HPF251-260

Chapter 251

As soon as his body stopped contorting,

Crouch snatched the straps holding the now

useless magical eye in place away and

reached for his wand while trying to stand

and failing. His hand had barely reached it

before matching stunners from Snape and

Flitwick hit him from either side causing the

man to collapse before he toppled from his

chair to the floor behind the table.

"Barty Crouch Junior," exclaimed a clearly

surprised Snape, as the Hall burst into

surprised chatter.

Harry walked forward as the staff appeared

to stand around, not knowing what to do.

"Well?" he prompted them. "I may only be a

student but, even to someone like me, I

would think the next thing to do would be to

call the aurors; yes?"

That got them moving.

"Mister Potter, perhaps you should..." began

Dumbledore before Harry rode over him in a

louder and clear voice.

"..Wonder how it is that someone you called

a friend for the past fifty years could be

impersonated by a Death Eater and you had

no idea? Well, I do!" With a snort he said,

"Polyjuice requires the person who you're

impersonating be somewhat handy for the

final ingredient for, and when, you need it.

Maybe you should think about sending

someone to the Dah-Dah offices and see if

the real Moody's there, somewhere, under

enchantments of some sort. That is, if you're

not too busy calling for the aurors."

Dumbledore scowled back and quickly left

the Hall, while Professors McGonagall and

Flitwick hurried off to, apparently, the DADA

offices.

Harry turned back to his smirking godfather

and father-in-law. He sighed and said in a

clear voice, "Is it just me, or is the staff here

utterly incapable of figuring things out

without being led by the hand to the

answer?"

Turning to the rest of the Hall, he called, "Oh,

I think it's now apparent to even a... bunch of

dunderheads... how it is my name came to

be ejected by the Goblet of Fire; aye?"

That had a few students look away in shame

while most others looked back in dawning

comprehension.

The real Alastor Moody was found locked

within his own trunk in the DADA Professor's

private quarters by Professors McGonagall

and Flitwick. He was taken to the Infirmary

where he was resting.

The aurors finally arrived after half an hour

and took away the stunned and bound Barty

Crouch Junior. Harry learned later that

another pair of aurors was sent to Saint

Mungo's, where they were tasked with

putting Crouch Senior in null-magic cuffs and

cuffing him to his own bed. He would be

taken into custody once he was well enough

to travel.

For everyone else, they spent the afternoon

talking back and forth about the task and the

'unveiling' of the so-called Professor Moody

as actually being a Death Eater long thought

dead.

About an hour before the start of the early

evening meal, Harry retired to their bedroom

and changed into the mixed muggle and

magical attire he'd be wearing for the task.

He'd be wearing a comfortable pair of firmly

laced, ankle protecting, high-top muggle

trainers in black; lightweight black combat

pants; a black long-sleeved t-shirt; and a

black over robe similar to auror robes that

allowed full freedom of movement. And,

finally, his invisibility cloak went in the left

back pocket of his pants in easy reach

through slits in the robes to allow such

access.

Because he'd need the absence of colour to

help him hide from the Death Eaters after

getting away from Riddle, matt black was the

only way to go.

"All looks good," muttered Hermione. "Now

try the skin tone colour charm."

He quickly used the temporary charm to

darken his skin to a dark brown, "Obscurant

cutem," before reversing it again with its

counter, "Redire cutem."

"Now the disillusionment charm," said

Daphne.

He gave the top of his head a tap with the tip

of his wand as he muttered the incantation,

"Lateo"; and felt the broken egg and water

drenching sensation that said he'd

successfully applied it before removing it

once more with the counter, "Appareo".

"And the cloak?" asked Hermione.

Harry checked. "In my back pocket and easy

to hand," he replied, tapping his back left

pocket.

"Good, that's three ways to disappear," said

Daphne. "Now for the portkeys."

Pointing to them, or otherwise indicating

them, he said, "My House ring is a

permanent portkey and portkeys me to

Potter Retreat. My wedding band is a portkey

to the entry hall of Greengrass Farm. My

'new' necklace is a portkey to the front gates

of Hogwarts. And the coins I have in my

pockets, one in each so they don't 'chink' as I

move, are each portkeys to the front gate.

And, I can always apparate out. "

"Apparate only as a last-ditch emergency

effort," said Daphne. "Your focus won't be

the best and you may splinch yourself."

Harry just gave a short nod in response.

"Broom?" asked Hermione.

"Shrunken already; and in my left thigh

pocket," he replied, tapping the pocket on

the combat pants.

"That's everything," said Hermione.

"Then let us rejoin our family," said Daphne.

On his left inner forearm under a heavy

glamour he had his wand holster for his

'secondary' custom wand; a wand he'd been

training to cast with, with his left hand. Also

strapped to his left forearm, but on the back

of the arm, was his knife in its holster with

the handle down, also disillusioned. There, it

would be in easy reach of his right hand to

pull if he needed it.

On his right forearm he had the holster for

the 'primary', ministry-sanctioned wand that

he'd been using almost exclusively; the

Ollivander holly and phoenix feather wand

that was the brother wand to Riddle's. Also

strapped to his right arm was the pig skin

blood pouch. It went from just under the

wand holster, all the way up to about the

middle of his bicep under the sleeve of his

t-shirt. It was also firmly attached to his arm

by elastic straps and sticking charm. And

Harry had been practicing casting while

wearing it for the past couple of days; since

the morning after they'd taken the blood

from Nott. Harry quickly found that the

blood pouch did not affect his casting any

noticeable difference.

Once the girls checked him over to make sure

everything that needed to be hidden -

whether under glamour or just within

clothing - was, they returned to the living

room to join the family.

"It's time," he sighed. "Shall we head down

to dinner?"

Chapter 252

Finally, the three and their families sat for

the final meal before the third task. Harry ate

very little. His godfather noticed.

"Harry," said Sirius. "You need to eat!"

"Sorry, Sirius," sighed Harry. "I've just got

this real bad feeling about tonight.

Something's wrong, and I can feel it in my

bones!"

"Your bones hurt?" asked a confused

godfather.

"No," said Harry shaking his head. "It's a

muggle expression. It implies you know

something for a fact when there is no

evidence to support it. Think of it as a very

strong gut feeling."

"And your guts are telling you something's

going to go wrong," said Sirius, now

understanding.

"Yeah, that's the crux of it," replied Harry,

grumbling.

Listening, Matthias said, "Madam Bones will

have her aurors all over the place, tonight. If

something happens, they'll be right there."

With a glance and a long look at his two

wives, Harry decided to eat a little rice with a

light stew. It wouldn't sit too heavily in his

stomach.

As the enchanted ceiling overhead began to

fade from blue to a dusky purple,

Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table,

and silence fell.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time,

I will be asking you to make your way down

to the Quidditch pitch and stands for the

third and final task of the Tri-wizard

Tournament. Will the champions... and

Mister Potter... please follow Mister Bagman

down to the stadium now."

Harry rose in place, quickly followed by his

family. They all wished him good luck while

he also received chaste kisses from his wives.

And he headed off out of the Great Hall with

Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor.

"Feeling all right, Harry?" asked Bagman, as

they went down the stone steps onto the

grounds. "Confident?"

"I'm fine, Useless. Given the Weasley twins

their money, yet?" said Harry. It was sort of

true; he was nervous, but he kept running

over everything he needed to do before the

night was over.

Bagman turned away with a scowl and led

them outside. As soon as they stepped out

the doors they were flanked by four aurors,

who followed them down to the pitch.

