Chapter 18: November 1st
Harry was in the Zen Garden again, and for the first time, he groaned in disgust. He didn't want to be here, while Hermione was enjoying herself in his arms. He wanted to share those same feelings with her. He looked around to see no one here. Then he saw a small note on the rock.
Say: Kingdom of Zalrot, forbearer of life and death.
"Kingdom of Zalrot, forbearer of life and death."
The Zen Garden started to lower, and Harry was floating up, into a small hut. There was a fire burning in the center, and a man in what looked like African clothing sitting opposite of where Harry was standing.
"Welcome, pureblood."
"Who are you?"
"Hmm, inquisitive. I am Zalrot, leader of the Mandinka."
"At one time?"
"Correct. Sit down, there is little I will tell you here. But later, you will know the truth."
"Why does it have to be later?"
"Because this meeting shouldn't be happening. Not at this moment anyway. Now sit down." he commanded. Harry fell on the hard dirt ground as if he was a boulder being dropped off of a cliff, "Now, what you must know is that your information, while correct, is little. The fault of this disaster is not yours, not mine, but that little bitch that is teaching you. She knows barely anything."
"That little 'bitch', is my ex-girlfriend."
"Yes, I know all about how she sacrificed herself. But that doesn't mean anything. Her love for you is making her leave some things out, like the truth. I just need you give her a message. Tell her, that her time is almost up." Harry started falling through the floor, looking at Zalrot with anger showing in every part of his body.
His feet hit the floor of the Zen Garden, and Cho was standing there, looking at him confused.
"Harry, what's going on?"
"I don't know. But some guy named-"
"Zalrot?"
"Yeah, you know-"
"Yes, I do. What did he want you to tell me?"
"That, your time is almost up."
"Over and over again, round and round we go." Cho muttered silently, barely allowing Harry to hear.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing, it's nothing."
"Am I here to do any training? Because tonight I don't really want to."
"And I can see why. Which is why I only called you here to say congratulations."
"For what?"
"For finally getting a set of eyes, and seeing what we all have. Good night!"
"Wait! Hold up!" But the Zen Garden was already starting to fade.
Harry woke up to see the back of Hermione's head, which was only an outline in the blackness of the room. He lifted himself up a little bit, and looked around. It was still nighttime, from what Harry could tell, it was three in the morning. He looked out the window, at the night sky that was filled with stars.
Harry looked down at Hermione, who was sleeping peacefully, holding his left arm around her with her own left hand, her right arm strewn across the bed in front of her. Harry grabbed her right hand, and intertwined their fingers, and draped their arms over her stomach. He then lowered his lips to the back of her head, and fell softly onto the pillow.
For minutes, he just stayed there, lying awake, his eyes trained firmly onto the back of her head. He couldn't see into her face, into her eyes, her soul, but he knew that she was peaceful just by looking at what he could see right at that moment. He nuzzled his face into her hair and fell right back to sleep.
"Sir, you're talking about leading an invasion into the Auror headquarters in broad daylight. That would be impossible. There are over four-thousand Aurors in the bottom floors alone, not including the offices."
"I am well aware of that. But destroying that building is vital to the success of our future attacks on any other place in this country, if not the world. But it is not vital without the Aurors inside."
"But how are we going to get the phoenix blood in there, keep the people inside, and make sure that we get out before the bombs explode?"
"You don't. You just plant the bombs and get out. Muggle technology cannot sense magical anything that enters any of the buildings. If they could, our job would have been done a long time ago."
"But sir, I've been going over the structural plans of the building. The amount of explosives it would take could not only level the building but make the land fifty miles in all directions a crater and unsafe for anything except bacteria for the next two-thousand years."
"All the more reason we should go ahead with this plan. It'll send the perfect message to the ministry. And Macnair, never question my authority again, do you understand?"
"Yes, sir."
Ron woke up to the sun coming through the window of the Common Room. Ron, Dean and Neville were locked out of their dorm by Seamus because his girlfriend and him wanted some private fun. Didn't they remember that they were magical? They could have put up a silencing charm!
He sat up from his spot on the floor, holding his since Dean threw him off the couch the previous night, saying something along the lines of 'Buenos noches Amigo, you've just been blanketed'. Dean was sleeping comfortably on the couch, and Neville was sprawled in one of the chairs by the fire, his sleeve dangerously close to the dancing flames.
Ron stood up, and started walking to his dorm to get a change of clothes, when he heard moaning from inside, when he was three floors down. Oh, god. I hope the people here got any sleep. He walked up the stairs a little more and reached the Fifth year dorms.
He pounded on the door, and a groggy Colin answered, "What do you want? I just got to sleep. Some asshole upstairs and his date keep moaning in your dorm."
"Well, that answers my question. See ya."
"Yeah." Colin said, nearly slamming the door. Ron walked back down the stairs, out of the portrait hole, and into the Prefect Common Room. He said the password to Harry's room, and entered the door. He saw Harry and Hermione in the bed, Harry's arms wrapped around her. She was just starting to stir.
