I Know, I know, it's been a bit, sorry.... Thanks again to Lady Starlight for her work on this chapter.
Chapter 27: What Happens When You Tickle the Phoenix
****************************Hogwarts***********************************
October 12, 2019
11:58am
Great banners of red and gold, yellow and black, blue and bronze and even a few of green and silver flew over the massive Quidditch Pitch, snapping in the early October winds blowing down off the mountains surrounding the castle. Throngs of students, Professors and assorted attendees sat in the stands, yelling and screaming their support of their favorite teams, or in the case of the few Muggle refugees, just screaming to be screaming. A substantial throng of fans from Hogsmeade, which was once again beginning to come back to life under the protection of the great castle on the cliff overlooking the lake, cheered loudly as Norbert barrel-rolled through the airspace above the pitch.
None of them really considered that the reason that there was a dragon flying cover over the stadium, or that in the distance, armor suits could be seen patrolling the perimeter of the forest and the lake, was that they were at war. Hogwarts itself, even more than the Americas across the sea, or the defiant Australia, was a sharp stick in Malfoy's eye. Far up the hill, next to the castle, several new, long, low stone buildings could be seen, the new headquarters for the armies defending Northern Scotland.
Harry glanced back towards the castle as he reached the top of the Gryffindor stands and squinted slightly. Tiny black dots could be seen walking the battlements, with a mixture of Muggle and Wizarding troops, not that there was much difference any longer except for the fact that some toted wands and some rifles and some both.
Hermione reached up, tousled his hair and nodded towards their seats. Luna was already seated next to their empty seats, her Lion hat fully restored and operational. Ron had not known whether to be proud or appalled, as he had overheard Harriet muttering loudly, using words that he was not sure that he knew, as her mother had walked past with the hat on this morning at breakfast. Harry and Hermione had just laughed. Their recent return to only field work had relieved them of any perceived need to be impartial, which was rather excellent as both of the elder Potters were wearing their own Gryffindor jerseys, both with Potter on the back. Gred and Forge had gifted Hermione with a new revised one right after the last Slytherin game thirteen years ago and she was wearing it today. Far below, Ron looked up at them and waved from the pitch, he was officiating today, because he had lost the draw.
"You know that your daughter only ate like half a slice of toast this morning, and then puked that up?" Harry asked Hermione, leaning over to whisper in her ear over the noise of the crowd. Below, on the field, Ron was waving the teams forward, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, to listen to his pre-game talk.
"Like father, like daughter," Hermione whispered back, nudging his ribs with an elbow. Next to them Luna looked at them, oddly, before returning her gaze to the field where her daughter was hopping back and forth, with her broom in her hands as she looked around the pitch, obviously not listening to Ron.
Harry quirked a jet eyebrow, and plucked at Hermione's own robe, "And you were so calm before your first match...I seem to remember someone not sleeping the entire night before. Only daring coffee for the whole morning."
"How the bloody hell I ever let Ron and you talk me into playing, I still have no idea," Hermione retorted, shaking her head.
Luna smiled and leaned over to them, her hat almost knocking Hermione back into the row behind them, "Your brain was addled with large amounts of sex, Hermione." She shrugged, "It happens to the best of us, now the Snorkack, it never-"
Harry dropped his head as Hermione and Luna proceeded to start to debate for the nine hundred and seventy second time, the existence of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. This time with the added invective involving the resistance of the Snorkack to the amorous advances of one of its own species. He flicked his wand, summoning a couple of mugs of Hot Chocolate, he handed one to Hermione, who paused in her affable discussion with Luna for a moment to thank him before returning to the debate. After letting them go for another moment, Harry ended it, by pulling Hermione to his side, ostensibly to warm up on this blustery day. No one was fooled, but the girls ceased with matching grins anyway.
All the eyes in the stadium turned to either the announcer's box or the Pitch, as a familiar, deep voice picked up the microphone. "WELCOME, LADIES, GENTLEMEN, FAMILIARS AND ANYONE ELSE I'VE MISSED!" A familiar pair of fire-mops stood together in the box and behind Harry and Hermione, Angelica and Alicia muttered as one, "Oh. Bloody. Hell."
"I think that there might be a few Unicorns that you didn't include, Fred," said George.
"Right you are, George," quipped Fred, "and while we are waiting for the whistle, we would to share a word from our sponsors, Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, now reopened in Hogsmeade, and soon to open once more in London." A cheer rang out at that implication and Fred nodded and waved the microphone over the crowd. "That word is...orange."
