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Chapter Nine: Great Auntie Muriel

Outside of the Burrow, in the early morning hours, Harry and Ginny flew over the house on their broomsticks. Since it was early morning, the chances that they were going to be seen by nearby Muggles were very low. Ginny had insisted that Harry have some fun instead of worry about Voldemort twenty four hours a day and Harry found himself inclined to agree, especially since he spent this time alone with Ginny. Voldemort was quiet, no doubt plotting his next move and Harry hadn’t received any hint of what he was up to anyway.

Ginny was glad that Harry seemed to take off a few weeks to just relax. She had a feeling that sooner or later Voldemort would attempt to overthrow the Ministry and then Harry wouldn’t have a second to relax. She was bound and determined that Harry would have as much relaxation as possible until that moment. Plus, Ginny found that Harry seemed much happier when he didn’t have to play the role of the Boy-Who-Lived. She liked her Harry’s eyes to be full of life, with a smile on his face, it brightened up her world.

“Harry, I bet you can’t beat me to that tree over there,” said Ginny with a smirk on her face.

“Oh really, I wasn’t the youngest seeker in a century for nothing,” replied Harry with a smirk of his own.

“On three then,” said Ginny. “One, Two, Three.”

Two fast blurs shot off into the distance, each moving at a high impact speed. Ginny and Harry seemed pretty evenly matched on their broomsticks, keeping shoulder to shoulder as they moved towards the tree. They both touched the tree at the exact same time. Harry and Ginny turned to each other, staring each other down on their broomsticks, before laughing merrily.

“Because of the bond, I think we’re evenly matched,” suggested Ginny. “Except for dueling, because Harry, I think you can still mop the floor with me there.”

“Now, Ginny, you’re pretty good and I do have a year of magical education on you,” said Harry. “Don’t sell yourself short, because you are still a pretty good flier. It’s in your blood, just like it’s in mine.”

“Harry, Ginny,” called a voice from inside the Burrow.

“Mum,” muttered Ginny. “It must be Breakfast time.”

Ginny and Harry landed safely on the ground before taking their broomsticks back into the broom shed and moving inside for breakfast.

With the addition of four mutant turtles and one mutant rat, the kitchen at the Burrow was rather crowded, even with Bill having returned to Egypt for a few weeks.

“The results of your O.W.L.s should be arriving sometime today, Harry,” said Lily. “It took longer to process than previously because of all the turmoil in the Ministry.”

Harry nodded, he couldn’t help but feeling a little nervous. The O.W.L. s was the deciding factor of the classes that he could take during his sixth and seventh year at Hogwarts. Harry’s perfectionist qualities required him to get no less than excellent scores.

Ron, on the other hand, looked absolutely terrified at the process of receiving O.W.L.s arriving.

“Ron, I’m sure if you studied, you did fine,” said Mr. Weasley.

“You did study didn’t you?” asked Mrs. Weasley, her eyes narrowing slightly.

“I actually worked hard this time, but I’m not sure my best was good enough,” said Ron fretfully. “I should have paid more attention in class, because learning five years worth of material in a month is…”

“Ron, trust me, you couldn’t have done worse then Fred and George,” remarked Ginny, as she buttered her toast.

“Yes, but the large profit we made last month disagrees about how bad we did,” replied George.

“Yes, five hundred thousand galleons,” added Fred.

“Joke shop didn’t seem to be too bad a choice at all,” continued George.

“Did it Mum?” asked Fred.

“Yes, you seem to be doing very good but it might have been nice if had N.E.W.Ts to fall back on,” remarked Mrs. Weasley in a weary voice.

“Now, Molly, the boys are doing something that they enjoy and are good at,” said Mr. Weasley. “We shouldn’t discourage their ambitions, even if they are a bit out of the norm.”

“Yes, from what Harry has told me, the joke shop’s wicked cool,” replied Mikey, with his mouth full of sausages.

“Michelangelo it is impolite to talk with your mouth full,” admonished Master Splinter before shaking his head.

“So, etiquette is not an area of the art of ninjitsu?” asked Mr. Weasley curiously.

“Unfortunately not,” declared Master Splinter.

“Ronald, don’t chew with your mouth open!” exclaimed Mrs. Weasley.

“Doesn’t seem to be too prominent in the magical world either,” muttered Don.

“Mum tried, but with six boys, I think she eventually came to the conclusion that she was fighting a losing battle,” replied Ginny.

At that moment, a pair of Hogwarts owls flew through the open window, one landing in front of Harry and the other landing in front of Ron. Harry reached forward, grabbing the envelope tied to the leg of the owl. With a bit of hesitation, Harry opened the envelope before slowly removing the piece of parchment. Harry unfolded the parchment before reading the following:

The O.W.L. Examination Scores for Harry James Potter

Grade Key:
O-Outstanding
EE-Exceeds Expectations
A-Acceptable
P-Poor
D-Dreadful
T- Troll

Arithmancy- O
Astronomy- A
Care of Magical Creatures- EE
Charms- O
Defense Against the Dark Arts- O
Herbology- EE
History of Magic- A
Study of Ancient Runes- EE
Potions- O
Transfiguration- EE

“How did you do Harry?” asked Lily.

“Not bad,” replied Harry but Hailey reached over, snatching her brother’s parchment and reading it.

“Not bad, three Outstanding O.W.Ls, Four Exceeds Expectations, passed every class in other words, I think you did more then not bad,” declared Hailey.

“Good job Harry,” said Lily. “Those are really good scores, better than mine in fact. My scores were tainted slightly by receiving a poor in History of Magic.”

“Hey nothing wrong with poor,” replied George.

“Yeah George and I got a T in that class,” declared Fred shuddering. “Mum screamed until she lost her voice “

“So, Ron, how did you do?” asked Mr. Weasley.

“See for yourself,” replied Ron who looked slightly relieved as he put his parchment down on the table.

The O.W.L. Examination Scores for Ronald Billius Weasley.

Grade Key:
O-Outstanding
EE-Exceeds Expectations
A-Acceptable
P-Poor
D-Dreadful
T- Troll

Astronomy- P
Care of Magical Creatures- A
Charms- A
Defense Against the Dark Arts- EE
Divination- D
Herbology- A
History of Magic- D
Potions- A
Transfiguration- P

“See, Ron, all you needed to do was put in some good hard work and many of your subjects drastically improved,” said Mrs. Weasley.

“I’m surprised I didn’t get a T in Potions,” remarked Ron slowly. “Although, it is a bit refreshing to make a potion without Snape breathing down your neck like an overgrown bat, making snide remarks about anyone who isn’t a Slytherin.”

Ginny and Harry just exchanged looks before narrowing their eyes at Ron.

“Not, that being a Slytherin is a bad thing, it’s just there are a lot of people that give that house a bad name,” amended Ron quickly. “Unfortunately, I didn’t see that for a few years.”

