Chapter 14 - The Iron Triangle
Shortages Multiply, Ministry Advises Restraint
Diagon Alley continues to be virtually shut down in the aftermath of the complete destruction of England's last true wizarding village, Hogsmeade. At this time the official Ministry policy is to upgrade the commercial center's security to the point that a Hogsmeade like incident could never occur. Spokeswizard Weasley, the newest attaché to Minister Fudge, denounced what he called an aura of fear being built up by certain elements of the journalistic community. Weasley went on to say that everyone should be aware that disruptions will continue to occur during the foreseeable future. The Ministry is expected to issue a new improvisation and substitution guide to help citizens identify strategies for coping with supply shortfalls. As always, people are encouraged to pool their talents and resources while the community's most powerful mages are unavailable to supply critical enchantments.
"Do you have a point?" Hermione asked crossly. Raver Harp, the Light Bearers' most prominent auror member, had been waving around newspaper articles for at least a half-hour.
"It's the same bloody point I've had for the last two weeks," Harp said with a strained voice. "Everyone is short of everything right now, including us, especially us, and you two are the only ones powerful enough to make some of these devices."
"Professor Dumbledore is doing all he can," Harry said. "Hermione and I may have the power, but we've never had the training to make most of the things we need. We simply don't have time right now so you'll just have to make do with what we've got."
Harp blinked a few times and rummaged through his stack of parchments. Harry sighed and cast a sidelong glance at Hermione. It was bad enough that they barely got any sleep these days, but now they had to put up with a steady stream of people coming around to voice "concerns."
Terror Rules in England: World of Magic Devastated
Diagon Daily resumes operation from an undisclosed location after the widely publicized shutdown of Diagon Alley. During the brief interlude when this paper was unwillingly silenced a veritable tidal wave of reports on the swiftly changing nature of the war has surfaced. As in the last war, the Dark Lord and his followers have maintained an unnerving level of secrecy that even the top Ministry investigators are unable to penetrate. However, in this latest round of conflict the emergence of the so called Bearers of the Light have provided a foil against which the shadowy forces of the Dark Lord are illuminated. Shortly following the massacre at Hogsmeade the Light Bearers, under the command of Harry Potter (Chosen One and Boy-Who-Lived) and Hermione Granger (Muggleborn Arch-Witch and apparent co-commander of the Light Bearers) struck back at seemingly random targets that they clearly believed to be agents of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Potter and Granger have both been witnessed using Dark Magic of the most dangerous variety (For a comprehensive look at the Light Bearers' Dark Side see page 15-28). This blatant and very public display of the dark arts comes on the heels of rumors about a secret prison where suspects are routinely tortured. Some persons have alleged that the Potter-Granger duo are engaging in even more unnatural dark experiments that we can only hope are destined to be used against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named…
"Can't you just say Voldemort?" Hermione interrupted. Harp blanched visibly, but forged ahead.
"I thought the problem was that we're not using our magic to make war supplies, now you're complaining about our image or what?" Harry asked.
"They're related," Harp said defensively. He pointed at the giant golden goblet seated on the table in front of Harry and Hermione. "You're wasting all your time on that…that…abomination."
Hermione's face twisted into a scowl. "You don't even know what "it" is." She said darkly.
"All I know is that I feel cold and empty whenever I get near it, or look at it," Harp said shakily. "Its bad, the worst kind of evil. Why won't you just tell anyone what it is."
"We have told people what it is, people who need to know," Harry replied calmly. "Look, those articles you just read demonstrate that someone with access to Grimmauld Place is leaking reports to the press. If they can leak things to the press then they can leak them to Voldemort and this is too important for him to find out about it."
"Almost makes me miss Shacklebolt," Hermione said dryly after Harp had stormed out in frustration. After the attack on White Acres the auror had nearly forsworn all contact with the Light Bearers. He still communicated regularly with Dumbledore and Harry had decided to leave it at that. They still needed his eyes and ears inside the Ministry since Shacklebolt ranked higher up than Harp. Unfortunately, he was an employee of and believer in the Ministry above all else. He might believe that Dumbledore was an asset to the Ministry's fight against Voldemort, but he wasn't willing to do anything he didn't see as expedient to the greater good of Fudge's administration.
"That'll be the day," Harry replied.
"Is it safe to come back in here dear?" Sarah Granger asked from the doorway.
