Categories > Books > Harry Potter > The Untitled Story - Year 6
Chapter 10 – Aftermath
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
Kitchen
#12 Grimmauld Place
03:45
“Dumbledore, I think it’s time we use Snape against the death eaters. He can testify against them. It’s the only way we can beat them when they claim imperious. I think we can provide for his safety for the foreseeable future, not to mention he can stay at Hogwarts.” said Harry.
“Severus?”
“The Dark Lord is beginning to suspect there is a spy in his midst. For once, I agree with Potter. I am willing to remain at Hogwarts unless I have a guard. Without my testimony, or that of another death eater, there is no way to disprove the imperious claim.”
“I am reluctant to lose my spy in his camp.”
“Dumbledore, you never act on anything you learn from Snape, anyway. How will it make a difference whether he is spying or not? We don’t need his information like we once did, now that we have our new toy.” said Harry. “Besides, is having a spy really worth losing the opportunity to lock up almost 50 death eaters?”
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
Courtroom 10
Ministry of Magic
04:00
Harry, Hermione, Neville, and the other team leaders from the night’s excitement were gathered in the courtroom, along with the members of the Wizengamot not in holding cells or being detained in the halls. Having surrendered their wands, they still had their guns, and in Harry and Hermione’s case, their staffs.
“This emergency session of the Wizengamot is now in session. Any who have business before the trials begin, please stand.” said Dumbledore.
Cornelius Fudge stood, to nobody’s surprise.
“Yes, Minister Fudge?”
“I move to delay the trials.”
“Motion Denied.”
“If the Wizengamot would explain why the motion was denied?” asked Fudge.
“The Department of Magical Law Enforcement has run out of holding cells. Trials can not be delayed any longer. The Wizengamot calls Lucius Malfoy forward to be tried.”
“WHAT?!”
“Minister Fudge, if you cannot contain yourself, you will have to leave.” said Dumbledore serenely, as a pair of Aurors brought Malfoy into the courtroom, and sat him in the chair, which bound him.
“Lucius Malfoy, you have been charged with the following: Attempted assault on a muggle or muggles. Attempted breaking and entering in a magical dwelling. Involvement in a Death Eater attack. How do you plead?”
“Not Guilty.”
“Very well. Do you have anyone for your defence?”
“I do not need a solicitor.”
“Very well. Please make any arguments you have in your defence.”
“I was under the imperious curse.”
“Yes, we’ve heard that before. Does the prosecution have any arguments against this?”
Madam Bones stood.
“Yes. The Prosecution calls Severus Snape to the stand.”
As Snape made his way forward, Lucius’ face became quite angry. “Traitor!”
“Please state your name for the record.”
“Severus Snape. May I put myself under an oath?”
“Yes, you may.”
“I, Severus Snape, swear on my life and magic that all I say in the proceedings of this trial are true to the best of my knowledge.” said Snape, who was enveloped by slight glow.
“Mr. Snape, is it possible that Mr. Malfoy here was under the imperious curse?”
“Yes. However, to receive the Dark Mark, he must have volunteered of his own free will.”
“And how do you know this?”
“I am Dumbledore’s spy in the death eaters. I have the mark.”
“Mr. Malfoy, do you have the Dark Mark?”
“No.” said a smug Malfoy.
“Mr. Snape, where is the dark mark located?”
“The upper arm.”
“Auror, lift Mr. Malfoy’s sleeves and use the Probity Probe to detect any concealments.”
As the Auror waved the probe over Malfoy’s upper arm, which looked bare, it let out a tone.
“It appears that there is some form of glamour on his arm.” said the Auror.
“Indeed. Mr. Malfoy, would you care to repeat your statements under an oath of truth?”
“No, I would not.”
“Can you explain the glamour on your arm?”
“I have a nasty scar there. I prefer to keep it hidden.”
“Mr. Malfoy, this group is not one which would ridicule you for a simple scar. Please inform the Auror how to cancel the glamour.”
At this point, Harry stood.
“The Court recognises Harry Potter.”
“May I provide a memory of the night of the third task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament? I feel it may assist the prosecution’s case.”
“Auror, collect his memory and place it in the pensive.”
As the court watched Harry and Cedric approaching the cup, agree to tie for it, take it, and get transported to the graveyard, Fudge jumped up.
As the memory was paused, Dumbledore spoke.
“The Court recognises Minister Fudge.”
“Memories can be modified!”
Harry stood again. “I, Harry Potter, swear on my life and magic that the memory I just provided is unaltered.” said Harry, sounding bored.
As a glow briefly surrounded him, he grinned at Fudge. “Sorry, Minister. I’m still alive.”
The playback of the memory continued. As they witnessed Voldemort’s rebirth, and subsequent gathering of his death eaters, many in the Wizengamot looked shocked.