“I just wonder when the book lists will arrive, they should have been here by now,” muttered Mrs. Weasley.

“Everything’s backed up because of Voldemort, not to mention that Umbridge debacle last year,” said Lily. “They should be arriving in the next week or so.”

“The Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher has to be better than Umbridge,” said Hailey.

“I hope so too,” replied Lily in a casual voice, having not told her children about her appointment as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher.

“You can’t get much worse then that woman,” said Ginny, shaking her head. “If it wasn’t for Harry, no one would have learned anything last year.”

After breakfast, Lily, Harry, Ginny, Hailey, Ron, Fred, and George were already in the garden, as the Turtles and Master Splinter exited from the Burrow. Don walked towards around the broom shed in the backyard, before wheeling out a catapult looking contraption that looked to be constructed together by several

“Okay, Don, exactly what is that monstrosity,” prompted Leo.

“I have noticed that nearly every day this garden has to be degnomed,” declared Don.

“Yes, Dad is way too soft on these pests, plus it’s not like we can throw them far enough for them to get the hint,” said Ginny.

“Yes, exactly, human limitations are a problem with degnoming a garden,” agreed Don. “As Harry had pointed out to me, these particular pests get rather attached to a place and keep coming back, even after the degnoming has occurred.”

“And you’ve found a way around that problem, I assume,” prompted Harry who looked a bit apprehensive. “Exactly where did you find the junk to create this contraption?”

“The shed over there,” replied Don.

“Dad’s tool shed,” declared Ginny in a horrified voice.

“That’s a bad thing I take it,” replied Raph casually.

“Well no, unless of course Dad took some of that rubbish apart and fiddled with it using magic,” said Ginny slowly. “In other words, who knows what will happen?”

“Well Donatello, you might as well give it a test to see if there are any flaws,” prompted Master Splinter in a resigned voice, as he leaned on his walking stick.

“Yeah, what’s the worst that can happen,” prompted Fred.

“Other than decapitation,” continued George.

“Wands out,” said Harry slowly before turning to his brother. “Precede Don.”

“Right, let me just find a lawn gnome and everyone can have a closer look at how this works,” muttered Don, as he bent down, picking up a gnome who put up quite the struggle. Don set the gnome down on the catapult before turning around. “So, I pull this level, which activates the makeshift spring and sends the garden gnome flying straight out of the garden.”

Don walked over with a bit of hesitation, as all Weasleys, Potters, Turtles, and one rat held their collective breath, just as the intelligent terrapin pulled the level as the gnome made a ruckus. After a moment, the gnome was blasted out of the garden and sailed what seemed like hundreds and hundreds feet through the air.

“And thanks to the calculations I’ve made, that gnome will not put out anyone’s window, rather landing in that wooded area across the way,” declared Don, pointing out.

“Well that’s a relief that it won’t break anything,” replied Mikey calmly but then sparks began flying from the catapult.

“You just had to open your mouth, didn’t ya, Mikey?” demanded Raph, as he instinctively threw his Sai towards the machine but a magical burst of energy knocked the Sai backwards right into Raph, knocking the hot headed turtle backwards.

“Well that worked as well as suspected,” declared Hailey as the contraption seemed to be spinning out of control.”

“Shield the house!” yelled Harry quickly, taking advantage of the situation like he would and several wands put on a shield focused towards the Burrow and not a second too soon as pieces of metal began recklessly flying each direction, as everyone moved to take cover. Harry quickly moved in, pointing his wand carefully towards the catapult and before putting a stasis charm on it, freezing the magic in it, like his mother did with the ring Horcrux. Thankfully that worked and the catapult remained still. “There that should hold it from going haywire. The idea was sound but maybe if I take a look at it, I can figure out what the problem is.”

“Thanks Harry,” replied Don graciously.

“Yeah, bro, I don’t know what we would have done without your quick thinking today,” declared Raph.

“Been bludgeoned to death by wind magically propelled junk, more than likely,” added Mikey.

“Now, guys, we really don’t know what would have happened if Harry wasn’t here,” said Leo.

“Yeah, Leo, at least you’re here and I’m sure you would have thought of something, oh fearless leader,” declared Raph with a smirk. “But, Harry does seem to have the magic touch, pardon the expression.”

“Come on, you could have all handled it, it just would have taken a bit of thinking and teamwork,” said Harry.

“Harry is correct,” replied Master Splinter, as he leaned on his walking stick. “Teamwork is a driving element to success or lack thereof. Each of you has your only strengths and weaknesses, weaknesses that can only be overcome by working together.”

At that moment, Mrs. Weasley came bursting out the front door. Harry opened his mouth, with some explanation ready for the catapult malfunction, but Mrs. Weasley didn’t seem to notice him.

“Ginny, Fred, George, Ron, inside!” yelled Mrs. Weasley. “I didn’t know she was coming today, but she flooed me saying she was going to stop by. You need to all wash up and put on your best robes.”

“Mum, who’s coming?” asked Ron in confusion.

“Your Great Auntie Muriel,” replied Mrs. Weasley, who looked quite flummoxed. “I know, it’s a bit short notice, but she insisted on coming by.”

Ron, George, and Fred scrambled to move inside but Ginny stood there with her arms crossed.

“Mum, I have guests,” hissed Ginny.

“I know dear, but she was insistent,” replied Mrs. Weasley in a defeated voice, before turning to the Turtles and Master Splinter. “I am absolutely sorry, but you five need to leave for the day. No offense, but I’m quite certain Muriel would be rude, because she doesn’t approve of things that…”

“Aren’t normal,” supplied Leo helpfully. “Freaks, mutants, not human.”

“Crudely put, but yes,” replied Mrs. Weasley, looking frantic. “You can hide out in that wooded area across the way, no one should see you.”

“Come my sons,” declared Master Splinter without preamble and the four Turtles and Master Splinter moved.

Hailey, Ginny, Harry, and Lily walked inside, with Mrs. Weasley following a distance, muttering underneath her breath and wringing her hands.

“Who or what is a Great Auntie Muriel?” asked Hailey underneath her breath.

“What seems to be an apt expression,” replied Ginny. “She’s Mum’s aunt, on her mother’s side, I think. She’s one hundred and six years old and quite barmy come to think of it. She stops by every few years, but I thought I had seen the last of her after her last visit.”

“What happened?” asked Harry.

“Fred and George put dung bombs underneath her chair and she left in a huff,” replied Ginny with a bit of a strained smile. “Every time she comes here, she makes snide suggestions about all of us, except for Percy that is, who she seemed to adore. She doesn’t really approve of Dad and Mum doesn’t have the spine to stand up to her.”

“Wait a minute, Molly Weasley, not having the spine to stand up to someone,” declared Lily in a skeptical voice.

“I know, Mum likes to have control over everything that goes on in this house, but with Muriel, she just sits back and says nothing, no matter what she said,” declared Ginny. “Perhaps you three better leave too, I don’t want her to put you down too.”

