Training and Confrontations

Chapter VI

Wednesday, July 10, 1996 A few minutes before midnight

"Isn't it time yet?" Remus asked plaintively. He, Dumbledore, and Moody were standing in McGonagall's office.

"The quill will levitate off the desk when it is time," McGonagall answered. "Be patient and be quiet."

Two minutes later, the quill moved above the desk and hovered. McGonagall placed a stack of envelopes under it and said, "Harry Potter, Sixth year."

The quill hesitated, and then wrote:
HARRY POTTER
Hiding from Albus Dumbledore & Tom Riddle

Dumbledore snorted in aggravation, in part because he had been listed before Voldemort. "Well, please keep asking at the beginning and end of each session, Professor," he requested, and he left the room, followed by a chuckling Moody. Remus and McGonagall exchanged a wink, and Remus went after the older men.

"Cheer up," Moody was saying, "this means he's in Britain or Ireland." The quill had a limited range, after all.

"Or in nearby parts of Holland, Belgium, or Normandy or Brittany, or even somewhere on a boat in the North Sea, although I allow those are unlikely."

"Headmaster!" Remus called, making the older men stop.

"Yes?"

"Is Severus waiting in your office?"

"He is. Why?"

"Why? Because now is the time to throw Voldemort off Harry's trail."

Dumbledore frowned. "How?"

"Tell him we located Harry, and that Moody and I are going after him and taking him to a secret location."

Dumbledore looked stunned. Finally, he said, "You mean, you want me to lie? Not just to Voldemort, but to Severus?"

"Yes," Remus said simply. "Voldemort will believe Severus if Severus believes."

"The Muggles call it 'disinformation'," Moody offered.

"We are not Muggles!" Dumbledore stated.

"No, we are wizards fighting a war," Remus stated.

"We do not tell an outright lie!"

"So it's alright to mislead and deceive, but not lie?" Remus asked. "Seems to me you're already swimming deep into gray areas."

"Gray, but not Dark!"

"If Harry suffers because of your scruples, I swear, when all this is over, you'll suffer more," Remus snarled, and stalked away.

"What is happening to us?" Dumbledore asked Moody.

"I don't know what you're doing, but I'm trying to win a war," Moody answered. "You play your cards so tightly that no one can help you. I don't blame the boy from running from you. I'm willing to bet you would have done the thing at his age. I'd like to think I would have."

Dumbledore scowled, but had to say, "Perhaps."

A low pressure front moved across Britain that night, bringing rain for the next three days. Neither Harry nor Luna slept much that night, both fearing that the protections might not be as strong as Mr. Lovegood had promised.

It was chilly that night, and Harry had built a small fire in the fireplace. They sat cuddled together, fully dressed and ready to escape through the floo if they had to.

Harry had liked Luna the previous term. He had thought of her as more than a casual friend, and as fairly attractive, in a rather Bohemian sort of way, even before the battle at the Ministry. By the time he had reached the Dursleys, she had been equal in his thoughts with his closest friends.

When he had fled after the attack, his first goal was Gringotts. No matter if he was to hide in the magical or Muggle world, he knew he would need a fair amount of money. On his way to Gringotts, he had thought of where to go next. Dumbledore would put him away at Grimmauld Place, where he would be reminded of Sirius every day, and have to listen to Mrs. Black and be nice to Kreacher, none of which he wanted. The Weasleys would protect him from the Ministry, if anyone other than Dumbledore could, but they could not protect him from Dumbledore. Remus Lupin might try, but Harry didn't think he would succeed either. Despite her experiences with Snape and Umbridge, Hermione still wanted to go along with authority figures whenever possible, and likely thought Harry would be better off at Grimmauld Place than anywhere else. She, like the Weasleys and Lupin, but likely unlike Dumbledore, would then try to make him feel better about being there.

