Harry Potter and The Heirs of The Founders

Chapter Twelve

Reconnaissance

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction....The chain reaction of evil -- hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars -- must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."
--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

Gingerly Harry and Hermione made their way to the Transfiguration classroom. They knew that no one could see them or hear them and yet they were cautious just the same, not knowing the effects that the charm had on ghosts. And not wanting to be discovered. Harry had been studying the Auror manuals that Chrys had given him. He was learning quite a lot and developing his skills, yet he was not exactly ready to try them out. He shuddered as he thought about the images he had seen. Although Harry didn't really want to see them in reality, he knew that it would be extremely important that they find out what was going on and help those poor witches and wizards who were being held captive. They opened the door and found the Transfiguration classroom full. Even Malfoy was there. Harry seriously wondered whether Malfoy was trustworthy for this mission, but it Snape trusted him, Harry would have to go with his lead.

'I have arranged several port keys on short notice,' Dumbledore said. 'Are there any Animagi here that haven't had the protective charm cast on them?' Given that nobody answered positively he continued. 'We shall spend today searching the uninhabited Isles of Shetland. Everyone will go in pairs; we do not want anybody killed if at all possible. Once on the Isles, please remain in your forms at all times. Your port keys will reactivate in five hours. That way all the staff members will be back in time for the Halloween feast. Professor Snape and I will be surveying your process by means of these.' He held up a round coin-shaped object. 'This will allow us to se through your eyes; each of you should take one.' He passed them around. 'Now the port keys should be active. Remember to stay in pairs. Good luck.'

Harry took hold of Hermione's hand before picking up the port key, a small button which Harry was fairly confident he could place in his pocket until the time when they would return. He felt himself being pulled through the air and arriving at a location different to one that he'd ever seen before. He ensured that Hermione was fine, he had been becoming slightly more protective of her recently before surveying the area were they had landed. It was cold, wet and windy. The position of the sun looked as if it were going to set within a few hours. Yet Harry would have described the coast as naturally beautiful, in spite of the dampness. He nodded at Hermione and they transformed into their Animagi forms.

Together as lion and thylacine they wandered the island. The more they searched, the more they felt as if they were wandering in circles. There did not seem to be any life on this island at all.

*~*

Chrys and Sirius were on a different island.

They too had been wandering for hours and had found nothing. They came to yet another fork in the forest and decided to take the right path, hoping that it would lead them somewhere they had not yet explored.

*~*

Draco felt as if he had drawn the short straw being paired with McGonagall. They were both small creatures and it was difficult for them to cover a lot of ground quickly. Draco at least enjoyed sliding along the ground and feeling his belly slide over sharp rocks without any harm coming to his skin. He saw a rat and hissed at it, before chasing it behind a rock. Draco had learnt early that eating a raw rat when in his Animagus form actually tasted quite good, he wouldn't have dreamt of eating one otherwise. He slithered along surveying the ground. He could see no sign of any recent life here, no tracks and especially no sign of human droppings. Draco was almost disappointed that they hadn't found anything. There were a few Death Eaters that he would have dearly liked to have given a venomous bite to, and as of yet he hadn't come across them whilst in his Animagus form.

There was a flicker of life off in the distance. Draco slithered towards it, hoping that he would come across someone. He seriously doubted Dumbledore's intelligence given he had sent them to an apparently deserted island. Additionally it was cold and he being a snake really wanted a slither of sunlight to warm him up.

The flicker of life had gone. Draco returned to McGonagall confessing that he had found nothing.

*~*

Lily and James had discovered a brick hut which seemed odd given that the island was supposedly uninhabited. It had been built fairly recently and definitely had not been built by hand. To the wizarding eye it was obvious that it had been built with aid of magic, and most certainly built in a hurry. They quickly glanced at each other before deciding to go in and investigate. Lily scampered in the door and immediately sprung up onto an old wooden desk that was in the corner of the room. It was covered with piles of parchment that Lily hoped would give them an idea of what was happening. She examined the first piece of parchment.

My Lord,

So far we have captured seventy Muggle-borns. They are being kept in enchanted wrist and leg-irons. They are involved in building the fortress and farming supplies. We have destroyed their wands and are slowing crushing their souls. They will become your obedient servants. We shall be ready on the day you name. We await further instruction.

A.

Lily committed the parchment to memory, while James nudged through the remaining parchments. There were blue prints of what appeared to be a fortress and parchments with names and serial numbers next to them. They had certainly found the right island. Now all they had to do was find the prisoners.

