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SIYE Time:7:48 on 29th March 2024
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HP: Unspeakable
By _kb_

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Category: Post-OotP
Characters:Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley
Genres: General
Warnings: None
Story is Complete
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 65
Summary: The head of the Unspeakables makes Harry an offer to train and help him after Sirius is killed. He finds life isn't quite like he thought it would be.
Hitcount: Story Total: 22402; Chapter Total: 1784
Awards: View Trophy Room






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[Mon, Nov 11]

Harry waited with Dupree in his special project room. At the appointed time, Croaker and Betty joined them.

Croaker looked at Dupree as they all took a chair. “We just had a status update on Friday, but you called this,” he said looking at the Curse Breaker who had a small box in front of him.

“As you know, I was called to help the Aurors check out a cursed item on Saturday,” Dupree started; Croaker nodded. “When I finished, I took a stroll around the Ministry. As I was about to call it a day, I accidentally came across Delores Umbridge who was trying to leave as well. While I did my best to ignore her, I couldn’t ignore the necklace she wore. It looked solid gold and had a snake on it with small red eyes that seemed to actually be looking at me. It probably doesn’t matter too much, but I found them to be small rubies.”

Harry wasn’t sure where Dupree was going with this, but he was glad he hadn’t run into Umbridge.

“It seemed magical, or I felt something a little off from it, and it looked very old so I asked her where it came from. She got all huffy and insulting with me so I just stunned her in the elevator and stopped it between floors.”

Croaker shook his head. “Dupree,” he said tiredly, “we have a lot of latitude, but there are limits especially with some people. She has a lot of dirt on a lot of people or she wouldn’t still be here.”

“Wait, let me finish,” the Curse Breaker said seriously. “I found the locket she was wearing had magic all through it, including a compulsion charm to wear it and a Hostility curse.”

Croaker sat up a little straighter, his objection gone. “Go on,” he said cautiously.

“I did a few more spells and I’m all but certain this is a Horcrux. The only question is whose.” Dupree opened the box he had and showed the locket he’d been speaking of; no one touched it.

“What happened to Umbridge?” Betty asked.

“I removed her memory of ever having the locket and our encounter, of course,” Dupree replied a little miffed for her thinking he wouldn’t have done that. She just nodded at him and he looked mollified.

“So how to know,” Croaker said thoughtfully. “We could try activating it, but then we might end up losing containment; yet how do we know it’s his?”

“Who else’s could it be?” Betty asked. “These things are really rare as you have to quite mad to make one in the first place.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Croaker agreed grudgingly. “So let’s assume it belongs to Voldemort. We can do the ritual on it. If it’s his, then we’ve accomplished our goal. If it’s not, then we’ve not lost much and we’ll have removed someone who’s almost as bad since splitting your soul like this is never good.”

“Will this reveal our plans too much if we’re wrong?” Harry asked, trying to think it all through.

“Probably not, but a short-term secrecy oath can help us there,” Croaker said and Betty nodded her agreement. “Let me start planning what we’re going to do. Be careful everyone, no stupid mistakes, we’re getting close.”

Harry nodded with the others. Then again, it was one thing to say “be smart”, it was another to do it all the time.




[Fri, Nov 15]

It was the middle of the afternoon and Harry strolled through Hogsmeade. He had his cloak as usual, though it was set to a non-work disguise. He travelled up a side-street he’d never been on before, looking for this builder. It was an interesting trip as he’d never realized how big Hogsmeade was, since the students tended to stay in the main business area.

He saw a sign for “Tate Builders” and walked in, which rung a bell on the door. An older man (possibly a little older than McGonagall) walked out of the back and looked him over. It was the sort of look that made Harry glad he was in disguise, guessing the man wouldn’t take him seriously if he’d looked like his normal sixteen year-old self.

“Can I help you?”

“Yes, I am looking for Pliny Tate. He was recommended to me by a friend.” Harry pulled out the roll of papers from under his arm.

“I’m he, what do you have?” Tate gestured to the roll of blueprints.

Harry laid them on the counter, facing the man who unrolled it. He nodded and for a few minutes flipped the pages. “Typical of the older manor homes. We don’t build many of those any more, but we can do it. Probably take us six months or so, after a few weeks to finish the plans as they aren’t complete.”

“Do you ever sell the materials for those who want to build it themselves?” Harry asked.

The man looked at him for a moment and then burst out laughing. “Good one, lad, jolly good. I haven’t laughed like that in a long time.”

“I was serious,” Harry told him -- seriously.

Tate calmed himself. “Oh, then you know about foundations, load bearing walls, plumbing, when to use stone and when to use wood, runes for protections, how to make many charms permanent, and I’m just starting,” he stretched out the word, “the list.”

Harry sighed. “Obviously not, but I’m in no hurry and I can learn. My plan was to build a small structure on site to learn from and live in while I build the full house.”

“Well, that is one way if you’re foolhardy enough and have extra money you don’t care about while you make some very costly mistakes,” the man quipped.

Harry considered that and also recognized that the man had a few very good points. “Do you offer services to take these plans and to finish them so that I could use them to build with? I recognize that would be helpful because, as you say, I don’t have your experience.”

The builder raised a bushy eyebrow. “Hmm, there’s something I’ve never been asked before.” He gazed back at the plans for a few minutes, flipping through them again. “I suppose, but it’ll cost you.”

“It’s work you’d have to do anyway if I had you build the house, right?” Harry hadn’t thought of this middle ground, expecting to have to do it all himself, but some guidance would be useful.

“Mostly,” the man admitted, “but for you to be successful, I’ll have to add more detail than I normally would. For my workmen, I’d only add a note about four in twelve pitch on the roof and they’d know what to do; would you?” He looked at Harry questioningly.

“No, sir, but that doesn’t mean I can’t learn,” Harry quipped.

The man harrumphed at that. “If so, then you might be done when you’re my age and if you’re lucky it won’t have blown over in the first great wind that comes along. I think you’re foolhardy, but if you want, I’ll offer you the service of turning these plans into something usable for my workmen for five hundred Galleons. For another five hundred, I’ll give you notes on what things mean so that anyone with some intelligence can understand the plans, and for bonus I’ll throw in two hours of discussion for when you have questions. That’s my only offer, take it or leave it … unless you want me to build the whole thing.”

