I certainly have no rights to Harry Potter, but this won't stop me writing this story. However, you probably already know this. As it is my specialty, and as in my other big stories, this shows how things go if something went different right at the beginning. Please note that I'm not a fan of bashing and also don't expect the two main pairings to differ from canon. However, the path to them certainly will be quite different. I also want to try and subvert certain plots and things that became common in the fandom over the years.

Please note that due to the constant technical troubles of the site, the story is now also being published at AO3. The story will update every second Saturday until the story is done.

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Chapter 82: The End is Nigh

It was not that unusual to see Luna move around the centaur camp, since she always had felt a kinship with them and by this point she was a familiar sight in the place. The older generations respected her at times interesting insights and unconventional ways of thinking. Unlike her, her boyfriend Neville was not visiting nearly as often. Neville was more interested in plants than creatures and non-human people, though it didn't mean he was uninterested, just not as fascinated of them as his girlfriend was.

Right at the moment however they were both listening to what Firenze was telling them and others of the herd. They had just returned from scouting into the forest. The news however were not very good - though entirely expected. There was a difference between knowing what would happen and being confronted with the result of it.

"The children of Aragog are all dead, slaughtered to the last. Their giant carcasses litter the forest," Firenze reported, not even bothering to hide how much what he had seen had shaken him. "However, before they all died, they made good on killing those of the herd that remaned in the forest. Men and women, young and old... The forest was red with their blood and only three survived."

He was greeted with depressed silence.

Firenze then continued "One killed himself shortly later, since he felt there was nothing left to live for. The other two feel too ashamed. Seeing how we are getting back onto our hooves while their faction was utterly annihilated, they realized how wrong they had been and decided to walk up the mountains and wait for the end there."

Everyone knew what that meant

"The whole forest is smelling of death now..." Celestra, who up to this point had stayed silent, said. "I will relay it to the rest of the herd, but all of us know what the mutual decision will be."

"Ehm..." Neville had made a sound and then noticed all eyes being on him. That honestly made him a bit nervous. "Can I ask... what that actually means?"

"Oh, of course... You couldn't have known," Celestra realized. "Despite there no longer being a conflict now, we won't return to living in the forest. The soil of the forest has been soaked in so much blood and death that it will be years before it could be even considered to move back there."

"It would be like living in the middle of a graveyard..." Neville understood why the centaurs had little wish to again live in the forest now.

"Yes, we are not keen living in the place where so many of our kin died, regardless how misguided they were," one centaur added, looking quite unsettled with the sheer death toll.

Soon enough everyone went their ways and Celestra had some parting words. "I wish I could give good news, but the stars have become chaotic. I dislike speaking bad of the stars, but right at the moment there is so much misery going around that any reading has become muddled."

"It is unfortunate that all the horrible things going on are drowning out everything else," Luna said with some regret.

"I know you have taken up arms in this conflict. I implore you to be careful. All of you are needed for this conflict to truly end. We've seen it." Celestra then excused herself to relay the news of what had happened in the forest to the rest of the camp.

"It's not only Magic Britain... Everything seems to be falling apart," Neville said while they slowly walked back to the castle.

"It is like a long row of dominoes. Once the first has fallen, it causes a chain reaction," Luna mused. "It is interesting that before we entered Hogwarts, the world looked so utterly unchangeable, like we would die of old age in the same system we were born in. It's a little frightening how wrong we were."

"I wonder how Celestra knew that we are no longer passive in all of this?" Neville then wondered.

"She is very insightful." Luna then pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, a clear sign she was in thought. "Although, I honestly had not exactly expected the kind of work the Order has given us. It does make you appreciate that there is so much more work being done which we don't normally see."

"Well, I honestly didn't expect them to throw us into life-or-death situations right away, so it's not too surprising they are starting us small," Neville admitted. "Seeing what Percy and Penelope are doing made me respect them even more."

It was true that while their work for the Order of the Phoenix had indeed started for real, the Order was not throwing them into the middle of it right from the start. Indeed, the work seemed almost mundane, with Percy remarking there often was little appreciation for how much work is done behind the scenes. Penelope had added that in a war the actual fighting only takes up about a third of all the work.

Of course it was added quickly that of course they would be out in the field as well, but shouldn't expect to be sent into the hotter engagements anytime soon. After all, despite everything they were teenagers and did not have the experience of seasoned veterans. That was a reasoning they accepted, especially since they had been treated as equals instead of someone you talk down to.

Of all of them, it surprisingly was Ginny who in the past few days had had the most excitement on her assignment. Granted it was just two pieces of lowly scum the Death Eaters were using for grunt work they felt was beneath even the lowliest Death Eater, thus hiring those lowlifes for mere Knuts to do the dirty work, but Ginny took pride in having subdued them all on her own and without leaving clues to what had happened.

Gives some credence to the idea that girls can be more vicious than you might imagine, Neville thought, being honestly relieved that Luna was not like that; which didn't mean she was weak or harmless or course.

"It's a little strange they want to mix us up for field assignments," Neville then said while taking Luna's hand.

Luna felt a certain sense of security while he held her hand, holding a little tighter. "It appears they do not want us to develop bad habits. As much as I would like to only be partnered up with you... I do understand the logic behind it."

"Doesn't mean we have to like it..." Neville grumbled. "I would prefer doing all my assignments with you."

That compliment caused Luna to blush a little.


...Gringotts, October 9th...

It were unusual circumstances which had forced a meeting of the board of directors of Gringotts, but in the current times, one should expect the unusual to happen. To say that the atmosphere was bad was a massive understatement as well. Everyone at the table - starting from the three senior directors and going down to the sub-directors - knew that the situation for the bank had become serious. There simply was no way to deny it.

With the seriousness of the situation, discipline had suffered as well. Right at the moment the meeting was more of a cacophony of voices, information flying around while expressions ranged from unpleasantly surprised to barely held-back panic. However, the chaos was about to find its end.

"Silence! SILENCE!" the most senior of the three directors called, banging with his walking stick hard onto the floor, and the noise died down. "Look at yourselves, acting like a bunch of headless chickens! Now give us the facts!"

Finally, things went back to order and one goblin started the report. "To make it short, our department of forecast completely failed when it came to the economic effects of the wizards killing each other like they are doing right now. The collapsing economy has very unfortunate effects on the monetary system."

"That is putting it mildly. Many wizards are very busy with converting their money into Pound Sterling, which is putting us into a very unfortunate position," another goblin reported. "We were forced to buy way more Pound Sterling than expected from the Bank of England and it's starting to put a serious strain onto our gold reserves."

That indeed was unfortunate news. Due to the Bank of England of course not accepting Galleons, whenever Gringotts needed to stock up on Pound Sterling for exchanges, they had to pay the bank in gold bars. It in the past seldom had become a problem due to Pound Sterling also being exchanged into Galleons by regular customers, thus allowing the bank to keep a steady supply, but the system came into serious trouble once the exchange only went one way.

