Chapter Fourteen

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Chapter Fourteen

In the Meantime…

After that first night in the Logans' home Harry and Eustace became inseparable. At night, when one of them had a nightmare, they would go into the other's room and talk. Their conversations often lasted long into the night, and sometimes even until morning. Eustace would talk about his family, and how much he was missing them. Usually he would break down, only to be comforted by his adopted `brother'. The same went for Harry. He told Eustace as much as he could about his troubles, without revealing too much. He told him about Cedric dying, and a bit about Gallatea. When he thought about Glenadade, he would feel a deep sense of sorrow, but knowing he had Eustace to take care of now gave him a sense of purpose. Even though he hadn't been there for his son, he wanted to be there for his great-great-great-grandson. It made the guilt lessen a little, showing he was willing to play his part. The rest of the group couldn't understand why the pair had become so close, especially considering the age difference, but they were never told. The late night discussions were kept between them, as they didn't want everyone else to think they were weak.

The Logans turned out to be decent people. They welcomed the six students into their home and made sure they had enough to eat and wear. Although there was rationing, and the six new arrivals didn't have any coupons, they were able to conjure any extra food they needed. Amelia mothered them, the younger ones especially. It was as if she was making up for the children she had always wanted but never had. Minh had finally started to calm down after the air raid, but still jumped at loud noises. She had started clinging to Harry and Eustace more and more. While she was not privy to the details of the nightly arrangements, she found she got on best with the two boys. Eustace, being the same age as her, shared a lot of her interests. Harry was also good for her, as they could discuss elven matters when the others weren't around. Hermione, Ginny and Ron often felt a little left out, but the three of them spending so much time together had a positive effect. Ron began, for the first time in his life, to see Ginny as an independent and capable young woman, rather than the little sister he had to protect. He was also seeing Hermione in a different light. He had noticed a change since the Yule ball in their fourth year, but his attachment to the girl was becoming stronger the more time they spent together.

Since their first day at the Logans' home, the students had been helping the Muggles in the area to reconstruct their lives. The four time travellers were shocked at the sense of community that existed. Everyone helped everyone else, with few exceptions. Thinking back to Muggles in the nineties, there was no comparison. In their own time everyone was too selfish, thinking only of themselves. An unfortunate result of Thatcherite Britain. All sense of community had been lost, so this time, where everyone helped everyone else, seemed very strange. They got into it full force, though. They helped to clear rubble and salvage possessions, doing everything the Muggle way, rather than using magic. They rebuilt damaged walls and constructed temporary dwellings for those whose homes were completely leveled. Air raid shelters were always in short supply, so they conjured corrugated iron and wood, and used it to build people shelters in their gardens. It gave them a sense of satisfaction, knowing that despite their situation, being cut off from the wizarding world, they could still make a difference.

The evenings were spent with John and Amelia, helping them to rebuild their house. All exterior work had to be done by hand, as the Muggles would have been able to see it. The interior, though, was repaired using magic by the four older students. The first years hadn't learned enough yet to help. One of the reasons they had used magic to begin with was in the hope of getting a warning owl from the Department of Underage Magic. If they had received one, they would have been able to use the bird to send a letter to Dumbledore. Their hopes were shattered, though, when Eustace told them that for the duration of the war underage witches and wizards were allowed to use magic, within reason.

Two weeks after the air raid, the students were settled in to their new home. Amelia had grown very attached to them, and was dreading the time when they would leave. Minh and Eustace didn't want to leave either, as the adults made them feel safe. Eustace wasn't too bad because he had his `brother', but Minh was missing her mother and aunt. She wanted nothing more than to go back to the elf world. Unfortunately, both she and Harry had left their transportation stones at Hogwarts for safekeeping. The floo network was also proving a problem. As expected, it had been knocked out by the explosions and had yet to be brought back online. It was something the Logans couldn't do anything about. The network had to be reconnected from the central floo control centre, and they were usually very busy after an air raid. All of the wizarding and squib fireplaces would have to be brought back online one at a time, and it could take up to a month before it was their turn. They just had to wait it out. Every night, though, they checked the fireplace by throwing floo powder into it. If it were to turn green, they would know the system was working again.

Four days before term was due to start, a rather unfortunate event took place that almost broke the morale of the group. It was the middle of the night and Eustace and Harry were sitting in the older boy's room. Halfway through their discussion on the merits of Dreamless Sleep potions Harry suddenly held up his hang to silence the other boy. Listening intently for a couple of minutes, he got to his feet and made his way to the window, pulling one corner of the blackout curtain away from the glass and peering outside. The scene spread out before him made his heart sink.

“ Oh no.”

*~*~*

The other three time travellers were all dragged out of a restless sleep by Harry roughly shaking them and telling them to get up. Ron, not wanting to move, got a bucket of cold water over his head. Before he could start shouting he caught the look on Harry's face. He looked grim, his eyes hard and his expression blank.

“ What's going on, mate?”

“ We're being attacked.”

“ WHAT?!”

