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SIYE Time:9:58 on 29th March 2024
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Love Enough for Both
By Manwe Valarian

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Category: Alternate Universe
Characters:All
Genres: General
Warnings: Death, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Situations
Story is Complete
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 356
Summary: Harry heard a goblin speaking and he came out of temporary stupor. He was surrounded by witches and wizards all staring at him. The most shocking thing was he had his arms around someone. Who was she and how did they get here?
Hitcount: Story Total: 214762; Chapter Total: 3743
Awards: View Trophy Room




Author's Notes:
Voldemort strikes at the Order and shakes Harry's certainty of his protections. Amelia discovers that the battles in Britain have repercussions beyond Britain.




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“I tell you,” said Tonks with a sigh. “I am disappointed in you, cousin, and your quiet partner here. I always heard you were never afraid to have a little bit of adventure.”

“We have more important things to attend to like destroying Voldemort and protecting Harry,” said Sirius. “We are having a pint together. It just happens to be at the Manor.”

The four had returned to Potter Manor in Scotland instead of stopping at a local pub in Cardiff as Tonks had wanted.

“I don’t think Harry needs your help with his misses hanging about. They are quite a formable team.” Tonks countered. “Besides this place is too clean and lacks the atmosphere of a proper pub. If I am going to toss back a pint or two I would prefer some dark dodgy hole to this mansion. I feel like I should put on some formal gown and ask if the Lady of the House is present.” Tonks said the last bit with an exaggerated accent.

“Yes, I am,” Ginny said from behind them.

They had entered the great hall and was going towards the dining room. Sirius let out a barking laugh at Tonks’ obvious embarrassment. Remus also laughed at her reaction. She was standing there staring at Ginny with her mouth open and trying to form words. Kingsley was also laughing a low rumbling laugh.

“I didn’t mean no disrespect, Mrs. Potter,” Tonks finally said. “You have a fine home here and I appreciate you taking us in…,”

“Don’t apologize,” said Ginny “There is no need. I understand this place can be a little intimidating. Personally, I miss my parents’ home with its unusual construction and chickens and gnomes running around in the garden.”

“Help! Somebody help us!” screamed a raspy voice from outside of the manor.

Everyone seemed to freeze for a second to see if it was a prank, but more voices shouted for help accompanied by screams of agony. They all knew it was no joke.

Tonks took off running with everyone else behind her. Ginny shouted for the Madam Pomfrey who was in the process of transferring beds and healing supplies from France to the main ballroom, since they could not use International Portkeys.

When Tonks stepped through the front doors of the manor she stopped running. The sight was shocking. There were ten wizards bleeding on the ground. They had been part of Mad-eye’s attack team of twenty. They were planning on attacking the Ministry employees who would have investigated all the Portkeys landing in the one spot.

Kingsley running past her shook her out of her stupor. “Tonks, assess and start field first aid. It looks to be the results of some very dark curses.”

Kingsley went to the nearest person. “What is wrong with you?”

The man was shaking on the ground. The Portkey was being gripped so hard in his right hand that blood was dripping from his hand onto his robes. “Cruciatus Curse, it was B-Bella-trix.”

“I can’t help you. Sorry, I need to look after the others.”

“T-the others are d-d-dead.” He stammered out. “M-m-moody too. It-t was him. He showed up.”

Tonks was bending over an unconscious wizard with a strange bulge in his mid-section. She was going exam him, when she saw in a tear in his robes. He had been hit by an Entrail Expelling Charm.

“Out of my way let the professionals look at them,” shouted Madam Pomfrey. She and the Healer from St Mungo’s was descending the stairs with ten House Elves carrying a stretcher over one shoulder and a bag full of potions in the opposite hand.

At the top of the stairs stood Ginny Potter. She was gently holding her baby in her arms, but she had a look on her face that scared Tonks. It was the blazing look in her eyes that made her pretty face look so frightening.

“What happened here?” she demanded. “I thought this was a low risk mission.”

“Moody assembled a team of twenty fighters,” explained Remus. “He thought Voldemort would send out his usual team of ten to investigate the Portkeys. The plan was to attack, disable, break the wands of the Ministry team.”

“Excuse me, Mrs. Potter,” said one of the injured wizards. His arm was in a cast, but otherwise he looked fine. “My I speak?”

“Yes, you may. Do you know what happened?”

“Yes, everything went as planned. The ministry team appeared. We Stunned them all, and were getting ready to break their wands, when another thirty from the Ministry appeared, and He and Bellatrix was with them. They had us surrounded and we were all in the open. He killed Moody immediately, while Bellatrix was putting everyone she could under the Cruciatus Curse. We were lucky to get out alive. The others are….” He trailed off as he looked around at the others being Levitated into the manor on stretchers. “I am afraid that they are probably dead.”

“Who made the Portkeys and did they have a failsafe charm on them?”

“Failsafe Charm? I do not know. Ask Gabriel, he was the one that made them,” replied the injured wizard.

“Yes, a Failsafe Charm that if the wizard or witch dies, the Portkey will deactivate.”

Tonks felt a chill in her bones. “Could they use the Portkeys to come here?”

“I am not sure,” said Ginny. She turned to Remus and Sirius. “Where is Bill?”

“I think he is out collecting more refugees,” replied Sirius. “If there is a possibility that they can breach our wards with the Portkeys, then we need to….”

“Prepare to be attacked,” snapped Ginny. “I’ll get Harry.”