Harry had thought of going to Dean, but knew Dean was from a large working class family. There wouldn't be room to hide him. Neville would have had the room, but his grandmother was likely to sniff him out quickly. Besides, once he was in Diagon Alley, it would be easier to stay there than to leave.

That left the twins and Luna. He had gone to Luna's first for at least three reasons. It was closer to Gringotts. Harry preferred hearing about Snorkacks and Nargles to testing Wheezes. Above all, Luna had seemed to appear to him as he flew, her arms raised to embrace him. Somehow, he knew that was where he belonged.

He certainly didn't regret his choice. He finally admitted to himself that night in front of the fireplace that what he had mostly felt for Luna those first two days together had mostly been lust. His feelings had grown deeper in the short time since then. He wouldn't swear he had found his soul mate or anything dramatic like that, but he decided that where he belonged was where he was, with Luna.

Over the next three days, as they weren't found or attacked, the pair set up a small computer Harry had bought. They also carried on with their inside chores, especially studying and working out.

Harry also managed a breakthrough in his Occlumency, in large part because of Luna's meditation coaxing and the fact that he had little else to practice besides the wandless magic.

When the rain clear out, they went back to something similar to their earlier schedule, although Harry did not leave the property for nine days, rather than just the full week. Luna merely told the shopkeepers they had frequented that Harry had caught a bad summer cold when it had rained, but that he was getting along fine. Harry had had to make small talk about his health with the friendly people at the baker's, greengrocer's, butcher's, news agent's, and the DYI and video stores when he finally started making short trips into the town again.

Harry made certain he was off the property less than ninety minutes that first day. After lunch, he and Luna started painting the outside of the small house. Even though they took their time and gave the house and the garage and woodshed each three coats, they were done with everything, even the trim, in five days.

After that, Harry and Luna simply studied and 'played house' for the rest of their time in the town.

Friday, July 19, 1996

"Well, my servant, I take it you finally have something to report?"

"Yes, my lord."

"You have found the girl?"

"Oh, yes, my lord."

Voldemort frowned. "What does that mean?"

"You ordered me not just to find her, my lord, but how she is protected."

Voldemort glared, but gestured for Malfoy to continue.

"Do you wish to know how I collected the information, or just the summery, my lord?"

"The summery will do for now."

"First the Grangers, then, my lord, although I do have some other important information to give you."

"Go on."

"The parents are very well-off dentists. They have a very profitable practice in Norwich, and live outside the town, in a fairly affluent area. All the houses are detached. There are some impressive wards around the area. . . ."

"And how would you know that?" a masked Death Eater sneered. "You don't that the ability to detect one." Few wizards did, including the speaker, but no one mentioned that.

"No, I don't," Julian admitted. "I do, however, have the brains and enough talent to operate the various ward detectors that exist. I have a list of the eighteen wards detected, although of course there may be others."

"Go on."

"The wards would prevent magical eavesdropping, or getting close enough for physical spying. However, they were completely open to Muggle eavesdropping devices."

A different Death Eater muttered something derogatory which Julian either didn't catch or refused to respond to, but which Voldemort did hear. He filed the remark away.

"They have amazingly extensive Muggle security as well, and it seems to be tied into some of the magical alarms. Any breach of the household will have Muggle security and the aurors alerted within seconds. The house is also connected to the floo, but apparently only to one location, the Weasleys."

Voldemort smiled. Sometimes he would not tolerate such a slow build up, but he saw this as Malfoy's method of showing what he was capable of and so went along.

"I did some background work. The father has two shotguns licenced. . . ."

Several Death Eaters sneered at that, and Voldemort decided to intervene a bit. "May I remind all of you that I am the only one in this room capable of creating a shield strong enough to resist such a weapon?" Everyone went silent, and Voldemort gestured for Malfoy to continue.

"Potter apparently managed to leave Granger a recorded message, my lord. Granger replayed it twice while I was listening in." He pulled out a sheet of parchment and handed it to Voldemort.

