Author Note:- I apologise for the delay in posting, been rather busy in RL. I haven't abandoned the story yet and have no plans to do so, hopefully I'll be able to post chapter 10 quicker than this one. I already have the beginning of the chapter in mind *grins*
Thank you for reading the fic and more thanks if you have the time to review. Even more thanks if you beta'ed this chapter. I've fixed the mistakes in previous chapters, Harry meant to say Saturday to Kingsley, slip of the fingers on my part.
Five minutes after Bellatrix had fired her first curse in St Mungo's there was a loud crack in Little Thirkleby as a dozen Death Eaters appeared. They moved together towards the warehouse entrance, down the thin road towards the old style warehouse. It was a large brick building with tall windows, surrounded by a ten foot brick wall with a large metal gate, an elderly man sat in booth in front of the gates which looked to be locked. The Death Eaters wore their hooded cloaks and masks, the leader walked to the booth and raised his wand.
"Avada" he began but was interrupted as his wand flew from his fingertips.
The Elderly man stood up and quickly drew his wand swiftly as the Death Eaters went for their wands. The early morning was suddenly filled with the red light of stunners and disarming jinxes as Aurors appeared around them. Some stood from behind garden walls and while others fired through the metal gates. The Death Eaters found themselves caught in an anti-apparition spell and tried to run back up the street, shielding charms raised and unforgivables thrown over the shoulders as they fled.
They only made it a few yards before two cars rolled across the road blocking their path. More Aurors stood from behind the vehicles launching stunners at the Death eaters, now surrounded on all sides. Thus far they had only lost four who were stunned swiftly at the beginning. They were already bound and had their wands taken.
The stunners were mostly bouncing off the shields held by the more coherent Death Eaters. Realising there was no escape they adjusted their plans, focusing now on mayhem and death. Killing curses were now aimed rather than thrown and the Aurors had to start dodging and blocking the spells with levitated items.
Ron was co-ordinating from behind one of the cars in the road block. He was trying to capture as many as possible to question but the surprise had worn off. He gave the signal to start using any means to bring down the Death Eaters and the tone of the battle changed immediately. One of the Death Eaters turned and aimed his wand at one of the cars.
"INCENDIO!" he bellowed from behind the mask as fire poured from the tip of his wand hitting the car. It only took a few moments until the gas tank detonated from the heat and the car exploded. The Auror who was behind the car tried to dive away, but she was killed instantly. Ron and the Auror next to him were luckier and while Ron was saved by his dragon hide the man next to him needed to use his Portkey to St. Mungo's his right side burned quite badly.
Ron hoped that St. Mungo's was still able to take patients but he trusted Harry to take care of things there. The searing heat from the burning wreck was keeping the Death Eaters from their escape but it was only a matter of time before they ran again, or blew up the other car. Rolling to his belly and aiming under the car he quickly aimed and fired off a pair of bone breaker curses into their feet. He then hopped up and ran and leaped over a nearby low garden wall moments before the second car exploded. He landed as ungracefully as possible crashing down into a heap.
"Shacklebolt!" Ron called as he pulled out his mirror, "South Wall is breached, North Gate and Crossfire good, need Squad D to the southern edge of the Apparition ward"
Keeping the message short and direct he shoved the mirror back into his robes and peeked over the wall. The Obliviators were going to have a very busy morning as the homes along the street took heavy damage from the spell fight. Thus far he could only see three people missing if he didn't count the two with him. The gate guard had been Avada'ed as they fled and one of the security guards from the warehouse was missing from the opposite wall.
Ron had split his squad and Sid's into three groups, placing them along the walls and behind the car. He had also taken the seven guards from the warehouse and put four behind the gate, one on each wall and the elderly man in the gatehouse. The surprise awarded them had been useful, but Ron was distraught that it had cost the old man his life. He would mourn later, but now he needed to avenge.
The Death Eaters were suffering from their lack of cover now that the spells had turned lethal. Of the eight that had ran into the cars three were dead and two more were downed from Ron's bone breakers shattering their ankles. Ron sighed, after loosing two thirds of their numbers any others would surrender, but for a true Death Eater that was a death sentence.