"You can come back in Mum, but I don't know if I'd call it safe," Hermione replied. Hermione removed the covering from the large goblet as Petunia Dursley followed in behind Sarah, almost hesitantly, and took a seat on the sofa next to her.
"It still feels so cold in here," Petunia muttered. "I'm glad I can't see those terrible things you told us about earlier."
"Keep watching the goblet though," Hermione reminded. "If you see anything happening to the goblet's structure let us know right away so we can destroy the experiment."
Harry and Hermione had spent a considerable amount of time chasing after all the groups of Death Eaters scattered across England, but eventually they had run out of places to look. Then had come the dementor attacks, hundreds of them, usually on muggles, but often on wizards too. Even wizards who had mastered the patronus charm had sometimes been overwhelmed so Hermione had decided that a more permanent solution was required.
No one really knew exactly how a dementor was created. There were many theories, some of which almost certainly had to have some truth to them. Dementors seemed to spring from their surroundings much like Red Caps were thought to spring forth from bloodshed. Only for a dementor the surroundings needed to be a convergence of the darkest, most depressing, and despairing emotions. Hermione hoped that if they could create a dementor artificially then the process would give them clues into the creature's makeup and allow them enough insight to design a spell to destroy rather than merely repel them.
"Are you sure you're okay hon?" Sarah asked gently when Hermione sighed and leaned back in her plush chair.
"I'm fine Mum," Hermione replied reassuringly. "Harry and I are pushing our magic pretty hard here."
"The thing is acting up too," Harry muttered.
"It's supposed to do that Harry," Hermione said distractedly.
"Supposed to do what?" Petunia asked nervously. She was craning her neck awkwardly to try and see down into the golden goblet. Of course, without magic she couldn't hope to see what was inside and Harry knew that if she could see she'd be trying to avoid looking instead. The goblet was nearly full of a black tar like substance that bubbled and churned of its own accord. The surface was continually swelling or indenting in various ghastly shapes. Bones, twisted age withered limbs, and even skeletal looking faces all seemed to be straining against the surface of the black liquid as if attempting to escape.
"A hand just reached out further than I've ever seen it do before," Harry said nervously. He prodded the substance gently with his wand and then vaporized the bit that stuck to the tip with a searing light spell.
"At least we know it isn't a dementor yet," Hermione said.
"I guess not," Harry agreed. He leaned forward to cast another exploratory enchantment over their creation when a gnarled hand broke through the surface violently. Harry scrambled backward as the hand was followed swiftly by an arm and then the rest of the newly spawned dementor.
"Harry," Hermione yelled, "don't let it get out."
"Get the lid," Harry said. He cast his patronus charm between the dementor, Sarah, and Aunt Petunia. Hermione activated her armor to protect herself while she attempted to cram the dementor back down into the specially conjured goblet that they hoped would contain it.
Harry leapt to Hermione's side and added his own weight to the lid. The additional force caused the top to set down on the goblet with a clang and a small flash of light as its sealing charm took effect. Harry only got half way through his breath of relief when the goblet's thick metallic sides distended rapidly in several places all at once.
"It shouldn't be able to do that," Hermione said worriedly. She cast her own patronus and had it swallow the goblet whole.
"If it's a true dementor that won't stop it," Harry said.
"It's way stronger than a normal dementor," Hermione gasped. "Mum, Petunia, you've got to get out of here now."
"Hermione, you need to go too," Harry said quickly. "The prophecy will protect me."
"No Harry," Hermione snapped. "Dementors can destroy a person without killing them remember? It's too risky."
"Worthless prophecy, can't even protect me from dementors," Harry muttered. Hermione grinned, but quickly focused on the matter at hand when her patronus exploded into an unusually large dementor. It ignored the two mages and instead turned on the two ladies who had become nearly incapacitated from the soul wrenching effects of the dementor's aura of fear.
Hermione accelerated so she could put herself physically between her mum and the dementor. With a violent gesture of Hermione's wand a dozen spears of corporeal light skewered the dementor from all sides. It writhed and expelled a few of the beams, but then Harry duplicated the spell. Black mist boiled off of the dementor until it dissipated into a mean looking fog before vanishing entirely.
"So, was that a dementor or what?" Harry asked between deep breaths from exhaustion.
"I don't know," Hermione replied, "but whatever it was, it left something behind."
Harry looked at the fallen goblet and saw that the bottom fourth of it was still holding the same black substance they had created to experiment with. He waved his wand and repaired the container, but didn't replenish the dark magic that had fed the creation of the dementor.