*~*

Harry and Hermione came to what appeared to be an abandoned hut. They tried to stay out of sight and watch it for a while as they hadn't come across anything else that seemed remotely related to wizards on the island. They lay down in the bushes near the entrance to the shack as Harry began to groom himself. Hermione, the thylacine gave him a look, but Harry ignored it and returned to grooming himself. After all he acted like a lion when he was in his form. It just came naturally. He learned over and began to lick Hermione's coat. She smiled as he began to do that. He was glad that he had found something to entertain them while they waited for a sign of human life.

The grooming session was brought to an end when they heard a noise from behind the bushes and saw two men walking towards the hut. They were deep in conversation.

'Is everything ready for the next stage?' the first man asked.

'The fortress is well under construction,' the second replied. 'The fortress here will commence work in the next couple of weeks. We will bring some prisoners over here and we shall obtain some new ones for you. All Muggle-borns of course. One day we will rid the world of Muggles and Muggle-born witches and wizards. Then we will get the Squibs.'

'Are the Ministry doing anything yet?' the first man asked.

'They seem to be concerned about the number of Muggle-borns missing but they aren't actually looking,' the second man replied. 'There's some talk from the Hogwarts board of governors that they might look at not taking Muggle-borns, but at this stage it's just talk.'

'The Ministry of Magic is hopeless,' the first man said laughing. 'Especially with someone like Fudge in charge. His term is up in April. I doubt he'll be re-elected which gives us the opportunity to run our own candidate.'

Harry and Hermione's eyes and ears were wide open. Fudge's term was almost up. The worst thing that could possible happen was that a Death Eater could be elected in Fudge's place.

*~*

Lily and James continued on from the hut. They knew that they were looking for something that resembled a fortress. Finally they caught a glimpse of the fortress. It was an impressive stone building that looked extremely imposing. They spied a couple of men that looked like guards in front of the entrance. Lily went up to them and began to rub herself against their legs.

'Is this your cat Jack?' one of the men asked.

'No,' the man name Jack replied. 'It looks like a stray. In fact it looks like it swam over to the island.'

'I'll take it back over,' the first man said. 'We can't have any form of animal just wandering in here from the main islands. I'll just lock it upstairs for now.'

The man grabbed her tightly around the belly and walked inside the tower. Lily began to wail and complain and began to scratch aimlessly at the air. At least she would get a chance to see inside the fortress. She just hoped that he didn't suspect anything.

The man began to shake her.

'You had better not be an Animagus,' he said shaking her so hard it was difficult for her to concentrate on maintaining her form. 'And if you are, well you won't be able to get out of here without transforming, which you won't be able to, or without a wand which you can't get without transforming. I'll just keep you I here until I'm ready to leave.' He threw her into a room that was no bigger than a cat box. Great. Now I'm stuck here. She surveyed the box-like room and assessed the options. If she escaped and she was fairly sure she could, the man would know she was an Animagus. Or would he?

*~*

Harry and Hermione came across a snake. Harry decided to try and talk to it; perhaps it could shed some light on what was happening. As Harry inched towards the snake, it tried to slither away. He realised that it must be frightened of his lion form. He transformed quickly and began to speak to the snake.

'It's alright,' he said. 'I'm a wizard and I just want to ask you a few questions. I promise I won't hurt you. Is that okay?'

The snake took a while to reply and then finally allowed Harry to ask him a few questions. The snake chatted to Harry about the increasing number of men that were coming to the island. The snake didn't like it very much, they were bringing stones and banging together large buildings. It had been happening all over the islands, the snake had been talking to sea serpents who had found the same thing on other islands. The men that had arrived were not kind either. They had pointy sticks which had destroyed a lot of the snake's family.

Harry glanced at Hermione. There were certainly wizards about. Just what they were up to he was unsure of.

*~*

Sirius and Chrys had finally found something.

It was a stone wall that looked as if it were a perimeter fence.

'What do you think Sirius?' Chrys asked. 'Should I fly over and have a look?'

'Good idea,' he said. 'I'll wait for you here. I'll keep an eye on you.'

Chrystal spread her wings and soared into the sky. She flew high at first so she could work out where she should fly, before descending lower to get a good glimpse of what was below. What she could see was obviously not the same as the images she had seen on the omnioculars. It looked like some kind of training facility, a fortress of some kind.

As she glanced around inside she saw the Muggle-born prisoners. They looked worse in reality than they had in the Omnioculars. It was scary for her to think that they had once been strong men and women. She shuddered as she recognised the faces of Helena and HermiaEdwards. They had been Gryffindorsand Lily's roommates. To see them as they were now was totally devastating for Chrystal.

