Training and Confrontations

Chapter XVII June 16, Day 47

For the previous three days, arguments had raged in the magical town and villas of Ruchak on how the finals of the teen combat tournament should be held. The Dumbledore team had been so dominant in the first two rounds that there was no question that they were the favorites. The Vitelmans had barely made it through the first round (taking the longest time and taking the most hits of any winning team), but had had a decent second round. The Markons had done well in each round, but nothing spectacular.

The three teams would meet in a round-robin over three days. The question being debated was if the Markon-Vitelman match should go first or last. In the late morning of the 16th, it was announced that the Markon-Vitelman match would be that day. Whichever team lost would face the Dumbledores the next day, while the winner would face the Dumbledores in two days.

Obviously, if one team scored two wins, they would win the tournament. If the teams somehow ended up 1-1, whichever team had been awarded the most points by the judges would win. If there was still a tie, then the over-all scoring leaders would win (ie a curse that hit an opponent counted as a plus, a curse that hit your team counted as a minus). That would almost mean the Dumbledores would win, considering their two spectacular wins.

The Vitelmans had a very straight-forward offense and very little defense. In short, they fought much like Team Golor, the Dumbledores' first opponents, had. In fact, most of the crowd still thought the Golors ran that type of offense better than the Vitelmans, and many had come to the opening of the Tournament hoping to see the Golors and the Vitelmans matched against each other at some point. While some in the crowd appreciated technique, nearly all of the non-magical crowd and a fair portion of the magical one really liked the 'Stand-Upright-And-Blast-Em' approach to combat.

The Markons were the youngest team participating that year, and operated the most mobile offense. They were amazing good at dodging hexes, but were slightly weak in their shielding.

As far as Team Dumbledore was concerned, the fight that morning did not show them anything new from either team. The combat took just over twelve minutes to play out, with the early advantage of the Vitelmans' opening offense slowly counteracted by the active defense of the Markons. In the end, when the last Vitelman fell, there were just two Markons left standing. The crowd adjourned to their luncheons a little before noon.

"Luna has been awfully quiet all afternoon," Remus remarked to Harry late that afternoon.

"She a little worried about how that potion may affect her tomorrow," Harry said. "You're really not supposed to vary the time that you take it by very much. She's brought her dose back to Ten o'clock, but that's about as much as she can do without throwing all our meals off."

"I had wondered," Lupin said, "but I didn't want to bring it up."

"Why not?"

"Because Luna is still very defensive about the potion, and because you and Hermione have both become so fiercely protective of her."

Harry shrugged. He couldn't deny it. "It won't be a problem tomorrow."

Remus looked at Harry, who wasn't giving anything away. "Is that all you have to say about the situation?"

"I'm very happy with it."

"'It'?"

Harry frowned, and Remus had the feeling that had almost anyone else been questioning Harry, that person would have been in trouble. "I am very happy with my relationship with Luna and Hermione. They are happy with their relationship to each other and with me." Harry stared deep into Remus' eyes, daring him to question further.

"Your and Ron's plan should work," Remus finally admitted.

Harry smiled. "It's more Ron's than mine."

Remus sighed. "What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"I just worry that news of this will get back to our world. That whirlwind will be talked about."

Harry winced slightly. "Yes, well, we didn't think of that aspect. We just knew that its practical use in a fight is likely pretty limited and Hermione really wanted to try it." It needed to be used outside, on at least a moderately humid day when it was not too cold.

"You may not have noticed, our first day, that when they mentioned the last time there were problems was the time here when Voldemort was last active."

"But that man said it was a hundred and sixty. . . . oh, right. The time differential."

"Exactly. There are some wizards with quite amazing power on this world, and they managed to destroy Voldemort's supporters in this world, by our time line, a few weeks before he was disembodied in our world. One of the group that destroyed them was actually present today -- you might have seen the wizard in the purple, red, and blue robe. That doesn't mean Voldemort's people might not come back, looking for you." Seeing Harry's expression, Remus added, "No reason to beat your self up. No one said you were in complete hiding. If so, we could have gone to some other family, changed our names, and not allowed you to enter combat or Quidditch. You have to remember, Harry, you are much more to me than the potential savior of the wizarding world back home."