"Hopefully there isn't enough of that stuff left to produce another one," Harry said.
"Goodness gracious what in the world is going on here," Molly Weasley asked hysterically. Ron was trying to slow her and his father Arthur down from their headlong rush into the room.
"Was that a dementor? Here?" Arthur chimed in.
"Quiet," Hermione hissed. "What part of "secret project" didn't you get?"
Arthur immediately looked abashed, but Molly's alarm multiplied in front of their very eyes. Even worse, Raver Harp had run back in and heard Arthur's guess as to what was going on.
"I think we deserve to know what you're doing," Harp said. Harry was surprised at how calm and serious the usually flippant man was being.
"Since they bloody well already know," Hermione groused.
"Fine," Harry said resignedly. "But this doesn't leave the room."
"Let's face it," Hermione said. "The dementors are some of the most effective minions that Voldemort has. They can't be killed, we're forced to split up our most talented wizards to protect those who can't cast a patronus, they're great at terrorizing muggles or even the general wizard public…"
"So Hermione surmised, and I agree, that if we were to create one in a controlled circumstance we might be able to learn enough about them to find a way to kill them instead of simply repel them," Harry said. "If we can do this it will severely weaken Voldemort's force, perhaps even enough to recover the gap in manpower that has been swiftly widening between us and the Death Eaters."
Molly's demeanor instantly changed. "Of course, if it will help kill that man," she said darkly.
Harry jumped up and put one arm around Molly whilst motioning at Arthur with his other. "We're working as hard as we can, but we can't let…him…find out about this," Harry said soothingly.
Molly seemed to mellow. "Right, right, you can count on me dear," she said softly.
Harry passed her off to Arthur who continued gently walking her out of the room.
"Poor Molly," Hermione said bitterly. After Ginny died the matronly Weasley had been inconsolable. For weeks Molly had oscillated from debilitating depression to stormy rages as she attempted to come to grips with her loss. At one point she had practically begged Harry and Arthur to let her go on raids before Hermione surprisingly convinced her that she was more valuable in her behind the scenes role. Since then Molly had thrown herself into whatever work she could find and only came out of her emotional shell long enough to agree with anything designed to kill Voldemort as quickly as possible.
Harp on the other hand was not so obligingly malleable when it came to getting his agreement for any plan, especially one that involved the bane of all aurors: dark magic. Harry was beginning to think that the primary qualification for a position as a top wizard law enforcer was an irrational paranoia of all magic that fell outside what one would teach a schoolchild.
"I know you two believe that you're doing this for a good reason," Harp said patiently, "but do you have any idea what you're doing? I mean really? What if that thing got loose? It could have escaped and nullified the enchantments keeping this place hidden. Grimmauld Place exposed would be a disaster beyond all disasters!"
"It wasn't a true dementor," Hermione replied stiffly.
"You can't be sure of that," Harp snapped. "It certainly felt like one."
"Except that we killed it," Hermione retorted. "A real dementor wouldn't have died."
"Well, what happens next time when it is a dementor?" Harp asked.
"With any luck next time we'll be able to kill it, even if it is a dementor," Harry said.
"Raver, please," Hermione said. "Let us handle this."
"We can't have anyone just running in and questioning our activities as the fancy strikes them," Harry added. "I've tried to be as honest and forthcoming as possible because I know what its like to be kept in the dark. However, there comes a point where if you're with us then disagreements have to be shelved."
Harry got a couple of flashes from Harp's mind using his ambient legimency that mostly consisted of disdain for Hermione and concern for something less precise.
"Very well," Harp said resignedly. With a short nod he backed his way hastily out of the room leaving them alone with Sarah and Petunia again.
"I keep expecting him to resign," Harry observed.
"Or worse, turn us in to the Ministry. He knows a lot," Hermione said sullenly. She had felt Harp's emotional flashes too.
"I'm sure he's just trying to help Hermione," Sarah said.
Hermione moved her shoulders in a very non-committal gesture. She waved her wand and summoned a large stack of papers that had been strewn around by the commotion so they could be sorted back into a proper order.
"Here, let me do that," Harry said. Hermione kept a few papers and passed the rest over. Harry started sorting them according to the time and date notation that appeared at the tope of each page. He glanced over at where Hermione was swiftly making new notes based on what they had just experienced. He resisted pulling her close and kissing her scrunched up nose since she needed to concentrate, not to mention that she was a little shy of overt displays of affection in front of her mother.
