Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Fellowship of the Fox
Chapter 8 - The Ministry & The Manor
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The Fellowship of the Fox
by Ryuuohjin
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Disclaimer - I do not on any way own Harry Potter or any of it's world or characters.
They all fully belong to J.K. Rowling and her affiliates.
Long time no see. Sorry about that. Life does tend to get in the way a little. It also doesn't help when you're a little unsure of the chapter in question.
Still, I'm not sure how to make it better so I'm stuck with it as it is.
And make-up for the delay I give you 3 long chapters, along some updates on chapters 3-7.
Update 2015-06-10: Corrected some timeline errors.
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Chapter 8 - The Ministry & The Manor
Ena stretched her limbs as she straightened from the hunched-over position she had adopted while pouring over the documents in front of her, her back popping in a series of satisfying cracks. She had just finished up the last of the paper work at the Ministry. It had been really dreary, and time consuming work. That had mostly consisted of filling in a heap of blankets, followed by filling out a lot of scrolls, and ended by signing several pieces of parchment.
As the twin sisters had left the Leaky Cauldron, Ena had come with the idea to split the workload between them. One would handle the paperwork and the DMLE, while would handle the DoM and what be needed to be done there. She had then proposed that they should play Rock-Paper-Scisors about who gets to do what. It was here her brilliant plan backfired on her, she had lost, even after she had insisted that they should play first one to three, after she had lost the first time.
Oh sweet Merlin, how she hated paperwork. But at least it was all done with all for now.
Ena blinked her eyes rapidly as she perused the piece of parchment. After checking the papers one last time, making sure everything was correct. She then made her way to the office of the DMLE, with only a short detour to the cafeteria for some coffee.
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"Good afternoon, I have a package for Madam Bones eyes only," Ena said to the secretary as they arrived at the Department's entrance room. "And I were wondering if I might be able to speak with her, is she available at the moment?"
"Do you have an appointment?" The secretary asked eyeing the girl. She looked to be just a year shy of OWLS age, and from she wore, she would guess that the girl was either, a muggleborn or, a half-blood living in the muggle part of the world.
"No," Ena replied with a bit of regret, "I'm afraid that I did not have the time to make one, but it of it's a important matter of great urgency."
The secretary eyed the girl suspiciously, with penetrating gaze. As if she was able to look right through her, or at very least try to do so. Despite herself, Ena couldn't help but fidgeting nervously under the stare for a moment, before managing to compose herself.
"Then I am afraid to says that I'm unsure of when Madam Bones shall have the time to meet you," the secretary said with just a hint of annoyance, "she is a very busy woman and she does not have time to drop everything to deal with every roustabout that wishes a moment of her time."
"I see, I shall take what I can get," Ena nodded sadly, "if you would be so kind as to inform her of my presence, then we would be happy to wait here until she has a free moment."
After eyeing her one more time, the secretary pressed an a small button on her desk. "Sorry Ma'am
but there is a young girl here with package claiming it's for your eyes. She also wish to discuss a important matter of great urgency with you."
Ena then heard a firm female voice reply. "If she is willing to wait awhile, Sarah, send her in then. Also could send a memo to Minister, asking if I could see him. He gone and cut our budget again."
The secretary nodded, then looked up. "If you are willing to awhile, Madame Bones will see you later."
Ena nodded, and settled down in one of the couches in the room
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As Ena was dealing with the paperwork, Kerry had different mission at an another of Ministry. She was currently creeping towards where the Ministry kept its ward stone. She was under a disillusionment charm, mixed with a notice-me-not, she had even added a small confundus charm, so that if anyone noticed anything strange while looking at her direction, they would ignore it and immediately forget about it.
The plan was add some inconspicuous wards to the lot, that would be felt by a selected few. It was the Death Eaters this ward was aimed at. Anyone wearing a dark mark could enter the area, spend a few hours, do what they want. But they would always feel uncomfortable and unwelcome, never being able to rest or relax. Along with feeling of constant danger lurking around the corner, so they would inevitably leave. Like if they were sheep being stalked by a wolf, hidden deep in the shadows, unable to be seen, but hungry and always ready to strike.
How long one could stand up to this was up to the person itself, and was based upon ones willpower. They had chosen this method because, banning anyone with a dark mark from the building would just draw unwanted attention. Which they were not ready for yet, therefore they had chosen this more subtle approach.
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After waiting several minutes, Ena was starting to get a little nervous about what the she would say. As was having these thoughts, she was told Madam Bones would see her now. Inside the office was a middle aged woman, with red hair, and a monocle fixed to her face looking at her. She then waited until she had gestured for him to sit down. "Greetings, my name is Ena Rasp. Thank you for seeing me on such a short notice, Director Bones. I know how busy you are and hope this won't take up too
much time. Its just that Minister Fudge is an idiot, and has made a mistake that might cost the Wizarding World dearly."
Madam Bones blinked at young girls bluntness, but was quick compose herself. "Somehow that does not surprise me. But surely you are exaggerating," she replied.
"The Minister is like an ostrich with his head stuck in the sand. He refuses to believe Voldemort is back. Even after he had viewed Mr. Potter's memory of the event he's still in denial. And did you know that Barty Crouch Jr. was still alive, but no longer Fudge saw to that. When Crouch confessed to having killed his father, and help to resurrect Voldermort, along several other crimes. Fudge had him kissed at the spot, claim the man was clearly delusional and shouldn't be taken seriously. He also that denied any of claims of Voldemort being resurrected, calling the very notion ludicrous. And he that would not allow anyone to waste any of the Ministries resources to investigate such a ridiculous tale."
When Ena saw the doubt on older women's face, she handed her a package.
"Here are the memories that Harry Potter have of the event. Included are also some others memories that may peek your interest a bit."
After have scanned the package thoroughly, Madam Bones opened it, finding several glass vial, each with a different label on them.
"Oh, and another thing I have found most interesting is that it seems like an innocent man as been imprisoned for nearly thirteen years in Azkaban. For what I know he is currently on the run. The man in question is, of course, Sirius Black. He it seems he was accused of killing twelve muggles and a wizard known as Peter Pettigrew, correct."
Madame Bones nodded. "Yes that's right. All they found left of the wizard was a piece of his finger. Black was also accused of being a Death Eater, part of Voldemort's inner circle even. That, along with gross violation of the Statute of Secrecy, gave him life in Azkaban. However I fail to see how you would think that Black is innocent of any these crimes."