As they neared the listing of names, Harry noticed one of the Aurors shifting nervously near the back.
“Neville, Hermione. Look at that Auror near the back. I think he’s going to try something.”
“He’s a bit shifty, yeah.” said Neville.
As the names started, the Auror keeled over.
“Nope, I guess not. Must have locked his knees.” said Harry. “Ah! Here’s the good part!”
“Lucius, my slippery friend. Why did you not seek me out 13 years ago? Surely, you who know better than most the steps I have taken against death, did not think me gone?”
“My Lord, I positioned myself carefully. If I’d have heard so much as a whisper about your whereabouts–”
“Wormtail here did much the same thing, only he actually CAME to my aid.”
“Pettigrew? What did he do?”
“He performed the ritual that gave me this body, you fool!”
“I apologise, my Lord. I didn’t kno–”
“SILENCE!”
At this point, the memory was stopped. “Pettigrew? As in Order of Merlin Peter Pettigrew?” queried Madam Bones.
“Well, I did tell all of you that Sirius wasn’t the one who betrayed my parents two years ago. But oh no, I must be delusional. I wonder, what ever happened to those court transcripts? Oh, yes, there was no trial. But we’re here to bring justice against Malfoy, not discuss Pettigrew.” said Harry somewhat shortly.
“Indeed we are. Mr. Malfoy, do you mean to say that you have been under the Imperious for the last 14 years? I find that highly unlikely.”
“Well, I, um…”
“Auror, can you remove the glamour?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Do it.”
As the Auror cast the spell, the chains fell limply from Malfoy, who stood up, waved cheerfully, and disapparated.
“Auror?”
“I just cast Finite Incantatem!”
The collective groan that occurred would have been impressive, had it been for a more positive reason.
“Auror, what… oh, never mind. There’s not much we can do now.” said Madam Bones, forehead in hand.
“Perhaps we should move on to the next trial? We can retrieve him at our convenience, and I’d like my teams to get a little rest before we move out again.” suggested Harry.
“Potter! Apprehending criminals is the job of the Aurors! Not school children!” said Fudge.
“No offence to the Aurors, but they can’t apparate through wards, or a host of other things that we can do. Tell me, Minister, how would they get inside Malfoy Manor without an invitation?”
“Mr. Potter, I must ask you to keep your comments to yourself, despite how ever much sense you may make. Minister, I must request that you do the same. Neither of you run this court. You must be acknowledged before speaking.” said Dumbledore, looking not at all angry at Harry, and annoyed with Fudge.
“My apologies, Sir.” said Harry.
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
Courtroom 10
Ministry of Magic
07:00
“This session of the Wizengamot is concluded.” said Dumbledore, and everyone started making their way towards the doors, except for Amelia Bones, who was making a line for the ADA members.
Reaching them, she got their attention.
“Mr. Potter, I’d like to speak with you and your group in my office.”
“Certainly, Madam Bones.”
After arriving in her office, they shut the door.
“Mr. Potter, I assume you are going to move on Malfoy later in the day?’
“Indeed. We haven’t worked out exactly when yet.”
“I would appreciate it if you would take along a team of Aurors when you do.”
“We’ll have to give them a crash course in how we do battle, but I don’t see why we couldn’t. I’d like to do it tomorrow, then. I doubt Malfoy is skipping the country, as his ‘Lord’ wouldn’t approve.”
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
Kitchen
Potter Manor
09:00
Harry was eating some fruit when he got a call on his plate from Hermione.
“Harry, you might want to come over here. I think you’ll want to see this.”
“I’ll be right over.” replied Harry, wondering what on earth happened this time.
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
Kitchen
Granger Residence
09:01
Harry appeared next to Hermione in the kitchen, where he saw the day’s Daily Telegraph spread out on the table.
Police respond to numerous break-ins overnight
Apparent terrorist attacks thwarted at last minute.
Police responded to nearly a dozen calls about strangely dressed individuals blasting down doors and entering homes last night. Apparently orchestrated by a previously unknown organization, the attacks were seemingly random, and came with little warning. Captain Potter, ADA (Seemingly a classified part of the military) told police that they had “about six minutes warning about the attacks”, a response time which is nothing to sneeze at. Dressed in black cloaks and white masks, the terrorists might be viewed as amusing to some. Captain Potter told police “Yes, well, their leader is a bit off. They’re much more intimidating when they’re causing you pain, though.” The ADA, who responded to all of the dozen or so attacks, arrived in time to subdue and detain those responsible and prevent anything more than very minor physical harm to the victims. The victims, when asked for interviews, declined, most saying that they were still recovering from the experience.