"Yes, and our reserve vaults are filling up with Galleons, Sickles and Knuts that no one wants," another goblin added, looking with worry at numbers on a clipboard. "At the same time the vaults of numerous families are being emptied, like they had lost their trust in our institution. I don't have to remind anyone how we lost the Black vault."

Pained grimaces were answer enough. The Blacks had been one of their oldest and most important customers. Thus it had as a nasty surprise when Sirius Black had decided to convert all of is cash into Pound Sterling over a longer period - an act which had forced the bank to buy a great amount of Pound Sterling - then moving all non-cash items out of his vaults before closing them altogether.

The oldest of the directors hissed in annoyance, showing his sharp teeth. "Even though we always intended Gringotts as a weapon to ruin those arrogant wizards, we had planned to do it on our terms, with us at top. The current situation is unacceptable."

"Understandable, Sir, but were we to close Gringotts, the currency would suddenly be worth nothing more than its raw materials, and we would lose any kind of influence," one analyst reminded his boss.

"How bad is all of this for Gingotts?" one of the directors finally asked.

"Very bad, indeed. Our business model has taken serious damage ever since Galleons and smaller coins are flowing into the bank and we have no chance to get them back into circulation. We already are sitting on a huge amount of coins that no one wants." The goblin in question answered, then looked at the numbers. "The good news is, that thanks to how well the bank did in past decades, we can still come back from this. Unless of course, something serious happens."

"How serious are we talking about?" one of the directors asked.

The goblin looked at his numbers. "If the amount of Galleons and smaller coins returned to us for exchange into Pound Sterling outstrips our ability to do so. However, that is a very unlikely scenario. We tallied the amount of money in circulation and even if every single coin is returned to us, we still can recover from it."

"Ah, so us systematically reducing the amount of money in circulation over decades is now actually helping us out. An interesting turn of events," one director realized.

Yes, times were bad for Gringotts, but they were sure to recover from it and then dictate the terms to wizardkind. After all, it was highly unlikely in their mind that a massive amount of coins they had lost sight of could be out there. Thus they were optimistic that despite the current storm the bank would come out of it at top.

Such was the thinking of the goblins of the British Isles.

Interestingly, goblins on the continent were much more progressive than them, having proven much better at adapting to the world around them and actually managing to gain the respect the goblins of Britain said they were being denied. That however was due to the goblins on the isles essentially being hardcore fundamentalists.

Over the course of centuries the goblin society on the isles had managed to alienate all and every of its members who were more progressive in their thinking and deviated from the official line, causing them to emigrate to the continent to escape being social outcasts. That resulted in basically the entirety of goblin society on the isles now being seen by their brethen on the continent as backwards-looking fundamentalists.

They had devolved into a society incapable of change - unwilling to do so. That of course would soon come to bite them severely.


...at the same time in Germany...

Three teenagers stood on the otherwise empty roof of a high-rise building in Hamburg, which had been converted to an observation deck, with a high wire fence preventing people from falling over the edge of the building (even the intentional ones). They were ignoring the early evening sun which was starting to color the sky in shades of orange, having mainly come here for the privacy.

"You know, I honestly hadn't thought my life would take such a strange turn..." Fay Dunbar said while looking over the city.

"Yes, and it's just a week before we again feel like we are barfing out our organs. Experiencing it ourselves I realized how much of a badass our former teacher is that he takes it so well," Allan Foster added, while leaning onto the railing.

Fay grimaced at the reminder. "Before that I thought my periods are bad, but now I know better. Even with the medicine, I think I'll never get used to my body being forcefully re-arranged. At least it doesn't mean I'm infertile."

Fay had always envisioned her future, regardless of her personal path, to involve having a family. Of course, being infected with lycanthropy threw a real wrench into those plans and she knew she could not expect to find a partner if she ever were to return to England. At least the healers had assured her that children were no problem, since they've had several pregnant women with lycanthropy over the years and the babies were perfectly safe in the womb even during full moon and the sickness was not transferred to the child.

Allan didn't blink an eye, not being squeamish about female biology. He then look to the third person with them. "You've been silent so far, Stefan. After those years I know it means something is on your mind."

"Yes, it's strange. You were so standoffish back in Hogwarts and we only saw the real you after we went into exile together with you," Fay added.

Stefan Schuster finally looked to the two people who had become good friends over the past years. At the beginning their families had stayed close to each other due to all three of them sharing the same burden, but over time all three families had made closer ties. Some had been teasing him that Fay was his girlfriend, but that was not the case, she just was a close friend who happened to be a girl.

"Well, I was like that because I felt screwed over. Once my parents communicated that they would no longer take that kind of abuse and ditch the island in due time, that's when I started to be less angry and actually acted nicer." Stefan then sighed. "My thoughts are returning to what's going on there."

"Which is weird, because it's the two of us that actually are from there." Allan then sighed. "Though, even without our sickness, three years living here changed our perspective and it would feel strange to live there again. Still, we of course are following that ongoing train wreck."

"Train wreck is a fitting description," Fay agreed. "My parents say that even if I wouldn't face any kind of discrimination, they wouldn't return. Can't blame them, considering how things are falling apart..."

"Surprisingly, I do feel like wanting to make a difference over there." Stefan then saw the looks his friends were giving him. "I know, I know. Sounds weird that I say that after all the crap I experienced. I asked my parents and they said I'm starting to think like an adult who wants to make the right decisions."

"Sounds cheesy... Not that they are wrong,"Allan mused. "As far as magic is concerned, we are all adults now. Of course, as we learned, many countries don't care about that and have the actual legal age set in laws. Makes it weird that Magical Britain honestly felt that guidance from magic is enough."

"But still, why do you feel the need to make it your problem?" Fay wondered, finding it weird that Stefan was thinking more about it than them. "I mean, don't get me wrong, we very much want that psychopath and his murdering bastards gone, but we are a bit at a loss what we could even do that would make a difference."

Stefan said nothing for some moments, before saying "I honestly can't explain it in words. Just... Even though I could stay out of it easily, it would feel wrong for me to do so."

"Wow..." Allan honestly was impressed.

Stefan then sighed however. "But there's the problem that I first would have to get there, which is damn near impossible for me right now. It would take a truly dire situation that I could go there and do something on my own..."

Fay and Allan looked at each other. The way Stefan had said that made it obvious he was not exactly happy that should he decide to actually take the chance, he would be doing it on his own. After all, solo missions were not exactly something you are gunning for. There was some quick and silent communication and while both of them had a feeling what they were agreeing on could be really foolish, they would stick with their decision.

"If you think about it, what would you actually do once being there?" Fay then asked Stefan.

That simple question was the start.


...Hogwarts, October 19th...

"Man... That... was hard," Ron admitted freely while letting himself fall into an armchair in the otherwise empty common room of Gryffindor tower on this late Sunday afternoon.

"That's putting it mildly," Ginny agreed with her brother, also claiming a seat due to still feeling the pains in her legs and especially her feet. "And I feel more insulted that the Order thought it would be something easy for us. Easy... my arse!"

"Ginny, please... I don't want to think of my sister's arse," Ron said with a sigh. "Well, it wasn't more dangerous after things went sideways, just... way more exhausting and frustrating."

