Unofficial Portkey Archive

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It belongs to JK Rowling, etc.

A/N: Alright, I'm back. Yup. I'm not dead. I should be bvack full time now. I'm going to try and get a chapter out a week with this and also with Potter: A History. Maybe even a few of those a week. Don't take my word for it though, depends on my mood. Alright, on with the story. You might want to go back a chapter or so to refresh yourself. Here we go.

The New Dark Lord

Chapter Nine

The thunderstorm heralded the arrival of the Death Eaters to Ambleside. They descended on the village in force, cracking into existence like physical embodiments of the storm raging above. Their powerful curses blew apart the town, setting fire to houses, exploding cars, turning trees to ash, and sending the townsfolk running in all directions. Whatever protective measures the Ministry had erected around town, they were clearly no longer in effect.

Hermione was on her way home when the attack began. Her mind was elsewhere, wrapped up in trying to figure out a way to get through to Draco, when suddenly the car to her left exploded. The blast sent her flying to land hard on her side, head ringing. She groaned as she sat up, the world spinning around her. Her eyes blurrily took in the flaming wreckage before her. At first she thought it must have just been an accident, a fault in the car, or something, but then she saw the black robes, and the pale white skull mask of the Death Eater. He looked down at her as she scrambled backwards.

Her thoughts came quick and frantically. This can't be happening! I'm dreaming. No, not a dream. Why is this happening? I thought we had left this all behind us? Focus Hermione. You need to Focus. Wand. Where is your wand? My purse. Purse.

Her purse had flown out of her hand and lay over by a bench. It was too far away. She'd never reach it in time. The Death Eater bore down on her, his wand rising to point at her. Hermione continued to push herself backwards with her hands. It was then she felt it. A stone. No - rock. Her hand grasped it like a lifeline. She had only one chance. She prayed it would be enough, and then hurled the rock at the Death Eater. He reacted as she'd hoped, ducking and dodging the projectile, giving her enough time to make a run for her wand. His angry roar came from behind as her legs propelled her body forward. She practically dived for her purse, snatched it up, and reached in for her weapon. Her head craned to look back, just in time to see his Killing Curse come hurtling at her. She dropped her body flat to the floor. The cruse missed by inches, and disintegrated the bench behind her. She pulled out her wand.

`Stupefy!'

The Death Eater wasn't fast enough. Maybe he hadn't been expecting it. Whatever the reason, he fell under the force of her spell. His body hit the floor with a thump.

Hermione felt like her heart was going to explode as she climbed shakily to her feet, clutching her wand tight to her chest. The Death Eater didn't move as she slowly approached him. She kicked his wand away and knelt to remove his mask. He was young, too young to have been a Death Eater during Voldemort's time. He was newly initiated then.

What is going on?

Hermione didn't have time to follow that train of thought, as much as she wanted to. An explosion in the distance told her all she needed to know. The night had only just begun. She had to protect the town. Her neighbours. Grace.

(----)

On the other side of Ambleside, Harry was in the thick of things. His instincts had warned him that something was coming, but he hadn't expected this. The protections surrounding Ambleside had been disabled just before the attack began. He had felt the change in the air as soon as it happened, and had been ready. Death Eaters popped into existence all over the village. Harry met them as they came.

Two Death Eaters were torturing a civilian when Harry came up behind them. A wave of his hand sent them both flying in different directions. Harry caught the villager before he hit the ground and lowered him gently to the floor. One of the Death Eaters had hit the side of a building and was probably dead, but the other rose on wobbly legs. Harry waved his hand as he passed and the wizard fell unconscious.

Harry recognised the villager as his neighbour Michael. He knelt by the man and woke him with a touch. `Where's your family?'

Michael looked around in confusion.

`Mick!' Harry shook the man. `Your family?'

`Uh... inside. The house. What's going on?'

`Get inside. Don't come out. Okay? Keep your family safe.'

`Yeah... okay… Harry, I don't know what happened… they made me float. And there was so much pain… but it's gone now. Did I hit my head?'

`No time to explain,' Harry said impatiently. `Just trust me. Can you do that?'

`I… yes… I suppose. You will explain later?'