When Harry had finished putting Hermione's notes back in order he picked up one of Harp's discarded newspapers. The press, with the exception of Mr. Lovegood's Quibbler, had been bouncing all over the place with every kind of crazy theory about what was going on. Of course they also managed to fit in some serious pieces like an inventory of Diagon Alley's businesses post Hogsmeade. Not much besides the goblin bank Gringotts had stayed open, though they had little choice. Gringotts couldn't protect itself any better by closing, it couldn't move the things stored within its vaults because it had nowhere else to put them, and goblins were about the only magical creature able to stand up to wizards on an even footing.
Harry heard someone enter the room, but his attention was suddenly fixed on a disturbing picture buried deep inside the Diagon Daily. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but he knew he had seen it before. It was Hermione, looking very exhausted and enraged, firing off a vast amount of tiny tongues of flame. Every once in a while she would look up and sneer defiantly before resuming her attack. The real puzzling thing is that Harry couldn't imagine how anyone could get a picture of her in the middle of a battle like that.
"Oi, Harry, pay attention," Ron said. "You too Hermione, this is important."
"Okay, I'm listening," Harry said. He tossed the newspaper away absently and waited for his friend to explain.
"Good news and bad news I'm afraid," Ron said. "Or at least I think it'll be bad news."
"Ron," Hermione said expectantly.
"Remus has sent us another communication and apparently the Americans have agreed to send an observer. Some bloke showed up at Hogwarts claiming to represent the wizard government over there in the states." Ron said.
"I guess we'd better meet with him then," Harry said.
"What was the bad news?" Hermione asked before Harry could get up.
"The dwarves are demanding to meet with you both," Ron said. "They seem a little put out, to say the least."
"I'm surprised they haven't made contact already," Hermione said sadly. The avatars had still managed to loot one of their cities despite the attempted rescue by Harry and Hermione. In the end they were forced to flee prematurely to fight the battle at Hogsmeade. When a Light Bearer team finally reached their remote location the dwarves had disappeared.
"Where did they want to meet us at?" Harry asked.
"Uh, actually, here," Ron said sheepishly. Harry opened his mouth to protest when the main doors burst open again and three dwarves in elaborate metal woven clothes strode into the room. Hermione stood up hastily and Harry immediately followed suit.
"Ambassadors, how unexpected," Hermione said politely. "Please, take a seat."
Aunt Petunia and Sarah had also stood so they could move off to the side away from the surprise guests. Petunia still flinched at the sight of anything odd, including magical creatures she hadn't encountered before. Fortunately, the dwarfish representatives didn't seem to notice her reaction.
"I'm certainly happy to see you again," Harry added smoothly. "After the terrible attack by Voldemort's avatars we feared you might recede for the duration of the war."
"We had little choice but to hide after the sack of our greatest continental city," the head dwarf replied. Dwarves were oddly reluctant to give outsiders their names. "We have come for the protection guaranteed to us by our treaty as we rebuild our loss."
"I'm afraid that may not be possible right now Ambassador," Hermione said slowly. "We are already over extended in responding to direct attacks and it seems unlikely that Voldemort's forces would return to bother your efforts at this time."
"Just like you were too over extended to protect our city?" the head dwarf retorted.
"By the time we got word of the attack it was too late to come with our main force," Harry explained. "Only Hermione and myself were able to travel quickly enough…"
"What is the point of this treaty if you are unable to fulfill your end of it?" the dwarf asked haughtily.
"The treaty does not give blanket assurance of immunity from attack," Hermione replied, agitation creeping into her voice. "Not to mention we made a good faith effort by giving as much help as we could at the time…"
"Oh yes," the dwarf interrupted. "Now we will hear how the great Hermione Granger, an army unto herself, came and how we should ask for no more."
Harry felt his jaw slacken and saw that Hermione too had a pole axed expression on her face.
"Yes, two whole points of the "iron triangle" came to defend us, and then promptly left at the first sign of trouble," the dwarf continued. He seemed to finally register their expressions, but misinterpreted what they were shocked about. "Didn't you know? That's what they call your "Light Bearers" on the continent. Three forces united for their own benefit, the Chosen One and his invincible prophecy, the mightiest witch of the living generations, and an elite band of hit wizards."