"Thanks, Remus. I know I mean more than that to you and the others here."

"No one else?"

Harry thought about that. "Dean and maybe Seamus, Moody, and the Weasleys. I'm not sure about anyone else. I don't think even Dumbledore can sort out the two."

"You may be correct," Remus agreed. "Still, I thought I had three great friends, four with your mother, and three of them actually were. I don't think any of the people you named would betray you like Peter did us."

"I couldn't see Seamus going Dark," Harry said, "but I think he's the most likely to fall away. And most of the time Dean is so quiet, I never know what he's thinking, but those rare times I've really needed him, there he was."

"I talked with Dean in July, right after you went missing," Remus said. "I'd say he's the quiet, loner type, who doesn't make fast decisions, and never goes back on them. He's a real friend."

"I'll remember that," Harry said.

June 17, Day 48

The Vitelmans looked confused as the Dumbledores took to the field. This time, Ron was moving to the far right of the field by himself. Off to the center-left, the other five Dumbledores set up with Neville and Hermione in the front, with Luna and Harry behind them and Ginny in the rear. This contradicted everything that the Vitelmans expected from the Dumbledores, and the crowd made noises of confusion as well.

The Vitelmans were still arguing about how to meet this unexpected configuration when the sparks went up, starting the combat, which is of course why Ron had thought it might work.

Ron instantly attacked with all that he could fire, and Harry did the same. Neville and Hermione protected the core of the group and Harry, while Luna and Ginny tried to shoot down any hexes that might head towards Ron. Two Vitelmans went down quickly, although this time Ron followed the two down, being caught by a temporary blinding curse.

Ginny now moved out in front of Hermione and Neville and started her own barrage of hexes, which three of the four remaining Vitelmans returned. The fourth was concentrating on blocking Harry's barrage.

At that point, a hex was deflected off Hermione's shields and struck Luna in the face. Harry flinched at the sound of Luna's scream, and looked. Fortunately, his shields were far too strong to be breached by any other teen's hex.

Harry turned to face the four remaining Vitelmans, and then, very deliberately, he started a quick, angry march towards the nearest one.

The Vitelman witch shot off a series of hexes, which Harry flicked away with the barest movement of his wand -- something few had ever seen done before. As she turned to fully confront Harry, the Vitelman witch went down to a curse from Neville that she had not seen coming.

Harry kept coming towards the remaining the Vitelman wizards. One saw him coming and stumbled as he partially turned. Harry signaled the Dumbledores to stop attacking, and kept coming.

Two of the Vitelmans were firing at Harry, and then all three. Harry still did not raise a shield. He just kept flicking the curses away from him no matter how many were shot at him.

"Don't hurt them, Harry!" Hermione called out.

Harry smiled.

It was a very chilling smile. Harry planted himself fifteen feet away from the nearest Vitelman and casually raised his shield wandlessly with his left hand. He glared at them and twirled his wand. "Do we do this the hard way?"

The Vitelmans glared and started to attack again, all their concentration on Harry. Instead of attacking, Harry signaled the others with a nod, and they dropped the Vitelmans from the side.

Harry rushed over to Luna, who was clutching her eyes. Harry quickly took the hex off and Hermione added a healing charm before any of the officials could do so.

"Sorry, Harry," Luna said, "I didn't duck fast enough."

"That's alright."

"How's Ron?"

"The officials and a healer were seeing to him," Harry said, "he was already sitting up. Now sit still for the healer."

"You're going to have a minor headache the rest of the day," the witch said, after running her tests. "You really should rest and have cold compresses to prevent irritation, but you're really fine."

"How was Ron?" Harry asked.

"He's going to be a bit dizzy for a few hours," the healer said standing. "He will be very hungry for a few hours after the dizziness ends. Try to get him to eat."

"We'll do our best," Hermione said, kneeling beside Luna.