This paper has been unable to find any further information about this ‘ADA’, but would like to thank its members for their quick action against this group of terrorists. We can’t help but wonder: Does this indicate a new level of responsiveness by the government against such threats? Whatever the answer may be … Continued on page 3
“I probably should have left out the response time in the police report.”
“I thought it was a good article. Your cover story seems to have been completely believable, anyway.” said Dan.
“I’ll bet some higher ups are scratching their heads about now. I don’t think they’ll complain about it, but I’ll bet they are a bit confused about their military seemingly responding to the attacks, when it didn’t.”
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
Living Room
Granger Residence
11:06
Emma was reading a book on household charms, courtesy of Hermione’s impressive library of titles, when the phone rang.
From the other room, she heard her husband answer it.
“Granger Residence, Dan speaking.”
A pause. “One second, I’ll get him. Hermione! Can you fetch Harry, the phone is for him!”
“Yes. Just a moment.” from yet another room. Emma got up and made her way toward the phone, as Harry popped in with Hermione.
“Hello? This is Harry. Yes, that’s me. Oh? I See. Yes. No, I think it’d be better to talk in person, yes. Yes. Um, an hour? Noon, then. Thank you.”
“Well, that was a surprise. Hermione, you might want to get into your CUs, preferably in green-scheme. We seem to have an appointment at Downing Street in… 50 minutes. They said that I needed to come, but any that responded to the attacks who can make it should as well. I must say, I didn’t expect this when I spun that story, and the ‘higher-ups’ do indeed seem to be doing a bit of head-scratching.”
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
Near 10 Downing Street
London
11:50
Harry, Hermione, Neville, and the team leaders from the night were gathered in an alley in green-scheme CUs. As they exited the alley, they made their way towards Downing Street, where they stopped, waiting for Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was assigned to Downing Street for security.
“We seem to be attracting some attention.” said Neville quietly.
“Yes, I imagine a group of teenagers in camouflage would do that. Oh good, there’s Shacklebolt.”
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
PM’s Office
10 Downing Street
12:04
As the ADA members were shown into the office, Harry noticed a portrait quickly being vacated.
After the door had closed behind them, he spoke.
“It’s an honour to meet you, Prime Minister.”
“You’re ‘Captain Harry Potter’, then?”
“Yes, sir. This is Captain Hermione Granger, Lt Neville Longbottom, Lt Susan Bones, LCpl Allen Spodel, and LCpl Alicia Spinnet. They were the team leaders from last night who could make it.”
“You don’t look over 17, any of you.”
“None of us are.” said Harry, causing the PM to raise his eyebrows.
“Interesting. Please, take a seat.”
“I don’t know whether to be pleased with you, or what. Imagine my surprise when I read my paper this morning and found out my military responded to a terrorist attack, after which I was told by the Minister of Defence, that no, nobody from the military responded to any attacks.” said the PM.
“I can see your confusion sir. I notice that your talking picture has gone to tell Fudge about my arrival. I take it you haven’t been told about the attacks by Fudge?”
“No, I haven’t been informed. So, you’re with the other Ministry, then?”
“No, we’re sort of on our own, sir.
“So, the story about a terrorist attack was just that, a story?”
“Actually, no. You’ve been briefed by Fudge on the return of Voldemort, Sir? He might have referred to him as “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” or “You-Know-Who”.”
“He did mention that one Sirius Black was one of his most trusted followers, but that was about 3 years ago.”
“Merlin’s Pants, can’t he do anything right?! Sorry, sir. I’ve just spent several hours dealing with him at trials, and I’m afraid I’ve lost patience with him and his idiocies.”
“I can see how that might happen. He does that to me, and I rarely see him for more than a few minutes at a time.” said the PM.
“Yes. Well, the short version of what has happened since Sirius Black escaped. Basically, Sirius Black is innocent, the man he supposedly killed is alive, although a bit unwell in the head.”
“Voldemort, a.k.a. Tom Riddle, a.k.a. You-Know-Who, returned to a body from a non-corporeal state in June a year ago. He broke his minions out of the wizard prison on October 31. For the first 10 months or so he had a body, he was biding his time, recruiting, gathering strength. Since then, he has started attacking muggles and wizards alike. He has an unhealthy obsession with trying to kill me.”
“I formed a study group called the DA near the beginning of last school year due to the waste of space Fudge saddled my school with. I formed the ADA shortly thereafter, with the goal of removing Voldemort’s support and followers. We researched various combat techniques, and combined them with magic.” finished Harry. “That is the ultra-condensed and abridged version.”
“Could you explain your ‘ADA’? I don’t quite understand what would cause a group of young teens to abandon their usual pursuits and wage war.”
