A/N.
My thoughts and prayers are with those who continue to be affected by the calamity in Japan. It is difficult to understand why these things happen but when they do they give us perspective that while there are things we cannot control there are those that we can. And it is in the latter where we can make a difference.
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Here's the next chapter. Al surprised me in this one and Harry keeps messing me up. Some answers, more questions, as usual.
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Chapter 65 - Anatomy of a Hero
A brown blur went past him and took the wolf with it. It was Spencer in his werewolf form, saving his hide in the nick of time. Hugo gingerly picked himself off the dirt and limped over to the sparring beasts to help his friend out.
Spencer was much taller and bigger but the wolf was an elusive and crafty fighter. His friend kept swinging at it and missing, frustrating him On the last assault, his foe countered, clamping its teeth down on his shoulder. Spencer howled, spinning, turning, trying to grab it, to get it off.
"Stay still!" Hugo screamed, positioning himself closer, taking an aim at their opponent.
Spencer growled at him.
"What do you mean you can't?!"
His friend continued to shake the wolf off, tried anyway. Hugo shot a series of Stunners, hoping at least one would hit his mark. Seeing this, Spencer propelled his body right into the hail of curses. A couple hit the wolf right it the head and caused its jaws to release Spencer. The momentum sent it crashing into the trunk of a nearby tree.
Hugo saw Spencer fall to the ground, knocked unconscious by the spells. His were-metabolism was wearing off and he was transforming back into his human form. Bright red blood oozed profusely from where he was bitten. Hugo took off what was left of his bloody shirt and pressed it hard against the wound, hoping it would stop bleeding.
It was then when he noticed Isa's transmitter on Spencer's arm; with any luck she would bring help. For good measure he activated his watch to send his Mum the alarm he should have sent moments ago. Somebody would come soon, hopefully very soon.
But it would not be soon enough. Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement. The beast was up and about to attack again.
Going toe to toe again was not an option. He looked to his right. The edge of the steep incline he had just scaled was just a few meters away. If he could get the animal to chase him down the hill he might be able to outrun it and at the same time draw it away from Spencer. He just had to make sure the wolf would follow him.
Hugo heard a distant sound of something blowing up and couldn't worry about it at all.
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Moments earlier...
"Uh-oh," Isa said out loud, rattling the monitor in her hand
Rose, who was trying her best to keep up with the other girl's pace, asked, "What is it?"
"The dot stopped moving," Isa replied, evidently worried.
"Maybe he dropped it."
"That won't be the first time either. That would be bad too," she answered, still concerned.
Isa was right. If Spencer dropped it they might never find him - or Hugo.
Swish!!!
A broom whizzed by them so fast that it flattened the tall, dried, grass under its path. It was headed in the same direction they were. Another one descended just in front of them. Uncle Harry came off it.
"Are you two okay?"
"We're fine. But Hugo..."
"Stay here! Stay out of sight!"
Uncle Harry took off and left them. Just as he disappeared in the skyline an explosion went off somewhere in the village, startling them both.
Rose hesitated for a second, then tapped Isa on the arm.
"Come on!"
"But he said..."
"I heard what he said. I'm not about to stay here after that. Are you?"
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Ron paced, watching Padma, Jessie and other Ministry staff work furiously on the tissue samples taken from Ernie and the data from the tests on Humptail's body. Still unable to reach either Hermione or Harry, he couldn't wait anymore. He needed to make a decision about what to do with the Deputy MLE.
In the adjacent room Ernie mirrored his pacing with the same amount of frustration. Ron heard through Percy that the Chief Warlock was currently in the Legal Office with Ernie's father speaking with his boss. Ernie's family had loads of influence. They wouldn't be able to hold him for long. He had enough of this fence-sitting. He went over to Jessie and Padma and hovered until he got their attention.
"How's it going?" he asked patiently.
Padma cut through the pleasantries, "We need more time."
Time they didn't have time.
"What have you got?"
Jessie gave him short version, "We didn't find the stone in him. Ernie's tissues are typical human. Scans show there is nothing about him that's out of the ordinary. We have nothing to prove that he isn't who he is. So far."
Padma didn't disagree but reassured him, "It'll be hard to justify keeping him. You won't be wrong if you let him go."
