CHAPTER {185-187}

****FORGING-ALLIANCES? (V)****

~~Duncansby Head~~

Harry was staring at the ocean with a tranquil look on his face… The waves crashed against the cliff, but Harry paid them no mind. He was simply enjoying the wind against his face… His messy black hair was blowing around due to the wind, creating a beautiful sight. Moments later, several cracks were heard around him, but he didn't even bother to turn around or raise his guard.

"You are pretty arrogant to have your back turned around toward your enemy" Amelia spoke carefully as she slowly approached Harry. She wasn't sure if he was truly alone or not as mentioned in the letter, but it was better to be careful. The letter was a simple invitation to a meeting for a potential alliance. To be honest, she was still skeptical about the meeting and coming here was probably foolish, but she at least wanted to know what he had to say.

"Do you consider me to be your enemy, Madame Bones?" Harry asked without turning back and Amelia felt her jaw tighten.

"What do you want, boy? Why call us here?" Before Amelia could say anything, Augusta Longbottom spoke up in an impatient tone.

Hearing her words, Harry finally turned around. "Dowager Longbottom, a face I wasn't expecting to see… Well, not that it matters" Harry pointed out blandly. "A Gray Cloak too… Quite an impressive line up I would have to say" Harry slightly turned his head and said while staring at a blank spot. Moments later, the air shimmered and Saul Croaker, who was hiding under an invisibility cloak revealed himself.

"Why did you kidnap Severus Snape?" Gawain Robards asked curiously.

"Technically I didn't kidnap him… He came to the Malfoy Manor on his own accord, but I simply disagreed when he tried to leave, but I have removed his thumbs and I will keep pulling him apart, bit by bit until there is nothing left of him" Harry said like it was a fact written in stone, making almost uncomfortable at his words.

"Why are you doing this?!" Connie Hammer asked, looking completely aghast.

"I have my reasons" Harry answered cryptically before turning toward Dowager Longbottom. "Tell me Dowager, do you know why your son and your daughter-in-law went into hiding along with your Grandson?" Harry asked all of a sudden.

The ancient woman seemed to be displeased by the question. "They went into hiding to protect their Neville because there was reason to believe that Voldemort was looking for them" The woman still answered the question.

"That is true, but that is not the whole reason…" Harry admitted with a frown. "There is a Prophecy…" That was all Harry managed to say before the ancient woman cut him off.

"I already suspected that, but Prophecies matter very little to me" The woman declared with a huff.

"Regardless of your personal feelings, Prophecies are real and they have a lot of power. The resident Grey Cloak will be able to attest to that" Harry glanced toward Saul, who didn't bother to say anything. "Alas, I am not here to debate if Prophecies are real or not. I am here to give you the truth. Did you never question how Voldemort came to learn of the Prophecy which was delivered to Dumbledore?" Harry asked rhetorically.

"You know how the Prophecy was leaked?" Gawain asked in an incredulous tone.

"Obviously, he knows. It was Snape" Saul spoke up for the first time.

"Thanks for your input Saul" Harry said with a smug grin on his face and everyone became tense at his words and Saul barely held himself back from attacking Harry.

"How do you know my name?" Saul asked. He could have tried to play for a fool, but he knew it wouldn't have worked. The boy was completely sure of his words.

"I have my ways and yes, it was Snape who revealed the Prophecy to Voldemort as he wanted to be recognized by Voldemort" Harry revealed mockingly, and everyone believed it. There was no reason to argue… Some of them didn't even know the man beyond casual acquaintance, but those who did, knew that he was a vile man, hiding behind the protection of the Leader of the Light.

"Then. Then why the hell is Dumbledore protecting him?" Tonks blurted out, looking really lost. She clearly understood the implications of Harry's words. She knew that Albus Dumbledore wasn't the good guy she believed him to be, but most of the senior members of their group still believed that the man was good.