She descended a little lower and saw some men standing at the entrance.

*~*

The men stared at the sky.

'Another flying horse,' Dom commented.

'Well they're native to this area,' Max replied. 'I'd be surprised if we didn't see one.'

'I still don't like it,' Dom replied. 'How about we hit it? Make sure it's not suspicious.'

A smile appeared on Max's face.

'Right, on the count of three,' he said. 'One, two, three.'

'Crucio,' they both said at once smiling as they pointed the wand at the horse.

They laughed as the horse began to shake and fell from the sky.

'Shall we go and make sure it's dead?' Dom asked.

'Nah,' Max replied. 'It'll be dead soon enough falling from that height. Let it suffer.' The men laughed.

*~*

She had been soaring through the sky. Then she had let herself be seen and she knew as soon as she had seen the men that it had been a mistake. They raised their wands and Chrys had braced herself but she wasn't fully prepared for the shock of being hit with two Cruciatus Curses at once. Her whole body had filled with immense pain and the best she could do was retain her Animagus form. She couldn't fly and plummeted to the ground. She hated the feeling of falling that far, she knew it was well over fifteen metres. The curse had been lifted but all she could do now was let herself fall and brace herself for the impact. She only hoped she wouldn't have a fatal injury for her or the baby. Any other injury could be repaired magically.

Bang. Crunch.

She smashed into the ground. Pain radiated from her leg, through her pelvis and right up her back. Her stomach cramped and she could barely retain her form. She lay on the ground in agony wondering how long it would be before she could no longer hold her form and one of the guards found her. She hoped that Sirius had seen her fall.

*~*

Katie Bell sat in her bedroom gazing at her reflection in the mirror. She couldn't believe that it was finally Halloween. Moreover she couldn't believe that the reflection in the mirror was actually her. She gazed at the blonde curls falling from the pile on top of her head. The blue eyes smiling brightly back at her. The stunning white dress that fitted her perfectly. Her mother-in-law had certainly done wonders with just a piece of material.

'Katie, are you ready yet?'

It was her father. Andrew Bell had been ecstatic when Katie had told him that she was going to marry George. He loved George like a son and was glad to see his only daughter marrying such an honourable, well sort of, man.

Katie walked out to her father.

'How do I look Dad?' she asked.

'Just like your mother,' he said as the tears began to well in his eyes.

*~*

Lily had decided. After what she thought was about half an hour she had pondered over the options. She only really had one choice. There was no way she could wait until the man returned. She had no idea when that would be and she knew that it was certain that James would be worried about her. She glanced at the other side of the wall and thought hard.

'Foris accomodo'

She smiled as a cat flap appeared in the wall. She had always found this charm useful in making cat flaps appear where ever she needed. Now the silly man would think that he had locked the cat in a room with a flap. It was unlikely that he would go looking for her.

She stealthily made her way around the fortress, trying to remain out of sight. She managed to get glimpses of the entire fortress on her way out. It was certainly a training facility of some description. There were a few people there that she recognised as Slytherin's from school. Lily figured that it had to be a Death Eater training facility. The man who had carried her in had had a dark mark on his arm after all. There were just a few more rooms to check before she returned to James and hopefully the port key.

*~*

Sirius watched as the winged horse plummeted towards the ground. Instantly he headed straight towards her. As he reached her his heart sunk. Something was very, very wrong. In his dog form his sense of smell was heightened. At that moment he wished it wasn't. He could smell a mixture of fresh blood and vomit, a smell that even he who was used to weird and wonderful smells found it difficult to cope with. He swallowed to keep the gall from rising up his throat.

The winged horse was lying on its side, barely moving. She was covered in cuts and swellings. He could see immediately that she wouldn't last the hour and a half until the portkey reactivated. He himself had next to no knowledge of first aid charms. He pointed the magic eye at her, in the hopes that either Dumbledore or Snape might see and send them help.

'Chrys,' he said softly. 'Can you hear me?'

She nodded, but Sirius could tell that it was difficult.

'Do you think you can stand up?' he asked in the same tone.

She shook her head grimacing in pain.

'Where does it hurt mo cridhe?' he asked.

'Everywhere,' she said in a strained voice.

'Can you tell me what happened?' he said as he moved over to try and lick her wounds.

'Got hit,' she said between strained breaths. 'Cruciatus. Men. Laughed. Fell.'

'That's enough,' he said. 'I get the gist. We'll get you home, just hold on tight.'