"If you were check the records, you would find that he not been convicted of any crime, nor would you find any transcript of any trial. As far as I could tell there never was a trial. As you already know, all ministry trials are automatically filed as soon as the trial is completed. And the file log shows that there are no missing files during that time period.
On related note, don't you think it's strange that all they found of Pettigrew was a finger. Since he, supposedly, was at the epicenter of an explosion that killed eleven people. I'm no expert, but I wonder what happened to the rest of his body. He should had been scattered all over the place, or at least there should be some bloodstains here and there. Don't you agree that they only found finger
seems strange?"
Madam Bones nodded again, then frowned and looked back at girl. "If what you say is true then that sure is strange. Usually there'd be more left. It'd be a nasty mess, but usually there'd be something. Unless the wand was hit dead on, something would be left of it too, now that think of it. Haven't really thought about that before, but when say it like that. Pettigrew's murder become more than a little odd. I will have some junior Auror's looking into it."
"I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm not actually here to talk about Black. No, I'm here to warn you about that idiot Cornelius Fudge actions," said Ena.
"You have a window, Madam Bones," she then continued. "Many of Riddle's Death Eaters were locked away in Azkaban shortly after the events surrounding the death of 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.
He will gather to himself enough people that will allow him to attack and take Azkaban. 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. But Fudge just keeps pretending that what I just said was some kind of fiction, even though he know it's not. As if he just ignored the boogeyman in the closet, it would disappear by itself."
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. If you are correct I have to send more to protect Azkaban from an attack that's likely to occur we know not when."
"If the dark had feared death from the 'light', then perhaps they would have not had so many supporters, and Harry would have grown up without his parents," Ena said. "To do something about that, my family do have a proposal to make. What do you say about..."
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To say that ward scheme in Ministry was place were badly constructed, was an understatement. It was an ugly, untidy, colossally expensive mess, that was neither efficient nor pretty, and requires a hundred times the ward stones of any other method for the same area covered, and it will always have more flaws. While at least double as the on Hogwarts, they were not even at half as strong or efficient.
They had built it like they had money to burn and not a gram of sense on how to use it. So they add patches on top of patches on top of patches, to hold up an insane structure of spells using even more spells. While this made wards thick, the ward structure itself was just doomed to collapse at any minute.
Luckily this type of ward scheme was just what made their plan work even better. Since no one would notice some extra wards among the mess that already existed. Which made hiding the wards Kerry had added so much easier, and so much harder to find if one wanted to remove them.
Kerry's next mission was at the Department of Mysteries, to deal with a certain prophecy Along with preventing the use of the time turners, as precaution just in case. Because you should always deny your enemy resupply when you can, even if you don't know if or when you can knock out his actual supplies. Because sometimes you get lucky, or your enemy gets unlucky, and he gets trapped without and starts losing options. When in conflict do what you can to increase your own capabilities, and reduce those of your opponent. So it was good policy to always have.
At level nine at the end of a long dark corridor, lit only by torches, which blue-white flames, cast flickering shadows at its bare black-tiled walls. Behind a black door was a circular room, with a dark marble floor, and twelve handle-less doors. This was the Entrance Chamber of the DoM. It was designed to disorient any unauthorised personnel who enter it. Whenever a door closes, the walls rotated, making it impossible to determine which door is which. Unless one where familiar with trick in this Chamber, one would easily get trapped or lost.
Kerry knew the trick to this chamber, it was actually quite simple. You to verbally request for your destination before opening any of the doors. Then the door to your destination would open. Kerry had always thought the trick to this chamber, was way to simple.
"The obvious is usually the easiest to miss," Luna had said sagely, when she had commented on it. "Also this way any intruder is limited to their knowledge of the Department."
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Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody was a though, one-legged, battle-worn and retired master auror. He served with distinction during the first war, gaining a considerable reputation, as well as losing an eye, leg, and part of his nose under that duty. As a result, he became overly-cautious and paranoid about his security. He was said to be responsible for placing half of the inmates in Azkaban there.
When Dumbledore reformed the Order of the Phoenix after Voldemort revival he had been amongst the to rejoin. He currently guarding the Hall of Prophecies under Dumbeldore's orders, nothing out of order had happened so far, but you never know when or what something might happened.
It was then the door opened, and he saw what looked like teenage girl sneak in under a disillusionment charm, he could feel the subtle affects of notice-me-not and a confundus working, as he watched the girl. But since they were pretty weak, so he could easily shake them off. Anyone
sneaking into DoM under several charms was a subject of through interrogation in his book. And need to caught as soon as possible.
He followed the girl for a short distance, then waited a moment to see what the girl would do. Seeing that the girl seemed to after a one orbs in the hall, he launched a barrage of low level curses, followed by casting a Finite Incantatem at the girl, catching her off-guard. He then quickly cast a powerful stunner and leg-locker. He saw the girl dodge his stunner, only to get hit by his leg-locker, but not before she managed to send of a spell of her own.
He skidded to the side in front of a curse that knocked chips from the wall by the door, which was followed by a orange-red bolt heading towards his head. Moody raised his wand to return fire and found himself having to throw himself out of the way as the girl sent more spells his way. He replied by casting several minor curses, jinxes and hexes in rapid succession.
The girl raised a shield and he could see it shudder under the impact of his spells. She then started summoning several of the orbs surrounding them, then banishing them back at him. Which she followed by casting a wide area agumenti, covering the floor in an inch of water, then instantly freezing it just seconds later.
Moody, which had not been quick enough, got his peg-leg stuck to the floor, but he got loose quickly as he cast an incendio at the floor. He used the steam that resulting as a cover, keeping his magical eye locked on the girl.
He dodged the next set of spells and managed to shoot back a couple of stunners before he had to dodge again. They continued this way for a minute with neither totally in charge of the fight. As time passed the fight became even more rapid as they traded spells.
Moody took a deep breath and moved only slightly to dodge the next spell, casting his return spell at the same time. He was impressed by the girls skill and switched to non-verbal spells to increase his spell casting rate. The girl faltered slightly for a moment, as the rate of incoming spells increased but rallied and adjusted for the change.
A single slip put her in one place for too long and her wand was not in a position to cast a shield, she had slipped on a bit of ice that had still remained. Moody seeing his chance cast a a wide arc of stunners, which he then followed up by casting a full body bind at her. As they hit as the girl was flung to the far wall.
Moody swore as he saw a flash of blue light, signalizing the activation of a portkey. 'Portkeys set to
activate automatically upon their bearer's incapacitation? Not a bad precaution', Moody thought with grudging respect, as the girl disappeared before his eyes.