"Well, he probably doesn't know" Connie Hammer answered for Harry and Harry started to laugh at her words, confusing some of them, but Amelia, Augusta, and Saul felt chills run down their spine at his mocking laugh.

"Then you obviously don't know Albus Dumbledore… He knows. There is a reason he considers himself to be the Light Lord. He does have some lines he wouldn't cross as he doesn't want to lower himself to the level of common people or the Death Eaters, but beyond that, everything is a fair game" Harry revealed with a chuckle.

"He considers Snape to be a necessary evil to gain an upper hand in the upcoming War and now that he has lost his spy, he is running around like a headless chicken" Harry continued to chuckle.

"Madame Bones, you never caught the ones who killed your brother and your sister-in-law, did you?" Harry asked curiously and Amelia felt something ugly rear its head inside her mind.

"Was it Snape?" Amelia asked while gritting her teeth in anger. The Ministry and the DMLE could get fucked for all she cared as long as she could have her revenge on the bastards who killed her brother and his wife. Their deaths were anything but pleasant. The Death Eaters ambushed them on an Order mission and both her brother and his wife were easily subdued. Then the Death Eaters took his brother's wife one by one right in front of him while they made him watch.

According to the Autopsy reports, her sister-in-law was violated by those scum at least 10 times before she breathed her last… Her body was completely brutalized and Amelia still remembered the look of anguish on her brother's face. Susan still believed that her parents' deaths were instantaneous and if it was up to her then Susan would never know the truth… It was better that way and the reason why she threw herself into work was to distract herself from vengeance.

"He sold them out and he was there when it happened, but it was Dolohov who was leading the group" Harry revealed in an indifferent tone.

"Who else was there?" Amelia asked while clutching her hands in anger. The look of fury on her face was pretty clear.

"Here you go. I made a list for you" Harry pulled out a note from his pocket and levitated it to Amelia. Amelia snatched the paper from the air and read the names… Her fury intensified as most of the names on the list were still walking free as they were so-called Imperiused victims. Amelia looked away from the paper and glared at Harry. She wasn't foolish enough to think there were no strings attached. When something seemed too good to be true, then it probably was.

"What do you want?" Amelia growled out, but she was quickly getting a hang of her temper.

"Nothing… Do you think I would hold something like that over your head? There are no strings attached… Think of this as a gift from me. Now what you do with that list is up to you" Harry shrugged his shoulders. That wasn't the truth obviously as he knew that Amelia was only bark and no bite… There was nothing that Amelia could do to the people on the list. Dolohov was in Azkaban. She could probably have him killed, but that was not her style…

Severus Snape was currently enjoying his hospitality and the rest on the list were the so-called upstanding citizens of Wizarding Britain. Amelia would need rock-hard proof to make a move against them and if she tried anything, she would only face a massive backlash if she tried… The list would slowly poison her mind. After all, there was nothing she would be able to do and that would eat away at her mind until she finally snapped.

Then she would reach out to him… After all, there was nobody else who would or could help her out with her revenge…

"Oh… I have another gift for you" Harry said while looking at Augusta Longbottom before he snapped his fingers and the air beside Harry shimmered, revealing a gaunt and malnourished man and except for Tonks, everyone recognized the man in an instant. "He was the one who entered my name in the Tournament and I obviously caught him. Dowager Longbottom, I believe you have unfinished business with him" Harry gestured his hand toward Barty Crouch Jr.

The woman looked apoplectic and she snarled in anger and pointed her Wand at the man to cast something obviously lethal and horrible, but she was stopped by Gawain Robards. She turned around to glare at him venomously… "Unhand me this instant or you will join him" The woman snarled before she dropped her bag and pulled out a long dagger only to hold the dagger at Gawain's throat in a flash. Harry had to admit, the woman was quite fast for someone a century old and unlike Amelia, she had that bite in her.