Ginny managed to get off her shoes, trying t feel her toes. "I honestly feel like asking for a mileage bonus."

That moment they heard people descending from the dorm stairs and moments later the remaining members of the Six had arrived, having waited for Ron and Ginny to return from their assignment. They had already finished their own Order duties and thus wondered what was taking them that long. While there was clear relief that both of them were in good health, seeing them that exhausted created new questions.

"There will be an explanation, but please Harry, my feet are killing me..." Ginny said while trying to peel off her socks.

Harry knew what Ginny needed and moments later he was tending to her naked feet, causing her to let out a sigh of relief. Ron on the other hand knew better than ask Hermione for a foot massage and he didn't need to, because she left for a moment and then returned with a bucket filled with water.

"I better don't ask where you got that bucket from," Ron remarked, quickly taking off shoes and socks before putting his naked feet into the water and feeling his muscles relax.

"A girl does have her secrets." Hermione knew however that everyone knew that she had transfigured something into a bucket and then filled it in the bathroom.

"So, what happened? Everyone thought it would be a simple task," Harry asked while continuing to attend to Ginny's feet.

"No plan survives contact with the enemy." It was times like these where Ginny knew how true that expression was. "It was supposed to be easy. Some small fry doing the footwork for the Death Eaters. Ambush them and then leave what comes next to others."

Ron groaned at the memory. "They tried to bail. Couldn't apparate, so they let us on a merry chase through the countryside. We did get them in the end... but man was I tempted to kick them while they were down." Ron then looked around. "Where is everyone else?"

"Most are putting in some extra defense lessons of their own. Those that don't have bunked down in their dorms. No one feels like they could allow themselves openly visible leisure time," Neville explained, looking to the stairs leading to the dorms. "Social life at the school has mostly died."

"It has died together with taking school work seriously," Luna added with a straight face. "Considering the situation, this is understandable. It does however create the interesting situation that everyone is attending a school without the intend of actually learning much. Fascinating."

"It is less fascinating and more concerning, Miss Lovegood."

They had honestly not heard the portrait hole open up, but there stood Professor McGonagall. However, she did not look disappointed at that observation of theirs. "What you have observed is sadly another sign of how things are moving towards the inevitable." She then moved further into the common room. "Shacklebolt is sending his apologies. He had honestly not expected a rather straightforward mission to become such a chore."

"That's not his fault. That lies with those two jerks who thought starting a merry chase is fun," Ron said while wiggling his toes in the water. None of them felt like stopping what they were doing.

McGonagall didn't even bother to mention Ron's use of strong language, feeling he had earned it. "Now, besides relaying Shacklebolt's apology, I am here because you have some visitors."

"Indeed, visitors. Though you honestly should put some steps in front of the portrait hole, since it's a chore for someone with a disability to get in."

"Dad?" Neville asked, looking up. That was indeed Frank Longbottom walking in, but he was not alone. Coming along with him were Thomas Evans and Jean Granger of all people.

"Hello, son. I wish this were a pleasure visit, but considering the times... Though we didn't want to crowd you, so only a few of us have come here," Frank greeted Neville.

"And it's a good thing that Molly is not being present, or her blood pressure would have shot through the roof seeing that," Thomas commented when seeing Harry still being busy with taking care of Ginny's legs, her trousers being pulled up to her knees.

Good thing she has no idea what exactly Ginny and me are doing in the bedroom, Harry thought, feeling that Ginny's mother would not take well how utterly improper Ginny could be.

"Mum has to accept I'm no longer a little girl." While Ginny would always love her mother, Molly would have to accept that her little girl had grown up.

"Mum, it's not that I'm unhappy to see you, but..." Hermione struggled to word it correctly.

"No, I know it looks weird that I'm here, but see it from my perspective. After all, my entire family is the very thing which is a red flag to the enemy." Now that Jean had put it that way, her presence made a disturbing amount of sense. "That, and Diane couldn't come, since magical travel and pregnancy don't mix well for her."

Everyone remembered Sirius talking over the mirror about that accident. No one got hurt, but it had been a disgusting mess.

"Let me guess, you want to ask how we are doing after starting actual field work," Harry said while finally being done with Ginny's legs. "You... eh... did hear how the latest mission did go?"

"Now you have a good idea how some things went sideways during my active time in the force," Frank said with some amusement, clearly being in the know. "But I can guess what you are doing is not exactly how you envisioned things, right?"

"Our perception was colored by prior incidents," Luna admitted without shame. "We didn't see that there is a lot of small stuff to do as well, instead of just what's most visible. Though, I do appreciate all the work done behind the scenes."

"Things were messed up that you right away had to face the big hitters instead of working your way up, like it's normally done." Jean then noticed the looks that the teenagers - and especially her own daughter - were giving her. "Despite me having been part of the medical corps, I still was in the army, and I know only callous armchair generals would send green troops against the best units of the enemy."

Hermione was reminded that that was a part of her mother's life she often forgot. "I feels a bit weird, but we are making a difference. Even if not in the way we imagined it."

"So, that's why you are here? To see how we are dealing with that and correct us if we were complaining about not getting the big jobs yet? I'm getting it; after all, while a pawn can theoretically threaten the king, it's far easier to do so once being promoted to a new piece," Ron asked, understanding the reasoning and making a chess analogy.

"You and chess..." Hermione stopped when noticing something. "No, Crookshanks, don't drink from there!"

Crookshanks had walked to the bucket and started to drink the water Ron was bathing his feet in. The cat looked up for a moment and challenged Hermione, then heard someone entirely else slowly say his name. "Crookshanks... Remember what I did when I caught you drinking from the toilet," Jean reminded the cat.

Normally, Crookshanks was not easy to intimidate, but he clearly was remembering something unpleasant right now. There was no other explanation for how quickly he darted up the stairs of the girls dorms.

"That cat of yours is truly a character..." Thomas mused, thanking all that's holy that Hedwig was not difficult in the slightest.

"Now, we are relieved you understand our reasoning," Frank said, getting back to the matter at hand. "While there after past experiences sadly is little doubt that circumstances will throw you back into the fray, allowing you to gain practical experience our way should make it easier once that happens."

"Lucky us, being fate's punch ball..." Ginny said, sounding resigned. "Other teenagers our age worry about the other sex, getting a good job or just all kind of other stuff. Harry was screwed over and we jumped onto the ride... And no, Harry, that's all not your fault in the slightest. The guilty party is Tommy-Boy."

No way any of us in the first war would have talked this disrespectfully of Voldemort, Frank thought. While the teenagers had a healthy respect at the fact that Voldemort was highly dangerous, they saw him as an utter failue of a human being.


...October 26th...

Sitting in the Headmaster's office, Harry still was surprised he had agreed to having a one-on-one conversation with the man. He honestly had at first not wanted to agree to this, since after all he still was quite irritated with the Headmaster over the whole issue with Snape, resulting in a big loss of trust, but one part of himself had reminded him that it could be important. Thus he had reluctantly agreed to the request.