If Ernie was a known crook and not a distinguished Ministry employee this would be more straightforward. The extenuating circumstances surrounding the case dictated complete clearance from all departments prior to release and Ron had to ask himself that he wasn't doing this just because they were friends or because Daddy had influence. To be completely honest about it, he was.
Ron decided not to wait. He went over to the cell door and opened it. Ernie looked at him with contempt.
"You're free to go."
"It's about t
Ernie grabbed his cloak and went past him scowling. To tell Ernie to stay in London while the investigation was going on would have been pointless. Seconds after Ernie walked out George Bones came up beside him.
"Now can I follow him?"
Ron nodded. George read his mind. Ernie was still their only suspect but the tail wasn't because he thought Ernie was guilty. Somebody wanted them to believe he was. Ernie might help them identify that somebody.
Or did that somebody just want them to waste time following Ernie around? Ron swore to himself. Nowadays he much preferred face to face duels than chess games.
The Head Unspeakable just walked into the room. Much to Ron's dismay they had been unsuccessful in keeping Max out of the loop. The Unspeakable poured over the data Padma and Jessie had like he owned it and demanded for a report from his subordinate.
Padma spoke, "We've isolated the stone's energy. We've run it through the database but there is not one magical artefact emitting anything resembling it."
"High frequency high amplitude short wavelength," Max recited, mesmerized at the graphic representations on the monitor he was seeing for the first time, "I've seen three."
Padma, Jessie and Ron gathered behind him as the Head Unspeakable pulled up a secure database and accessed a restricted file. Three images identical to the one on the screen came up.
"What are they?" Padma's eyes were as wide open as Jessie's.
"These, Unspeakable Boots, are the magical signatures of a cloak, a stone and a wand, items that once belonged to the Peverell family," Max's revealed, his eyes gleaming in a near crazed fashion.
Ron supposed there were DOM secrets only Max would be privy to. He was curious.
"How did you get them?"
"It was passed on to me by my predecessor who got it from his," Max replied, "And no, the Department of Mysteries doesn't have access to any of these artefacts, but you know that already."
Jessie had been staring at the screen for some time and she had an observation.
"I'm rusty with my magical physics but correct me if I'm wrong. They're identical but not exactly the same."
"You're right," Padma concurred and pointed on the screen, "Their energies share the short wavelength and high frequency trait. The Peverell magical waveforms have the same propagation vector and all start with an upslope but each has a near indiscernable difference in amplitude and magnitude. The stone that was in Humptail has a waveform that starts with a downslope."
It was all Greek to Ron and he patiently waited as they all thoughtfully continued to stare at the images.
"May I?" Padma asked rhetorically, nudging the Head Unspeakable off from the centre of the console and began keying in commands furiously.
When she was done she stepped back and watched the animation she just programmed come alive. Each Hallow representation on the screen moved towards a copy of the represention of Humptail's stone and overlapped, resulting into three unique waveforms.
The first two looked like jumbled squiggly lines to him and seemed not to interest his brainy colleagues either. The third one, the wand versus stone representation, was a symmetrical, slow, undulating wave that was almost a flatline.
"Now that is interesting," Jessie commented in her usual underwhelmed way.
"Does that mean what I think that means?" Ron asked, hopeful.
An uncharacteristically helpful Max answered, "It would appear that the Peverell wand can neutralize the powers of this particular Invincibility Stone if they are pitted against each other."
"Or the other way around," Padma voiced her reservations, "The two magical entities are each others' antagonists. The Invincibility Stone is supposed to be protective, defensive, creating cells when there's destruction. It makes sense that the wand, an object with naturally offensive and destructive capabilities, could counter it. But the resultant wave starts with a downslope. The stone's going to win."
"Not necessarily," Max corrected her, "Check your math, Boots."
Max left them alone. Padma blushed from embarrassment.
"Of course!" she chastised herself, gesticulating at the image, "How could I not see that!?"
Ron was clueless.
"See what?"
Jessie knew the answer and addressed his query, "We're missing a wizard on one side the equation."
"Huh?"
"We ran the tests while the stone was in a wizard; the wand was tested on its own," Jessie broke it down for him, then turned to Padma and said, "It was kind of obvious."
"You're supposed to console me for missing the obvious."