Harry considered that and Augusta’s warning about the man. “As long as the notes explain all terms and you don’t hide information in worker’s jargon.”

Tate looked at him for a moment then said, “Wait here, I need to get something.” He left and returned a couple of minutes later, dropping two books on the counter. “You can’t take those, so write their titles and authors down. I honestly don’t know if you can even buy them anymore; I’ve had them for years. I’ll promise to use terms you can find in them.”

One was a book about general building; the other was a book about wards and charms to use in buildings. That made him think he should probably talk to Arthur Weasley too. The Burrow obviously used magic to stay up. Harry had no plans to build a structure that wouldn’t stand on its own without magic, but adding magic to increase strength in case the house was attacked seemed like a good thing.

Harry pulled out some parchment and a Muggle pen, causing the builder to look at him in surprise. His next statement added to that. “My family’s home was destroyed some years ago and some of the older stones are still available, some are broken. Will you sell materials to me, especially the stone? I’m sure I can cut it, but I don’t know where to get it. Wood I can get, there are woods on the property.”

“An older family, which would explain the age of the plans,” the man said with a nod. “Sure, I’ll sell you stone blocks, at my price plus twenty percent.”

“As long as they’re good quality and that includes delivery, that’s fine,” Harry agreed. He really wanted to build the house himself. He felt the end job would be better because he cared more and because he could add family magic to it all as it was built. Family magic was one thing he’d read about from a book in the Unspeakable library.

“You drive a hard bargain lad, but it’s a deal. I’ll get some parchment and I’ll detail what I’ll do along with the price. I’ll require half up front,” Tate said.

“Start writing then,” Harry agreed. “I’ll be back in an hour or so with 500 Galleons.”

Harry left for Gringotts, getting the money and some extra. While he was in Diagon Alley, he checked the main bookstore there for the two books; neither were available and the clerk told him they weren’t in print any more, or he didn’t think so.

A quick Apparation to #12 Grimmauld and two quick summoning charms brought the general building book.

Returning to Hogsmeade, he surprised the builder by showing the one book he’d already found. They haggled over a few items on the contract, which Harry insisted on more detail as to what was to be done, then he signed it and handed over the money. He’d get the plans back in a month.

The builder looked at the signature that said “Harry Potter” and looked at him in suspicion. Harry canceled the disguise for a few seconds and then turned it back on. “I find it easier to travel when no one knows it’s me.” When the builder didn’t say anything else, Harry took his things and left.

Because he had time, Harry visited the bookstore in Hogsmeade and they didn’t have the second book either. He’d check at work on Monday.

He’d be back to Hogsmeade tomorrow; it was another Hogsmeade student day according to the letter he’d received from Neville that morning.

– – –

Harry walked into the Leaky Cauldron just after dinner in his usual work disguise. He saw Tom at the bar serving a customer. “Party for Heather?” he asked.

“Room 1,” Tom answered and pointed before he turned to reach for a bottle on the shelf.

Harry walked to the corridor indicated and found “Room 1”. Going inside, he found most of the crew from work around tables with glasses on the tables along with various bottles.

“Mike!” was shouted as he closed the door. Heather waved him over and indicated the seat next to her. He took that chair and grabbed a bottle of Butterbeer.

It was boisterous at times, kind of fun with the stories and laughing. It reminded him of going to Hogsmeade with his friends -- a little. He still felt lonely when he went home that evening to Longbottom manor.




[Mon, Nov 18]

Listening to those around him over the months, Harry knew exactly who to go talk to. Cheri knew runes, but she really only worked on them on an academic basis -- although she had been very helpful when he’d asked her the occasional Potions question -- her main specialty. There was another who specialized in runes and wards in a more practical way. Dupree had even spoken fairly highly of her.

“Grace, do you have a few moments?”

The woman turned to him and smiled. “Mike, what can I help you with? Has Dupree met another ward he can’t tackle?” she teased as she glanced to the side.

“Hush, it was only that one time,” came from a few desks closer to the door.

“I’m not letting you forget it though,” she tossed back jauntily.

Harry grinned, recognizing the teasing for what it was. “I’m looking for a book and I was hoping you might know where I could get one or have a copy I could borrow. I can’t find it in any store and we don’t have it in our library.” He handed her the parchment with the names of the books the builder had given him.

“I take it you found the one that’s crossed off?” she asked.

“Yes, I managed to find that one. The other seems to be a lot harder though,” he replied.

“I can understand since it’s older,” she told him as she reached over and tapped the rune they all had on their desks to raise the privacy ward, which surprised him. She also turned around rummaged on the shelf behind her and pulled out an old book, setting it on the desk. “That’s it and I’ll make sure you have your very own copy for a favor. You’ll learn something new and it might even benefit you in other ways.”

Harry was a little wary of her offer, but cautiously said, “Go on.”

“It’s been said you’re above average in magical power. That was backed up by that demonstration this summer when you rocked the whole floor. So I’ll teach you a spell and if you’ll do it three times for me, you can walk away with a copy of that book. Plus,” she grinned like the cat at the canary, “if you do it again for me from time to time, I’ll make sure you end up with a copy of all the classic books.”

Harry thought he knew what she was talking about, but wanted to be sure. “What spell and why?”

Grace studied him for a moment. “Have you ever thought about why you can’t make copies of most modern books?”

“Yes and I know the answer,” he told her. “A friend of mine explained there are anti-copying charms on a books for at least the last few hundred years that prevent it so the authors can make money on them. She also said that the only known way to get around that was to hand copy it, but very few people are willing to do that.” He’d thought he’d never need that information that Hermione had explained to him in their third year.

“True enough,” Grace said. “You also end up in the realm of questions like if a Permanent Sticking charm is still a charm or not, but in this case it’s about the Anti-Copying charm. The real answer is that it’s really a rune set that acts like a charm. Part of the set is that it will destroy the book if someone tries to remove it. Ingenious when you think about it,” she ended on a complimentary note.

