Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Harry Potter and the Endwar Project
I'm sorry that it's been so long since I've last updated, but I just haven't felt like writing lately. Schoolwork and video games have also taken up a lot of my time.
I don't own Harry Potter, just the plot and any OC's that pop up.
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Chapter 5 - Smuggling Operations
"No..." Harry muttered as he twisted in his bed, in the throes of another nightmare. Images flashed through his mind: Cedric Diggory falling before Wormtail's killing curse, Sirius Black falling through the veil, Hermione falling being struck with a green light before falling limply, a large cloud of dust and smoke where his final friend once stood.... So many images flashed through Harry's mind that they eventually bled together into a gestalt of all the pain and agony that he had to witness in his lifetime.
Eventually, the blur of colors and feelings faded away into blackness, but Harry was no longer alone. Now he was surrounded by his friends, all staring at him with dead, accusing eyes.
"Why didn't you stop him, Harry?" Cedric asked. "He was right there; one expelliarmus, and we could have been free, and I'd still be alive." Harry began to stammer out a response before he was interrupted by Sirius' voice.
"If you had just stayed at Hogwarts like you were supposed to, I never would have gone to the Department of Mysteries," he said. "I wouldn't have died trying to save you."
"I-I-" Harry said before he was interrupted again, this time by Ginny.
"You abandoned us, Harry," she said. "You abandoned us when we needed you most."
"I'm sorry..." Harry sobbed as he fell to his knees, clutching his head as the cacophony of noise swirled around him.
------
Harry woke with a gasp, his bed sheets soaked in cold sweat. Sitting up, he looked at the bedside clock and groaned when it read 3:14 in the morning. Well, here's to another sleepless night, he thought as he peeled himself out of his sweaty covers and slid on his glasses. Flipping on his bedroom light, he found a piece of parchment and a pen and left for the dining room, turning on another light and sitting at the table. Harry tapped the pen on the table for a few seconds before he began to write down various names and words.
Harry Potter. Harry was curious about the state of his younger self, and figured that he should pay a visit to the hospital that he had left him at, to see what had happened with him. And besides, he still needed to extract the scar horcrux from him in order to complete his mission. He wrote the word "scar" and drew an arrow pointing to his name.
Sirius Black. Harry knew that his godfather was currently rotting in Azkaban prison at the moment, but unfortunately there was little that he could do about it at the moment. If he helped Sirius to escape, then it would only make things harder when he tried to clear his name, and if Harry tried to get him out legally, then the undesirable bodies on the Wizengamot, such as Malfoy or Crouch, would aim to make the process as long and difficult as humanly possible, or throw the case out altogether; they would also ask uncomfortable questions such as how he knew of Sirius' innocence, and where to find the proof. He eventually decided to trim some of the fat from the Ministry first, and then try once the dust had settled. Sirius was strong; he could wait.
Lucius Malfoy, one of the biggest names in magical Britain today, and ostensibly Voldemort's right-hand man. With his money and connections, the man could sway virtually any event that crossed the Wizengamot's path in his favor. This combined with his possession of a horcrux made Malfoy a top priority in Harry’s mind. He considered simply stealing the diary and covertly assassinating Malfoy, but decided against it. If Malfoy simply died, then his wealth would still potentially be in the hands of the Death Eaters through his wife, who was a supporter of their cause if nothing else. Also, it just didn't seem to be enough for the aristocratic pureblood to simply die; Harry wanted to bring him down a few notches first. He circled the name and drew an arrow leading to the name, "Rita Skeeter?" Next to Malfoy's name, he wrote "high priority" and moved on.
Severus Snape. Harry was conflicted about what to do with the greasy-haired potions master. On the one hand, he was ultimately on Dumbledore's side. However, he was also a cruel, bigoted, vindictive bully who was indirectly responsible for his parents' deaths. Choosing to decide his ultimate fate at a later time, Harry wrote "high-priority - disable before Sep. 1" next to the name.
Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry scowled when he wrote the name down, anger bubbling under his skin for the woman. She, her husband and brother-in-law were all dangerous Death Eaters, and she also had access to the Hufflepuff horcrux. However, it was a relief that the three Lestranges were all currently locked up in Azkaban. They were potential problems, but were safely placed somewhere where Harry could find and deal with them later; "medium priority" was written next to the name.