Although unforgivables were permitted by the Ministry very few wizards could actually summon the hatred required to perform the spells. Ron didn't object to killing a Death Eater after all the trouble that had been caused but he himself was one of the ones unable to cast. The Death Eaters realising the futileness of their attempts tried to bolt. The first ran between the flaming wrecks and straight into the stunners from Squad D who were waiting for just such an event. The second and third instead leapt over one of the garden walls and cast a Reducto curse at the front door of the house next door to where Ron was.
"Aww Fuck!" Ron cursed, "Follow them!"
Three Aurors immediately took after the two fleeing foes. Ron stood and charged the door of his house, racing through and shoulder barging through the back door as well. He burst into the back garden as one of the Death Eaters landed from hopping over the adjoining fence. Using his momentum Ron charged into the man, throwing his arm out and catching him around the neck as he tried to bark a curse. At the contact the man was flipped over backwards before landing on his stomach dazed.
Ron grabbed and snapped the loose wand and bound him in magical ropes. He dragged the Death Eater through the house, apologising to the elderly woman cowering in the kitchen clutching a bread knife.
"Sorry Ma'am, Government Wizard catchers" he flashed a badge, "We'll have someone over to fix your house up immediately, sorry for the disturbance."
The woman looked completely lost but nodded vaguely as Ron threw the masked man out of the front door before pulling it closed. Slinging the guy over his shoulder he carried him to the middle of the street. Already the wizards were fixing up the roads and buildings. Two wizards were putting out the fires with magical water as Ron dropped his man next to the others.
"Report," he asked Sid as he looked up.
"Looks like we captured eight of the twelve, three are dead, we've sent them to the ministry for identification and to discover cause of death. Four of the eight captured required medical attention they've gone to the ministry as well under guard. Looks like you got one of the runners I don't know what's happened to the other yet." Sid reported, he looked up as two of the Aurors were heading over with the last Death Eater, "Looks like that's another captured."
"Doug took a nasty curse from this bastard and used his Portkey." One of the Aurors informed before throwing their captive to the floor.
"How did our side do Sid?" Ron asked, rubbing his neck.
"We've got three dead, the gate guard, your girl behind the car and one of mine. Two of the warehouse security guards are injured and we've had four emergency portkeys used. Another two are hurt but not badly. Looks like both of our teams are going to be out of action for a while."
"Any word from the St. Mungo's yet?" Ron asked.
"The fight is still contained in the reception, Bryan was injured pretty early, and he's told us that there's nine Death Eaters including Bellatrix. We can't get anyone down to help as the main corridor is open and killing curses are flying down, the front gate is sealed to contain and Anti-Apparition wards are strong." Sid replied, "It was more than we expected, it's a good thing we had early knowledge or today would have been a black day."
"Well it's not exactly white yet, I'm going to take whoever is left of my squad and Squad D and get over to the hospital, see if we can do anything. Magical Law Enforcement and the Obliviators should be here any moment to help clear up the mess."
Sid nodded and saluted as Ron turned and called over his team, he was left with two of his starting team of five. That meant he had two in bad condition already at St. Mungo's which wasn't very comforting. He ran past the wrecks over to Drew and the rest of squad D.
"We're all done here so let's get over to the hospital and see what's happening over there. Apparition
wards are covering the entrance, so head for the emergency ward, anyone with outstanding on the Healing and curing
course is to stay and help, the rest of you with me."
The nine Aurors all apparated to St. Mungo's and drew wands, the healers were all running around in a frenzy. Ron looked around and saw Ginny tending to Bryan who had a large amount of blood running down his arm. He tried to move swiftly through the panic over to them.
"How's it going over here?" he asked grimly.
"How do you think Ron? We've got five Aurors in critical condition, we want to sedate Bryan here but he refuses so we're yanking the shards of wood from his arm piece by piece." Ginny hissed.
"I need to get back and help, they're outnumbered badly in there," Bryan grimaced as another shard was removed but he didn't cry out, "They blew up the desk I was next to, I took most of the damage, Harry was next to me and he ordered me out here. As I left Neville and the two rookies were heading in."