"Now, I'm sure you wonder why I asked to meet you in confidence, considering recent events between us." It seemed Dumbledore understood how Harry felt about this.

Harry for his part was careful what he would say. "That's putting it mildly. After all, you did disregard everyone else when you did what you've done. I guess that's OK when it's for... 'the greater good'."

Harry knew it was a cheap shot to use Grindelwald's infamous excuse for all the horrible things he'd done, considering the history the Headmaster shared with the man. Harry however had been unable to stop himself, part of him wanting to show how messed up Dumbledore's actions regarding Snape truly were.

Dumbledore did looked pained, so the remark had hit home. "The... accusation is not without merit."

Harry was a bit taken aback by that admission. "Uh... how do you mean?"

"If you live as long as me, you sadly will reach a moment when you realize that you have become unable to any longer change the habits you have developed," Dumbledore explained to Harry. "I was harshly reminded that I have regressed back into the bad habits that caused the root of our estrangement."

"Headmaster...?" All of a sudden Harry wasn't so sure anymore.

Dumbledore looked to Fawkes, his long-time companion, before returning his attention to Harry. "It was painful for me to realize that it was my gave mishandling of the situation which has driven that wedge between us."

Hearing that, Harry tried to understand. "Does that mean you want to tell me...?"

"As much as I would want to tell you went happened between me and Severus, in order for you to understand, I literally can't." Dumbledore then held up his hand to stop Harry from having an outburst. "What I mean with that is, that neither me nor Professor Snape can talk about what happened between us due to the powers involved binding us to silence."

"Powers...?" Harry then asked "Professor, an Unbreakable Vow?"

"Nothing that crude. I can only say that it was not intentional and in a way like what happened between you and your friends. Ancient magic has the habit to appear suddenly." Dumbledore then sighed. "Severus can't talk about either his actions nor what happened between us, apart to those directly involved. It was you being in the know about said events that allowed him to openly confess his role in the death of your parents."

"But you knew as well and weren't forced to stay silent about what he did," Harry accused him.

"Oh yes, when it comes to that, I didn't try to explain his role in the whole chain of events until it was too late. Nor did I explain why I literally can't explain my reasons for the trust I'm putting into him. Both made me appear like an irrational old man holding onto a man who has done many terrible things in his life. And perhaps there is some truth to that."

Hearing all of this, Harry blinked. "You know, it's kind of exhausting to stay angry all the time."

"I know, anger is exhausting. I also know that you still will be gravely disappointed with me and not inclined to change your opinion anytime soon. And that is your good right." Dumbledore then finally got to the heart of the matter. "Besides what we talked about, I felt it is your right to learn from me, that my time in active affairs will soon come to an end. My eyes were opened, by the events surrounding you, to the fact that I can no longer deny that truth."

That had come to Harry out of nowhere. "You... are stepping down from the position of headmaster?"

"Not only that, but also my active involvement in everything else." Dumbledore saw the look Harry gave him. "Of course not right away, but at the end of the year, that point will come and after that I can fully prepare for my last act in this war, before it is time to retire..."

This sounds ominous... Harry could have sworn that there was an undertone of finality in Dumbledore's words.

He also wondered why the Headmaster was telling him these things.

o

The Hogwarts kitchens were a familiar place for Hermione, though unlike her boyfriend, who mainly saw it as a way for extra snacks, for her it was the place where she stayed in contact with the house-elves of Hogwarts. Over the years she had gotten a good picture of their society, though some things still were new to her.

Such as the topic she was talking about with Dobby and Fantia right at the moment.

"So both of you are now officially bonded?" Hermione asked the two elves, who looked like the proudest people imaginable.

"Oh yes, Dobby and Fantia are much happier now!" Dobby seemed to almost burst with happiness, and the big smile Fantia was sporting was very telling as well.

Hearning that, Hermione did have another question. "It never came up over the years, but how exactly does that work? Is there some sort of ceremony and official status, or is the whole thing more informal?"

"Oh no, we elves are not very big on ceremonies, as they tend to interrupt the work flow too much," Fantia said. "But an officially mated status is a very serious thing. Dobby and Fantia made their vows in front of the head elves and promised that their future family life will not be in the way."

Considering their work ethos, that makes sense, Hermione thought. "You speak of family. I... ehm... heard even less about that. I can harbor a guess it involves the same things as with everyone else?"

Now Dobby looked a bit nervous. "Oh... Oh yes, it.. it works very much the same."

Fantia also blushed a little. "We elves don't talk about that. It's the one part that is strictly private."

"And that's fully understandable," Hermione agreed. "I'm actually really happy for both of you, since you've earned this so much. Your circumstances were less than ideal, and your standpoints are too radical for elven society, meaning you won't move up from your current position."

"Yes. Yes... house-elf society is very set in its ways," Dobby agreed easily, having experienced that fact all too often. "It is not open-minded to change."

"Which again shows the cultural differences. What to your fellow elves sounds like radical revolutionary talk sounds to me like perfectly reasonable points," Hermione said, remembering her past conversations with both elves and remembering their positions on certain things.

"As said, very set in its ways," Fantia repeated to underscore the point. "However, true change has to come from within."

Hermione understood what the female elf was playing at. "I know, the best I can hope to achive is to create an environment where your people have the opportunity to gain new perspectives and improve their own situation." She then looked around and remembered something she wanted to ask. "Ah yes, my reason for talking with you: I noticed that a number of the other elves look nervous. Is there something wrong?"

Indeed, the normally hectic activity in the kitchen was far less than normal - which was little wonder since the number of students had halved - and a number of elves were standing around, trying to look busy but instead looking a bit lost. It almost was like those elves had no idea what to do now that their workload had lessened due to outside factors.

"Ah yes, them," Dobby said with a sigh. "Many elves have little idea how to properly manage their time and live entirely for the work instead of having some interests of their own should the workload be less than normal. It is bad during the summer and Dobby worries due to talk that the school could be closed."

"I understand why you would worry about that," Hermione agreed.

After all, if those elves already were at a loss what to do with their time over the summer, how would they take it if the school was closed for a longer time? She honestly didn't want to imagine their sheer despair when realizing that the little work which then remained was quickly done, leaving them at a loss what to do with themselves, since they could only keep themselves busy with pointless work for so long.

o

Over the years, Hagrid's hut and the nearby animal pens had changed little - at least from the outside. Inside of Hagrid's hut, a surprising transformation had taken place ever since Hagrid had entered a serious relationship. But since only few people actually entered it, that fact in general was unknown. Ron for his part knew, but the gradual change seemed entirely natural to him.

Right at the moment Ron was talking with Hagrid while helping the tall man with tending to the various animals that contributed their part to the food supply of Hogwarts. Right at the moment they were at the chicken coops, listening to the chickens and the roosters while preparing to refill the food supply.

"I have to admit, rather unusual that you are visiting me all on your own," Hagrid remarked while Ron helped him with the task - even though Hagrid could have done so easily on his own. Having cared for the chickens at the Burrow, he still knew what to do.