“No, I’d like to meet your Great Auntie Muriel,” declared Harry in a flat tone of voice.

“Okay Harry, but she won’t approve of you, I just know it,” replied Ginny. “She’ll find some flaw with you that no one cares really cares about but it will get to you.”

“Don’t worry, Ginny, I’ll be fine,” said Harry. “Trust me, I survived Voldemort four times and the Shredder five times. I can handle anything Great Auntie Muriel throws at me.”

In the wooded area just outside the Burrow, a pair of ninjas returned, before bowing before a large man. He was bald and had quite the prominent goatee.

“Report,” grunted the man.

“Master Corbort, the four Turtle creatures and the rodent are coming this way,” declared one of the ninjas.

“The Shredder wants these creatures eradicated,” grunted Corbort. “We’ll dispose of them all but one. That one will lead us to the one known as Potter.”

The ninjas nodded, indicating they understood.

“Then disappear!” ordered Corbort in a harsh voice. “I will call you and your brothers once I require your use.”

The two ninjas vanished into the shadows as Corbort stood waiting for the arrivals.

Back at the Burrow, everyone was sitting around, with various degrees of nervousness. A knock was heard on the door and Harry gripped Ginny’s hand for support, as she seemed to be on the state of nervous collapse. Harry was looking forward to this moment; surely Great Auntie Muriel couldn’t be as bad as Ginny was making her out to be.

Then again, Harry had known in his life that things were at most times much worse then they are previously stated.

Mrs. Weasley hurried towards the door, with a false cheerful expression on the face, before reaching forward and pulling the door open. A medium sized old woman with grey hair and thick spectacles appeared, wearing a multi colored hat with a dead raven, something that caused Harry to cringe. She had her nose turned slightly up, as if walking into the Burrow was beneath her.

“Muriel, how nice to see you!” declared Mrs. Weasley in a cheerful voice. “Please do come in, sit down, and make yourself at home.”

Muriel walked inside, looking around.

“The décor doesn’t seem to have changed much, still as low class as usual,” declared Muriel, not bothering to lower her voice. “Ginevra, Ronald, Fredrick, George, seem to be as unkempt as usual, not bothering to be proper. Goodness, you think they were muggleborns the way they acted.”

Lily’s right eye twitched involuntarily and Harry could understand why. It seemed Muriel had held on to many of the outdated ideals that she frowned upon.

“And I don’t know who you people are,” continued Muriel, rudely, looking at Hailey, Lily, and Harry.

“Muriel, that’s Lily Potter and her two children, Harry and Hailey.” declared Mrs. Weasley politely.

“Merlin, a single muggleborn witch with two children,” declared Muriel. “Shows bad form really, and by the way her daughter dresses, in those hideous Muggle clothes, it’s clear that some of her bad traits rubbed off on her.”

“So says the woman with the dead bird on her head,” muttered Hailey but Muriel either didn’t hear her or chose to ignore her.

“I have heard of you young man,” declared Muriel, looking at Harry’s scar for a full ten seconds. “Molly wrote to me about you, seems to be under the impression that you are young Ginevra’s suitor.”

“I am Ginny’s boyfriend yes,” declared Harry. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Now, you do seem like a nice young man, but the Potters are a rich and well off family, so I suspect you will be finding a nice pureblood girl who has a similar fortune someday,” declared Muriel. “It’s a nice thing that you’re doing, making Ginevra think that she might have a future as your wife, might give the girl incentive to become a proper young lady. Still, you two would not be a proper match.”

“What exactly are you trying to imply about Ginny?” asked Harry his eyes narrowing slightly.

“Harry, please,” hissed Mrs. Weasley, looking fretful at the fact that Harry looked to mere seconds away from getting angry.

“No, I’m curious about hearing why she thinks that there is no way that Ginny and I won’t get married someday,” said Harry in an icy tone of voice, that caused Ron to shudder. Harry had directed that voice towards him in the first and he would have much rather heard Hermione Granger nag him then having Harry use that voice. The only possible people who could sound spookier would be Voldemort and maybe Snape.

“Now, young man, I know you don’t want to hurt Ginevra’s feelings, but some make the mistake of marrying people who are obviously not suited for them,” declared Muriel and her eyes flickered towards Mrs. Weasley. “Trust me, I do know these things, I am one hundred and six years old!”

“Age does not excuse ignorance,” declared Harry calmly but the look in his eyes seemed to be rather intense. “So do not make assumptions of things that you don’t know, whether they be about me or someone else.”

Harry took a deep breath, not wanting to go into a rant but it seemed Muriel was going to say something else, so Harry decided to beat her to the punch.

“Thing is I love Ginny and I don’t particularly care for people degrading her,” replied Harry. “The thing is, trust me, if it wasn’t for the fact that Lord Voldemort wants my head on a silver platter, I would marry her tomorrow, because it is obvious that you couldn’t find someone who would be more compatible to me no matter if you looked for hundreds of years.”

Muriel flinched at hearing Voldemort’s name but Harry just glared at her.

“Ginny is already in enough danger just because she’s my girlfriend but the thing is, she would be even more danger if I pushed her away!” yelled Harry, who seemed to be getting agitated. “And for that matter, so would I. I would lose my mind, going completely mad if I lost Ginny! So, don’t you try and judge my intentions when you haven’t met me for five minutes.”

“Once again, strong in your convictions, but I doubt it would work between you two,” replied Muriel, waving off Harry’s protests. “And another thing, call him He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, he’ll strike you down if you use his name.”

“I refuse to demean myself by calling Voldemort anything but his name, not his true name mind you,” declared Harry calmly, who was rocking back and forth now madly, with Ginny grabbing his hand. “And he’s wants my head on a platter anyway, so I doubt anything I could say would make him want my blood any less.”

“Muriel, I suggest you back off, because my brother might be keeping a cool head now, but he only has so much tolerance when it comes to people suggesting that Ginny isn’t suitable for him,” declared Hailey calmly.

“Listen, in my day, young ladies didn’t speak to their elders unless they were spoken to and they never referred to them by their first names,” said Muriel snidely.

“Well, welcome to the twentieth century,” replied Hailey with a smirk.

“Wait a minute, did I just hear Muriel…” started Fred.

“Call young Hailey…” said George.

“A lady,” continued Fred before the twins laughed madly.

“A girl none the less,” declared George.

“But she did,” started Fred

“Threaten to shove a beater bat,” continued Fred.

“Up a certain part of our body which is best left unspoken,” stated George.

“When we pulled a harmless little prank on her,” declared Fred.

“Not very lady like behavior mind you,” continued George.

“Especially when she pranked us back with a fury as payback,” added Fred.

“Something that we’d expect no less from a daughter of one of the infamous Marauders,” declared George.