Tonks watched in amazement as Harry Potter appeared beside his wife. Someone grabbed her shoulder, she turned to see Kingsley staring at her. “Stand watch, if they Portkey in they will come in firing curses. I am going to grab some more fighters.”

In less than five minutes, Tonks’ world turned upside down. She went from trying to chat up that bashful Lupin, to possibly fighting Voldemort. Why didn’t anyone think that Moody’s plan would fail. Their plans had always been successful before, this time it may have doomed them all.

[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

Amelia Bones laid in a French Hospital. There were two guards outside in the hallway and two inside of her sterile white room staring at her. The wall to her left was glass so her niece and sister-in-law could see her. She was not sure, but she imagined there were guards outside of their door.

They had Apparated to the French Ministry in Paris with the assistance of the House Elf, Claude, that the Potters had assigned to them, which was trained in healing. When they arrived, the French Aurors had confiscated all their wands and were trying to arrest her. She was able to keep them from formally arresting her sister-in-law and niece, but they were still prisoners.

She requested to speak to her counterpart at the French Ministry, Baxter Brace. She had met him before at the International Confederation of Wizardry Law Enforcement seminars. He was a stern man, and he was fair. He will not do anything rash, until he heard her side of the story.

She was questioned, by some members of the French Aurors, as they removed the dressings on her wounds. The Healers assessed her injuries before treating them and redressing the wounds. The pain was agonizing, and it amazed her that they didn’t give her anything to dull the pain. Especially since it might also have the side effect of making it easier to interrogate her. After the Healers redressed all her wounds, they and the Aurors left without saying a word to her.

It had been two hours now long enough for Polyjuice to wear off. She needed the French and the other European nations to understand that Voldemort may have taken control of the British Ministry, but he doesn’t represent most of the British citizens. They do what he wants out of fear, not because they agree. The other Ministries needed to give them time to destroy Voldemort. If he is destroyed, then everything can go back to normal.

The door to her room opened. She was surprised to see Braxton leading two other men and a goblin carrying a bucket into the room. The goblin with the bucket confused her.

“As you can tell, I am not using Polyjuice Braxton,” she announced for them.

“I understand that, but you may also have changed your appearance by other means,” he replied rather stiffly. “This goblin from Gringotts will help to determine if you truly are Amelia Bones.”

Without announcing what was going to happen. The goblin stepped forward and threw the contents of the bucket on her. The clear liquid splashed in her face. It was a strange liquid. It looked like water, but it didn’t feel wet or soak her clothing.

“What was that for?” she demanded of Baxter.

“That was to cancel any Charms to change your appearance,” said Baxter as he looked towards the goblin. “You may go now.”

The goblin looked at Baxter with almost contempt. It than looked at her. “My grandfather has once again pledged the goblins to assist the Potter Family.” The goblin bowed and left the room. The other three wizards stared at it in amazement as it walked away.

“What was that about?” one of the wizards asked the crowd in general.

“The Goblins have pledged to back Harry Potter and the resistance fighting Voldemort and his regime,” she said sternly. “I came here today to convince the International that the recent actions by the British Ministry are the results of Voldemort and his followers. They overthrew the government and started waging war on anyone who does not support them.”

“That does not matter,” said Brace. “War has been declared by the British government upon the rest of the world.”

Amelia stared at him. What he said didn’t make any sense, unless Voldemort openly declared war when she hadn’t realized it. “Certainly, he would not declare open war so soon, when he still hasn’t completely taken control of Britain.”

“The actions of your government…,” the one wizard, who spoke with an Egyptian accent said, before she cut them off.

“His government, not mine. He and his followers attacked and killed Cornelius Fudge and disbanded the Wizengamot. He has since declared himself as the King of Magic. There are many of us who are trying to stop him. We were able to stop him from causing any further damage to the Muggle government.”

“How did you prevent him from further damaging the Muggle government?” asked Brace.

“We planted some operatives in the government. The Muggle Prime Minister knew of our existence. Our governments have communicated before. When Voldemort had overthrown our Ministry, we put the Muggle government on high alert. We were fortunate, because one of the high-ranking officers in their law enforcement is a Squib. He convinced their law enforcement to trust us. The Muggle police killed several of Voldemort’s attackers stopping their attacks on Parliament and the Muggle Prime Minister. The Queen and almost the entire Royal family is under our protection.”

“The British Queen is under your protection?” asked a wizard with a heavy Teutonic accent. “How can you do that?”

“We have a safe house. It is actually more like a fortress.”

“You are exposing the British Royal family to a magical safe house,” shouted the wizard with the heavy accent. “How many other laws are you going to break?”

“We have no choice. We will Obliviate them before returning them to society.”

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room. She looked from one wizard to another. What had she said that created that type of a reaction. “What is it?”

After several long drawn out seconds Braxton finally spoke. “It appears that our society has been permanently exposed. After the attack on British Parliament and the attacks on the airplanes, Muggles around the world started to remember things that had been Obliviated. You know that when you Obliviate someone, you do not wipe their memory, but you make that memory inaccessible. Thousands of those bonds have been broken. People all over the world, upon seeing the video footage of these attacks, suddenly remembered things that had been Obliviated.

“Our society has been exposed and we do not know how to restore things to where they were before this all happened. The fact that you must face is it all started in Britain. The entire magical world blames you and your fellow countrymen for allowing this to happen.”