"I know, but we generally try not to do all and everything together, since that just would be plain weird. The others are busy with their own stuff and I realized we didn't visit you as often as we used to," Ron admitted, feeling a bit bad for neglecting Hagrid like that after already quitting his subject.

"I know you are really busy, so I don't mind. Though of course considerate of you that you take the time for me," Hagrid admitted while moving the full wheelbarrow into the fenced-off area to distribute the chicken food.

"We are slowly getting the more serious stuff, and I'm honestly relieved we are not getting thrown into the boiling water right away. Though that can go wrong as well. You heard what happened two days ago?" Ron asked Hagrid while making sure not to accidentally step onto a chicken.

"Oh yes, heard of it. Though it hardly was Harry's fault that things went sideways when an actual Death Eater turned up and alerted him," Hagrid told Ron.

Said incident two days ago had been a routine job involving Harry, but the whole thing had gone sideways when an actual Death Eater had turned up, and said Death Eater had not hesitated to press onto her Dark Mark to alert Voldemort to Harry's presence. The following struggle had only taken seconds before she had collapsed, vomiting her own blood, while Harry's group made a quick exit to avoid a confrontation with Voldemort.

"Harry himself has no idea if she survived that or not. Maybe Voldemort finished her off for letting him escape." Ron was disturbed that he was talking about such things so indifferently. He had a feeling that after this mess was over, he would need some professional help. Him, and many others.

"Honestly... Had you told me some years ago all of this would happen, I would've dismissed it as hogwash," Hagrid admitted while stopping one overeager chicken from pecking his hand. "In the past three years the world has changed more than it did in the previous almost seventy years of my life."

"Must be scary for you - and I also mean what's still bound to happen. I know it's scary for me, but you experienced the system far longer," Ron admitted.

Hagrid scratched his - in these days well-groomed - beard. "If you know only one thing for as long as I do, then change is more difficult to adapt to. Many of the even older folks are utterly lost with all of this."

By now they were done with the chickens and were walking back to Hagrid's home. "You know, I'm not too proud to admit that there's so much going on, I feel my contribution outside of helping Harry won't matter much," Ron admitted, feeling a bit insignificant.

"Don't say that!" Hagrid told Ron sternly. "You are better than you think. Wasn't it you who realized something others overlooked and then made a plan that caused that scum to get trapped?"

Ron did remember. "I hadn't thought it would make that many waves."

"I only tell you, don't sell yourself short. You have a certain talent that other's don't have. Speaking of..." Hagrid leaned a bit lower. "I know I'll lose badly, but I do have an old chess set. Can I have a game with you?"

To Ron that was an interesting request, since he had never played against Hagrid. "Sure, why not? As long as your brother doesn't come to visit."

"Oh, no worry. Grawp feels quite comfortable in his cave and does his usual nap at this time," Hagrid said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

As it turned out, Hagrid was surprisingly good at the game - not as in seriously good, but Hagrid sure was no casual player - and thus Ron needed to actually put in some effort for his victory. It was an interesting reminder that a person could have skills you wouldn't expect them to have.

o

Neville felt a strange sense of melancholy while walking through one of the greenhouses and looking at the various plants. Normally, the sight of all the exotic plants helped to calm him, igniting his love for plants. However, in these times it was not helping.

Maybe it's because being good with plants is not exactly helpful in the current mess, he thought.

After all, the best way plants could be used in the current situation was to poison someone. Or perhaps kill someone with the scream of adult Mandrakes, though the school had stopped cultivating Mandrakes after several non-lethal incidents with students. He as hell was sure that the Order would not want to make him a poison-maker, and he understood the reasoning all too well.

After all, once you've started doing that, it will never let go of you again.

"It is unusual to see you here and not being busy with tending to the plants."

Looking to his left, he saw Professor Sprout there, being busy with pouring special fertilizer onto the soil from which a thrio of singing plants were growing. "I don't feel like it. There is too much on my mind," Neville explained to her.

"Ah, yes. Quite the opposite of me then, Mr. Longbottom. During the previous war I started to use tending to the plants as a coping mechanism." She then saw the look Neville was giving her. "Why do you think I'm doing this right now?"

"You know, Professor, that is kind of sad," Neville admitted.

"Oh, wouldn't I know? Fact however is, that everyone needs a way to deal with so many horrible things happening in a war, or it could drive them insane," Sprout said, seemingly thinking of people whose worries had crushed them. "Thinking about it all the time is not very healthy."

"That's my problem. Working with plants usually relaxes me, but it doesn't work anymore like it used to," Neville admitted.

"Perhaps it doesn't work as it used to because you got used to doing the work together with your girlfriend, and sadly Miss Lovegood is also quite occupied with her own matters these days," Sprout observed.

"Professor..." Neville was hesitant to admit that yes, he had gotten a bit too used to doing the work in the greenhouses together with Luna. However, there was no denying it. "But now that you said so..."

Sprout meanwhile had finished what she was doing. "Don't get me wrong, it's wonderful to see the two of you together. However, one part of a good relationship also is to not become too dependent on each other. A bit of independence is good for both partners."

I better don't ask how she knows that. I have a feeling she went through a failed relationship in her past, Neville thought, then changed the topic. "Professor, do you think the school will be closed? Even if only temporarily?"

Sprout sighed, clearly knowing that question would come. "As much as I want to say that such an idea is foolish, I have to accept the facts. And the facts show that Magical Britain as we've known it won't be for much longer. The school can't hope to stay open in the middle of the turmoil of the change to whatever does come next."

"The thought alone is strange to me," Neville admitted.

"As it is to me, Mr. Longbottom. However, since I've been alive for much longer than you are and spent my entire life in the system that is now breaking down, this is leaving me at a loss how things will continue. Think about how the older generations of wizards and witches will react to this," Sprout reminded Neville.

Neville had to think of his grandmother. Gran looked rather insecure about the future the last time I saw her. Could it be... that people her age simply have no idea how to deal with this?

The thought made him realize that compared to people who had lived many decades in the old system, he probably would adapt much better to whatever would come next.

o

Ginny had to admit that looking at it from the outside, the whole situation would appear utterly absurd. While perhaps a bathroom was a place where two girls in a school would talk - though Ginny honestly felt that the cliche was well overblown - it most certainly was not supposed to happen this way.

Ginny had been walking through the castle when she'd felt pressure on her bladder and thus quickly made her way to the next girls' room. In her haste she had not registered properly that she was running into Myrtle's bathroom. Granted, she herself had only known Myrtle as a nice girl-ghost, but she nonetheless had let out a small shriek of surprise when Myrtle had popped out of the floor.

Popped out of the floor just when Ginny had sat down on the toilet and the floodgate was opening up, that was.

Thus now here Ginny was, sitting on a toilet, her business already done, with her trousers and knickers still down at her ankles, having a polite conversation with the ghost. "No, I honestly had not known this is the very toilet you died on," Ginny admitted.

"Granted, there is nothing outstanding about it, but it has high sentimental value to me. Ohh, I was so relieved the Headmaster managed to spell it back together after that vandal smashed it," Myrtle said, as if that was a highly important topic.