“Of course, something like that is really a pointed challenge to some of us,” she grinned a little evilly. “As you can probably guess by now, I’ve come up with a way to defeat it.” She sat back in her chair and sighed. “Sadly, I can’t make it work on large books, only small ones; the larger the book the more power it takes. Since it takes quite a bit of power to do it right, that’s where you come in.

“If you do this for a few books so I can have a copy, I’ll make sure you get a copy too. I’ll come to you from time to time with other interesting book for you to copy and you can have a copy as well. What do you think?”

He had guessed this was where she was going, though he hadn’t known the details, which were a little fascinating he had to admit. The question was how did he feel about? He supposed the best way to consider it was to think about it as if he was the author. After a long moment, he said, “I’ll do it, but only if the author is dead, or perhaps unknown. If I was an author still selling books, I wouldn’t be happy about this.”

Grace gave him a puzzled look. “Still have some morals, eh? Don’t worry, you’ll lose those eventually working here. Nevertheless, I can work with that restriction. It’s actually rare that we’ll want to copy a new book, since you can buy most of them.

“Let’s practice. Here’s a book I wrote and has the charms/runes on it.” She placed a newish looking book in front of him and it did have “Grace” on it as the author, so it was probably an internal book; he had seen a few like that in the library. She also set a stack of parchment next to it. “Here’s the copying charm.” She did it and nothing happened to the stack of blank parchment. “See, it’s safe. You can try it if you like.”

Harry did and found he couldn’t copy it either.

“Now, here’s a spell. When it’s done correctly, the book will glow white and you’ve got about half a minute to make the copy as the spell merely suppresses the protections instead of removing them. Ready?” At his nod, she did the new spell, but nothing happened. “As you can see,” she told him, I don’t have enough power to do this as it didn’t glow. If the book was about half as thick, I probably could, but most books are too big for me. You try.“

Being careful, Harry did the suppression spell and the book shimmered.

“You’re close, try again but push a little more power,” she encouraged him.

Harry took a deep breath and cast the spell again, pushing like she suggested. The book glowed brightly. Grace quickly used her wand and cast the duplication spell; the stack of parchment thickened and changed so that it also had a spine and cover. The glow on the original book faded about ten seconds after the copy was done.

Grace opened up the copy and showed it to him. There were words and pictures on the pages. She opened the original to the same page and they matched. “Very well done, Mike,” she said excitedly and pushed the original book to him. “You can keep that.”

She turned around grabbed two more books, both looked very old. She also dug out some more blank parchment. Harry did the spell twice more and twice more Grace made the copy so he didn’t have to do it all. Once she had the copy, she made copies from them and handed Harry the extras. Finally, she put the book he’d asked for in front of him and he made a copy of that, which she gave him.

“Simple,” she said with a smile. “If you don’t mind, I’ll come over to your desk about once a month with another old book or three.”

Harry wasn’t totally sure he was completely comfortable with the idea, but as long as they were really old books, he supposed he didn’t mind too much. “All right, and thanks for helping me with this one.”

“Renovating or building a new house, since that’s all about wards for houses?” she asked, gesturing towards the book.

“Building,” he replied.

“Be careful, if you do some of those incorrectly, you’ll pay for it with your life. Even powerful wizards get squished when a house falls on them,” she teased as she took the privacy ward back down.

“Sure,” he said evenly, not really able to argue against that nor did he have a witty comeback.

He walked back to his desk with his new books. He’d read the one on house wards after he finished the book on building basics. He didn’t think he’d start building until spring so he had a number of evenings and weekends to read and plan.




[Fri, Nov 22]

Algernon and Betty joined Harry and Dupree in Harry’s project room. It was now common for them to do this after lunch every Friday.

“Harry, since it’s your project, you go first,” Croaker said with a nod.

“With Heather’s help,” Harry said to give her credit, “we’ve figure out that the Dark Mark is also capable of sending pain to a particular Dark Mark, as in one at a time not all at once. It can’t be held long, but it’s enough to get someone’s attention. I’ve been able to make that work. With the other knowledge I have, I think I could make it send pain to every Death Eater at once, but that’s only theoretical at the moment.

“It is also her belief that it’s created with Parseltongue words and that it’s a charm. While I believe that Voldemort doesn’t have a Dark Mark to control it, she believes that it’s still tied to him in some way. That means that if he dies, then the Dark Mark will go away.”

Croaked nodded. “Which means that if we want to verify if someone is a Death Eater, we need to look first before we kill the master.”

“Yes, that is the belief,” Harry answered. “We also found that while it’s easier for me to give commands to the Dark Mark in Parseltongue, it’s not required as Heather was able to do it, although she had to work harder at it. That’s all the new information I have.”

“I’ll go next,” Betty volunteered. “My research here makes me believe trying to remove the Dark Mark would kill the person and I believe that’s by design.”

“Surely the person could just cut off that arm to be free,” Dupree suggested.

Betty shook her head. “I wondered that too, but I don’t think so, though we’d have to test it to be sure. I really don’t think it’s possible because it’s tied to the person’s magic. As an analogy, it’d be like cutting off their arm without emergency care, they’d bleed out. In this case, I believe loss of the Dark Mark would cause their magic to continually try to reach out to the Dark Mark and it’d continually fail, killing the person by exhausting their magic completely and always being in a deficit … or that’s my current theory.”

“Interesting,” Croaker said thoughtfully. “Dupree?”

“Nothing new to add.”

“I’ve completed my research,” Croaker stated, “on the ritual I’ll be doing to bring all of his parts here and I believe it would work best on December 21st. That’s a Saturday, so we’ll give everyone Monday off to make up for it and I’ll be bringing everyone in to help. Grace and I will change the wards here so they can Apparate to us, where we’ll take care of them.”

“So you plan to remove all the Death Eaters?” Dupree asked, a little surprised.

“Is that a problem?” Croaker asked casually, looking at each of them.

Harry and Betty shook their heads. Dupree snorted slightly, “Not at all, I was only a little surprised. This will have some far reaching effects, continuing some changes I’ve noticed here at the Ministry since the loss of all the Death Eaters this summer.”

“Yes it will,” Croaker admitted. “I also think it will be good for everyone to shake up society this way. We’ve been figuratively sitting on our arses for far too long and it’s my opinion that the biggest reason is the large number of traditionalists that have their fingers in too many important things. So getting rid of some of them like this will cause some newer and hopefully more forward thinking people to move into those places.”