"Today we have a classic match-up...well maybe not so much, we aren't playing after all, but it should be fun," said Forge.
"Right O," said Gred, "Today we have the Badgers of Hufflepuff, verses our alma mater, the Lions of Gryffindor."
"However we will be very even in our commentary."
"Indeed, if you suck, we'll let you know."
"MISTERS WEASLEY..." yelled McGonagall.
"Sorry Professor," they sing-songed as one, "As I was saying...classic, Fred."
"Indeed, George, indeed. For today we have the third generation of Potters to play for Gryffindor, along with the....well we are still working out exactly what generation of Weasleys we are on..."
"True, true, but it's all about the game, Forge, and it looks as if our dear brother is about to blow the whistle." Fourteen streaking forms on brooms shot to the air and darted about the pitch. A thunderous roar built in the north end of the pitch as Horry dove between the hoops and swerved to stop in front of the center one, waiting. He watched as Harriet, Xander and a tiny blonde girl named Michi Chen, which no one understood, formed in a hovering line a third of the way down the pitch. The pair of Gryffindor Beaters, started to swoop back and forth, crossing between the line of waiting Chasers and the golden hoops.
Emilia smiled slightly as she and the Hufflepuff seeker, Melissa Perry began to circle the center of the pitch, twenty-five feet up, waiting for the release.
The whistle blew and the bright red Quaffle shot into the air. It was snatched out of the air by Greg Smart, one of the Hufflepuff Chasers as and he turned sharply towards the goal. He swooped under a bludger, rolled around Michi and fired at the leftmost hoop. Horry was already in motion, and a beat later the Quaffle was sailing back down the Pitch into the waiting hands of Chen. "A TERRIFIC BROOM SAVE THERE BY YOUNG MR. POTTER...WE MAY HAVE A NEW KING IN THE HOUSE," Fred added as Ron swooped by on his broom.
"AND CHEN HAS THE QUAFFLE, SHE DODGES A BLUDGER, AND PASSES TO LUPIN, TO CHEN, TO WEASLEY, SHE SHOOTS...SHE SCORES...TEN, ZERO GRYFFINDOR" George screamed, jumping up and down as Harriet, snap-rolled right, dove left and tossed the Quaffle through the far right hoop as the Hufflepuff Keeper was going the opposite way.
Meanwhile, far above the action, Emilia was still hovering, looking for that tell-tale glint of gold somewhere about the field. She glanced out of her eye as she sloth-rolled to avoid a bludger to find Perry still looking, hanging back near the Hufflepuff goals. Emilia shook her head; hanging back normally was a pretty bad tactic. After a minute, a glimmer of gold caught her eyes near the Hufflepuff stands, and she rolled on her back and dove. Across the pitch, Melissa shot into motion, and in the Gryffindor stands, Harry winced as Hermione's hand tightened on his. Emilia shot almost straight down, snapping through the center of the Gryffindor Chaser formation as they swept down the field on the way to the goal, the Quaffle missing her head by millimeters as it was passed from Harriet to Xander.
The snitch danced to the side, and Emilia only distantly heard it the crowd roar as Xander scored, and Fred's jubilant announcement as it echoed over the pitch. She rolled to her right, following the Snitch as it dove into the trench surrounding the Pitch; she ducked under a beam, rolled left past a vertical support and pulled straight up, only to loose the small ball in the sun. "Bugger," Em muttered as she streaked upward to start circling again.
The far end of the crowd cheered as Hufflepuff scored its first goal of the game, a tricky fake followed by a toss directly behind Horry accompanied by at least one Bludger near his head. Back in the stands, Hermione started muttering dire implications to the future existence of the other team, Ron for refereeing, and Harry because he was there, before Horry waved to show that he was all right. She almost immediately was jumping up and down, cheering as Horry deflected another shot on goal, catching the Quaffle going away and flinging it downfield to Harriet. "AND WEASLEY HAS THE QUAFFLE, SHE PASSES TO CHEN, TO LUPIN...OHHH THAT HAD TO HURT," Fred said feelingly as a Bludger hit by the opposing Hufflepuffs hit Xander in the shoulder, he spun several times before regaining control.