Wormtail, a.k.a., Peter Pettigrew. While the treacherous rat was responsible for his parents' deaths and Sirius' incarceration, he was also a weakling who really only took action when forced to by those more powerful than him. Harry suspected that he was with the Weasleys now, and while he wanted to simply Apparate over there and snatch the rat in the night, he had bigger priorities, so Wormtail received a "low priority" rating.
Dolores Umbridge, another name that stirred Harry's anger. While not a Death Eater proper, she was certainly sympathetic to their cause, and definitely foul enough to be an honorary member. She too was a thorn in his side from the Ministry, and would have to be disposed of. However, other than his grudge for her, there was no reason in the context of his mission for him to deal with her, so after a brief glance at the faded scar on his hand, he wrote "medium-to-low priority."
Bartemius Crouch was another problem. While not evil, he was the man who sentenced Sirius, and probably others, to Azkaban without trial, something that would need to be looked into by someone later. Happy with simply damaging his reputation, Harry added another arrow pointing to Rita Skeeter's name. His son, however, would require a more permanent solution. "Low priority" was written next to the name.
Now that the major names that he could think of had been written down, Harry began to write down the horcruxes that he needed to find. The diary and the cup he wrote down and pointed to their respective handlers, which left the locket, the ring and the final object.
Harry knew that Regulus Black had stolen the Slytherin locket prior to his death, and from what he remember of the Black family tapestry, it was several years before his appearance, so the item was most likely at 12 Grimmauld Place. However, with Sirius in Azkaban, Harry had no idea how difficult it would be for him to enter, or if it was even possible at all. After drawing an arrow towards Sirius' name, also wrote down "curse breakers", along with another arrow. He figured that if it became necessary, he could always hire a team to tear down whatever offensive wards may be in place, and had more than enough gold on hand to buy some extra discretion.
The ring would be a different challenge. While he figured that, at this point in time, the ring would most likely be at the Gaunt ancestral home, Harry had no idea where exactly it was, other than it was near Little Hangleton, judging by the memory that Dumbledore had provided during his sixth year. Adding another arrow to "Little Hangleton - investigate area", he moved on to the final, and potentially most problematic horcrux.
After going through various books on historical artifacts during the past - or future as the case may be, Harry had decided that the most likely candidate for the final horcrux was Ravenclaw's diadem. However, none of the books he read had provided a picture of said artifact, so he had no idea what he was looking for. However, he did remember seeing a crown in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts; that would require further investigation. After further thought, Harry decided that he might as well dispose of the basilisk while he was there, just in case.
Finished writing down his plans, Harry walked back up to his room and placed the parchment into his briefcase for protection. As he opened it, he also spotted a rubber-like object inside. He took it and saw that it was a latex mask, like one would wear on Halloween, with two transparent films over the eye holes. Harry had an idea as to what this object was, so he took off his glasses and slid the mask over his head. The material hung loosely from his face before it tightened up and eventually became indistinguishable from his own skin. Placing his glasses back on, he turned to face the mirror to see his face unchanged.
Concentrating on the appearance of his face without the large scar on its right side, the disfigurement eventually disappeared, leaving Harry's face clean of the blemish. With a thought, Harry's emerald-green eyes turned to sky blue; another thought changed his long black hair to a spiky blond. As a test, Harry changed his face to that of his old classmate, Lee Jordan. However, while his face was darkened, his hands remained their natural pale color. Harry concentrated on Christine's face, but his own did not change. He then tried thinking about his Uncle Vernon, also to no effect. Now knowing the limitations of the mask, he reverted back to is natural look and peeled it off.
Feeling that his sheets were now dry, he flopped back onto his bed and closed his eyes, hoping to get at least a couple more hours of sleep.
------
When Harry next opened his eyes, his clock read 6:26, a much more satisfactory time. Stretching out, Harry shuffled down to the kitchen, where Christine had just poured herself a cup of tea.
"'Morning," Harry yawned as he poured himself a cup.
"'Morning," Christine replied.
"I have a question," Harry said as he opened the refrigerator to find something to eat.
"What is it?" Christine asked.
"Say you want someone to disappear for a few months," Harry said as he pulled out a loaf of bread and a jar of marmalade. "How would you do that without either bribing or imprisoning them?" Christine pondered the question as she sipped her tea.