Croaker rubbed the side of his head a little. “Wizards living longer is both a blessing and a curse. This is compounded by the fact that in the last thirty years we’ve had two civil wars where the traditionalists have caused a lot more deaths on the progressive side than they’ve suffered. It has imbalanced our society.”

“I don’t know enough to argue with that,” Harry said, “but is it our place to change that? I mean that theoretically, despite how much I want to get rid of the Death Eaters.”

“Actually, it is,” Betty said before Croaker could. “One of the tasks in the charter for the Department of Mysteries is to safe-guard the Ministry, to help it stay in balance. It’s something that’s been difficult for us to do, but we do try by nudging people a certain way when things are too far out of balance. Algernon has also had a few difficult conversations with the Minister about this.”

Croaker nodded. “Our newest Minister is in agreement that parts of the Ministry are out of balance, but he also feels that for him to fix it would be political suicide. That leaves it up to us to fix it, which he has verbally condoned though won’t admit to publically.” He rubbed his forehead. “I know that a few Directors in the past have resorted to assassinations. I am somewhat loathe to do that and consider it a last resort.”

“How is this different?” Harry asked, confused.

“It might be a fine line,” Croaker replied, “but it’s different because we’re not targeting one or two individuals whom we think is the root cause of the imbalance. No, we’re removing a group of individuals who are destabilizing our society as a whole and are also risking the secret of magic to the Muggles. They aren’t simply only a normal part of our society; quite honestly, they are terrorists who use their positions to maintain their illegal activities.”

The other three looked at him and Harry considered the explanation. “Dupree? You haven’t said much. Do you agree?” He looked up to the Curse Breaker and wanted to know his opinion.

Dupree nodded. “It is a difficult thing, but I view them as a curse on our country. We remove the curse and our country can heal and get better.”

Harry sighed and nodded finally. “I understand. They need to go, but I don’t want to turn into someone like them.”

“Very doubtful, my young friend,” Croaker said with a smile and clapped him on the shoulder. “I also think you’ve finished your project here. Please write it up in a report. Betty will write up a chapter for you on her medical findings.

“Betty, do you still want to do a few experiments with these here before we get rid of them? If so then I think now is the time.” Croaker looked at her questioningly.

“Yes, I think I do. I also want to let one stay here until we’re done to see what happens to him after Voldemort is dead,” she replied.

“Very well, this project room is now your responsibility instead of Mike’s. Very good job everyone,” Croaker said rising. “Mike, I’d like to see your report in a week if possible. After that, return to your studies and keep an eye open for a new project.”

As they all started to leave, Harry asked, “Algernon, could I talk to you for a few minutes about something else?”

“To my office then,” Croaker said and led them there. Inside he closed his door before casting a warming charm at a teapot; he offered the set to Harry who took a cup.

“More misgivings?” Croaker asked when they were settled.

“No, I’d like to know how to do something,” Harry said before taking a sip of his tea. “I’d like to take some time off after this is done and over the holidays, say a week or so.”

“I don’t see any problem with that at all,” Croaker said with a smile. “In fact, I think you deserve it and you have accumulated the time off. What did you plan to do?”

“That’s part of the problem,” Harry said a little hesitantly. “I, uh, I want to travel to see a friend and I don’t know how to do it. I thought I’d ask as I don’t want to get into trouble doing it as I was thinking of using Muggle travel methods.”

Croaker raised an eyebrow. “I can get you a Portkey to anywhere on the continent, the price isn’t even all that bad.”

“I want to go see my friend in the United States,” Harry blurted out.

“Oh,” Croaker said slowly, “I see. Yes, that would be a bit more difficult to travel there magically.” He turned left a little and dug in a drawer for a minute before fishing out a business card. He copied it to a piece of parchment and gave the parchment to Harry. “Call this phone number and ask for Nigel. Do you know how to use a phone?”

“Yes and I have a mobile phone to do that.”

Croaker looked surprised but didn’t ask about it. “Tell him Algernon Croaker gave you his number and you’d like a full package. He’ll give you the documents you need like a passport, though you’ll have to make the reservations for the travel yourself. Take 500£ with you in small bills, like tens or twenties. He’s a squib and he’s trustworthy, but don’t ask questions if you really don’t have to.”

“Thank you,” Harry said.

“Let me know when you plan be gone.”

“Probably shortly after we finish with Voldemort through the New Year, but I’ll let know when I have dates for real. Thanks again,” Harry said as he rose and left.

– – –

Harry left an hour later and went directly to his room at the Longbottoms. There he retrieved his phone and his Gringotts key. He also got rid of his Wizard-ware and changed to look a Muggle, then put an over-robe on. He also grabbed his school bag. Apparating back to London, he called the phone number.

“Hello.”

“I’m calling for Nigel.”

“Yeah.”

It took Harry a moment to realize he was talking to Nigel. “I’m a friend of Algernon Croaker. He said I could get a full package from you for 500.”

It was silent for a few breaths. “It’s 600 now if you still want it and you need to be here at five, not standing out is important.”

“I do want it and I understand.”

“Full name, birthday, name of parents, and an address that can accept normal post?”

Harry answered those, using Potter Estate, though he’d have to go install a box for post tomorrow. “Where do I go?” he asked at the end.

Nigel paused before giving him an address and then hung-up without even saying good-bye.

Harry turned his phone off and walked into the Leaky Cauldron to head to the bank. He had two hours to get the money and find Nigel.

– – –

Two hours later, he was standing in a building of flats, his over-robe in his bag that was hanging on one shoulder. At the proper door inside, he knocked and the door was opened almost as he pulled his hand back from knocking.

“Yeah?” said the man who might have been twice Harry’s age with short spikey blond hair that didn’t look natural.

“Nigel, I hope? I called a couple of hours ago.”

“Get in,” was commanded quietly. Nigel looked around the hallway before shutting the door.

“Sit in that chair and look straight ahead. Got the money?” At Harry’s nod, he picked up a camera that had been on a shelf. “Never thought I’d meet you.” He snapped a couple of pictures.

“Why not?”