Kathy Luceno captured the Quaffle and she headed down the pitch towards the north. She only made it about one hundred feet before twin, crimson blurs ran over her, stripping her of the Quaffle. Michi tossed Harriet the ball, swerved around a Hufflepuff Chaser, dodged Ron as he sat in the air, and flipped the ball to her left. Harriet tucked it under an arm and corkscrewed around the remaining two Hufflepuff Chasers. She rolled inverted as the Bludgers crossed where her body had been before going on to nail the Hufflepuff Beaters, she dodged left as she witnessed the falling form of her best friend on the way after the Snitch, pulled up and shot, scoring through the center hoop. "GRYFFINDOR SCORES." George screamed, and from the Gryffindor stands a lion ROARED. "GO, GO, GO, AWWWW......" the shouts from the Gryffindor stands filled the stadium as Emilia reached for the Snitch only to be thwarted by a bludger bent on Pitch domination. Harry laughed as he read her lips through the omniocculars he had pressed to his eyes.
What's so funny? Hermione asked as she glanced over at her husband. He just shook his head and handed her the Omniocculars, and after a moment, she giggled. A sudden shaking rocked the stands as Hagrid started to jump and down, and Harry and Hermione both dove to stop him before he collapsed the stands, while they might be able to fly away due to one of each of their animagus forms, not everyone here could. She giggled in her thoughts as she and Harry spun back to the game just as Fred announced another score by Harriet. The Weasley contingent was ecstatically screaming, including and most especially, one blond-haired witch who had her wand in her hand, shooting off red sparks.
Another hour went by with Gryffindor scoring another ten goals to Hufflepuff's six, making the score one hundred thirty to seventy. "GO, EM..." Hermione screamed as her daughter shot past in a blur and Harry grinned. Perry was on her tail, evidentially choosing the same tactic that had not done Draco any good when he and Harry were still in school, chasing the small, gold ball on weekends. Emilia's eyes flitted sideways, finding the Snitch out of the corner of her eye and she nodded to herself. She pulled up sharply and shot straight up, up and up until she lost her pursuer in the clouds. An instant later she nosed over, arrowing down. She shot past Michi, and heard the blonde's curse as Perry followed her, almost hitting the Gryffindor in her haste to catch up.
"Just because your father is the "Boy-Who-Lived", doesn't mean you are any good Potter," Melissa spat, almost catching up to her.
"No," Em agreed, "I'm good all by myself," she leaned forward and vanished, her broom gaining another twenty miles per hour in a breath. She reached out, dodged another Bludger and snapped her gloved hand closed as tiny, fluttering wings tickled her palm. She pulled up at the last instant, the bristles of her broom sweeping the manicured grass of the pitch. A soft thump was heard behind her as Perry augured in, tumbling.
"POTTER HAS THE SNITCH....GRYFFINDOR WINS, GRYFFINDOR WINS...."
The Gryffindor crowd exploded as emerald eyes danced with joy as the small, black-haired girl stopped in mid-air. She looked dazedly at her clenched fist before a huge grin broke out on he face and she thrust her hand skyward.
She landed in the center of the field a minute later, and laughed happily as the remainder of her team grounded and greeted her. Michi and Harriet hugged her, and the boys clapped her on the back. Horatio walked up and muttered in her ear, "Good game, sis, but you sure took your time about it." She rolled her eyes and hugged him, to his vocally expressed complaints. Horry walked over to Harriet and said something to make her laugh.
Emilia turned as a hand touched her shoulder, and she spun to find Xander there, looking slightly sheepish; he glanced down and fingered a large gash in his Quidditch Jersey. "Did you get that when you got hit?" Em asked softly, looking up at the rather tall, for his age, boy, "did it hurt?"
"Nah," Xander replied and through some odd sense that she couldn't quite place she knew he was lying for her benefit, "not really." Em looked down for an instant before she grinned and jumped forward, hugging him. She let go and jumped back just as quickly, as Xander looked at her with an odd expression on his nearly thirteen-year-old face, "What was that for?
"Luck?" Em replied nonsensically and spun around and ran to her parents as they came down the stairs, sharing knowing grins, "MUM, DADDY," she yelled and launched herself at Harry, he caught her in mid-air and swirled her around.
"Have fun?" he asked as he set her down. Hermione rolled her tongue around in her cheek, trying not to laugh at something.
"It was brilliant, Dad," she enthused, and hugged Hermione around the waist, "thanks for letting me play, Mum."
Hermione smiled as she nodded, before her chocolate eyes flicked over to where Xander was talking to a witch with bright magenta hair, braying in laughter at something, "What was that with Xander, honey?" Harry glanced over at her and they shared a look, which communicated a great deal in a single glance.
"Umm, wishing him luck," she replied quietly, looking between her parents.