"You're a genius. You don't need consoling," Jessie retorted, "You got us the science we need to convince Hermione and the POTH to lend Harry the wand."
"Whoa!" Ron interrupted them, "Back up for me a bit. Are we now saying that the Elder wand is definitely the answer? That wand will trump stone?"
"I don't know about it being 'the' answer but it is one answer," Padma always qualified her findings, "And it's not a certainty. When wizards and witches use magical objects we change the magnitude and amplitude of the magical energy they emit. The wand's wielder will be key. The Deathstick may have what it takes to break down the stone's defences but only if a magical being of considerable superiority is using it, particularly if the stone is in someone as powerful as Malvado."
Jessie paraphrased for his sake, "She means we should let Harry use it to get the best results."
"That one, I got."
"I wonder," Padma was muttering to herself, "What if..."
Her voice trailed off as her fingers did their thing again. He and Jessie moved closer to get a better look at what she was trying to do. This time, she combined the Peverell wavethings into one and juxtaposed it over the stone's. The result impressed even Ron.
"Oh joy," Jessie was as pleased, "Looks like you found a better answer. I told you you were a genius."
Ron shook his head, "Hermione's not going to be happy about this."
"Why not?"
"You have proof that uniting the Hallows is the way to end this. It's going to annoy her no end that all this time she was wrong."
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Harry looked back the second he heard the explosion but pressed on. He'd come back and find Al after.
He saw Hermione descend up ahead and followed suit, dismounting from the broom with his wand out a few feet from where Hermione did.
"Mum!" Hugo called out, obviously relieved.
Hugo looked like he had been through a lot but seemed okay in sharp contrast to Spencer who lay unconscious on the ground. Across the way a silver gray wolf eyed them keenly, fangs bare and ready to attack. A simple animal would have not caused Hugo or Spencer trouble but this was no ordinary wolf. Harry had an idea what it was.
"Dementus," Hermione confirmed.
"I got this," Harry said to her, who he could tell wanted to see to Hugo and Spencer herself.
Hermione headed for the boys. Harry walked towards the wolf, eager to dispose of the pest quickly.
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Al's heart was racing and he was sweating profusely both from the stifling conditions of the cellar Gates left him in and the anxiety he was feeling right now. He heard Warren open the door, speak to someone in the local language and leave with whoever it was he spoke with.
He climbed up the wooden ladder and pushed against the trap door. It was wielded shut. He paced, decided, took his wand out and stepped back.
Reducto!
The curse hit the ceiling and bounced off it like a ping pong ball, ricocheting in the tiny confined space and almost hitting him before disintegrating a wooden crate that was propped up against the wall. He picked himself off the ground and dusted himself off. Gates must have charmed the door to repel any attempt to open it from the inside.
This was just great.
For a moment he considered screaming in the hope that someone would hear him and get him out but from what he could hear things were getting bad outside. The village was under attack, that much he could tell for sure, and to try and attract attention without a targeted audience would be foolish. Really, if he was to scream for help he'd want to be sure the person who would respond to it would not kill him. He already felt like an idiot for drinking Polyjuice and thinking he could come here to fix it himself. He could at least do his best to avoid dying totally stupid.
He scanned the cellar he was in. The ground and the walls were made of flat rocks with no hidden doors or exits. Above him, thick wooden panels formed the ceiling, interrupted by knut sized holes Al figured were for ventilation. It was through them that he could hear the escalating fighting that was going on.
From all that his ears picked up a woman's voice. He didn't understand her words but she was crying, begging for mercy. He heard gunfire abruptly interrupt her pleas. Then there was a split second of muted silence before chaos filled the cellar again.
Al had to get out and help. He looked around a second time and noticed something behind what was left of the crate his curse ended up destroying earlier. In the wall was a hole.
He got on his knees and peered in, shining his light into it. There was a tunnel big enough for him to crawl into. He couldn't see where it led to but he felt a strong draft of fresh air coming from within. With renewed determination, Al began crawling towards its source.
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Hermione tried not to panic. There was blood everywhere. Hugo said he was fine and immediately explained what caused Spencer's condition. She lifted the bloody, tattered shirt off of Spencer's shoulder ready to hit his injury with a clotting spell.