“That is a story in itself. The headmaster of my school runs a secret organization, dedicated to stopping Voldemort. It is, however, mostly an information gathering tool, as only about 5 members can fight at all. They were not likely to do anything to take the fight to Voldemort. The Aurors, excellent at bringing in shoplifters and your usual delinquents, are not trained to fight death eaters. Death eaters get their jollies from killing and torturing, not pick-pocketing. They are extremely good at killing and torturing, and seriously outclass most Aurors. They are also unlikely to take the fight to Voldemort. As there is no wizarding equivalent of the muggle military, there was nobody else in the list. So, I created the ADA, along with Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley, who isn’t here. We are trained to fight as a single group, or as individual teams.” said Harry, pointing to Hermione when he mentioned her. “And as the Ministry of Magic is about as likely to form an army as Julius Caesar is likely to walk the earth again while wearing a pink business suit, I see no reason to disband.”
“We adopted the ranking system of the army so our uniforms would blend in better in your world. The story I told the police was the truth, leaving out the magical aspects. I was asked if we were part of the military. I said ‘Not officially, no.’, which is true, since we aren’t. They assumed, and ran with it.” said Harry.
“That makes sense. So, why haven’t I heard of any of these attacks?” asked the Prime Minister.
“You have, sir. Those strange accidents that have been happening recently? Mostly the work of death eaters. I expect a quiet spell for a time, now though. We captured or killed a large number of death eaters last night, and it put a fairly large dent in Voldemort’s numbers.”
“I appreciate you taking the effort to protect us from your world’s problems. It seems to be more than what Fudge is willing to do.”
“I was raised as a muggle, sir. I happen to like most muggles, and would rather not see them killed by one madman’s quest for power and immortality.”
The Prime Minister thought for a moment, before speaking again.
“Would you be interested in receiving more training?”
“Definitely, sir. Why?” said Harry.
“Well, I’ll have to look into it, but you may find yourself part of the Army soon.”
“An interesting thought. I need to ask, though, how would we be restricted from what we can do now?” said Harry, his curiosity piqued.
“I’m not sure yet. I have to talk to some people. I’m sure certain people will be interested in meeting the group of you.”
“I’m not averse to kicking death eater bum, and being official while doing it.” said Allen Spodel.
“Does anybody not want to do this?” asked Harry. Receiving shakes of the head, he continued. “Why don’t you all go ask your teams what they think, and report back. I don’t want to force anybody into this.”
As the ADA members popped away, the Minister looked startled.
“I thought there were supposed to be wards and stuff on here to prevent that!”
Harry did a quick check of the wards. “There are. However, the wards only prevent portkeys and apparition. As we don’t apparate, it doesn’t affect us. So far as we know, nobody else can do what we do, so you’re pretty safe.”
“I see. How long do you think they’ll take?”
“I have no idea, sir. It could be five minutes, or a few hours. If you have other engagements, we’d be happy to return later when you aren’t busy.”
“That’s not a problem, today. This is actually one of the few days I’ve had where I’m not booked.”
“If I might ask, Prime Minister, what prompted the Army question?” asked Hermione.
“Actually, the Army. They’d like to get their hands on the group that can deploy to dozens of locations scattered all across the UK in less than 6 minutes. It should be interesting when they find out none of you are 18 yet. You’d be under a classified section since you’re wizards and witches, anyway.”
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
PM’s Office
10 Downing Street
13:00
As the group made their way out of the Prime Minister’s office, they were all thinking about what might happen next, and what might result from their decision.
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
Riddle Manor
Little Hangleton
10:00
Voldemort was getting very impatient. He hadn’t heard from any of the death eaters that had gone out. As he was about to call them using the mark, Wormtail came in.
“My Lord, one of the recruits has returned.”
“Finally! Send him in.”
As the recruit came in, hardly able to walk from the shaking, Voldemort looked displeased.
“Well? What happened?”
“The test was interrupted by the ADA arriving.” said the man nervously.
“WHAT! HOW? DAMN YOU POTTER!” bellowed Voldemort, before Wormtail entered again.
“Yes, Wormtail?”
“Lucius is here. He says he has information you will find of interest.”
“Very well, send him in.”
As Lucius entered, he looked smug.
“My Lord, I bring important news.”
“Do tell, Lucius.”
“My Lord, there is a spy in our midst.”
“Yes, I have suspected that for some time, Lucius. Tell me something I don’t know.” said Voldemort, growing impatient.
“The traitor is Severus Snape.”
“How do you know this?” hissed Voldemort.
“I was captured by the ADA. During my trial this morning, he testified under an oath of truth that he was a spy for Dumbledore. Also, I believe that the ADA captured almost all of the groups who went out last night. The hall to the court room was lined with prisoners, some of whom were at last night’s meeting. I managed to trick the Auror guarding me into releasing me, and I escaped.” said Malfoy.
“Did you manage to kill the Granger girl’s parents?”
“No, my lord. The wards were some of the best I’ve ever seen, and we were stunned from behind while bringing them down.”