"You can't believe that," Hermione finally choked out. "You've had access to our records and our people. You know who and what we are."
"We know what you've shown us," the dwarf snapped. "Wizards are good at keeping secrets, especially from us "regulation" creatures."
"Hermione is one of the most outspoken critics of Ministry regulation of sentient magical persons," Harry replied hotly. "And furthermore, need I remind you that you're people have fallen short of the agreements made in the treaty too. We've received no gold, no wand wood, not even a decent supply of the metals we need for the manufacture of critical equipment like armor."
The dwarf shifted uncomfortably. "That isn't the point, you abandoned us."
"Abandonment had nothing to do with it," Hermione said in a calmer voice. "With Hogsmeade under attack the castle of Hogwarts could have easily been the next target. Voldemort was personally leading the attack, if we didn't return immediately the war might already be over right now."
That had their attention. The dwarves had apparently been completely out of communication with the rest of the world during their time away and had no idea of what had transpired after the attack on their city.
"You have to understand, we didn't know," one of the accompanying dwarves said. "But it may not be possible for us to supply the amount of materials that you seem to require."
Hermione fell back into diplomacy mode. "We accept that and know that you'll do all you can. Just like we hope you will be able to understand that we have to commit our forces to where they'll most benefit the war effort."
"We'll help whenever we can," Harry added. "But like the treaty says, we have many protectorates and other war assets to defend. Ultimately, staying to defend your city in light of Hogsmeade would have done more harm than good. Harm that would have eventually been revisited on the dwarfish people."
"Perhaps you'd like to reconsider our offer to place a full time representative at Hogwarts so that you can be assured of continual contact with our operation," Hermione suggested. Though they had few allies so united and organized as to be worthy of a continual presence, they were still prepared to coordinate with their allies as closely as possible. Unfortunately, the centuries of mistrust that wizard kind had built up amongst many magical creatures precluded the formation of many such relationships. Indeed, only the imminent threat of Voldemort had allowed Harry to even get an audience with the more secretive groups like the dwarves.
"Uh, no, I'm afraid all our people are very busy," the head dwarf said evasively. He glanced meaningfully around the disorderly room. "I'm sure that you too are greatly busy at this time…"
"Actually, I'm very interested to hear more about this iron triangle talk," Hermione interjected.
The dwarf looked down for a moment in an almost shy manner. "Idle talk in the heat of the moment, very unfortunate, think nothing of it."
"You said something about such talk being common place on the continent," Hermione pressed.
"Please, we don't have time to keep up with the goings on outside of England," Harry said encouragingly. "It could be important."
"Well, there are many stories," the dwarf said sheepishly. "Some think that the prophecy is a fraud being used as an excuse to gather enough wizards to overthrow the pureblood dominated English Ministry."
"Why would I want to overthrow the Ministry?" Harry asked peevishly.
"Not you, her," the dwarf said, pointing at Hermione.
"Me?" Hermione repeated incredulously.
"Some say you're angry at the purebloods because of your muggle born status. Others say you've got, uh, dark tendencies because of your magical prowess," the dwarf replied delicately. Sarah Granger stiffened when the dwarf mentioned Hermione's muggle born heritage, but she didn't interrupt.
Hermione snorted disdainfully. "You mean they claim I'm power mad like Voldemort."
The dwarf and his attendants cringed. "Not that we believe such nonsense of course."
Harry didn't think it would be politic to point out that they apparently had believed such "nonsense" only a few minutes before.
"What about Dumbledore, or even me," Harry said. "Surely we're not crazed Dark Lords in the making."
"Dumbledore is getting pretty old and your relationship to Hermione is well known," the dwarf said simply. "Please, keep in mind, these are not prominent views. They're just rumors or innuendo passed around, probably by people with Death Eater connections."
Harry lurched forward in his chair at this news. "Are there many Voldemort sympathizers on the continent? Are they helping Voldemort actively or do they just favor his cause? What kind of numbers are we talking about here?"
"We don't know," the dwarf replied hastily. He looked rather cowed by the aggressive interrogation Harry had launched into. "Some of both maybe, wizards don't talk to us about such things."
"This is bad Harry," Hermione said. "We don't have the resources or the numbers to try to fight across channel."
