Dark Lord Rising
Chapter 36: Deadly Games.
Hermione had been walking towards the library when she felt Harry's nervousness explode through their bond. It was enough of a distraction that she realized she wouldn't be getting any worthwhile studying done. Altering her course, she headed out onto the grounds for the one place that she knew there would be solitude, their garden.
By the time she settled into one of the cushioned stone benches, Harry was no longer flooding the bond with nervous energy, instead it had shifted to concerned anxiousness. Deciding to settle in for a while, she tucked her legs beneath her and pulled out one of her guilty pleasures, trashy romance novels. It was a secret obsession that she shared with her mum, much to her father's amusement.
Her favorite genre centered on romances taking place in the Victorian Era. It was highly amusing to her that she dwelled part time in a world that was still living somewhat in that era. The troubling thing was; the Wizarding World was nothing like the real world at all. The insular magical society had effectively stagnated due to its own longevity.
The average life span for Witches and Wizards was so long that the people in power felt very uncomfortable around the modern non-magical world. Hermione doubted that some of them had even left the Wizarding World in their lifetime and willingly spent time around the `muggles'.
Oh, sure, there were a few exceptions to the general rule, the knight bus, and the enchanted cars that the Ministry employed from time to time, but the average citizen didn't even understand the basics about non-magical life and technology.
Some families attempted to change with the ever-evolving times but they often fell short of abandoning the outdated ways of thinking because so much of their lives were intertwined with the same establishment that refused to change. The Weasley's were a good example of a family that had made some attempts to evolve with the times. As a result, the majority of the purebloods in power shunned them as blood traitors.
Shaking herself from her reverie, Hermione turned her attention back to her book and let out a sigh. Her mind's wanderings left a bad taste in her mouth, and with a snap, she closed the book and stuffed it into her bag. What good was a book if she couldn't loose herself within its pages?
Gazing into the ever-burning fire, she focused on feeling Harry through the bond. Realizing that he was actually on the grounds sooner than anticipated made her worry that something had gone wrong during the planned outings.
Moments later, Harry strode into the clearing and sat down heavily next to her with a sigh. Silently, he reached over and grasped her hand for support.
Hermione noticed that Harry was shaking slightly with nervous energy so she squeezed his hand tightly and snuggled into his side. A few seconds later, she quietly asked, "Do you want to talk about it yet?"
She knew it had something to do with his visit to Diagon Alley.
Tentatively, she asked, "Is everyone alright?"
Before he answered, Harry stretched out his senses for any listening charms. Finding none, he relaxed a bit and said in a soft voice, "I don't know." Rubbing his hand over his face in frustration, he continued worriedly, "It all happened so fast. The Goblins knew that it was me despite my disguise. Dora and I were both worried so she had me empty my vault and then she put the goblin under the Imperious Curse and told him to follow us out into the Alley after we left."
Hermione gasped at the mention of the Unforgivable Curse but otherwise kept silent as Harry continued his recounting of events.
Up in his office, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore was listening in with rapt attention. The second time that Harry discovered his eavesdropping charms, he began thinking up a way to avoid detection. Through some trial and error, Dumbledore came up with a charm that would remain passive except when someone was speaking.
It was a magnificent piece of charm work that had taken him a few weeks to figure out, but now it was paying handsome dividends. Unfortunately, the information that he was receiving was disturbing on many fronts.
First of all, Harry was off the grounds, again, traipsing around with witches in Diagon Alley during a school day. Even more troubling was the fact that Dumbledore didn't know much about the witch, Dora.
The more pressing issue was that Harry had removed his gold from Gringotts. The panic that would ensue if that fact were discovered could lead to another Goblin Rebellion if everyone began removing their gold and closing their accounts.
Dumbledore was so caught up in his thoughts that he missed some of what Harry was saying. Cursing his lapse of attention, he turned his focus back to his wayward charge's voice.
"After that, I came straight out here to see you." Harry finished recounting his morning to Hermione.
"I'm glad you're safe, Harry. I'm sure that they will let us know that everyone is okay as soon as possible." Hermione reassured him.
Frustrated, Harry sighed, "I know. I just wish we didn't have to wait to find out what's going on."
Hermione patted his knee in support, gave him a peck on the cheek, and hauled him unceremoniously to his feet with a smile, "Come on, we still have time to check out the library before lunch!"