Amelia was numb. She laid her head back onto the pillow and stared at the ceiling. All her life has been dedicated to Magical Law Enforcement. It was a two-pronged effort. One was the enforcing laws to protect magical brethren from each other. The other prong was to protect the Muggle society from learning of the magical one. She has failed on both counts.

“What are your plans?” asked Baxter.

Amelia heard him, but in her present state she wasn’t even sure the question was directed to her. She couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that the Magical Society might have been irrevocably exposed.

“Amelia,” said Baxter more firmly. “What are you planning to do about this?”

“We must first stop Voldemort. Nothing else matters if we do not eliminate him. We think we have neutralized most of his most faithful and dangerous supporters. If he is alive, he will constantly be recruiting wizards and witches to his cause through lies and Imperious Curses. If we don’t stop him, he will move someplace else and try again.”

“I thought he was destroyed once by this Harry Potter,” said the Egyptian. “How is it he is alive again. Where is Albus Dumbledore? Why haven’t we heard from him?”

“Albus is assumed dead,” she said slowly. “He was at Hogwarts when Voldemort’s followers started to attack it. Eye witnesses reported that the entire castle exploded with such force that no stone was left standing. The part about Voldemort is complicated.”

“We have time to listen, Amelia,” said Baxter.

Amelia remained silent again. She could hear Moody in her head barking out not to tell them about the Horcruxes. She agreed that she shouldn’t tell too many people, but she was in a tight spot here. She needed to convince the International community that the Order of the Phoenix was fighting the good fight. How could she convince them, if they don’t know the blackness of Voldemort’s fractured soul?

“Amelia, are you going to answer us?” Baxter asked again.

“There are certain things that can’t be shouted out for all to hear,” she said in reply. “Certainly Baxter, you would understand that.”

“Vat, you don’t trust us,” shouted the German wizard. “Ve are the ones that should not trust you. Look at the trouble you have caused all of us.”

“You say that the reason for Lord Voldemort’s return is something that you do not want to discuss to the public, but we are not the public,” said the Egyptian wizard. “We are all top magical law enforcement in our countries. You can discuss it with us.”

Amelia looked at the Egyptian and the German wizard and hesitated. She had been to several conferences and conventions dealing with magical law enforcement and she does not remember either one of these men. She looked at Baxter. She remembered him, but not the other two.

“You, the German,” she said sternly.

“My name if Klaus Viktor,” he snapped back at her.

“I don’t remember meeting you before. I remember a Karl Wentz as the head of magical law enforcement. What school did you attend as a child?”

“Herr Wentz retired, and what does it matter what school I attended?”

“You attended Durmstrang, didn’t you? That was the school that many Death Eaters stated was run better than Hogwarts, because it teaches its students about the Dark Arts.”

“You cannot defend what you do not know about,” Klaus snapped back angrily.

Amelia turned to Braxton. “I will tell you and only you. You can decide if others can be trusted with the information.”

The German erupted again and started shouting in his native tongue at her. She thought she recognized several swear words, but it didn’t matter. As Herr Viktor was shouting at her, she noticed the Egyptian starting to look at him differently. It took almost fifteen minutes to get the other two wizards out of the room. Klaus was almost ready to fire hexes at her, but Braxton and the Egyptian, named Achmed, subdued him.

When the door finally closed, Braxton looked at her. He was obviously upset by what just happened. “I hope what you have to tell my will justify what we just went through.”

“I don’t trust Klaus, Braxton. There is something about him that I don’t trust. Certainly, you must have noticed or felt it.”

“That does not matter. Tell me this big secret.” Braxton was irritated with her. It showed in his posture and his harsh voice.

“Voldemort created Horcruxes,” she said calmly.

Braxton stared blankly at her for a second or two and then recognition hit. “Horcrux! With one of those he wouldn’t have died earlier. You need to find it…,”

“We found five of them already and destroyed them,” she said cutting him off. “We think there is only one more, but we are having trouble finding it.”

Braxton worked his mouth like a fish for several seconds before words started to come. “You found five and destroyed them, and there is still another. How many did he make?”

“We believe six. Having seven separate pieces of his soul he felt stronger and more invincible.” She watched as Braxton sat down in a chair by the wall. He sat there for several minutes working things through.

“I now understand what you meant by if we do not destroy him, he will just appear somewhere else and start over again. I do not know who I can trust with this information. The world is at each other’s throat. It is rumored that many people in Germany and Eastern Europe agree with Voldemort. This could quickly turn into a world war. Voldemort seems to be wanting this because the day after the overthrow of your Ministry all government officials from different lands were sent home in boxes. It is difficult to tell who to trust anymore.”

“Trust Harry and Ginny Potter. Without them I would be dead and possibly most of the British Royal family along with its Prime Minister. The Potters are the ones keeping Voldemort from a sweeping victory.”

“Unfortunately, they are just children. The International…,” Braxton stopped talking as Amelia chuckled at his comment about being children. “What is so humorous?”

“The Potters are children. They look to be in their twenties, but they have the magical knowledge of someone who is our age. They have studied nonstop for three years. The took their NEWTs and scored Outstanding on twelve different disciplines. Their soul bond aged them to full a full-grown wizard and witch. They also have a child together. The Potters are definitely not children.”

“I only thought they were eleven or twelve years old,” Braxton said apologetically.

“They are only twelve and thirteen years old, but they are very mature for their age. The soul bond aged them to full physical maturity. It was the only way for them to contain the surge in their magical core.”

“Will they come before the International Confederation of Wizards?”