"You can't get back in even if we let you, the only way in is the main corridor and that's a long empty run with nothing to block the killing curses they're throwing up there. We've lost two guards to that death gauntlet and we're not letting anyone else up there." Ginny replied, forcing another blood replenishing potion down his throat.
"There's no other way?" Ron asked.
"Nothing short of going through the walls and I shouldn't have to remind you, but this is a hospital, we have sick and wounded people here so we don't want you bringing the place down." Ginny sighed, "We have to rely on Harry now, he'll look after them."
"He shouldn't have to." Ron commented.
Inside the reception the battle was still mayhem. Neville was trying to calm down Lucy who had gone into hysterics and
Derrick was trying to calm Jason who had gone into a blind rage. This left only Harry and Hermione fighting against the
seven Death Eaters.
Anytime they stood they could barely get one spell off before they had to dodge killing curses. Harry knew that they weren't trying to kill them actively because they probably could have done so already by now. They were just buying time for the raid on the warehouse to work. Harry realised that if he wanted a chance to capture them he needed to unbalance them.
"Hermione, I'm going to cause a little confusion, get ready to take advantage" he hissed at her, she nodded as he stood and picked the biggest Death Eater and bellowed, "IMPERIO!"
Ducking down immediately he focused his mind on controlling his target, compelling him to swing a punch at the one who was keeping up the shield spell. The man spun around and levelled a punch at his cohort. The masked figure dropped to the ground dazed and Hermione whipped up and sent three stunners into the crowd before they regain their senses.
Unfortunately one of the stunning spells hit the man Harry had been controlling so he gave up on the spell and stood. Shooting a stunner at Bellatrix who had the presence of mind to deflect it. Harry tried a selection of spells on the leader of the group. He summoned ropes to bind her which she burned in mid flight. He tried to bind her with the burning ropes but she summoned a cocoon of water to protect herself. He threw a pair of chairs at her but she disintegrated them both before they got close.
"Is that the best you have little boy? I was trained by the Dark Lord himself, none of your little tricks are going to work anymore. Once I defeat you I will be able to return the Dark Lord and he will reward his most devoted follower."
"Why on Earth are you so obsessed with that half blood, barely human, pond scum? Was he really good in bed or something?" Harry commented, "Sectumsempra!"
"HOW DARE YOU!" she screamed, deflecting away the curse, "CRUCIO!"
Harry shifted back to defensive, unable to block or deflect most of the curses Bellatrix used he settled for dodging and conjuring things to take the hits instead. Derrick was now back in the fight with Hermione, he had stupefied Jason to calm him down. The two Aurors were doing quite well against the three remaining Death Eaters that were conscious.
Bellatrix cast a glance and saw how badly her side was doing and she let out another scream of rage. Pointing her wand over at the other Aurors and screaming out a curse. A bolt of blue light streams from her wand and hit the desk they were covering behind. Instantly the desk exploded, throwing the Aurors into disarray. Derrick was laying over Jason, and likewise Neville was covering Lucy. Their Auror robes were in shattered but most of the damage had been absorbed by the strong dragon hide. They were mostly unhurt but still dazed by the explosion.
One of the masked figures took to take advantage and aimed his wand at Hermione, making a familiar set of slashing movements with his wand. Before he could utter the words Harry had his wand aimed at the figure.
"Avada Kedavra!" a burst of green light flew from Harry's wand and hit the man causing a brief pause in the combat as he fell slowly to the ground.
"I didn't think you of all people would have it in you to be a cold blooded murderer Harry," Bellatrix's voice carried over the crowd, "I must admit myself impressed."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but if you check your little follower there you'll find him alive but unconscious," Harry replied his wand aimed at Bella now his voice slow and calm, one of the remaining Death Eaters checked and nodded at Bellatrix, "Someone once told me that to use an unforgivable you have to mean it, I don't. I must admit I've toyed with the idea before but I've never been willing to risk it. Something about you just seems to bring out the worst in me."
"A teacher of mine said that if everyone in the room used that spell on him, he'd barely get a nose bleed, so it got me wondering. If you channel emotions other than hatred and anger when using it, what is the result? Well it looks like we have an unblockable stunning spell for now, there's a chance he'll wake up. I'm willing to risk it, are you?" Harry's eyes were dancing with a strange look, the chairs scattered on the floor around him were vibrating softly and the lights overhead flickered.