They walked onto the Quidditch pitch, which

was now completely unrecognizable. A

twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way

around just inside the edge of it. There was a

gap right in front of them: the entrance to

the vast maze. The passage beyond it looked

dark and creepy.

Looking around, Harry spotted no less than a

half dozen aurors spaced out across their

side of the maze. He suspected there were a

great many more where he couldn't see

them.

Five minutes later, the stands had begun to

fill. The air was full of excited voices and the

rumbling of feet as the hundreds of students,

family members and other guests filed into

their seats. The sky was a deep, clear indigo

now, and the first stars were starting to

appear. Hagrid, Professor McGonagall,

Professor Sinistra and Professor Flitwick

came walking into the stadium and

approached Bagman and the champions.

They were wearing large, red, luminous stars

on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his

on the back of his moleskin vest.

"We are going to be patrolling the outside of

the maze," said Professor McGonagall to the

four competitors. "If you get into difficulty,

and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into

the air, and one of us or one of the aurors

will come and get you, do you understand?"

The four nodded.

"Off you go, then!" said Bagman brightly to

the four staff patrollers. The aurors were

already in place.

"Good luck, 'Arry," whispered Hagrid, as the

four of them walked away in different

directions, to station themselves around the

maze.

Bagman, pointing his wand at his throat,

muttered, "Sonorus," and his magically

magnified voice echoed into the stands.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final

task of the Tri-wizard Tournament is about

to begin!"

As the cheers of the audience died down

again, he continued, "Let me remind you

how the points currently stand! In first place,

with eighty-eight points, is Mister Harry

Potter of Hogwarts!" The cheers and

applause sent birds from the Forbidden

Forest fluttering into the darkening sky. "In

second place, with eighty points, is Mister

Viktor Krum of Durmstrang!" More applause.

"And tied in third place, with seventy-eight

points each is Mister Cedric Diggory of

Hogwarts! And, Miss Fleur Delacour of

Beauxbatons!" More, but louder applause

than for Victor.

Harry could just make out his family halfway

up the stands. He waved up at them, and

they waved back, beaming at him; though,

both wives were justifiably nervous.

"So... on my whistle, Harry!" said Bagman.

"Three... two... one!" He gave a short blast

on his whistle, and Harry ran into the maze.

Knowing what to expect and when, plus with

using a 'Point Me' charm on his 'known'

wand, Harry made it to the Cup a lot quicker

than he did in the previous timeline. He

hoped it was also so fast that Pettigrew

wouldn't be ready for him.

With his wand in his hand as he blasted an

acromantula away into soggy pieces, Harry

looked about and took a couple of deep,

calming breaths.

"Alright," he muttered. "Here we go!" With

his holly wand in his right hand he grabbed

the Cup handle with his left.

Harry felt his feet slam into the ground and

he immediately fell forward, letting go of the

Cup in the process. He quickly raised his head

and looked around. 'Yup, the cemetery,' he

thought. 'Now I have to allow myself to be

captured by the rat.'

Squinting tensely through the darkness, he

watched the rat draw nearer, walking

steadily toward him between the graves.

Pettigrew was wearing his cowled cloak and

had 'Voldebaby' in his arms.

As with last time, Pettigrew stopped beside a

towering marble headstone, only six feet

from him, for a moment. Then Pettigrew

placed Voldebaby on the ground between his

feet before he suddenly launched a stunner

at Harry. Harry made as if to block it and dive

out of the way, but allowed it to hit him.

When he came to, he was bound to the

Riddle Senior headstone, and Pettigrew was

in his face.

"You!" gasped Harry.

But Pettigrew, who had finished conjuring

ropes to bind him in place, did not reply; he

was busy checking the tightness of the cords,

his fingers trembling uncontrollably,

rumbling over the knots.

As with the previous timeline, once sure

Harry was bound so tightly to the headstone

he couldn't move an inch, Pettigrew drew a

length of some black material from the inside

of his cloak and stuffed it roughly into Harry's

mouth. Then, without a word, he turned

from Harry and hurried away.

Chapter 253

Harry couldn't make more than a muffled

sound, nor could he see where Pettigrew had

gone. He couldn't turn his head to see

beyond the headstone; he could see only

what was right in front of him. His holly

wand was on the ground near the Cup. And

the bundle of robes that Harry knew was

Voldebaby was close by, at the foot of the

grave. Voldebaby seemed to be stirring as

fretful as the previous timeline.

Hearing noises at his feet, he looked down

and saw Nagini slithering through the grass,

circling the headstone where he was tied.

'Don't go away, little snaky,' he thought.

Pettigrew's fast, wheezy breathing was

growing louder again. He was now pushing

the stone cauldron to the foot of the grave,

already full of what seemed to be water, but

was actually a very difficult to brew potion.

With his wand - or possibly Riddle's - he lit a

fire under the cauldron as Nagini slithered

away into the darkness.

With magic, the liquid in the cauldron heated

very fast. The surface began not only to

bubble, but to send out fiery sparks. Steam

was thickening, blurring the outline of

Pettigrew tending the fire and cauldron.

Harry quickly glanced at the pile of robes

that was Voldebaby and saw the mini

homonculus, or whatever it was, couldn't see

him. Using the steam that was blocking

Pettigrew's vision, Harry quickly checked

himself over by slightly moving his arms to

see if the rest of his things were still with him.

As far as he could tell, they were.

The movements beneath the robes became

more agitated. And Harry heard the high,

cold voice again. "Hurry!"

Taking another look at the potion within the

cauldron, Pettigrew called, "It is ready,

Master."

"Now..." said the cold voice.

Walking over, Pettigrew pulled open the

robes on the ground, revealing Voldebaby in

all his horrid glory.

Voldebaby had the shape of a crouched

human child, except that Harry had never

seen anything less like a child, either this

time or last. It was hairless and scaly-looking;

a dark, raw, reddish black. Its arms and legs

were thin and feeble, and its face was flat

and snakelike, with gleaming red eyes.

Voldebaby raised his thin arms, put them

around Pettigrew's neck, and allowed

Pettigrew to lift him. Harry saw the look of

revulsion on Pettigrew's weak, pale face in

the firelight as he carried the creature to the

rim of the cauldron. For one moment, Harry

saw the evil, flat face illuminated in the

sparks dancing on the surface of the potion

before Pettigrew lowered the creature in;

there was a hiss, and it vanished below the

surface.

Last time, Harry thought he'd heard a thud as

the small body hit the bottom of the

cauldron. But, he now realised there was no

such sound.

Pettigrew began his ritual chant. His voice

shook, frightened beyond his wits. He raised

his wand, closed his eyes, and spoke. "Bone

of the father, unknowingly given, you will

renew your son!"

The surface of the grave at Harry's feet

cracked. Trying to hide his smirk, Harry

watched as a fine trickle of dust rose into the

air at Pettigrew's command and fell softly

into the cauldron. The diamond surface of

the water broke and hissed; it sent sparks in

all directions and turned a vivid, aqua blue.

The colour was different than the first time

they went through this.

'Yes!' thought Harry. 'This is going to work!'

And now Pettigrew was whimpering. He

pulled a long, thin, shining silver dagger from

inside his cloak. His voice broke into petrified

sobs. He did not know that the colour of the

potion was wrong.

"Flesh... of the servant... w-willingly given...

you will... revive... your master." He

stretched his right hand out in front of him -

the hand with the missing finger.

Knowing what was coming, Harry shut his

eyes for the next few moments. But he could

not block the scream that pierced the night.