Amelia sighed. “No they sent me, because I really can’t fight. They also hoped that you would recognize me and allow me to speak.”

“I think I understand a little bit better,” said Braxton. “Now about all these Portkeys that have been arriving from Britain?”

Amelia sighed and rolled her eyes. They are going to have a hard time understanding why there are so many Portkeys flying to one spot and nobody being discovered the location. She had to convince them. If she can’t convince Braxton, whom she considered a friend, then she didn’t stand a chance against people who hated her or were skeptical.

“The Portkeys were us, the Order of the Phoenix,” she started. “The Potter’s have estates in various countries, and we used them as safe houses. We decided to stop using the estates as safe houses after hearing about your plans to send Aurors to the locations where the Portkeys land.”

Braxton sat there and didn’t respond. Amelia only hoped he was taking this news well.

“These Potters what do they want for all this help they are giving your country. Are you sure you are not trading one problem for another?”

Amelia laughed at him. “You have no clue about Harry and Ginny. If you would meet them on the street, you would have no idea how powerful or influential they are. If you think we are selling out our country to rid ourselves of Voldemort, you are barmy. If Harry or Ginny wanted to rule the country, I would vote for them.”

[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

The sun was setting at Potter Manor, and Harry was wondering why Voldemort hadn’t tried attacking. Several theories were going through his mind. The worst one was that he had captured several of Moody’s fighters alive and were torturing them for information. Another idea was, he was waiting until the middle of the night thinking they had given up on a possible attack.

The thoughts of people being tortured for information was sickening to Harry. The idea that Voldemort was waiting to attack though was the most disconcerting. They would need to keep people on guard until he does attack. It could be tonight, tomorrow afternoon or night, and it could be in a couple more weeks.

They had already set up a rotation of guards around the landing area. He was standing watch until about three in the morning. Ginny was feeding Xenon and they would soon lay down for a kip. He can easily stay awake until three. Ginny could then relieve him for several hours while he gets some sleep.

The area around the Portkeys’ landing zone was surrounded by standing stones. They were eight feet high, two feet thick, and three feet wide and were spaced with four feet between them. They had been spelled into place to put a physical barrier between their forces and the Ministry fighters when they appeared.

The question was when would they appear. Bill Weasley had returned with several refugees a few hours ago, it had taken him longer than expected to transport the most recent group of refugees in place. After consulting with him, it was determined that it may be possible to Portkey someone through the wards, if the Portkey had been made within the wards. The wards though should stop the incomers, but he wasn’t sure for how long. Harry didn’t want to take the chance that people could be killed before the wards stopped the attackers.

He hoped that Voldemort would attack with all his remaining inner circle members. It would be grand to defeat and hold them here permanently when they tried to kill him or one of his guests. It would make ending this war easier. They could hunt down the Horcrux after blocking Voldemort’s magic making him a squib.

There was nothing that Harry would want more than ending this war today without anyone else being hurt. It was possible that could happen. Harry had not mentioned that possibility to anyone else, except his own inner circle. Remus, Sirius, Bill and several others stared at him with the oddest expression on their faces. He wondered if they thought he was barmy or totally wrong. It was Remus’s comment that made him realize how major it would be to stop Voldemort.

“I don’t remember a day in my life when people everywhere didn’t fear him. Today could be the end to it all.”

The shadows from the standing stones stretched out across the garden up the front of the manor. Soon the sun would set. The sounds of night time were already upon them. Here in this section of Scotland the sun set very late. It was nearly 9:00 and the sun had not completely set in the distant Scottish land. Harry was going to light a fire on the middle of the circle of stones so they would can see who was appearing in the Portkey area.

There was a sudden thud. In the middle of the circle, the bodies of Moody and the nine other people, who had been captured and apparently murdered, appeared.

Harry stepped towards them but hesitated. People all around him started shouting and running towards the bodies. Sirius shout rang out over the noise.

“Stop, everyone! It may be a trap. Stop!”

People stopped moving forward. Harry was just inside of the ring of stones when he noticed all the corpses had been tied together to one Portkey. Reaching out with his magic he could only feel the Portkey among all the dark magic resonating from the bodies. Why would they do that? There is only one reason to save the rest of the Portkeys, Voldemort was going to try to attack them.

“There are still nine Portkeys left. Voldemort is going to attack us,” he shouted. He was going to keep yelling but people had already stopped moving forward. Twelve sorcerers stood in a perfect circle leaning forward with their wands extended pointing at large pile in the center of a ring of stones. The dead laid in such a haphazard manner that they almost appeared to be large pile of laundry.

An arm moved among the mass of bodies, then another, all the bodies started to move. Voldemort had turned them into Inferi. Harry hadn’t been focused on the magic of the Inferi back in the Horcrux cave, so he didn’t recognize it. He watched in horror as the animated bodies of Moody and other Order members started to fight against the light rope that bound them together. It will only take a minute for them to brake the rope and move towards the living Order members.

“Move behind the stones,” he shouted. A quick glance revealed that everyone had complied. Without even using his wand he created a ring of fire inside of the standing stones. He knew that the fire would contain the Inferi, but they wouldn’t stop them. Even though he knew they were all dead and no longer were the people who fought with him, he didn’t want to consume their bodies with fire.

Harry, you have no choice. It hurts me to think that they are now Inferi, but they are no longer fellow Order members.