"One generally does that before the game, Poppet," Harry replied wryly, before reaching out and mussing her hair, "Well what are you waiting for, Gryffindor generally throws a decent victory party." She smiled at him and sprinted off, heading for the cluster of red and gold clad Gryffindors waiting for her a ways off.
*******************Harry and Hermione's Suite, Hogwarts***************
October 12, 2019
11:36 pm
A soft knock disturbed the slightly tense silence in the common room of Harry and Hermione's quarters at Hogwarts. Harry glanced over at Hermione; she was bent at the waist, fastening the holsters for her twin wands on her thighs, her hair still loose and falling forward to hide her face. She straightened and shrugged as she looked at him, and Harry frowned slightly as she zipped up the front of her night black, shadow suit, before pacing to the door.
She rolled her eyes, knowing before she opened the door whom was on the other side, "No, you are not going," Hermione said with a slight exasperated mien as the twins entered and dropped on the couch. Twin emerald gazes dropped from her eyes before looking at Harry.
"No," Harry said quickly, "no, you are not doing the 'divide and conquer' thing." Harry glanced at Hermione as she stood next to him, shaking her head.
"But, Dad," Horatio objected plaintively, "you guys did this stuff when you were our age."
"We were stupid," Hermione snapped, and took a breath, apologizing with a glance to Harry. An odd, half-smile of understanding graced his face, and the twins rolled their eyes as one. Crookshanks took the opportunity to jump on Emilia's lap, he purred loudly and settled in, as Hermione slightly self-consciously corrected herself, "Alright, honestly, there were times that we either didn't have a choice or at least we thought that we didn't have one, but you two are still staying here."
"Please, Mum, we won't get in the way," Emilia pleaded, knowing it was already a lost cause.
"No, Emilia Jane, your mother has already said..." Harry growled.
"But if it were up to you, Dad?"
Hermione looked at Harry curiously, he didn't even look in her direction as he walked over to the twins and knelt down next to them, "The answer would still be no, Em," he looked Horatio, "This is not a place that you want to be tonight...I don't want to be there tonight, and I definitely don't want your mother to be there, but we have to go, it's our...duty to do so. Please don't fight us on this," Harry said softly, and Emilia glanced at Horatio.
"Alright, Dad," said Horatio
"We'll stay," continued Emilia.
"But you have to promise us that you'll come back," Horatio went on.
"And when you get back, you'll stay for a while," Emilia whispered. Hermione quickly crossed the room to her and sat down on the couch, squeezing between the twins. They protested half-heartedly as she pulled both of them to her. "We don't want you to leave, Mum." Hermione didn't respond, other than to plead with her eyes to Harry, he sighed.
"Listen," he muttered, "why don't you stay here and wait for us...you don't have to be at class tomorrow." Harry raised a hand and left the room for several minutes leaving to the bedroom, a brief flash of magic whipped across the air and Harry came back in holding a folded piece of parchment, he thrust it at Horatio, "Here, you two get to share that...don't let anyone know you have it."
Harry?
It's a copy, Mione...besides, who knows, they might need it, Harry reasoned, as Horatio and Emilia spread the blank piece of parchment out on Hermione's lap. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Harry said, touching the tip of a holly wand to the parchment. The parchment filled in with words: Messrs. Padfoot, Moody and Prongs welcome yet another generation of Marauders to the Marauders' Map, have fun and don't get caught...
The parchment filed in with lines from the corners, lines demarking classroom, halls and staircases. Towers, bridges and the Great Hall. Tiny, labeled dots filled in, in various spots around the map. A dot labeled Albus Dumbledore was pacing around in his office, "He does that a lot," Harry confirmed, and Hermione grinned at him. More dots, labeled with the names of their classmates were crowded in the various dorms, a few named dots of familiars and professors. A squad of troops were walking the grounds outside, their erratic movements indicative of a professional patrol. "When you are done using it, touch it again and say, 'Mischief Managed'."
Hermione glanced up at a clock, and then significantly at Harry, "We, need to go," she said haltingly, "you two can stay here tonight if you want." She placed the Map on Emilia's lap and stood up, before crouching down and giving each of the twins a hug in turn.
Harry did as well and grabbed Hermione; they stepped back and vanished.
An instant later, the two tiny, labeled dots joined that of Albus Dumbledore in his office. The kids watched as several more dots, with names such as Black, Weasley and Lupin joined them, and a beat later; Dumbledore was alone as the Portkey took them away. He started pacing again; Emilia closed her eyes for a moment, "Mischief...Managed."