“Goodness, you two deviants pranking young ladies, I’m glad I had you two written out of the will,” declared Muriel. “And you still have that disgusting habit of finishing each others sentence, shows such poor form. Not to mention I heard about that ridiculous joke shop idea, not dignified at all. Never in my one hundred and six years…”

The twins rolled their eyes as Muriel launched into a diatribe about every little thing that was wrong about them. It was a speech that they had heard many times before, but it didn’t stop Muriel from laying into them.

In the wooded area outside the Burrow, Raph, Mikey, Don, Leo, and Master Splinter moved their way further in but Master Splinter stopped shortly.

“What is it Master Splinter?” muttered Mikey.

“There’s something in these woods, that’s definitely not supposed to be here,” declared Master Splinter quietly.

At those words from Master Splinter, a barrage of arrows flew from the side. Splinter motioned for his sons to scatter to the side, avoiding being bludgeoned by the arrows. Once the arrows quit hitting the ground, a dozen ninjas appeared, surrounding the Turtles and Master Splinter.

“The Foot,” declared Leo darkly as the ninjas charged forward, but Leo managed to dodge around, blocking a pair of sword swings with his Katana. The wooden end of a spear clubbed Leo in the back causing him to stagger forward, but Raph tossed his Sais, causing the Foot Ninja to stagger backwards.

From high above the tree, a pair of chains flew from the side, wrapping around Raph’s ankles and began to pull him up the tree. Raph made a lunge for his Sais but the Foot Ninjas yanked him up in the tree, hanging the mutant turtle by his ankles upside down from the tree.

Mikey was barely able to hold his own against the trio of Foot Ninjas he was engaging. He swung his nunchucks around, barely clipping one of the Foot Ninjas in the jaw but the other two leapt up, kicking Mikey in the back, sending the Turtle sending flying backwards.

Don spun around, his Bo staff cracking the jaw of one of his attackers and barely avoided getting punished by a shuriken to the back of the neck. Leo rushed over, using his katana to deflect another pair of shuriken. The ninja flicked a Kusari-Gama chain seemingly out of nowhere but Leo managed to slice the chain to ribbons with his katana. The assassin opted to fling the sickle end, but Leo deflected it backwards, before he was shouldered, knocked to the side.

Master Splinter found his way up the tree, where the two Foot Ninjas were hanging Raphael. Splinter rushed over, swinging his walking stick into the ribs of pair of warriors, knocking them off the tree. With expert grace, Splinter caught the chains before Raph plummeted to his doom.

The majority of the ninjas surrounded Don, Mikey, and Leo but before they could be assaulted, Raph and Master Splinter leapt at the Foot, causing the assassins to scatter in every which direction. Leo took advantage of the momentary distraction caused by his brother and sensei, by slashing his katana towards the Foot Ninja, knocking them to the ground. Mikey grabbed onto the edge of Don’s Bo staff, allowing his brother to swing him around, his feet cracking two of the assassins in the head, knocking them cold.

Raph picked up his Sais, before using them to block a sword swing. He pushed them back into Mikey, who used his nunchucks to crack the Foot Ninja in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground. Mikey then extended his nunchucks, giving Raph the ability to use them as a springboard, kicking the Foot Ninja in the head, who had Leo pinned to a tree by the throat, reading to stab him with a dagger. The ninja landed hard on the ground, before scrambling out of the way to avoid more punishment.

The Foot Ninjas who managed to not become unconscious scrambled backwards, before bowing as the imposing figure of Corbort appeared, with his arms folded and a stoic look upon his face.

“Your teamwork is just as the Shredder at stated, above par,” declared Corbort curtly. “However, once isolated, your skills leave much to be desired.”

“There is no way any Foot Ninjas can beat us when we work together,” responded Leo in a triumphant voice.

“Yeah, Leo’s right and exactly who are you?” asked Raph in a threatening voice.

“Corbort,” grunted Corbort. “I lead the Foot in Great Britain.”

“This joker doesn’t look like he can string a plan together that can beat us,” declared Raph in a confident tone of voice.

“Yeah, he can barely string a sentence together,” declared Mikey, before continuing in a grunt. “Me Corbort, me lead British Foot Ninjas, me smash puny Turtles.”

Mikey, Raph, and Don laughed but Master Splinter and Leo looked agitated.

“My sons do not get over confident,” admonished Master Splinter.

“Yes, I have a feeling this Corbort guy has something up his sleeve,” declared Leo, just as Corbort clapped his hands three times, slowly and loudly.

“Quite astute for you to say something like that, you filthy reptile!” declared a female voice from the side, before cackling madly with glee.

The Turtles and Master Splinter looked up in horror, as a couple dozen Death Eaters circled around them, wands pointed at them threateningly.

Back at the Burrow, it was close to lunch time and Harry and Ginny had sat as far away from Muriel as humanly possible. Muriel sat herself down right next to Ron, who seemed to be rather displeased by this arrangement, and Mrs. Weasley.

“So, Molly, does Arnold still work with at the Ministry, tinkering with that Muggle rubbish,” declared Muriel.

“Arthur,” corrected Mrs. Weasley. “Yes, he still works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department.”

“So, still not ambitious at all,” concluded Muriel. “You would think after all that time in the Ministry, he would be able to gain another job, but I suppose I have too much faith him.”

“Dad could get another job any time he wanted to,” piped up Ron. “He just likes his job.”

“Well, I never said your father wasn’t abnormal, Ronald,” declared Muriel nastily. “If he put in a bit more ambition, maybe you wouldn’t be living in such a dilapidated home.”

“Nothing wrong with this house, there is however something quite wrong with your attitude,” muttered Ginny under her breath, but if Muriel heard her, she chose not to acknowledge her.

“I must say, I was disappointed to see that young Percival isn’t here,” continued Muriel. “He’s such a charming lad, how’s his career at the Ministry going?”

“He loves it,” declared Ginny. “In fact, he loves the Ministry so much that he would forsake his own family and not talk to us for over a year. He refuses to admit he was wrong about Voldemort being back when Harry said he was. He’s been a bit of an arrogant prat to be honest”

“Don’t you dare say that name, Ginevra!” snapped Muriel. “It’s improper for anyone, much less a young lady to say that particular name.”

“What Voldemort?” asked Hailey with mock sweetness in her voice. “How can we can talk about Voldemort, if we don’t say the name Voldemort?”

Muriel seemed to be quite agitated right now.

“Such disrespect, no doubt gets it from her mother, muggleborns know nothing of etiquette,” muttered Muriel, as she looked right at Lily, who Harry noted seemed to be chewing on her tongue, straining very hard not to fly into a rage at Muriel.

Back in the forest, the scene was rather tense but was broken when the Turtles and Master Splinter had to dodge a layered series of spells, flying from the wands of their Death Eater attackers.