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
Kitchen
#12 Grimmauld Place
03:45
“Dumbledore, I think it’s time we use Snape against the death eaters. He can testify against them. It’s the only way we can beat them when they claim imperious. I think we can provide for his safety for the foreseeable future, not to mention he can stay at Hogwarts.” said Harry.
“Severus?”
“The Dark Lord is beginning to suspect there is a spy in his midst. For once, I agree with Potter. I am willing to remain at Hogwarts unless I have a guard. Without my testimony, or that of another death eater, there is no way to disprove the imperious claim.”
“I am reluctant to lose my spy in his camp.”
“Dumbledore, you never act on anything you learn from Snape, anyway. How will it make a difference whether he is spying or not? We don’t need his information like we once did, now that we have our new toy.” said Harry. “Besides, is having a spy really worth losing the opportunity to lock up almost 50 death eaters?”
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
Courtroom 10
Ministry of Magic
04:00
Harry, Hermione, Neville, and the other team leaders from the night’s excitement were gathered in the courtroom, along with the members of the Wizengamot not in holding cells or being detained in the halls. Having surrendered their wands, they still had their guns, and in Harry and Hermione’s case, their staffs.
“This emergency session of the Wizengamot is now in session. Any who have business before the trials begin, please stand.” said Dumbledore.
Cornelius Fudge stood, to nobody’s surprise.
“Yes, Minister Fudge?”
“I move to delay the trials.”
“Motion Denied.”
“If the Wizengamot would explain why the motion was denied?” asked Fudge.
“The Department of Magical Law Enforcement has run out of holding cells. Trials can not be delayed any longer. The Wizengamot calls Lucius Malfoy forward to be tried.”
“WHAT?!”
“Minister Fudge, if you cannot contain yourself, you will have to leave.” said Dumbledore serenely, as a pair of Aurors brought Malfoy into the courtroom, and sat him in the chair, which bound him.
“Lucius Malfoy, you have been charged with the following: Attempted assault on a muggle or muggles. Attempted breaking and entering in a magical dwelling. Involvement in a Death Eater attack. How do you plead?”
“Not Guilty.”
“Very well. Do you have anyone for your defence?”
“I do not need a solicitor.”
“Very well. Please make any arguments you have in your defence.”
“I was under the imperious curse.”
“Yes, we’ve heard that before. Does the prosecution have any arguments against this?”
Madam Bones stood.
“Yes. The Prosecution calls Severus Snape to the stand.”
As Snape made his way forward, Lucius’ face became quite angry. “Traitor!”
“Please state your name for the record.”
“Severus Snape. May I put myself under an oath?”
“Yes, you may.”
“I, Severus Snape, swear on my life and magic that all I say in the proceedings of this trial are true to the best of my knowledge.” said Snape, who was enveloped by slight glow.
“Mr. Snape, is it possible that Mr. Malfoy here was under the imperious curse?”
“Yes. However, to receive the Dark Mark, he must have volunteered of his own free will.”
“And how do you know this?”
“I am Dumbledore’s spy in the death eaters. I have the mark.”
“Mr. Malfoy, do you have the Dark Mark?”
“No.” said a smug Malfoy.
“Mr. Snape, where is the dark mark located?”
“The upper arm.”
“Auror, lift Mr. Malfoy’s sleeves and use the Probity Probe to detect any concealments.”
As the Auror waved the probe over Malfoy’s upper arm, which looked bare, it let out a tone.
“It appears that there is some form of glamour on his arm.” said the Auror.
“Indeed. Mr. Malfoy, would you care to repeat your statements under an oath of truth?”
“No, I would not.”
“Can you explain the glamour on your arm?”
“I have a nasty scar there. I prefer to keep it hidden.”
“Mr. Malfoy, this group is not one which would ridicule you for a simple scar. Please inform the Auror how to cancel the glamour.”
At this point, Harry stood.
“The Court recognises Harry Potter.”
“May I provide a memory of the night of the third task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament? I feel it may assist the prosecution’s case.”
“Auror, collect his memory and place it in the pensive.”
As the court watched Harry and Cedric approaching the cup, agree to tie for it, take it, and get transported to the graveyard, Fudge jumped up.
As the memory was paused, Dumbledore spoke.
“The Court recognises Minister Fudge.”
“Memories can be modified!”
Harry stood again. “I, Harry Potter, swear on my life and magic that the memory I just provided is unaltered.” said Harry, sounding bored.
As a glow briefly surrounded him, he grinned at Fudge. “Sorry, Minister. I’m still alive.”
The playback of the memory continued. As they witnessed Voldemort’s rebirth, and subsequent gathering of his death eaters, many in the Wizengamot looked shocked.
As they neared the listing of names, Harry noticed one of the Aurors shifting nervously near the back.