Shaking his head ruefully at Hermione's antics, Harry smiled back, waved his hand in a sweeping gesture, and said, "Lead on, MacDuff."
~AQ~
As the two Gryffindor teens left the garden, Albus Dumbledore leaned back into his chair and clasped his fingers in front of his mouth in thought. His ruminations were cut short when one of the portraits spoke up.
"Excuse me, Headmaster. Remus Lupin is at the base of the gargoyle trying to guess the password." Said the portrait of Armando Dippet.
"Thank you, Armando." Dumbledore said pleasantly while waving his wand to allow Remus entry.
A few moments later, Remus Lupin entered the Headmaster's Office and sat down in the offered chair. Politely declining the offer of refreshments, he said calmly, "Albus, we have a bit of a situation."
Interested, Albus leaned forward slightly and warmly said, "Well then, a problem shared is a problem halved.
What can I help you with today, Remus?"
"The Goblins have been selling information on the people that enter their bank to Voldemort. Well, more specifically Lucius Malfoy." Remus answered gravely.
"And how did you come by this information?" Dumbledore asked while his blue eyes bored into Lupin's amber ones demanding an answer.
Shaking his head slightly, Remus threw up his Occlumency Shields and replied, "If I don't tell you, you can't get into trouble if that information comes out somehow." It felt good to turn the Headmaster's games against him for once and he smiled inwardly when he saw Dumbledore's momentary look of disappointment.
"I understand." Albus said softly while continuing to stare into Remus' amber eyes. "Does this information have anything to do with Harry being off the grounds last night and this morning?"
Stone faced, Remus replied immediately, "I don't know what you're talking about, sir. I've been
busy trying to make ends meet since losing my job again." Holding up his hand to forestall an offer of aid, he
continued, "I'm getting by and will be just fine. Thank you for your concern."
Lupin's response confirmed that he was involved in getting Harry to Diagon Alley but he realized that nothing good would come if he pushed the issue. Returning to the original discussion, Dumbledore asked, "How long have the Goblins been selling sensitive information to Lucius?"
"Years." Remus replied somberly. The weight of the implication was enough to render further explanation unnecessary.
Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and contemplated how this new revelation was going to change his plans for the upcoming war. "I think we need to inform everyone and have a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix tonight."
Remus nodded in agreement. He knew this was coming and having extra manpower in the fight against Voldemort would make a huge difference in the long run. "When and where should I tell people to meet?"
"I think eight pm in my office would be the best place for now. The students will be heading home this afternoon so the castle will be empty." Dumbledore replied absent mindedly, his thoughts already focusing on what parts of his plan he needed to change.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost missed Remus excuse himself. Just before Lupin made it to the door, Albus said softly, "Don't bring Sirius. I haven't had the time to convince everyone else that he isn't guilty yet."
Remus stiffened for a moment in anger before continuing on his way. He would let Sirius know over lunch that he was still not trusted by Dumbledore or The Order.
~AQ~
After a quick stop in the library, Harry and Hermione were seated at the Gryffindor Table in the Great Hall enjoying their last meal of the year in the castle.
Neville was chatting with Ginny about getting together over summer vacation when there was a great whooshing sound followed by hundreds of owls swooping into the Great Hall carrying the Daily Prophet.
"That's odd." Ginny said as the delivery owl plopped down in front of Hermione and held out its leg. "The paper is really late today. I wonder why?"
With practiced ease, Hermione removed the newspaper and placed a knut in the payment pouch. Before the owl was even out of the Great Hall, she sprayed tea all over Neville in her shock.
"What the…?" Neville blurted as he frantically wiped the tea from his face.
Hermione however, was not paying the slightest attention to Neville; her eyes were fixed on the moving photograph on the front page of the Daily Prophet. It was a picture of the Great Hall with injured students scattered near the destroyed Slytherin Table, the headline read, "Attempted Murder at Hogwarts!"
The bottom of the page had a second photo with the headline, "Boy-Who-Lived saves student!" It was a picture of Harry sitting on the floor screaming for help with Tracey Davis in his arms.
After quickly skimming the article, Hermione let out a sigh of relief. Harry's roll in the entire affair was portrayed in a good light. Draco Malfoy and Albus Dumbledore didn't get off so lightly. The article went on at length about Malfoy's cowardly attack and Dumbledore's lack of safety measures to prevent something so tragic from happening in the first place.
