Disclaimer: Any characters you recognize from the books in the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling belong to the aforementioned J. K. Rowling. I am simply playing with them for my amusement, and to see what kind of reaction I can get.
Not Another Author's Note: Many thanks to the_scribbler for his kind assistance with this chapter.
I have just read 'Soul Searching' and 'End Game' by 'chem prof' on fanfiction-dot-net. The story and sequel were completed in '06. I liked both stories. I did notice a large number of 'devices' that are similar between this story and those stories and I want my readers to know that I have only just read them and any apparent duplication is chance. As I add this note today's date is June 14 '08. I do get ideas from other stories and from reviews and when I use them 'more or less as is' I do give credit to, and get permission from, the author.
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Chapter 50 - "The Large, Green, Snake Head"
"Good morning sleepyheads." Said Remus, due to his wolf-like hearing, he was the first to notice their approach.
"Morning?" questioned Hermione, "It must be near lunchtime.
"Did you two have fun last night?" asked Emma, Hermione responded with a nervous smirk, as if to say 'wouldn't you like to know'.
"What's going on Professor Lupin?" Asked Harry. "We didn't expect to see you here ... or anyone else for that matter."
"Good question, sit down and I'm sure Gwen will make something for us to eat." Remus told them. "It seems there was some Death Eater activity overnight. Two Ministry employees were found in a records vault in the wee, small hours of the morning. They were looking through the records of Muggle Borns and were copying files. They appeared to be under the Imperius curse." Hermione's hands flew up to cover her mouth as a gasp slipped out. She looked at her parents, sitting across the table, her eyes wide as platters. Harry was in shock too, but he could see that the important people in their lives were here and safe.
"What about Aunt Petunia?" Harry asked, "Do they know her new address?"
"No Harry, she's safe, all they have on file for the Dursleys' is the now vacant lot on Privet Drive", replied Remus.
"And our home?" Asked Hermione.
"It was ransacked" responded Emma. "There must have been other Death Eaters that took that information away before the Aurors arrived. The teens turned towards each other, and embraced quickly before Hermione rushed to her parent's side.
Fawkes suddenly appeared with a message and dropped it in front of Remus. When he picked it up and opened it, he read the first few words and slammed it down face first on the table. Dan, feeling more confident that normal around Remus, reached over a moment later and slid it out from under the old wolf's fingers. Dan read the first line also and slammed it down. Harry had had enough of this, he reached out and the note flew to his fingers. Remus looked up in surprise ... then realized it was ... just Harry. He knew they were very accomplished with wandless magic; it just took some getting used to.
Harry read it and let out his breath in resignation before showing it to Hermione. The building that housed the Grangers' Dental Practice and many other Medical Practices, was at this moment burning out of control. The Aurors suspected a Fiendfyre curse was used to torch it. The Muggle Firemen could only keep the fire from spreading to other neighbouring buildings. Fortunately the fire started this morning at about 4 Am and there were only two cleaning people inside, they escaped after setting off the Fire Alarm. Hermione engulfed her parents in a sympathetic hug. Harry sat down beside Remus.
"Professor ... how did you get in here?" asked Harry.
"What?" He replied, "I've always been able to get in here ... ever since your Dad and Sirius brought me here for Christmas in our first year." Remus thought for a moment, it dawned on him and Hermione at the same time, Pettigrew and Voldemort know about this place, too.
Hermione looked straight at Professor Lupin as Remus said, "We need to replace the Fidelius charm as soon as possible, I can show you how, but one of you two is going to have to do it ... pick a secret keeper."
The teens looked at each other, then Hermione spoke, "Not that I don't want to learn how, but why don't you just do it for us?"
"Two words," said Remus, "Raw magical power." Hermione snickered when she realized that he had said three words.
"Remus" said Harry. And since he didn't say any more they all looked at Harry in confusion. "Remus is the secret keeper." Elaborated Harry, then he looked Remus in the eyes and added, "That is, if you'll accept the responsibility."
