them myself. No one treats a child like that".
Harry wiped her tears with his thumbs. He patted her free hand and tried to lighten the mood, "Hey Sue, if you keep that up much longer, I am sure Hogsmeade will drown in your tears".
This elicited laughter out of her and she playfully smacked his hand, "You prat".
Before they could say anything more, Aberforth had sent a plate of food for them. Taking it in, he thanked the older wizard for his service and closed the door behind him.
Harry asked her, "What was your childhood like?"
Susan started telling it thoughtfully, "My parents had died when I was little as you well know. Auntie raised me as her own daughter. She was a field Auror at that time so it was hard for her to manage her work and me at the same time. The Abbotts were best friends with my Aunt and they took care of me while Auntie was working all those insane shifts. I spent a lot of time over there and I grew up with Hannah."
"Later Auntie became the Head of the DMLE. She still worked long hours, but at least her shifts were regular and I could count on seeing her in the late evenings and on weekends. I still stayed at Hannah's place before school and after, up to about dinner-time. She was always stern and strict, but never unfair. She never hit me or forced me to do anything that I really didn't want to do. And she was generous with praise when I did well or really just tried my best. I can't say that I really miss Mom and Dad. I was too young to remember them when they died. My Aunt has been both mother and father to me and I really can't complain".
Harry pressed her hand warmly but did not know of anything to say. At least she was not crying. After a few minutes of tolerable silence Harry asked her again, "What is the best memory of your accidental magic?"
Susan grinned, "There was a time when I was little, about four years old. In the middle of the night I was very hungry and went to the kitchen to find something to eat. My elf was asleep so I did not disturb her. I could find nothing in the kitchen until my eyes went to a jar of cookies kept on a shelf where I could not reach them. So, I was hungry and there was a perfectly baked jar of cookies in my line of sight. Naturally I wanted those cookies. I tried to reach the jar desperately and presto, the jar floated into my hands. Auntie had put feather light charms on things in our home so I would not be hurt if I summoned something heavy to me, the jar was no big deal. I grabbed the jar and ran to my room. When she found me in my room the next day, I had crumbs all over me and a tummy-ache, the jar long since empty. The fun part was watching Auntie trying to decide whether she should laugh, yell at me or give me a stomach remedy. In the end, she did all three".
They laughed until they had tears in their eyes. After a lot of effort, they sobered up and Susan asked him, "Now you tell me something about your accidental magic".
Harry took some seconds to reply, "There was one time when I was in muggle primary. My teacher was reprimanding me for something. Dudley and his gang had made some sort of ruckus and pinned it on me. I was the criminal boy as the Dursleys said, so I was being berated by the teacher. I tried to tell her that I had not done it but she was not ready to listen. I got angry at her and in a second, her hair colour had changed to blue. She figured it out when the rest of the kids in the class started pointing at her hair and laughing. The teacher went berserk and sent a letter to the Dursleys and called them for a meeting. Later they said that I had humiliated them. I think I spent three days in the cupboard for that one".
Susan said nothing but pressed his hand slightly. Before they could say anything, the door to the room opened and their friends entered. Susan hastily pulled back her hand but it was not missed by Hannah who asked, "Did we come at the wrong time?"
Harry said something incoherent while Neville pulled him up by his hands, "Let's go, Harry. We have over-stayed here".
When they were leaving, Neville asked him, "What did you two get up to? You stayed here for two hours and the barman at first did not want to tell us if you were here. It was only when Tonks came around that he reluctantly told us that you were in the inn".
Harry asked him in surprise, "Tonks? Don't tell me she is downstairs waiting for me".
A voice from behind jolted him, "No, I am not downstairs. I am right behind you".
He turned around to find Tonks grinning at him, "Wotcher Harry".
Harry gave her a forced grin, "hi Tonks. What are you doing here?"
She brightly said, "As it happens, Minister Longbottom has stationed 6 Aurors at Hogsmeade: Savage, Proudfoot, Dawlish, Williamson, Stone and me. Madam Bones asked me if I would like to be stationed here, I volunteered. I expect you do not want me to tell her about this little outing of yours?"
