1,420AN: We are slowly going to the end. So hang in there. Only some chapters to go. I do not know how many but not a lot. I want to finish this story before the end of the year. The stories after it will not be this long but will all be completed. A helping hand will be rewritten first. I have not forgotten about that promise. Enjoy.
Thank you all for the reviews. Harry Potter is not mine this is a story from a fan.
(BSC 6 C11) C202 It might be just a little too much
Harry waved his wand and summoned the box back to his feet while Bella placed the head of Rufus into it. None of them had ever thought they would see something like this. So they just told all the students to eat their desserts and talk a little with each other. Because it had rolled between two tables a lot had only heard the commotion but hadn't seen anything. For the students that did see it, well they got help from the adults to talk about it.
After it, the friends all stepped in a circle around the now-closed box. Some of them were sick by the image alone and Hermione was already starting to turn green. Susan opened her mouth and almost threw up. She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried again. "From all the things we have read. Voldemort never did anything like this. He just killed and leave the body for the loved ones to find. He might send it to them if it was in another place but never like this".
"That is the work of Grindelwald," the real Albus told them as he shuffled feet for feet between them. "I remember both of them going for the fear factor. Voldemort showed his domination by killing whatever was in his way. The fear he gave them by throwing the dreadful scull into the air on top of said kill". Albus looked all of them in the eyes before he went on. "Grindelwald was worse" and he could see that some didn't want to hear how he was. But then again he knew they had to know if they wanted to get both of them. So this was the best time to tell them what they could expect from his former lover. They were already shocked so this would not be as hard as when they find out later in the game, both Voldemort and Grindelwald liked to play. "He liked to put the fear even deeper into his enemy. Just like he did today he will not stop to send the head of your love once to you personally. So Rufus was handy and just the first message he could send you all".
Hermione almost lost it at that point. Albus saw the friends had her but he went on as he looked at Susan. "If he is able he would get your head or your aunt's head in a gift box with ribbon and all. If not he would send another head to you in the same way. The same can be said for all of you" And his eyes rested on Neville. "Your mum, dad and Grandmother will be the ones he will use to put fear in you. Just by showing he can get to them".
Daphne stepped closer to Harry and just had to ask the one question she didn't want an answer for but knew already what it would be. "If he or Voldemort can't get to our love once, how far will they go".
Albus gave a sigh and looked down at his feet. He swallowed and was debating if he could tell them or not.
"He would use whatever he needed. If that were the heads of children then he would. Grindelwald would hang them in the middle of Diagon Alley with signs of Mudblood, Bloodtreader or Squib on them. He would not care if he was right. To use children is bad enough for almost all of us". Everyone looked at Minerva who stepped between them from the other side. "I know Albus it is hard to tell them but it is why you went against him the first time. We know what he is capable of. All of the Adults know about Voldemort. Some of us about Grindelwald. Now it turns out to be the same person. Voldemort has got something from the soul of Tom's riddle which is why he is a little different from Grindelwald. Still, they are the same person and as bad as the other. In my mind, they both will scoop so low if they had to. So they had to know and they wanted them to know. Now we will not show them any memories because knowing is bad enough. They will get them themselves if it happens and we hope it will not. The question is what to do about it, Rufus is just a start".
"Get a member of his inner circle or a family member of them and do the same" Harry snarled.
"You can't take a head from just a love one to do it" Minerva shrieked in surprise.
Harry sniffed loudly " I think we can. We do have to make sure they are followers and just as bad as they are. because we can't just kill people who follow them in fear. But if they are the inner circle or just as bad as any of the members, then I say do it and show them we can be just as bad and will not stop because of fear".
A lot of friends were looking at Harry. It took a moment and slowly they all started to nod at him. Minerva looked at all of them and was again surprised that they were starting to agree. It was something she had to tell the Adults about. But as she thought about it she knew it was just an answer from them. They were afraid and they didn't want to do it. But if they did not they would let the fear get them and it will hold them back in the end. "If we do, we will have to do it when we are all together. With all of us there we can be sure what we are doing. This has to be an answer, not an revenge".