**********************Castle McDuer, Kircaldy, Scotland*********************
October 13, 2019
2:25 am
A pair of dark cloaked shapes stood in the dim light escaping the main castle doors. Their faces were in shadow, as they stood lounging against the stones. The sullen glow from a cigarette lit the face of one, showing a hard-eyed, scarred face as he took a final pull and tossed the butt out into the darkness, where it impacted something before it hit the ground. Neither noticed, as the other one, the one who had not been indulging, looked to his partner, "Did you see that new one?"
The Death Eater with the scarred face nodded, "You mean that little brunette they just moved up?" His partner nodded. "Yeah," he smirked, "I bet she'd warm your bed...too bad she's already marked for the London Legion."
"Again..." the exasperated groan was evident, "they get all the decent ones." They looked up as a soft, scraping, sound was heard on the stone, and saw, just for an instant, a pair of faint blue glows hanging in the night, several yards away. One of them, the older, scarred wizard opened his mouth to shout and...died, as a large, curiously red and black tiger and a night black lion bounded out of the darkness and killed them contemptuously in passing.
Harry and Ron SHIFTED into their human forms and looked down at their handiwork grimly. Harry waved to the darkness and watched as several dozen new presences appeared out of the night and took up positions around the entrance. Harry waved them in, and except for an even half-dozen that crouched looking outward, wands and weapons at hand, they looked to him. His wand flashed and a bubble of silence surrounded them, "You all have the maps that Tonks provided, Ginny, Neville... take your teams and secure the younger students' dorm. I'll send the signal when we can start to Portkey them out. Mione, Tonks, Luna," he muttered and they nodded, "you take your team and secure the older female dorm." Hermione nodded in response to another unspoken comment, and no one noticed as hers and Harry's gloved hands brushed together.
"Sirius, Cordy, Remus, you take your group and control the halls. Incapacitate any students, prefects or the like you might see, terminate any Eaters with extreme prejudice." Harry looked up at a tall, stoic presence at his shoulder, "John, leave your team here, in case anyone runs into trouble." He nodded. "Let's go people."
"What will you be doing Harry?" Sirius asked as he stood from his crouch.
"Frog Hunting...I have a long overdue visit with a toad."
'***********************************************************************
Hermione slipped through the dark, foreboding corridors of the castle and paused as just around a corner she heard rough voices echoing down the halls. She bobbed her head around the corner, invisibly and watched the two witches standing guard chatting, not paying attention to their surroundings at all.
"So, what did you get for letting Huthig in tonight?" the taller of the two, a blonde with odd, almost amber eyes, asked curiously. Her partner, a shorter, skinny witch with deep red hair that almost exactly matched the color of her blood-red robes, shrugged, and looked back over her shoulder at the painting of a witch holding a skull over a cauldron.
"You know Shelia, she's got some deal worked out with that Mudblood girl, seems she's a potions genius, has got her making all sorts of stuff you can't get anymore premade, stuff like Morning After Potion, Aliatum, other stuff... I get a cut of it."
"I don't know why the Toad let any of their kind in," the first witch said, contemptuously, "I don't know, they're only good for a few things, really, barely better than those damn Muggles, I can't wait until-"
"Until what?" a low, hard soprano interrupted. A patch of air shimmered in the dim corridor, fading to reveal a black-garbed presence leaning negligently against the grimy stones of the wall several meters away. Both Death Eaters' hands blurred for their wands, with Hermione never moving from her casual pose. "Until what?" Hermione repeated softly, "I also admit that I am curious just what 'their kind' are good for." A chestnut eyebrow crooked slightly as the tip of the redhead's wand lit green, "That wouldn't be the most brilliant of ideas ladies...."
"AVADA-" Hermione vanished, blurring into movement as she rolled to the side, watching disinterestedly as the redhead mouthed "K-", as her left hand floated up and precisely tapped the blonde on the temple with one extended knuckle, spun right, "ED-" and her leading leg neatly snapped the redhead's wand in half, milliseconds before her trailing left snapped the redhead's head around with a loud CRACK. Hermione landed lightly as the two dead Death Eaters slid to the floor behind her.
"Wotcher, Hermione," Tonks griped as she and Luna appeared at the head of another ten witches and wizards. "Why do you and Harry even bring the rest of us along, I mean really..." Luna ignored them both, as her eyes went blank and started to glow a soft golden color.
"There's at least one Death Eater in there...one floor up," she said slowly, "she's seems to be yelling at a girl about seventeen, who looks as if she might want to kill her if she got the chance...I can sense a large concentration of magical cores, inside a small room, wands maybe?"