Back at Hogwarts

Severus Snape paced the dungeon, agitated and angry. In a sense, he was trying to run away from himself; he was trying to run away from the truth.

Snape paused, and nearly rammed his fist into a wall. He managed to stop himself, but he realized that if he didn't unclench his teeth, there was a real chance he might actually crack at least one of them.

He had to face the possibility that the Dark Lord had played him at least since he had been reembodied nearly fourteen months before, that he had been discovered as a spy, most likely, at some point in the 1991-1992 academic year.

Then why had he not been killed when he first met with the newly-risen Dark Lord in July of 1995? After all, despite his vaunted beliefs in his own power of Occlumency, the Dark Lord might have wormed his way in quietly.

Snape was not totally convinced it had happened. The Dark Lord was always searching his followers' surface thoughts. He could pick up the emotions, and the lies and lies of omission, of his followers with ease, yet he had never seemed to have done so with Snape. Snape was certain he was successful in blocking those.

He was equally certain that he could withstand a full Legilimency attack, even from the Dark Lord, and that he had done so on several occasions. Yet over the past few days, Dumbledore had penetrated his mind in subtle ways that Snape had been unable to even detect, let alone deflect. Had Voldemort?

Could that have been a game the Dark Lord had allowed Snape to play? It seemed slightly out of character, if only because of the long duration of the game. Or could the Dark Lord have detected mental reservations in Snape when he took the Dark Mark that even Snape had been unaware of for several months thereafter?

Dumbledore's arguments had been persuasive, if not conclusive. The tests had also reminded Snape that he had suffered relatively few full Legilimency attacks. Was that, as he had thought, because he was so successful in fooling the Dark Lord, or was it because the Dark Lord was attacking him more subtly?

To make matters worse, that damned boy was right. Looking back, he had picked up nothing of real value from the Dark Lord or when in the Dark Lord's presence. Everything of any value he had learned in the last fourteen months he had learned from the Death Eaters, and little of it was of first-class importance. Potter had discovered more important (and accurate) information in two or three dreams than Snape had learned over his entire career as a spy.

There was only one way to know for certain. Snape would have to attend to the next summons from the Dark Lord. If he was tortured and killed, then he had indeed been a dupe. If he was not . . . then he might still be a dupe.

Snape nearly punched a wall again, but he managed to refrain.

Snape was not afraid to die per se. Death by slow (very slow) torture, under these circumstances, made even him pause, however. Yet what was the alternative to obeying that next summons? If he did not obey a full summons, the Dark Mark would burn into his nervous system until he answered it. He was not sure how much pain that would entail, as sooner or later, every one of the few who had tried to leave the Dark Lord's 'service' (so far as Snape knew, anyway) had given into the pain and come for their slow death. Even Karkaroff had seemed to welcome the torture at first, as opposed to the burning of the summonsing. Snape thought he had a topical potion which would deaden most of the pain, but he was not certain it would work.

After seeing part of Karkaroff's torture, Snape knew he would cut off his left arm rather than die in that manner, if his death by torture was certain.

This brought him back to his dilemma. He was not certain.

He had sworn an oath to himself stronger than he had ever imagined himself capable of. Dumbledore was certain he was compromised, and that he would never return from his next meeting, unless it fit into Voldemort's plans. Snape himself was nearly as certain.

But, he decided as Dumbledore joined him, not quite certain enough.

"Ah, Severus. I have just confirmed some news."

"And that is?"

"Headquarters has been put under the Fidelius. No information can come out, even from our Headmaster's portrait, and, if you try to think of the actual address, you will find yourself unable to do so."

Snape thought for a moment, and had to agree, but went on, "With luck, I may be going back."

"I cannot allow that, Severus."

"Why not? You put those memory charms on the elf and portraits yourself."

"And if anyone is able to break those charms, it will be Voldemort. Remember, the information is not destroyed, it is blocked and other information overlaid."

"You don't think that the Dark Lord will show up there, do you?" Snape asked, shocked by the very idea.