Personally, Hermione was amazed that stuff like this didn't happen more often with so many hormonal, armed, teenagers in such close proximity all of the time.
Harry had taken one look at the photographs and the headlines on the paper before turning his attention to the rest of the students. The Slytherins weren't sending him hostile glares so he turned his attention to the Head Table where Dumbledore was sitting. The Headmaster was sitting ramrod straight but that was the only indication that anything was out of the ordinary.
Realizing that he wasn't going to learn anything else from watching the teachers, Harry turned back to Hermione and asked, "How bad is it?"
She set the paper down and whispered, "You're portrayed more as the heroic victim in the article. However, Malfoy and Dumbledore are taking some serious heat for their roles in everything." Sliding the paper over to him, she said, "Here, see for yourself."
As Harry read through the article, his feelings of unease grew. Rita's column had some very disturbing information in it. Information that no one but the people present could possible know and he was pretty sure that Professor Snape and Madam Pomfrey were not talking to any members of the press.
Grim faced, he put the article down and whispered into Hermione's ear, "We have a problem. There is stuff in this article that no one should know about except for me, Professor Snape, and Madam Pomfrey. Did you see Rita Skeeter in the Great Hall yesterday?"
Hermione pursed her lips in thought as she ran the events from yesterday through her mind. Finally, she said slowly, "No. I don't recall seeing her at all. What do you think that means?"
Leaning back in, Harry whispered, "It means that she's found a way to listen in on private conversations without being detected. It's not a spell that I have sensed either. That rules out invisibility and the only thing left that I can think of is that she could be an unregistered Animagus."
Turning to face him properly, Hermione cocked her head to the side slightly as she stared into Harry's luminescent green eyes. They shone brightly, similar to Dumbledore's, and then she realized it for what it really was; power. Slowly, she closed her eyes and stretched out her senses like Harry had been teaching her to do over the course of the year.
It took a moment before she could sort out the sensations but when she did, she realized something important had changed. Her eyes snapped open and she found Harry's concerned face inches from hers. She gave him a reassuring peck on the lips before leaning in to hug him tightly. While she hugged him, she whispered, "Your magic really feels different to me. It changed more than you admitted earlier, didn't it?"
Shocked, Harry nodded into her embrace and whispered back, "Yes. It's much stronger now, unchained, I guess. I'm still learning about all of the changes though. Why do you ask?"
Hermione pulled back from the hug and saw Neville and Ginny looking at them in concern. Smiling at their friends shyly, she said, "We're okay. Something just occurred to me and Harry calmed me down."
"Okay?" Neville replied, clearly not understanding what had just transpired in front of him but willing to let it go for now.
Ginny was staring at the two of them intently. She knew that something had happened but didn't know what. Figuring they would tell her eventually, she shrugged her shoulders in acceptance and turned her attention to the discarded Daily Prophet on the table in front of them. Picking it up, she asked, "Do you mind if I read this?"
With an absent minded wave of her hand, Hermione said, "Sure, help yourself."
Up at the Head Table, Dumbledore was silently fuming. Rita Skeeter was fast becoming an even larger nuisance. In all the bedlam following Malfoy's errant spell he hadn't thought to check for Rita in her beetle form. Now he was paying for his short sightedness and it didn't please him one bit.
He put down the Daily Prophet and scanned the hall over the rim of his half moon spectacles. The Slytherins were huddled together in small packs whispering over the article while the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs looked unbothered by the paper. The Gryffindors appeared split on the matter, probably due to Harry Potter's involvement, but overall, they weren't really bothered by the repercussions of Draco Malfoy's errant spell.
`When had the school become so divided?' Dumbledore thought to himself as he continued to survey the student body. It was something that he felt he needed to improve in the upcoming year, especially with Voldemort back in the picture. No sense driving a large portion into the arms of an enemy if it can be avoided.
With a sigh, Dumbledore wiped his mouth and placed his napkin the plate in front of him before getting up from his seat and leaving the Great Hall through the side door.
~AQ~
Long, thin, pale fingers drummed angrily on the tabletop as he thought about the frightened man sitting across from him. Ollivander had just given him a very disturbing piece of news and he wasn't sure what to do about it yet. Finally, he hissed, "Does Harry Potter know that our wands share the same core?"