Harry knew Ginny was right, but it still hurt him as he willed the fire to move inward and consume the Inferi. His mind was filled with remorse when the ground shook. Three distinct thuds accompanied the shaking ground. Three giants had appeared in the circle of stones. The circle wasn’t large enough for them. The first was knocked down by the arrival of the second and those two behemoths had been toppled by the third giant.

Harry stared up in horror as the first giant was falling towards him. His first instinct was to Apparate away, but he heard the screams of terror coming on both sides. He had already started to turn, but stopped. Feeling the monster almost on top of him, Harry flung his arms out to the side and pushed the two Order members as far away from the giants as possible. He hoped that he didn’t hurt them; trying to save them. He only had time to form his strongest Shield around him before the Giant landed on top of him. Its weight and the weight of the other two giants might be too much for Harry to block with a silent wandless Shield

It hit Harry’s Shield at the same time he felt Ginny’s reach out for him. There wasn’t even a tug on his navel as he would feel with a Portkey. One instant he had the weight of three giants falling on him and the next instant he is being held by Ginny in their bedroom suite.

“Too close for…” Ginny stopped talking as the giants hit the ground shaking the manor. “…for comfort,” she finished saying to him.

Harry almost laughed at her. “My Shield would have held,” he said haughtily.

Ginny raised an eyebrow at his cheeky attitude. An explosion of sound caused them both to look at their sitting room balcony. Harry recognized the back of Clyde Ferndock. Clyde seemed to be firing a Muggle weapon, but it was much larger and louder than any he had ever seen.

“He found it in one of bunkers. He called it a heavy gun?” She turned to walk towards the balcony.

Harry felt guilty, he had briefly forgotten about the giants when he was so near Ginny. He hurried to the balcony to see what was needed. The balcony was only about twenty feet away. Clyde’s heavy gun roared endlessly as fire flew out of the barrel. He was moving it around pointing it below him. Harry stepped out onto the balcony first. He hadn’t heard the empty shells hitting the balcony floor. He stepped on a small pile of shells. The shell casings rolled under his foot. His face was going to collide with the marble handrail, until a small but strong hand grabbed the back of his dragon hide cape.

That is twice that I have saved you.

Harry smiled as he regained his footing. My Shield would have held.

“Harry, did you happen to notice what part of the giant was going to fall on you. Shield or no Shield, you would have had to shower three times a day for a week before I would kiss you.

Harry laughed at her comment. Unfortunately, Clyde stopped firing his weapon at that second, so his laugh seemed to ring through silence.

“Your family know their weapons Harry,” shouted Clyde. He had ear protection covering his ears, and twisted smile. “Fifty caliber armor piercing machine gun.” He slapped the weapon proudly. “It went through the giants hide until they started turning to stone.”

Harry looked down at the ground. Laying below the balcony were three stone giants. They hadn’t moved very far from the circle, but they were so large that they caused extensive damage. The first giant had fallen towards the manor, where he had been. The second one had fallen to the left but its feet were still in the circle. It extended out another twenty feet. The third one appeared to have made two steps towards the refugee tents. It hadn’t reached the tents, before it had turned to stone. It was still upright with a small tree trunk in it hand as a club.

Three things quickly appeared over the body of the first giant. They had appeared and ran off into different directions. Voldemort was going to use Dark Creatures to attack them. Harry only had a split second to recognize the creatures, Manticores.

He and Ginny went after two of them. They would have to let other people deal with the third creature. Harry felt guilty, but Manticores are fast moving killers that are practically impervious to magic.

If we tie them up, said Ginny.

They will quickly turn to stone. Harry finished for her.

Harry appeared in front of the manticore that was heading for the refugee tents. It dug its four legs into the ground, arched its back and roared like a lion from its human mouth. It almost appeared scared. He had no time to think about the state of the manticore’s mind.

A magical rope appeared around the manticore’s tail. It started winding itself around the tail and then the body in the second that the manticore gave him. Harry was doing this all silently. He hadn’t even raised a wand. He needed another second or two to finish casting these magical bindings before he pulls them tight around the manticore.

Two seconds was too long for a manticore to wait on its prey. It went to snap its tail at Harry, but it got tangled up in the magical ropes. Harry tried to pull the ropes tight, but the manticore had almost escaped them. Its tail was tied to its back, but its left front leg was free and the back one was only partially tied.

Harry used his wand to hit the manticore with his strongest Stunner. It fell to the ground with a crash as if its scales were made of steel. He quickly finished tying it up. It was secure and hopefully it will turn into stone before it can break free. He looked around for the third Manticore.

You didn’t Stun it first?

He smiled at her comment. His smile quickly faded as the sounds of the third Manticore reached him. There was some one screaming and several others firing spells at it. He turned to run towards the fight. There was a stone giant laying on the ground between him and the other Manticore. He apparated to the top of it to see what was happening.

Ginny appeared beside him. They simultaneously gasped at the dire situation. The manticore was facing down Bill and Remus. Even at this distance, Harry could easily make them out. They were standing between it and several other people. They were using their dragonhide cloaks to protect them from the deadly stinger while still firing spells at the creature. The spells seemed to bounce off the manticore and only made it angrier.

With a roar, it shot its stinger forward stabbing Bill’s cloak. The force of the blow sent Bill to the ground. Remus stepped between Bill and the manticore. The creature struck out again with its stinger. Remus had moved to block the stinger with his cloak, but he was off balance and went to the ground sprawled out beside Bill.