"This isn't over Potter!" hissed Bellatrix as she quickly took something from her pocket and threw it to the floor, causing the room to be swallowed by darkness.
It took a few minutes for the darkness to clear and when it had Bellatrix and the two Death Eaters that were still standing were gone. Harry noticed they hadn't tried to retrieve their fallen comrades and just fled. He went over to check on the others as Ron and the other Aurors came running into the reception.
"Bloody hell Harry, this place looks dreadful and you don't look much better." Ron sighed, "Least you're alive."
"Unlike Jacob, he took a killing curse, Jason is fine, Derrick stunned him when he went berserk. It was Lucy's first time seeing an Auror die, she's distraught but she'll recover. Dragon Hide to the rescue again or we'd have six dead rather than six scratched." Harry reported casually.
"Bryan said you had nine, I only see six here, I thought the place was sealed?" Ron commented.
"They used some instant darkness powder so I'm not sure, I suspect they had portkeys, we warded against apparition and physically leaving but they still could have used those." Harry commented, "Well six is better than none, it's a pity Bellatrix got away. How did the warehouse raid go?"
"They sent twelve at us, we got nine in the jail at the ministry and three dead. Far from flawless though, we took three casualties and four here for emergency treatment and then our fair share of bumps and bruises." Ron looked around, "Good thing you were here to keep it contained, I dread to think what would have happened if we had lost either of the battles."
"If four dead is winning, I'd rather avoid the battles." Harry commented dryly.
"Wouldn't we all?" Ron replied.
"Potter! Weasley! We've got trouble." They turned to see a middle aged woman walking over.
"Simmins, pleasure as always. What's the problem?" Harry asked.
"There was a third raid, Woodleigh site. Five dead, Dark Mark glowing overhead. Obliviators already at work."
"Fuck!" Harry swore, "Any witnesses?"
"None survived, we've dragged in a few workers that had today off and having them search the building to see what was taken." Simmins replied.
"Get them to check the herbs and potion ingredients first, that's what the Death Eaters needed."
"We couldn't have done anything to help there Harry, how could we have known?" Ron placed his hand on Harry's shoulder.
"We should have had all sites on alert, let's just hope they didn't get everything they needed. We need to check with Hermione, see if she knows what they had there." Harry replied, crossing through the mass of people to find Hermione being treated by a medi-witch.
"It's nothing serious, a few minor burns and cuts from the explosion" she answered to their expressions.
"What's held in the Woodleigh site? Any ideas?" Harry asked quietly.
"Same sort of things as Little Thirkleby, just a minor warehouse. Next possible target maybe?" she asked.
"Not anymore, they hit that as well today, five dead, warehouse ransacked, they're checking inventory now." Harry replied.
"Merlin … how many Death Eaters are there? It's like an ant hill, step on a few and hundreds pour out of the nest," Hermione whispered, "With an ant hill you have to break into the nest and kill the Queen."
"Bellatrix, but how are you going to get into the nest?" Ron asked.
"The undercover mission might give us a shot," Harry replied coldly.
"We can't be certain taking the queen will end it Harry." Hermione added.
"Like chess, the queen is the most powerful piece but the game keeps going until you get the king." Ron commented.
"Gah, quit with all the bloody metaphors, you're making my head spin," Harry growled, "Let's break into the nest, kill the bloody queen and blow up the chessboard!"
"How do you get into the nest?" Ron asked.
"Well that depends on how the undercover mission goes, in any case I have the address of the nest up here." Harry tapped his head.
"You can't do it alone Harry, you saw how good Bellatrix is now, Voldemort had a weakness you could exploit, she doesn't. She held you in a deadlock, plus she now knows what you're capable of so she can prepare." Hermione said.
"Capable of?" Ron questioned.
"Harry used unforgivables today, Imperius and Killing Curse," Hermione spoke quietly now that the medi-witch had finished and gone to check on the others, "Imperius he's done before and used it to good effect, but I don't know what you did with the killing curse, he went down but according to the healer's here, he's still breathing."
"What?" Ron exclaimed loudly, he was hushed by a glare from Hermione.