All of them nodded vigorously and it told Minerva they were looking for a way out. It was something they all knew they had to do but it was also they didn't want. And that alone was something Minerva was happy about. It was also now the friends looked into the great hall. "Most of them are thankful you have gotten them away out. If they would have stayed there they might not have had it at all" Albus told them.
It was also at that time they realized Phillipe the head house-elf of Hogwarts was still waiting for them. Neville walked to Phillipe and asked him what it was he wanted. Phillipe shook his little head and pointed to the side room. Neville had a calculated look before he gave a little nod. Phillipe popped away and Neville told the others where they had to go. So a minute later almost all of the head table was in the side room. Poppy and Arabella had stayed behind. They would be dealing with the leftovers so they didn't need to know what was happening. They only needed a warning about when to be ready.
#*
Grindelwald was slowly walking into Diagon Alley with Voldemort beside him. It was thirty minutes after the start that they took it upon themselves to see if their people had done what they asked them to do. They appeared inside Diagon Alley just outside of the archway to the leaky cauldron. Grabbe was the one standing outside. waiting for them to arrive. He went down to his knees and looked up at his Lords. "My Lords" he started. "Tom the keeper had disappeared the moment we came in. We didn't need to destroy the cauldron to take it over. But we do have complete control of it".
Grindelwald nodded and looked behind him. Some stores were left standing but most were destroyed. Voldemort did the same and if he could bring his eyebrows together if he had any. He would frown at what he saw. "Why isn't every store levelled". Lucius stepped up next to him with Olivender who was stunned floating next to him. The wand store was destroyed and all that was left was a part of the building. As the eyes of Voldemort became bigger, he saw that there was nothing left. His wand dropped in his hand and before Lucius could say something he was screaming in pain.
Some of the Death Eaters had joined them but none wanted to step between Voldemort or Lucius. After a minute Voldemort stopped and Grindelwald just had to speak up. "I would give him a couple of weeks to recover and take some of the others as your punching bag. I'm afraid Lucius will not be all there for much longer if you keep on going off on him like that". The eyes of Grindelwald widened a little bit and to the astonishment of the inner circle Voldemort backed off. "Now looking at the stores which are left I do think, that I do understand why. As you can see they are all run by purebloods and are all the stores our children need when we take Hogwarts back and make a real school again".
For Voldemort, it was a good reason but he didn't like it when Grindelwald pointed it out to him. It was slowly getting on his nerves. But his mentor was right if they wanted to take over Hogwarts and run magical Britain they had to have the foundation as complete as they could. If they had to rebuild it again from the ground up it could take a long time. Voldemort turned to his followers and snarled at them all. "I don't want any of them blood traitors running the stores. You get them out and take the store for ourselves. If we are going to run the place we will be running it right". He was nearly done speaking. While some of his followers were already running to do what he had told them. Lucius was crawling behind them not to help but to get away.
Grindelwald looked at his watch and knew the present he had left at Hogwarts had been delivered. If he was right the whole great hall would be screaming their heads off in fear. The kids will not know what hit them and would be crawling to his feet in only a couple of days. The only thing that was left to do was to get the Goblins out of the spell Harry had them under. Only he was powerful enough to control the Goblins. As he motioned for Voldemort to follow him he went towards Gringotts hoping the Death Eaters had done their jobs all over Diagon alley and Hogsmead.
#*
Neville walked into the side room and gave a sad look at all of them as he walked in. While the others looked at him he lifted his head and in a clear voice, he said. "We might have lost Diagon alley. Voldemort and Grindelwald are on their way to Gringotts and there are Death Eaters running wild in Hogsmead".
Before Neville could go on Amelia rushed out of the room running to the other side of the castle hoping to get a lot of people to help her to rescue Hogsmead. The friends wanted to go but knew they could not, not yet. If the Goblins needed them they were the ones who should go to them first.
#*
It didn't take Amelia long for Amelia to get to the other side. When she got into the mess hall where she knew everyone would be eating at the moment she screamed two things. "Lily, Alice code red in Hogsmead. James Sirius, you are with me, code red in Diagon Alley. Voldemort is there and we have to be there before the kids go there to attack them all". The moment she was done she left the mass hall and knew the others would get their team together and be ready in five minutes. When she got to the front door of their part of the castle the teams were already standing there waiting on her order.