“Neville, Hermione. Look at that Auror near the back. I think he’s going to try something.”
“He’s a bit shifty, yeah.” said Neville.
As the names started, the Auror keeled over.
“Nope, I guess not. Must have locked his knees.” said Harry. “Ah! Here’s the good part!”
“Lucius, my slippery friend. Why did you not seek me out 13 years ago? Surely, you who know better than most the steps I have taken against death, did not think me gone?”
“My Lord, I positioned myself carefully. If I’d have heard so much as a whisper about your whereabouts–”
“Wormtail here did much the same thing, only he actually CAME to my aid.”
“Pettigrew? What did he do?”
“He performed the ritual that gave me this body, you fool!”
“I apologise, my Lord. I didn’t kno–”
“SILENCE!”
At this point, the memory was stopped. “Pettigrew? As in Order of Merlin Peter Pettigrew?” queried Madam Bones.
“Well, I did tell all of you that Sirius wasn’t the one who betrayed my parents two years ago. But oh no, I must be delusional. I wonder, what ever happened to those court transcripts? Oh, yes, there was no trial. But we’re here to bring justice against Malfoy, not discuss Pettigrew.” said Harry somewhat shortly.
“Indeed we are. Mr. Malfoy, do you mean to say that you have been under the Imperious for the last 14 years? I find that highly unlikely.”
“Well, I, um…”
“Auror, can you remove the glamour?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Do it.”
As the Auror cast the spell, the chains fell limply from Malfoy, who stood up, waved cheerfully, and disapparated.
“Auror?”
“I just cast Finite Incantatem!”
The collective groan that occurred would have been impressive, had it been for a more positive reason.
“Auror, what… oh, never mind. There’s not much we can do now.” said Madam Bones, forehead in hand.
“Perhaps we should move on to the next trial? We can retrieve him at our convenience, and I’d like my teams to get a little rest before we move out again.” suggested Harry.
“Potter! Apprehending criminals is the job of the Aurors! Not school children!” said Fudge.
“No offence to the Aurors, but they can’t apparate through wards, or a host of other things that we can do. Tell me, Minister, how would they get inside Malfoy Manor without an invitation?”
“Mr. Potter, I must ask you to keep your comments to yourself, despite how ever much sense you may make. Minister, I must request that you do the same. Neither of you run this court. You must be acknowledged before speaking.” said Dumbledore, looking not at all angry at Harry, and annoyed with Fudge.
“My apologies, Sir.” said Harry.
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
Courtroom 10
Ministry of Magic
07:00
“This session of the Wizengamot is concluded.” said Dumbledore, and everyone started making their way towards the doors, except for Amelia Bones, who was making a line for the ADA members.
Reaching them, she got their attention.
“Mr. Potter, I’d like to speak with you and your group in my office.”
“Certainly, Madam Bones.”
After arriving in her office, they shut the door.
“Mr. Potter, I assume you are going to move on Malfoy later in the day?’
“Indeed. We haven’t worked out exactly when yet.”
“I would appreciate it if you would take along a team of Aurors when you do.”
“We’ll have to give them a crash course in how we do battle, but I don’t see why we couldn’t. I’d like to do it tomorrow, then. I doubt Malfoy is skipping the country, as his ‘Lord’ wouldn’t approve.”
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
Kitchen
Potter Manor
09:00
Harry was eating some fruit when he got a call on his plate from Hermione.
“Harry, you might want to come over here. I think you’ll want to see this.”
“I’ll be right over.” replied Harry, wondering what on earth happened this time.
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
Kitchen
Granger Residence
09:01
Harry appeared next to Hermione in the kitchen, where he saw the day’s Daily Telegraph spread out on the table.
Police respond to numerous break-ins overnight
Apparent terrorist attacks thwarted at last minute.
Police responded to nearly a dozen calls about strangely dressed individuals blasting down doors and entering homes last night. Apparently orchestrated by a previously unknown organization, the attacks were seemingly random, and came with little warning. Captain Potter, ADA (Seemingly a classified part of the military) told police that they had “about six minutes warning about the attacks”, a response time which is nothing to sneeze at. Dressed in black cloaks and white masks, the terrorists might be viewed as amusing to some. Captain Potter told police “Yes, well, their leader is a bit off. They’re much more intimidating when they’re causing you pain, though.” The ADA, who responded to all of the dozen or so attacks, arrived in time to subdue and detain those responsible and prevent anything more than very minor physical harm to the victims. The victims, when asked for interviews, declined, most saying that they were still recovering from the experience.
This paper has been unable to find any further information about this ‘ADA’, but would like to thank its members for their quick action against this group of terrorists. We can’t help but wonder: Does this indicate a new level of responsiveness by the government against such threats? Whatever the answer may be … Continued on page 3
“I probably should have left out the response time in the police report.”