He heard Pettigrew's hand land with a soft

thud on the ground, and heard the rat's

anguished panting; then the sickening splash,

as it was picked up and dropped into the

cauldron.

Opening his eyes again, Harry looked to the

potion. Instead of the burning red, this time,

the potion was more a fiery orange.

'Now comes the important part,' thought

Harry. 'Does he realise he's been tricked by

seeing the blood pouch for what it really is?'

Pettigrew was gasping and moaning with

agony as he walked to Harry. "B-blood of the

enemy... forcibly taken... you will... resurrect

your foe."

Harry could do nothing to prevent it, but

didn't want to, anyway. He saw the shining

silver dagger shaking in Pettigrew's

remaining hand, felt its point penetrate the

blood pouch in the crook of his right arm,

and watched the blood seeping down the

sleeve of his torn robes. Pettigrew, still

panting with pain, rumbled in his pocket for

a glass vial and held it to what he thought

was Harry's cut, so that a dribble of blood fell

into it.

He staggered back to the cauldron with the

blood and poured it inside. The liquid within

turned, instantly, a cloudy, murky grey. It was

not the brilliant white of before, the previous

timeline.

Pettigrew, his job done, dropped to his knees

beside the cauldron, then slumped sideways

and lay on the ground, cradling the bleeding

stump of his arm, gasping and sobbing.

Harry was suddenly shocked to feel someone

come up behind him and remove the

invisibility cloak from his backpocket.

'Who was this?' he thought. 'This

shouldn't...' But then her scent reached his

nostrils. 'Hermione!' he nearly gasped aloud.

And would have done precisely that if not for

the cloth in his mouth. That was ripped away

a moment later.

With it gone he sucked in a lungful of air.

"Get out of here!" he furiously whispered.

"Nagini's around here!"

"Nagini's being hunted by Daphne,"

whispered Hermione. "Now hold on while I

cut the bottom of the ropes. You'll still

appear tied, but you won't be."

Suddenly, a surge of grey steam billowed

thickly from the cauldron, obliterating

everything in front of Harry, so that he

couldn't see anything but vapour hanging in

the air.

Harry felt the ropes around his torso be cut

free. Then the underside of the ropes on his

arms were each cut, one after the other in

quick succession.

Through the mist in front of him, he saw the

dark outline of a weak looking man, tall and

skeletally thin, rising slowly from inside the

cauldron, before he took a staggering step

over the rim, almost tripping over Pettigrew.

"We've gotta go," whispered Hermione.

"Nagini's been dealt with."

Chapter 254

"Robe me," said the high, cold voice from

behind the steam. And Pettigrew, sobbing

and moaning, still cradling his mutilated arm,

scrambled on his knees to pick up the black

robes from the ground. He got to his feet,

reached up, and pulled them one-handed

over his master's head.

The thin man stepped away from the

cauldron, before turning to stare at Harry.

And Harry stared back into the

wide, dulled scarlet eyes and flat nose of Tom

Marvolo Riddle, self-styled Dark Lord

Voldemort.

'Alright,' thought Harry. 'Now I've just got to

smack Riddle about a bit and get out of

here.'

Riddle looked away from Harry and began

examining his own body. His hands were long

and thin, his fingers gnarled. He caressed his

own chest, his arms, and his face. The red

eyes, whose pupils were not quite the slits of

the previous timeline, appeared dull. He held

up his hands and flexed the fingers, his

expression confused and worried.

He took not the slightest notice of Pettigrew,

who laid twitching and bleeding on the

ground, or of his now missing snake. Riddle

slipped one of those unnaturally

long-fingered hands into a deep pocket and

drew out a wand. He caressed it gently, and

then he raised it, pointing it at Pettigrew.

Riddle frowned and appeared to struggle as

he levitated the rat off the ground and flung

him at the side of the tombstone to which

Harry was supposedly tied. He turned his

worried scarlet eyes upon Harry, before

laughing a high, cold, mirthless laugh.

Pettigrew's robes were shining with blood

now; he had wrapped the stump of his arm

in them.

"My Lord..." he choked, "My Lord... you

promised... you did promise..."

"Hold out your arm," said Riddle lazily.

"Oh Master... thank you, Master..." He

extended the bleeding stump, but Riddle

laughed again.

"The other arm, Wormtail."

"Master, please... please..."

Riddle bent down and pulled out Pettigrew's

left arm; he forced the sleeve of the rat's

robes up past his elbow, and Harry saw the

Dark Mark. Riddle examined it carefully,

ignoring Pettigrew's uncontrollable weeping.

"It's back," he said softly, looking down at it.

"They will all have noticed it... and now, we

shall see... now, we shall know..."

He pressed his long white gnarled forefinger

to the brand on Pettigrew's arm. Pettigrew

let out a fresh howl-like scream.

After a long moment Riddle removed his

finger from Pettigrew's mark, and Harry saw

that it had turned jet black.

A look of cruel satisfaction on his face, Riddle

straightened up, threw back his head, and

stared around at the dark graveyard. In doing

so, he turned his back on Harry.

"How many will be brave enough to return

when they feel it?" whispered Riddle, his red

eyes fixed upon the stars. "And how many

will be foolish enough..."

Harry took the opportunity presented to him.

He didn't want Riddle to know he still

couldn't touch him. At least, not yet.

Popping his second wand into his left hand,

he shook himself free of the remnants of his

bindings and swept his arm forward. With a

barely whispered, "Reducto," he fired a

Reductor curse at Riddle's back, impacting

him between the shoulder blades and

sending the man flying forward across the

ground. He immediately used the wand in his

left hand to summon his holly wand from

near the Cup.

As soon as he snagged his holly wand with

his right hand he used the left to fire a

stunner down at Pettigrew, making sure the

rat stayed out of the fight.

However, he wasn't as fast as he needed to

be. Riddle, though he ended up sprawled

across the ground, was quick to spin about

and fire a killing curse back at Harry. Harry

was able to evade it by stepping out of the

way. The curse shattered the tombstone to

which he was recently bound.

Harry fired a string of Reductor curses back

at Riddle, but only with the intent to get the

man to avoid them while he dropped one of

his emergency portkeys, a coin, onto the

stunned Pettigrew; and hit it with a sticking

charm. He wasn't out to activate it yet. He

actually wanted to take Pettigrew back with

him using the Cup. That way, they'd end up

on the stage for the presentation, in full view

of everyone. But, did he have time?

Apparently not.

The air was suddenly full of swishing cloaks.

Between graves, behind the yew tree, in

every shadowy space, wizards were

apparating in within black smoke. All of them

were hooded and masked. The Death Eaters

had begun to arrive; but, they were still a

short distance off yet.

Harry quickly cast a last few casts as Riddle

tried to climb to his feet. His first was a

Blasting curse to fire stones and rocks into

Riddle from the ground between them

followed by a Banishing charm chased with a

more direct Blasting curse. Harry called out

the activation phrase for the portkey on

Pettigrew, "Out! Out! Out!"

As soon as he saw Pettigrew disappear in a

swirl, Harry went on the attack. He used a

couple of the combat spell chains he and the

girls had developed to keep Riddle hopping

and defending.

When he saw the first masked Death Eater

step closer, raising his own wand as he came,

Harry nailed him with a Reductor curse to

the head. Whoever it was wasn't expecting it,

and shot backwards, head first, to lay

unmoving upon the ground. Harry noticed

the cane that was in the Death Eater's hand

at the last moment. However, the slight

'pause' of Harry's attack on Riddle to attack

the Death Eater, which was probably Malfoy

senior, gave Riddle the opportunity to begin

to attack back, even as he was backing away.