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At Rookery Luna was preparing for dinner with Rhy, who had returned awhile ago, and had decided to help. They having pancakes today, and were just in the process of wiping up the batter.
'It's just too tempting sometimes', Luna thought as lifted her spatula, took careful aim, and then tossed some of the pancake batter at Rhy. It hit the younger girl right in the face.
Rhy turned slowly, very slowly, and glared. “Did you just throw pancake batter at me?” The words came out in a hiss. Somehow, Luna found it more adorable than threatening.
“Would you believe me if I said it was an accident?” Luna said, donning her most innocent smile.
“No.” Rhy took a deep breath and drew herself up to her full height, and her voice took on that haughty tone that she always had when she was trying to be all aloof and bossy. “Luckily for you, Luna, I’m too mature to retaliate.”
"Is that so?" Luna snickered and then flick some more pancake batter at Rhy.
Rhy's left eye twitched in annoyance as the batter hit her face.
"You keep doing this and I'm going to forget that I'm a gentleman and seek revenge," Rhy growled, her eyes flashed with indignant fury as more batter was flicked her way.
“Aren’t you a girl at the moment, a quite small and cute one too,” Luna replied while she continued her bombardment of Rhy.
Rhy's eye twitched again, as she wiped the pancake batter off her face. Taking another deep breath, she then walked over to the bowl of pancake batter and grabbed it.
"Uh… what are you doing, Rhy?" Luna asked.
"Screw being mature," Rhy growled as she emptied the entire bowl of pancake batter over Luna's head. "Retaliation is more important!"
But before things could escalate further, they saw a blue flash outside the window, and Kerry appearing in the yard.
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After having her various scrapes and bruises treated, Kerry was laid to bed upstairs, with Rhy watching over her. And Luna returned to baking pancakes, that of course after having taken a shower to get all pancake bater off her. As she flipped over the last of them, which like all of the others she'd made was crisp, golden, and perfect. She went to retrieve some butter, syrup and whipped cream, as she returned, a flash of green from the fireplace caught her attention, and she looked over to find none other than her father's face floating in the flames.
"Hello Father," she greeted warmly. "We are about to have dinner soon. In about an hour, we're having pancakes. Will you home by then, or should I keep for you to eat later?"
"Hello moonbeam, while pancakes does sound delicious," Luna's father replied. "I'm afraid you have to go on and have dinner without me. I just got a lead from a acquaintance of mine; his is an avid reader of the Quibbler and claims he has seen a Blubbering Humdinger in the south of Wales. I should be back in two or three days, or maybe little later."
"OK See you after had visited Hermione's house then. Love you Daddy."
"Love you too, my moon child. Good bye."
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Dinner was a buoyant affair as they gossiped and discussed their day. Luna them about her conversation with Neville, and that made a large batch or special glue. While Rhy detailed her achievement in the Alley. Ena then reported that Amelia Bones had started her own investigations in their claims, and would contact her later when she was done. Kerry said while had to add to the Ministry wards, she was unsure if she managed to destroy the prophecy orb. She could recall she had used several as bludgeons in her battle against Alstor Moody, but not more then that.
After dinner a Potter elf popped in to reported that the basilisk had now been rendered down, and that the trunks were currently stored at Potter Manor.
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The next morning as the sun was still making its ascend into the sky. The inhabitants of the Rookery took a portkey to the outskirts of Nottinghamshire. After some discussions the previous evening, it had been decided that it now was high time to claim Potter Manor. During her visit at Gringotts, they had learned that the manor was currently under lock down, so apparition wouldn't have worked.
They were currently standing in front of a imposing set of wrought-iron gates, that was nearly crackling with magic. They bore the Potter crest in the center, and the crest split down the middle and opened as Rhy touched the gates.
Potter Manor was a two-story building sitting on seventy acres of property, which had been made unplottable, and was totally inaccessible to Muggles and any uninvited guests. The manor itself, surrounded by a deep dense forest on all sides. Which was filled with all kind of different potions ingredients and medical herbs. The forest itself was a natural maze, with things like whomping willows, venomous tentaculas, and devil snare snares spread through it. Also spread randomly here and there were different kind of traps, charms, spells, wards, and enchantments, that previous generations of Potters had at some time put there.
The forest served as the manors first and foremost line of defence and had about almost every transport ward they had ever heard of, cast over it. All which was bundled in muggle repelling and avoidance wards, wrapped in several confoundus wards, and was finished off with illusions that made the whole forest look denser, darker and more frightening then it really was. Add to that were wards which only tasks were to misled, confuse, scramble and distort the the senses any uninvited guest. Made the forest an impenetrable defence for anyone weak of mind or will.
The house itself were massive, made of dark coloured stones worn smooth from time. It was quite beautiful with delicate reliefs of ivy climbing up the walls. Gargoyles in the forms of manticores, three-headed hellhounds, and griffins decorated the front entrance, as well as the nooks of the house. If a force to ever were to lay siege to the property, they would soon discover for themselves that the statues could be animated like Hogwarts' suits of armour
The wards on the manor itself was a the pinnacle of the warding crafting and ingenuity. The building had been built in a specific order and with great precision to size and shape, layering both the wards and the building. Making it so the building itself became parts of the runic anchors. So one needed raze the house to permanently bring down wards around it.
On back side of the house there was an a expansive garden. The garden was a sight to behold with its myriad of distinct colours as flowers were in full bloom, surrounded by hedges and topiaries of fantastical beasts. The entry into the garden was lined by fifteen-foot high topiary hippogriffs kicking their front legs up in salute, each unique as if modelled after an individual animal. In middle of the garden some tall hedges stood proudly with a gravel path disappearing in between them. The tall hedges easily reached above the heads of grown man. As they walked down the gravel path they looked up at the hedges bordered the path. The outer hedge was just a straight line. The inner hedge was actually a square with a gap midway down the path she were walking allowing them to enter the central area.
The central area was nicely paved with a large fountain that had a statue of a lion, which was surrounded by rose bushes, gently burbling water in the centre. A few small flowerbeds around the edges. After a bit of climbing Rhy managed to reach inside the mouth of the lion, and pull on a chain she knew were there.
As she had stepped back, the lion suddenly came to life and jump out of the fountain, revealing a small patch of pink quartz, with a exquisite and frail looking rose, made of rubies, inlaid into it. "Sub Rosa," Rhy mumbled as she tapped the rose with her wand. It shuddered for a moment, and then the stones began twisting, rearranging themselves while a section of the corner slid downwards into the ground to reveal a spiralling staircase. Rhy had always wondered why her ancestors had hidden the control room to the wards beneath the garden, but its seemed like no one knew why.