"You know, I still wonder why you insist on hanging out in here of all places. I for my part wouldn't want to spend too much time at a place where other girls piss, shit and barf," Ginny said frankly, even after years finding it weird.

"It's the place where I've died." Myrtle then realized that it wouldn't tell Ginny much. "Look, I can't explain that properly to someone who isn't dead as well, only that I feel connected to this place and want to at least spend some time in it. Though I do understand why you feel weird about it."

Ginny then felt a small itch down south. "Oh yes... Ehm, Myrtle, could you...?"

"No problem!" Myrtle said a bit too happily before gliding through the stall door.

Ginny wasted no time to wipe herself and put her clothes back into order before flushing the toilet and leaving the stall. "Thanks, I don't like to do that when someone is watching."

"I'm always respectful. When other girls tell me to look away or leave while they are in here, I always do so," Myrtle said while Ginny was washing her hands. "In a way I envy you. You've got a boyfriend and do many naughty things with him. That's something I was denied."

Ginny was reminded that Myrtle had died at age 14. "Sadly, that's just one of the few things girls my age normally do which I do. Granted, I'm a huge tomboy, but I still have feminine interests. Thanks to the whole mess, I never experienced numerous things girls my age normally do. It fell by the wayside."

"So, both of us missed a lot, and it's in the end all his fault," Myrtle said, her face looking like she had bitten into a lemon.

Ginny knew that Myrtle was talking about Voldemort. "You sound angry."

"Well, how would you react to the bloke who caused your death?" Myrtle said, crossing her arms. "I've learned that being vindictive only makes me miserable, but if there is one person who deserves death, it would be him."

Ginny was hard-pressed to find any counter-argument, considering how much misery Voldemort had caused and how utterly irredeemable he was. "You know, there is something to that. He does deserve it."

"Then we are in agreement!" Myrtle glided a little closer to Ginny. "Just some good advice from one girl to another: don't let anger and bitterness win. I threw away my afterlife and the first 40 years of my new existence because of that and I'm still regretting it."

"I've also got many good things going for me. No way I want to lose that." Ginny knew that Myrtle had a point with her warning, though. After all, if one could talk about falling into that trap, it was her.

Also no chance I would even try to return as a ghost, considering what kind of existence that is, Ginny added silently.

o

Even though it was a Sunday and the office was closed over the weekend, there was activity in it. Though not the official kind of activity. Instead of processing student or school matters, Percy and Penelope - of course with getting the OK - would re-purpose the equipment in the office for Order matters.

The rattling of enchanted typewriters filled the air, only instead of writing school documents, they right now were being busy with writing down things for the Order of the Phoenix. Indeed, the locked-down office right now had the air of a detective agency, where Percy and Penelope were researching background information to do their part of the war behind the scenes.

Today however, they did have a visitor.

"Not that your presence is unwelcome, but it's surprising that you actually are visiting us instead of the many other options," Penelope said while locking the door behind Luna.

"Indeed. It is nothing personal, but I actually would have expected Ron or Ginny visit us," Percy added, being a bit surprised that Luna of all people wanted to visit them during their under-the-table work.

Luna didn't mind, having expected this reaction. "Recently we were exposed to how much work is being done behind the scenes. While the others admit they underestimated it, I for my part want to learn even more."

Penelope raised an eyebrow when hearing that. "Ohhh, you mean you actually want to watch us do boring work?"

"While many might not see desk work as exciting as being in the field, it is far from boring." Luna then noticed she had sounded a bit sour. "Despite having future plans of my own, I do know I will contribute to the Quibbler in the future. My father showed me the importance of desk work."

"Nothing personal against your father, but considering the esoteric nature of a good part of the articles, it at times does not appear he is doing the proper research." Percy then saw the look Luna was giving him. "It is an objective observation, and feeling insulted won't change the facts."

Luna held her expression for a bit longer before admitting that as much as she loved her father, there was something to it. After the words of Newt Scamander years ago, she had realized that insisting something is true because there is no proof to the contrary was just as bad as dismissing something as untrue due to there not being any proof and not trying to find it.

Not wanting to dwell on it, Luna moved on. "So, can I help out?"

Penelope looked to Percy, who nodded. "Sure, why not? We can see if you like it."

The work then started again and they actually took the time to show Luna what they were doing exactly. To their positive surprise, Luna listened very eagerly and one taking over her part only made a few easily corrected errors. It was something else that attracted Luna's attention during the work.

"Are you always having such banter during work?" Luna wondered while trying to get used to using a typewriter.

Percy and Penelope only now noticed they had fallen into their usual habits, without taking into account how that would look to Luna. "Yes, we usually do when it is only us," Percy admitted. "It does help us to stay relaxed and actually helps our work."

"How? Does it help you to counter possible boredom?" Luna asked.

"That's not it. Instead, it helps us to not lose ourselves in our work, since the last thing we want is to have that all we are thinking about. Sprinkling in said banter and small personal moments goes a long way to keep us grounded," Penelope tried to explain it. "Difficult to describe, but it helps us a lot so we don't live for the work."

"Interesting. Perhaps I should try that out as well in due time," Luna remarked, before returning to the task of trying to master a typewriter.

Percy and Penelope wondered what exactly Luna would do with the idea.

o

"I swear, Professor Sinistra saw us go in here and she did nothing," Millicent said, still surprised at the non-reaction of the teacher.

"Perhaps she has realized that it would serve no purpose?" Dudley guessed.

Dudley and Millicent had gotten a letter that was from both of their mothers, much to their surprise. They had decided they needed some more privacy and retreated into one of the empty rooms. That the professor had seen but did nothing was rather telling about the state Hogwarts was in. Right now they were making themselves comfortable on the bed (not for that) so that they could take a look at the letter in question.

"Well, I won't complain. Let's see what this letter is about..." Dudley then opened the letter so they both could read it. They both didn't mind they had to lean close to each other for that.

"Interesting. Our mothers really are getting along," Millicent observed from what she was reading.

"Mum says she's really getting perspective... Oh, and she remembered the time when you and your mother arrived at our home in a Rolls Royce to pick me up," Dudley said with a bit of amusement.

"I remember that one. Mum had to concentrate so the wouldn't stumble in her high-heels." Millicent looked equally amused. "Looks like staying with my parents is doing her a lot of good, though now both of them worry."

"I think that's a universal trait..." Dudley knew his mother was unsettled about the whole war situation.

"You know, look how far we've come from the first time we met. Back on the train, I was insecure and had one single friend. You meanwhile felt out of your element. Guess it's fate that brought us together," Millicent mused.

"Yes, and it helped us to go through the bad stuff as well. God, I was ready to lose it for a moment when I thought down in the Chamber that you are dead."

"The Chamber..." Millicent grimaced at the memory. The whole thing was an experience she would never forget and there was a reason that during boggart lessons Tom and the Chamber appeared as her fear. "That was without doubt the low point of my entire life."

"Sorry I brought it up," Dudley apologized.