But there was nothing there except for a faint red jagged line. Hugo was as surprised.
"Does he normally heal this quickly?" she asked him.
Hugo shook his head, confused. The torn shirt was Hugo's. He had been injured too.
"Let me see your arm," she said to him.
Hermione examined both and found nothing either.
"It happened again?" she asked.
He nodded, confirming, "I don't understand, Mum."
She didn't completely understand it either.
"We'll figure it out," she reassured him, "But whatever this is it'll be foolish to assume that he can't hurt you. I'd rather you stop thinking what you're thinking."
Hermione looked him in the eye and got the promise that he would.
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The wolf leapt forward and ran straight at him. Harry conjured his Patronus and sent it to meet the advancing beast.
Animus Corpus!
With the silent spell the silvery mist from his wand acquired flesh and became real. The stag hung its neck down just as it collided with its counterpart, goring it with its antlers, lifting it up by its chest. The wolf let out a yawp as it struggled to free itself. A few seconds later it stopped moving, then turned into a grey cloudy wisp before completely dissipating into the air.
That was easier than Harry thought. It was almost too easy. He went over to Hugo.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine," Hugo answered hastiliy, "What was that?"
"A Dementus."
They were Patronus-like charms conjured using happy but evil memories.
"It felt real."
"This one was meant to be real," Harry replied, in a rush.
He scanned the perimeter. Aside from two approaching humans he knew were Rosie and Isa they were alone. Whoever owned the Dementus created it some time ago, gave it flesh, a course of action and left it on its own to fulfill it. The fact that its owner was remote made it easy to dispose of but whoever created it had to be someone inside, or someone from the outside who knew the village was here.
Harry got to Hermione just as she and Spencer got up.
"Hugo!" Rosie was running towards them, Isa in tow, "Are you all...oh Merlin! Why are you naked?"
She meant Spencer, who, Harry just noticed, was in his birthday suit, his hands on his hips and a proud unaffected look on his face. Isa had a few choice words for the werewolf as she pulled out clothes from her bag and thrust them with force against Spencer's chest. Harry took Hermione aside.
He said to her, "I heard an explosion."
"Back at the village entrance," she heard it too, "Malvado and his men must be trying to blast their way through."
"Listen, I need to find Al."
Hermione had an odd question, "Do you trust me?"
Harry frowned, not knowing where she was going with this, "Of course I do."
"Past that treeline is Pag-asa's border. You'll know once you've crossed. From there you and the children can port key to somewhere safe."
She was asking him to go and leave Al. That was somewhat unthinkable.
"I know how hard it is to let someone else do what you feel you should be doing but we can't be in all places at once," she spoke from her own experience, "I'll make sure Al gets home safely. I will."
He had no doubt that she would. Strategically she made sense. It was foolish to take the children back to the village and there was no time to argue with her about options. The sooner he agreed the sooner he could leave and come back and the sooner she'd find Al.
"How do I get a hold of you?"
"Malvado has the phone lines jammed. The best way is through Ron or the kids," she replied, referring to her locket, a tinge of dissapointment in him that they lacked something more direct. Hermione continued, "And about the book. It's at the IMAN library."
He felt compelled to warn her, "Be careful. That Dementus looked familiar."
She nodded, went over to Hugo and Rosie, hugged them and said something to them he didn't hear. Then just as her tears came she pulled back, turned away from them, took one of the brooms. She gave him one last look, one of gratitude, and took off.
He watched her disappear from view, regret setting in. He felt like there was so much left unsaid between them, like they had unfinished business. And something about the image of her going back on her own just didn't feel right.
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At a corner table at Finnigan's, Seamus shook hands with a group of five beings pretending to be customers and sat down on their invite.
"It's proven," Unspeakable Max shared with them, "The Deathstick is the answer to Malvado."
"Let's be honest now. Your proposition has very little to do with Malvado and a lot to do with personal gain," Gummy said with his usual paranoia, "The wand is the one Hallow we have no access to. You want the wand for yourself."
"That still doesn't change what I just said."
"Our task is to protect the Hallows," Brian Figg reminded them, "It is not to determine exceptions to who gets to use them."