“Because. Wait here, I’ll be back in 10 and none of fancy stuff or we’re both in trouble. At least it was easy it find info on you.” Nigel left to go into another room and closed the door.

Harry chuckled to himself. This guy was quite the character.

His watch showed twelve minutes had passed before Nigel returned with multiple papers in one hand. “The money?”

Harry dug into his bag and pulled out the band of sixty tens and offered it up. Nigel took it with his free hand and did a quick visual inspection before he put it on the shelf behind him.

“Here’s your passport,” Nigel started handing the documents over, “and a driver’s license. To make it all work in your favor, you’ll note it says you were born in 1978, which makes you 18 now. You’re in all the government systems like any other normal person. This last one,” he handed a folded sheet of paper, “is information for a bank where you should open an account and you can get a credit card to establish credit. They don’t know about Gringotts, so don’t even think of trying to do a transfer to them or try to deposit Galleons. Any questions?”

“I want to travel to the United States to visit a friend. Who can I call to make arrangements?” asked Harry.

Nigel rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Visit a travel agent or call British Airways yourself. While it was slightly interesting to meet you, I’d appreciate it if you forgot all about me.”

Definitely a strange person, Harry thought. “Thanks.” He slung his bag over his shoulder and left.

As he walked down the stairs, he glanced at the paper he’d been given. It gave an address for the bank and instructions on what to do not to stand out as well as how to get a credit card with a small limit backed by his account since he didn’t have any established credit. A glance at the passport and driver’s license showed the information he’d given with his picture that had been taken when he’d first arrived. All of that went into his bag before he walked out onto the street.

Tomorrow would be a good day to call Hermione. He wouldn’t tell her about the trip, but he would try to get a phone number for her parents … in case of “an emergency”. He thought she’d give it to him for that. He needed to put up a box for post at his property with a charm to let him know when something was put into the box. He also needed to take some money to the bank and open an account and get the credit card so he’d look normal when purchasing Muggle items like his plane ticket. It’d be a busy day, but nothing was overly hard.




[Sat, Dec 21]

Harry was glad that Lady Longbottom had meals an hour later than normal on the weekends. That allowed him to get a little extra sleep. The three of them had stayed up late talking last night since it was Neville’s first night home after the fall term. Neville had spent most of the evening talking about what he’d done at Hogwarts. It gave Harry more motivation to take the trip he had planned.

As they ate breakfast, Neville asked, “What did you want to do today, Harry?”

Harry looked up and realized he hadn’t told anyone of his plans today. Lady Longbottom knew of his plans for next week though and he knew he needed to share them with his friend too. “I, uh, I need to finish packing a bag. I’m sorry, but I won’t be here for Christmas or for a week after. I’ll return soon after the New Year and we can do whatever you want then.”

“Oh? Where are you going?” Neville asked, looking a little hurt, probably at being left out.

“I’m going to visit Hermione,” Harry said quietly, not enjoying disappointing his friend. “I can take her a letter or anything you like.”

“Oh, then maybe we should go shopping after you finish packing,” Neville suggested, brightening a little, giving Harry the impression that Neville had thought Harry was trying to avoid him while Harry actually had a good reason for being gone.

“Sure mate, I’ll have a few hours. I also have to be at work at three and I’m not sure when I’ll be back,” Harry said, hiding his feelings as he mentally added: assuming it all works out and I’m alive.

Lady Longbottom looked at him sharply. “What is my brother having you do on a weekend?”

Harry took a deep breath, knowing this probably wasn’t going to go over well. “I’m sorry, but I’m under oath not to say at this time. I will say it’s very important I be there.” He appreciated her dropping it, as did Neville, but the woman did scowl, probably at the idea her brother would do that.

He looked at Neville. “I think I only need about half an hour to finish packing and we can spend all the time together until I have to leave for work,” he offered. He felt better when Neville nodded and smiled, apparently mollified. He had really missed his friend over the last few months.

– – –

Harry arrived in the Apparation room in the Department of Mysteries, after giving his few purchases to Neville to take home. The shopping had gone reasonably well in that they hadn’t seen any Death Eaters out and they’d had fun together. They’d each also found a present for Hermione, though he’d need to do a little work on his before he gave it to her.

He headed for the room with the Veil of Death since that’s where they’d be working tonight. He found Grace, Dupree, and Algernon already there, preparing for the ritual that would be done this evening.

Algie sent him to go get some food and water and set up a table, because once the rest of the group arrived no one was leaving until they were done.

At four, the rest started to arrive and most stood around and watched the three finish the last of the prep work for the ritual.

When they were finished Algernon stood and checked that everyone was there -- everyone but one person.

“Thank you all for coming,” their leader started. “As I mentioned at Monday’s meeting, you’re all getting action pay for a full eight hours whether you work it or not and most of you won’t. You also can have an extra day off next week, other than Christmas which you get off anyway.”

Algernon looked around and became a little more serious. “I’ve had a talk with each team member over the last couple of weeks. I know I framed it in the guise of discussing future projects, but I slipped a few extra questions in. The most important was how you felt about Death Eaters and this war. That is why you’re here today, we’re going to try to end the war.”

He had to stop as there was questions being asked, some loudly, except by the other three who already knew.

Croaker blew a loud whistle with his lips and the talking ceased instantly, though he was receiving a lot of scared looks, plus a few incredulous ones.

“I know this is a surprise, but it had to be this way. I also believe we have a plan that should work and will put you in very little danger if we all work together. The normal action team understands this, but the rest of you will have to help as things will be busy -- very busy,” he told them.

“Where’s Kathleen?” Heather asked.

Croaker looked at her and then the others. “She is not here on purpose as she doesn’t feel she could do it. It’s not because she approves of what the current Dark Wizard is doing, but one of the people we’ll be dealing with is a first cousin of hers.”

There was a murmur and nodding of heads in understanding. Harry was surprised.

“Here’s how it’s going to work,” Croaker instructed. “The action team and Mike will be responsible for subduing them as they arrive. Grace and I have altered the wards here so they can Apparate in. They will be landing in the circle behind me. When they come, we will stun or otherwise take them down. The other three of you will pull them to the side, strip them down so they don’t have anything magical on them, then tie them up. They’ll be going through the Veil when we have them all.”

