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SIYE Time:4:54 on 29th March 2024
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Paintball Wizard
By cackling stump

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Category: Alternate Universe
Characters:All
Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Romance, Tragedy
Warnings: Death
Story is Complete
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 319
Summary: The life of a typical American teenager (okay, maybe not so typical) is shaken by tragedy. Then he discovers a new world awaiting him, filled with new people, new struggles, and, perhaps, new love.
Hitcount: Story Total: 256035; Chapter Total: 4134
Awards: View Trophy Room




Author's Notes:
I had originally plotted the events of this day in one chapter, but as I was writing, it grew and grew, so it is now split into two. Thanks again to Arnel for all of her help; it's amazing how many times I can make the same mistakes, but she keeps correcting them without getting frustrated with me. At least as far as I know. ;)




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Interrogations, Part I

The rest of the Christmas holidays were much more sombre than the previous year. Decorations were hung, the tree was trimmed, complete with the ornaments the Roberts had sent last year, and presents were exchanged, but it was obvious that everyone’s hearts were not in it. Bill, understandably, was quiet and withdrawn, and Cat was the only one who could make him smile. But, inevitably, she would eventually ask for Mama, and he would run from the room, leaving a very confused and upset little girl. For whatever reason, she seemed to respond best to Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny when she was in one of these states, so, the couple spent a lot of time taking care of their niece.

A few days before Ginny had to return to school, Harry had just put Cat down for her nap when he noticed that Bill and Ginny were having a talk in her room. He was about to continue down the stairs when he heard Bill call out. “Harry, please come in. This concerns you, too.”

Harry turned and sat down next to Ginny on their bed. Both the bed and the room had been magically expanded to allow the couple to stay there over the holidays. Bill was seated on a chair, his elbows leaning on his knees as he stared at the floor. When Bill didn’t say anything, Harry asked, What’s up?

I don’t know. He just said he wanted to talk to us, but not what it was about.

Harry cleared his throat after a few more moments of silence. Bill looked up, revealing eyes that were rimmed in red and there was some colour in his cheeks. “Sorry. I wasn’t sure how to start this, but I’ll just jump in. First, I want to thank you for all the two of you have done to help me out these last few weeks. Ginny, I’ve cried on your shoulder more than a few times. Harry, you are so wonderful with Cat. I know I’ve been neglecting her and you are helping to fill that void.” His eyes moistened a little as he smiled at his brother-in-law. “This morning when she woke up, she was calling for her ‘Unca’ ‘Awwy.’ She really loves you.”

He paused and swallowed before restarting. “Fleur and I were going to ask you this over the Holidays. As a matter of fact, before you ‘died,’ we were going to ask you this summer. Fleur and I decided to ask the two of you to be Cat’s godparents, to raise her if we, or now I, die. These past few weeks have just confirmed what we believed, that the two of you are going to be great parents, and we can’t think of anyone we would rather have raise Cat if we weren’t around.” He sniffed and wiped at the tears that were streaming down his face with his sleeve.

Ginny used a handkerchief to wipe at her own tears. “We’re flattered that you would choose us for this responsibility. We’d love to be Cat’s godparents. Wouldn’t we, Harry?”

Harry was a little more hesitant. “I am flattered, too, but have you thought this through, Bill? I love Cat, and would not hesitate to take care of her if we were able, but that’s the stumbling block. Will we be able to? I know you remember the prophecy. It says that either Voldemort dies or I do. And if I die, then Ginny does, too, because of our Bond. What happens if I fail and Voldemort wins?” Harry dropped his head and his voice fell to almost a whisper. “Maybe someone else, like Percy and Audrey, would be a safer choice.” Ginny reached over and squeezed his hand, feeling the pain that he felt in turning down Bill’s request.