Perhaps five minutes later, they came to a tunnel, with nothing but a rough rock wall decorated with Potter crest. As Rhy tapped crest, the wall split and spread apart like a set of double doors; not wasting a moment, threaded they through the passage, as they stones closed behind them.
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The ward control room was spacious, and was carved from a single, immense slab of pure black granite. This, of course, had been essential, since it both minimized the effect of minor imperfections on the wards, while also enhancing the power of them. It had been imported from India, thousands of years previous by an assortment of Potter ancestors.
The walls, floor and celling was littered with runes, symbols, glyphs and inscriptions in several different languages. Rhy and her friends had spent almost three months in future, pouring over them, convinced that they could identify and translate them.
By the time they gave up, they had isolated eleven different languages, four of which they couldn't name or find in any of their books, though Hermione had been sure that she had seen some of them in a muggle manuscript. They only managed to identify a third of the runes, a fifth of the glyphs, and only a few of the symbols.
In the middle of was something Rhy only seen or heard referenced to as the the Key. It was a large stone tablet, with several octagonal disks that was covered in runes. In middle of the tablet a large dark green bloodstone was embedded, surrounded by a circle of runes.
Rhy approached the the tablet, summoned one of her blades and cut her hand. Then laid it on the bloodstone in a circle of runes. As the entire rune circle lit up and began to glow, she said;
"I, Harry James Potter, do herby claim Potter Manor as it is my right by birth and blood."
The runes on the around the stone started to pulse, the glow spreading from Rhys hand across the tablet and over the floor until they filled the whole room. They flashed and pulsed for a bit, then a wave of magic was released knocking everyone off their feet.
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Rhy cursed as she climbed back on her feet. She had forgotten about the backlash, but it seemed much more powerful then she remembered it to be. After claiming to her feet, she went to check on the wards. They were operating normally at almost full strength, although all war wards had been inactivated, so she activated those.
Rhy then went around and started to search the backside of the tablet with her fingers. It was near the bottom she finally found it a carefully hidden depression. As she placed the head of house ring engraved with the Potter crest, which she had picked it up at Gringotts, against the depression, she then felt a click through the ring as a part of tablet came adrift from the rest a little.
Once the part came loose, Rhy lowered her hand, opened it further, a large ledger was all that was contained within. It was a red leather-bound book with gold lettering and filigree embossed on the cover. It also had a large single-toned copy of the Potter crest, also in gold gilding. It was the ward permissions book, it defined who was allowed onto the grounds.
After removing anyone who wasn't a Potter from the book, she added all the full names of her friends and their families. And last but not least, she added the name; Rhy Majorette Rasp, to the ledger, since that was was the name she chosen to go by now. They then spent the rest of adding their own wards over the property. Among those anti-Dark Mark wards, which they had invented in the future, this one more potent then the one Kerry had add to the Ministry's wards.
If anyone with a dark who entered these, they would become confused to an amazing degree; attacking friends, wandering aimlessly, and so on. They were designed to distorts ones perceptions, cause hallucinations, induce paranoia, promote insanity, and strangely skew ones judgement of distance. Another ward they had also added was one that repelled Voldemort personally, just being close to it would make him extremely uncomfortable
Albus Dumbledore was a misguided fool, who had fallen for the hubris of age. He wanted to keep all the important secrets to himself, and wouldn't trust anyone else to have them. If anything had happened to him, such as an accident of a simple slip while walking down stairs and breaking his neck, the rest would be in all sorts of trouble in trying to defeat Riddle. And, among many other faults Dumbledore had, he simply could not envision anyone else being as clever as he, and knowing what was going on. So they had created a similar ward against him, just in case he started to meddle with them.
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A few days later, in London, Sirius Orion Black sat alone in the kitchen at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, at the home of the ancient and noble house of Black. He was the only one to have ever broken out of the dreaded wizard prison Azkaban of own his power. He was currently wallowing in his own guilt, as memories of his past haunted him. Sirius still remembered that day he found out he had failed closest friends, and made his godson Harry an orphan.
He had just come back from another mission of the order and had decided to take a nap. But somehow he had woken up a couple of hours later with a heavy feeling in his heart. Something was wrong. He could tell. He felt it in his stomach. After fearing the worst, he had gone to the place he had Peter Pettigrew, only to find it empty and without any sign of assault or fight which made the feeling much worse as Peter had been specifically told that he was not to go outside.
So he started to James place in Godric's Hollow, all the while hoping that his gut feeling was wrong. His best friend and his family were safe. Peter really hadn't turned their back on them. What was worse was that Remus was away on an important order business, so he couldn't even call him. Remus was always the logical one in their group. Had he been there, he surely would've known what to do.
The sight that met his eyes could only be described as his worst nightmare. The house was in
ruins. The entire portion of the first floor which he knew to be Harry's nursery was blown apart. With shaky legs he walked into the house, only to stop cold to see his best friend, his brother in all but blood, laying spread eagled near the stairs; his lifeless eyes looking at something invisible in horror and fear.
He had then heard muffled cries coming from upstairs. So after pulling himself together, he had stepped over James body and went upstairs. As he had entered the nursery, he had seen a pair of familiar robe, that laid in a heap upon a pile of ash. And in the middle of the room Lily laid protectively over the crib of her son. After confirming that she, like her husband, was dead he had gently moved her out of the way. His heart had soared when he had seen that godson still lived.
It was then Hagrid had arrived, on orders from Dumbeldore it seemed. Sirius had knew then what
he had to do, he left Harry in Hagrid's care and had went to find the rat he had once called friend. It had taken him several days to track the traitor down, but once he had succeeded, he confronted him
immediately Peter had started yelling how couldn't believe why had betrayed Potters. Before Sirius had know what was happening Peter had blown up a gas line, cut of his finger, and slunk through the sewers as a rat.
He was brought out his memories when a green flame flared and woman spun out of the fire place. She had a pale heart-shaped face, dark twinkling eyes, and short spiky hair that was bubble-gum pink.
His cousin had always resented her mother because of her name, and he couldn't really say he blamed her. Nymphadora. Andie really had outdone herself there. Sirius thought, as he watch her shake the ash flakes from her clothes and hair.
Tonks had just come from Hogwarts and had received some bad news, the wards around Dursley's had completely vanished. On top of that, Harry Potter was not there, nor had he been seen by anyone since stepped on the Hogwarts Express. Their search efforts over the last few hours had failed to turn up any trace of him.