"The easiest way I can think of is for them to be caught in a foreign country without the proper papers," she said. "Getting caught without them can easily tie you up for two months or more."
"Okay, how about if the person's home government tries to interfere?" Harry asked as he smeared the marmalade over the bread.
"Then they'd better have a damn good reason why the person they're trying to support is out illegally," Christine replied, taking some bread for herself. "If they try to claim theft, then there'd be an investigation, which takes time. If they claim espionage, then there'd be a liaison to vouch for the suspect."
"Huh," Harry grunted. "How do you know all this?"
"Me and the rest of my class had to sneak in and out of Italy as part of basic training," Christine said. "I was one of ones who got caught." Harry grimaced sympathetically.
"That can't have been good for your grade," he said.
"Nope," Christine responded. "Didn't you go through this on your own training?" she asked him.
"Uhh, no," Harry said, trying to hide his sudden nervousness. "I kind of got the crash course." Now it was Christine's turn to display sympathy.
"Why do you ask?" she asked him.
"Well, I know the location of a Death Eater, not especially dangerous," Harry explained. "The problem is, is that he has friends in high places, so we can't just take him to court, so I was thinking of making him...disappear for a while we take care of other stuff." Christine thought over the plan, and nodded in acceptance.
"Alright, so where are we going?" she asked. When Harry transfigured his plate and cup into a birdcage and an eagle owl, she added, "And what are you doing?"
"Spinner's End," Harry said, "and I'm creating our cover," he continued as he placed the owl into the cage. "Owl salespeople!" he said proudly. In response, Christine raised an eyebrow skeptically.
"O...kay," she said uncertainly, "I'm going to go get ready," she added as she gulped down the last of her tea and went upstairs. Harry followed her, grabbing his mask and slipping it on. He then changed his appearance to that of a pimply, slightly-buck-toothed man with light brown hair and hazel eyes. When he came back downstairs, Christine had changed her hair blond, and was wearing a pair of thick, square glasses, along with a threadbare set of brown robes. After casting a mild notice-me-not charm on their clothes, he asked if she was ready; when she responded in the affirmative, he Apparated them to the beginning of Spinner's End. Walking to the first door they saw, Harry knocked on the door, prompting a middle-aged woman to answer.
"Hello, good miss, may I interest you in this fine Eurasian eagle owl today?" Harry asked, speaking with a higher and more nasal voice than his natural tone. Christine merely smiled behind him.
"No thanks, I already have an owl," the woman refused.
"Very well then, good day to you miss," Harry said as the woman closed the door. "Alright," he continued softly in his natural voice, "onto the next one." They knocked on the next door, and for several seconds, no one answered. Suddenly, the door flew open to reveal the younger, but no less recognizable face of Severus Snape.
"What do you dunderheads want?!" he snapped. In response, Harry simply whipped his wand out and stunned the potion master faster than he could respond before the two Unspeakables stepped in and closed the door. Harry snatched up Snape's wand while Christine canceled the charms that altered her appearance and made her fake glasses disappear before altering her robes into a more fashionable set.
"Okay, do you have a passport?" she asked Harry, who shook his head. "Damn. Okay, there's a magical sensor when we enter the country, but the threshold's wide enough that if you hold him up and walk sideways as I enter, they’ll think I'll set it off. I'll distract them while you go on ahead, okay?" Harry nodded and grabbed the unconscious Snape from under his arms before Christine made both of them turn invisible. Then they exited the house and she flagged down the Knight Bus.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transportation for the stranded witch or wizard," the conductor read off of a cue card. "My name is Bill Slipmingle, and I'll be your conductor today."
"Italy, please," Christine said as she walked on, Harry right behind her.
"I'm afraid that that'll cost extra, ma'am, three galleons," Bill said. Christine simply dug out the appropriate amount of money and handed it over before sitting down near the back of the bus. Harry grunted softly in the seat next to her.
"For such a skinny guy, he's pretty heavy," Harry whispered as the bus lurched forth with a bang. A few minutes later, they made an abrupt stop.
"We're here, lady!" the conductor yelled from the front. Christine and Harry stood up and exited the bus and into the international terminal in Sicily. Almost immediately, a guard walked up to Christine, narrowly avoiding bumping into Harry on the way.