The forty team members of Lily and Alice apparated away. when Amelia wanted to do the same the port key would not take them. She pulled her wand and changed it. It was now set on another end of Diagon alley and it would not take her again. So it was now she set it on Nocturn alley and had the same result. So she did the next thing. With another Portkey they went to St mungo. From there they would walk a mile to get to the Leaky Cauldron. It was the only way to get there and she knew it could not be warded against Portkeys or operation. If they did the Muggles would know and it would bring a lot more shit than even Voldemort or Grindelwald could handle.
After twenty minutes they all were walking to the front door of the leaky cauldron. It took them so long because they could not do it at a run. If they did they would have been too winded and with every attack, they would find that they were sure to lose at the spot in every battle they would have. James had gotten his invisibility cloak back and was the one who walked into the Cauldron. Like in the old war when Death Eaters had taken over a bar they would start to drink and drink a lot. While they were in this way they did not pay attention and James had a clear look at how many there were there. He counted four and was sure that there were at least a couple more of them up the stairs in one of the rooms. So he went out to tell the others what he had seen and how many he had counted.
After a bit of a talk, four of them went in waving their wands at the two Death Eaters who were drinking at the bar. Before they had pulled out their wands they went down. Amelia and two Aurors went up the stairs and made some noise to startel the ones on the upper floor. Not much later, two death Eaters came rushing out with their pants on their ankles and their wands in their hands. She did not know who they were but one stumbled and fired his wand. The sickly green curse went from his wand and impacted right on the body. The eyes of Amelia were big as she saw the curse striking the other Death Eater. As the one Death Eater stumbled his wand jerked the other way and struck the other Death Eater who had been in front of him. It was not much later he went down himself. As Amelia looked on she knew she now had a head they could send to Grindelwald and they didn't even kill the one whose head they would be sending.
Amelia who still had her wand firmly in her hand raised it up and started to walk to the room the Death Eaters had come out off. With a spell she had learned from Minerva she blasted a blinding light into the room. She heard a scream but nothing more. As she turned around she had to smile. James and Cirius had joined her. But just like Minerva, she hadn't told them what she was about to do. While she had closed her eyes the others had looked into the light. She wasn't afraid of a lot of Death Eaters in the room because she had seen the way they had come out of it. So either they had been doing it together or there were at least two females in there. The only question she had was if they were there willingly or not. As Amelia stepped around the corner she closed her eyes. When she opened them again she only had one thing to say. "It's so nice to see you are over the death of your husband and daughter. Enough to be on your hands and knees". She then stunned her and left her there for a couple of young Aurors to take care of her.
#*
Lily and Alice had appeared just outside of the Shriekingshack. their team was just behind them. Like Harry Lily took the lead and went on first. Alice was a little behind her and to the side while the others were all behind them. Alice knew it was the way Lily always did it if James wasn't with them. She would take the lead just like Harry would do it. Slowly they all walked on and to the entrance so to say into Hogsmead. There wasn't much to see. The only thing they saw was a lot of rubble lying here and there. Buildings were smoking from spellfire and some were still burning. As they walked on they saw that the battle if there had been one, was fast. It did tell Alice and Lily that it again had been junior Death Eaters who were there only to demolish the place. By the looks of it, they had done their job. In and out so to say.
With their wands drawn they started to walk through Hogsmead. Slowly they stopped at the first building and went inside while a couple stayed outside to keep watch. As they looked from room to room they didn't find a thing. so up to the next and next. When they got to Zonko's they stopped again. There was a noise from inside that put them on the edge right away. This time it was Lily and Alice who walked in first. The noise came from downs stairs and it was the one place they knew that had a tunnel to Hogwarts. Slowly they stepped down and as they rounded the corner into the cellar they found the ledge. It was slowly coming up so with their wands pointed at the spot they waited just to ambush what came out of it. When a head popped up both Lily and Alice let go of a stunner.