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TBC
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by Ryuuohjin
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Disclaimer - I do not on any way own Harry Potter or any of it's world or characters.
They all fully belong to J.K. Rowling and her affiliates.
Long time no see. Sorry about that. Life does tend to get in the way a little. It also doesn't help when you're a little unsure of the chapter in question.
Still, I'm not sure how to make it better so I'm stuck with it as it is.
And make-up for the delay I give you 3 long chapters, along some updates on chapters 3-7.
Update 2015-06-10: Corrected some timeline errors.
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Chapter 8 - The Ministry & The Manor
Ena stretched her limbs as she straightened from the hunched-over position she had adopted while pouring over the documents in front of her, her back popping in a series of satisfying cracks. She had just finished up the last of the paper work at the Ministry. It had been really dreary, and time consuming work. That had mostly consisted of filling in a heap of blankets, followed by filling out a lot of scrolls, and ended by signing several pieces of parchment.
As the twin sisters had left the Leaky Cauldron, Ena had come with the idea to split the workload between them. One would handle the paperwork and the DMLE, while would handle the DoM and what be needed to be done there. She had then proposed that they should play Rock-Paper-Scisors about who gets to do what. It was here her brilliant plan backfired on her, she had lost, even after she had insisted that they should play first one to three, after she had lost the first time.
Oh sweet Merlin, how she hated paperwork. But at least it was all done with all for now.
Ena blinked her eyes rapidly as she perused the piece of parchment. After checking the papers one last time, making sure everything was correct. She then made her way to the office of the DMLE, with only a short detour to the cafeteria for some coffee.
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"Good afternoon, I have a package for Madam Bones eyes only," Ena said to the secretary as they arrived at the Department's entrance room. "And I were wondering if I might be able to speak with her, is she available at the moment?"
"Do you have an appointment?" The secretary asked eyeing the girl. She looked to be just a year shy of OWLS age, and from she wore, she would guess that the girl was either, a muggleborn or, a half-blood living in the muggle part of the world.
"No," Ena replied with a bit of regret, "I'm afraid that I did not have the time to make one, but it of it's a important matter of great urgency."
The secretary eyed the girl suspiciously, with penetrating gaze. As if she was able to look right through her, or at very least try to do so. Despite herself, Ena couldn't help but fidgeting nervously under the stare for a moment, before managing to compose herself.
"Then I am afraid to says that I'm unsure of when Madam Bones shall have the time to meet you," the secretary said with just a hint of annoyance, "she is a very busy woman and she does not have time to drop everything to deal with every roustabout that wishes a moment of her time."
"I see, I shall take what I can get," Ena nodded sadly, "if you would be so kind as to inform her of my presence, then we would be happy to wait here until she has a free moment."
After eyeing her one more time, the secretary pressed an a small button on her desk. "Sorry Ma'am
but there is a young girl here with package claiming it's for your eyes. She also wish to discuss a important matter of great urgency with you."
Ena then heard a firm female voice reply. "If she is willing to wait awhile, Sarah, send her in then. Also could send a memo to Minister, asking if I could see him. He gone and cut our budget again."
The secretary nodded, then looked up. "If you are willing to awhile, Madame Bones will see you later."
Ena nodded, and settled down in one of the couches in the room
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As Ena was dealing with the paperwork, Kerry had different mission at an another of Ministry. She was currently creeping towards where the Ministry kept its ward stone. She was under a disillusionment charm, mixed with a notice-me-not, she had even added a small confundus charm, so that if anyone noticed anything strange while looking at her direction, they would ignore it and immediately forget about it.
The plan was add some inconspicuous wards to the lot, that would be felt by a selected few. It was the Death Eaters this ward was aimed at. Anyone wearing a dark mark could enter the area, spend a few hours, do what they want. But they would always feel uncomfortable and unwelcome, never being able to rest or relax. Along with feeling of constant danger lurking around the corner, so they would inevitably leave. Like if they were sheep being stalked by a wolf, hidden deep in the shadows, unable to be seen, but hungry and always ready to strike.
How long one could stand up to this was up to the person itself, and was based upon ones willpower. They had chosen this method because, banning anyone with a dark mark from the building would just draw unwanted attention. Which they were not ready for yet, therefore they had chosen this more subtle approach.
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After waiting several minutes, Ena was starting to get a little nervous about what the she would say. As was having these thoughts, she was told Madam Bones would see her now. Inside the office was a middle aged woman, with red hair, and a monocle fixed to her face looking at her. She then waited until she had gestured for him to sit down. "Greetings, my name is Ena Rasp. Thank you for seeing me on such a short notice, Director Bones. I know how busy you are and hope this won't take up too
much time. Its just that Minister Fudge is an idiot, and has made a mistake that might cost the Wizarding World dearly."
Madam Bones blinked at young girls bluntness, but was quick compose herself. "Somehow that does not surprise me. But surely you are exaggerating," she replied.
"The Minister is like an ostrich with his head stuck in the sand. He refuses to believe Voldemort is back. Even after he had viewed Mr. Potter's memory of the event he's still in denial. And did you know that Barty Crouch Jr. was still alive, but no longer Fudge saw to that. When Crouch confessed to having killed his father, and help to resurrect Voldermort, along several other crimes. Fudge had him kissed at the spot, claim the man was clearly delusional and shouldn't be taken seriously. He also that denied any of claims of Voldemort being resurrected, calling the very notion ludicrous. And he that would not allow anyone to waste any of the Ministries resources to investigate such a ridiculous tale."
When Ena saw the doubt on older women's face, she handed her a package.
"Here are the memories that Harry Potter have of the event. Included are also some others memories that may peek your interest a bit."
After have scanned the package thoroughly, Madam Bones opened it, finding several glass vial, each with a different label on them.
"Oh, and another thing I have found most interesting is that it seems like an innocent man as been imprisoned for nearly thirteen years in Azkaban. For what I know he is currently on the run. The man in question is, of course, Sirius Black. He it seems he was accused of killing twelve muggles and a wizard known as Peter Pettigrew, correct."
Madame Bones nodded. "Yes that's right. All they found left of the wizard was a piece of his finger. Black was also accused of being a Death Eater, part of Voldemort's inner circle even. That, along with gross violation of the Statute of Secrecy, gave him life in Azkaban. However I fail to see how you would think that Black is innocent of any these crimes."
"If you were check the records, you would find that he not been convicted of any crime, nor would you find any transcript of any trial. As far as I could tell there never was a trial. As you already know, all ministry trials are automatically filed as soon as the trial is completed. And the file log shows that there are no missing files during that time period.