"Are you sure Harry? I'm not the most reliable person for this task you know?" Remus queried.
Harry turned his head towards Hermione and asked, "Luv?" Implying that he wanted her response or confirmation.
Dan and Emma were close to getting sore necks as the conversation went back and forth from one side of the table to the other. Hermione's gaze turned to Harry and she responded, "You couldn't choose a better person," and nodded her head.
"I wasn't here when Dumbledore did this originally, later I looked up and memorized the procedure. Follow me everyone." And Remus made his way out the back door and across the yard, ending up at the path to the Mausoleum. Leading the group along the path it didn't take long to find a tree with red and gold leaves. It was fall after all and the leaves of maple trees were well into their seasonal colour change. "Look for Bowtruckles," Remus instructed.
Dan and Emma looked at each other as if to say, 'what the heck is a Bowtruckle?'
The two teens began scanning the maple tree. Hermione had noticed the confused looks her parents gave each other and began the textbook explanation. "Bowtruckles are small magical creatures that look like stick men. I doubt you'll be able to see them until I can point one out to you. Anyway they are tree guardians, and normally inhabit trees with wand quality wood." She then turned to Harry, "We'll have to collect some wood lice or Fairy eggs to bribe them."
This tree didn't have any Bowtruckles; therefore Remus didn't trust the wood quality. They were however able to collect a good supply of wood lice. Hermione conjured a small lidded jar to store the lice in.
They didn't find another maple until they were in the clearing. There was a younger maple than the first one and near it was a sapling with a trunk about the size of Hermione's wrist. They were both infested with Bowtruckles. "We'll take the smaller tree, Hermione could you tempt the Bowtruckles over to the larger tree with your jar of lice, the rest of you back up a bit ... once I sever the sapling ... I'll have to get it away from here quickly.
Dan, Emma and Harry backed up, Harry was surprised to notice that the Mausoleum had disappeared leaving only the stone bench behind. Harry moved Dan and Emma to one side in case Remus needed a straight path to the bench, which turned out a minute later to be a very good plan. As soon as Hermione had all the Bowtruckles feeding on the lice, Remus used a severing charm to top the slender tree and again to separate its trunk from the stump. Remus levitated the remaining limbless piece that was about three meters long and ran over to the stone bench in the middle of the clearing. Hermione quickly backed away from the now angry Bowtruckles and followed Remus. The little creatures didn't like grass and therefore wouldn't follow. Harry and Hermione both noticed the shimmering outline of the Mausoleum momentarily as Remus ran through part of the end wall near where the door had been. Although Dan and Emma remembered the structure that was here yesterday, neither they nor Remus saw the shimmering outline that the two teens did.
Remus quickly shifted into Professor mode and explained to the teens the next steps involved in setting up a Fidelius charm. First we need to make ten wooden stakes from wand quality wood. Six of them can be smaller since they don't need to be as sturdy as the corner posts. He told Harry to cut the trunk into two roughly equal length pieces, and Harry did. Remus took one and passed it to Hermione then told them how to use a cutting curse to square the wood. Harry had the top piece of the trunk so it came out as a smaller square. Remus then had Hermione cut hers into four pieces and Harry was to make six pieces and then they both had to sharpen them so they could be driven into the ground later. Cutting and severing curse were getting lots of exercise today.
Hermione next had to charm her four corner posts to magically connect them together. Taking all the posts with them they hiked through the trees to the Northwest corner of the property and Remus showed them where the remains of the old post was that Dumbledore put in seventeen years ago. Once the old Fidelius charm was broken, the posts eventually rotted away. Remus showed them how to magically force the new post into the hard ground and Hermione had no problem forcing it down to be flush with the ground surface. They made their way to the southwest corner and did the same and then to the two east corners finalizing that step in the process.