“We might not be able to get to Harry Potter, but we can force the Boy-Who-Lived to us by capturing his filthy mutant family!” shrieked Bellatrix Lestrange, as she sent a mild cutting curse towards Mikey, who expertly dodged, around. A stream of yellow light nearly missed Mikey’s ear and the Turtle spun around, managing to crack one of the Death Eaters by swinging his nunchucks at him. The dark wizard fell to the ground.

Raph dodged spells, before Don used his Bo Staff to give him a leg up. Raph dodged a blue jet of light in mid air, before wiping two Death Eaters out with a split kick. A blasting spell fired towards Raph’s shell. This spell would have killed a wizard, but since Raph had a large shell on his back, it merely caused him to fly backwards.

Master Splinter somersaulted underneath the charge of the Death Eaters swinging his walking stick, cracking one of his attackers in the knees. The mutant rat avoided another spell but Bellatrix Lestrange shot thick metal cords from her wand, aiming them towards Master Splinter. Splinter managed to use his walking stick to block and the cords merely intertwined the walking stick.

“Gotcha, now, rodent!” cheered Bellatrix, giggling like a madwoman, but Splinter yanked her forward, causing Bellatrix to fly in the air. Unfortunately, the sadistic dark witch had about five Death Eaters to break her fall, and she was only injured for the moment.

Don threw his Bo Staff at one of the Death Eaters who had Mikey trapped and the Bo Staff struck the Death Eater in the back of the head. The wizard fell to the ground and Don quickly moved over, before joining Leo, who was deflecting magically conjured daggers with his sword. Don swung his Bo Staff, cracking one of the Death Eaters in the back but another sent a pair of manacles towards Don, snapping his arms and legs shut.

“My son,” yelled Master Splinter in anguish as he rushed over, before cracking his walking stick in the face of one of the Death Eaters. Another spell caught Master Splinter in the back, causing the rat to stagger, before falling to his knees.

“Master Splinter!” yelled the Turtles in horror but they couldn’t reach their sensei at time. Bellatrix Lestrange levitated the unconscious rodent into the air, before dangling him around like a crude puppet for her own music.

“So this is the one who taught Harry Potter the art of ninjitsu!” crooned Bellatrix in a disgusting baby tone before growing serious. “Pathetic, he was knocked out with one spell.”

“Yeah from behind, you cowards!” yelled Raph angrily.

“Hey, mind your tongue Turtles or the rat will go splat!” yelled Bellatrix before pointing to Leo. “Turtle, drop your weapons, you are coming with us.”

Leo looked on as Bellatrix jerked her wand, causing Master Splinter’s arms to jerk back and forth in mid air.

“Do it your filthy reptile,” declared Bellatrix and with a bit of a resigned look Leo let his katana drop to the ground, in a flash, Leo was surrounded by Death Eaters, their wands trained on him. Within moments, thick cords were wrapped around Leo and he was dragged off by the Death Eaters.

“And just so you other three mutants don’t think of doing anything stupid,” declared one of the Death Eaters, before they waved their wands and formed a barrier of black fog.

Raph picked up Leo’s katana and broke Don’s restraint before looking at the black fog.

“Let’s go after them, we can’t let them get away,” declared Raph as he rushed towards the barrier.

“Raph, I don’t think that’s such a good idea…” started Don but Raph had attempted to charge past the barrier. The moment he touched it, Raph fell his hands and knees, looking shaken and weakened.

“Can’t get past that barrier, become weak!” muttered Raph.

“We’ve got to go after Leo and Master Splinter,” said Mikey in a frantic voice. “If Harry was here, he’d know what to do.”

“Yeah, but we can’t rely on Harry, there are times where he can’t be here and this is one of those times,” answered Don in a resigned voice as Raph shakily pulled himself to his feet.

“Well maybe if there was someway to blast us right past that barrier at a high speed,” declared Raph in an agitated voice. “The problem is, it’s thin, but the moment we step near, we become weak and collapse. Not to mention I felt a sudden urge to move back from that area once I got near.”

“Something to get us past the barrier at high speed,” declared Don, before snapping his fingers. “The catapult.”

“Don, let me just say one thing,” declared Raph calmly. “ARE YOU COMPLETELY OUT OF YOUR SHELL!”

“Yeah, that thing malfunctioned this morning plus I doubt Harry would have had time to look it over,” replied Mikey.

“I know, but the catapulting part worked well enough,” declared Don. “I see no reason why it shouldn’t hold all of our weight, plus remember, Harry disabled all of the magic in those parts I used.”

“I still think it’s a bad idea, but it’s the only idea we have,” declared Raph. “Which means we’ll have to sneak back to the Burrow and get the catapult, without that Muriel woman seeing us.”

“And we don’t have much time,” muttered Don. “Let’s go.”

Meanwhile at the Burrow, Harry and Ginny had managed to sneak away from the others.

“Well, Muriel seems to not said one bad word about you today,” declared Ginny casually.

“No, she’s said plenty about you and I don’t like it at all,” replied Harry. “I don’t know what I have to say to her to make her get the hint.”

“The hint about what,” declared Ginny with a mischievous smirk.

“Everything I said,” remarked Harry coolly. “Especially the part about marrying you tomorrow if it wasn’t for Lord Voldemort wanting my head on a platter.”

“Isn’t really something we really thought about before, but it does make sense,” replied Ginny.

“Yes, it sort of spilled out of my mouth, but it is an honest reflection of my true feelings,” declared Harry. “Once Voldemort dies, the Boy-Who-Lived will cease to exist. The magical world will have to find a new poster child against the darkness. I’ll just be Harry and I’ll be married to the most beautiful woman in the world.”

“You mean you’d give up fighting dark wizards,” declared Ginny, with a smile on her face, before engulfing Harry in an embrace, looking right into his vivid green eyes. “Just to think, one day, I won’t spend sleepless nights worrying about whether or not you’ll be safe the next time you go out and fight dark wizards.”

“I still have to put an end to Lord Voldemort,” replied Harry. “The battle is still far from over but one day…”

“I know,” said Ginny sadly. “But it does give us something to fight for, to know that one day it will all be over and you won’t have to live up the expectations of a world that quite frankly can’t fight or think for themselves most the time.”

Harry nodded, fully realizing that he had four more Horcruxes to correct and even with Voldemort’s soul fully reunited, he would still have to find a way to defeat perhaps one of the greatest dark wizards that ever lived. The fact that Harry could find a light at the end of the tunnel gave him the drive and the determination to beat Voldemort.

“Many think I’ll be an Auror,” added Harry. “Scrimgeour especially seems to think it would be a good career choice and I think he thinks it might reflect well on him.”

“Not what you want,” declared Ginny knowingly.

“Exactly, I see myself playing Quidditch professionally,” replied Harry.

“You’d be brilliant at anything you do Harry,” declared Ginny, before kissing him briefly, wishing it could be longer but she heard her mother calling them from downstairs.