“ Shhhh! The whole street is. It seems like a random Muggle attack by Grindelwald's followers. They probably picked this place at random. It's like the Muggle torturing at home, only this time it's not Death Eaters. May as well be, though. You have to get up, the girls are ready, and we're going to try and get rid of them.”

“ How many are there?”

“ About twenty. Maybe more.”

“ TWENTY?! You expect us to be able to fight off that many?”

“ We did that and more on Hallow'een.”

“ True. Alright, I'll be there in a minute.”

Harry left the room and headed downstairs. When he had looked out of the window he had seen something he had never wanted to see. Grindelwald's supporters were swarming through the street, throwing Dark curses at anyone who passed them. Several of the Muggles the group had been helping over the last few days were writhing on the ground under the effects of the Cruciatus curse. Several more lay dead on the cobble stoned street. Some families were being dragged from their houses by the wizards to be `played with'. Harry had turned to Eustace and pulled him to his feet.

“ Eustace, I need you to go and wake Minh and the Logans. Keep them quiet if you can. The four of you need to hide as best you can.”

“ Why? What's going on?”

“ Grindelwald's forces are attacking.”

“ Why? Haven't we been through enough?”

“ I'm sorry, I think it's just a random attack. We happen to have ended up in the middle of it.”

“ If we're hiding, what are you going to do?”

“ Help the Muggles and protect the house. But if they happen to get past us, I want you all to be safely hidden, do you understand?”

“ Yes. But Harry, what if you get hurt? What would I do then?”

“ It's alright,” Harry said as he pulled the shorter boy into a brief hug, “ I'll be careful. I have a few surprises up my sleeve that they won't be able to defend against. I need to go and wake up `Mione, Ron and Ginny. Will you take care of the other three? The sooner we get ready the sooner we can get out there and start doing some damage, and hopefully start saving lives.”

Eustace just nodded and left the room, Harry following right behind him.

*~*~*

Standing on the doorstep, the four friends could see everything that was going on up and down the street. As the house they were in was about halfway along the road, they decided the boys would go left and the girls would go right. Moving off, Harry prepared to turn into his animagus form if need be. The others all had good forms, but none of them were as suited to battle as Harry's was. He was the only one with claws and large teeth. When he and Ron reached the first wizards, they took on a fighting stance, pulling out their swords. While both had excellent sword skills, Ron was the best out of the group. Looking back at the girls, Harry could see Ginny had her bow out, and Hermione was equipped with her new throwing knives. Harry himself specialised in duelling, and knew for the fight ahead he would be using both Light and Dark magic. He knew his use of the Dark Arts would throw the enemy a little, but thought this would be to his advantage, as the distraction would give him an opening to attack.

When the first group of wizards, three in total, finally noticed the two boys, they smirked in glee and lifted the curse they had been using on a Muggle family. The two children and their parents, who had been tortured but not yet killed, looked up at their saviours in awe. They were the next door neighbours, and had all become good friends with the students during their time spent repairing their house. They were most surprised to see them standing in the middle of the street, swords in hand and faces set in determination. Perhaps what shocked them the most was the faint glow coming from Harry. It was so subtle, that it would not be noticed in the daytime, only the pitch of night made it visible. Before they could move, the wizards started the battle.

Ron, using his sword, managed to do some serious damage to one of the enemy wizards. Once the first was taken care of, not killed but seriously hurt, he turned to a second, who in the time Ron had been engaged with the first, had conjured a sword of his own. The pair started to battle in earnest, Ron doing most of the attacking and the other trying to defend himself. The man was doing surprisingly well against the furious redhead, and while he was not winning, he was certainly holding his own. Off to the side, Harry was fighting the third wizard. They had started off sword fighting, but had abandoned it in favour of a good old fashioned duel. They had dispensed with the formalities and leapt right into the curse and hex throwing. While it started off rather tame, it didn't take long before Dark curses were being thrown backwards and forwards. The enemy had been rather surprised when someone who was obviously still a Hogwarts student had started using the darkest form of the Dark Arts. Harry had erected a strong shield that had only been broken by the use of the Killing Curse, which had hit him square in the chest with no effect. As his opponent had stood there slack jawed in shock that the curse had not worked, Harry threw a Reducto curse at him, blasting him down the street. Using the time to his advantage, Harry summoned the power of his snakes and started the power draining spell. Just as the evil man stood up and started to raise his wand, Harry threw the spell at him, knocking him to his knees. The Boy-Who-Lived was tired, but satisfied he had taken down his opponent. He was a little worried that it had taken so long to defeat him, as his advantage with wandless magic and Dark Magic meant the duel should have been very short. In the time it had taken to fell this one man, Ron had worked his way through five. Curious, Harry made his way over to the panting figure, waving his hand to make the concealing hood fall back. He gasped in surprise at the face that stared up at him, realising why he had found the duel so difficult. He took in the platinum blond hair and steel gray eyes that looked like several people he had met.

“ Malfoy?”

The man looked up, contempt colouring his features.

“ Yes. How do you know me?”