"Maybe it should be," Seamus felt compelled to speak up, "We have a social and moral obligation to help rid the world of dark wizards like Malvado. It's above the POTH. The proof is there. We can't ignore it. We already helped by giving Harry use of the stone. Why not give him the wand?"
Winky replied, "Snitch encased stone is different from most powerful wand ever made. Winky thinks wand is big thing. Important for it not to belong to bad wizard."
"I agree," Seamus had to be more convincing, "It'll be on loan. Harry will take care of it, just like he has taken care of the stone. We can trust him. And we can always hide the wand again after. We'll find another place."
There was an uneasy silence around the table. As much as he didn't like Max Seamus felt strongly about taking the wand out of its current resting place. Much of their hesitation was because where it was now was the perfect hiding spot.
They looked at Dovalov who had not spoken. Without Hermione they would not be able to come up with the unanimous decision needed to allow them to lend Harry the wand like they did the stone, but with a majority they could ask the Keeper to tell Harry where he could get it.
Dovalov pointed out, "Even if we recommend, Keeper may still disagree."
That was true. The Keeper would insist on remaining anonymous. Seamus was certain there would be ways to assure that would happen.
Seamus shrugged, "There's only one way to find out. All in favour?"
He raised his hand. Max held up his immediately, then Gummy. Dovalov looked directly at him, gauging his proposal, then after a few seconds threw in his support. Winky and Brian finally did the same.
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Al's knees and elbows were sore and his shoulders hurt. The tunnel had narrowed down considerably. He had to dig around to loosen the dirt and get himself through. Al didn't know how much farther he could go and he had gone so far into it that crawling backwards was not really an option.
He got around a slight curve and saw light in front of him! He was finally at the end of the tunnel! Heart racing again, he pulled himself forward slowly, pushing a loosely fitted screen through some bushes!
Someone's backyard.
Malvado's men were there bringing in villagers and putting them in makeshift prisons. Almost all were women and children, most of them crying. Elsewhere he could still hear fighting but not as much as before.
A nearby cage rattled, a woman called over one of her captors in a sweet inviting voice, drawing one close. Unexpectedly, she pulled him by his shirt, bared and sank her teeth into his neck. Al recognized the vampire. It was Gracie, the restaurant owner.
As the man struggled to get away his colleagues tired to help, poking Gracie with sharp wooden rods. She fought those off too, grabbing one and stabbing the goon who held it right through his gut. Letting go of the bloke she just sucked dry, she snarled at the others and they all stepped back.
Then Al saw a gun.
"Don't kill her!" someone, their leader, hollered in the local language, "Malvado wants her!"
Malvado's men snickered, taunting Gracie about dying in the most horrible way possible. Al watched as the goons began rolling her cage away.
One of them was ordered to stay and stand guard. The underling grunted, complained to himself about missing what was about to happen.
Al had to make a move. It was now or never.
Managing to slip out of the hole rather easily, Al's next challenge was how to free the villagers without sounding an alarm. The guard was quite a ways from where he was and there was limited ground cover to make his way to him without being detected.
He looked around for options and it was then when he caught the eye of Tomas who was in one of the makeshift prisons closest to him. He motioned to the teen what he needed to happen, hoping fervently Tomas would understand.
"Oy! Tutang pangit!" Tomas called out to the goon.
That translated to 'ugly lap dog' or something like that. His fellow prisoners were aghast. They urged him to take it back and apologize. Tomas did no such thing.
Instead, he declared, "Kasing pangit ka ng nanay mo!"
Whatever that meant that definitely got the man's attention now. He marched with determination and fired off a few choice words for Tomas who continued to get his goat. The goon threatened to shoot Tomas but by then he had turned his back completely to Al.
"Petrificus totalus!"
The man made like a log and plopped to the ground. An instant cheer came from those who saw it. Al hushed them as he hurriedly unlocked the cages. Everybody was thanking him profusely, thanking Hugo actually, and not that he cared they thought he was Hugo but he needed them to be quiet so they wouldn't get caught. That wasn't working.
"Tomas," he hissed, "Help me out here."
The boy finally calmed the villagers down enough so Al could instruct them to find a way out of the village. Thirty or so beings began filing out in order. Tomas saw Al wasn't moving.
"You're not coming?" he was asked.
Al couldn't get his eyes off the trail Gracie disappeared into.