"I've been giving it some thought. I used the Crutiatus curse on Bellatrix before back in fifth year. It only had a partial effect because as she put it, 'You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain - to enjoy it - righteous anger won't hurt me for long'." Harry started.
"I mean I was really pissed with her, I hated her, but subconsciously I couldn't inflict that kind of suffering on anyone. The crutiatus curse is useless to me except as a distraction or diversion. The imperius is similar, I can use it to guide a few actions but then it's broken or wears off. So what about the killing curse?"
"The fake Moody once told us we lacked the power to use it, I've proved in third year I have the power when I summoned my patronus to defend Sirius. But it made me think, the effect of the killing curse once seemed black or white, it kills instantly. But then how could it only give a nose bleed?"
"I checked with the real Moody, asked him if someone with no real power used the Avada Kedavra on him would he survive. He gave me the same answer, power plays an effect. The boundary is a very fine line however, you have the power or you don't, dead or no effect."
"But combining that with what Bellatrix said I started to come up with a theory, what if you didn't use hatred. So I tried it, I saw that Hermione was in danger, so I did what I would normally do for my Patronus and summed up my good emotions and fired off the killing curse. Worst case scenario either he'd be dead which didn't really seem to matter. Or it had no effect in which case Harry Potter using the killing curse is probably enough of a distraction for a second spell."
"But I knew the moment it left my wand it was going to work. I'm not sure why, but I felt it, so now I have a new weapon against Bellatrix, I can use unblockable spells just like she can."
"Whoa … just whoa," Ron answered after a few minutes of silence, "Not something I'd want to play with but we all know you're the next Dumbledore not me."
"Or the next Voldemort," Harry commented dryly, "I know the rumours and I know this won't help. But at least I've got some friends to keep me on the straight and narrow path right?"
"Right" replied Ron and Hermione immediately with soft smiles.
"Right, we better chat with Shacklebolt before we get back to the Leaky Cauldron, you still up for the mission Mione?" Harry asked, she nodded and all three apparated back to the Auror office to go see Kingsley.
They were rushed through by the receptionist to where Kingsley was waiting. He was reading through reports on his desk. Harry always wondered how he was reading the reports about what they just did. He wondered if they were blank and he was just bluffing.
"So we have nine dead, including three Aurors today, I also have seven Aurors in the hospital for treatment. I also appear to have 13 captured Death Eaters and five more in the morgue with still quite a few loose," Kingsley put down the papers, "I'd put this as a successful day with flaws."
"Sir?" Hermione asked.
"I'd rather these numbers than what they would be if we hadn't acted. I have six security guards that would be dead not to mention countless innocents in St. Mungo's." Kingsley replied.
"And if we haven't crippled the Death Eaters then we at least took down nearly twenty of them." Ron added.
"That would be reassuring if they had thirty to start. But if they had one hundred it's a little early to celebrate," Harry sighed, "Well we still have the meeting with Bellatrix on Saturday to work with if she shows up."
"I don't like it, but you're right Potter," Kingsley sighed, "Someone undercover within the Death Eaters would be really useful at the moment, find out the numbers and maybe their plans."
"Weasley, since your team is out of action for a while I want you here at headquarters working on strategies and training full time with whatever information Potter and Granger provides." Shacklebolt added.
"They're after potion masters they trust, one way to give us a slightly higher chance of success might be to get Snape released from prison. I'm sure they'd take the chance to get him immediately and if he's willing to play spy again he could tamper with the potion." Harry commented.
"Well I'll see what I can do, for now find out how much they were able to get from the raid on Woodleigh, hopefully they didn't get everything they needed." Kingsley nodded thoughtfully, he then slid two more portkeys over the desk "Potter, Granger, back to the Cauldron, these are to replace the ones you used getting here."
They both nodded and used their portkeys back to the Leaky Cauldron room. Harry stumbled slightly and yawned as he landed.
"Tired?" Hermione asked.
"Bit, fight took a lot out of me." Harry replied.
"Take a nap, I'll wake you if we have any trouble, I'm feeling fine." Hermione smiled.
Harry nodded and went over to the couch and dropped on it, he was asleep in moments with a new set of memories ready to bring him nightmares.