“Harry, look at me,” said Bill. When Harry raised his face, Bill continued. “Fleur and I did consider the prophecy in this decision. I’ve seen you develop over the last year. I’ve been on missions with you. I’ve seen the magic you and Ginny can do together. I have no doubts, whatsoever, that you will defeat the bastard that took my wife from me and Cat’s mum from her. As a matter of fact, I’m counting on it. That is why I want you to be Cat’s godparents, because I know that the two of you, once you banish Ol’ Snake-Face from the face of this earth, will have a long, love-filled life together, and I couldn’t ask for a better couple for Cat to live with.”

Harry sighed and blinked back the tears that threatened to come. “Thanks for that vote of support, Bill.” He looked over to Ginny and raised his eyebrows questioningly. Do you want to do this? When she nodded, Harry squeezed her hand, and turned back to Bill. “Bill, we would be honoured to be Cat’s godparents.”

Ginny stood up and pulled her brother into a hug. When she released him, Harry held out his hand to Bill, which Bill grasped, but he pulled the younger man into a hug as well. “We’re family now, Potter, in more ways than one.” After a few pats on the back, Bill whispered in Harry’s ear, “Thank you.”

Harry and Ginny started to leave the room when Bill stopped them. “I have something else I want to discuss with you. Please, have a seat.”

After they had sat down again, both Harry and Ginny noticed Bill’s face change, as if a shadow crossed over it. His jaw was set, his brow furrowed, and they could see the tension throughout his body. Is he angry? thought Harry.

I don’t know, responded Ginny. I’ve never seen him like this.

Bill took a deep breath, staring at the floor, and said, “I don’t know how I’m going to get through this, life without Fleur, but my thoughts are consumed with wanting to take him down.” His fists clenched and relaxed several times before he continued. “I know I can’t, that it has to be you, Harry, but I want to do everything that I can to help you defeat him.

“On that topic, it’s wonderful that you now have the Staff, but what I am confused about is why you are having so much trouble with the spell to remove his soul from it. Hermione has been a little vague in Order meetings, which I understand, since everyone doesn’t know all the details about it, especially that Harry is alive. She just keeps saying that she is working on it, but I guess most of us that do know about Harry had just assumed that as soon as you found the soul container you would perform the spell and be done with it. But it seems like you’re taking forever. Why are you delaying? This could all have been over weeks ago.”

Noticing the look of guilt on Ginny and Harry’s face, he quickly added, “Don’t take that the wrong way; I don’t blame you for Fleur’s death. I lay that all at Voldemort’s feet. But you three are all still teenagers. Can you show me what problems you are having? Maybe I can help. Perhaps I can look at the instructions in the book. After all, runes and curse-breaking are sort of my specialties,” he said with a smirk.

Ginny and Harry looked at each other, gobsmacked. “Why didn’t we think of that?” asked Harry.

Ginny smirked. “Maybe because our standard reaction to something we don't know is to say, 'Let's ask Hermione. She'll know. And if she doesn't, she'll research it and figure it out.' We’ve always relied on Hermione to know everything. It’s easy to forget that she only finished school six months ago,” she suggested.

“Bill, we really appreciate your offer,” said Harry. “Perhaps you can meet with Hermione and us the first Saturday after school starts.”

“Why not start now?” asked Bill.

“Hermione has the original book and scrolls and scrolls of notes, and I think she keeps them at the Department of Mysteries. And you know that she’s unavailable currently,” said Ginny.

“Yeah, she’s off skiing in France with her parents and Ron on a post-Christmas holiday.” Bill chuckled. “Ron certainly was terrified of going. He’s never spent much time with his in-laws-to-be, not to mention he’s never been skiing. I hope he comes back with all of his bones intact.”

“They aren’t returning until after I go back to school. We already scheduled some time with her that Saturday in the Room of Requirement,” explained Ginny.

“The Room of Requirement?” asked Bill.

Ginny smiled. “That’s right, you never found that place in your years at Hogwarts. It’s a magical room that you can ask to be just about anything you want it to be. It’s a secure place where Harry can come and train. One of the traits of the magic of the room is that it won’t allow anyone in except people that the person who configured the room allows. So, no one can come in if we’re using it unless we let them.”

“It can be anything you want?” asked Bill.

“Yep,” said Harry. “Quite useful.”