"Makes sense," Tonks put in, as she motioned several members of the team to take covering positions at the corners. "Delores doesn't trust her students with their wands outside of classes, at least the younger ones...and the trouble makers I guess."
Hermione, nodded and held her hand to her ear, "Bookworm to all units," she muttered over the wireless, "Rescue units be advised that the kids' wands may not be with them, recover them if possible, look for a lockbox or storeroom near the common rooms of the students." Several whispered confirmations answered her call, and she nodded and turned to the portrait. "Open up," Hermione snapped.
"I most certainly will not," the Dark Witch snapped, and looked down on Hermione haughtily. Hermione rolled her eyes as behind her, Luna, Tonks and Jim Smith, snickered.
Hermione stood with her hands on her hips and glared at the portrait for a long moment, with the only movement being her right index finger on the Dragonhide of her wandbelt. A dark, half smile lit her lips, "Decolorato," she whispered lovingly and watched as the paint melted and flowed as a soft scream sounded from the canvas. A moment later, only a blank parchment remained, and a moment after that, it fell forward off the wall with a soft clatter."
"What the hell was that spell?" Tonks looked down at the empty framed canvas.
Hermione shrugged, "I just made it up." She looked back at the various Witches and Wizards she had brought, "Boys, stay here, we'd hate for your mugs to catch sight of some girl in her delicates." Half of her team nodded, and quickly without another order switched places with the female members of the team. "Let's go then."
Hermione slipped through the now open hole in the wall, reminded darkly of another night and another tower, though she herself had not been there as she had been a touch too busy. She stepped into a large common room, stepped right, and snapped a red beam across the room. A darkly robed witch crumpled as a seventeen-year-old started to let out a scream, then stopped as she looked at the intruders. All of who were female, and wearing what she distantly remembered from a time when she was very young, was the insignia of the good guys.
The girl stood and backed away from a smoldering cauldron, backing towards a blank stone wall and dodging around several barren, metal tables, surrounded by austere straight-backed chairs. Hermione took a quick glance around the common room, struck by the vast difference between the warm and inviting Gryffindor Common Room where she had spent so very much of her youth and this dark, depressing spot, which seemed to have, as it's only purpose, a place for the stairs from the dorms to go. "Who...Who, are you?" The young girl questioned with more than a trace of fear.
Tonks appeared at Hermione's heels, and glanced over as Luna knelt next to the Death Eater and gave her a small nod, "Wotcher, girl, we're the bloody good guys," Tonks replied with a touch of exasperation.
"That's what they said when they came to my parents house and took me, they took my sister later, she's here in the younger girls quarters," the girl snapped, "Why should I trust any of you?"
Hermione sighed and crouched down, her hands on her knees so her eyes were lower than the girl's; her gaze snapped to the door that behind it, Luna had sensed several wands and her eyes lit. The door shook for a second before ripping from its hinges and flying back into the room to come to rest uneasily against the far wall. Hermione watched the girl look at the now open room longingly, "Go ahead," she said encouragingly, "go get your wand."
The girl frowned, and shook her head slightly, "I'm a Mudblood, ma'am...I don't own a wand, I can only have one during class." Her eyes dropped, as she looked over at the cauldron.
Hermione looked around the room, at the other six black-garbed witches that had entered, "Go, check out the dorms; get them ready to go, but be careful." Hermione looked back at the girl, and closed her eyes for an instant, But for the grace of God, go I...she quoted to herself absently before opening them again, "What's your name?"
The girl swallowed and lowered her head; she looked up at Hermione through a curtain of straight, russet hair, "Makaila," she whispered finally after a long moment, "Makaila O'Brien, I'm from...I mean I was from Dublin."
"Makaila," Hermione smiled at her, and sunk to her knees in front of the girl, "That's your work there, right?" Hermione asked, pointing at the cauldron, Makaila nodded, "so you know how to use a wand right?" the girl nodded again, "Good," Hermione approached her slowly and held her hand back towards Tonks, "I hate to see a talented witch without her wand, Tonks, give her your backup." Hermione looked back to her, and knowing without looking that the young girl was looking hopefully at Tonks now, Hermione watched as Tonks unzipped the front of her shadow suit and withdrew an plain, eight-inch dark oak wand.
Tonks tossed it to the young girl, "Here ya go, eight and a half inches, oak, dragon-heartstring, its just a general one, but it should do until we can get you to where your real wand will chose you."