He did get the gist. She had been hit by the CruciatusCursewhile she was in the air. All that she could probably do was maintain her form until she hit the ground. As he licked her wounds, he hoped that someone would come and help them.

*~*

Severus was disgusted.

'Dumbeldore,' he said. 'What do you think Sirius is licking?' Honestly the man's disgusting.'

Dumbledore moved over to glace at the image he was getting from Sirius' magic eye. He wasn't nearly as disgusted as Severus.

'I believe that's Chrystal,' he said. 'And I think she looks quite hurt.' A sense of alarm sounded in his voice. 'I think we should send Poppy to her immediately.'

Severus thought quickly. If they sent Poppy Pomfreytothat island the Death Eaters would know that Hogwarts was involved in today's activities. They could retaliate. There was only one option. He must go and hope that if he were seen that he could come up with a plausible reason for being there.

'No Professor,' he said as Dumbledore prepared to summon Madam Pomfrey. 'I will go. I can come up with a plausible reason for being there. Do you have an emergency portkey?'

'I'll locate one,' Dumbledore said disappearing for a second. 'Here Severus. It will take you there in a minute, and will reactivate within five of you arriving. Make sure you cushion her, otherwise there's absolutely no way she'll survive being transported.'

Severus swallowed and hoped that the excuse that came to mind would work. He arrived and the dog looked relieved to see him.

'Don't say anything,' he whispered. 'You're my dog and this is my horse.'

Snape took off his cloak and wrapped it around her.

'Cushioning charm,'

Sirius began barking. Snape glared at him then realised two men were heading towards him. Snape turned towards them and began yelling.

'Are you responsible for my horse?' he screamed.

'Snape,' one of them said. 'What are you doing here?'

'I was letting my horse fly around somewhere there was no danger of Muggles seeing her,' he said glaring at the two men. 'It appears she has been hit by a curse of some description. She probably won't make it back to my homestead.' The men looked worried. 'I assume you are not supposed to be drawing attention to yourselves. Might I remind you that many trainers use this area to train their horses. Is this the only one you've hit?' They nodded quickly. 'Then make sure it doesn't happen again.' He snarled and sent them off. 'Right hold on to her,' he said to Sirius. 'Try and support what looks to be a broken hip.'

The dog walked over and held the hip with its paw. The sight was quite amusing and if it hadn't been such a serious matter Severus would have found it quite amusing. Within seconds the portkey was activated and they were being sucked towards Hogwarts.

*~*

Lily reached the last room of the fortress.

She had a pretty good idea already of what kind of place it was already yet she wanted to ensure they hadn't overlooked anything. She pushed the door open with her paw and it revealed an empty room. Okay, she could go now and find James, who hopefully wasn't too worried about her.

*~*

George glanced at the beautiful sunset behind his beautiful bride as she made her way towards him. If their life together could be as beautiful as she appeared tonight he would be the luckiest person alive. He had been blessed with so much, despite the world collapsing around them. He had a loyal family who loved him, a successful business that managed to cheer people up and he had the love of a beautiful woman.

This was the night. The one perfect night where he would pledge his life to her.

He smiled as Andrew Bell handed Katie's arm to him.

There, under the stars of a country sky, in front of their family and friends, they pledged their lives to each other.

*~*

Snape, Sirius and the wounded horse landed in the Transfiguration Classroom. Dumbledore ran over immediately.

'She passed out just before Severus arrived,' Sirius said. He was worried; he'd never seen Chrys so injured before. 'We need to get her to the Poppy straight away, can you help us?'

Dumbledore helped them carrying her to the hospital wing gently to avoid any further injury. Sirius couldn't believe how much blood there was, and he had no idea where it was coming from. The blood just added to his fear. He didn't want to loose her, not now after all that had happened to them.

*~*

Lily located the fence and jumped it easily. It had taken her a lot longer than she had initially thought. She hoped she wasn't too late; she didn't want to have to try and apparate from an unknown destination. She looked around trying to locate James but it was difficult given that the sun had already set. She glanced at the bushes thankful that James was there waiting for her. She bounded towards him and jumped on his back.

'Lots of information,' she whispered into his ear. 'How long until the portkey'sactive?'

'Only a few minutes Lily,' he replied. 'If you weren't careful I would have disappeared without you.'

In a few minutes time, the remaining Animagi on the Shetland Islands were whisked back to the Hogwarts Transfiguration Classroom. Lily surveyed the room immediately realising that there was something wrong.

'Where's Sirius and Chrys?' she asked. 'And where's Dumbledore and Snape?'