“I can imagine,” said Bill, obviously thinking of various uses. “There are just so many possibilities.” His eyes narrowed as he added, “You two haven’t been taking advantage of this room to be alone, have you?”

Ginny laughed. “Bill, we are married, you know. And I live in the Head Girl suite with permission for Harry to visit me every night. We don’t exactly need to use the Room of Requirement for couple time anymore.”

“Anymore?” he asked with an eyebrow raised.

Ginny’s face turned beet red. “Well, we did use it occasionally last year,” Ginny said sheepishly.

“But we didn’t do anything inappropriate,” Harry added quickly. “Remember that the one way to sever our Bond was to have premarital sex. We behaved, wizard’s oath,” he said, raising his right hand.

Bill grinned. “Just taking the mickey out on you. I trust the two of you. Remember what we were talking about earlier?”

Ginny and Harry relaxed and chuckled.

**********

Ginny was finishing dinner on her first night back at school when Professor McGonagall approached her. “Miss Weasley, I require your presence in my office this evening at eight. Please ask Mr Cadwallader to accompany us.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” As the Headmistress left, Ginny arose and gave Alistair the message before heading back to the Gryffindor common room to compare notes on the Holidays with some of her friends. At the appointed time, she met Alistair at the gargoyle and gave the password, “Jim Hawkins,” a character from a book written by the Headmistress’ favourite Scottish author. They rode the circular staircase up to her office and, finding the door already open, they entered.

Professor McGonagall looked up from some parchment on her desk when they arrived and smiled. “Excellent. Punctual as usual,” she said. “Please have a seat.” She waved her hand in the direction of the chairs in front of her desk while she walked around it and took her usual chair across from them. When they were all seated, she leaned forward to address them. “The three of us have been asked to go to the Ministry tomorrow to testify before the Wizengamot. The Death Eaters who were captured when they attacked the school this fall are finally going to trial. Apparently, they would like our accounts of the day.” Ginny’s heart began to beat harder as her nerves started to get the better of her. She looked over to Alistair and noted that he looked a little pale as well. Professor McGonagall must have noticed this too, since she smiled gently and added, “There is nothing to worry about. Just be honest and tell the truth and you will be fine. The Death Eaters are the ones who should be nervous, not you. I have full faith that the two of you will represent Hogwarts well.”

She arose from her chair. “We will meet here after breakfast and travel via the Floo Network to the Ministry. Wear your nicest school robes. Now, back to your rooms; I want both of you to be well rested in the morning.”

A while later, as they cuddled in bed that night, Harry shared his memories from his trial and tried to reassure Ginny. “You’ll do great. I’m sure the Professor will be with you the whole time. Besides, it’s not like you’re on trial.”

“I know; you’re right. I just need to calm down and put it out of my mind.”

“Can I suggest something to distract you?” asked Harry as he waved his hand, dimming the lights in her room, before pulling her body toward his.

**********

Ginny stepped out of the Floo into the Ministry Atrium first. She quickly moved out of the way and used a cleaning charm to remove the soot off of her robes. Alistair and Professor McGonagall followed soon after, and the trio walked to the Security Desk, which was manned by a small man with a five o’clock shadow who was wearing peacock blue robes.

“Good morning, Mr Munch,” said the professor.

The man looked startled to see a former teacher. “G-good morning, Professor. Wands, please,” he said.

Alistair looked uncomfortable as to what to do, so Ginny asked in a whisper, “Have you ever been to the Ministry before?” When he shook his head, she explained while Professor McGonagall went through the screening first. “That’s alright; I’ve been here plenty visiting my dad. These are just some security measures. First, they check your wand in that device,” she explained, indicating a brass instrument on which the professor was laying her wand. The apparatus printed out a slip of parchment that read, ‘Fir, nine and a half inches, dragon heartstring core, in use since 1947.’ “Then, they use a Probity Probe,” Ginny continued as the guard was waving what looked like a four-foot long gold wand around the Professor, “to make sure you are not using any concealment spells or carrying any Dark objects. It’s all painless,” she smiled reassuringly. Once he understood, Alistair submitted to the protocol while Ginny went last.