`Promise,' Harry lied, offering Michael a hand.

The old man locked his door behind him, but Harry knew that wouldn't help. He pulled out his wand and cast a few quick protection charms on the house. Nothing would be able to penetrate them.

It was time to move on.

(----)

When Hermione arrived at Grace's flat, she was horrified to see the smoke pouring out of the windows, flames licking the glass. The door had been blasted in, creating a gigantic hole where it had once stood, and out of which thick black smoke billowed as if from the mouth on a terrible dragon.

`Grace!' Hermione screamed at the top of her lungs, fearful for her friend's life. `GRACE!'

There was no answer. Hermione stared in numb shock at the burning building.

`I have to do something,' she whispered, stirring herself from her stupor. Too many people she loved had died, and she wasn't about to let it happen again. Grace would be in her free space, working on her art, so hopefully the fire hadn't reached her yet. She was a bright girl, she would have blocked under the door with towels as soon as the fire alarm had set off.

Hermione knew there was a window in the roof of Grace's attic. She could use that to get in, but how would she get up there? Harry would just levitate himself up there, but she doubted her own ability to do that. It took a lot of willpower and concentration to levitate ones self. She looked hard at the building for thirty seconds before an idea occurred to her. She upended the contents of her purse, then grabbed a brick from where the Death Eaters had blasted the door in and stuffed it in. There was enough weight there to help her focus on. She took out her wand and aimed it at her purse, which she clutched tight in her right hand. This was going to be tricky, but she thought she could do it.

`No, I know I can,' Hermione told herself. She took a breath, and then cast her levitation charm. It worked. The bag jerked upwards as Hermione guided it up. When her feet left the ground, she gasped and almost lost her focus. Almost, but not quite. She recovered well and focused on her task, her eyes never leaving her brick laden purse. Up and up she went, dragged along by the brick, until with a sigh of relief, she dropped to the roof. She rested a moment, taking deep breaths, then scrambled over to the window. She saw a little smoke through the window, but not nearly as much as she had feared.

`Grace!' Hermione banged on the window. `Grace!'

When her friend failed to appear, Hermione stood up shakily, heart in her mouth, and aimed her wand at the window. `Reducto!' The glass shattered in on itself. Hermione cast a quick bubblehead charm over her mouth, and then, again, used the brick in her purse to levitate herself into the burning building. Her eyes scanned the smoky mist and found Grace sitting slumped and unconscious against the far wall, as far from the door as she could get. Hermione wasted no time in levitating her friend free of the burning building.

Back down on the ground, Hermione used what little medical spells she knew to revive her friend. Grace coughed and spluttered as she regained consciousness, turning onto her side and raising a hand to her head with a groan.

`Grace,' Hermione said happily.

`Hermione? Oh… what happened?'

`I'll explain soon. I have to get you out of here.'

Grace sat up and looked over Hermione's shoulder. Her eyes narrowed in confusion. Hermione saw and gripped her wand.

`Hermione, is it Halloween?' Grace asked, still foggy.

That was all she needed to say. Hermione wheeled around and raised her wand. The Death Eater saw and did the same. Hermione was faster.

`Stupefy!'

Hermione grabbed the Death Eaters wand and snapped it while a very confused Grace looked on. When she looked under the mask, this time Hermione saw a face she recognised. He was a Slytherin a few years her junior. She didn't know his name.

When Hermione turned to face her friend, Grace had regained her feet. `Hermione, please, explain to me, what the hell is going on here?'

(----)

Harry moved through the village, his home, like a vengeful tornado, tossing Death Eaters aside like they where nothing more than harmless objects standing in his way. His feet carried him with a purpose. A few minutes ago he had sensed a raw, untrained power coming from the other side of the village. If his magical senses were true, he knew where his feet would lead him.

Harry rounded the latest bend to find three Death Eaters blocking his way. They stood evenly across the street, their robes billowing dramatically in the wind, death skull masks in place, wands held up, aimed at him.

Harry slowed to a stop. The three Death Eaters looked confident. They mustn't have been very old. They had the arrogance of children unaware of the danger he posed to them. Harry's wand was still concealed, strapped to his forearm in its customary place. A wand in hand was far more powerful, but Harry didn't really need that. Simple wood to flesh contact was enough for him to take down most opponents. So far he hadn't needed to use it.