"Harry? Harry, you awake?" Hermione asked softly. She turned, looking at Harry's closed eyelids. He just lay there peacefully. She kissed him softly, and saw movement behind his closed eyes. He moaned softly, and quickly licked his own lips when they heard someone clear their throat near the door.
"Hey, I know I like to make out with girls as much as the next guy, but I usually don't like an audience." They both looked at him sternly, and pushed away from each other.
"You have some explaining to do."
"About what?"
"This little plan of yours."
"That wasn't mine, that was Ginny's."
"Well, who's ever it was, explain it to us."
"Alright, fine."
Neil Shaw had been holed up in the Chinese Consulate for eight hours now. He was on his last clip for his 9mm and he didn't know how many of these things that he'd hit. He loaded his last clip into the bottom of the handle, and looked at the window. He then had an idea.
"Shaw? Shaw, where are you?"
"I'm holed up inside still."
"What happened?"
'I don't know. We need to find Hooks. She's the only one that can get the support that I need to get out of here."
"What do you need? Air support? Sweeper team?"
"Too much attention. Air support could blow the whole program's cover."
"What about CIA help?"
"They don't even know about the unit. Only Hooks and Thomas know about the unit, except for the agents inside."
"You think it could be an inside job?"
"I don't know. All I know is, I got to get the hell outta here."
"Do you have a way?"
"Yeah, it's risky though. Bly, you sure that the chute worked?"
"Of course, tested it myself."
"Like I asked, are-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look, just do a flip, the bag should deploy."
"Got it." Neil ran at the window at top speed, green light flying past him, hitting desks, tables, anything on both sides of him. He threw his hands out, increasing his velocity as he went through the glass. It seemed as if time stood still as he looked down at the pavement that was twenty-six floors down.
He looked up at the building ahead of him, and saw the green light colliding with the windows, melting them, and making the liquid that was left fall to the ground. Then it collided with people, desks, chairs, anything in its path. People fell from the building, already dead, landing on the back of the white surveillance/donut van that Novak and Bly were sitting in. The weight of the body nearly flipped the van on its top.
Then one of the jets of green light hit a red object that was hanging on a pillar of the opposite building. Oh great, good luck people. It was a fire extinguisher that exploded, causing a fire to shoot out of the open windows. Bodies and their parts flew everywhere.
"Shaw! What the hell was that?"
Neil didn't respond, he just grabbed his gun from the holster, turned around and fired into his attackers. He nailed three of them before falling out of view. He then turned around again, and flipped forward. The parachute on his back opened immediately, slowing his decent to the street.
"Shaw, what's going on?"
Then the chute imploded for a second, and then expanded from the updraft of air that hit it. Neil looked up to see a small fire that had started in right above him.
"Bly, does this thing have a reserve chute?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Because the main one is on fire!"
"Um, Shaw, you better hope that you have enough time to get to the ground then."
"Why?"
"Because there is no reserve chute. How the hell did it catch on fire?"
"I have no idea, but it did."
"Alright, see if you can make it all the way down here."
"And what if I can't? I'm not Superman."
"We'll think of something."
"Oh, that's a real comfort." His decent quickened as the fire started to spread. But then he touched down, harder then he should've but touched the ground anyway.
"Bly, Novak, I'll meet you at location one. Go!"
"So, what was Ginny's plan?"
"Heh, it's pretty simple actually. It started on the day Harry saw Percy become a death eater."
"That long?" Hermione blurted out as she was sitting against Harry, who was sitting with his back against the headboard.
"Yep, that long. I was supposed to bring up things that looked suspicious as a relationship, and be jealous. Ginny thought that being more separate from you would bring both of you closer together. I just did in for the satisfaction of the public, because I didn't think that they wanted to see anything of that sort. Sort, of shield their eyes."
"Oh, protecting them from our relationship?"
"No, protect their virgin eyes from seeing the sick parts of your relationship."
"Oh, thanks for the help." Hermione said sarcastically.
"Anytime." Ron said with a very wide grin on his face.
"So how does Ginny-"
"And Leah fit into the picture? Leah was the peacemaker and Ginny was the spy. She more or less followed you guys around like flies to cow pies."
"Hold on, the first time-"
"Yep, we were just playing our parts."
"You know, I don't really know if we should thank you, or shoot you on sight." Ron chuckled at what Harry said, then looked at him with the most serious gaze that Harry had ever seen from any Weasley. Except maybe Mrs. Weasley.
"Harry, I just want to ask you if you know what danger you- Harry, are you alright?" Harry's face had then gone pale, remembering what Voldemort had told him last night.
"I know you're here, Harry Potter. Just think, that if I had killed you fifteen years ago, there would be three graves here instead of two. That if your stupid Muggle relatives had succeeded in their mission to keep you from going to Hogwarts, there would be four graves in stead of three where that house use to lay.
Now, here we are, fifteen years later. And I think of how many people that have died because of you, and the new intelligence that I have now. Just think, you're putting that worthless mudblood at an even greater risk. Do you really want to get rid of her that bad?"
