Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
The Time Meddlers
Chapter Twenty-Six - Attack!
Shadow Attacks in Diagon Alley - Twenty-Five Dead - Twenty-Three wounded
By Anna Jesse
Yesterday at noon things were peaceful in Diagon Alley. Families were out doing their shopping. Mothers were pushing their babies along in strollers. A small plant was portkeyed into this common scene, turning it into a nightmare. A fully-mature mandrake got up and began to scream. Many of you will remember from Herbology that the mandrake's cry is fatal to all who hear it. There were twenty-five people, nearly half of them children, who were close enough to find out that fact for themselves. Twenty-three people who weren't close enough to get the full blast of it were also affected. Some of them have lost their hearing and others their minds. When the aurors were finally able to enter the area, after the mandrake had been silenced, they found a note that read, `Courtesy of the Shadow.'
Those of you who have been keeping up with the news will recall that the Shadow is none other than Delores Umbridge, who…
"How could she?" asked Hermione as she dropped the Daily Prophet to the table. There were tears in her eyes as she looked at her companion.
"A magical weapon of mass destruction," commented Harry miserably as he picked up the paper and skimmed the article that had silenced most of the Great Hall minutes after the mail arrived. "…Crueler than the Dark Lord and twice as foul…" he quoted from the prophecy Luna had made so long ago. He took a deep breath before saying, "I've lost my appetite," and got up.
"Me, too." Neither noticed that most of the other students left as well. It's difficult to eat breakfast after learning news like that. It was fortunate that the final exams had been completed the week before and they were only waiting this last week for their grades, because not many people would've been in the mood for classes.
Harry and Hermione wordlessly walked to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, only stopping to make sure no one was watching when Harry entered. He transformed into Tox and hissed, "Open."
--TM--
It was about a minute after the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was closed that Susan Bones entered the bathroom. She'd seen her friends/trainers get up after reading the paper and was fairly certain where they were going. To make it not as obvious, she waited until the others left the Hall and told her Hufflepuff friends that she wanted to be alone, knowing they'd always given her space to deal with reminders of her ordeal with the Shadow in private. She pulled out the thought sphere the Time-Meddlers had given her and activated it, opening the sink.
She followed the Chamber until it led to what they were calling the Hall of Pac Man, based off the new decorations. When she got that door open, she heard Harry's voice say, "It's all my fault! Why did I have to do it? If I hadn't, then none of those people would've died! Susan wouldn't have been…"
"Hello, Susan," interrupted Hermione, who was facing the door. Her face held a guarded expression. Harry turned around after a moment, and the Bones girl could tell he'd been crying, even though he'd wiped his eyes before turning.
Not seeing any other option, she asked the natural question. "What did you do, Harry, that makes this your fault?"
He took a deep breath. "I…I told you that I broke into the Ministry to get the Time-Turner." Susan nodded but said nothing. "I…didn't tell you what happened while I was there. I met Umbridge and wound up stunning her." He sighed. "I could've left her like that, but I didn't. I, I made it look like she'd gotten drunk and broke the Time-Turners. I thought it was funny. I'm the reason she went to Azkaban, the reason she went mad…"
"The reason she became the Shadow," Susan finished softly as Harry's head hung down. She was silently staring at him for a few moments before saying, "No wonder you're so determined to fight her." Hermione stood silently watching the both of them while Harry stared at the floor.
"I'm sorry, Susan. I never meant for…"
"I don't blame you, Harry. You didn't tell that monster to kidnap me or kill those people! It's just as easy to blame Fudge or my aunt for not listening to her pleas of innocence. It's just as easy to blame the whole system that uses Dementors as guards. However, Umbridge made her choice to be evil long before that happened. I've spent a lot of time with her. She enjoys torturing people. No one will convince me that she wouldn't have tortured others if she hadn't gone to prison." Harry looked up at her in shock. "What? Did you expect me to yell at you and agree that you should be the one to go to prison for her crimes?"
"No, I…I don't know how I expected you to react. I…guess I'm just horrified by what happened. Even Voldemort didn't kill that many people at once."
"I know it sounds morbid," commented Hermione grimly, "but it could've been a lot worse if she'd put a Sonorus charm on the mandrake."
"I suppose," agreed Harry. "The main thing is that we've got to figure out a way to stop her from doing something like that again."