Augusta was so fast when she drew her dagger that Gawain didn't even notice it and to be honest, he wasn't expecting to do something like that in the first place… Tonks and Connie immediately pulled out their Wands and pointed at his Augusta, but the ancient woman paid them no mind. Amelia was in no condition to dissuade the situation as she was still trying to get a grip on her anger.

Gawain gulped nervously. "Barty died in Azkaban… He is someone else…" Gawain explained carefully and Augusta turned toward Harry and Harry grinned internally. Gawain basically handed over Augusta Longbottom to his side on a silver platter…

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****FORGING-ALLIANCES (I)****

"Technically, he never died in the first place. He was smuggled out of Azkaban by his father at the behest of his dear wife who took her son's place. She was the one who died in Azkaban and she is the one who is currently buried in the Azkaban graveyard" Harry explained drily and when he finally finished speaking, Augusta looked practically apoplectic while the others simply looked confused.

"What did you do to him?" Augusta asked, but she didn't withdraw her dagger.

"I fed him cursed unicorn blood and then he lost his Magic thanks to the Goblet of Fire when he failed to show up during the first task" Harry explained proudly. Everyone except for Augusta and Amelia looked horrified by his actions, and instead of looking horrified, Amelia simply looked disturbed while Augusta simply looked over at Barty Crouch Jr. before nodding her head in satisfaction.

"Fitting" Augusta muttered before she finally withdrew her dagger from Gawain's throat, who sighed in relief while rubbing his hand over his throat. "You are handing him over to me and I am fit to do whatever I want with him?" The ancient woman asked without giving away any of her emotions and after getting a nod from Harry, she finally smiled. "Such a thoughtful gift you have given me" The woman admitted before she picked up the handbag from the ground.

"I am sorry, but we cannot allow that" Gawain protested before carefully taking a step back, not wanting to have a dagger at his throat. Augusta whirled around and glared at him hatefully while Gawain seemed to glance toward Connie and Tonks, who seemed to be getting ready for a fight before he turned toward Saul, who simply raised his hands in the air. Saul was not a fighter in the first place and there was no way in hell that he was going to try and fight someone like Harry.

"You are going to deny me my revenge?" Augusta asked coldly as she glared at Gawain, Connie, and Tonks before she finally turned toward Amelia. "We were supposed to be allies, weren't we?" Augusta asked with a frown when she noticed the look on Amelia's face.

"Yes, we are. That is why I am going to push for the harshest punishment possible" Amelia declared before she also pulled out her Wand, but didn't raise it as she didn't want to point her Wand at an ally. "Don't fight this, Augusta. I know what he did, but as the Head of the DMLE, I cannot allow you to kill him. He will pay for his crimes, I promise you that" Amelia tried to placate the clearly apoplectic woman.

Meanwhile, Harry scoffed at her passionate words. "Avery should have been sentenced for life, don't make promises you can't keep" Harry pointed out with an amused look on his face, pouring more fuel to the fire.

Augusta hatefully glared at Amelia. "Don't give me that bullshite, Amelia! He was sentenced to Azkaban for life for what he did to my son and my daughter-in-law, but here he is… Freed by his own father, who once held your position!" Augusta snarled hatefully and Amelia already knew that her alliance wasn't going to last… It was a massive blow to her group, but she simply couldn't allow Augusta to kill the man.

"Then we are at an impasse, Augusta" Amelia declared with a hard look on her face before Harry once again interrupted with a cough.

Everyone turned toward Harry. "I think all of you might be forgetting something very important. He is my gift to Dowager Longbottom, so what makes you think I am going to let you people take him?" Harry asked curiously before he stepped forward and started to release his Magic, making everyone around him flinch back in shock. "Dowager Longbottom, these people don't seem to appreciate your alliance" Harry said as he turned toward Augusta.

"Yes, yes… I believe you are right" Augusta admitted with a nod of her head.

"Augusta, don't do this. Don't join him or you will be branded as a criminal too" Amelia tried to reach out to Augusta.