Makaila held the wand out in front of her in the palms of both of her hands, "I can't take this ma'am," she whispered, wistfully, "I'm just a -"
"Muggle-born," Hermione whispered as she reached forward and gently closed the girl's hands over the wand, "So am I...and it doesn't matter."
"We have the girls ready to go, boss," an agent said suddenly as she came down the stairs from the dorms, "they were already all asleep, so we put them out the rest of the way, and have them ready to Portkey out.
Harry, we have the older girls ready.
Just a moment, Mione...I'll convince Delores to lower her wards. You can join me if you want to, he sent an image of where he was, I'll be waiting, love.
One sec, Harry, Hermione sent back, and felt him nod, "Makaila, I need to go see my husband, Tonks and Luna will take care of you until we get to Hogwarts." Hermione did not miss the sudden smile that bloomed on the girls face as she looked up suddenly and seemed to want to ask a million questions at once.
But in the end, she just asked one, "What's your name, ma'am?"
"Hermione Potter," Hermione replied and vanished noiselessly, vanishing before she could see the pole-axed expression now decorating the young girl's face.
*************************Security Barracks, Castle McDuer*******************
The last Death Eater slumped to the ground as Lupin straightened from the crouch he had been in and slowly sheathed his wand. He looked over as Sirius rolled his shoulder with a slight sigh and followed suit, crossing the room, stepping over several bodies on the way. "Tell me something, Padfoot," he said softly as they both watched Cordelia licking her lips slightly as she casually tossed a Death Eater across the room without so much as a grunt of effort.
"Yes, Moony?" Sirius replied as he flicked his wand to vanish a Death Eater before sitting on the now vacated bed. He yawned mightily and grinned to himself, as Cordelia paced. She motioned forcefully to several of the agents that had followed them into the room, and supervised as they started to Evanesco the Eaters.
"Why is it we are cleaning up after Junior, he always gets the fun parts?" Lupin grinned at Sirius, as he yawned again, "What's wrong, getting old there, Snuffles?"
"James kept us up all night," he raised his voice slightly, "now since my lovely wife is, a creature of the night," she rolled her eyes and extended her fangs for his benefit as she stalked over to him, "It doesn't bother her, but I need my beauty sleep."
"Is my little puppy tired?" Cordelia asked, as her burr lightened and rose back to her normal alto as the bloodlust slowly drained from her. She slid down to perch next to him, and draped herself over his shoulder. "I seem to remember that our little bundle of joy was at least half your fault...and I don't seem to remember that you carried him, love," she purred in his ear, nipping it lightly with her fangs as she did.
"I love you, Fangs," Sirius whispered seriously.
"I know dear, otherwise," she shrugged, "I'd probably have ate you by now." Cordelia pecked him on the lips before standing and holding a hand to a collar around her neck, holding it to her throat with one hand, "Leo, Fangs, we've secured the Barracks, anything that's left is a straggler, we have a confirmed count of," she looked at Sirius and he mouthed a number, "of twenty five, that's two five DE's down here and in the castle that Sweeper Group has encountered."
She frowned as Harry asked another, grimmer question over the wireless and looked at Sirius as he answered softly, "Two KIAs Leo, Silverstein and Morrill."
***********************Headmistress' Office, Castle McDuer******************
"Confirm that, Padfoot," Harry muttered in return, closing his eyes as a part of his thoughts already started writing another unwanted letter to family. Eldon Morrill wasn't even a wizard; he was one of the British Army troops to escape the initial assaults by Malfoy's forces seven years ago. His daughter, however, was. She's eleven, Harry's traitorous mind supplied helpfully, and in Hufflepuff. A curious occurrence had arrived with the destruction of Voldemort and the Chamber of Secrets, soon after, the various Ministries and such throughout the world had noted a sharp increase in Muggle-born births.
On the other hand, Robert Silverstein was a Wizard, he had been an observer from the American forces liaisoning first with the Resistance, and now the forces holding Hogwarts and more and more of Scotland every day. To his sudden shame, Harry didn't know if the rather withdrawn man had had a family. He looked up as Hermione materialized out of the darkness next to him and crouched next to him. She looked up at the statue of Lucius guarding the entrance to Umbridge's office and quarters before looking at him.
I heard, she announced softly reaching out to brush her hand over his neck before drawing back.
His daughter's Em and Horry's age... Harry muttered, Hermione nodded slowly, but didn't respond, there was nothing to say really. She pointed at the statue and nodded; Harry stood and paced to it. Its eyes snapped open, looking at Harry, and it's mouth opened to shout a challenge, only to fall to dust as Harry sent a helical, yellow curse at it.