#*
Amelia was the first that stood behind the opening to Diagon Alley. Behind her was her team waiting to send stunners through the hole. Amelia tapped the bricks and went down to the ground. Every person she had were behind her and started to send every stunner they had through the hole. When it was open they rushed over to Amelia and into the alley. As they fired on they all looked for cover and took it. Amelia jumped to her feet when her team stepped over her and went after them. It only took a couple of seconds after they had found a cover that spells were returned to them.
With strengthening hexes they made sure their hiding places were strong enough to take that spellfire and prepared themselves for a fight. After the first series of Bombardas that came their way they jumped up and blasted some of their own. It was clear there were a lot of Death Eaters hiding in the stores. To take all of them down, would take a long time. With a Patronus of her own, she asked for backup and told them that the Leaky Cauldron was safe to walk into. She also told them to come by foot because of the ant operation and Portkey wards. For now, they could only keep them there and hope they would hold out. Now because the wards kept them from entering it also kept the Death Eaters from escaping. Only a Portkey created by the caster of the wards could help them escape. It was because the magic was the same in both cases. So there was no doubt in the mind of Amelia that they all had one of those Portkeys.
It only took ten minutes for the backup to arrive. Now that Amelia saw them waiting in the Leaky Cauldron she knew she could attack. The fight was rough and a lot more stores were demolished by the spell fire that was going both ways. Amelia had been sitting behind a collapsed wall and swore she had seen Voldemort and Grindelwald at the other end of the Alley. They did not join the fight but that was something they never did. Those two only jumped in when they knew the other side was weak enough. The other reason could have been that the friends weren't here yet. They would only come when Gringotts was attacked or Hogwarts. If those two things weren't happening then they would only come if Amelia, James, Lily or Frank and Alice would call for them. They had talked to them and had agreed that their abilities would remain a secret for the battlefield for as long as they could.
As Amelia was deep in thought she was roughly pushed to the ground by Sirius. "Get your mind by the battle or get out of here" he screamed at her. The sound of his voice was angry and concerned. As he lay on top of her while debris rained down on them he whispered softly in her ear. "I can't lose you".
Amelia gaped just before she kissed him deeply. After it, she pushed him off and went around the wall as she blasted a Death Eater against the far wall. Slowly the battle was going their way and they knew it because little pops were heard from inside the stores. Slowly they got from store to store working their way down Diagon Alley. As they came halfway they saw that the store from Olivender was gone. The outer walls were still standing but that was all there was left. "let's hope he got away with his Portkey before they got to him" Amelia said as she looked at James and Sirius who were taking cover next to her.
#*
the shield was thrown up when the stunner of Alice was blocked. Before she could throw another spell, her wand was jerked out of her hand. Lily's want was next to fly through the seller and landed in the hand of Zanita. "Is this really the way you think of stopping me?" Alice and Lily looked at the ground as Zanita stepped between them with a smile and handed them back their wands. She walked through the store and out of the window that had been blown away. Just before Alice and Lily could steppe behind her she waved her hand back and the store repaired itself again.
Zanita walked into Hogsmead and waved her hands around. She was feeling that magic and found that all the Death Eaters had left. So as she walked on she waved her hands and repeated the stores as she walked passed them. Lily and Alice were walking behind her. They had told the others to go back while they would stay to protect Zanita. Somehow they knew she didn't need any protection but they still did it.
After an hour Lily had to ask where the people of the town had been hiding. Zanita stopped and turned around to face them. "My children" she started. For Alice and Lily, it meant that she meant the friends. She only called them her children when they had done something even she was speechless about. "They had the foresight to give them all the same Portkeys they gave the family members. Only they would appear in the cell block of Hogwarts which is in a hidden place in the dungeons. Now all of the people knew they would be Portkeyed there and after it, they would be going through a list of questions. Now everybody but one appeared in the cels. So because they all knew what would happen if they used them. It was also known they could not get away with it if they had betrayed the town we would have known it. If they did not use it but ran we would also know who did it".
Alice shook her head and only said "it is too simple".
Zanita nodded and smiled wider. "Yes, and because it is simple it is not thought of by others. By telling everybody, you would be questioned if something happens in the town. You knew you could not get away with it. So the only thing you could do was to run as fast as you can". After it, Zanita went on by restoring the town. It took her about three hours before the town looked as new.