On related note, don't you think it's strange that all they found of Pettigrew was a finger. Since he, supposedly, was at the epicenter of an explosion that killed eleven people. I'm no expert, but I wonder what happened to the rest of his body. He should had been scattered all over the place, or at least there should be some bloodstains here and there. Don't you agree that they only found finger
seems strange?"
Madam Bones nodded again, then frowned and looked back at girl. "If what you say is true then that sure is strange. Usually there'd be more left. It'd be a nasty mess, but usually there'd be something. Unless the wand was hit dead on, something would be left of it too, now that think of it. Haven't really thought about that before, but when say it like that. Pettigrew's murder become more than a little odd. I will have some junior Auror's looking into it."
"I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm not actually here to talk about Black. No, I'm here to warn you about that idiot Cornelius Fudge actions," said Ena.
"You have a window, Madam Bones," she then continued. "Many of Riddle's Death Eaters were locked away in Azkaban shortly after the events surrounding the death of 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.
He will gather to himself enough people that will allow him to attack and take Azkaban. 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. But Fudge just keeps pretending that what I just said was some kind of fiction, even though he know it's not. As if he just ignored the boogeyman in the closet, it would disappear by itself."
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. If you are correct I have to send more to protect Azkaban from an attack that's likely to occur we know not when."
"If the dark had feared death from the 'light', then perhaps they would have not had so many supporters, and Harry would have grown up without his parents," Ena said. "To do something about that, my family do have a proposal to make. What do you say about..."
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To say that ward scheme in Ministry was place were badly constructed, was an understatement. It was an ugly, untidy, colossally expensive mess, that was neither efficient nor pretty, and requires a hundred times the ward stones of any other method for the same area covered, and it will always have more flaws. While at least double as the on Hogwarts, they were not even at half as strong or efficient.
They had built it like they had money to burn and not a gram of sense on how to use it. So they add patches on top of patches on top of patches, to hold up an insane structure of spells using even more spells. While this made wards thick, the ward structure itself was just doomed to collapse at any minute.
Luckily this type of ward scheme was just what made their plan work even better. Since no one would notice some extra wards among the mess that already existed. Which made hiding the wards Kerry had added so much easier, and so much harder to find if one wanted to remove them.
Kerry's next mission was at the Department of Mysteries, to deal with a certain prophecy Along with preventing the use of the time turners, as precaution just in case. Because you should always deny your enemy resupply when you can, even if you don't know if or when you can knock out his actual supplies. Because sometimes you get lucky, or your enemy gets unlucky, and he gets trapped without and starts losing options. When in conflict do what you can to increase your own capabilities, and reduce those of your opponent. So it was good policy to always have.
At level nine at the end of a long dark corridor, lit only by torches, which blue-white flames, cast flickering shadows at its bare black-tiled walls. Behind a black door was a circular room, with a dark marble floor, and twelve handle-less doors. This was the Entrance Chamber of the DoM. It was designed to disorient any unauthorised personnel who enter it. Whenever a door closes, the walls rotated, making it impossible to determine which door is which. Unless one where familiar with trick in this Chamber, one would easily get trapped or lost.
Kerry knew the trick to this chamber, it was actually quite simple. You to verbally request for your destination before opening any of the doors. Then the door to your destination would open. Kerry had always thought the trick to this chamber, was way to simple.
"The obvious is usually the easiest to miss," Luna had said sagely, when she had commented on it. "Also this way any intruder is limited to their knowledge of the Department."
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Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody was a though, one-legged, battle-worn and retired master auror. He served with distinction during the first war, gaining a considerable reputation, as well as losing an eye, leg, and part of his nose under that duty. As a result, he became overly-cautious and paranoid about his security. He was said to be responsible for placing half of the inmates in Azkaban there.
When Dumbledore reformed the Order of the Phoenix after Voldemort revival he had been amongst the to rejoin. He currently guarding the Hall of Prophecies under Dumbeldore's orders, nothing out of order had happened so far, but you never know when or what something might happened.
It was then the door opened, and he saw what looked like teenage girl sneak in under a disillusionment charm, he could feel the subtle affects of notice-me-not and a confundus working, as he watched the girl. But since they were pretty weak, so he could easily shake them off. Anyone
sneaking into DoM under several charms was a subject of through interrogation in his book. And need to caught as soon as possible.
He followed the girl for a short distance, then waited a moment to see what the girl would do. Seeing that the girl seemed to after a one orbs in the hall, he launched a barrage of low level curses, followed by casting a Finite Incantatem at the girl, catching her off-guard. He then quickly cast a powerful stunner and leg-locker. He saw the girl dodge his stunner, only to get hit by his leg-locker, but not before she managed to send of a spell of her own.
He skidded to the side in front of a curse that knocked chips from the wall by the door, which was followed by a orange-red bolt heading towards his head. Moody raised his wand to return fire and found himself having to throw himself out of the way as the girl sent more spells his way. He replied by casting several minor curses, jinxes and hexes in rapid succession.
The girl raised a shield and he could see it shudder under the impact of his spells. She then started summoning several of the orbs surrounding them, then banishing them back at him. Which she followed by casting a wide area agumenti, covering the floor in an inch of water, then instantly freezing it just seconds later.
Moody, which had not been quick enough, got his peg-leg stuck to the floor, but he got loose quickly as he cast an incendio at the floor. He used the steam that resulting as a cover, keeping his magical eye locked on the girl.
He dodged the next set of spells and managed to shoot back a couple of stunners before he had to dodge again. They continued this way for a minute with neither totally in charge of the fight. As time passed the fight became even more rapid as they traded spells.
Moody took a deep breath and moved only slightly to dodge the next spell, casting his return spell at the same time. He was impressed by the girls skill and switched to non-verbal spells to increase his spell casting rate. The girl faltered slightly for a moment, as the rate of incoming spells increased but rallied and adjusted for the change.
A single slip put her in one place for too long and her wand was not in a position to cast a shield, she had slipped on a bit of ice that had still remained. Moody seeing his chance cast a a wide arc of stunners, which he then followed up by casting a full body bind at her. As they hit as the girl was flung to the far wall.
Moody swore as he saw a flash of blue light, signalizing the activation of a portkey. 'Portkeys set to
activate automatically upon their bearer's incapacitation? Not a bad precaution', Moody thought with grudging respect, as the girl disappeared before his eyes.