"The Ministry controls the flow of magical commerce into and out of England. Hopefully they can keep the Death Eaters from getting much aid from abroad. The only other thing we can do is keep up our attacks on Voldemort's infrastructure," Harry said. They had put a considerable dent in the holdings of the Voldemort's followers, but ultimately they had no idea how much the dark forces had to work with. Considering that they were made up of some of the wealthiest members of the magical community Harry figured it was safe to assume their resources were handily superior to that of their opposition, including the Ministry in all likelihood.
Ron apparently was thinking along the same lines. "I suppose I could send one or two people to investigate, but other than that we can't afford to take away from our spying here in England. We're trying to watch the ports that handle the most foreign wizard traffic though."
Harry glanced at Hermione as if to ask what she thought. To be honest, they had never even considered the continent as a source of anything except possibly targets for Voldemort once he began to need war material. That concern was what had driven them to form a treaty with the dwarves in the first place.
Harry continued to question the dwarfish ambassador until he and Hermione were both satisfied that there was no more relevant information to be gained. Then they went through more of the customary diplomatic hoop jumping that always accompanied such events. Harry had gotten to where he could tolerate the dwarves' ritual, but Ron got so bored that he begged off in the middle using the presence of the American representative back at Hogwarts as his excuse. It was a considerable time later when the dwarves finally left so that Harry and Hermione could greet their other diplomatic guest.
"So what are you two talking about?" Sarah asked as they walked down the halls toward Dumbledore's office. Hermione's mum had portkeyed in with her daughter so she could spend some time at the far more interesting location of Hogwarts as opposed to the drab Grimmauld Place. Erwin was still busy talking muggle interests with Vernon and Dudley so had decided not to come. Petunia had just barely gotten used to living in a magical house and was in no way ready to visit something as scary as an enchanted castle school.
Hermione's cheeks reddened slightly. "We were trying to think of a strategy to get this American to like us enough to recommend to his government that they send us some help," she replied.
"Just be yourself dear," Sarah advised. "If they don't want to help us for who we are and for the threat we face then we probably would be better off without their help."
"I wish it were that easy Mum," Hermione replied wistfully. "From what Remus has told us in his reports these Americans are odd, even by wizarding standards."
When they arrived at the gargoyle entrance to Dumbledore's office they found Luna waiting for them with the password.
"Ron's already up there talking with him," Luna said knowingly. Her eyes got really big as she remembered something. "He dresses a little strangely though."
Harry felt himself concentrating to maintain a straight face when he heard those words. He consciously looked anywhere except Luna's oversized radish earrings, butterbeer bottle cap necklace, and the wand stuck haphazardly through her hair.
Luna proved to be correct however, at least in a way. The American wizard was dressed smartly in something close to a muggle business suit, except with some arcane looking symbols around a few of its edges. He didn't wear a hat, but instead had a briefcase sitting next to his chair. The only thing that clearly marked him as a wizard was the presence of a wand strapped to his hip.
"He's just wearing his wand like that since he's in a war zone," Hermione said when she felt his question. "I read about it in a book on the American government's wizard traditions. Normally, agents like him would wear his wand concealed, except when they're dispatched to an area engaging in open hostilities."
Ron glanced up from his spot at Dumbledore's desk when the three stepped into the room. "Ah, here they are now. Mr. Roart Lippmann, this is Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and her mother Sarah Granger. Everyone, this is Roart Lippmann from the office of the distinguished Chairman Willis Van Devanter."
Lippmann quickly rose from his chair and extended a hand. "Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, Mrs. Granger, I'm pleased to finally meet your acquaintance," he said smoothly with a distinct Yankee accent. Roart was a fairly nondescript middle aged wizard with slightly graying hair and a tall thin figure.
"The pleasure is ours to be sure Mr. Lippmann," Hermione replied gracefully.
"I can't tell you how happy we are that you have agreed to come over here and witness first had what's been going on in our country," Harry added.
"Well, we have some idea," Lippmann said shortly, "But I can attest to how shocking some of the things your Mr. Lupin had to say were. We were particularly surprised to discover that the main resistance to Voldemort was coming from yourself and Miss Granger."
Harry was shocked that Lippmann had actually said Voldemort's name as if it were something of no consequence whatsoever. They had been trying to get people to say his name for years, but to actually hear it threw him off guard. Of course, not being from England probably had something to do with it. Ron seemed non-pulsed so Harry decided that Lippmann must have done it before.
"Undoubtedly you've heard the contents of the prophecy," Hermione explained.