“Do we get to pick through their belongings?” Liam asked.

“Put their money aside, we’ll use that for a party after the New Year holiday,” Algie answered.

There was a little cheering and smiles at that.

“The rest of it goes with them through the Veil.” Algernon looked at them all very seriously. “This is a blacked out project. No one, and I mean absolutely no one, gets told what we’re doing here tonight. Our former minister didn’t have the stones to do this. Our current minister wants to, but won’t commit to it because he believes his position is too shaky. So we’re doing this to save our country and secrecy protects all of you -- so there will be no evidence of what was done just so someone can have a trinket that could be traced back to us. Questions?”

“How do you plan to get them to come here and what’s the ritual markings on the floor for?” Cheri asked.

“The Death Eaters will be coming because Mike will be calling them. His project for the last few months has been to understand the Dark Mark. He’s learned enough that he can call them. He’ll try a few at a time so we can reduce their numbers, then when all known ones are captured, he’ll call all the rest -- that’s when it’ll be very busy.”

Harry noticed several were looking at him in surprise while Inigo and Eduardo were giving him a pleased look. Harry assumed the pair was looking forward to removing the blighters.

“And the ritual markings?” Cheri prompted.

Croaker looked around slowly. “Before we call all the Death Eaters, I’m going to do a ritual to pull all the soul fragments here for a person, who was stupid enough to split his soul and then let a few of those pieces be found.”

“What an idiot!” Freddie, proclaimed to a number of people nodding in agreement. “I’ve heard of this ritual but I’ve never seen it. Do you need any help?”

“Thank you,” Algernon replied, “but Grace will help me as we’ve practiced together. If it’s not obvious, when the ritual pulls the soul fragments here, I fully expect it to pull the previously mentioned Dark Wizard here.” No one said anything, they’d already worked that out. “I don’t care how badly you injure him, but please don’t kill him outright -- meaning no Killing Curses. Everything else is allowed and, as usual, what happens in the Department stays in the Department.

“First rule for tonight, be careful with your aim because I don’t want any spells going astray and hitting one of us. Second, since we’ll be taking care of him first, I’d like him alive to make it easier to call the Death Eaters as we believe the Dark Mark will go away with his death. Since that would warn them, we don’t want that. Therefore, when he appears, everyone should cast something at him that is reversible. The nasty stuff is allowed:  Strangulation Curses, Blood Boiling, Bone Exploding Curses at extremities only, those sorts of things.

“Now, I don’t want anyone surprised by his appearance, so I have my Pensieve over there on the side of the room. I’ll start it in a minute so it’ll project his image. Go look at it and get used to it. I don’t want anyone standing there gawking when he arrives or this could be your last day alive.”

“Where did you get the image?” Liam asked.

“I tracked down Harry Potter and he was kind enough to give it to me,” Algernon said with a smile, not looking at Mike.

“Last bits,” Algernon called out. “I’ve placed yellow dots around the room for the action team that should prevent crossfire. Pick one and then prepare it. I’d suggest a waist-high rock or steel barrier. You can conjure or I have some rocks on the side for transfiguration if you’d prefer. The three of you processing Death Eaters, pick a spot out of our way and prepare a shelter to protect yourselves. Food and drink are on the side and there’s a temporary bathroom on the other side of the room. Yes, no one is leaving here until we’re done, except for Mike and Betty who are going to retrieve a Death Eater for our use. Let’s get to it!” He ended with a single clap to get them going.

Harry joined Betty and they walked out, heading for his project room, which he hadn’t been in for almost a month.

“Nervous?” she asked.

“A little,” he answered honestly. “Mostly, I just don’t want anyone on the team hurt.”

She nodded, “Agreed.” They walked the rest of the way in silence.

In the room, Harry noted that there were only two Death Eaters now instead of three. “Where’s the other?”

“He took a trip through the Veil last week as we didn’t have any use for him,” she replied as she grabbed a gurney and started wheeling it towards the door; Harry grabbed the other end and helped to steer.

“That one,” she jerked her head at the one left, “we’ll check his Dark Mark when we’re done tonight. These last two will go through the Veil when we’re done to get rid of the last bit of evidence of our operation. Just think, no more prophecy hanging over your head,” she grinned at this last part.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Harry said, hesitating. Finally he blurted out, “What if this doesn’t work?”

“I wondered if you’d ask that,” she said with a hint of a smile. “There’s a very high probability of success. Algie is very good at planning things like this. I don’t know if it’s true, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a few surprises to help out if unforeseen problems happen. I know I would if I was in charge.

“Look, do the best you can. Use that power that puts you at the top of the charts for the good of us all. Be unpredictable when the Dark Idiot comes and take him down as fast as you can. It’ll all work out, you’ll see.”

They levitated the gurney down the steps and then took him over to Mike’s spot. The gurney was vanished so the prisoner was on the floor, hidden behind a barrier.

“Since you weren’t here, I created a barrier for you,” Inigo said, his spot next to Harry’s, which was on the end.

“Thanks,” Harry said as their leader walked up.

“Ready?”

“As ready as I can be,” Harry replied. “I am looking forward to this being over with though.” He saw Inigo nod, but also knew Inigo didn’t realize he was talking about the prophecy while Algie did.

“You know,” Algernon said thoughtfully, “I’m actually a little sad that Rookwood won’t be joining us tonight as I would have liked a very pointed conversation with him about him betraying us.”

Inigo nodded again. “Right, he snuffed it back in early July, didn’t he?”

“Yes. Bill Weasley gets credit for that. I’m glad someone killed the bastard, but I wish it had been me,” Croaker said with a shake of his head. “Need anything before we start, Mike? You’ve got about five to ten minutes.”

“Maybe a little water.” Harry conjured a bottle and then headed over to get some water from the small cask there. He grabbed an apple and ate it quickly as he walked back to his spot, vanishing the core when he was done.

“Places everyone,” Algernon called out in a loud voice a few minutes later. “Remember, whoever appears, cast your curse or at least a Stunning spell. We’ll overwhelm him with numbers; no one can stand up to all of us. This includes you three,” he said pointedly as he looked at Liam, Cheri, and Heather, who were also nearest to the door. They nodded a little grimly back at him, down on one knee with only their heads over the barrier in front of them.