“I guess we better go,” said Harry in a resigned voice.

“Yeah, I guess,” declared Ginny in an equally downtrodden voice.

In an underground catacomb, Leo found himself chained to the wall. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t pull himself free. He wouldn’t have been surprised if those chains had been magically reinforced. From what Leo heard, Master Splinter was in another part of these catacombs, no doubt in serious danger, so it strengthened Leo’s resolve to find a weak spot in the chains.

Leo watched as Bellatrix Lestrange entered the room.

“Those chains cutting off your circulation nicely, mutant,” declared Bellatrix sweetly before looking at Leo with an angry look in her eyes. “I absolutely despite turtles! It all started when Sirius thought it was a cute idea to fill my bed with dozens of you slimy beasts. Wasn’t a very nice trick to play on a young girl? Then again my dear cousin never showed any tact!”

“What sick game are you playing?” demanded Leo.

“Games, oh, I love games, here’s one my Daddy taught me,” cooed Bellatrix before growing serious. “You see, when I was young, my father wanted to pass off a nice pastime he learned when he was young. He captured some unexpected Muggle and tied him to a wall, not unlike the one that you are on, turtle. He then magically conjured thirteen daggers, an extremely lucky number if I do say so myself. He would then blindfold himself and throw the dangers one by one, hopefully striking the Muggle.”

Bellatrix paused letting her words sick in.

“If the Muggles were lucky, all thirteen daggers would miss them,” declared Bellatrix. “Unfortunately, my father had a little problem. He liked to cheat. Often times, he removed the blindfold on the final dagger and walked over, before casually stabbing it in the chest of his prey. “

Bellatrix broke into mad giggles and Leo thought that Harry’s assessment of the woman wasn’t far off. She was utterly and truly mad.

“It was passed down through my family from father to son for generations, but alas, my father never had a son,” declared Bellatrix with mock regret. “So, he had a radical idea. He would pass on the idea to one of his daughters. Needless to say, I was the logical choice. Andromeda was repulsed by the idea of harming Muggles and Narcissa was too afraid she’d break a nail. So, he did choose me and it was an excellent father-daughter bonding experience.”

“You obviously have some twisted ideas of excellent,” declared Leo.

“Why thank you,” declared Bellatrix, giving a mock bow before adding in an apologetic tone “I haven’t a chance to play this noble game since I was thirteen so forgive me if I seem a little rusty.”

Bellatrix waved her wand at the table in front of her and thirteen daggers appeared, all in a row. A blindfold appeared at the table and Bellatrix levitated it up, before wrapping it around, shielding her eyes.

“Let the games begin!” cheered Bellatrix, as she picked up the first dagger and milked the anticipation, before throwing it towards Leo. The dagger missed the side of Leo’s head by inches, sticking in the wall.

Bellatrix had a brief downtrodden look on her face, as she picked up a second dagger, before waving it and flinging it low. The dagger impacted right between Leo’s legs, but thankfully didn’t hit anything. Another dagger caused Leo an anxious moment, but it didn’t hit the turtle. Leo hoped against all hope that someone would find him, because his chances of escaping on his own were rather slim. He attempted to yank his chains loose from the wall, but to no avail. He saw where Bellatrix aimed her dagger and attempted to maneuver the chain in her direction as she flung the fourth dagger.

Success as Bellatrix had unwillingly sliced the chain free with the dagger. Leo reached; attempting to grab the dagger to use it to break his other chain and Bellatrix seemed to not notice that one of Leo’s chains broke. Instead, she flung the fifth dagger towards Leo, who with expert precision, managed to catch it. Leo turned himself, before breaking the chain with the dagger. The chain dropped to the ground, freeing Leo completely from his captivity.

Bellatrix raised her arm up as Leo attempted to creep past her, using every bit of his ninja cunning he could. He would come back to deal with Lestrange later, right now it was of utter importance that he’d locate Master Splinter.

Just as Leo moved towards the doorway, the doors swung shut, blocking his exit.

“Leaving so soon!” declared Bellatrix in a sadistic voice, as she ripped off her blindfold and sent a jet of black light towards Leo, who managed to roll out of the way. Leo leapt over the table, before putting his shell to the wall, before kicking the table at Bellatrix, but much to his dismay, the insane witch blasted the table to dust just as it came at her.

Leo dodged another dark spell, which blasted a large hole in the wall behind him. Bellatrix shrieked in frustration as Leo leapt up and managed to catch Bellatrix off guard, knocking her into the wall!

“You dare touch me, you filthy, disgusting turtle!” yelled Bellatrix, as her wand began to glow before a large flash of black fire flew towards Leo but Leo barely avoided getting fried. Bellatrix’s attack had incinerated a section of the floor behind Leo and Leo managed to pick up two of the daggers that Bellatrix had conjured in the confusion, before throwing them at her.

Bellatrix blasted one of the daggers out of the way but the other dagger knocked her right in the wand hand, causing her wand to fly to the side. Leo made his move before Bellatrix could grab onto her wand. He grabbed the witch by the arm and flipped her to the ground, using his body to block her path to the wand.

“Now, tell me where Master Splinter is!” demanded Leo.

“Never!” shrieked Bellatrix, as she made a move for her wand but Leo stepped on her arm. Just at that second, the door opened and a trio of Death Eaters rushed into the room. Bellatrix took advantage of the momentary distraction to get back her wand but she wasn’t the only one who had the notion to take advantage of the confusion.

Leo decided to make his move, rushing straight towards the Death Eaters, knocking them down, before making a swift turn out of that particular area of the catacombs.

“On your feet you useless idiots!” shrieked Bellatrix. “After the mutant, he’ll ruin everything.”

“Perhaps we should summon the Dark Lord…” suggested one of the Death Eaters.

“The Dark Lord has more pressing matters at hand, you fool!” declared Bellatrix in an angry voice. “Now quit wasting time with your lip and after the turtle.”

The Death Eaters fearfully obeyed Bellatrix’s orders. She was one of the Dark Lord’s most valued supporters and disobeying her would be nearly as bad as disobeying the Dark Lord.

It was past lunch and getting into the late afternoon, with everyone sitting in the kitchen of the Burrow, just after Muriel had gone into another diatribe, directed towards Hailey. Hailey seemed to be getting some kind of perverse pleasure in antagonizing the old woman, by reminding her of the fact that her time had come and passed.

“You know I have never seen such a improper young lady in all of my one hundred and six years, I would highly suggest that she be taught a thing or two about etiquette,” declared Muriel to Lily. “In fact, you haven’t said a word to me all day, its very bad form not to address someone when they were speaking.”

“My mother always told me that if you don’t have something nice to say to someone, then you shouldn’t say it at all,” declared Lily calmly. “But, my mother has been long gone and thus is not here, so I will tell you exactly what I think of your opinion.”

Lily took a deep breath.