A dark, almost black oak door stood suddenly revealed. A large tarnished brass knocker in the shape of a coiled serpent decorated the center, with dark iron hinges on the top and bottom. Harry looked to Hermione, and with a negligent gesture she sent the heavy door pin-wheeling into the office beyond. Ladies first, Harry sent, bowing her into the room.
Why thank you M'Lord, Hermione replied darkly as she strode into the room. She immediately looked around behind the tip of her wand...and her jaw dropped. Thousands of books, several of which Hermione herself wasn't sure she'd understand on the first reading were plastered about the walls of the two-story office, she was relatively sure that Umbridge had never read any of them.
"WHO THE HELL ARE..." A high-pitched, whining voice screamed from the entrance to the private quarters beyond the office. Hermione flicked her wand and Umbridge flew across the room to smash into a large china cabinet filled with plates with cavorting kittens. The short, toad-like woman pried herself from the floor and straightened a bright pink dressing gown. She extended a rather short, stubby wand and pointed it shakily towards the pair of figures in the shadows.
Incendio, Harry muttered and around the room, starting with a torch directly about Delores' head, a ring of torches lit, a wall of light cascaded around the room until finally, with the last torch, her guests were revealed.
"YOU!" Delores cried, extending her wand towards Harry, before moving it slowly to Hermione and back.
Harry rolled his eyes, snapped his fingers, and watched as Umbridge's diminutive wand erupted in flames. She shook it several times before she dropped it to the carpet with a loud cry of dismay. The wand was only ashes before it hit the floor. "As the sage said, stories of my death were premature," Harry commented, before flicking his hand tossing Umbridge against the wall and holding her there like a fly in amber.
"You can...can't be alive...you were in Azkaban, Lucius-"
"His time is coming," Hermione replied, her eyes flickered, and Umbridge's mouth flapped several times, with no sound escaping. "From my tour of your...school, I could tell that you liked rules, Delores, so I took the liberty of giving you a bit of assistance..."
"Delores Umbridge," Harry picked up, "You are under arrest for the crimes of abuse of minors, murder through inattention, kidnapping, conspiracy to place others into servitude, and terrorism. You are to be held until such time a jury of your peers can be assembled for a capital trial..." Harry waved his hand and she vanished, banished to a dungeon cell, already prepared for her far, far below the dungeons of Hogwarts. Harry looked to Hermione, "Ok, Mione, we need to finish this, lets get the wards down...you got it?" he asked hopefully.
"Yeah," Hermione replied absently, not really listening to him as she reached out, sweeping the environs with her senses. She slowly turned, watching as the images of faintly glowing magical signatures replaced her normal sight. She passed over Harry's sun-bright aura, catching the slight pale green and white glows of the various books, before she stopped, looking at what seemed to be a blank wall, providing one was using only their mundane eyes. Hermione found a bright, orange glow seeping from behind the wall, she took a step back, snapped up her wand, REDUCTO, a searing blue bolt snapped across the room, shattering the wall. Harry flicked his wand, and with a sudden, produced breeze, the dust cleared.
A head-sized, faceted green crystal was standing on a wrought iron stand, slowly pulsing. Harry and Hermione could both feel the pulses in time with the wards of the castle, "Typical half-arsed Death Eater instillation, they don't have the skill to imbue a place like this with a permanent ward," she muttered derisively. She slashed her wand sideways, then straight up, a chartreuse cone of light shot from her wand, crossing the room and impacting the crystal. The steady pulsing of the crystal grew faster, and faster, and faster, until, for one endless minute a solid screeching tone emitted from it, until it shattered with a loud, gunshot-like BANG.
The wards around the castle flickered and died. Without Harry or Hermione uttering a word over their communicators, they felt a cascade of Portkeys activating. For five minutes, they felt the Portkeys going, until, "Leo, Furball, we're clear, and we're gone..."
"Padfoot and Sweeper team is clear, and gone..."
"Cover team is gone..."
Hermione grinned and flicked her wand around the room and watched with no small satisfaction as every book vanished. Harry chuckled as she looked at him sheepishly, "What...they were going to waste, Harry," Hermione explained softly.
"I know, love," Harry whispered as he wrapped his arms around her, and vanished.
Several minutes later, the walls of the castle began to shake, and with a horrendous crash of stone on stone, as four strategic keystones were Reducto'ed in the depths of the castle, the walls that had lasted hundreds of years, and many different occupants, fell.
There you go, it's been a bit, R/L and a slightly sprained wrist didn't help.