"Before the information was cut off, Voldemort himself showed up and performed the Fidelius." He held his hand up. "I will not tell you how I learned this. Pettigrew is the Secret Keeper. I have also learned who has been advising Voldemort recently, which agrees with some information which I got concerning the Dursleys."

"And who is that?"

"Julian Malfoy."

Snape frowned. "I don't know the name."

"He is a cousin, a second cousin I believe, of young Draco. I believe he just missed overlapping with you. He is a very brilliant young man, and unfortunately for him, his magical powers are very weak. He barely made it through the practical portions of his Fifth year curriculum. I would say he has the power of an average Third year."

Snape winced.

"Do not allow that to influence you too much," Dumbledore warned. "He has a very subtle and brilliant intellect. The theory and practical potions of his grades were easily equal to the highest in Hogwarts' recent history. It turns out he works for a rather large Muggle investment company known as the MHC which had escaped everybody's notice, including mine and the Order's."

Snape shrugged. Few purely Muggle companies would have any meaning for him.

"The Marvolo Holding Company."

Snape's eye went wide. "You mean . . . the Dark Lord. . . ."

"Owns a very powerful and wealthy Muggle corporation, yes. A number of magical families did the same in the mid-nineteenth century, including the Malfoys and Blacks on the more snobbish side, as did the Potters, Bones, Macmillans, Browns and many other families as well. I grant you, most of those operate in both worlds, but the Marvolo seems to operate almost totally in the Muggle world, which is how we missed it." He saw that Severus looked both interested and confused, and so went on.

"The company has moved into just one area of contact with the magical world since Malfoy has joined. Tell me, Severus, do you know what blood diamonds are?"

"No, I don't," Snape admitted.

"In short, they are diamonds mined under duress in disputed parts of the Muggle world, mostly Africa I understand. I admit, I have just recently come across the term as well. Some are even produced by Muggle slaves controlled by Muggle military and terrorist groups, and a few may be produced by Muggles under enchantments. Nearly all Muggle governments have at least token laws against the import and sale of such diamonds."

"Ah," Snape said, "and I take it magical governments do not?"

"Exactly. I understand our world buys about a tenth of the illegal diamonds. In addition, while there is a market for these illegal diamonds in both the magical and Muggle world, most diamonds are what Muggles call 'industrial' diamonds, too flawed or too small for use in jewelry."

"But diamond dust is very important in magical manufacturing and many potions," Snape said, understanding the point.

"And there you have it. Our world takes at least a third of the illegal industrial diamonds as diamond dust. The Marvolo Holding Company probably controls half of the illegal trade in diamond dust around the world, and diverts those to the magical world through various contacts with. . . ?"

Snape nodded, and said, "The Malfoys and other such trusts."

"And there you have the brilliance and value of young Malfoy until recently."

"Recently?"

"You may not have been aware of what Harry's uncle did for a living. He was first a salesman and then director of a company that made industrial drills. Malfoy made contact with Dursley for some of the specialized drills needed by the illegal diamond mines."

"And, since no wizard that weak would be allowed to take the Dark Mark, he gained access to Privet Drive at their invitation."

"Correct. I have also learned through other agents that one Julian Commodore. . . ."

"Ah," Snape interrupted, "he's Commodus' son? I had wondered what happened to him."

"He is. Malfoy uses the name Commodore in the Muggle world. He rented a great deal of Muggle surveillance equipment, and kept a close eye on the Burrow, the Grangers, and Grimmauld Place."

"How did he do that?"

"I don't know exactly," Dumbledore admitted. "Still, if you wished to you could go to Grimmauld Place, even though you can not exactly place where Headquarters used to be."

"True, but few other people could do it."

"That's true as well. Could your name have been mentioned in any context at the Burrow or the Grangers? Yes, it's very possible. We only discovered the equipment near the Burrow and over-looking Grimmauld Place after the deaths of the Grangers."

Snape's face fell.

"In addition, we have no way of knowing how well my memory work affected Mrs. Black's portrait. It's possible something might have leaked there. No, Severus, there is no way you can be allowed to meet Voldemort again. The question is, what we should do next?"