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At Rookery Luna was preparing for dinner with Rhy, who had returned awhile ago, and had decided to help. They having pancakes today, and were just in the process of wiping up the batter.
'It's just too tempting sometimes', Luna thought as lifted her spatula, took careful aim, and then tossed some of the pancake batter at Rhy. It hit the younger girl right in the face.
Rhy turned slowly, very slowly, and glared. “Did you just throw pancake batter at me?” The words came out in a hiss. Somehow, Luna found it more adorable than threatening.
“Would you believe me if I said it was an accident?” Luna said, donning her most innocent smile.
“No.” Rhy took a deep breath and drew herself up to her full height, and her voice took on that haughty tone that she always had when she was trying to be all aloof and bossy. “Luckily for you, Luna, I’m too mature to retaliate.”
"Is that so?" Luna snickered and then flick some more pancake batter at Rhy.
Rhy's left eye twitched in annoyance as the batter hit her face.
"You keep doing this and I'm going to forget that I'm a gentleman and seek revenge," Rhy growled, her eyes flashed with indignant fury as more batter was flicked her way.
“Aren’t you a girl at the moment, a quite small and cute one too,” Luna replied while she continued her bombardment of Rhy.
Rhy's eye twitched again, as she wiped the pancake batter off her face. Taking another deep breath, she then walked over to the bowl of pancake batter and grabbed it.
"Uh… what are you doing, Rhy?" Luna asked.
"Screw being mature," Rhy growled as she emptied the entire bowl of pancake batter over Luna's head. "Retaliation is more important!"
But before things could escalate further, they saw a blue flash outside the window, and Kerry appearing in the yard.
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After having her various scrapes and bruises treated, Kerry was laid to bed upstairs, with Rhy watching over her. And Luna returned to baking pancakes, that of course after having taken a shower to get all pancake bater off her. As she flipped over the last of them, which like all of the others she'd made was crisp, golden, and perfect. She went to retrieve some butter, syrup and whipped cream, as she returned, a flash of green from the fireplace caught her attention, and she looked over to find none other than her father's face floating in the flames.
"Hello Father," she greeted warmly. "We are about to have dinner soon. In about an hour, we're having pancakes. Will you home by then, or should I keep for you to eat later?"
"Hello moonbeam, while pancakes does sound delicious," Luna's father replied. "I'm afraid you have to go on and have dinner without me. I just got a lead from a acquaintance of mine; his is an avid reader of the Quibbler and claims he has seen a Blubbering Humdinger in the south of Wales. I should be back in two or three days, or maybe little later."
"OK See you after had visited Hermione's house then. Love you Daddy."
"Love you too, my moon child. Good bye."
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Dinner was a buoyant affair as they gossiped and discussed their day. Luna them about her conversation with Neville, and that made a large batch or special glue. While Rhy detailed her achievement in the Alley. Ena then reported that Amelia Bones had started her own investigations in their claims, and would contact her later when she was done. Kerry said while had to add to the Ministry wards, she was unsure if she managed to destroy the prophecy orb. She could recall she had used several as bludgeons in her battle against Alstor Moody, but not more then that.
After dinner a Potter elf popped in to reported that the basilisk had now been rendered down, and that the trunks were currently stored at Potter Manor.
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The next morning as the sun was still making its ascend into the sky. The inhabitants of the Rookery took a portkey to the outskirts of Nottinghamshire. After some discussions the previous evening, it had been decided that it now was high time to claim Potter Manor. During her visit at Gringotts, they had learned that the manor was currently under lock down, so apparition wouldn't have worked.
They were currently standing in front of a imposing set of wrought-iron gates, that was nearly crackling with magic. They bore the Potter crest in the center, and the crest split down the middle and opened as Rhy touched the gates.
Potter Manor was a two-story building sitting on seventy acres of property, which had been made unplottable, and was totally inaccessible to Muggles and any uninvited guests. The manor itself, surrounded by a deep dense forest on all sides. Which was filled with all kind of different potions ingredients and medical herbs. The forest itself was a natural maze, with things like whomping willows, venomous tentaculas, and devil snare snares spread through it. Also spread randomly here and there were different kind of traps, charms, spells, wards, and enchantments, that previous generations of Potters had at some time put there.
The forest served as the manors first and foremost line of defence and had about almost every transport ward they had ever heard of, cast over it. All which was bundled in muggle repelling and avoidance wards, wrapped in several confoundus wards, and was finished off with illusions that made the whole forest look denser, darker and more frightening then it really was. Add to that were wards which only tasks were to misled, confuse, scramble and distort the the senses any uninvited guest. Made the forest an impenetrable defence for anyone weak of mind or will.
The house itself were massive, made of dark coloured stones worn smooth from time. It was quite beautiful with delicate reliefs of ivy climbing up the walls. Gargoyles in the forms of manticores, three-headed hellhounds, and griffins decorated the front entrance, as well as the nooks of the house. If a force to ever were to lay siege to the property, they would soon discover for themselves that the statues could be animated like Hogwarts' suits of armour
The wards on the manor itself was a the pinnacle of the warding crafting and ingenuity. The building had been built in a specific order and with great precision to size and shape, layering both the wards and the building. Making it so the building itself became parts of the runic anchors. So one needed raze the house to permanently bring down wards around it.
On back side of the house there was an a expansive garden. The garden was a sight to behold with its myriad of distinct colours as flowers were in full bloom, surrounded by hedges and topiaries of fantastical beasts. The entry into the garden was lined by fifteen-foot high topiary hippogriffs kicking their front legs up in salute, each unique as if modelled after an individual animal. In middle of the garden some tall hedges stood proudly with a gravel path disappearing in between them. The tall hedges easily reached above the heads of grown man. As they walked down the gravel path they looked up at the hedges bordered the path. The outer hedge was just a straight line. The inner hedge was actually a square with a gap midway down the path she were walking allowing them to enter the central area.
The central area was nicely paved with a large fountain that had a statue of a lion, which was surrounded by rose bushes, gently burbling water in the centre. A few small flowerbeds around the edges. After a bit of climbing Rhy managed to reach inside the mouth of the lion, and pull on a chain she knew were there.
As she had stepped back, the lion suddenly came to life and jump out of the fountain, revealing a small patch of pink quartz, with a exquisite and frail looking rose, made of rubies, inlaid into it. "Sub Rosa," Rhy mumbled as she tapped the rose with her wand. It shuddered for a moment, and then the stones began twisting, rearranging themselves while a section of the corner slid downwards into the ground to reveal a spiralling staircase. Rhy had always wondered why her ancestors had hidden the control room to the wards beneath the garden, but its seemed like no one knew why.