Riddle cast yet another killing curse at Harry,

and practically grunted from the effort. A

quick summon of the cauldron from close

nearby intercepted the curse, making a loud

'gong' sound as the curse struck. And Harry

then immediately banished the cauldron

straight at Riddle before following it up with

a string of piercing, reductor and the two

blasting curses, Deprimo and Confringo.

Riddle was able to banish the cauldron away

but was only fast enough to bat away the

piercing curse and reductor.

The Deprimo blew him off his feet and again

launched him backwards; while the second

blasting curse, the Confringo, just missed,

passing over him, as he was launched

backwards.

With Riddle out of the way for a moment,

Harry launched a similar string at another

Death Eater, clearly killing who ever it was,

before hurrying forward. Realising his time

was up, he immediately activated his own

portkey before he'd have to defend again.

"Sayōnara!" he commanded, and was gone in

the swirl of the portkey. He simply did not

have time to summon and grab the Cup, as

planned.

Chapter 255

Harry appeared right alongside where the

first Portkey took Pettigrew, right outside the

gates of Hogwarts.

After a quick check of his surroundings, he

popped his 'unoffricial' wand back into it's

holster before reaching into his pocket and

pulling out his shrunken Nimbus 2000; and

dispelling the Shrinking charm placed on it.

Hopping on he levitated Pettigrew up and

over the broom handle so he was draped

over it and flew in through the open gates,

making a bee-line for the stage.

A few seconds later he swooped in onto the

stage to the shock of everyone, and dumped

Pettigrew off the broom.

The stands went quiet as everyone was

shocked to see him ride in on a broom. The

organisers, who were waiting, expected him

to arrive with the flash of a portkey and

deposit him directly on the stage.

Casting a Sonorus Charm on himself, he

bellowed, "Aurors! I need aurors

here, NOW!"

Just off the stage but quickly mounting it,

was Madam Bones.

"Mister Potter? What's going on?" she asked.

Harry flipped Pettigrew's robes out of the

way and said, "That's Peter Pettigrew! That's

the man who betrayed my parents and is a

Death Eater." The Sonorous Charm was still

active.

He immediately yanked up the sleeve on

Pettigrew's arm and displayed the now very

active Dark Mark he bore to the entire

audience.

"And, Riddle's back! Voldemort's back!" he

cried out. "Pettigrew employed a dark ritual

that has resurrected Tom Riddle! He's back!"

That got people running about crying out and

screaming.

"No!" cried Fudge, coming forward bracketed

by dementors. "It's not true! It can't be!" The

two dementors began to surge forward.

There was no way Harry was going to allow

Pettigrew to be kissed, just yet. He wanted

the man dosed with Veritaserum to prove his

claims.

Harry dropped his holly wand back into his

hand and, with a bellow of "Expecto

Patronum!" launched his patronus stag

directly at both dementors.

Fudge immediately dropped to the ground as

the patronus headed right for him, and the

stag viciously rammed one dementor before

doing the same to the second. Both

immediately took off, flying away for their

very 'un'lives.

Harry stormed over to Fudge and yelled, "You

fucking wanker!" And kicked him in the side

where he was curled up on the floor of the

stage. "How dare you bring those monsters

into a school full of children, who're unable

to defend themselves from them! Are you

fucking insane?!"

He tried for a second kick before an auror

grabbed him and pulled him away.

"What sort of an idiot are you, Fudge?" Harry

continued to yell at the man. "Someone get

this incompetent piece of shit out of here

before I fucking kill him for being so

fucking stupid!"

As the auror stepped between Harry and

Fudge to make sure Harry wasn't going to

attack the man again, Harry turned to the

audience and bellowed. "Through

a foul piece of ritual magic, this man..." he

said pointing his finger at Pettigrew, who was

now being tended by Madam Pomfrey for

the stump of his wrist.

"This traitor... resurrected Tom Riddle, the

one you people called You-Know-Who, at the

graveyard of his father in the cemetery at

Little Hangleton less than twenty minutes

ago!"

Inside, Harry was smirking as he saw Skeeter

and another - at first thought another

journalist, but proving to be her pet

photographer - come charging over. The man

with Skeeter immediately snapped a wide

area photograph before he tried to move in

closer for a second shot.

"Mister Potter!" called Skeeter. "Is it true? Is

V-Vol... Riddle really back?"

'Thank you,' thought Harry. With his wand

still in his hand he brought it across his chest

and, in a loud and clear voice, said, "I, Harry

James Potter, swear on my magic and my life

that I witnessed this very night the successful

resurrection of Tom Marvolo Riddle, the

self-styled Lord Voldemort, in the graveyard

at Little Hangleton! As I say, so I swear!"

In the late night gloom, Harry's flash of the

oath being taken was apparent to everyone.

He then fired off his huge shower of

sparklers.

"Next question, Miss Skeeter?" he called

back.

"Not at this time," she said, her face clearly

displaying her fright. "I expect an interview

over the coming days, though."

"And you shall have it!" replied Harry.

Skeeter then grabbed the robes of her

photographer - Bozo or something, Harry still

hadn't found out - and ran for the gates. She

had a front page story to write and get

published by the next morning.

"And there you have it, Madam Director

Bones," said Harry. "I was able to hurt him,

tonight. But, when the Death Eaters began

showing up, I had to get the Hell out of there.

I was able to snag Pettigrew but I activated

one of my emergency portkeys to take me to

the front gates here before I was overcome."

Harry was sitting with his two wives in the

Great Hall at the Hufflepuff table. Besides

Dumbledore and Madam Bones, they were

joined by Sirius, the Greengrasses, Remus,

Professors McGonagall, Flitwick and Snape,

Headmistress Maxime, and a small group of

aurors. It had already been reported by a

Professor from off the Durmstrang ship that

Karkaroff had disappeared. It was believed

he had fled.

"Oh, and the Cup will probably be at the

graveyard, still," he continued. "I have a

feeling, though, that whoever placed the

auto-portkey on it, probably layered it over

the top of the Headmaster's existing one.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have worked through

the wards of the school.

"That is correct, Mister Potter," said the

Headmaster. "Well deduced. The portkey was

supposed to take whoever reached the Cup

first directly to the presentation stage. Either

someone was able to redirect the settings I

had placed upon it, or placed a second one

atop the one I placed there a couple of days

ago.

"Who placed the Cup within the maze?"

asked Bones.

"That would be Bartemius Crouch Junior,"

replied Dumbledore. "But, to be fair, I did not

know it was he at the time. I had asked who I

thought was Alastor Moody to place the Cup

within the maze. And young Bartemius was

not unmasked until during lunch, today."

Immediately after his big scene on the stage,

Madam Bones directed her aurors to take

Pettigrew up to the Infirmary with Madam

Pomfrey. Of course, the first thing they did

was search him; and ended up taking off him

his wand and two portkeys. Harry, quickly

joined by his wives and family, was then

firmly asked to accompany them. The

Minister was also firmly told through

a suggestion, that he also accompany them.

The two aurors that took the place of the

dementors made it obvious to the man not

to disagree.

Chapter 256

Using his wives and family as shields Harry

managed to dump the blood pouch in the

dark and vanished it. Then he used his own

knife to make a small incision in his elbow

before applying a poorly cast healing spell.

He also asked and received affirmatives if

both ladies were invisible during their whole

time in the graveyard. They were.

Once in the Infirmary, Madam Pomfrey

sealed Pettigrew's stump and, on waking him,

gave him a couple of blood replenisher

potions. Once it was apparent Pettigrew was

no longer in any danger, Madam Bones

accepted a vial of Veritaserum off Professor

Snape and administered the regulated three

drops to the man's tongue.