Ginny and he reacted as one. They both Apparated to different spots. She appeared in front of the manticore with her cloak raised to block the stinger from killing her brother or Remus.

Harry appeared behind it. He didn’t remember Summoning the Sword of Gryffindor, but it was out of his boot and in his hand. Swinging the sword with all his might he brought it down on the tail of the monster. The jolt of the blade colliding with its harden skin shot through his arm and shoulder, but the blade was sharp enough to cleave the tail of the manticore off.

It screamed in pain with a horrible mix of a human’s scream and lion’s roar. It turned to attack Harry, but magical ropes appeared and stopped it from clawing him. Harry pulled his wand with his left hand and Stunned the creature. It slumped to the ground, so Ginny could finish binding it.

Harry stared over the body of the nightmarish creature and saw Ginny smiling back at him. She had a slight smile on her face and a playful look in her eyes.

Later, she said in his mind. People need our help.

“How many of these things did Voldemort send?” asked Bill.

Harry looked away from his wife, to see the destruction around him. Bill had a haggard look on his face. Remus was standing up beside Bill with and even more dour expression.

“Three,” said Ginny. “Harry and I bound up the other two. They should be turning to stone soon.”

“I don’t know, Ginny,” said Bill. “This one had plenty of time for it to turn, but it is still alive. If they are bound and safe, we can sort this out. We should see if anyone needs our help.”

“Yes, I agree,” Harry said. He put the Sword of Gryffindor back and turned to see how much damage had been done. He had been so concerned about what Voldemort was sending them, that he hadn’t paid attention to see if anyone had been hurt. The sounds of people crying out in pain came to him. Had it been there the entire time and he hadn’t noticed it?

He saw the medical House Elves moving around assisting people. There were several people being Levitated onto stretchers and moved inside. Voldemort’s attack made him realize that they were not safe even in here. He had started to wonder if they could just go on hiding in here and pick off Voldemort’s forces in small skirmishes.

A tall stately figure strode across the field of battle towards him. Minerva McGonagall looked slightly disheveled as her hair wasn’t pulled back into the tight bun, he was accustomed to seeing.

“Mr. Potter,” she said primly. “The medical staff is gathering up the wounded. We should start cleaning this up. If you would like, I can oversee the cleanup of the grounds.” She stopped talking and looked at the manticore. “Is it dead?”

“No, we were hoping the wards would turn them to stone like the giants, but it hasn’t happened yet.”

“Yes, the giants what are we to do with them?”

“I guess we could put them in the garden as decorations. I’ve seen Muggles with stone statues in their gardens.”

Minerva turned to look at him. He wasn’t sure but he thought she smiled at him. It was quick and brief smile. “I am sure your father would have done the same.” Any hint of humor quickly left her face. “The Inferi,” she said somewhere between a question and a statement.

“They are going to need to be burned. I mean cremated.” He quickly corrected himself. There may be some relatives of the Inferi within listening distance. He didn’t want to be insensitive.

A wave a grief washed over Harry. Ginny was in shock at finding someone. She needed him. Ignoring Minerva McGonagall he ran to find his wife. She was staring at the ground beside a giant that they had moved. Remus was on his knees staring at the same spot on the ground. Bill was walking over to Ginny. He knew who it was before he even reached them. Sirius was dead.

Harry ran up and pulled Ginny into his arms. He went to look down at Sirius, but he couldn’t see much because his vision was bleary. Tears were welling up in his eyes. In one day, he had lost two people who he had considered confidants. Sirius was so much more. He was a connection to his parents. A person that his father had told him in a memory to trust above all others, and now he was dead.

His grief for the death of Sirius was mixing with Ginny’s grief and it appeared to be magnifying their emotions. Ginny loved Sirius as if he had been one of her own brothers. He had treated her with the greatest of respect. When he came to train them, he would often call them Lily and James. Ginny had enjoyed that. She had grown up hearing about how beautiful and courageous his Mum was. It was a compliment to be mistaken for her by one of her closest friends.

Harry gently kissed Ginny on the forehead as he held her to his chest.

“He helped me when I was missing Fred and George,” she said, so all around them could hear. “When I would get sad, he would always pull some prank on me and make me laugh.”

“Don’t be sad, Harry, Ginny,” said Remus. “You got him out of Azkaban. You helped him capture the real traitor, Wormtail.” Remus went silent.

Harry didn’t need a connection with Remus to understand what he just realized. Wormtail would probably be free now that Voldemort had control of the Ministry.

“All he wanted to do was protect you, Harry. He felt he owed your father a life debt. If James hadn’t taken him in after he left home at sixteen, Sirius might not have survived. Bella was still free and had a grudge against all those in her family didn’t worship Voldemort.”

Remus stood up and turned away from Sirius’ broken body. “Azkaban took a toll on him. I knew he wasn’t the same. I could tell when he had nightmares and didn’t get any sleep. We both hoped that the nightmares would go away with time. It had been three years and no improvement.”


Remus stared at Harry and Ginny with sad eyes. He laid a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “I didn’t want him to die. Please! Understand I wanted him to live for years and die and old man, but I think he knew what his last days would be like. Almost ten years in Azkaban, that much time started to break him mentally. I have a request. Can we bury him close to your parents?”

Harry had blink back tears at Remus’s request. He was also ashamed that he didn’t realize how bad Sirius’s condition was. “Sure, we will take him there.”

“Harry!” shouted Bill. “The manticores are still alive!”