Perhaps five minutes later, they came to a tunnel, with nothing but a rough rock wall decorated with Potter crest. As Rhy tapped crest, the wall split and spread apart like a set of double doors; not wasting a moment, threaded they through the passage, as they stones closed behind them.
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The ward control room was spacious, and was carved from a single, immense slab of pure black granite. This, of course, had been essential, since it both minimized the effect of minor imperfections on the wards, while also enhancing the power of them. It had been imported from India, thousands of years previous by an assortment of Potter ancestors.
The walls, floor and celling was littered with runes, symbols, glyphs and inscriptions in several different languages. Rhy and her friends had spent almost three months in future, pouring over them, convinced that they could identify and translate them.
By the time they gave up, they had isolated eleven different languages, four of which they couldn't name or find in any of their books, though Hermione had been sure that she had seen some of them in a muggle manuscript. They only managed to identify a third of the runes, a fifth of the glyphs, and only a few of the symbols.
In the middle of was something Rhy only seen or heard referenced to as the the Key. It was a large stone tablet, with several octagonal disks that was covered in runes. In middle of the tablet a large dark green bloodstone was embedded, surrounded by a circle of runes.
Rhy approached the the tablet, summoned one of her blades and cut her hand. Then laid it on the bloodstone in a circle of runes. As the entire rune circle lit up and began to glow, she said;
"I, Harry James Potter, do herby claim Potter Manor as it is my right by birth and blood."
The runes on the around the stone started to pulse, the glow spreading from Rhys hand across the tablet and over the floor until they filled the whole room. They flashed and pulsed for a bit, then a wave of magic was released knocking everyone off their feet.
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Rhy cursed as she climbed back on her feet. She had forgotten about the backlash, but it seemed much more powerful then she remembered it to be. After claiming to her feet, she went to check on the wards. They were operating normally at almost full strength, although all war wards had been inactivated, so she activated those.
Rhy then went around and started to search the backside of the tablet with her fingers. It was near the bottom she finally found it a carefully hidden depression. As she placed the head of house ring engraved with the Potter crest, which she had picked it up at Gringotts, against the depression, she then felt a click through the ring as a part of tablet came adrift from the rest a little.
Once the part came loose, Rhy lowered her hand, opened it further, a large ledger was all that was contained within. It was a red leather-bound book with gold lettering and filigree embossed on the cover. It also had a large single-toned copy of the Potter crest, also in gold gilding. It was the ward permissions book, it defined who was allowed onto the grounds.
After removing anyone who wasn't a Potter from the book, she added all the full names of her friends and their families. And last but not least, she added the name; Rhy Majorette Rasp, to the ledger, since that was was the name she chosen to go by now. They then spent the rest of adding their own wards over the property. Among those anti-Dark Mark wards, which they had invented in the future, this one more potent then the one Kerry had add to the Ministry's wards.
If anyone with a dark who entered these, they would become confused to an amazing degree; attacking friends, wandering aimlessly, and so on. They were designed to distorts ones perceptions, cause hallucinations, induce paranoia, promote insanity, and strangely skew ones judgement of distance. Another ward they had also added was one that repelled Voldemort personally, just being close to it would make him extremely uncomfortable
Albus Dumbledore was a misguided fool, who had fallen for the hubris of age. He wanted to keep all the important secrets to himself, and wouldn't trust anyone else to have them. If anything had happened to him, such as an accident of a simple slip while walking down stairs and breaking his neck, the rest would be in all sorts of trouble in trying to defeat Riddle. And, among many other faults Dumbledore had, he simply could not envision anyone else being as clever as he, and knowing what was going on. So they had created a similar ward against him, just in case he started to meddle with them.
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A few days later, in London, Sirius Orion Black sat alone in the kitchen at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, at the home of the ancient and noble house of Black. He was the only one to have ever broken out of the dreaded wizard prison Azkaban of own his power. He was currently wallowing in his own guilt, as memories of his past haunted him. Sirius still remembered that day he found out he had failed closest friends, and made his godson Harry an orphan.
He had just come back from another mission of the order and had decided to take a nap. But somehow he had woken up a couple of hours later with a heavy feeling in his heart. Something was wrong. He could tell. He felt it in his stomach. After fearing the worst, he had gone to the place he had Peter Pettigrew, only to find it empty and without any sign of assault or fight which made the feeling much worse as Peter had been specifically told that he was not to go outside.
So he started to James place in Godric's Hollow, all the while hoping that his gut feeling was wrong. His best friend and his family were safe. Peter really hadn't turned their back on them. What was worse was that Remus was away on an important order business, so he couldn't even call him. Remus was always the logical one in their group. Had he been there, he surely would've known what to do.
The sight that met his eyes could only be described as his worst nightmare. The house was in
ruins. The entire portion of the first floor which he knew to be Harry's nursery was blown apart. With shaky legs he walked into the house, only to stop cold to see his best friend, his brother in all but blood, laying spread eagled near the stairs; his lifeless eyes looking at something invisible in horror and fear.
He had then heard muffled cries coming from upstairs. So after pulling himself together, he had stepped over James body and went upstairs. As he had entered the nursery, he had seen a pair of familiar robe, that laid in a heap upon a pile of ash. And in the middle of the room Lily laid protectively over the crib of her son. After confirming that she, like her husband, was dead he had gently moved her out of the way. His heart had soared when he had seen that godson still lived.
It was then Hagrid had arrived, on orders from Dumbeldore it seemed. Sirius had knew then what
he had to do, he left Harry in Hagrid's care and had went to find the rat he had once called friend. It had taken him several days to track the traitor down, but once he had succeeded, he confronted him
immediately Peter had started yelling how couldn't believe why had betrayed Potters. Before Sirius had know what was happening Peter had blown up a gas line, cut of his finger, and slunk through the sewers as a rat.
He was brought out his memories when a green flame flared and woman spun out of the fire place. She had a pale heart-shaped face, dark twinkling eyes, and short spiky hair that was bubble-gum pink.
His cousin had always resented her mother because of her name, and he couldn't really say he blamed her. Nymphadora. Andie really had outdone herself there. Sirius thought, as he watch her shake the ash flakes from her clothes and hair.
Tonks had just come from Hogwarts and had received some bad news, the wards around Dursley's had completely vanished. On top of that, Harry Potter was not there, nor had he been seen by anyone since stepped on the Hogwarts Express. Their search efforts over the last few hours had failed to turn up any trace of him.
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TBC
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