"Oh please! You won't be able to prove anything" Augusta scoffed and before any of her former allies could react, she flicked her Wand toward Barty Crouch Jr. and his head rolled off from his shoulders. Harry smiled and raised a barrier around Augusta to protect the old woman from the Stunning Charms cast by her former allies in outrage… The Stunning Charm harmlessly splashed against his barrier.

"You can't kill someone who is already dead, and Barty Crouch Jr. is already dead as long as the Ministry is considered" Harry explained with a shrug. Amelia and the other Aurors turned toward him to hatefully glare at him. Harry couldn't understand why they were so angry with him… After all, he was stating facts. "Even if you take his body to the Ministry, that coward of a Minister will have the body disposed and then he will shove everything under the rug" Harry explained as a matter of factly.

"I will join you, but I want the others too" Augusta declared as she walked up to Harry. To be honest, Harry didn't have any personal vendetta against Lestranges, so he didn't mind if Augusta killed them. As long as they were dead, he wasn't going to complain.

"Sure" Harry agreed with her demand.

"You know you are not going to get away with this. I am not going to let you" Amelia promised with a growl. "The Ministry is going to come after you hard and you being the chosen one is not going to save you" Amelia added coldly and Harry simply smiled at her.

"You don't even know where I am staying" Harry pointed out with an amused grin, making Amelia and the others frown before all of a sudden they realized they had no idea where Harry was staying. Amelia knew that she had sent her Aurors to look for Severus Snape, but she couldn't remember where she sent them and Saul was the first one to realize what was happening.

"The Fidelius Charm. You have used a Fidelius Charm" Saul exclaimed excitedly. Even the Unspeakables didn't know everything about the Fidelius Charm, so obviously he was interested.

"Bingo!" Harry clapped his hands with a gleeful look on his face. "Oh well, look at the time… I should get going" Harry exclaimed dramatically before he extended his hand toward Augusta. The woman accepted his hand and moments later, the two of them were gone with a soft pop, leaving the others to deal with the aftermath.

"What the hell are we going to do Amelia?" Gawain asked as he plopped down on the grass.

Amelia looked at the body of Barty Crouch Jr. before shaking her head… "I don't know. This was a huge blow to us" Amelia sighed.

Meanwhile, Tonks was practically having an existential crisis… Yes, she was disturbed by the actions of Harry, but right now, that was the least of her concerns… Her mom and dad were with Harry and she was staying with them, but now she didn't even know where they were staying anymore. Right now, she was feeling like a stray cat who had been tossed out into the streets… She had to work really hard to keep the tears from falling out of her eyes…

<Line Break>

~~DMLE Headquarters, Ministry of Magic~~

"I see… Thank you for telling me, young man" Albus smiled grimly at the young Auror. The Auror was a member of the team sent to investigate the Malfoy Manor and after listening to everything the young man had to tell him, Albus almost snapped, but he was not an amateur… He knew how to keep his bearings and no matter how angry he felt, it would be wrong to take it out of the man in front of him.

"It is alright, Headmaster. I may not like Severus Snape…" The Auror said, looking somewhat uncomfortable "...but I know he is important to you. He helped us out a lot during the last War and he does not deserve such treatment" The Auror added before looking down at his feet in shame. "I-I believed Harry Potter was going to be the next you… but I was wrong" The man sighed in defeat.

'You are not the only one who believed that' Albus winced internally. He always wanted to pass over his torch to Harry until the day he killed the Dursleys, but it was no longer an option for him. Harry had been corrupted way too much to trust him with the future of the Wizarding World… In fact, he wasn't sure if he could trust Harry to defeat Voldemort and not take his place.

Albus sighed and placed his hand on the Auror's shoulder, trying to comfort him. "It is alright… Now, if you don't mind, can I have the memory?" Albus asked. He had heard everything from the Auror, and even though he knew Harry was really strong, he never expected the boy to be able to beat both Rufus and Alastor with extreme ease. He needed to see it for himself. It wasn't like he didn't trust the young man, but sometimes, they needed to see something with their own eyes to believe it.