"Y…yes, he does." Replied Ollivander nervously, his eyes never leaving the wand twirling between its master's fingers.
"What will happen if our wands meet in battle?" Voldemort asked in a low voice.
Ollivander stammered, "They…they will not work properly against one another."
"Explain." Voldemort hissed menacingly, his eyes boring into Ollivander's.
Wincing at the Dark Lord's tone of voice, Ollivander whispered nervously, "The wand cores will recognize each other as coming from the same Phoenix and probably won't work against each other properly." When Voldemort narrowed his eyes, he rushed on, "It's just a guess, but you may be able to force one of the wands to overpower the other. The result would probably be that whichever wand was victorious would become the dominant of the pair."
Voldemort couldn't detect any deceit in the wand maker's voice so he leaned back in his chair and continued to drum his fingers on the table while he thought things over. After a few moments, he hissed softly, "You are going to either make me a new wand or find me another amongst your collection."
Ollivander was about to say that a Wizard couldn't have a second wand when the look in the Dark Lord's eyes brought him up short. Meekly, he whispered, "Of course. Shall we begin searching for another wand for you now?"
His wand pointed at Ollivander, Voldemort said softly, "Yes, we shall. However, one false move and the world will have one less wand maker in it. Understood?"
Gulping, Ollivander nodded his head in understanding and slowly got up from his chair and began pulling down boxes full of wands with various cores made from yew. Fifty wands later, he found a wand that worked.
The moment Voldemort grasped the smooth ivory colored wand; he knew that it was the right one. A strong gust of wind tugged at his robes and blew all of the papers off the counter by the till while silver and green sparks danced from the tip.
Reverently, Voldemort asked, "What type of core?" While running his fingers down the shaft of the wand.
His nervousness momentarily forgotten, Ollivander said happily, "That wand is made of yew, ten inches, with a Chimera heartstring core."
"Excellent." Hissed Voldemort as he twirled the wand through his fingers. The wand was perfectly smooth and the handle was carved in the shape of the Chimera that the core came from.
Quick as a striking snake, Voldemort pointed his new wand at Ollivander and hissed, "Avada Kedavra!"
The bright green flash of the Killing Curse filled the room, illuminating Ollivander's pale face with its deathly glow before it struck him down in the middle of his shop.
Once he was finished collecting all of the wands and the raw materials for making more, Voldemort stepped up to Ollivander's corpse and began chanting a spell in an obscure language.
When he was finished with the curse, he stepped over to the door and set the rest of the trap. With a wave of his wand, Voldemort took down his Anti-Transport Wards and Notice-Me-Not Charms before disappearing with a small pop of displaced air.
~AQ~
Shortly after Auror Tonks left her office, Amelia Bones began making contingency plans for the safety of her family. Susan's welfare was her first priority and her first step in ensuring that would be to set up a secure place to live.
With that in mind, she told her assistant that she was heading out, but not why, and headed for Gringotts. Arriving at the bank, she made her way down to her vault and removed what little gold she had saved over the years.
By the time that she exited the building the sun was peaking through the clouds bathing the steps of the bank in a warm glow. As she turned the corner to head back towards the Ministry, she thought she saw the telltale flash of spell-fire out of the corner of her eye.
Drawing her wand, she turned to face the row of buildings where she thought the spell originated. The most likely place for spell fire was from Ollivanders. Normally, she would have dismissed the thought of trouble from her mind immediately. However, with the knowledge that Voldemort was back and the lack of people in the street, she proceeded towards the wand maker's shop cautiously.
The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end and the closer she got to the shop the more things felt wrong. Making a snap decision, Amelia tapped her wand to her badge and summoned back up while inching closer to the building across the street so she could get a look inside the shop window.
Ten very tense minutes later, her backup began arriving in the Alley. Unfortunately, they were completely oblivious to the need for a stealthy approach. A few were even gathering right in front of Ollivander's shop! Realizing that her aurors were wholly unprepared for the upcoming conflict, she sighed and made a mental note to increase their training regimen.
Stepping into the street, Amelia summoned her Aurors over to her and began outlining the situation, "There was a flash of spell fire from Ollivanders about ten minutes ago and no one has gone in or come out of the shop since."