--TM--
Elsewhere, the Shadow of Pain and the Half-blood Prince were celebrating the panic they'd started with the attack. The wireless had announced that half the shops in Diagon Alley had closed out of fear of another assault.
"We need to use this fear to our advantage," declared Umbridge. "Severus, call our new recruits! We can storm a mudblood home, killing the parents while their kids are still at school!"
"I know just the mudblood," replied Snape with a grin. Suddenly, Snape's expression changed and he looked at his watch, which appeared to be a normal, black analog one, but the time was set at exactly noon, despite the fact that it was about 10 a.m. "Dumbledore wants a meeting," he told the Shadow. "No doubt he's upset about our triumph yesterday and wants me to explain."
While sipping from a pink cup of tea, Delores grinned. "We could use this to our advantage. Tell the old fool that you had no prior knowledge of that attack and you think I've gone too far, and lead him here."
He grinned as he adjusted the time on his watch, signaling Dumbledore when they'd meet at the designated safe house.
--TM--
That night, Adam and Marissa Granger were snuggled together on their couch alternating between watching a movie and snogging when they were interrupted by a loud ringing that they'd heard once before - when Harry and Hermione were demonstrating wards they'd set up.
"That's the magical alarm, isn't it?" asked Marissa as a panicked expression came over her face.
Adam nodded as he got up, rushing toward the window. He pulled back the curtain just in time to be hit with a spell. He fell back unconscious as his wife watched in horror. His ear had been sliced off and a large piece of glass was in his right eye. He was screaming in agony when they heard a cruel feminine voice calmly state, "So shall it be done to everyone who brings a mudblood into this world."
Glass from a different window shattered, calling Marissa's attention to it. She thought she was seeing things as flames took the shape of creatures as they set the house on fire. She was now officially in a state of panic.
Adam weakly said, "Cabinet," as he stood up, clearly in a lot of pain. The glass was still in his eye. "Come on."
More Fiendfyre was shot into the house as the couple made their way into the room they'd set up Harry's vanishing cabinet in. Marissa opened the door as the flames were approaching and shut it tight. A moment later, the sounds of burning and taunts were gone as they exited inside Harry's trunk. Marissa helped her husband onto a couch as she asked, "How do we let Harry know we're in here?"
--TM--
After Snape watched the Granger roof cave in, he told the Shadow, "It's time for my appointment with Dumbledore."
"I'll be ready for him in ten minutes," she replied with a grin before ordering everyone to leave.
--TM--
Harry and Hermione were in the library when his watch/trunk vibrated. "Someone's just entered my trunk," he whispered to Hermione.
"It has to be my parents," she replied, knowing that they had the matching cabinet to the one inside. "I have a bad feeling about this."
"Come on," he said as he got up, intent on finding a place to enter the trunk to see what was going on.
--TM--
Adam and Marissa hadn't been inside the trunk for five minutes when they were joined by Harry and Hermione. She screamed when she saw the condition her father was in while Harry rushed forward.
"What happened?" he asked while Hermione approached. While Marissa explained how they'd been attacked, Hermione put her studies to good use, applying healing spells to her father.
After she'd vanished the glass and stopped the bleeding of both Adam's eye and ear, she said, "I don't know how to regrow either. Maybe we can take him to St. Mungo's."
"Can they do that?" asked Harry. "I would think they'd have healed Mad-Eye better if they could."
"Good point," replied Hermione, trying to stay calm. "I think you'd be better off at a muggle hospital, where they could use plastic surgery, than at St. Mungo's."
"Besides, Umbridge may have spies there," commented Harry. "It's probably better if they think you're dead." He then asked, "Adam, did you see how many people attacked you?"
"I saw at least a dozen of them during the moment I was watching."
--TM--
"Albus," Snape said as he approached the man who'd kept him out of Azkaban for years. "It has gone too far."
"Why didn't you stop that attack? Children were killed!"
"I didn't know about it until after it happened, I swear. The Shadow obviously didn't trust me enough to tell me. She must've seen how much I regretted what happened to the Bones girl."
"Perhaps," agreed Albus. "It must be difficult for you."
"Yes it is, but I'm through with it. I think we should attack her now. I know we can win. She's supposed to be alone at this very minute."
Dumbledore pulled his wand. "Then let's go, my friend."
--TM--
Please review. Thank you to those who have.
Sorry about the short chapter and the long wait for it. I've been busy lately, but I'm trying to get to a normal updating schedule.
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