By the time the questioning finished, even

the Minister could no longer doubt that

Riddle had been resurrected that night. Or, as

it was now morning, the previous night. The

soon-to-be ex-Minister was white, sweating

and shivering in fear.

He also kept muttering to himself that it was

simply not possible; that 'Lord Thingy', as he

called him, could be back.

When Harry finally wound up his tale, he

looked at his watch and noticed it was

already after 3:00am. "Do you folks know

how late it is?" he asked.

"Thank you, Mister Potter, we do," replied

Madam Bones.

"Well, I've just had a pretty trying day, thank

you very much," he snarked from being so

tired. "I've just competed in the third task of

the stupidity known as the Tri-Wizard

Tournament, I was kidnapped and

transported to a graveyard where I was

assaulted and bound to a grave marker, I had

my blood taken via having a knife jabbed into

my elbow for a dark ritual that resurrected

Riddle, fought the man in a one-on-one

duel... during which I managed to tag

Pettigrew with a portkey and, I think, blew

away two of the Death Eaters that showed

up... and then managed to get enough time

to activate my second portkey and bring us

both back to the school.

"You'll forgive me for being tired and irritable,

I'm sure. But, I want to go to bed and cuddle

my wives. If Riddle isn't found and dealt with

very quickly you're about to find yourselves

in part two of the war you had a decade and

a half ago, and you've got

nowhere near enough people on your side to

fight it for you. Now I've, again, got a

murderous dark wizard who's not going to

stop coming after me, personally, until one of

us is dead."

"Thank you, Harry," said Dumbledore. "I

think you should take yourself and your

wives and go to bed. We'll talk more in the

morning."

"In our presence," said Sirius, looking to

protect his godson and his wives.

Not wiling to argue, Dumbledore nodded and

said, "Understood."

"Madam Bones?" asked Harry, ignoring the

Headmaster and looking at the stern Head of

the DMLE. "As this is not the Headmaster's

investigation - but yours - is tomorrow

afternoon after lunch alright with you? I

don't think I'm going to be waking up any

time before lunch, at the earliest."

"I don't blame you, Mister Potter; and I think

I'd like to sleep in as well," said Madam

Bones, a small smile flitting across her face at

how Harry ignored the old man. "I'll see you

after lunch. However, before you leave, may I

have the memory of the encounter?"

"Yes, Ma'am," he sighed. "May I have a

memory phial, please?"

One of the aurors drew one from within his

robes and stepped forward with it. As

Hermione held it open for him, Harry used

his holly wand to draw the memory out and

dropped it within. The memory ran from him

snagging the cup to him portkeying away

from the graveyard. He breathed a sigh of

relief that his wives' presence would not be

picked up by the memory.

The auror took the now capped phial off

Hermione and handed it to Madam Bones,

who immediately tucked it into her little case

she carried on her person for just such phials.

After bidding family and friends goodnight,

the three headed up to their apartment to

get some much needed sleep.

Walking into the apartment, the girls just

hustled Harry directly to the bedroom and

ordered him to bed. Harry didn't have the

energy to complain about being ordered

about like a child.

As soon as they had him stripped off and in

bed, both girls also stripped and climbed in

after him. Tonight, this morning, was just

cuddling. Tomorrow they had to start with

the next stage of ridding the world of Riddle,

for good.

Very late the next morning, the three finally

rose when Dobby popped in to inform them

they had visitors.

"Who is it?" asked Hermione.

"It's Master Harry's doggyfather and Mistress

Daff-knee's parents," replied Dobby.

"Let them in to the apartment and let them

know we'll be out as soon as we shower and

dress," said Daphne.

"They already is," replied the elf.

"Thank you, Dobby," she said. "Make sure

they have drinks and such, would you?"

"Yes, Mistress," replied the elf before

popping away again.

Hermione was already climbing out of bed

and said, "Come on; up!"

With a groan, Harry climbed out of the bed

after her while Daphne rose from the other

side. And the three walked into the

bathroom, together.

Not needing to worry about make-up, or

anything, Harry was first out of the bathroom

and dressed. Not waiting for the girls he

walked out into the living room, closing the

door to the bedroom behind him.

"Good morning, Harry," said a grinning Sirius.

"What time is it?" he asked. He saw that

Dobby had organised a six-seating dining

table and had just loaded it with brunch

foods.

"It's a few minutes before noon," said Deece,

walking over and giving him a hug.

"Ugh!" muttered Harry. "I feel like I only

went to bed about ten minutes ago."

"Well, as you said last night - or earlier this

morning - you had a pretty full day yesterday,

and you were up for about twenty-one hours

straight," said Matthias, walking over and

sitting at the table. "Plus, with everything

you went through, it's not a surprise you feel

you needed to sleep longer."

Taking his own seat at the table, Harry began

to build himself a late breakfast cum early

lunch. It wasn't until he began to smell all the

food laid out that he realised just how

hungry he'd become.

"We haven't seen the memory, ourselves,

yet," said Matthias. "But, did you get the

snake?"

With a snort, Harry replied, "The girls ran

their own plan alongside my own; in

secret and against my wishes. They went to

the graveyard and hid under disillusionment

charms. As soon as Riddle popped up out of

the cauldron, Daphne… I think it was… killed

the snake. And Hermione cut the ropes that

bound me to the grave marker.

"That meant I was free earlier than when

Pettigrew was going to cut me free. It meant

I didn't have to suffer the

two Cruciatus curses from Riddle in the

process. And, it also meant Riddle doesn't

know it wasn't my blood used in the ritual or

that I'm still protected from his touch.

"But, most importantly, Riddle is now mortal

again. No more horcruxes. When he dies,

he's dead for good."

While he was talking, the girls walked in.

"It also means he's not aware of the 'brother

wands' effect, yet. And he's not yet fully

cognizant of just how weak we made him by

switching out the ingredients," said

Hermione as both girls walked to the table to

partake of their own late breakfasts.

"Neither are we," replied Harry. "I know he's

much weaker than he would have otherwise

been. I saw that when he levitated Pettigrew

and threw him into the side of the grave

marker I was tied to. But, we don't yet know

just how weak."

"You two girls went there?" asked Matthias.

The man was clearly a little upset about that.

"We did," said Daphne, staring back at her

father. "We were completely safe and we had

all our emergency portkeys on ourselves.

Both of us were disillusioned and Harry only

knew we were there because Hermione cut

his binding ropes and told him we were

there."

"Still, you placed yourselves in danger," said

Deece.

"With Riddle back, we're all in danger,"

retorted Daphne. "And, this way, we've also

protected some knowledge from him; which

may be very useful later. That Harry is still

protected from him, and he's unaware of the

brother wand effect, are just two of those

little facts he's now oblivious of this time

around."

"They might be only little facts," said

Hermione. "But they may very well prove

very telling before this is all finished."

Chapter 257

The collected family was only grazing

through the brunch dishes while sitting at

the table an hour later when there was a

knock on the door.

Getting up and opening it, Harry met Madam

Bones and two other aurors waiting. "Mister

Potter," she smiled.

"Madam Bones," said Harry. "Please, come

in."

She walked in to see the whole family, less

the Grangers, sitting at table. "I hope I

haven't interrupted your meal?"

"No, Ma'am," he replied. "We'd finished; but,

we just kept talking."

"Dobby," called Daphne.

The little elf popped in. "Mistress?" he asked.