"Interesting. Tell me, do you know anything about this Grimmauld Place?"

"Yes, my lord. It is the family home of the Black family." Julian paused for effect and said, "It has disappeared."

"Has it?"

"Yes, my lord. Number . . . number . . . well, the number cannot be said in conjunction with the location. All the land in that area is owned by the Black Trust, and there is a number missing, between eleven and thirteen, and in fact, when I went to take a look, it seemed quite natural that there shouldn't even be a number there."

"And no one seems to miss it, I take it?"

"No, my lord."

"A house under the Fidelius. How . . . unsurprising."

"I took the liberty of renting an empty house just in the line of sight of where the house should be, my lord. I have set up Muggle surveillance, which might help us detect any patterns in the area."

"Good work. Is there a back way in?"

"No, my lord. All the houses in the square behind Grimmauld Place are accounted for, and all are also once-nice houses now broken up into flats for average working class Muggles and some students. None were readily available, but I do have two places starting on the First of August, should you desire them."

"Very well." Voldemort could see his followers still trying to articulate the missing address. The trick was to know it without actually saying it, even internally. It would not be visible, but the area would be observable. "Find out more about Grimmauld Place and the Grangers."

"Yes, my lord."

Saturday, July 27, 1996

"Well, Severus?"

"They are still looking, and they have still completely failed," Snape reported. He was glad that he was one of the few Death Eater exempted from finding Potter.

"And how is the Old Man?"

"Aging, my lord." Snape wished that he was lying, instead of merely exaggerating.

"Very well. You may leave. Through the other door."

Snape didn't dare hesitate. He knew Voldemort was getting information from various sources he couldn't identify. Voldemort was keeping them from him, just in case some of the people around Dumbledore, who didn't have the Headmaster's scruples, decided to question him.

"Send in our observer of the Muggle world," Voldemort ordered a few minutes later. Julian Malfoy entered and bowed deeply. "You are early. I was not expecting you."

"I am sorry I could not come even sooner, Master."

"Ah. Bad news, then."

"Yes, Master, on the Granger matter, but not the other."

"What is the bad news?"

"Granger left her parents this morning, and went to the Weasleys to stay for at least three weeks."

"Bad news," Voldemort agreed, "but not totally unexpected. Was that it?"

"It was what she did before she left, Master."

"Which was?"

"She did a blood ceremony."

"She's underage!" a Death Eater protested. He cringed and fell to his knees.

"I suggest you make no more sounds without permission," Voldemort growled. He turned back to Malfoy. "Any details?"

"I wrote down what I heard, Master. She must have made runes with her own blood, and with her parents' as well."

Voldemort examined the paper. "I know of this. She did not need a wand for this, and therefore, it was not detected." The left side of Voldemort's thin mouth twitched as he contained his fury. "If they are this attached, to join their blood in this manner, even Muggles may not be touched. Pity."

"Shall I have them killed, my Lord?" Malfoy asked.

"Don't you understand, idiot?"

"Yes, my Lord. They may not be harmed by magic. I can still have them killed. Why waste your time on Muggles when there are Muggles who are willing to kill each other for little pieces of paper?"

"You want me to work through Muggles?" Voldemort roared.

"Why not, my Lord? They all believe they are safe from everything except you in person -- Dumbledore, his Order, the Ministry, all of them. They forget how bloodthirsty Muggles are for each other. For a thousand Galleons or so, I can have the Muggle dentists killed, and a message left, reminding the enemy that they are not safe from the very Muggles they love, because they can be bought and sold like animals. For half the price I can have them killed, but could not have the message left."

'He says these things about Muggles, but does not totally believe them,' Voldemort thought. 'But he says it not to convince me, but my blinder followers.' "Very well. See to it." He smiled. "If possible, make it . . . dramatic, even if it costs a bit more."

Malfoy bowed low, and exited.