They then took the lifts down to level ten. When they walked into the corridor, they found that an Auror was waiting for them. “Professor McGonagall,” he said as he reached out a hand to her, “it’s good to see you again. It has been a long time.”

“It has indeed been a long time, Mr Proudfoot. I don’t think I have seen you since you finished Hogwarts in 1972. Are your Transfiguration skills any better than they were in school? I remember that I was actually quite surprised that you received the required ‘Exceeds Expectations’ on your N.E.W.T.s.”

The Auror became quite pale at the comment from his former teacher and sputtered, “Y-yes, Ma’am, I have w-worked on them considerably over the last twenty years.”

“I am pleased to hear that, Mr Proudfoot. Just be sure to keep up your efforts.”

“Yes, Ma’am. I will.” He stood up straighter and gathered himself. “Anyway, are these the two students who are testifying with you today? I was told to escort you to a holding area near the courtroom.”

Professor McGonagall gave him a short nod and said, “Then you should take us there. After you, Mr Proudfoot.”

The Auror turned quickly and began walking down the corridor. Ginny, next to Professor McGonagall, noticed a small smirk on the Headmistress’ face as they followed the Auror. The professor leaned down and whispered in Ginny’s ear, “I never did like his attitude in class,” she said with a wink.

They were shown to a small, dark room with no decoration or adornments and wooden benches lined the three walls opposite the door. Just inside the door, a tall, thin man was seated in a chair. “Please have a seat. The guard,” indicating the man in the chair with a wave of his hand, “will bring you to the courtroom when they are ready for you,” said Proudfoot as he left, closing the door behind him.

“Is this normal procedure, Professor McGonagall?” asked Ginny.

“Silence!” ordered the guard. “Witnesses are not allowed to confer while waiting to testify.”

The Headmistress shook her head subtly, and Ginny received the message: this was not normal.

A few minutes later, a paper airplane flew through a slot in the door. The guard opened the message and stood. “Miss Weasley, you are up first. Please follow me.”

Ginny did as she was told and she was led through a door into a courtroom. Just inside the doorway, the guard stopped her. Ginny looked around the room, which appeared just as it had in Harry’s memories. The only difference was at one end of the room there was a line of chairs, in which sat seven wizards and a witch, all with chains on their wrists.

She looked up when she heard a gavel bang. A man several rows above her announced, “I call to order this judicial session of the Wizengamot this fourth day of January 1999. Pius Thicknesse presiding. May the record indicate that the Wizengamot has not yet managed to elect a new Chief Warlock, so, as Minister of Magic, I am presiding. This is day two of the case of the Ministry against Alecto Carrow, Amycus Carrow, Heinrik Crabbe, Xander Goyle, Minax Jugson, Evan Rosier, Thorfinn Rowle, and Nicholai Selwyn, who have all been charged with kidnapping, and attempted assault of minors. Guard, please bring in the first witness for the day.”

The guard roughly grabbed Ginny’s elbow and led her to the witness stand and gave her a nudge to sit down. He then turned and left by way of the same door through which they had just entered. Ginny’s eyes were taking in her surroundings when the Minister’s voice gained her attention. “Mr Yaxley, your witness.”

A tall man with greyish blond hair pulled back in a ponytail stood from behind a table to her right and walked toward her. “Please state your name and age for the record,” he said.

“Ginevra Molly Weasley, seventeen.” Actually, Potter, but I can’t exactly say that, can I?

“Your occupation?”

“I am a seventh-year student at Hogwarts. I am also Head Girl.”

“Very well, Miss Weasley. Can you please tell us about the events of the second of September of last year?”

Ginny took a moment to compose her thoughts. “I was in class when I received a summons to come to the Headmistress’ office. When the Head Boy and I arrived, she explained that she had received information that there was an imminent attack against the school. She asked us to assist in the evacuation of the students.”

Yaxley began pacing slowly back and forth around the courtroom, his hands behind his back. “Do you know from whom the Headmistress received this information?”