On the South side of the house where there was more room and near the edge of the property where they could see the general locations of the four corner posts, Remus had Harry place one of the smaller stakes as a centre point. At a radius of two paces Harry placed four more stakes in a direct line between the centre point and each of the four corner posts. Harry had one last stake in his hand and looked towards Remus, slightly confused. Remus handed Hermione a bag of chalk that he took out of his coat pocket and explained in detail the final steps they had to do. Hermione drew a circle at a radius of one pace from the centre point while Harry placed his last stake two paces south of the centre, almost at the property line. Remus apparated over the hedge to a position outside the property and in line with Harry's last stake. Hermione then continued to make a chalk outline of the irregular pentagram that was defined by the five stakes and base circle. The two teens then stood in the centre of the pentagram and Hermione summoned as much magical power from Harry as she thought was safe before casting the final spell that made up the Fidelius charm. When she finished, Harry staggered and grabbed onto her. A huge dome made up of golden lines like a bird cage engulfed the property. It was visible for only a minute and as it vanished the Grangers and Potters looked at each other wondering where they were. All they could see was a grassy field, they couldn't even remember the house, and Remus was standing about twenty feet away.
At the moment that the golden cage appeared Remus thought he saw some movement and heard some noise just beyond their property line, but he couldn't be sure. "Alright you four don't move, I'll be right there." And Remus apparated between the teens and her parents. Remus could see everything perfectly and he had two slips of parchment prepared, he handed one to each couple. It read 'The Potters and Grangers are currently staying at 1313 Sir Lucan Lane near the village of Godric's Hollow'. When both couples read the note they felt a brief surge of disorientation as everything that had vanished, including their memories of this house, came back.
"That appears to have worked Remus." Said Harry, except for the pentagram where he was standing everything seemed to have returned.
"What happened to the pentagram?" asked Hermione.
"It was consumed while sending the magic out to the four corner posts and myself" answered Remus. "We need to find your house elves and let them in on the secret, but first, Harry," Remus pointed to the northeast corner of the property and said, "I thought I saw and heard something over there." Harry seemed to have recovered from the energy drain and looked in the direction the Professor had indicated; he couldn't see anything at the moment. Remus bent over and whispered some instructions to him and Harry started running over to the corner of the property.
"Harry NO!" Shouted Hermione and then she whipped her hand up to cover her mouth, albeit far too late if anyone outside the Fidelius charmed area could have heard her. By the time Harry stopped and looked back he was close to the indicated corner. He tried to look over the hedge and into the bush beyond with no luck. He turned, looked at Hermione, waved and slowly shrank into the grass. Everyone's eyes were transfixed on the spot where Harry ... vanished ... until an enormous, green-black snake head lifted a few feet above the grass; did what looked like a very silly dance for a moment and then nodded good-bye to them as they laughed and watched him move away.
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In Greater Hangleton
Voldemort was disappointed that his Death Eaters had not found the Mudblood's parents at home, however, they had found out where they worked and a few of the more enthusiastic ones checked there before destroying that entire building. One of his newer recruits was watching the Granger home for any signs that they returned. He had heard through Crabbe and Goyle that their sons had reported not seeing Potter or his Mudblood since yesterday's PD class. They were either holed up and not even coming out for food or they had somehow left the Castle without being seen.
Voldemort had even issued orders a while ago to send Pettigrew out to ... somewhere ... he couldn't remember where, to see if there were any signs of Potter activity. The fact that he couldn't remember where he sent Pettigrew disturbed him and he quickly suspected that Potter had somehow put a Fidelius charm in place. He would have to wait until the stupid rat returned to find out where he went. If he couldn't find the Mudblood or her parents he might send his Death Eaters to The Burrow to see what fun they could have with the Blood Traitors. Maybe that would be a good one to test Snape's loyalty because he was beginning to wonder about Snape - especially since he heard that the Potions Master had been inquiring about his health.