“I thought it was a good article. Your cover story seems to have been completely believable, anyway.” said Dan.
“I’ll bet some higher ups are scratching their heads about now. I don’t think they’ll complain about it, but I’ll bet they are a bit confused about their military seemingly responding to the attacks, when it didn’t.”
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
Living Room
Granger Residence
11:06
Emma was reading a book on household charms, courtesy of Hermione’s impressive library of titles, when the phone rang.
From the other room, she heard her husband answer it.
“Granger Residence, Dan speaking.”
A pause. “One second, I’ll get him. Hermione! Can you fetch Harry, the phone is for him!”
“Yes. Just a moment.” from yet another room. Emma got up and made her way toward the phone, as Harry popped in with Hermione.
“Hello? This is Harry. Yes, that’s me. Oh? I See. Yes. No, I think it’d be better to talk in person, yes. Yes. Um, an hour? Noon, then. Thank you.”
“Well, that was a surprise. Hermione, you might want to get into your CUs, preferably in green-scheme. We seem to have an appointment at Downing Street in… 50 minutes. They said that I needed to come, but any that responded to the attacks who can make it should as well. I must say, I didn’t expect this when I spun that story, and the ‘higher-ups’ do indeed seem to be doing a bit of head-scratching.”
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
Near 10 Downing Street
London
11:50
Harry, Hermione, Neville, and the team leaders from the night were gathered in an alley in green-scheme CUs. As they exited the alley, they made their way towards Downing Street, where they stopped, waiting for Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was assigned to Downing Street for security.
“We seem to be attracting some attention.” said Neville quietly.
“Yes, I imagine a group of teenagers in camouflage would do that. Oh good, there’s Shacklebolt.”
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
PM’s Office
10 Downing Street
12:04
As the ADA members were shown into the office, Harry noticed a portrait quickly being vacated.
After the door had closed behind them, he spoke.
“It’s an honour to meet you, Prime Minister.”
“You’re ‘Captain Harry Potter’, then?”
“Yes, sir. This is Captain Hermione Granger, Lt Neville Longbottom, Lt Susan Bones, LCpl Allen Spodel, and LCpl Alicia Spinnet. They were the team leaders from last night who could make it.”
“You don’t look over 17, any of you.”
“None of us are.” said Harry, causing the PM to raise his eyebrows.
“Interesting. Please, take a seat.”
“I don’t know whether to be pleased with you, or what. Imagine my surprise when I read my paper this morning and found out my military responded to a terrorist attack, after which I was told by the Minister of Defence, that no, nobody from the military responded to any attacks.” said the PM.
“I can see your confusion sir. I notice that your talking picture has gone to tell Fudge about my arrival. I take it you haven’t been told about the attacks by Fudge?”
“No, I haven’t been informed. So, you’re with the other Ministry, then?”
“No, we’re sort of on our own, sir.
“So, the story about a terrorist attack was just that, a story?”
“Actually, no. You’ve been briefed by Fudge on the return of Voldemort, Sir? He might have referred to him as “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” or “You-Know-Who”.”
“He did mention that one Sirius Black was one of his most trusted followers, but that was about 3 years ago.”
“Merlin’s Pants, can’t he do anything right?! Sorry, sir. I’ve just spent several hours dealing with him at trials, and I’m afraid I’ve lost patience with him and his idiocies.”
“I can see how that might happen. He does that to me, and I rarely see him for more than a few minutes at a time.” said the PM.
“Yes. Well, the short version of what has happened since Sirius Black escaped. Basically, Sirius Black is innocent, the man he supposedly killed is alive, although a bit unwell in the head.”
“Voldemort, a.k.a. Tom Riddle, a.k.a. You-Know-Who, returned to a body from a non-corporeal state in June a year ago. He broke his minions out of the wizard prison on October 31. For the first 10 months or so he had a body, he was biding his time, recruiting, gathering strength. Since then, he has started attacking muggles and wizards alike. He has an unhealthy obsession with trying to kill me.”
“I formed a study group called the DA near the beginning of last school year due to the waste of space Fudge saddled my school with. I formed the ADA shortly thereafter, with the goal of removing Voldemort’s support and followers. We researched various combat techniques, and combined them with magic.” finished Harry. “That is the ultra-condensed and abridged version.”
“Could you explain your ‘ADA’? I don’t quite understand what would cause a group of young teens to abandon their usual pursuits and wage war.”