"May I see your passport please, miss?" the guard asked politely. Christine withdrew the small booklet from her pocket and presented it to the guard, who looked it over briefly and tapped it with his wand before handing it back. "Please empty your pockets and walk through the scanner," he said as he pointed to a seven-foot-high stone arch in the middle of the room.
"Thanks," Christine said as she withdrew her wand, as well as a bag of gold and placed them in a bucket before walking through, Harry sidestepping beside her. As she said before, alarms went off and more guards stopped her while Harry went on ahead. Christine dug through her pockets and pulled out a communication mirror. "Oops, silly me," she giggled as she placed it in the bucket.
"It happens," one of the guards said, smiling understandingly. When Christine stepped through a second time, the arch remained silent, and her effects were returned to her. Once she had walked a fair distance from the guards, Harry whispered into her ear.
"I'm going to go cancel the charm in the loo," he said. A few minutes later, he appeared in his normal appearance, save his scar. "He's levitating beside me," he said, answering her unasked question.
"Come on," she said, grabbing his arm, "I know a place where we can drop him off." Once Harry grabbed what seemed to be empty air, they Disapparated, reappearing in a busy street that reminded Harry of Diagon Alley. Christine pulled him to an empty side alley, where they canceled the disillusionment charm on Snape and dropped him for someone to find. "Alright, let's get out of here," she said while rendering Harry invisible before the both Apparated back to the international terminal, this time heading towards the Floo area. After showing her passport again, they walked through the Floo back to England, where they then Apparated back to their flat.
"Alright, that's done so where to next?" Christine asked. Harry thought for a moment before shrugging.
"We could always try Malfoy Manor next," he suggested.
"Alright, then; let's go," she said.
"Let's go."
----
I originally wanted to end the chapter with Dumbledore trying to bail Snape out of trouble, as per usual, only to be shot down, but the chapter was already running longer than I expected, so I decided to save it for next chapter.
A reviewer suggested that I make a prequel for this story detailing Voldemort's rise to power and Harry's change from his canon self during early DH to the man he is here. While I won't be taking up this challenge myself (history plus politics plus me equals mediocre material at best), but this is an interesting idea, and I'd love someone else to take it up.
So, if you're interested, consider it a challenge. If you do it, please send me a PM when you post it so that I may read it. Thanks.
Don't forget to review!
I don't own Harry Potter, just the plot and any OC's that pop up.
----
Chapter 5 - Smuggling Operations
"No..." Harry muttered as he twisted in his bed, in the throes of another nightmare. Images flashed through his mind: Cedric Diggory falling before Wormtail's killing curse, Sirius Black falling through the veil, Hermione falling being struck with a green light before falling limply, a large cloud of dust and smoke where his final friend once stood.... So many images flashed through Harry's mind that they eventually bled together into a gestalt of all the pain and agony that he had to witness in his lifetime.
Eventually, the blur of colors and feelings faded away into blackness, but Harry was no longer alone. Now he was surrounded by his friends, all staring at him with dead, accusing eyes.
"Why didn't you stop him, Harry?" Cedric asked. "He was right there; one expelliarmus, and we could have been free, and I'd still be alive." Harry began to stammer out a response before he was interrupted by Sirius' voice.
"If you had just stayed at Hogwarts like you were supposed to, I never would have gone to the Department of Mysteries," he said. "I wouldn't have died trying to save you."
"I-I-" Harry said before he was interrupted again, this time by Ginny.
"You abandoned us, Harry," she said. "You abandoned us when we needed you most."
"I'm sorry..." Harry sobbed as he fell to his knees, clutching his head as the cacophony of noise swirled around him.
------
Harry woke with a gasp, his bed sheets soaked in cold sweat. Sitting up, he looked at the bedside clock and groaned when it read 3:14 in the morning. Well, here's to another sleepless night, he thought as he peeled himself out of his sweaty covers and slid on his glasses. Flipping on his bedroom light, he found a piece of parchment and a pen and left for the dining room, turning on another light and sitting at the table. Harry tapped the pen on the table for a few seconds before he began to write down various names and words.
Harry Potter. Harry was curious about the state of his younger self, and figured that he should pay a visit to the hospital that he had left him at, to see what had happened with him. And besides, he still needed to extract the scar horcrux from him in order to complete his mission. He wrote the word "scar" and drew an arrow pointing to his name.