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Return to Godric's Hollow Just before the Fidelius Charm took effect
Having received his orders from Dolohov, Peter apparated to a location a short distance away from where he thought the Potter home's sat in Godric's Hollow. It was the same spot that the four Marauders had always used, just off the road and behind some large trees. In half a minute, he could be at the front gate from here, so he made his way to the road and started walking. As he approached the property he could see glimpses of the house through the trees and he thought he could hear voices. By the time he was near the last of the trees obscuring his view he thought he saw some golden lines in the sky and then a familiar figure disappear from sight just slightly beyond the property ... but whose property ... it appeared to be a large grassy field ... immaculately manicured, but still a grass covered field. Peter stopped before he would have come into plain view of the five people that he could no longer see in that grassy field. He seemed to remember that he wanted to be here for a very good reason, but for the life of him he couldn't remember what that reason was. He remained hidden, intending to watch for several hours. He had been sent here for some reason that he couldn't quite remember and he didn't want to return and face Snake Breath unless he had some useful information.
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The remaining four went inside and found Dobby and Guinevere in a bit of distress until Remus kneeled down and told them where they were. Now everything was back to normal for all those who were here ... sort of.
Dan and Emma's home and Dental Practice was still a little up in the air. The physical location of their dental practice was literally 'up in smoke', but because their accountant had insisted several years ago that they hire on an 'off site' backup service all their computerized records should be intact. The backups were scheduled for every Friday at 6 Pm. Right now there were Aurors and Order members watching the house and presumably a Death Eater waiting for the Grangers to return home. If nothing happened by Monday, Remus told them, Tonks would morph into Emma and pretend to be returning home to try to draw out any watching Death Eaters. Hermione immediately volunteered Harry to morph into her Father and make it more convincing. She had an ulterior motive behind volunteering Harry. She could certainly play herself and accompany Tonks and Harry in the setup, providing that much more fire power if it came down to a fight
Hermione insisted that her parents stay here or at Camelot, which she was going to show them today anyway. The Grangers put up a small fight to return home, even though they were aware of the reality of their situation, and then gave in to Hermione's insistence. Remus would accompany them on Monday to see their accountant and make arrangements with their receptionist and several other dentists they knew to take some of their patients temporarily. They had carried insurance to cover fire losses and loss of business for a while, but the longer they had to remain away, the more it would cost in lost revenue. It made starting up again quickly more pressing - and that added to their stress.
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Back a bit
Harry had slithered through the hedge bordering the property and into the woods beyond. He had taken, as best he could remember, the size and shape of Nagini, Voldemort's pet snake. He had seen the snake through Voldemort's eyes and had even seen some of the world through Nagini's eyes. It was an interesting perspective. Harry had gone a fair distance into the woods so he could turn around and come up behind whoever Remus had seen through the trees. Before Harry turned around he smelled an odour that made his mouth water, it smelled like food, like a very large and fat rat. He then realized that they had been interrupted in their quest for breakfast or in reality lunch as it was now past noon.
Harry forced himself to take his time and circle around, he kept reminding himself that it was Pettigrew and he certainly didn't want Pettigrew in his stomach. 'Eeewwwwww gross!' He thought. Bite him ... poison him ... kill him, yes, but eat him ... NO! Even if he was a large, juicy, tasty rat. Yuk!
Peter was standing, leaning against a small tree and looking in the direction where the Potter's house had been. Harry slithered up the tree, more than half of him was still coiled up on the ground near Pettigrew's feet when he leaned his head over and placed it on Peter's shoulder. Peter was used to strange things, being in Voldemort's service and didn't jump or flinch, he turned his head and saw Nagini{Harry}, her tongue out tasting the air. Had Voldemort wanted him dead, Nagini would have already bitten or choked him.
Nagini's {Harry's} head rose up and looked Peter in the eyes. Twin beams of red light came from the snakes' eyes followed by two more of the same, strictly for insurance purposes, and Peter was well and truly stunned. Nagini {Harry} took a minute to look around, he couldn't see or smell anyone else in the area and morphed back into Harry. Grabbing Peter he apparated into the back yard of his house, not quite as quietly as he had hoped.
Remus had been listening for Harry and when he heard a faint pop he knew that Harry was back. He slipped outside while the Grangers were talking to Hermione and found a human Harry and a very stunned Peter Pettigrew. "Now what are we going to do with this treacherous rodent?" he asked Harry.