"No, don't," Millicent told him. "While it will always be there, I did manage to come to terms with it. Though I of course would love to get back at him for creating that damn diary in the first place."

Not wanting to dwell on it, they did go the rest of the letter before putting it aside. "My mother is bringing up a good point. What do we do once the school is closed?" Millicent wondered. "After all, we know it's now only a matter of time before that happens. No way they keep us here when all governmental order has collapsed."

"Some would say it's safer for us, but that's bollocks. What use is the supposed safety when the enemy doesn't even have to search and can get all of us in one go?" Dudley thought aloud.

"You think they would do that?" Millicent asked.

Dudley snorted. "As far as they are concerned, any student they think of being worth something has already left the school. Therefore, in their eyes, all of us who remain have to be the ones with no place in whatever future they are planning."

Millicent had to admit it made a sickening amount of sense. "Well then... There is no way I'll sit at home, and I know you don't want to, either. Knowing Daphne, she would probably get ready to do anything after a week of beig forced to do nothing."

"Hm... Let's ask Harry about that. He should know who to ask to make ourselves useful. Though, I don't think our parents will like that much." Dudley then thought about it. "However, let's first talk with Daphne about it. She's really good about stuff we might have overlooked."

"Good idea. And now..." Millicent leaned even closer against Dudley. "We should relax a bit before we are on our way."

While that sounded really good to Dudley, he knew at this time of the day they shouldn't go overboard. "All right, but let's not go too far, OK?"

"All right, only five minutes," Millicent said, before claiming her boyfriend's lips.

Five minutes turned into twenty minutes and it had become a lot less innocent than both of them had planned - though they had managed to stop themselves before it truly went too far for this time of the day. When leaving the room, they both knew they first would have to get presentable again before talking with Daphne. Otherwise, their friend would tease them to no end how both of them were lacking the proper self-control.

Some time later a house-elf was complaining that the beds in empty rooms shouldn't look like a tornado went though them.


...October 31st...

She's insane... Utterly insane... That was all Pansy could think about while her and Draco were being forced to come along and witness what Bellatrix considered being fun.

Considering the woman's personality, when being told they had to follow her onto an 'excursion' in order to witness how one should properly celebrate Halloween in Muggle neighborhoods, they had braced themselves for something horrible, but this was even worse than they had expected.

"Yes, yes! See, they are just as ugly on the inside as the are on the outside," Bellatrix said in a shocking tone drunk with joy while looking at the body of a young boy.

If I hurl, she's going to hurt me, Draco thought, looking in horror at the corpse, since Bellatrix had used a terrible curse to force the child to throw up his own innards.

Both of them felt like making a run for it, but the reminder that they had nowhere to run to kept them from doing so. Instead they were forced to go through this horror of Bellatrix apparating to a suburban neighborhood, her then killing several people she found on the streets in horrible ways, before she would leave with them to go to the next destination.

Bellatrix was not like Voldemort, who while enjoying killing mostly did it fast. No, Bellatrix was a pure sadist, and while she had shown them that side oif hers before, what she was doing now to people without any magic made everything they had seen before look pale by comparison. And there was nothing they could do about it.

The nightmare however continued when Bellatrix soon found her next victim in form of a young woman.

"Now watch closely how to properly deal with animals like that..." Bellatrix announced to them after she had magically glued her victim to a wall and lowered her voice to a whisper to prevent loud screams. Bellatrix then pulled out her knife. "First we give her a nice smile."

'Giving her a smile' turning out to be cutting open her face. What then followed was too horrible to put into words, but it made Draco and Pansy tremble in sheer horror. Bellatrix had no idea that her attempts to harden them only had the opposite effect. For all of their talk and even beating up other students while being part of the Inquisitorial Squad, they both now knew they didn't have it in them.

In the contrary, being highly racist towards people you don't meet was easy, but now getting a prime seat while watching Bellatrix torturing Muggles to death while looking like she was close to having an orgasm was pushing a lesson onto them they had long avoided. Even people without magic were still people and watching them suffer so close-up hammered home how wrong they had been.

"Yes! Yes!" It seemed Bellatrix was losing herself to her bloody work, sounding overly enthusiastic.

No... Please no! Pansy pleaded silently when watching Bellatrix starting to use the cutting curse. She knew however, looking away would instantly enrage the woman.

Finally, Bellatrix was craving her victim open, causing the insides to spill out. "Oh, what a wonderful day! Just like the day the Dark Lord entrusted me with his cup and told me to keep it safe at all cost! Well, it will be safe in my vault! No one will ever search for that cup in a Gringotts vault! Ha ha ha ha!"

It was perverse, but being forced to watch the young woman die so horribly etched the words of Bellatrix' delirious ranting - a rant the she probably herself wouldn't remember - into the minds of both teenagers. They would later wonder what cup Bellatrix was talking about, only knowing that it had to have an immense value to Voldemort.

The horrible evening continued for a bit longer, before finally they returned and Draco and Pansy managed to reach the room they were sharing - the one concession freely given to them.

As soon as the door had closed behind them, they both raced to the adjacent bathroom. Pansy reached the toilet just in time and started to vomit hard into it, while Draco had to use the sink for the same purpose. All of the horror from over the evening, which they had been holding down out of pure fear, was now pouring out.

They stayed like that for minutes, until finally looking at each other. They both had become deathly pale and their eyes spoke volumes. Stumbling back to the bed, they held onto each other shivering. "What were we thinking? This is..."

"I...I know, but..." Draco looked at the damning mark on his arm - the sign of them having made a pact in their ignorance and arrogance which they now were regretting deeply. "If we leave... He'll be onto us soon."

Pansy looked at her own mark. Only now did she understand what kind of terrible error it was to have it being branded onto their skin. "There has to be a way... Some way..."

Pansy would have never thought that she would feel disgusted by her parents, but watching her mother and father being absolutely unfazed by murder and torture - yes, actually even relishing in it when they thought it would get them the Dark Lord's favor - while going along with any kind of atrocity if they thought it would improve their position, showed her what kind of people they truly were.

And Pansy had realized that she did not want to be like that - an insight she would have been incapable of before witnessing the depths one could sink to.

Draco understood too well why Pansy wanted to flee from all of this. "Perhaps... But not... while they are watching us like hawks."

Draco himself had come to the sobering realization that what he always had seen as the right thing was little more than an illusion, and that the true cause was as horrible as it could be. He also knew that he would have ignored those truths without seeing them first-hand. His prior beliefs now looked like that of a dumb child who believed everything he was being told.

"Draco... is there a way out for us?" Pansy didn't like the way he looked even more scared now.

Draco whispered into her ear what he though was the only way they could get away for real, and hearing it made Pansy gulp hard. Doing that sounded utterly insane, but considering the marks on their arms, it perhaps was the only way to truly become free again.

It didn't change the fact that the idea still was utterly insane and bound to unspeakable pain and injury.


...November 14, the Riddle House...

"Repeat that, Barty," Voldemort said, wanting to make sure that the information had been relayed to him correctly.

