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A/N Seeing how people appeared to like the first chapter warms my heart. So far the chapters are being churned out rather quickly so there will be frequent updates. Hopefully I'll remain on this momentum and keep the ball rolling.
Chapter 2: The Immediate Consequences
Not too long afterward recently permanently elected Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt called for an immediate emergency meeting of all Aurors, including all of those in training. The Aurors shuffled into one of the courtrooms where they could easily see the proceedings. Most of them had no idea why the meeting was taking place.
Many of the Aurors stepped aside in reverence and awe as Harry Potter entered the courtroom. Harry for his part looked rather embarrassed by the attention he was receiving. It had been two years and people still insisted on treating him like the chosen savior. Harry for his part was convinced that he really hadn't done anything all that great: it was the Elder Wand that destroyed Voldemort, not him. Still, to the vast majority of the Wizarding World the Deathly Hallows were nothing more than a fairy tale meaning Harry got the credit whether he wanted it or not.
Harry let out a "humph" as he plopped right into the seat next of his best friend Ronald Weasley. Ron smirked at his raven haired friend saying, "I am to be graced by your awesome presence today oh so powerful savior of our world?"
"You can put a sock in it Weasley," grumbled Harry prompting Ron to laugh. "What's this meeting about anyway?"
"Beats me. Must be something big for them to call in us trainees as well," replied Ron. "But hey, nothing could be worse than You-Know-Who right?"
Harry let out a frustrated groan. "Ron it's been two years. Just call him 'Voldemort' already." At the sound of the name, nearly half of the Aurors in the room jumped. Harry rolled his eyes: the guy has been dead for two years and people still jumped at the sound of his name.
"Sorry. Old habit," said Ron. He might've said more had Kingsley Shacklebolt not walked into the courtroom at that time. The Aurors quieted down as the Minister took his place in front of the assembled crowd.
"Aurors, I am afraid I have horrible news," said Kingsley, his deep voice booming courtesy of a Sonorous charm. "At approximately 1012 hours, about an hour and a half ago Diagon Alley was attacked. Although we cannot assess the full extent of damage yet, we have so far accounted for at least fifty two deaths and many more wounded."
The silence in the courtroom was horrifying. Finally, one young trainee asked the question that was on everyone's mind: "Was it done by the Death Eaters? Those few that managed to escape?"
"I almost wish it were," muttered Kingsley. "That way we'd know what we were dealing with. No, I'm afraid the culprits behind this travesty were not Death Eaters; or even human for that matter. Toppham, is the pensieve ready?"
"Yes sir." The ministry aide called Toppham rolled out a silver pensieve in front of Kingsley.
"We have created a series of images from the minds of the survivors. Ladies and Gentlemen, what you are about to see is nothing the likes of wizard kind has ever seen before." The room darkened as the pensieve displayed a three dimensional projection of the F-22 Raptor and the F-117 Nighthawk.
"There's nothing unusual of those. They're just muggle planes!" said one snide sounding Auror.
"Wait a minute! You mean we were attacked by muggles?" exclaimed another outraged Auror.
"Quiet!" boomed Kingsley. The Aurors instantly shut up. "If you will be patient a little longer you will see that there is more than meets the eye!"
Kingsley tapped the rim of the pensieve with his wand. Instantly the projection of the planes transformed into the two mechanical humanoids causing the Aurors present to collectively gasp.
"Diagon Alley was attacked by these 'abnomalies'," declared Kingsley. "While many of us may not know the extent of muggle technology we do know that these 'abnomalies' are far beyond their capabilities. They're..."
"Robots!" The Aurors collectively turned toward Harry, surprised to hear him speak.
"Something you wish to say, Trainee Potter?" asked Kingsley.
Harry blushed and ran his hand through his messy locks. "Er, well you see. My cousin Dudley used to watch on TV... that is television... well anyway, what you've been calling 'abnomalies', the muggle term is 'robot'." He then added as an afterthought, "Though I've never seen any this advanced before."
Kingsley nodded in acknowledgement. "Well, whatever you wish to call them they're intent was to steal certain records from Gringotts Bank. With some seventeen goblins dead and the records room trashed we have no idea what specifically it was they stole. Gringotts has temporarily shut its doors, all transactions to be conducted by owl. Even with magic it will take several days before we can identify the stolen documents."
Kingsley turned his attention back to the projections. "The 'abnomalie' on the left identified itself as 'Starscream', the one on the right as 'Soundwave'. All Aurors are hereby placed on priority one alert and stay on the lookout for another possible attack from them. It should be noted that of the thirty Hit Wizards dispatched to Diagon Alley, only seven are still on active status. The rest are in St. Mungo's: five of them in the hospital's morgue. Various curses and hexes were used against them but the only one that had any effect on them whatsoever was the reductor."
"Well I suppose that makes sense," said Harry. When all eyes were trained on him he groaned, "I said that out loud, didn't I?"
"Would you care to elaborate, Trainee Potter?" said Kingsley.