“That is a story in itself. The headmaster of my school runs a secret organization, dedicated to stopping Voldemort. It is, however, mostly an information gathering tool, as only about 5 members can fight at all. They were not likely to do anything to take the fight to Voldemort. The Aurors, excellent at bringing in shoplifters and your usual delinquents, are not trained to fight death eaters. Death eaters get their jollies from killing and torturing, not pick-pocketing. They are extremely good at killing and torturing, and seriously outclass most Aurors. They are also unlikely to take the fight to Voldemort. As there is no wizarding equivalent of the muggle military, there was nobody else in the list. So, I created the ADA, along with Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley, who isn’t here. We are trained to fight as a single group, or as individual teams.” said Harry, pointing to Hermione when he mentioned her. “And as the Ministry of Magic is about as likely to form an army as Julius Caesar is likely to walk the earth again while wearing a pink business suit, I see no reason to disband.”
“We adopted the ranking system of the army so our uniforms would blend in better in your world. The story I told the police was the truth, leaving out the magical aspects. I was asked if we were part of the military. I said ‘Not officially, no.’, which is true, since we aren’t. They assumed, and ran with it.” said Harry.
“That makes sense. So, why haven’t I heard of any of these attacks?” asked the Prime Minister.
“You have, sir. Those strange accidents that have been happening recently? Mostly the work of death eaters. I expect a quiet spell for a time, now though. We captured or killed a large number of death eaters last night, and it put a fairly large dent in Voldemort’s numbers.”
“I appreciate you taking the effort to protect us from your world’s problems. It seems to be more than what Fudge is willing to do.”
“I was raised as a muggle, sir. I happen to like most muggles, and would rather not see them killed by one madman’s quest for power and immortality.”
The Prime Minister thought for a moment, before speaking again.
“Would you be interested in receiving more training?”
“Definitely, sir. Why?” said Harry.
“Well, I’ll have to look into it, but you may find yourself part of the Army soon.”
“An interesting thought. I need to ask, though, how would we be restricted from what we can do now?” said Harry, his curiosity piqued.
“I’m not sure yet. I have to talk to some people. I’m sure certain people will be interested in meeting the group of you.”
“I’m not averse to kicking death eater bum, and being official while doing it.” said Allen Spodel.
“Does anybody not want to do this?” asked Harry. Receiving shakes of the head, he continued. “Why don’t you all go ask your teams what they think, and report back. I don’t want to force anybody into this.”
As the ADA members popped away, the Minister looked startled.
“I thought there were supposed to be wards and stuff on here to prevent that!”
Harry did a quick check of the wards. “There are. However, the wards only prevent portkeys and apparition. As we don’t apparate, it doesn’t affect us. So far as we know, nobody else can do what we do, so you’re pretty safe.”
“I see. How long do you think they’ll take?”
“I have no idea, sir. It could be five minutes, or a few hours. If you have other engagements, we’d be happy to return later when you aren’t busy.”
“That’s not a problem, today. This is actually one of the few days I’ve had where I’m not booked.”
“If I might ask, Prime Minister, what prompted the Army question?” asked Hermione.
“Actually, the Army. They’d like to get their hands on the group that can deploy to dozens of locations scattered all across the UK in less than 6 minutes. It should be interesting when they find out none of you are 18 yet. You’d be under a classified section since you’re wizards and witches, anyway.”
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
PM’s Office
10 Downing Street
13:00
As the group made their way out of the Prime Minister’s office, they were all thinking about what might happen next, and what might result from their decision.
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Saturday, 20 July, 1996
Riddle Manor
Little Hangleton
10:00
Voldemort was getting very impatient. He hadn’t heard from any of the death eaters that had gone out. As he was about to call them using the mark, Wormtail came in.
“My Lord, one of the recruits has returned.”
“Finally! Send him in.”
As the recruit came in, hardly able to walk from the shaking, Voldemort looked displeased.
“Well? What happened?”
“The test was interrupted by the ADA arriving.” said the man nervously.
“WHAT! HOW? DAMN YOU POTTER!” bellowed Voldemort, before Wormtail entered again.
“Yes, Wormtail?”
“Lucius is here. He says he has information you will find of interest.”
“Very well, send him in.”
As Lucius entered, he looked smug.
“My Lord, I bring important news.”
“Do tell, Lucius.”
“My Lord, there is a spy in our midst.”
“Yes, I have suspected that for some time, Lucius. Tell me something I don’t know.” said Voldemort, growing impatient.
“The traitor is Severus Snape.”
“How do you know this?” hissed Voldemort.
“I was captured by the ADA. During my trial this morning, he testified under an oath of truth that he was a spy for Dumbledore. Also, I believe that the ADA captured almost all of the groups who went out last night. The hall to the court room was lined with prisoners, some of whom were at last night’s meeting. I managed to trick the Auror guarding me into releasing me, and I escaped.” said Malfoy.
“Did you manage to kill the Granger girl’s parents?”
“No, my lord. The wards were some of the best I’ve ever seen, and we were stunned from behind while bringing them down.”
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