“Here we go, soul fragments will begin to appear in about thirty seconds.” Algernon Croaker cast a spell at the golden locket in the ritual area and then started to chant in a language unknown to Harry. As he finished, Grace cast one more spell at the ritual area before grabbing Croaker’s arm and pulling him back to his spot and, more importantly, out of the way of all the spell fire that was about to come.

A few seconds later, a wailing was heard and a gray wisp of something flew into the room and went into the locket. Liam shot a dark blue spell at the wisp and missed.

“Steady and wait for him,” Croaker said evenly.

Harry cast a Disillusionment charm on himself and faded from view.

A second wisp came in about five seconds later. Then a third one at the same time a man appeared with a crack that sounded like Apparation.

Despite being drawn to the locket, the man already had his wand out and was doing a spell. Twelve spells shot towards him and hit a shield that -- amazingly -- deflected them all away. He cast a Killing Curse towards Betty, who dropped behind her barrier and let the spell go over her head and take out a small chunk of the wall. Somehow he was already casting a second spell that sent a fiery ring out and causing everyone to duck for a moment or shield.

As most popped back up and fired another curse, one was a dull brown and went through Voldemort’s shield, causing him to have to stepped to the side and dodge. He looked in that direction, at Croaker, and started a spell.

That was all the motivation Harry needed as he dredged up all of the hatred he had for this … thing … that killed his parents and was about to attack the man who had saved him from the Dursleys. Unlike when he’d tried it on Bella, this time he really meant it. “Crucio!” Harry growled quietly but intently, tracking his target. His spell that appeared to come out of nowhere hit the left side of the man who’d ruined his family -- he also held it and push as much power into it as he could. Voldemort went down on his right side screaming from the pain; his falling saved him from all the other spells cast at him. Knowing there was no shield now, Harry let up on the Torture curse and snapped off a Stunning spell then a Summoning charm on the thing’s wand which he caught.

As the others looked at him in surprise, Harry closed his eyes and did his best to calm himself. The hard part was over, he thought as he removed the Disillusionment.

“Are you all right there?” Inigo asked quietly. At Harry’s nod, he also asked, “I could feel the magic from over here. He did something to you, didn’t he?”

“Killed my family,” Harry said barely over a whisper, his eyes still closed. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

“He’s not getting away this time,” Inigo said. “Betty already has him tied up and she’d doing something to him. It’s the Veil for him tonight and all of his soul parts. Your family is avenged.”

And the prophecy is complete, he thought; the weight which he didn’t fully recognize before was now lifting. Harry opened his eyes and truly smiled with a relieved joy. “Thanks,” he said simply.

“Get ready, it’s time to deal with the Death Eaters. Time to give them the death they desire,” Inigo said with relish before he stepped back to his spot.

Harry looked over and indeed, Croaker was looking at him before calling out in a loud voice. “Look alive, here they come. Mike, a few at a time from the list.”

Pulling out the list he’d made with Algernon’s help for those he remembered from the first war plus those from the graveyard memory, Harry moved the Death Eater prisoner next to his barrier so he could do this and look forward, he started with the one he knew might take the longest to get here.

Touching his wand to the Dark Mark, he called softly for, “Severus Snape.” Then he started going down the list, giving about half a minute between each person, except for the Carrows, whom he called at the same time since they were likely together. Theodore Nott and his father were also called at the same time.

When he wasn’t calling someone, he’d stun those he could. He didn’t get Theodore Nott, but he had the satisfaction of stunning Severus Snape who was the fifth to come. He was not surprised that Betty stunned Peter Pettigrew since she been eagerly awaiting him.

After those on his list had come, he looked at his supervisor who nodded. “Get ready everyone,” Harry shouted, “here come the rest!”

Harry touched his wand to the Dark Mark of his prisoner and pushed his magic into it as he hissed, “All come,” thinking hard about all of the Death Eaters.

They didn’t have long to wait. A group of five Apparated in almost at the same time. They were hit with a volley of spells that dropped them all. The Death Eaters had barely hit the floor when three more arrived and immediately tripped, causing almost all of the spells cast at them to go over their heads. Harry quickly cast, “Impedimenta,” holding it and dragging it across all three. It slowed them enough that the next volley of spells stunned them.

The three who were to act like retrievers were getting behind as the Death Eaters stacked up, so Croaker and Betty helped moved them out of the landing zone and to a pile near the retrievers.

It took nearly ten minutes before the last of the Death Eaters came. At the five minute mark, Harry decided it couldn’t hurt to try something experimental. He knew he could send a pain signal to a single person. Thinking about the Death Eaters as a whole, he sent the pain signal through the Mark and did the All Call, which caused three more to come. Harry had no way to know if that had worked or if they had only been slow to come.

Harry looked around and saw Betty was still examining Pettigrew while Croaker was helping the retrievers strip all the magical items off of the bodies and then tie them up before stacking them. A hasty count gave about forty Death Eaters; that’s all that was terrorizing their world. Harry realized that didn’t count the twenty or so who’d died in July or any since then. So he guess there had been 60-70 total, that was all. So few had done so much damage to their world.

Croaker decided the effort was over, so he and Grace closed the Wards for Apparation in. If they missed any Death Eaters, and there was no way to really know, then they were deemed “lucky”.

After the normal wards were restored, Croaker started making a list of the Death Eaters. As he wrote a name down, he’d motion to someone to levitate that Death Eater over to the Veil and throw them in. There were a few no one knew.

Harry still didn’t know who Snape really worked for, but thought it likely it was for himself. They’d never really find out but he decided it didn’t matter in the end; Snape had made his choice years ago when he took the Dark Mark.

Harry was a little bothered to watch Theo Nott Jr go through the Veil because of his age. He wondered if he’d been forced into this or if he’d been like Draco Malfoy and willingly followed his father. Again, he’d never know and really didn’t want to he decided. He hadn’t felt a bit of remorse when throwing prisoners through the Veil.

“Betty it’s time,” Croaker called out as he walked over to Pettigrew, whom she was still casting spells at. Harry walked over to look too.