When she was done Lily stepped next to her again. "If you can fix this town just by using your magic like this why didn't you pop here and stop them trashing it?" Lily didn't accuse her but her question was wondering because she just didn't really understand why Zanita game so late.
Zanita gave a little sigh. "I told the others about it but you have not been here before. So I don't blame you. But my magic does not allow me to harm people. I use their own spells back at them when I can. But if it would kill them I have to reflect them somewhere else. I can protect people but if they throw spells at a building I can't do anything".
Lily nodded and walked on next to her back on their way to the castle. "What if they attack Hogwarts".
"If they do I can protect but I can't harm. So when they do You all can attack them. I will not attack you because you are defending the castle. But if you attack the students I will. So when the castle is attacked I will be with the youngest students because you all can't protect them as I can, and you all can fight like I can't because my magic will not allow it". It was at that time they arrived at the gate of Hogwarts.
#*
James went into Olivender, at least what was left of it. He only saw a couple of wands lying on the floor but nothing else. As he looked closer he knew something was off. He only saw about ten wands and there were at least hundreds at any given time. "Amelia this wasn't just an attack. Olivander was attacked deliberately. They wanted his wands and I think they even got him. There is no sign of a Portkey".
Amelia rushed into the ruin and started to scan everything. She found the same as James and cursed hard. It didn't take long for her to know this war had just taken his first prisoner. With Ollivander, they had a wand maker they themselves had not. Sure some could make wands but not as good as Olivernder could. It would also be a hard thing to tell the friends. Still, there was no time to stop. According to the information they had gotten, Voldemort and Grindelwald would be in the Alley. They were no match for them but they could take out the others before the friends were called in. So Amelia took charge and started to go on in the Alley taking down or scaring away Death Eaters who were hiding in the stores.
#*
Voldemort had been walking on as his Death Eaters were taking over the stores. He had no doubt that Potter would be coming any minute now, to take it all back. He almost sounded on it. He had provided everyone with Portkey's to get out. He had trained them at the Malfoy grounds but they were nowhere near ready. In that last year, he had learned one thing. Potter and his army had not backed off. They had taken the fight to him and he was on the back foot so to say. His Death Eaters and even he had ruled on fear and fear alone. His main tool had been the Dark mark above the house of the person he killed. His better half or older half had gone even further. He had sent Potter a human head. He might be the Darklord but he would not even scoop that low just yet. He could he knew he had it in him. But even for him, a head to kids was a little bit out there. According to Grindelwald, he had the soul of Tom riddle to blame. He had proven he could take over a soul but it always left something of the person behind. That Tom Riddle had been a good person so that was why he had this sissy part in him.
While they walked on Grindelwald stopped and Voldemort stopped a moment later. As they turned back they could hear fighting start at the beginning of the Alley. "They are here," Grindelwald said as he smiled a little. "It will take them a long time to get to us so we do have time to deal with the Goblins. I even have placed some wards for them they have to get through before they get to us. If they do we will go away".
Voldemort frowned if he could but he was clearly looking angry as he gazed at Grindelwald who suggested running. I will not run, I will fight as long as I can".
Before Voldemort knew what happened he felt the back of the hand from Grindelwald across his cheek. It didn't really hurt but he still placed his hand on his cheek. "You stupid little boy. Potter is not going to run he will fight to the end and I can assure you, he has more drive than you do. We are not ready, Your Death Eaters aren't ready and we can't take them when they are to gather. If we lose some of your Death Eaters we will care less. Everything we do is for the greater good. He does have something to lose so he will fight harder. If we go against him we have to be sure and we have to have the Army together. You now have Vampires, werewolves Trolls. I'm getting Giants Ogars and a lot more bad guys that will put your Death Eaters to shame. My man are coming from Germany and they will kill first before they start to really fight. They will not make their hands dirty just because they can. If they kill right away then they will not have to fight. They will not get tired and they can go on for longer".
"Are you telling me that my Death Eaters are Lazy".