Sirius Black. Harry knew that his godfather was currently rotting in Azkaban prison at the moment, but unfortunately there was little that he could do about it at the moment. If he helped Sirius to escape, then it would only make things harder when he tried to clear his name, and if Harry tried to get him out legally, then the undesirable bodies on the Wizengamot, such as Malfoy or Crouch, would aim to make the process as long and difficult as humanly possible, or throw the case out altogether; they would also ask uncomfortable questions such as how he knew of Sirius' innocence, and where to find the proof. He eventually decided to trim some of the fat from the Ministry first, and then try once the dust had settled. Sirius was strong; he could wait.
Lucius Malfoy, one of the biggest names in magical Britain today, and ostensibly Voldemort's right-hand man. With his money and connections, the man could sway virtually any event that crossed the Wizengamot's path in his favor. This combined with his possession of a horcrux made Malfoy a top priority in Harry’s mind. He considered simply stealing the diary and covertly assassinating Malfoy, but decided against it. If Malfoy simply died, then his wealth would still potentially be in the hands of the Death Eaters through his wife, who was a supporter of their cause if nothing else. Also, it just didn't seem to be enough for the aristocratic pureblood to simply die; Harry wanted to bring him down a few notches first. He circled the name and drew an arrow leading to the name, "Rita Skeeter?" Next to Malfoy's name, he wrote "high priority" and moved on.
Severus Snape. Harry was conflicted about what to do with the greasy-haired potions master. On the one hand, he was ultimately on Dumbledore's side. However, he was also a cruel, bigoted, vindictive bully who was indirectly responsible for his parents' deaths. Choosing to decide his ultimate fate at a later time, Harry wrote "high-priority - disable before Sep. 1" next to the name.
Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry scowled when he wrote the name down, anger bubbling under his skin for the woman. She, her husband and brother-in-law were all dangerous Death Eaters, and she also had access to the Hufflepuff horcrux. However, it was a relief that the three Lestranges were all currently locked up in Azkaban. They were potential problems, but were safely placed somewhere where Harry could find and deal with them later; "medium priority" was written next to the name.
Wormtail, a.k.a., Peter Pettigrew. While the treacherous rat was responsible for his parents' deaths and Sirius' incarceration, he was also a weakling who really only took action when forced to by those more powerful than him. Harry suspected that he was with the Weasleys now, and while he wanted to simply Apparate over there and snatch the rat in the night, he had bigger priorities, so Wormtail received a "low priority" rating.
Dolores Umbridge, another name that stirred Harry's anger. While not a Death Eater proper, she was certainly sympathetic to their cause, and definitely foul enough to be an honorary member. She too was a thorn in his side from the Ministry, and would have to be disposed of. However, other than his grudge for her, there was no reason in the context of his mission for him to deal with her, so after a brief glance at the faded scar on his hand, he wrote "medium-to-low priority."
Bartemius Crouch was another problem. While not evil, he was the man who sentenced Sirius, and probably others, to Azkaban without trial, something that would need to be looked into by someone later. Happy with simply damaging his reputation, Harry added another arrow pointing to Rita Skeeter's name. His son, however, would require a more permanent solution. "Low priority" was written next to the name.
Now that the major names that he could think of had been written down, Harry began to write down the horcruxes that he needed to find. The diary and the cup he wrote down and pointed to their respective handlers, which left the locket, the ring and the final object.
Harry knew that Regulus Black had stolen the Slytherin locket prior to his death, and from what he remember of the Black family tapestry, it was several years before his appearance, so the item was most likely at 12 Grimmauld Place. However, with Sirius in Azkaban, Harry had no idea how difficult it would be for him to enter, or if it was even possible at all. After drawing an arrow towards Sirius' name, also wrote down "curse breakers", along with another arrow. He figured that if it became necessary, he could always hire a team to tear down whatever offensive wards may be in place, and had more than enough gold on hand to buy some extra discretion.
The ring would be a different challenge. While he figured that, at this point in time, the ring would most likely be at the Gaunt ancestral home, Harry had no idea where exactly it was, other than it was near Little Hangleton, judging by the memory that Dumbledore had provided during his sixth year. Adding another arrow to "Little Hangleton - investigate area", he moved on to the final, and potentially most problematic horcrux.