"You can clear the table; thank you, Dobby,"

she instructed him. "But, please reset the tea

service for us. Oh, and add coffee to the

service too, please."

"Yes, Mistress," he replied. With a snap of his

fingers the now messy table was cleared

away and replaced with a new tea service

and a carafe of coffee with mugs.

The others moved away from the table for a

few moments and stretched it to

accommodate three more chairs; adding the

three chairs as they went.

"Please," gestured Hermione to Madam

Bones. "Join us."

With a sigh, Madam Bones took a seat as the

others all sat down again. However, the two

aurors took up station along the wall either

side of the door instead of sitting down.

After she fixed herself a cup of coffee,

Madam Bones began, "Well, to bring you up

to date with what's been happening since

last night... this morning." She hesitated a

moment and said, "The Minister is like an

ostrich with his head stuck in the sand. He

refuses to believe Riddle is back. Even after I

displayed Mister Potter's memory of the

event, he's still in denial."

"If he doesn't change his tune by tonight, I'll

use the Potter alliance to force the Chief

Warlock to call an emergency session of the

Wizengamot, and toss the fool out on his

ear," said Harry. "There's too much that

needs to be done, quickly, before Riddle is

able to rebuild his forces."

"Agreed," she said, taking a sip from her

coffee. "I demanded of him emergency

funding to boost the auror forces. He denied

me. And my forces are too small to fight a

war."

With a sigh, Harry asked, "Alright. He

self-performs a rectal-cranioectomy or he's

gone. What else has been happening?"

While Madam Bones almost spit the

mouthful of coffee she'd just supped out of

her mouth in shock at Harry's remark, Sirius

barked with laughter while the Greengrasses

and his wives snickered or chuckled.

"There are things I cannot tell you, at the

moment," she replied. "However, I can tell

you I sent my aurors to the Little Hangleton

graveyard, this morning, and they found

evidence of the ritual performed. They also

found the Tri-Wizard Cup, and I've had that

brought in for you. It's yours, seeing as you

were the first to it, last night. You won. Plus,

I've got your one thousand Galleons prize

money."

She reached into her robes and dropped a

Gringotts money pouch on the table in front

of Harry. "I know it's nothing compared to

the Potter fortune, but you did win it. The

Minister was supposed to give it to you, last

night, on the stage. However, when you

launched your patronus at his two dementor

guards, driving them away, and then

screamed and kicked the man, he obviously

forgot about it."

"Huh!" snorted Harry. "He's damned lucky he

curled up the way he did. What I really

wanted to do was kick him hard enough up

between his legs to give him a pair of

testicle-shaped earrings."

That earned him another few snickers while

Hermione just reached out and slapped him

on the arm. That she was blushing so much

was probably the only reason she didn't

berate him for it. Or, it might have been

Daphne's 'lessons' were beginning to sink in.

"The man brought dementors into a school

with defenceless children," growled Harry.

"He deserves far worse than what I did to

him."

"Well, you got a lot of people thinking about

what you said... or, rather, screamed at him,"

smiled Madam Bones. "A lot of people

happen to agree with you. As such, I don't

think you need to worry about whether or

not you need to assemble the Potter alliance

to get rid of him. I think that's now going to

happen, anyway. It's more a matter of 'when',

rather than 'if'."

"Then the man has a choice, doesn't he?"

asked Harry. "Grow a bloody backbone or get

shoved out of the way."

Thinking a bit, he asked, "I know I hit a

couple of arriving Death Eaters, last night,"

he said. "I think I may have also killed at least

one of them; possibly two. Were there any

bodies left behind?"

Taking a sip of her coffee, Madam Bones

shook her head. "No. But they might have

been removed before my aurors arrived."

Hermione glanced at her watch and said,

"We'd better go visit the Headmaster or he's

going to come looking for us. And I, for one,

do not want to allow him access in here

again."

"Oh?" asked Madam Bones. "And why is

that?"

"He placed monitoring charms in here and in

our bedrooms," she replied. "He used a

listening charm affixed to the wall of the

alcove outside to find out what the password

was, and used it while we were away for the

Christmas break to get in here to place

them."

"How did you find out about them? And how

do you know it was him?" asked the Head of

the DMLE, all business.

"Well, he clearly instructed Professor

Whittaker, our door guardian, not to tell

anyone he had come in," explained

Hermione. "However, he did not instruct the

Professor not to tell us who hadn't been in.

Then it was just a matter of excluding the

likely suspects and confirming by asking if

the Headmaster had not been in."

Madam Bones gave a very unladylike snort.

"Once inside, we then scanned the room and

found a number of listening charms," said

Daphne. "Instead of just removing them,

with the help of the Weasley twins we then

set up things to drive the Headmaster to

utter distraction with what he heard."

"Oh?" asked Bones.

"The one in the alcove was overlaid with a

charm to switch everything it heard with

swear words," replied Hermione. "The one in

here on the coffee table was overlaid with a

charm to switch everything it heard with the

appearance that, whoever was in here at the

time, was plotting the murder of various

members of staff."

As various adults began to scoff and snicker,

Hermione continued, "The one in my room

was overlaid with the sound of me singing a

very annoying ditty called 'Hennery the

Eighth'. It's a muggle ditty that goes on and

on and on. And the melody gets into your

head and just won't quit. And, over that was

placed a silencing field so nothing else would

be heard."

Chapter 258

"The one he put in my room was overlaid

with the sound of a buzzing mosquito flying

around your head," said Daphne. "And a

silencing charm placed over that, so all you

heard was the mosquito."

"But the one in my room was the work of

art," grinned Harry. "That was the sound of

wild passionate sex with added sounds of

dogs, goats and bondage equipment being

employed. The Weasley twins also mixed it

with a compulsion charm tied to the listening

charm that would make the one using the

listening charm want to hear more and more,

and also be compulsed not to be able to tell

anyone what they'd heard. And, of course,

over that was placed a silencing field."

The others had already heard the story but

Madam Bones hadn't. She was roaring with

laughter when they'd finished. And the two

aurors along the wall were grinning their

heads off.

"I'll have to remember that little trick," she

finally said. "It makes it quite amusing."

"Well, it seems to have worked," said

Daphne. "There've been no listening charms

since."

After a few more minutes the party trooped

to the Headmaster's office, only to be

delayed by the gargoyle door guardian.

"Anyone know the password?" asked

Matthias.

"No," said Hermione, speaking for the others.

She just stepped up to the gargoyle and said,

"We're here for a prearranged meeting with

the Headmaster. Please, either open up or

inform him we're here."

The gargoyle looked at her for a moment

before it stepped aside.

"Well, that worked," muttered Sirius, as he

strode to the rotating stairs beyond.

Everyone followed along.

Once inside, the Headmaster came from

behind his desk and greeted them with that

overweening false sense of bonhomie he

often exuded.

"Welcome, everyone," he said, as he turned

to conjure up a circle of chairs before his

desk. "Please, take a seat."

As people started taking seats, the

Headmaster returned to his chair behind the

desk.

"Now, I hope everyone is rested after the

events of last night?" he asked by way of

statement.

"Thank you, yes," replied most.

"Now, I believe we were at the point, last

night, where young Harry related to us what

he thinks happened in the graveyard at Little

Hangleton," said the old man, eyes twinkling

away. "Amelia, you took from Harry a

memory of the event. May I have the

opportunity to watch it? I have a pensieve

right here..."

"No, not yet, Albus," she replied. "I have

people going through it with a fine tooth

comb to eke out as much knowledge as we

can from it."