"Yes, and they are also fat, slow and not good enough if they have to fight for real. Sure the first spell they sent is a killing curse. But after that does not work they can't follow it up in a real fight. Those kids are better than them. So for now we just destroy and get the hell out. When my man are here we will train them all and then we will attack Hogwarts and get rid of the brats and their people".
"What if they are hiding at Potter castle," Voldemort asked knowing full well Potter castle and the Peverell wards were even stronger than the Gringotts ones.
"If they hide there, we will destroy everything they hold dear and get them out of there. when they do we kill them when they are out". Grindelwald looked ahead and saw they had reached Gringotts. Around them was the inner circle of the Death Eaters. To Grindelwald, they were nothing more than spineless fools. But when his own man would arrive they would put them straight and then the inner circle would be a fighting force. "Now let's see if the Goblins will stand with us or if we have to take them down too".
Grindelwald stepped ahead of Voldemort and in front of Gringotts, he stopped. He wanted to go in but before he did, nine warrior Goblins stepped out and stood in front of the bank. All of them had their weapons hanging around them and Axes in their hands. Their armour was shining and the leather was looking tough.
Grindelwald and Voldemort knew they were strong and magical they were even better. But in a fight, they were only that if they were at a distance. Now standing in front of them and being this close they, were looking tiny. Not the Wargoblins but themselves. Those monsters were half the size of Hagrid. Voldemort had to swallow but Grindelwald just stepped closer. "My name is Grindelwald and I want to talk to your leader".
#*
The friends were sitting in the side room listening to the house elves of Hogwarts Popping in and out. They had gone back for dinner but when it was over they almost rushed into the side chamber again. They knew others had just left while they were waiting for what was to come. It was then the first House Elf had popped in. As it Poped away Harry told the others that Amelia could not Apparate into the Alley. The next elf popped next to Susan. She told the others that the Portkey didn't work either. So as the friends were sitting there Elves were popping in and out giving the latest information about the ongoing battles.
Poppy had been sitting with them and listened on as they all told each other what the Elves had told them. She knew her Infirmary was ready but still hoped that none would be coming. She wasn't that lucky because her own personal Hogwarts elf just called her to come because the first injured person had just been brought in. Before she was at the door she got the order to tell them who it was and what it looked like. She had the Hogwarts side so all of the family would be placed with her. All of the others would be placed on the other side with the other healers.
Elves came and went. Every time there was something else to tell, and every elf had information on what was happening. It was a relief that Lily and Alice had nothing to do when they got there. So Zanita was sent to get the town of Hogsmead straightened out again. The people that went with Amelia had it much tougher. The fight they were in had the friends on edge. They wanted to join but the Adult stopped them. After they had heard that the two Dark two were also there. Harry had jumped up but Bella and Daphne had pulled them down.
Every house elf was asked if the Dark two were also there in that part of the battle. As they were told no it kept Harry in his seat. It all changed when one of the Elves told them the Dark two were in front of Gringotts. Not only Harry jumped up but the others too. As one they rushed to the seven-floor and dressed up.
#*
Minerva had been standing in the dungeon looking at all the members of the town that had come in. Augusta and Grandmere were with her and knew they had to look at who would not show up. As Zanita was sent away all the town members were allowed to go back an hour or so later. Later they would ask the questions for now it was just to show who would stay away. The destruction of the town only took twenty minutes. So after forty-five minutes, they were sent back to look at the magic only Zanita could do.
Slowly the grandmas were walking back up the stairs when they were stopped by Phillipe the head elf of Hogwarts. It didn't take Phillipe long to tell them the friends were making themselves ready. So before Phillipe was done the Grandmas were on their way to them. When they got to the Hogwarts Commonroom they were treated with the whole house waiting before the bedroom of the friends. All of the members had seen them rush out of the chamber and straight to the hallway. So for them, it was clear. Something was happening and they needed to be there to help in whatever way they could.
When the friends stepped out all of them knew this was a big one. They were in their Goblin armour and had their Weapons ready at their sides. Before Minerva could say a thing Neville spoke to his GranGran. "Voldemort and Grindelwald are standing in front of Gringotts. We will go to the bank and be at the ready. Bogrod will do his thing but we will be there if they need us.
This was it again for this week. See you all in two weeks.
Gr Winmau