After going through various books on historical artifacts during the past - or future as the case may be, Harry had decided that the most likely candidate for the final horcrux was Ravenclaw's diadem. However, none of the books he read had provided a picture of said artifact, so he had no idea what he was looking for. However, he did remember seeing a crown in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts; that would require further investigation. After further thought, Harry decided that he might as well dispose of the basilisk while he was there, just in case.
Finished writing down his plans, Harry walked back up to his room and placed the parchment into his briefcase for protection. As he opened it, he also spotted a rubber-like object inside. He took it and saw that it was a latex mask, like one would wear on Halloween, with two transparent films over the eye holes. Harry had an idea as to what this object was, so he took off his glasses and slid the mask over his head. The material hung loosely from his face before it tightened up and eventually became indistinguishable from his own skin. Placing his glasses back on, he turned to face the mirror to see his face unchanged.
Concentrating on the appearance of his face without the large scar on its right side, the disfigurement eventually disappeared, leaving Harry's face clean of the blemish. With a thought, Harry's emerald-green eyes turned to sky blue; another thought changed his long black hair to a spiky blond. As a test, Harry changed his face to that of his old classmate, Lee Jordan. However, while his face was darkened, his hands remained their natural pale color. Harry concentrated on Christine's face, but his own did not change. He then tried thinking about his Uncle Vernon, also to no effect. Now knowing the limitations of the mask, he reverted back to is natural look and peeled it off.
Feeling that his sheets were now dry, he flopped back onto his bed and closed his eyes, hoping to get at least a couple more hours of sleep.
------
When Harry next opened his eyes, his clock read 6:26, a much more satisfactory time. Stretching out, Harry shuffled down to the kitchen, where Christine had just poured herself a cup of tea.
"'Morning," Harry yawned as he poured himself a cup.
"'Morning," Christine replied.
"I have a question," Harry said as he opened the refrigerator to find something to eat.
"What is it?" Christine asked.
"Say you want someone to disappear for a few months," Harry said as he pulled out a loaf of bread and a jar of marmalade. "How would you do that without either bribing or imprisoning them?" Christine pondered the question as she sipped her tea.
"The easiest way I can think of is for them to be caught in a foreign country without the proper papers," she said. "Getting caught without them can easily tie you up for two months or more."
"Okay, how about if the person's home government tries to interfere?" Harry asked as he smeared the marmalade over the bread.
"Then they'd better have a damn good reason why the person they're trying to support is out illegally," Christine replied, taking some bread for herself. "If they try to claim theft, then there'd be an investigation, which takes time. If they claim espionage, then there'd be a liaison to vouch for the suspect."
"Huh," Harry grunted. "How do you know all this?"
"Me and the rest of my class had to sneak in and out of Italy as part of basic training," Christine said. "I was one of ones who got caught." Harry grimaced sympathetically.
"That can't have been good for your grade," he said.
"Nope," Christine responded. "Didn't you go through this on your own training?" she asked him.
"Uhh, no," Harry said, trying to hide his sudden nervousness. "I kind of got the crash course." Now it was Christine's turn to display sympathy.
"Why do you ask?" she asked him.
"Well, I know the location of a Death Eater, not especially dangerous," Harry explained. "The problem is, is that he has friends in high places, so we can't just take him to court, so I was thinking of making him...disappear for a while we take care of other stuff." Christine thought over the plan, and nodded in acceptance.
"Alright, so where are we going?" she asked. When Harry transfigured his plate and cup into a birdcage and an eagle owl, she added, "And what are you doing?"
"Spinner's End," Harry said, "and I'm creating our cover," he continued as he placed the owl into the cage. "Owl salespeople!" he said proudly. In response, Christine raised an eyebrow skeptically.
"O...kay," she said uncertainly, "I'm going to go get ready," she added as she gulped down the last of her tea and went upstairs. Harry followed her, grabbing his mask and slipping it on. He then changed his appearance to that of a pimply, slightly-buck-toothed man with light brown hair and hazel eyes. When he came back downstairs, Christine had changed her hair blond, and was wearing a pair of thick, square glasses, along with a threadbare set of brown robes. After casting a mild notice-me-not charm on their clothes, he asked if she was ready; when she responded in the affirmative, he Apparated them to the beginning of Spinner's End. Walking to the first door they saw, Harry knocked on the door, prompting a middle-aged woman to answer.