Everyone snapped out of their sadness over Sirius’s death. Harry was furthered twisted up with grief and guilt. He never realized that Sirius was so bad and they lived in the same manor together for the past three years. He forced his emotions to get under control. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled slowly releasing his emotions.

Bill was smiling and shaking his head. “You two just inhaled and exhaled the exact same way. I hope you have your wits about you. I have no idea why the manticores are not turning into stone? They have been trying to kill members and friends of the Potter family.”

“We are going to need to kill it. We can discuss why the wards failed, later.” Harry positioned his hand to receive the summoned Sword of Gryffindor. It flew out of his boot with the handle sliding into his hand.

“Harry stop!” demanded Ginny. “You cannot kill it!”

Harry stared at her. In the split second that their eyes locked, they seemed to have an entire conversation. Ginny reminding him that the Elves were forbidden to take another creatures life. Harry turned and gave the sword to Bill.

“You are a true Gryffindor,” Harry said as he handed Bill the sword. “Do you mind taking out all three?”

A look of pride showed in Bill’s face as he held the ancient sword. “Let’s sort this, out.”

Stepping up to the side of the beast. Bill squared himself up with its chest. Pulling his arm back, Bill thrust the point of the sword into the beast’s chest. It screamed in pain for barely a second before collapsing dead on the ground.

“Let’s get the other two, before they break free.” Bill turned to run to the other manticores.

“Harry,” shouted Remus. “You two did good. We took on ten Inferi, three giants, and three manticores. There should have been many more dead and injured.”

Harry took off after Bill. He seemed anxious to use the sword again. He had Ginny were running a few paces behind Bill. How could Remus be so cheerful? His best friend was dead. Bill had to quickly change directions to avoid people moving around. There were at least ten people on each stone giant trying to Levitate it.

Harry told them to run to the manticore that he had tied up. As they approached it, Harry noticed all the refugees staring at the manticore. There were many that he guessed were Muggles because of their reactions to seeing it. They seemed to be repulsed at its grotesque human face on the body of a lion. The magical people were terrified of the beast.

Bill didn’t waste time killing the creature. He walked up to it, even though it was working out of its restraints. He stabbed the beast in its heart killing it instantly.

“You are getting rather good at that,” said Ginny.

“You wanted to fly with the Harpies,” said Bill. “I always wanted to be like Godric and slay fell beasts with his sword.”

Series of human screams were quickly drowned out by the horrific snarl coming from the last manticore.

“It might be getting free,” shouted Ginny. “Come with me.”

She grabbed their arms and Apparated them close to the last manticore. It was nearly out of its magical ropes. There were ropes all around the beast, but it had freed it legs and was working to free its deadly tail.

Bill ran headlong at the beast with the sword raised. Ginny and Harry panicked at the same time. Harry sent new magical bonds around its tail, while Ginny tied its legs together. Bill never slowed down. He ran up to it side and drove the sword into its heart. It died with a terrifying roar of pain.

“You bloody idiot!” Ginny screamed at him. “We had to cast all types of spells to keep it from killing you.”

“I knew you two would protect me,” Bill said with a smile. He cleaned to sword off with grass and dirt.

“Here you are Harry.” Bill handed Harry back the sword. “Remus was right. Three manticores in one spot, it should have been a great deal worse than it was.”

Harry nodded at Bill, but didn’t reply. He was still in shock from Voldemort being able to break through these wards. Were they safe here? Why didn’t the wards work to stop the manticores? They should have turned to stone like the giants. They stopped this attack, but what if Voldemort solved his blood wards. The one thing that Harry will not do is underestimate Voldemort’s intelligence and cunning.

Relax, Harry, we survived. Voldemort didn’t figure out our wards, or he would have sent ten manticores.

Where would he find ten manticores?

“If the two of you are done with your conversation, we have another situation over there,” said Bill. “The giants have been moved and now people are looking for their dead loved ones among the Inferi.”

People were walking around looking at the bodies of the Inferi. Harry had started to burn them, since that was the only way to truly stop them. He never finished destroying them with fire. It was possible that the corpses could start attacking their loved ones. Clyde was looking among them searching for his Uncle.

The unmistakable outline of Professor McGonagall talking to the people looking for their loved ones. Even from their distance, they could tell the Professor was ordering them to get away. One of the loved ones let out a scream and started jumping around.

Harry, Ginny, and Bill Apparated beside Professor McGonagall. She was surprised at their sudden appearance at first, but quickly relaxed and smiled at them. The Inferi were moving or their body parts were moving. An arm had grabbed onto the woman. It didn’t have a body attached to it, but it was still moving and searching for victims.

The other people started running away from the Inferi. Harry looked at them on the ground. All of them had been damaged by the giants, but most could still move their arms or legs. Alastor’s body had been smashed on the left side. His Inferi could move its right arm and leg. It was trying to stand up. All the Inferi that still had functioning legs were trying to stand up.

“We can’t burn them in front of their families and loved ones,” whispered Professor McGonagall. “They may not be living beings anymore, but they are all these loved ones have left.”

“We need to stop these soulless…,” Bill said. He stopped talking as he looked deep in thought.

“Duro,” shouted Bill. He cast a spell at one of the Inferi that was standing up. It froze when the spell contacted it. Slowly, it turned to stone.

“Excellent Professor Weasley,” said Professor McGonagall. “That should stop them.”