"She's probably already dead," Tomas pointed out.
He thought the same thing but he couldn't leave until he knew for sure. And it wasn't because he wasn't afraid of dying or because he wanted to be a hero. He just couldn't walk away.
"I have to see for myself," he said, and when Tomas looked like he was staying too Al told him, "I need you to go with the women and children, to make sure they get to safety. Okay?"
Tomas nodded and did as he asked, probably because he thought he was Hugo.
Al took a big breath in, let it out and made his way to the plaza.
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Rose wasn't naïve. Even with Mum's reassurance that everything would be okay, there was a big possibility that it was the last time she would see her alive. Her brother knew that too.
"I'm heading back," Hugo said to Rose the moment Mum's figure disappeared behind a cloud.
"She said not to," Rose had tears in her eyes.
"She can't do this by herself!"
Technically Mum wasn't but Rose knew what he meant. By then Uncle Harry had what Hugo was reaching for.
"Give me the broom!" Hugo demanded.
"You want to go back," Uncle Harry confronted Hugo, keeping the flying object away from her brother, as she, Isa and Spencer looked on.
"Yes!"
"And what do you think you'll accomplish?!"
"I want to help!"
"You almost got yourself killed here by a mere Dementus!" he told Hugo bluntly. "Do you think it'll be easier back there when you meet the real thing?!"
"I'm not afraid to die!"
"I don't doubt that!" Uncle Harry yelled back, "But let me tell you what's going to happen! You go back there and she will worry about you, she'll fight to protect you, more than she will take care of herself! Is that what you want?!"
"I just want to help!"
Hugo broke down, seeing Uncle Harry's point. Rose saw it too.
She tried to comfort him, "Mum asked us to leave. Not being here right now is how we can help."
Her brother nodded, finally convinced as she was. She saw that Uncle Harry had calmed down but seemed distracted. He was eyeing his Patronus which had made its way beyond the line of trees Mum told them was the village border.
"There's one other thing I will need your help with," Uncle Harry said to Hugo unexpectedly. He then turned to her, "Rosie, get me your Dad."
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Malvado watched with interest. He had been searching for Pag-asa for more than a year. He must admit it was clever of them to survive this long but that didn't matter anymore. Pag-asa would no longer exist. He would annihilate the entire village to show everyone how he dealt with rebels and traitors.
The ring leaders were being rounded up for him and set up for display on stage. His underlings, humans and non-humans alike, were thirsting for blood. He could feel their hunger and he would appease them, soon.
A vampire was being wheeled in. He could smell her fear under the fierce façade she was putting up. She smelled familiar.
He stood up and approached as his minions unloaded her, bringing the vampire to him. She tried to escape but that was expected.
"Come here," he commanded her, and she fought the suggestion somewhat before giving in to it.
He studied her face, young and beautiful at her turning, her brown eyes defiant but no completely masking the fear within.
"Have I had you before?"
She spat in his eye and he held back the closed fist that she deserved. She was feisty. He remembered.
"I know you," he whispered in her ear, aroused by the memory of their previous encounter, "You're just as stunning as you were back then and definitely more interesting than your human mother."
Malvado tasted her agony, bittersweet, just like he preferred. He ran his fingers lightly on her cheek, willing her not to recoil from his touch.
"I could have sworn you were dead when I was done with you," he thought out loud, "Maybe I'll keep you longer this time."
Her thoughts were so amusing that he had to let her speak.
"I'd rather die!"
He smiled at her and replied, "Don't worry. You will."
Malvado turned, feeling someone approach. A hush of silence fell upon his crowd as the man walked straight towards him, with thoughts and mood as unreadable as ever.
"It's about time you got here," Malvado said, showing his displeasure, "You owe me an apology."
Warren Gates retorted, "The way I see it you owe me an apology. We had a deal and you broke it. I'm so disappointed. There's obviously no honour among bad guys anymore."
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A/N.
Am grateful for your continued interest. Knowing that people are still reading keeps me writing!
Giving us some hope here that the Hallows are the answer…and Hugo…some of you clued in to this ability a few chapters back…am quite excited about the next time he meets Malvado because we all know that, in spite of what Hermione and Harry are trying to do, that is inevitable :)
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