"Well ... I was just thinking that there must be a dungeon at Camelot that we could store him in. If we petrify him he won't be able to transform into a rat and slip away.
"Camelot ... what's Camelot?" asked Remus.
Harry looked at him in confusion, "The Main Castle ..." Harry responded, "Do you mean that my Dad never took you to the Castle? Surely he must have lived there ... didn't he?"
"No Harry ... this is the only place I ever saw. The house looked quite a bit different when James and his parents lived here. Lilly redecorated quite a lot. Charlus and Dorea died ... well, they were killed later in the summer after James' sixth year. That, more than anything, probably straightened James out for his seventh year. It gave him a purpose - so he knuckled down with the books and learned all he could in his last year at Hogwarts. That's probably what earned him Lilly's attention, then they started studying together and the pair of them got the best marks in their year. Lilly had always received the best marks, just like Hermione in that respect. James on the other hand, had been more like Fred or George and got enough marks to squeeze by, he was no dummy, James knew his stuff, he just didn't care about grades. In seventh year he started getting E's and O's on all his tests and even beat out Lilly on a few tests. She gained respect for him, they started talking, then studying together, then snogging and dating and by the end of the year they were engaged."
"Really," sighed Harry, "No one explained that to me before, I mean, how my parents got together. That's interesting you know ... Hermione and I became a couple in a very similar way."
"No!" stated Remus. "You two went from best friends, to being a couple, to being recognized as Bonded within a few weeks. It was bloody painful to watch the pair of you for the last few years and realize that you were cheating yourselves out of so much happiness. It's a relief that you're together now ... and behaving so well too." Remus chuckled.
"Thanks Remus, you know you could have said something to us years ago and made us that much happier" said Harry with a grin on his face. Harry realized all too well the dangers if he and Hermione had figured themselves out a few years earlier and was quite happy with the way things turned out. He levitated Pettigrew and continued, "Let's get this dork over to Camelot and put him in storage." Remus looked on in curiosity as Harry brought Pettigrew into the house.
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Time re-synchronizes
Hermione wanted her parents to have a reusable portkey that would always bring them back here. She knew how to make a normal portkey, even though she wasn't supposed to know. When she saw Pettigrew being hovered inside by Harry, and Remus bringing up the rear, she stopped Remus and asked him to explain the different features of the portkey spell to her then she asked her parents to take off their wedding rings, something they always wore. Hermione cast the modified portus charm just as Remus had explained, adding the trigger words, 'Godric's Hollow', at the end of the spell. The two wedding bands glowed bright blue for a moment, then the glow slowly faded out. Remus congratulated her on another job well done while her parents hesitantly put their wedding bands back on.
"Mum, Dad ... if one of you can hold on to the other, then only one of you needs to activate the portkey. Simply tap the ring with a finger three times and speak the trigger phrase. The trigger is 'Godric's Hollow'. Remus laughed, he thought that was absolutely hilarious, almost like in The Wizard of Oz ... 'There's no place like home'. Remus knew that James probably wouldn't have caught on but Lilly would have been rolling on the floor laughing at the absurdity of it. Harry was standing there watching the Professor laugh and not knowing why. He had never come across the book at the Dursleys when he was younger or seen the movie. Vernon would not have any of that 'unnaturalness' in the house.
Hermione had felt Harry's mild confusion and it took a few seconds for her to make the connection that Remus had already made and about which he was laughing. Hermione had simply been trying to come up with something her parents would not normally say in casual conversation and Godric's Hollow fit her requirements. It then became obvious to her that Harry knew nothing of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; she made a promise to herself to find the book or movie and show him, in the mean time a hug would have to do - followed by a brief explanation.
When they all finally looked at Harry and Pettigrew, Harry said, "Let's take Pettigrew and this party off to the main Castle ... off to Camelot." Hermione led the way to The Library and the tall portrait of the Apple tree in a grassy field.