The four of them quickly started turning the Inferi body parts to stone. After ten minutes of constant spell casting all the Inferi were twisted stone figures. It was a sad thing to see, but they couldn’t hurt people this way. Their families were once again sorting through them trying to find their loved ones among the scattered remains.

“I do not know how long that spell will last. It may wear off in a day or two months,” said Bill in a whisper. “We still need to burn the bodies.”

“We can’t allow them to bury the Inferi,” whispered Ginny. “How can we tell them the threat is not over?”

“We will need to inform them that they can have a burial service, but the bodies must still be burnt,” said Professor McGonagall sternly. “I shall do that.”

The three of them watched the stern Professor walk towards the gathered families as they looked for their loved ones among the stone Inferi. Night had fallen completely so many of them were using their wands for illumination. The area was dimly lit from the glow from the manor’s windows.

“The reason why your wards didn’t work on the manticores was the same reason they didn’t work on the Inferi,” said Bill. He turned towards them so the family members couldn’t hear him. “They didn’t have souls. Without souls, there is no intent or evil thoughts and desires to kill. The blood wards of this manor are activated by the evil intent in one’s minds. The giants have a soul and wanted to harm someone to kill them. Manticores and the Inferi just kill without any thought.”

“Do you think Voldemort has figured that out?” Harry asked him.

“If he had, he would haven’t bothered with the giants,” said Bill. “I think we should be safe.”

“It doesn’t matter at this point, we are not safe here,” said Harry. “I thought we would be safe here. That Voldemort couldn’t touch us inside this sanctuary, but that isn’t true. I think we need to take care of our dead and wounded before we figure out a way to attack him to draw him out of the Ministry. He came out to attack this party, so maybe we can figure something out….”

“Harry, Ginny come look at this,” shouted Professor McGonagall. She was looking at something on the ground. It was in the center of the area where the Inferi had been laying. Most of the body parts had been removed in the short time that they spoke. Whatever was on the ground Professor McGonagall was walking around as though she was trying to avoid something.

Harry looked at Ginny and the stepped towards the Professor together. They were still five or ten feet away when she held up her hand.

“Don’t let it see you,” she said and motioned them to walk to her.

They walked a wide arc towards her. They were almost at her when she quickly moved towards them.

“It is moving,” she said as she motioned for them to go back the way they came.

“What is moving?” asked Harry.

“It’s Alastor’s magical eye,” she said, as she pushed Harry to move faster.

“He is dead,” said Harry. How could it be…,” He suddenly realized how the eye could be moving. Voldemort was spying on him.

A wave of anger coming from Ginny slammed into his mind. He suddenly knew what she wanted to do and it was brilliant. “Professor, we will take care of this,” He said calmly to her. “You will need to step back.”

Harry and Ginny stepped forward to the magical eye. It had spun around so it was not focused on them. It had been pushed into the ground from the giants falling on it. It was spinning around trying to see what damage had been done. It sickened Harry to think that Voldemort had used Alastor’s eye in such a manner.

Ginny stepped toward the eye. Her wand was in her hand but hidden behind her leg. Harry was beside her holding her hand. They were calling on all their magical power. The eye had not turned towards them. Harry focused on the ground surrounding them. A wall of dirt rose ten feet high encircling them. The eye must have noticed the barrier wall because it started to spin again. It spun until it was focused on them. Ginny leaned forward as though she was getting a closer look at the eye. The eye seemed fixed on her face. He knew the second she pulled her wand out from hiding. He closed his eyes as she cast her spell.

“SOL MAXIMA,” she shouted.

Harry saw the flash of light through his closed eyelids. His face felt sunburned from the blast of magical sunlight. He opened his eyes and it took a couple of seconds for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. The magical eye was just a small puddle of molten glass. The grass around it was burnt along with the dry cracked ground surrounding it.

“I hope he felt that and it burnt a hole through that sick mind of his,” hissed Ginny.

Harry looked at her. Her face was burnt and blistered. Her hair around her face looked a couple of shades lighter.

“You can drop the barrier now,” she said to him.

He complied and found the barrier to be surrounded by Order members and refugees. People were coming out of the tents and the manor house. They filled the area around the battle. He knew that the manor was a temporary home for over a thousand people, but he had not realized how many people were truly there until he looked out over them.

I am going up to Xenon. Talk to them tell them we are planning on going after Voldemort.

Harry watched Ginny disappear. He turned to the people. They were all looking at him waiting for him to say something. He had to be strong and certain for them. They had to believe he could defeat Voldemort.

[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

Rookwood was hurrying through the Ministry. He had one objective on his mind. He needed to get out of here and out of Britain as soon as possible. When he took up with the Dark Lord all those years ago, it wasn’t just his ideology that drew him to the Dark Lord. It was his power. He had never met a more powerful wizard, except for Dumbledore. Even Dumbledore could not defeat the Dark Lord, they usually finished in a draw when they battled.

The Potters were different. Every time the Dark Lord faced them, he came away damaged. The only time you could say he had hurt them was when the Ministry fell. Everyone thought Harry Potter was dead, but he obviously wasn’t.

This last encounter was the most disturbing. The Dark Lord was using the Auror Moody’s magical eye to spy on the Order’s safe house. It appeared to go well until he screamed and flames erupted from his right eye. Bellatrix had ordered everyone out of the throne room, while the Dark Lord writhed on the floor in pain.

It was obvious that the Dark Lord, or the self-proclaimed King of Magic, was going to lose this war. He didn’t want to go back to Azkaban. He needed to find some place safe to hide far away from Britain.
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