"But there's always spell fire in there." Blurted Auror Dawlish as he and Stevens joined the group.
Fighting the urge to snap at the boorish auror, Amelia elaborated, "Ollivander's is usually empty at this time of day. Especially since the students are still at Hogwarts. It may be nothing, but we need to be sure that Mr. Ollivander is safe."
Tired of the mutterings from her subordinates, she barked, "Dawlish, take Stevens with you and check out the shop. If there's trouble, tap your badge."
Grumbling under his breath, Dawlish motioned for Stevens to join him and they trooped over to the wand maker's shop. Without even checking the interior, Dawlish yanked open the door and they stepped inside.
Amelia was pinching the bridge of her nose while shaking her head in disgust as she watched two of her aurors walk blindly into the building. Her younger aurors had no real concept of how dangerous the times were during the last war with Voldemort. Her musings were cut short when a blood curdling scream was heard from the shop.
Seconds later, Dawlish bolted out of the building covered in blood and shooting spells over his shoulder blindly. He ran right past his fellow aurors without even a backwards glance.
"Coward." Amelia muttered under her breath as the adrenalin began coursing through her veins. She raised her wand towards the shop door and was pleased to note that the other ten aurors with her followed suit. They didn't have to wait long to discover where all the blood on Dawlish came from.
The animated corpse of Mr. Ollivander shambled out the door dragging what appeared to be a leg. With inhuman speed, the Inferi rushed the group of aurors with a bestial growl. It was among them before they could react, unleashing complete chaos on the shocked wizards and witches.
Surprised by the creature's speed and the ferocity of its attack, only a couple of the more experienced aurors were able to protect themselves. They quickly backed away as one of their number crumpled to the ground shrieking in pain.
His cries of agony quickly turned to gurgles as the Inferi ripped out his throat. Torn from her stupor, Amelia shouted, "Fire!" a second later a dozen different spells shredded the animated corpse of Mr. Ollivander.
Shaking slightly from the adrenaline rush, Amelia rasped out, "Kingsley, go check if Stevens is still alive. If he is, get him to St. Mungos."
Nodding in acceptance, Kingsley swept into the building with his wand drawn. He knew the instant that he found Stevens that the man was gone. The Inferi had done its job well. There were bits of the unfortunate auror scattered all over the empty shelves of the shop.
It took him a few seconds to realize what he was seeing before he shouted, "Boss, you need to see this!"
"Secure the remains of both bodies. Do not burn anything!" Amelia said as she glared at her subordinates to make sure they understood her orders to the letter before she headed off to see what had troubled one of her best aurors enough that he actually shouted.
Stepping into the shop two things hit her immediately, the stench of death and the fact that all of the shelves were bare. "Bullocks!" she growled before turning to Kingsley and asking, "I take it that whoever did this left nothing behind?"
Kingsley's deep voice reverberated in the empty shop as he spoke, "Not even a scrap of paper. They were very thorough. The question is why would they take the wands?"
Amelia conjured a chair and sat down heavily. Her body was feeling the aftereffects from the terrifying fight and the loss of two of her people. Letting her thoughts track back to the last time Voldemort was in power, she began looking for any snippets of information that might help them in their current situation.
Realizing that his boss was thinking hard about what this attack meant, he began to prep Auror Steven's body for transport back the Department. He had heard her order of no burning of the bodies even though he was inside the now empty shop.
The thought was so random that she almost let it slip by without considering it. As she began to toss the idea around in her head, Amelia's knuckles were turning white because she was gripping the arms of her conjured chair so hard. Concerned, she asked, "Kinglsey, how many other wand makers are in Great Britain?"
The tall auror immediately grasped the situation as he looked around the empty shelves that once housed thousands of wands. "There are a few others, ma'am. There is one wand maker in Ireland and one in Scotland. The other one that I know of has a small shop in Knockturn Alley."
"Damn." Amelia muttered as she stood up and vanished the chair with a casual flick of her wand. Looking Kingsley straight in the eye, she said solemnly, "Get the two legitimate wand makers out of their shops and under our protection. Make absolutely sure that the people you are using to guard them are not former Death Eaters."
Confused and slightly concerned, Kingsley asked softly, "What's really going on here, ma'am?"
Amelia drew her wand and erected some privacy spells before speaking, "You-Know-Who returned at the end of the Triwizard tournament."