Harry was obviously uncomfortable being the center of attention but started speaking nevertheless. "Well, think about it," he said. "Most of the common curses and hexes are designed to impair human activity in some way. 'Stupefy' for one renders the brain unconscious. 'Inpedimenta' immobilizes the muscles. 'Expelliarmus'... well by the looks of things these robots seem to have their weapons built right into themselves: kinda impossible to disarm that." He stopped to think for a minute and said, "The Unforgivables wouldn't work either." At the shouts of outrage, Harry continued, "Well its obvious isn't it? The Imperius affects command functions directly in the brain. The Cruciatus turns on all pain receptors in the body while Avada Kedavra causes permanent shut down of all cells. Whichever way, they're all designed to affect organisms in some way and robots aren't organisms... at least in the traditional sense. The reductor is for blasting objects out of the way: it affects the physical rather than some bodily activity." He took a break before saying, "The point I'm trying to make is that we learn Defense against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. Well, these guys obviously aren't of the Dark Arts meaning we need a different approach to defense all together."
Everyone in the courtroom stared at Harry. Ron frowned and said, "OK, you've been spending way too much time with Hermione." In response, Harry shot him a look.
Kingsley shrugged and said, "If there is nothing more you would like to add, you are all dismissed."
* * *
"Ginny! How could you do such a thing?" exclaimed Molly Weasley for the third time. Several of the Weasleys: Arthur, Molly, Percy, and George were gathered around the Ginny's bed at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies. Charlie was still chasing dragons in Romania while Bill was in France, visiting his wife Fleur's relatives.
Ginny rolled her eyes, a little tired of her mother's insistent codling. "Mum, I'm fine. A little banged up but otherwise OK. They're only keeping me in here overnight to make sure nothing too horrible happened," she said.
"Really Mum, you're going to smother her if you keep this up," said George. He quelled under the deathly glare his mother sent him. Molly Prewitt Weasley was usually a sweet and gentle woman but she could really be frightening whenever she chose to be. She had killed Bellatrix Lestrange afterall.
"I agree with your mother, what you did was rash," said Arthur Weasley. "I am just thankful that you weren't hurt too seriously. Now, tell me Ginny. How exactly did these 'airplanes' fly?" When Molly glared at him next, Arthur grinned bashfully: he simply couldn't resist asking about muggle machines.
"Your daughter is in the hospital and you're asking her about muggle planes?" demanded Molly.
"Mum, it's just a concussion," replied Ginny. "There's nothing wrong, really."
Molly was about to say more when the door opened and Ronald Weasley poked his head inside. "Hey, is it safe to come in?"
Ginny grinned and said, "Well I don't know. There might be too much of a hazard here for an Auror trainee to handle." Ron laughed as he stepped into the room carrying a bouquet of flowers. Ginny's expression turned into a frown when she realized her brother was alone. "Er, not that I'm not glad to see you but... isn't Harry with you?"
Ron looked uncomfortable a he transfigured a paper cup into a vase and placed the flowers in them. "He uh... decided that since your condition wasn't serious that... uh... he would... er... start up the investigation into these 'abnomalie' attacks."
Ginny looked incredulous while Ron looked apologetic. The rest of the Weasleys didn't appear to notice anything amiss however. "Now that's dedication," said Percy, "going straight into the job."
"Well, did you expect anything less from the Chosen One?" replied George with a chuckle. "Always rushing out to save the day!"
"He could take a little time off. We haven't seen each other in months," grumbled Ginny. "For that matter, we haven't contacted each other in months either. Neither of us have owls."
"Yeah, he's not about to replace Hedwig any time soon," said Ron.
"Well dear, Harry is very busy these days. I'm sure if he had time," Molly said awkwardly.
"That's what Hermione tells me: very busy, no time. Yet those two always somehow find the time to see each other," said Ron, a slight trace of bitterness in his voice.
For a second there was an uncomfortable silence in the room. George cleared his throat and said, "So Ron, why aren't you out there chasing 'abnomalies' with Harry?"
"Oh you know how it is. That's really supposed to be the job of a full fledged Auror. But Harry being the great vanquisher of evil that he is gets to work on the assignment. I on the other hand am supposed to do damage control with the press, make sure they get their facts right. I managed to get the Daily Prophet passed onto one of the other trainees though; no way am I going to that rag," said Ron. "Hey Gin, since you're back I'm assuming that Luna Lovegood is back as well right?"
Ginny was somewhat surprised by the question. "Er, yeah. She's back."
"Excellent," said Ron. "Glad you're all right Ginny but I've got to run. If anyone needs me I'll be at the Quibbler."
* * *
Back at his flat Harry was studying the contents of pensieve intently. Something was bugging him, something important but he couldn't figure out what as he closely observed the images of Starscream and Soundwave. "What is it? What am I missing?" he muttered.
Deciding he needed some fresh air, Harry walked over to the window and opened it, glancing out into the muggle suburb of London. He had decided early on to live in a flat in the muggle world, hoping to avoid the celebrity lifestyle that would've been forced upon him in the wizarding world.
As he looked out onto the streets, Harry noticed a bright yellow Chevrolet Camaro with black racing stripes circling in front of his building before driving off. The thing that he noticed about it was that the Camaro had no driver. For a muggle a driverless car would've been a cause for alarm but for a wizard like Harry it was simply a curiosity.
"I sure hope Arthur's doing his job right," he muttered, "can't have too many wizards bewitching their cars like that and scaring muggles."
He turned back to the pensieve and the images of the robots. "What am I missing?" he said, "and why am I so convinced that I'm missing something important in the first place?"
On a nearby shelf, the Peverell Invisibility Cloak glittered in the evening sunlight.
A/N: OK, how's that for chapter 2? I'm kinda worried that last section wasn't ominous enough but eh, I think it does the job. You will tell me if you like it right? For that matter I'm hoping you'll tell me if you hate it as well.