"Harry?"
"I have to go see Professor Dumbledore." He said, before starting to walk out the door.
"Harry?" Hermione asked, her face sporting a grin.
"What?"
"Shouldn't you change first? I know those dress robes look good, but they're a little not necessary right now." He just continued walking out the door, "Rats. I nearly saw him naked too."
Macnair stood outside the Auror administration building in a remote part of Muggle London. The building looked twenty-stories high to any Muggle in the area, but anybody in the ministry knew that it wasn't the truth. Every ministry member knew that it was at least as high as Eiffel Tower in France.
He was looking at a small little box, which looked like a PDA to the Muggles passing by, but was actually tracking all of the Death Eaters inside the building. They were planting small suitcases that held four gallons of Phoenix Blood on key structural points of the building.
Voldemort was hidden in the shadows of an alley across the street, looking at the building, surveying through the windows on the Death Eaters he had inside. Now is time to show the world that I mean Business. Now is the time to show everyone in this world, I am not playing around. They will serve me, or they will die.
Then calls came in through a networked spell that linked minds together for a certain amount of time.
"Bomb one in place."
"Two away."
"Three away."
"Gut check four."
The calls kept coming in, twenty-two, twenty-three. Then, all of a sudden, the first problem occurred.
"Sir! I'm holed up! It seems my ministry status was compromised and I tried to enter the Auror HQ!"
"Shit. Is there anyway to get out of there?"
"Which way would you prefer?"
"What do you mean? How many escape routes do you have?"
"Two. Alive and caught, or dead."
"How close are you to your target?"
"That's where I'm stuck at. Sir! Just blow them sir!"
"Macnair, trigger them. Son, may you live through this. You will be honored either way."
"Yes, sir." Macnair looked at a small button that was on a stick in his hand. It was a bright red, marking that it shouldn't be pressed without permission. His thumb rested on top of it, not pressing down on it.
"Press it!" Macnair stayed still, "Press the button!" Then his thumb went down, his deed was done. The cases were triggered, and fire shot out from every other floor. Yes, it's going exactly as I planned. Muggles were running in the street, trying to get away. The building started to buckle, its secondary support beams snapping like twigs.
Off in the distance of the buildings, sirens could be heard coming to the scene of the explosion. Stupid Muggles. They don't realize what's going on. The wizards do, but these damn clueless people kept ranting and raving about some Islamic Militant Group. Oh well, guess that's my cue to leave.
"Everyone fall back. It's time to go." Voldemort raised his wand, "Morsmordre!" And then he Apparated away. The Dark Mark glowing brightly over the building, just as it was starting to fall.
Jack Ryan ran down the long corridor between his office and the office of his boss, Director of Central Intelligence, Marcus Cabot. A file in his hand was sent from the president, it was the exact Threat Matrix report that the president had read earlier that day.
"Sir!" Jack yelled, nearly sliding past Cabot's doorway.
"Ryan, what is it?"
"Sir, there's been in attack in England. A bad one."
"How bad?"
"Their government was blown apart. We don't know specifics, but we do know that minutes before the bombs went off, a lot of guys in dark coats dropped suitcases all over the building. Then they just disappeared."
"What do you mean, just walked off?"
"No, just disappeared. They vanished into thin air."
"That's impossible! No human do that!"
"Well, that's not entirely true."
"What?"
"There are a few files that the president showed me, that not even you have seen. They've been classified for a few years."
Harry had just walked out of Dumbledore's office, his advice still ringing in his head. Don't show that fear to the Voldemort, for it will bring much dire consequences on this world. You are their only hope, and to know about what you have, that gives them hope, that there is someone to help you through this war.
He walked back up to the prefect common room, where Hermione and Ron were sitting on the couch. She was reading what looked like a special edition of the Daily Prophet, which held a large picture of some rubble, the headline saying, 'Attack on Aurors. You-Know-Who to blame.'.
"What happened?"
"The Auror administration building was destroyed. Over seven-hundred people in total lost their lives."
"You're kidding me."
"That just the count of the bodies that were in one piece."
"Hermione, let me see that." She reluctantly handed over the paper, which he opened a few pages in, and saw something in one of the pictures there. The Photographer didn't notice it, but Voldemort was standing in the middle of the picture, grinning darkly. Harry just gave the paper back to Hermione, and sat on the couch next to her.
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Hey everyone! Thanks for reading this chapter, and I know it wasn't up to snuff the previous ones, but it had to be done to show the resolve of Voldemort and the complexity of war. Now I only have a couple of shout-outs to do:
Amynoelle: This person has finished the second book of a Trilogy that she is currently working on the third part. Now I know that those that have read it want her head on a silver platter, but I don't know her address so I can't give it out for us to complete that deed. Nor will she be at a movie theater on Wednesday to see The Matrix Revolutions, but I think that is something of good will because she won't irritate the viewers with her snoring. Great writing and thanks for the input!
Everybody's Fool: She has given very good input on the story, helping me perfect the rough edges of each chapter. Thanks a lot!