The implication was staggering, and Kingsley actually rocked back on his heels slightly as he tried to comprehend this new and very dangerous twist. Warily, he asked, "Are you sure, ma'am?"
"Positive." She replied before continuing in a very serious tone, "Now do you understand why we need to secure the remaining wand makers?"
"Absolutely, I'll get on it right away." Kingsley replied as he headed out the door to complete his task.
Shaking her head ruefully, Amelia reflected upon how quickly a nice day had gone pear shaped. Two Aurors were dead and the other had fled the scene with no regard for his fellow co-workers. She stepped out of the empty shop and exhaled loudly when she saw the large group of bystanders gathered around the remains of Ollivander the Inferious.
There was a telltale whoosh and pop of a flash bulb going off as Bozo took a picture of the carnage. Thoroughly disgusted, Amelia snapped, "Seize that man's camera! We will want those photos for evidence." Before Bozo could protest, she snapped, "If you don't want to end up in a holding cell for the evening, I suggest you comply with my orders."
Reluctantly, Bozo handed over his camera to one of the aurors, grumbling the entire time about how the people needed to know the truth. Had his comment come from any legitimate photographer or reporter, she would have just made a copy of the picture and returned the camera to its owner. However, her department had been under fire from Rita Skeeter's articles with quite a few of Bozo's photographs accompanying them.
Stepping over to the newly arrived Auror Tonks, she whispered, "I would not be upset if his camera were to suffer an unfortunate accident once we get the film out." Seeing Tonks nod in understanding, she continued speaking in a hushed tone, "When you're finished, take a group of people you trust and grab the wand maker in Knockturn Alley. I want him spilling all of his secrets and revealing his clients by the end of the day."
"I'll take care of it immediately." Dora said seriously before snapping off a salute and heading off to the Ministry to retrieve the film then dispose of Bozo's camera. As she walked, she was formulating a plan to snatch the wand maker in Knockturn Alley as quickly and quietly as possible.
~AQ~
While Harry and Hermione were wandering around the castle and grounds enjoying their last day at Hogwarts for the year, Albus Dumbledore was preparing for the Order Meeting and revising his plans.
He needed to handle the situation with Severus and Sirius very delicately. Snape was his eyes and ears in Voldemort's camp while Sirius held potential sway over his most valuable asset, Harry Potter.
With that thought in mind, he planned to keep Black out of the majority of the Order business. He didn't want Sirius to tell Harry any Order secrets and then have that information fall into Voldemort's lap through their connection.
Albus suspected that the young man was a horcrux, which brought the confirmed number of them to three. Dumbledore was pretty sure that Tom had made seven of the foul soul vessels. Unfortunately, he needed a memory from the elusive Horace Slughorn to confirm his hypothesis. The big question remained though, `What to do about the Horcrux inside of Harry?'
He felt that his original plan of having the boy to blindly sacrifice himself was still the best one, but one that Albus was quickly realizing would never happen. However, he was pretty sure that Harry would make the ultimate sacrifice if he thought it would protect those he considered family and friends. With those ideas in mind, his thoughts turned to luring Voldemort into the Department of Mysteries to hear the full prophecy.
~AQ~
Remus was sitting in the study watching a very livid Sirius pace back and forth, the silence only broken by the occasional bout of swearing from the Head of the Black Family. He had just told Sirius that Dumbledore didn't want him at the meeting under the excuse that he hadn't told Severus or the rest of the order yet.
Bemused, Remus chuckled and said, "Now that you've gotten that out of your system, would you please sit down and listen for a moment?"
With a huff, Sirius flopped down on the couch and put his feet on the coffee table and grumbled, "Okay, I'm calm. What did you have to tell me that was so important?"
"Tell me why Dumbledore doesn't want you at the meeting, please." Remus asked in his teaching voice from his time at Hogwarts.
Before Sirius could answer, he explained, "We know exactly where Snivellous is going to be this evening. Dumbledore said you couldn't be at the meeting, he didn't say anything about being in the castle."
A malicious smile broke out on Sirius's face as he thought about catching Snape alone again. Happily, he said, "I'm actually glad I'll be suck here at headquarters, nowhere near Hogwarts!"
Remus' only response was to roll his eyes before they began laying out their plans for Snape.
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