"Oh yes," Lippmann interrupted, "But Voldemort is one of England's strongest wizards in several generations after all. It would make little sense to have a prophecy if one party to it had no chance of a favorable outcome. Besides, according to our reports you are an untouchable witch yourself, are you not Miss Granger?"
"Untouchable?" Hermione asked, uncharacteristically confused.
"Sorry," Lippmann said quickly. "That's regional slang for a mage with unusually strong powers. Generally such persons arise at a ratio of roughly one to a million or so."
Ron rolled his eyes and Hermione's cheeks turned bright red. "I don't know about that. We all do what we can."
"Of course," Lippmann replied gently. "In any event I have been authorized by my government to analyze any information, facilities, or personnel that you might see fit to grant me access too. I can say that the more thorough picture I get of your operation the more inclined I will be to return with a favorable report. I have also been authorized to go on operations with your teams if you are inclined to allow my presence, but I am not able to engage in any combat other than to defend myself."
"Perhaps you would like to review the memories of the battles we use as training templates in our pensieve?" Hermione asked.
"And we will open all of our records to you within reason," Harry added. "I'm afraid that on going operations will be subject to our usual security and secrecy protocols, but as soon as they become non-sensitive you'll have full access to those as well. Basically, if you want to see something just ask and we'll tell you where it stands, but it is our intention to be completely transparent."
"Well, on behalf of the American government I hope that we will be able to establish a mutually beneficial relationship," Lippmann replied formally.
"As do we," Ron returned. He handed Lippmann a specially made bracelet that contained an abbreviated amount of destination beads on it. "Now, we have prepared a room for you here at Hogwarts and Grimmauld Place. This bracelet will allow you to portkey back and forth between the two locations."
More pleasantries were exchanged for the next few hours until it was getting very late. Luna and Sarah had bowed out at some point to go eat, but Ron had no excuse to escape this time so he had to suffer. By the time Lippmann was shaking their hands again and bidding them good night Ron looked as if he wanted nothing more than to ram his head into the stone wall a few times.
"About bloody time," he sighed once Lippmann had left. "Can you believe that bloke never even watched a game of Quiddich?"
"Honestly, Ron, it isn't popular everywhere and with everyone after all," Hermione replied tartly. Ron mumbled something that sounded like "it should be."
"Where is Dumbledore anyway?" Harry asked as they descended the stairs from his office.
"He's still trying to make up lost ground with the potions class," Ron replied. Snape had disappeared right before the battle of Hogsmeade and hadn't been seen or heard of since.
"Still no replacement?" Harry asked.
"Hard to replace someone that might come back at any time," Ron said, shrugging unconcernedly. "I've sat in on a few of Dumbledore's classes just for kicks. Its entertainment in and of itself, especially when he gets his beard near an open cauldron."
Hermione giggled and Harry pictured Dumbledore with his beard on fire or dissolving from someone's failed potion.
"It started sprouting vines one day," Ron continued, chuckling at the memory.
"I still can't stand this place," Harry commented as they neared the dungeons. "It's so Snape-ish."
"Snape-ish?" Hermione said dubiously. "Not a word, but yes, it does make one feel unwelcome."
When they entered the potions classroom they found Dumbledore speaking with two young students who had probably been whispering in class or melting equipment. As soon as the elderly wizard saw his visitors he started making shooing motions toward his little students. They both jumped up and bolted out of the classroom looking like they'd just been served double desserts at the first day of school feast.
"So, I take it you've met Mr. Lippmann?" Dumbledore asked brightly. "Lighthearted fellow isn't he?"
Harry blinked twice, having become unaccustomed to Dumbledore's humor. Hermione chuckled, but Ron just shook his head.
"Oi, don't even kid Professor. You just met him for fifteen minutes, I had to spend about five bloody hours in a row with him," he said ruefully.
"But I'm sure you didn't venture all the way down here to discuss personalities," Dumbledore prodded.
"Actually, and I thought I'd never say this, we're beginning to worry about Snape's extended absence," Harry said.
"Yes, I suspected as much," Dumbledore said heavily. He sat down behind his desk and shuffled some papers over to one side so he could rest his hands comfortably. "I'm frankly at a loss other than to say that Professor Snape still has my confidence. I can only speculate that Voldemort has called him into his full service."
"What would make him end Snape's role of "spy" here in the castle?" Hermione pressed.