"Ah, I see," he said. "Then perhaps Harry

may be able to satisfy an old man's curiosity

of whether he now remembers more of what

happened last night."

"I'm afraid not, Albus," replied Harry.

"Everything I remembered was told, and was

given in that memory to Madam Bones."

"And it is a criminal matter, Albus," added

Madam Bones. "It was a kidnapping. As such

it's for my Department to investigate. I

believe you've already been suitably warned

about interfering with a DMLE investigation."

"Yes, yes; I just hoped to be of assistance,"

said Dumbledore. "For instance... I have

quite the extensive knowledge of arcane

rituals. I was hoping Mister Potter might tell

us what words were used and I could provide

some advice..."

Turning to Harry, he asked, "And what were

those words, Harry?"

Harry looked to Madam Bones to see what

she'd say. When the woman gave him a slight

nod, he turned back to Dumbledore and said,

"The words Pettigrew used for each step was,

'Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you

will renew your son'. The next was, 'Flesh of

the servant, willingly given, you will revive

your master'. The third was, 'Blood of the

enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your

foe'."

"And what ingredients did he use for each

step?" asked Dumbledore. "Though, it is

quite apparent what he used for the second."

"The first was bone, of course," replied Harry.

"He levitated a bone out of the grave at my

feet. And I was tied to the grave of Tom

Riddle. Clearly, that's why the ritual was held

there."

Dumbledore nodded back and gestured for

him to continue.

"The second was his own hand," said Harry.

"And the third was blood taken when he

stabbed me in the elbow with the knife he

held in his hand."

Though he tried not to show it, Harry could

see the man was quite pleased to hear that.

"Your thoughts, Albus?" asked Madam

Bones.

"Ah," said Dumbledore. "I shall have to go

over my notes, and reread a few tomes

before I'll be able to answer that, Amelia..."

"Bullshit," Harry quietly but firmly growled.

"I've told you before, Albus. I can read you

like a book. The expression on your face was

quite clear you know exactly what ritual was

used; and all about it.

"Just like you told me, a few months ago, you

didn't know what I was talking about when I

related to you the dream I had about a ring

and a rundown shack. I knew you were lying

then, just as I know you're lying now."

"Is this true, Albus?" asked Madam Bones,

with her unmonocled eyebrow rising.

"I-I... have my suspicions," he stuttered,

clearly thrown by Harry being able to

apparently 'read' him so accurately. "I just

wish to verify my facts before I say anything

more."

"Then tell us your unverified facts," she

commanded. "I assure you, I'm smart enough

to understand the difference."

With a hard put upon sigh, Dumbledore

made a huge show of slumping in his seat

before he looked up again. "The... ritual

young Harry speaks of I've heard of before.

It's a dark ritual in that it requires at least

two sacrifices. The first being the flesh of the

servant and the second being the taking by

force of blood.

"The ritual is, of course, forbidden to use in

magical Britain... as it is across the world...

because of that. Alas, it is also known to be

successful in resurrecting a body to its

previous state."

"But, what I don't get is how it resurrected

him to the state he was in when he died... Oh,

wait, of course," said Harry.

Chapter 259

"Mister Potter?" asked Madam Bones, as

Dumbledore eagerly leaned in to listen.

Harry thought about his answer for a while

before he replied, "Over Christmas I was

discussing with family and friends..." and

indicated those sitting with him, "... how I

see the relationship between soul and body.

This is yet another example of proving what I

believe.

"The reason why Riddle looks like the state

his body was in when he died, with the

ravages of previous dark rituals clearly

having taken it's toll on his body once he was

resurrected, is because his soul... his spirit...

remembered that shape. That shape was, for

want of a better term, imprinted on the soul

at the time of his physical death in October

1981. I explained that this was why ghosts

always appear as they did at the moment of

their death. For example, Nearly-Headless

Nick's near-headlessness, Moaning Myrtle's

need to wear spectacles, the Bloody Baron's

blood soaked robes, et cetera.

"So, when Riddle was resurrected, his body

shape again matches that at the time of his

original physical death; complete with red

eyes, no nose or hair, and a lipless mouth. His

soul remembered that shape, and forced the

resurrection ritual to shape the body that

was created into that same form.

"It also proves my hypothesis that a witch or

wizard's magic has nothing or little to do

with the physical body. It's the spirit... the

soul... that has the magic. Otherwise, just

resurrecting Riddle would have given him a

body. However, it would not have given him

magic."

"Ah!" said Dumbledore, cutting in. "But,

that's why two of the ingredients used in the

ritual were from living wizards, you and

young Peter. You are magical; therefore, it

passed to Riddle through the ritual."

"And maybe we are both right, Albus," Harry

retorted. "Otherwise, how do you explain his

form? Shouldn't it have taken the shape of

his body without the effects of the ravages of

the rituals he performed in his previous

physical life?"

"Hmmm..." mused Dumbledore, thinking

about it. "Interesting. I'd like to know more

about that."

"But, not now," said Madam Bones. "I still

have an investigation to run. And I need to

get my people ready to fight another war

while they're ill-prepared to do so."

"You have a window, Madam Bones," said

Daphne. "Many of Riddle's Death Eaters

were locked away in Azkaban shortly after

the events surrounding the death of... sorry...

the Potters. Riddle needs to rebuild his forces

before he could even think of prosecuting

such a war. You have until he rebuilds his

forces to destroy him, or his forces, or both."

"And you also know he'll target Azkaban to

get out those who feel they're his most

faithful," added Hermione. "That's however

many of his inner-circle who are waiting to

be freed currently residing in Azkaban.

"If you'll remember, he did the same thing in

the first war. And, as with the previous war,

the dementors will side with him. Having

them at the prison only gives Riddle more

forces to break out his most loyal."

Madam Bones allowed the monocle to fall

from her eye as she raised a hand to pinch

and massage the bridge of her nose. "Just

what I need," she muttered. "I've not enough

aurors as it is. Now I have to send more to

protect Azkaban from an attack that's likely

to occur we know not when."

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news," said

Hermione.

"That's alright, dear," said Madam Bones,

dropping her hand away and looking across

at her. "You keep having those ideas and

letting me know. At least, that way I might be

able to do something about them."

"Riddle will gather to himself enough people

that will allow him to attack and take

Azkaban," said Harry. "That will then give

him quite a few more forces to then make a

start on taking either the Ministry or

Hogwarts or Saint Mungo's. Once he has one

of those, he'll then move to attack the others.

With the Ministry, Saint Mungo's and

Hogwarts in his possession, he's effectively

taken everything. He wins."

"In the meantime he'll return to his terror

tactics," said Daphne. "He'll target the

families of those he sees as 'of the Light'. The

attacks will be mainly at night, and on their

homes. They will also employ hit and run

tactics. They will not stand and fight. Instead,

they will apparate or portkey into

somewhere, hit hard and fast, and be gone

before the aurors have a chance to mount a

defence.

"That was their tactics in the first war," said

Sirius.

"And they'll use the same tactics because it's

both what they know and what they know

to work," said Hermione. "And Riddle, from

what I've read, is a man of habit in a lot of

what he does. Hit and run by small groups of

DEs works, so he'll stick with it. He only

brings out larger concentrations of DEs when

the target is much larger, or better

protected."

"Then the aurors need to reconfigure into

teams of ready reaction forces," said Harry.

"There need to be teams ready to go at a

moment's notice. Learning of a site being hit,

forming a team to go, and then going takes

too long. By the time the aurors arrive, the

DEs will have already left again. So, response

times need to be cut right down to under a

minute. But, that takes manpower and

training. Manpower, to have the teams

sitting ready to go, and training in how to

stay in that heightened state of readiness for

long periods of idle time.