“You come here, making judgments about me and my children, making your snide little remarks under your breath,” continued Lily. “That, is not good form and not polite. Molly might not be able to stand up to you but do you think I care what you think?”

Muriel made a movement to talk but Lily cut over her.

“My children, bless them, are not perfect,” declared Lily and Harry found himself agreeing. “That doesn’t matter, because this world is far from perfect and the fact that people like you hold the out-dated opinions that you do is sufficient enough proof. So, I will not tolerate you downgrading my children.”

“I never said a word against this young man,” protested Muriel, pointing at Harry.

“Oh but you implied that Ginny wasn’t good enough for him and that is ten times worse in Harry’s mind,” replied Lily coolly. “The truth is Harry and Ginny pretty equal, in more ways that your narrow mind can ever fathom. Implying anything else is a slight in Harry’s mind and thus cuts worse than any curse cast by any Death Eaters.”

“So, you are just convicted in this matter as…” declared Muriel.

“ENOUGH!” yelled Mrs. Weasley angrily and Muriel looked flabbergasted. “Do you think that I would allow Harry to date my only daughter, if I didn’t think he truly love her?”

“Molly, I…” stammered Muriel, who looked completely shocked that her niece was standing up to her.

“Unless you are going to admit you’re wrong, I quite frankly don’t want to hear another word from you in my house,” declared Mrs. Weasley stiffly. “I think it’s deplorable that you would think that Harry would string Ginny along and she wouldn’t figure it out if he was. Or that I wouldn’t be wise to it for that matter.”

Great Auntie Muriel sat their flabbergasted, before breaking out into laughter.

“Forget it Mrs. Weasley, it’s obvious she’s too set in her ways to see the truth,” muttered Harry.

“No, dear, I’ve been waiting for Molly to finally grow a spine and stand up to me for years,” declared Muriel. “Of course, I didn’t expect anything less from you, Mr. Potter, but I still had to test you, to see if you were worthy of my great niece. There is more then a lightning bolt scar to you after all, young man.”

“Of course Harry’s worthy,” declared Ginny incredulously. “I’ve loved him for the moment I ran into him at King’s Cross. The moment that I got over my silly crush on the Boy-Who-Lived.”

“But, Ginevra, young Harry is the Boy-Who-Lived,” declared Muriel.

“The Boy-Who-Lived is a legend, created many years before anyone in the magical world had spoken to Harry,” declared Ginny. “A role that, unfortunately, Harry has to play up to from time to time. A mask that he is forced to wear in public, and there are only but a handful of people who know the real Harry.”

“And we are proud to say that we know the real Harry Potter,” declared Fred.

“And he is a decent young lad,” continued George.

“Even if he is dating our baby sister,” declared Fred.

“Who would hex us if we attempted to hint otherwise to Harry,” said George.

“Providing Harry didn’t do the honors first,” added Fred with a slight shudder.

“The lad does know some good hexes, as we know from attending his little, borderline illegal, Defense Against the Dark Arts study group,” continued George.

“Not to mention the fact that he can defend himself pretty well without a wand,” concluded Fred.

Muriel glared over her spectacles at the twins, but chose not to say anything about their slightly creepy habit of finishing each other’s sentences.

“Yes, well, Ginevra, I’d advise you hang onto this one,” declared Muriel. “I doubt he would have reacted in the way he did if I had said something against him.”

“I most certainly would have,” declared Ginny calmly.

“Well, yes, but I suspect I best be get going before Alonso gets home,” declared Muriel.

“Arthur,” hissed Mrs. Weasley. “I’ve only been married to him for thirty years, so you would think you’d learn his name by now.”

“One would think that,” replied Muriel as she made her way out the door from the Burrow. “Good day to you all.”

The Weasley children waited until they were sure Muriel had left, before cheering.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” started George.

“Great Auntie Muriel,” added Fred.

“Has left the building!” chorused the twins in unison.

“Bless Merlin’s soiled trousers for that,” muttered Hailey.

Harry turned to Ginny.

“Ginny, love,” prompted Harry.

“Yes, Harry,” said Ginny.

“You were right, she was quite barmy,” declared Harry in a completely serious voice which caused everyone to break out into laughter, including, despite her best efforts, Mrs. Weasley.

Back in the catacombs, Leo crept around in the shadows, knowing full well that the Death Eaters were on his shell. He reached an open doorway and to his horror, he saw Master Splinter shackled to the wall, looking a bit out of it. Quickly, Leo rushed over to Master Splinter, attempting to pull his sensei free, wishing he had thought to hang onto one of those daggers with him.

“No, my son, it’s a trap,” declared Master Splinter and Leo turned around to see the British Foot closing in on him, lead by Corbort. Corbort cracked his knuckles, looking quite menacing.

The Foot closed in but several of them fell to the ground. The Foot turned around and Leo managed to rush over, grabbing one of the assassins before flipping him to the ground. Much to his relief, Leo saw Raph, Mikey, and Don appear. Several more ninjas dropped to the ground and Raph walked over to Leo, before handing him his weapons.

“Had a feeling these might come in hand, bro,” declared Raph, as the Foot Ninjas got to their feet.

The Turtles nodded, before charging into the attack. Raph swung his Sai, breaking the sword of one of the ninjas. The ninja was then hoisted up and throw right into the stone wall. Don sprung up on his Bo Staff, before knocking several Foot Ninjas right into the nunchuck swing of Mikey. Leo rushed over, knocking a pair of ninjas out of the equation, before slicing Master Splinter free from his containment. The rat master picked up his walking stick, as the Foot had both Raph and Mikey corner. In a flash, Splinter leapt up, swinging his walking stick, knocking ninjas out left and right.

“Foot Ninja, disappear!” declared Corbort quickly, seeing as on this day, the Turtles were overwhelming his disciples.

Those ninjas who were still conscious managed to make their way to the door. Raph made a movement to go after them but Leo grabbed his arm.

“Let them go Raph, I have a feeling we’ll have bigger problems in a section,” said Leo and sure enough, at that moment, the wall right to the side blew into dust, as Bellatrix Lestrange led a group of Death Eaters.

“Oh goodie, all four Turtles are here, this should be fun!” cheered Bellatrix, before turning to the Death Eaters. “Destroy them!”

Several jets of light flew towards the Turtles and Master Splinter, but they just barely managed to get struck. Mikey managed to duck a powerful stunning spell and as a result, one of the Death Eaters was knocked out in the crossfire. The other Death Eater seemed frozen in his tracks and Mikey swung his nunchucks around, cracking his foe right in the chops.

Another Death Eater dodged around, sending jets of fire towards Don’s legs, but Don managed to leap out of the way, before landing behind the Death Eater. One swift swing with his Bo Staff and the Death Eater’s legs were struck out from underneath him. Another Death Eater aimed for Don.