"Of course, Headmaster" The young Auror immediately agreed, which made Albus smile at the young man. "Ah… How do I do that?" Moments later, the man asked with an unsure look on his face.

With a grandfatherly smile on his face, Albus started to tell him how to extract the memory from his mind while he made up his mind to reestablish the Order. He had been planning to reestablish the Order for quite some time, but every time, one thing or another came up, but now he was determined to gather the Order as he needed to save Severus at any costs…

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****FORGING-ALLIANCES (II)****

~~Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire~~

Augusta Longbottom wasn't a big fan of Gellert, but at the same time, she didn't have any problems with him as she didn't think of him as an enemy. One Longbottom did die in his War, but she didn't even know that man, so she didn't feel that she should antagonize Gellert Grindelwald for someone she didn't even know in the first place. So, after making her swear some Secrecy Oaths, which make it impossible for her to sell out his secrets, he sent her on her merry way.

Later that night, Tonks returned to the Malfoy Manor along with Andi and Jacklyn… Since Tonks was at the Ministry while he cast the Fidelius Charm on the Malfoy Manor, he never managed to give her the Secret as he made Jacklyn the Secret Keeper. That is why he sent Andi and Jacklyn to Nymphadora's apartment to grab her from there, but for whatever reason, Andi had to grab her daughter from the DMLE office, while Jacklyn waited for them at the apartment.

"You have been declared a criminal and now you have a bounty of 100,000 Galleons, but you must be captured alive" Tonks revealed as she threw Harry a dirty look before she plopped down on the couch. It had been a long day for her and Harry was the one to blame.

Harry whistled with an impressed look on his face… "That is a lot of gold. I wonder if I should hand myself over to the Ministry for the bounty" Harry wondered aloud as he levitated a cola bottle into Tonks' hand from the ice box. He knew how to get her to work with him.

Tonks glared at him but still accepted the cola bottle. "Though who is going to capture you? You can't ask a random member of the Lost Garden to hand you over to the Ministry. The capture needs to look somewhat legit" Jacklyn pointed out before she plopped down beside Harry and picked up a cola bottle from the ice box.

|It is not a bad idea| Harry internally mused as an idea popped into his Mind. He was already planning to break into the Ministry as he needed to grab the Prophecy from the Department of the Mysteries, though he had no idea where they kept those damn things. He knew that he needed more information before breaking into a place like that and that was why he was taking his sweet time.

|That is a stupid idea, Hadrian| Lily chastised him, but instead of accepting her words, he decided to explain why it was a good idea.

|Mom, I will be getting 100,000 Galleons. That is a lot of gold and I wouldn't need to break into the Ministry as they will help me get inside, and when I am done, I will only need to escape| Harry explained like it was an amazing plan and while Lily had to admit that there was some merit in his plan, she still wasn't completely sold.

"Don't even think about it! Thanks to you, the DMLE became a laughing stock so don't expect the Aurors to go easy on you as more than quite a few Aurors are planning to rough you up if they get their hands on you" Tonks warned Harry.

"Is that so?" Harry rubbed his chin thoughtfully before he leaned back in his chair. "What about Augusta?" Harry asked.

"Her name wasn't brought up as the Minister decided to get rid of the body we brought. He was sure that someone was playing a prank" Tonks grumbled unhappily before taking a large gulp from her bottle. Moments later, a hard look appeared on her face and she leaned forward. "Why are you doing all of this Harry?" Tonks asked as he narrowed her eyes at him.

"Nymphadora, you…" Andi began to scold her daughter, but Harry stopped her.

"You need to be more specific, Tonks" Harry pointed out and Tonks glared at him angrily.