“From an Auror, Roberts, I believe his name was.”

“Please continue.”

“After the students were all evacuated we reported back to the Headmistress. We heard a distant boom, in the direction of Hogsmeade, and the Headmistress led the faculty to assist in the fight.”

“And what about you and the Head Boy?”

“We were told to stay in the Headmistress’ office with Auror Roberts.”

“But you didn’t stay in the office, did you?”

“No, we didn’t. We discovered that some first-years had become lost and had not been evacuated. We gathered them and saw that the Death Eaters were coming, so Auror Roberts came up with a plan to fight them off.”

"What was this plan?”

“He had some experimental new weapons that shot small balls filled with potions. These potions had various effects once they make contact with someone. We moved the plinths of the suits of armour to make a wall to protect us, and then, when the Death Eaters entered the school, we shot them with the weapons. The Death Eaters were disabled fairly quickly.”

“How many of these alleged attackers were there?”

“About twelve.”

He addressed the court scribe for a moment. “Let the record show that there are eight defendants present here today. Three others arrested that day, Rodolphus Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange, and Antonin Dolohov were Azkaban escapees, and have been returned there to finish their lifetime sentences.” He then turned back to Ginny and waved his hand toward the table of defendants. “Do you recognize any of these alleged attackers in the courtroom today?”

Ginny looked over to the table of defendants. “I didn’t see all of them, but I do recognize a few of them. The one on the far right, the third one from the right, and the next to last one. I am sure those three were there that day.”

“After the alleged attackers were ‘disabled,’ as you said, what happened next?”

“We bound them, collected their wands, and gave them to Auror Roberts.”

“I see.” He paused as he continued to stroll around the courtroom.

Harry, are you listening? I don’t like the way this is going. This Yaxley gives me an uncomfortable feeling.

Yeah, I’ve been paying attention. I agree. Especially the way he keeps stressing the word ‘alleged.’

Before she could respond to Harry, Yaxley continued his questioning. “Now that we know your version of the events, I want to ask some follow-up questions. Do you know why these alleged attackers came to the school? Why were they supposedly attacking?”

“To kidnap me.”

He turned quickly, a look of surprise on his face. “Really? Why would they want to kidnap you? I don’t want to offend you, but I know your father and he does not make much money. Certainly you couldn’t command much of a ransom.”

“Voldemort wanted me for some reason.” Many gasps could be heard from around the courtroom at Ginny’s use of the Dark Lord’s name.

When the courtroom quieted down, Yaxley put a hand to his chin. “I see.” He took a few more steps before continuing. “Why would He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named ‘want’ you? Again, no offense, but you aren’t exactly his type, are you?” His face turned into a leer. “Or are you? Are you considering turning Dark and joining him?”

Ginny’s temper started to flare. Ginny! Don’t let him rile you. Just calm down. She took a deep breath before responding. “No, I am not turning Dark. We don’t know why he wants me.”

“Who is this ‘we’ you just mentioned?”

Ginny gulped. I can’t tell him about the Order or Snape, she thought. “My family. Professor McGonagall. We’ve been trying to figure it out, but we haven’t come up with an answer.”

Yaxley acted like he was considering this for a moment, his brow furrowed. “Alright. Let’s turn to another part of your testimony. Let’s talk about this ‘attack.’ How did you know that you were under attack?”

Ginny’s temper was starting to simmer again. “Twelve Death Eaters came in through the front doors of the school with their wands out! That’s how we knew!”

“Miss Weasley, can I ask you to not refer to the defendants as ‘Death Eaters’? This point has not been proven. How did you know that they were supposedly Death Eaters? Were they wearing masks?”

Ginny hesitated for a moment. “No, they weren’t, but …”

“That was a yes or no question, Miss Weasley. Were they wearing masks?”

Ginny’s shoulders dropped. “No.”

“I see. Then, twelve ‘Death Eaters’, as you keep calling them, came in through the doors of the school. So, how did you know they were hostile? Did they start throwing Dark curses at you? Or did you and your schoolmates fire first?”