The Death Eaters acted swiftly with a concentrated attack, showing they weren't as arrogant as first believed. Not quite, anyway. The Killing Curses flew at him with great speed. Harry brought his hands together, and two cars uprooted and moved to block the path of the curses. The cars exploded. Harry jumped backwards and ducked as the last curse blew a hole though the explosion. When he came back up out of his duck Harry raised his hands and seemed to mould the flaming eruption before him, twisting it around, and then sending it back at the Death Eaters as a raging inferno. Harry couldn't see through the flames, but he heard them cry out in surprise and horror, and felt them running away. Just to amuse himself, he moulded the flames into the form of a giant skull, and chased the young Death Eaters for a good few minutes. After having his fun, he released the flames and let them dwindle, then quickly Apparated.

He appeared again, now in front of the Death Eaters, who stood around, panting and coughing. One was even batting at the end of his cloak, which had seemingly caught on fire. They hadn't noticed him yet. He gave a little polite cough, and they jumped and scrambled backwards. Harry waved his hand and they crumpled to the floor, unconscious. He summoned their wands and snapped them, then turned to get his bearings.

Harry was close to his destination. He ran down the street, jumped a small fence, and cut through the park just in time to see a gathering of five Death Eaters blasting away at a small house. The curses hit an invisible barrier and bounced back. One came dangerously close to hitting a Death Eater, who gave a startled yelp and jumped to the side.

Harry's fears were confirmed. The house was Lucy's, the little girl that always had a kind smile for him, and a cuddle for his dog.

Rage filled him, and he let the power out. His wand fell into his hand and became a blur as he charged the Death Eaters. They fell before they even knew he was there. He aimed at the house and tore the shield apart easily, then crashed through the door and into the living room. A cricket bat swung at his head, but before it could hit the bat collided some kind of force and sent it flying away, along with the body holding it.

Harry held up his hands in a peaceful gesture.

`Woah, hold on, I won't hurt you,' he said quickly, and then let his eyes scan the room to take in the scene. Lucy was unconscious on the floor, idly twitching.

`Who are you?' A woman cradling Lucy's head in her lap asked. Harry figured she was Lucy's mother. The man holding the bat got up shakily, looking frightened and confused. He must have been the girl's father.

`I'm a friend,' Harry said.

`H-harry?' Lucy's tiny voice said. She blinked her eyes, waking from her state of unconsciousness slowly.

`I'm here,' Harry replied, kneeling a careful distance away, aware that his sudden arrival was probably unsettling the girl's family.

`Oh, my babygirl, you're okay,' Lucy's mother said, leaning down to kiss her daughters head. She glanced up at Harry. `Honey, who is this man?' The mother gave him a suspicious look. `Who are you?'

`He's Harry,' Lucy said, sitting up, waving her mother away and rubbing at her head. `He owns the sweet shop. I see him and Charlie all the time.'

`Charlie?'

`My dog,' Harry said, then shook himself to focus. `Look, we don't have time for this. The village is under attack. I have to get you out of here.'

`Under attack? What? By who?' This was the father, who clutched his bat like a lifeline.

`Bad people,' Harry said.

`What happened to me?' Lucy asked.

`You feinted dear.'

`I wish that's all you did,' Harry said.

`What do you mean?'

`No time. I'm getting you out of here.'

`Now wait one second,' Lucy's father began, but Harry cut him off.

`I don't have time to coddle you people. The whole village is in danger. So you either do what I say, or I'll have to make you.'

The father bristled at that and raised the bat. Lucy cried out. Harry cursed and raised a hand. `Sleep.' The man fell unconscious and dropped the bat. Lucy stared at Harry with wide eyes. Her mother spluttered and backed away in fear.

`Do I have to put you to sleep?' Harry asked calmly. The mother shook her head in fear. `Good. It'll be much easier this way. Do as I say and I won't have to. Understand?' She nodded.

`Harry?' Lucy asked timidly.

`Yes?'

`Who are you? What are you?'

`I'm a wizard Lucy,' Harry replied, `like you.'

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