“AVADA KE…” started the Death Eater but Raph tossed his Sais at the Death Eater, striking him in the back of the neck and knocking the Death Eater down. Another Death Eater attempted to fire a bone shattering curse at Raph but Raph managed to barely avoid being hit. He then leapt up, grabbing the Death Eater by the throat, before flinging him into the killing curse that was aimed towards Mikey. The dark wizard fell to the ground, knowing no more.

“FILTHY SLIMY REPTILES!” shrieked Bellatrix, cracking her wand like a whip, sending Leo and Mikey backwards with a powerful blast of magic. Raph picked up his Sais, before rushing over; attempting to stab Bellatrix, but the dark witch conjured a shield, causing Raph’s Sais to bounce against them. Bellatrix then used her wand to hoist Raph up before sending him flying backwards into Mikey and Leo.

Master Splinter rushed over, swinging his walking stick, but Bellatrix disapparated with a pop before appearing to the side of Master Splinter. Master Splinter dodged a sickly jet of yellow light shot from Bellatrix’s wand and it struck a Death Eater behind him. The Death Eater screamed in horror, before bursting into flames! Bellatrix didn’t bother to acknowledge the Death Eater, as he quickly became a pile of ashes.

Leo quickly dodged behind Bellatrix, before kicking her in the back. Bellatrix staggered right towards Don, who tripped the dark witch up with his Bo Staff. Raph leapt up and attempted to crack Bellatrix directly in the face with his feet, but she deflected the attack of the turtle with magic. Raph landed on his feet, as the Death Eaters managed to circle the Turtles and Master Splinter.

The Death Eaters raised their wands savagely, pointing towards the Turtles and Master Splinter. There was no question; this could very well be the end. Fighting their way out of being completely surrounded from all sides would be one in a million shot and no doubt the Death Eaters would be aiming to kill.

At that second, the Death Eaters clutched their forearms in slight pain.

“The Dark Lord is summoning us,” declared one of the Death Eaters.

“It’s urgent, we have no choice but to depart,” said Bellatrix.

“But what about…” started a thick Death Eater.

“But nothing, I will not jeopardize my standing with the Dark Lord for slimy turtles,” declared Bellatrix in an eerily calm voice.

At that moment, the Death Eaters disapparated one by one, no doubt to join Voldemort.

“Well, that was a lucky break,” said Raph in relief.

“Yeah, I never thought I’d say this, but thank you Voldemort,” declared Mikey but at that moment, the ceiling of the catacombs became to cave in.

“Not out of the woods yet,” said Leo, before looking frantic, as his brothers and Master Splinter followed him away from the catacombs.

“The exit should be this way, my sons,” said Master Splinter, pointing upwards and climbing up a rickety stairway that looked to be moments away from caving itself in. Quickly as they could manage, Leo, Mikey, Don, and Raph followed their sensei up the stairs, which began to crumble underneath their weight.

They reached the exit, before making their way from the cave at the edge of the wooded area. Just in time, as those catacombs were completely caved in. The Turtles collapsed in near exhaustion, breathing heavily.

“At least, that place can’t be used by Death Eaters or the Foot any more, it’s completely caved in,” remarked Don in a relieved voice.

“Yes, let us depart my sons, before we encounter any other trouble today,” prompted Master Splinter, leaning forward on his walking stick.

That evening at the Burrow, the Turtles and Master Splinter had just finished talking about what had happened that day to Harry.

“So, you finally came face to face with the infamous Bellatrix Lestrange,” concluded Harry that evening.

“That’s one meeting that we wished we could have postponed as long as possible,” said Leo, shaking his head.

“Indeed,” answered Harry. “The Foot was no doubt watching for any movement and had summoned the Death Eaters when they saw you were far away from the wards protecting the Burrow. They do lose power at a certain point after all.”

“I say we were damn lucky to survive today,” replied Raph. “If Voldemort had summoned them, we would have been goners for sure.”

“I’d prefer not to think of that, to be honest,” declared Harry. “The only thing that matters is you are safe and relatively unharmed.”

“I’ll attest to that,” declared Don.

“Precisely, my sons,” declared Master Splinter. “Now, I suggest we all get some rest, as this has been a long day and I wish to assess your training in the morning.”

In the depths of Salazar Tower, Lord Voldemort sat, addressing rows upon rows of his assembled Death Eaters.

“I have called you here on short notice for a simple reason,” declared Voldemort. “As many of you know, I have been searching for a magical focus powerful enough to be able to perform the magic detailed in the scrolls that I have obtained from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

The Death Eaters nodded, illustrating that they understood.

“I am closer to my goal then ever before,” declared Voldemort with triumph. “Soon, the British Magical community will be in my grasp, as Lord Voldemort will rule over all in the center of the magical world. The Ministry will be my puppets more so then ever before and I will be able to conquer each magical government in the world one by one, until the entire Magical World is under the undisputed rule of Lord Voldemort!”

The Death Eaters cheered and a thin smile appeared on Voldemort’s face.

“We will be able to purge the world of Mudbloods, half bloods, blood traitors, mutants, and all else who dare to oppose the might of Lord Voldemort,” hissed Voldemort. “That moment looms ever closer, with this latest discovery.”

Voldemort reached the pocket of his robes, and removed a jagged piece of crystal, that nearly blinded all with its illuminated light.

“After extensive tests, I have no reason to doubt that I have a fragment of the fabled and legendary, Y’Liantian power crystals in my grasp,” hissed Voldemort. “My associates in South America brought this to me about a week ago and it is proof that these crystals are far from a mere myth.”

“My Lord, what do these crystals do exactly?” asked a Death Eater.

“Ah, Rookwood, ever the inquisitive one, but that’s to be expected since you worked in the Department of Mysteries,” declared Voldemort. “These crystals are said to be able to drain magic and give the wielder a greater amount of power, should they so desire. A larger fragment could absorb enough power to power a dwelling the size of Salazar Tower and allow it to propel towards any destination, ripping through even the most powerful magical defenses.”

Voldemort paused, as the Death Eaters muttered amongst themselves.

“To answer your question, yes I believe large enough fragments exist, it’s just a matter of locating them,” declared Voldemort. “My power is limitless with a large supply of Y’Liantian power crystals in my grasp. If I ever should desire, I could melt down the crystals and administer them as an antidote, to revert werewolves and vampires back to a human state.”

Voldemort let that remark sink it, it would be a useful bargaining chip to get the undisputed loyalty of many werewolves and vampires, if they believed Voldemort could return them to normal.

“Very well, that is all I require from you today,” hissed Voldemort. “You are excused.”

Without a word, many of the Death Eaters disapparated, to return to their activities, as Voldemort leaned back. He had his contacts in South America combing the area where the fragment was found extensively. Their estimates found that it might be up to a year before they would find anything, which fit into Voldemort’s timetable perfectly. There was no one anyone could stop Lord Voldemort when he had access to this kind of power.