Ginny thought for a moment. “I don’t remember.”

“Would it surprise you that they, in fact, did not cast any curses?” He walked back to his table and picked up a parchment, levitating it up to the Minister. “Members of the Wizengamot, as you may recall, Miss Weasley testified that the alleged attackers’ wands were confiscated. I had one of Aurors cast Prior Incantato on all of the confiscated wands. This parchment is a record of the most recent spells cast by each of these wands. Several of them showed that they had not been used for over twenty-four hours. The ones that had been used had only cast Protego. None of those wands cast even one spell that could be considered offensive, and certainly nothing Dark.”

He turned back to Ginny. “Now, refresh my memory. Who all was there in the Entrance Hall behind this makeshift wall?”

“The Head Boy, Alistair Cadwallader, Auror Roberts, seven first-years, and myself.”

“Let me get this straight. You claim that a dozen wizards and witches, supposedly evil Death Eaters, all well trained in the use of their wands, bent on attacking the school and kidnapping you, were defeated by two seventh-year students, seven first-year students, and one Auror. I find that hard to believe. Isn’t it more likely that these citizens came into the school not expecting a fight? This would explain why you were able to disable them so easily.”

“We were able to beat them because of the weapon that Auror Roberts provided.”

“Oh, yes, the experimental weapon. I’ll come back to that. Now, the wizards and witches, all from upstanding pure-blood families, may I add, not unlike your own, none of whom were wearing masks, enter the school to kidnap you. But none of them fired any curses or hexes that would indicate that they had evil purposes.” He walked over to Ginny and bent over, his face just inches from her face. “Can you explain why you fired upon them first? I ask again, how did you know you were under attack?

Ginny leaned back in her chair to get as far away as possible from her questioner. “We knew they were coming. Their plans were overheard that morning.”

Yaxley stood upright and began strolling again. “Right, the overheard plans. Where did the information about the supposed attack come from again?”

“Auror Roberts.”

“Auror Roberts,” he parroted. “The same Auror Roberts who supplied these experimental weapons.” He turned back to Ginny and asked, accusingly, “Would it surprise you to learn that I, the head of the Auror Department, have never heard of the type of weapon that you describe?” Before she could answer, he said, “No, I don’t suppose you would be surprised. Back to Auror Roberts. Could you describe him for me?”

“He’s about six feet tall. He has shoulder length blond hair, brown eyes, I think.”

“Do you know where he overheard these plans?”

“I think Professor McGonagall said that he was in Hogsmeade and saw Draco Malfoy, so he followed him until he came upon the meeting.”

“Do you know why he was in Hogsmeade, where he allegedly saw Draco Malfoy?”

Ginny was starting to get more nervous. She could feel the sweat starting to form on her upper lip. “I don’t’ know for sure. I think Professor McGonagall said that he was working undercover there.”

“Alright. So, as I understand it, would it be accurate to say that the whole reason you attacked these alleged kidnappers was based on the information from Auror Roberts? Was there any other information that led you to believe that these men and women were going to attack?

Ginny sighed. “No, the only information we had was from Auror Roberts.”

Yaxley continued to walk around the courtroom, but there was a new lift to each step, almost like he was strutting. “Auror Roberts. Auror Roberts. It all comes down to him, doesn’t it? He supplied the information that led you to attack these wizards and witches, while all they did was act in self-defence. He supplied the weapons that allowed nine students, most of them first-years, to defeat twelve experienced adults.” Again he closed the distance between himself and Ginny and he leaned over, staring right at her. “Would it surprise you if I said that I know for a fact that we have no Auror named Roberts? And there are no undercover Aurors in Hogsmeade?” He stood upright again, addressing the assembled gallery in a raised voice. “Auror Roberts is an imposter! We need to arrest this madman that ordered this unprovoked attack immediately!”

Ginny, fighting back the panic that was threatening to overcome her, sent an urgent message.

Harry! Listen to me! YOU NEED TO LEAVE IMMEDIATELY!

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