Susan frantically said, "Please Miss Tonks."
Tonks ruffled her hair, 'Don't worry, Susan. I am not going to tell her anything. But you lot must be careful especially in times as these".
Harry gave her a smirk, "Who says I am not? There are at least 5 very competent wizards who are keeping an eye on Hogsmeade apart from the Aurors".
Tonks gave him a questioning look, "and who might they be?"
Harry gave her a lop-sided grin, "That is my secret. Now we should leave or the Headmaster will come back here to search for us."
Taking his leave of Tonks, he led the party to the tunnel entrance near the Hogwarts ward line.
Hermione asked him, "Where are we going Harry? I am pretty sure that we did not come this way".
Harry smirked, "That is very observant of you, Hermione. We are going back by a different route because I am sure that there is a posse staking out the mirror on the fourth floor, eagerly awaiting our return. I would rather avoid being busted and sentenced to merciless ribbing".
He led them to a place near the Hogwarts ward-line where they entered the tunnel which led them to the ground floor near the Great stair-case. From the other side, one just had to tap his wand to the wall and it would slide away. After making sure that there was no one outside the portrait concealing the way, Harry opened it and they were in the school again.
As it was dinner time, Harry led his friends into the Great Hall and they sat to dinner. Just then the twins, Daphne and Tracy came over to them with Luna in tow. With a look from Harry, they took seats around him.
As they became comfortable, Daphne asked him, "Where were you?"
Harry answered her question with two more questions, "What happened? Did someone cause you any trouble?"
Tracy snorted, "No Peverell. Junior death eaters run from her shadow now. It is just that we have not seen you since this morning. Also the ferret has returned, still sore I must add. Then Professor Snape asked us to find you and we could not find you anywhere. It was then that Daphne remembered that may be you were on the fourth floor. We did not know the passcode and could not enter. Where were you guys, anyway?"
Harry gave her a half grin, "Miss Davis, you know I was almost Slytherin. You don't expect me to behave like a Gryffindor now, do you?"
Fred asked him, "Which way did you take to Hogsmeade, Harry?"
Harry asked him, "What gives you the idea that I was there, Gred?"
George added, "Because little Harrykins, we were in the village hiding from the Headmaster when we saw you and charming Miss Bones enter the pub. We thought you would be dragged back to Hogwarts by your ears and given a weeks detention for being out of bounds, but that did not happen".
Harry chuckled, "let's just say that the Headmaster told us that he did not see us there".
Before anyone could say anything else, Daphne who was sitting beside him, nudged his shoulder and pointed in a direction with her eyes. Draco Malfoy was stumbling towards him, wincing with each step, perhaps still sore from all the beatings. Except for Parkinson, there was no one with him and he limped on his way towards Harry.
As he reached the Gryffindor table, he got down on his knees and said, "Lord Black, I am sorry to have disobeyed you and given one under your protection grief. I apologize to Miss Greengrass for the insult I committed when I attempted to hex her. I ask that you, as the Lord of House Black, will forgive my rash and ill-conceived actions".
The entire Great hall had been watching the scene unfolding. It was almost never thought of that Draco Malfoy would ever apologize to anyone, much less Harold Peverell, but it was happening. After Malfoy had said his piece, he remained silent while waiting for Harry to accept his apology.
Harry was silent for a few moments and then said in an expressionless voice, "Draco Malfoy, while you defied me and acted in insubordination of my orders, I have decided to accept your apology… this time. I hope that you have learnt from your mistake and will not repeat it. However if you fail to act in the best interests of House Black or disobey me again, I will have no choice but to remove you from the family and withdraw all rights, privileges and protections which this house currently extends to you.".
Parkinson helped Draco to get back to his feet. It hurt just watching him. He murmured, "Thank you, Lord Black". He shuffled to the Slytherin table with Parkinson in tow.
A/N- Thank you all of you guys for the lovely comments. It is great journey which we started 5 months ago and have reached here. I love reading your reviews but only a few of them are as detailed as I would love to but I am still grateful for those reviews. Keep them coming.
Thank you Hypergym for the edits.