“ I don't know you, but I know your son, Caligula.” And your grandson Lucius, and your great grandson Draco, Harry thought to himself.

“ I see. I am Tiberius Malfoy, you should have heard of me.”

“ No, I haven't.”

“ Indeed. That was some powerful Dark Magic you used, I congratulate you.”

Harry was getting a little uneasy. He had just beaten the elder Malfoy in a duel, and the man was talking to him in a complimentary way. Whatever happened to Malfoy pride? They aren't usually free in their praise, especially after being defeated, Harry thought. His questions were soon answered as Tiberius continued.

“ I am assuming you are a Slytherin? Only one from my House could show such prowess with the Dark Arts without fearing to use them.”

“ Well, as it happens, I'm not a Slytherin. I'm a Hufflepuff.”

Harry smirked as the older man gawped at him in a rather un-Malfoy-like fashion. The idea of a gentle Hufflepuff fighting as fiercely as Harry was unheard of. After a minute Tiberius managed to pull himself together and glare back at his conqueror.

“ I have never before heard of a Hufflepuff, nor a Light wizard for that matter, with such skill with Dark Magic.”

“ Whoever said I was a Light wizard?”

Malfoy simply raised his eyebrow before getting to the point he had been trying to make.

“ I see. Well, someone with your…talents…would do well as a Dark wizard. You could be great, you know. Have power beyond your wildest imaginations. If you spare me, I can introduce you to my Lord, Grindelwald, who could make you a powerful ally…”

“ I don't think so, but thank you for the offer.”

*Nirah, bite him*

*Are you sure, Harry?*

*Yes*

The snake slithered onto the floor, and Malfoy looked at her in irritation. Lifting his wand, he aimed it at Nirah and muttered a combustion curse. The irritation turned to anger, and then fear, as nothing happened. He tried it again, to no effect. He quickly started to back up, but Nirah closed in on him and struck, filling his left leg with magic-destroying poison. The man fell to the floor, shaking as the venom took effect. As he watched, Harry couldn't help but think that it all seemed rather familiar.

*~*~*

After Tiberius Malfoy, it didn't take long for the four to finish off the rest of the attackers. Most had been seriously injured, and all had been bitten by either Simbi or Nirah. They had used the snakes to immobilise the wizards, as stunning spells would wear off, and they had no way of contacting the aurors to take them into custody. No-one was prepared to kill them either, as that would drop them down to their level. Harry especially carried around enough guilt to last him a lifetime, even without adding more deaths to his conscience.

On their way back down the street to the Logans' house, they passed the Muggles they had saved. Much to their surprise, none of them showed fear, only awe and gratitude. Many started applauding as they passed, and the four students didn't have the heart to erase their memories. They obviously were better off remembering, and did not react with fear and disgust.

Back at the house, they entered a little hesitantly. Before they had gone through the door they had two wands pointed directly at them. The wands were dropped, though, when it became obvious who it was. Eustace and Minh both came out of their hiding places to greet them, and ask what had happened. They had hidden in the cellar with the Logans and the bodies of the Potters, waiting for the fighting to stop. Just then, John and Amelia came up the stairs and met them in the hall, giving each of them a tight hug before leading them into the kitchen for a cup of cocoa.

After they had told them what had happened, the exhausted group made their way up to bed, each taking a Dreamless Sleep potion they had salvaged from the things Charles Potter had taken out of the bathroom during the raid. Despite the potion, none of them slept well.

*~*~*

The day before the start of term finally arrived, much to the consternation of the group. However, that soon turned to relief as they tried the floo network that night and found the flames turning green. They would be able to leave the next day and make it back in time for term starting. Their last night with the Logans was rather quiet, as the adults were not looking forward to the children leaving. Eventually, Amelia brought up something she had been meaning to ask them.

“ Um…John and I have been thinking…and were wondering if you would like to come back and visit us during the Easter holidays. If you don't want to, that's fine, it's just…we've grown quite fond of you over the last few weeks, and we always welcome children in the house.”

The students looked at each other and nodded, Hermione answering for all of them.

“ We would love to. We have nowhere else to go, so it would be nice to come and see you. If it's not too much trouble that is…”

“ That will be wonderful! Just send us a letter when you know who can come, and what the dates for the holidays are.”

“ We will.”

*~*~*

The following day was full of tearful goodbyes and hugs. The students had packed all they had left after the air raid, and had levitated the bodies of the Potters up next to the fireplace. The invisibility charms were still in place, to make the whole thing easier for Eustace and Minh. After saying their goodbyes, Harry explained what they were going to do.

“ Right, when you get in the fire you need to say `Corvus Corax'. When we get to our destination, we will be taking a portkey to Hogwarts. Make sure you get the pronunciation right. I'll go first, then you can follow.”

Harry took a pinch of floo powder and threw it into the fire. Stepping in, he shouted out the destination and disappeared into the network. Stumbling out the other side, he waited for the others to arrive. Once they had all gathered, he looked the speechless group in the eyes.

“ Everyone, welcome to Domus Corvus Corax.”

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