"Hello, good miss, may I interest you in this fine Eurasian eagle owl today?" Harry asked, speaking with a higher and more nasal voice than his natural tone. Christine merely smiled behind him.
"No thanks, I already have an owl," the woman refused.
"Very well then, good day to you miss," Harry said as the woman closed the door. "Alright," he continued softly in his natural voice, "onto the next one." They knocked on the next door, and for several seconds, no one answered. Suddenly, the door flew open to reveal the younger, but no less recognizable face of Severus Snape.
"What do you dunderheads want?!" he snapped. In response, Harry simply whipped his wand out and stunned the potion master faster than he could respond before the two Unspeakables stepped in and closed the door. Harry snatched up Snape's wand while Christine canceled the charms that altered her appearance and made her fake glasses disappear before altering her robes into a more fashionable set.
"Okay, do you have a passport?" she asked Harry, who shook his head. "Damn. Okay, there's a magical sensor when we enter the country, but the threshold's wide enough that if you hold him up and walk sideways as I enter, they’ll think I'll set it off. I'll distract them while you go on ahead, okay?" Harry nodded and grabbed the unconscious Snape from under his arms before Christine made both of them turn invisible. Then they exited the house and she flagged down the Knight Bus.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transportation for the stranded witch or wizard," the conductor read off of a cue card. "My name is Bill Slipmingle, and I'll be your conductor today."
"Italy, please," Christine said as she walked on, Harry right behind her.
"I'm afraid that that'll cost extra, ma'am, three galleons," Bill said. Christine simply dug out the appropriate amount of money and handed it over before sitting down near the back of the bus. Harry grunted softly in the seat next to her.
"For such a skinny guy, he's pretty heavy," Harry whispered as the bus lurched forth with a bang. A few minutes later, they made an abrupt stop.
"We're here, lady!" the conductor yelled from the front. Christine and Harry stood up and exited the bus and into the international terminal in Sicily. Almost immediately, a guard walked up to Christine, narrowly avoiding bumping into Harry on the way.
"May I see your passport please, miss?" the guard asked politely. Christine withdrew the small booklet from her pocket and presented it to the guard, who looked it over briefly and tapped it with his wand before handing it back. "Please empty your pockets and walk through the scanner," he said as he pointed to a seven-foot-high stone arch in the middle of the room.
"Thanks," Christine said as she withdrew her wand, as well as a bag of gold and placed them in a bucket before walking through, Harry sidestepping beside her. As she said before, alarms went off and more guards stopped her while Harry went on ahead. Christine dug through her pockets and pulled out a communication mirror. "Oops, silly me," she giggled as she placed it in the bucket.
"It happens," one of the guards said, smiling understandingly. When Christine stepped through a second time, the arch remained silent, and her effects were returned to her. Once she had walked a fair distance from the guards, Harry whispered into her ear.
"I'm going to go cancel the charm in the loo," he said. A few minutes later, he appeared in his normal appearance, save his scar. "He's levitating beside me," he said, answering her unasked question.
"Come on," she said, grabbing his arm, "I know a place where we can drop him off." Once Harry grabbed what seemed to be empty air, they Disapparated, reappearing in a busy street that reminded Harry of Diagon Alley. Christine pulled him to an empty side alley, where they canceled the disillusionment charm on Snape and dropped him for someone to find. "Alright, let's get out of here," she said while rendering Harry invisible before the both Apparated back to the international terminal, this time heading towards the Floo area. After showing her passport again, they walked through the Floo back to England, where they then Apparated back to their flat.
"Alright, that's done so where to next?" Christine asked. Harry thought for a moment before shrugging.
"We could always try Malfoy Manor next," he suggested.
"Alright, then; let's go," she said.
"Let's go."
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I originally wanted to end the chapter with Dumbledore trying to bail Snape out of trouble, as per usual, only to be shot down, but the chapter was already running longer than I expected, so I decided to save it for next chapter.
A reviewer suggested that I make a prequel for this story detailing Voldemort's rise to power and Harry's change from his canon self during early DH to the man he is here. While I won't be taking up this challenge myself (history plus politics plus me equals mediocre material at best), but this is an interesting idea, and I'd love someone else to take it up.
So, if you're interested, consider it a challenge. If you do it, please send me a PM when you post it so that I may read it. Thanks.
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