“All right, one more minute. I need to test this.” Betty cut off the man’s other hand. Harry saw Pettigrew’s eyes go wide but that was all; causing him to realize Pettigrew was in a body bind. Betty then cast a spell and to the amazement of the few watching, silver formed on the new bloody stump and then expanded until a new hand was formed.

She released the body bind on that arm. “Move your new hand,” she commanded. Pettigrew made a fist and he tried to hit her. Since it was his left arm, she flicked her wand and took off his arm at the shoulder. Pettigrew tried to roll and looked like he was in great pain; in fact, he even overcame the body bind and screamed for a few seconds before he went quiet and still.

Betty nodded. “I was right, cutting off the arm with the Dark Mark kills them too. I’m done here.”

Harry levitated the arm on top of Pettigrew and then levitated all of him over to the Veil and tossed him in. He wanted to say something like “Good-by you traitorous bastard,” but realized it really didn’t matter so he kept quiet.

As he walked back to the last one on the floor, Harry looked at Croaker, begging with his expression. Croaker nodded. With a smile and gleam, he levitated Voldemort and the locket sitting on his chest over to the Veil. Everyone was watching him. He paused and looked at the one that had caused him and his family so much pain. He allowed himself a muttered, “Good riddance.”

Everyone else in the chamber shouted in joy or clapped -- many did both. Harry kept smiling and nodded at them.

Croaker picked up the conjured box of items removed from the Death Eaters and looked in it carefully.

“I thought you said no trinkets,” someone called out -- probably Liam thought Harry.

“Just checking to see what we have here. Wands, huh -- Portkeys to somewhere, Gringotts keys and family rings -- those are going to be a bitch to replace. What’s the count on money?” Croaker asked as he walked towards the Veil.

“Almost 300 Galleons,” Liam stated. That drew many exclamations of surprise.

“Maybe three parties then,” Croaker said before he tossed the entire box through the Veil, his declaration causing a cheer. “Listen up, you lot, let’s get this place cleaned up and we can all go home. Remember, no talking about this!”

Barriers disappeared while blood and the ritual marking were cleared off the floor. Someone grabbed the remaining food before the water and table were vanished. In short order, the room was returned to normal.

“Mike and Betty to my office for a short meeting, everyone else can go home; I’ve released the lock down on the department. Thank you for coming and good job everyone!”

Croaker led the three to his office and closed the door. Everyone took a seat. “Betty, you did it once, but do you really know the spell for the new limb?”

“I believe so, but I need to go to our last Death Eater and check that his Dark Mark is gone. I’ll try it on him before we throw him through the Veil. I think I’ll write it up tonight while it’s still fresh on my mind,” she answered.

“Good,” Croaker said, “I want to see a write up of that separately. I’d like it studied some more and if it works out, we’ll share that with St Mungo’s. When it’s time for a live experiment, contact Alastor Moody; I can’t think of anyone more deserving. I also expect you to add an appendix to Mike’s report on the Dark Mark with your newest medical insights.

“Which takes us to our newest operative. How are you doing … Harry?” he asked gently.

Harry looked down for a moment before he smiled as he looked back up. “Relieved. I don’t think I ever really thought about how much the thought of the Prophecy affected me until I knew it was gone. A part of me disliked having to … put away people,” he decided that phrase would do, “but I think it will be good for us, all of us. We’re going to disagree at times in Society, but those disagreements can be worked out. We should not be forcing others to do things at wand point, killing each other, and everything else they did.”

“Can’t really argue with that,” Betting said softly. “They were a blight, but now we have to pick up the pieces and go forward.”

“It’ll be a little bit,” Croaker added, “but I’ll be curious as to how long it’ll be before these people are reported as missing.”

“I’m more curious as to how long it’ll be before people realize Voldemort is gone because the attacks have stopped,” Harry wondered.

“At least a month but probably more,” Croaker speculated. “They won’t know if he’s planning an attack or what. Eventually, they’ll figure out he’s gone for good.

“Go home, Harry; relax and be proud of what you’ve accomplished. You did an excellent bit of work on the Dark Mark research and your instincts on how to take down a Dark Wizard were excellent tonight. No one will be upset with how you did it; they’re glad it’s over too.”

“Thank you,” Harry stood. “Do you need me to--”

“No,” Croaker cut him off, “head home. I’ll help Betty with the last one. Still taking your trip tomorrow?”

“I am. I’m really looking forward to it, all of it really,” Harry said, meaning that despite how tired he felt.

“Seems like there’s something else I should be telling you, but I can’t remember so it must not be important. Have a good week or so off. We’ll see you when you get back.” Croaker patted him on the shoulder while Betty stepped forward and gave him a brief hug.

Harry headed to the Apparation room and moved himself to the front door of Longbottom Manor. He knocked and the door was answered almost instantly by Stolli. Removing his work cloak, he gave it to the elf, who he knew would take it to his room.

In the family room, he found Neville and his grandmother talking about the holidays. They looked up and it was the Lady of the house that spoke first. “I’m relieved to see you’re doing well.”

Neville looked alarmed. “Gran? Harry? What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” his grandmother answer, “but your uncle rarely calls for everyone to come in on a Saturday.” She gave a look of wanting to know.

“I’m sorry,” Harry replied as he took a seat, “I can’t say what we did, but no one on the team was hurt and it all worked out as planned. I can take my trip with a clear conscious and not having to worry about leaving my work in the middle of something important.” He really wished he could say something, but Algernon had been very clear on secrecy.

“But--” Neville started.

“Don’t bother,” his Gran said. “I asked Algie earlier and he told me to mind my own business.”

Neville didn’t look happy but he dropped it. “I left my present for Hermione on your bed. Stolli left yours to her as well as wrapping paper, so you can pack them.”

“Thanks, Nev.” Harry smiled and relaxed in his chair. He almost asked his friend a question, but held himself back. He wanted to talk to Hermione first.

Later that evening, Harry closed the door to his bedroom and almost collapsed on his bed. He took several deep breaths to release the rest of the tension he’d been holding in while talking to the Longbottoms. As he pondered the evening, his exhaustion caught up with him and he was soon fast asleep. In the morning, he’d say it was the best night’s sleep ever.

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