Barty was not surprised, since it was an unexpected development. "Jaxley has reported, that someone else is sabotaging the Ministry from within. Someone who is not from our side, my Lord. There were a number of highly suspicious deaths, money, files and magical objects vanishing or ending up destroyed as well as a number of Ministry workers acting quite irrational, but no Imperius is at work."

"I understand what is going on... Very interesting." Voldemort looked a bit amused.

"My Lord, what is actually happening?" Amycus wondered. Everyone in the know about the Riddle House was being gathered, since Barty had deemed it important news.

"You lack the needed imagination, Amycus, thus I will explain it to you," Voldemort said, again sounding like a teacher talking to his students. "It is at its root rather simple. Someone is weakening the Ministry on their own accord in order to make it easier for us to take over."

"Why would someone do that, Master? After all, it would not give them any kind of benefit," Alecto wondered.

"But it does give them a benefit. Whoever they are, they are doing this to curry favor with Lord Voldemort to be in a favorable position once our takeover is complete," Voldemort explained, sounding amused at such a notion.

Bellatrix snorted at the mere idea. "Whoever they are, they are fools! With their actions, they have shown themselves to an element that has to be eliminated."

"Very true, Bella." Voldemort's expression now hardened. "Lord Voldemort can't tolerate any competition. With their actions they have proven to have only one loyalty: themselves. They would do anything for power, even if it means backstabbing their new Lord."

Pettigrew looked unimpressed. "I think all of us can see how short-sighted such thinking is. Do they honestly expect, my Lord, that you will overlook that their deceit could quickly turn against you as well?"

"It shows you are not coming from an old family, Pettigrew," Bellatrix said, looking every bit the arrogant pure-blood at that moment. "The Blacks of old made it clear that such overly opportunistic behavior inevitably ends badly. After all, no one likes the traitor. Though that wisdom of course has not reached the small minds."

Pettigrew knew what everyone was thinking; namely that he himself had entered their ranks by becoming a traitor. However, he rationalized it away by thinking that he was a different case and he couldn't be a traitor to people who had never trusted him in the first place. It did matter little anyway, since he had proven his full loyalty to the Dark Lord.

Of course she had to mention it. Snobbish loon... Pettigrew of course still didn't like being reminded of said fact.

"However, while the problem will be taken care of, it has accelerated our timetable. Barty, what is Jaxley's conclusion of that?" Voldemort then asked Barty.

"Master, Jaxley said the Ministry is now so weak, taking it over will be child's play. The building is mostly empty now and taking hold of it can be done with a reasonably sized force. Once that is done, any remnant of the old governmental struture will fold, leaving you to put something new in its place."

"Good..." Voldemort looked very pleased with those news while giving Nagini some attention. "That means I can now finally take what rightfully is mine. Give the needed orders. In four days, we will bring the Ministry to its knees for real. Bella, you stay..."

Everyone else left, leaving Voldemort and Bellatrix alone. "Now, Bella, how is the first of my new dynasty doing?"

"Getting a permanent caretaker for her was the correct decision. I would have killed her by now had it been left to me." Bellatrix had learned from what little contact she had with Delphini, that while she was gladly giving birth to the Dark Lord's offspring, she was no mother material.

"Not the nurturing type, Bella?" Voldemort asked with some perverse amusement.

"My sisters might enjoy it, but I don't..." Bellatrix said with a snort, though she imagined that Narcissa had foisted off things like changing diapers onto a house-elf. "It's better anyway that she learns early on to stand on her own; something Narcissa clearly neglected with her own son."

Voldemort gave her a mildly interested look. "And how is that going?"

"They... are making progress. I think soon enough I've got all those scruples out of them," Bellatrix said, though lacking enthusiasm. "Master, this is more exhausting work than anything else."

"I didn't take you as the type who gives up easily, Bella," Voldemort probed.

"Because I won't. It just takes more time than anticipated to get them into the proper mindset." Bellatrix than gave Voldemort a hopeful look. "My Lord, if it's not impertinent to ask..."

Voldemort already had a good guess what that was about."You want to be at my side when the Ministry is brought under new management, don't you, Bella? Worry not. Your place is at my side."

That improved Bellatrix' mood significantly. "I thank you so much, my Lord! My I take my leave to also prepare?"

Voldemort told her she could leave and as soon as she was gone, Nagini looked to Voldemort. "You are mainly taking her along because she's good at killing, aren't you?"

"Mainly... Still envious that you can't have what she's having with me, Nagini?" Voldemort asked her.

"Yes. Sadly, I now lack the correct feminine parts for the act. If I could return to my human form, I would offer myself to you." Despite how much attention Voldemort gave her - part of him being in her making her someone he actually did show some actual care for - Nagini never had gotten over the fact that she couldn't do that act with her Master.

Voldemort was amused by the envy and jealously of women.

Thinking about things, he knew he had suffered a number of setbacks. Especially disappointing had been Greyback not living up to his name. The first time losing some of his pack could be chalked up to bad luck, but the second time smelled more of incompetence. Granted, Greyback had brought forward lots of excuses, like werewolves clearly working under the Order - as evidenced by the presence of Lupin - ambushing them both times.

However, Lord Voldemort did not tolerate repeated failure. He had given Greyback a reminder and it was interesting to see that even someone like him could beg for mercy when being exposed to the Cruciatus Curse.

Still, he had put the werewolf attacks on hold for the time being until he could address the problem properly. What he didn't know was, how that put a wrench into Greyback's plans to desert him, forcing the man to put his plans on hold for the time being.

For the time being all of his energy now would be concentrated on finally conquering the Ministry for real. Once that was done, there only would be Dumbledore's Order left, while soon enough the word of Lord Voldemort would literally be law. It now only was a matter of days.

Once that is done, I can put all of my energy into finding the one wand that will allow me to kill Potter for good, Voldemort then thought.

He had worked hard to find out the path of said wand through the years, and his research had been successful. Sadly, for the important step he would have to leave the country and he couldn't do so until he had dealt with the Ministry first. Once that was out of the way he could spare the time to find the ultimate wand.

With that wand at hand, he could finally eliminate Potter once and for all. He was sure, that was where Potter's annoying habit of cheating death would come to its end.

to be continued...

Next Episode:

"Collapse"


Notes:

Here the notes.

We do hear of the end result of what happened in the forest. Of course it's not pretty but we honestly already expected this to happen. No wonder they don't want to return to the forest.

The goblins aren't doing well, either. I was actually thinking about that right fro mthe start and that they were stupid about it. If your own economy also is geared towards propping up another economy, then you of course are going to suffer once you sabotage said economy.

Bet you would see Stefan Schuster and the other two infected again, do you?

I felt the Order would not throw the Six into the truly dangerous stuff right away, thus also showing how the perspective of the Six had been twisted by all the stuff happening to them. They are now getting some perspective correction.

I really wanted to have each of the Six to have a scene all on their own. I do hope that each of the scenes does covey some important information - especially Harry's scene. Allowed me to showcase characters who had taken a backseat.

Again, sucks to be Draco and Pansy, but something very important has happened.

And yep, Voldemort is about to make his move. And then...