"I suspect that you and Harry may have had something to do with that," Dumbledore replied. "Professor Snape was stationed here to remain close to me and thus gain insight into my activities. Once Voldemort realized that the control of the war against him was in your hands and not mine Severus' usefulness was greatly diminished. Unlike me, you and Harry wouldn't be expected to trust him with anything of significant value. His considerable talents as potion master were probably considered to be of greater value."
Hermione chewed her lip uneasily. "We really loused this one didn't we," she said.
Harry didn't respond to her. "How do we know he hasn't been discovered and captured?" he asked Dumbledore.
"I would know if that were the case," Dumbledore replied.
"How?" Hermione asked sharply.
"Severus and I have a system in place that would alert me were his position to become compromised," Dumbledore said.
"I guess he's not going to elaborate," Harry said as the silence stretched into uncomfortable territory.
"I suppose it doesn't matter," Hermione replied with the mental equivalent of a sigh.
"We're going to go get something to eat down in the kitchens," Hermione said finally. "Would you like for us to have something sent up?"
"I've already had something," Dumbledore said rather dismissive tone.
"Me too," Ron said amiably. "I'm going to go find Luna and your Mum Hermione."
"Okay, we'll find you later," Harry said.
"Oh wait," Ron said as they tuned to go. "I almost forgot, Remus sent a message too. I've already read it, but you guys should give it a look. Pretty routine stuff though."
"Thanks Ron," Hermione said as she took the parchment.
Harry wrapped his arm around her tenderly as they walked through the cavernous hallways toward the kitchens. The war had been taxing on everyone, but Harry and Hermione sometimes thought that they felt it worst of all. In addition to the horrific duty that hung over Harry's head like an executioner's blade their time was more often than not consumed by the indispensable roles they played as leaders of the resistance.
Other members of the Light Bearers could take turns going on patrol. Ordinary wizards could rotate their responsibilities with each other when it came to sending relief to embattled comrades. Harry and Hermione had no one to relieve them. If an avatar struck there was no one else to send, especially now that Neville was gone and his team was decimated. If a command decision had to be made they could leave it to Ron, but ultimately they were responsible for everything that happened, for every person that was sent out to fight and perhaps even to die.
In ten minutes they would have to scrutinize Remus' report, but for right now they could just enjoy the soothing sensation of walking along in each other's arms. They both had come to cherish such mundane pleasures in an environment where all too often they were denied even that.
An elf greeted them at the door when they entered the kitchens through the painting. "Heads Potter and Granger, can I be getting you some leftovers?" one of the elves asked timidly.
"Please," Hermione said. "We're sorry to cause you the extra trouble."
"Oh no, we are most happy to help," the elf squeaked. The Hogwart's elves were still rather put off by Hermione.
Harry conjured up a small round table and two chairs situated so that they could examine Remus' latest letter at the same time while they waited for the elves to find them something to eat.
"He's been talking with regional leaders, especially those in New York, Massachusetts, and Maryland. There seems to be some hope of getting "volunteers" to come join us on an individual basis, but apparently they're reluctant to send official government forces of any kind," Hermione said as she sped read down the first few pages.
"How about money or material?" Harry asked.
"Remus doesn't appear to be paying as much attention to those sorts of offers. We need to tell him to push harder for that kind of support too when we send our reply," Hermione noted.
Harry thanked the two elves that brought them a platter of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, steamed carrots, and other assorted trimmings. Hermione kept trying to read and eat at the same time without getting anything on Remus' letter.
Hermione found something interesting at let out a "Mmmmph" noise as she tried to speak with a full mouth.
"Plenty of time," Harry said humorously.
"It's about Hogsmeade," Hermione said finally. Harry sobered up considerably and leaned over to look at the passage she was pointing to.
The Battle at Hogsmeade was a turning point in how well received I was by many of the officials here. There seems to pervade a sense that Voldemort is not a real threat due to the attitude of the Ministry and that even if he is a real threat England is not serious about fighting it. My hosts are unwilling to commit to any action that they perceive as drawing them into a potentially deadly battle between irregular forces on the one side and uncommitted forces on the other. The carnage at Hogsmeade, if nothing else, seemed to dispel the notion that we are uncommitted to the fight against the forces of darkness…
"Tell him to work that angle relentlessly," Harry decided. "We should have him accentuate just how hard pressed we are at this point. If we can just make them understand then they'll have to help."
"I hope so Harry," Hermione said, thinking of their rapidly shrinking force. "I really hope so."
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