Monday, July 29, 1997

"Do you have the feeling we're being followed?" Luna asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do," Harry agreed. "I don't think whoever it is is following us into stores. Let's go into Myers." This was a local chemists and general store, which also had a back entrance. "You stay in sight, and I'll circle around."

"Yes, dear."

Harry went out the backdoor, and saw no one was nearby. He quickly disillusioned himself, some of the wandless magic he and Luna had managed to learn over the last two weeks. When Harry came out of the alley, his eyes were drawn to a spot near the large window. People were making a detour, showing that someone was there, under disillusionment and aversion spells.

Harry wasn't sure how he could sense the disillusioned person, but he could, and to his slight surprise, the person had sensed him, straightening up and turning in his direction. Harry waved him over, and the person cautiously made his way around the corner.

"Mad-eye?" Harry asked.

The old ex-auror canceled his own disillusionment. "You're about the only person that's ever been able to detect me like that, boy," he said with a touch of admiration in his voice. "You and Dumbledore."

"And Luna," Harry added.

"Really? So, it is the Lovegood girl. I wasn't sure."

Harry looked Moody over, and decided, "If you put your hat back on, you can pass for a Muggle. Luna will be getting worried."

"Not going to scream or pout or otherwise put up a fuss?" Moody asked.

"Not yet, anyway," Harry said. He walked out of the alley, and Moody, now making a lot more noise, followed.

They collected rolls from the bakery and some sliced ham and some cheese from the butcher, and then made they way to the small park in the center of town. Under an old elm near the war memorial, they sat and had an early lunch, Harry and Luna splitting a lemonade they had bought on the way and Moody taking a swig from his flask.

"How did you find us?" Harry asked.

"Your telephone call," Moody answered. "We had the Muggles trace it, and I've been searching the nearby towns since the eleventh. I must have missed you the first two times I came through."

"So," Luna asked, "what happens now?"

"When were you planning on coming back?"

"Daddy comes back on the fourteenth," Luna answered. "Certainly not before then."

"Where would we be any safer?" Harry asked. "Headquarters was already breeched once -- that elf had to be known to the Black sisters. Even if Tom can't attack it, he might have people spying on the general area."

"She knows about Headquarters?" Moody demanded, gesturing at Luna.

"What it is, not anything about where it is," Harry answered.

"Fair enough, I suppose. And I happen to have just learned the other day that you're right, but Dumbledore reckons we would cause more of a problem looking for those who might be looking for us than it would be worth. We're moving into a new place, but the move isn't totally finished yet. I take it you're staying at that little house near the hospital parking building, the one I can't see into."

Harry merely nodded.

"That's why I came back a few times," Moody said. "It was worth keeping an eye on. Well, it's as good a place as any for a few more days. How did you disillusion yourselves without setting off underage alarms?"

"When you've got nothing to practice but underage or wandless magic. . . ."

"You did that wandlessly? That make you about the sixth person I've known of who can do that." He saw Harry smirk and glanced over at Luna. "You, too? Well, I guess you really should be alright for a few days."

"We're getting supplies for a few days," Harry answered. "It's supposed to rain for the next three or four days anyway."

"Well, I'll stop in on the first, unless something important comes up. Alright?"

"Just you, Mad-Eye," Harry warned. Moody looked into Harry's eyes, and merely nodded his agreement.

Wednesday, July 31, 1996

Harry spent a very pleasant birthday, although they didn't leave the bed very much.

However, over in Norwich, a few minutes before midnight, neighbors around the Granger house called in fire alarms. As they later told investigators, there had been several explosions and then they had heard a truck pull away. The police later decided six 'incendiary devices' had been lobbed through windows, including one right into the Grangers' bedroom, where the Grangers perished. The aurors would later agree that the bombs had not been magical in any sense.

So far as the Muggle authorities went, the crime was never solved. The only evidence they found, besides the remnants of the bombs and the tire tracks, was an envelope. On the single sheet of high quality parchment was a design, that of a skull with a snake.