"I mean all of this. Kidnapping Snape! Then attacking the Aurors! Meeting Amelia and… and…" Tonks scowled as she couldn't find the right words to explain her questions. "Why did you free Grindelwald and his followers? Why are you building an army?" Tonks finished with a scowl.

"I believe I have already answered the last two questions of yours" Harry said calmly. "You remember the speech I gave?" Harry asked and after getting a nod from the clumsy Auror, he decided to continue speaking. "It is for freedom or I have them because I don't want to involve myself with every minor thing" Harry finished.

"As for your other questions?" Harry asked before he leaned forward. "I want to kick off the War as quickly as possible. With Voldemort back, a War is inevitable, but I want the War to start before any of the other Factions could finish their preparations. Right now, Voldemort is still consolidating his powers. Vampires and Werewolves are yet to join him and he is yet to start recruitment" Harry explained smoothly but his words only raised more questions.

Tonks also knew that a War was inevitable, she had heard it from Amelia, but wouldn't it be better if they tried to stall the War as long as they could? But before Tonks could question Harry, he started to speak again. "It is the same case with Albus Dumbledore. He is yet to reestablish the Order, which means he can't recruit yet. Amelia is also the same, but her problems are much bigger. She can't recruit blindly as there are a lot of leaks in the DMLE itself" Harry finished.

Tonks stewed for the next minute as she kept reviewing everything he said inside her mind. "Then why aren't we trying to stall the War?" Tonks asked, looking confused…

"Trying to stall the War will only work in favor of Voldemort. The last War officially started in 1973, but in reality, the War started way before that. It was 1968 when people started to disappear mysteriously, but nobody paid it any mind as they didn't have any high positions. Muggle villages started to get attacked back in 1970, but nobody paid it any mind as nobody wanted to rock the boat too much and the Ministry was actively suppressing all of that news as they didn't want to panic anyone" Harry continued to explain.

Tonks turned toward her mother, wanting to confirm if it was the truth and after getting a grim nod from her mother, Tonks started to feel sick. "The people who were mysteriously disappearing weren't random. There was a pattern to it… Voldemort was removing them so that one of his followers or sympathizers could take their place. In the last War, Voldemort brought the Ministry down to its knees and by the time the Ministry decided to fight back it was too late" Harry shook his head in disappointment.

"Voldemort would have won if it wasn't for the Prophecy" Harry finished with a scowl. "I am certain that Voldemort would once again use the same strategy to gain a foothold in the Ministry and this time, it would be easier for him as some of his agents never got caught and they are already in high places right now. I don't want to give him that chance… Right now, he isn't prepared, which would severely hamper his plans" Harry pointed out with a grin.

While Harry didn't care much about the people, he didn't want them to die unnecessarily, especially when he was going to kill all the Death Eaters and cut down the Wizarding population. They were already low in number and he didn't want to hurt their population even more… Humans were a resource, and unnecessary deaths were nothing but a waste of resources.

Then there was the fact that Albus might try to sacrifice people for his misguided Light agenda… The reason he allowed the Prewett twins to be sold out was because they were starting to hurt his ideals. They were starting to fight back fire with fire and they were getting results too. The other members of the Order were also starting to buy into their methods and Albus couldn't have that as according to him, they were straying from the path of the Light.

Then there was the fact that Voldemort also wanted them dead as he was losing his followers to the duo… So, with a heavy heart, he decided to get them killed. It was like killing three birds with one Spell… First of all, Severus' position as a spy would get cemented among the Death Eaters. Secondly, the Order would no longer be swayed by their methods and thirdly, they would become an example.

The other Order members would get the message that fighting fire with fire was not the way… Doing that would get you ambushed and killed.

It made Harry sick to his core… Yes, he would openly admit that he was not a hero or a good guy, but he would never sell out his own people for whatever reason. If they were traitors then it was a completely different case, but he would never kill one of his own just so he could cement the position of a spy within the enemy camp.

After that, the conversation turned toward much lighter topics as nobody wanted to only talk about Wars…

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