"If the Death Eaters usually spend up to five

minutes in one spot, then the ready reaction

teams need to get there in far less time than

that. If the Death Eaters then react back by

shortening their times to, say, three minutes,

then the ready reaction teams need to

shorten their own, again.

"Eventually, you get to a point where Riddle's

forces cannot stay on a target long enough to

inflict the damage they want to cause before

the aurors turn up; so, they're left with no

choice but to face the aurors. And, the first

thing the teams need to establish is

anti-portkey and anti-apparition wards or

jinxes, just as the Death Eaters used.

You cannot give them time to escape or you

get nowhere.

"If I was a Death Eater I'd have portkeys on

myself rigged to auto-portkey me out if I

ended up on the ground or unconscious. So,

just stunning me would only allow me to

escape; even though I was effectively out of

it at that time. At whatever bolthole I'd

portkeyed to, someone would come along

and renervate me sooner or later, and I'm

back to being able to fight again."

When he finally wound down, he saw the

expression on Madam Bones's face. It was

one of horror. "Sorry," he sheepishly said.

After a moment, she blinked and said, "No,

don't be. That's exactly the sort of tactics

they'd use."

"I hope you're not advocating killing people,

Harry," said a worried Dumbledore.

"You're damned right I am!" Harry shot right

back. "In war, people die. To win a war you

want the people on the other side to be the

ones who do the dying, rather than those on

your side. You used stun-only tactics in

the last war, Albus. If it wasn't for a sheer

fluke, you would have lost the last war in a

matter of weeks! By the end of November

Riddle would have taken full control, and you

know it!

"Don't go making the same mistake again,

because Lily Potter is not here to save your

arses this time."

Chapter 260

"But... Harry!" tried Dumbledore. "You can't

just go around killing people because it's the

easiest way to deal..."

"Stop right there, Albus!" snapped Harry. "I

didn't say I'll just go around killing people. If

the Death Eaters engage with lethal force,

then... and only then... do I most firmly

advocate killing them.

"Personally, I believe in sticking to the law.

And, I'm not just talking the law of magical

Britain, here. I'm talking the law of the entire

United Kingdom; magical and muggle. And

that is the law of self defence. If you come at

me with lethal force... if you come at me

with the intent to cause me or mine death... I

reserve the right, under law, to kill you first. I

will consider you have engaged me in a duel

to the death and act accordingly."

"That is the law of magical Britain, Mister

Potter," said Madam Bones. "If someone

attempts to harm you with lethal force, you

are well within your rights to use such force

back. However, you are not permitted to use

any of the three unforgivables in pursuit of

that."

"That is the path to going dark, Amelia,"

Dumbledore almost growled. "I will not have

Mister Potter told such things."

"Oh, give it a rest, Albus," she snapped back.

"It is the law and Mister Potter is allowed to

know the law. The boy sits upon the

Wizengamot, for Merlin's sake!

He needs to know!"

"And I agree," said Harry. "Albus, I have

warned you many times before about

attempting to control me. Stop it!"

"I'd not like to see you going dark, Harry,"

said Dumbledore. "I'm concerned for your..."

"Again, Albus?" asked Harry. "With you, it's

do it your way, or you're going dark." Putting

on his best Dumbledore impression, he

continued, "Do exactly as I tell you,

Harry-my-boy boy-my-Harry; or, I'll be forced

to accuse you of going... dark. By accusing

you of going... dark... I'll manipulate you into

doing what I want because it's... for the

Greater Good... And only I know what that

means, so I can use that excuse whenever I

want. As long as they don't know it was the

motto my boyfriend Gellert Grindelwald

used, no one will ever question me about

using it."

Sirius snorted in amusement.

"I think he's got you well and truly pegged,

Albus," smirked Madam Bones.

"Why are you doing this, Harry?" growled

Dumbledore.

"It's for the Greater Good, Albus-my-boy!"

replied Harry. "I'm sure you understand."

"That's enough," snapped Dumbledore right

back, all sign of his eye twinkle gone.

"Really?" asked Harry, smirking back. "Has it

not occurred to you yet, Albus, that if you

want to see who's going dark all you need to

do is look in a mirror? Go back over all you've

done if you want evidence of it.

"Start with 'For the Greater Good', Albus.

That was Grindelwald's motto. He used it as

a rallying cry for blood bigots right across

Europe, as you well know. And yet, here you

are using it almost daily.

"You were aware there was a prophecy about

Tom and me and what it said; and yet, you

continued to send out members

of your Order... those who trusted you...

knowing they didn't stand a chance against

Riddle. You sent them out to die!

"Then there's your protection of Snape. How

much information has he provided you of

attacks and raids and you did nothing with it,

just so you could protect your precious spy?

Every one of those deaths is also on you!

"And, of course, let's not forget me. You

knew damned well what sort of people the

Dursleys were like. You knew damned

well what my life was going to be like living

under their so-called care. And, yet again,

you sent me there as a defenceless infant,

and kept sending me back there once I got to

Hogwarts. That makes you a child abuser by

proxy, Albus.

"You lie, you manipulate, you betray trust,

and you willingly... I shudder to think

even eagerly... sacrifice the lives of others. In

other words, Albus; you're dark!"

"If you want to point fingers at who is going

dark, do it facing a mirror."

"That's enough, Harry!" said Sirius.

"I quite agree," said Harry, standing up. "I

don't know why we're here, anyway. As

Madam Bones said, this is a criminal

investigation, not a Headmaster's

investigation... if there ever was such a thing

for a criminal matter."

"I, too, quite agree," said Madam Bones,

echoing Harry and also standing up.

Very quickly, everyone else stood, as well;

except Dumbledore. "We've not finished our

discussion," he flatly stated.

"Yes, we have," said Madam Bones.

As everyone filed out of the office, Harry

glanced back at Dumbledore, seeing the old

man sitting there with his forehead in his

hands and his elbows on the desk.

As the door closed behind Sirius, the last out

of the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore

swept his arm across his desk in anger,

scattering and sending flying everything off

his desk to the floor.

"I need time!" he angrily muttered. "Yet,

time is running out." He looked down to his

glove-covered withering hand. The potions

Severus was brewing for him was only

delaying the inevitable.

"I need the boy back under control; I need

the boy to fulfil his destiny." He sighed and

sat back in his chair. "But, how? And how

does the bond, now sealed, affect that

destiny? If I remove the two wives, will that

then lead to Tom winning? Or, would that

just complete the prophecy and leave Tom

vulnerable?"

Taking his wand out of his belt he held it

between his fingers. "The wand already owes

it's allegiance to the boy. He clearly bested

me and won it when I attempted Legilimens

on him. I should have known the risk I took.

I should have been aware of the likelihood of

the soul bond providing them with

protection.

"The boy now has the cloak and is the

rightful wielder of the wand. All that is left is

the stone." He reached his hand down and

slid the drawer open that contained the ring.

The ring that was now split where he'd used

the Sword of Gryffindor to cut it, destroying

the horcrux in the process but leaving the

stone intact. Yes, he knew now what it was.

Just as he had it confirmed for him that the

diary was also one.

Holding the stone in his hand where it was

fused to the ring, he turned it over in his

hand. "Do I give him the stone?" he

wondered. "And the wand?"

"No," he firmly muttered. "As per my Will I

will demand the wand, my wand, be buried

with me. And, there, it will remain out of

reach of any who'll come later. I cannot allow

the Hallows to be united.