The Art of Peace

Chapter 13

The Master

A Man Who Has Attained Mastery of An Art Reveals It in His Every Action.

The next day dawned bright and clear, revealing nothing of the danger that Harry was sure would be coming soon. Little was spoken as he ate breakfast with Sifu and Claude. All that had needed to be said had been said the night before. Now they just had to be ready for whatever happened. Harry and Claude went off to school while Sifu went to work. It was one of the slowest days Harry had ever gone through. There was really nothing to do but wait and attempt to live a normal life until then, and that was the hardest part. The next two days were more of the same. No one bothered him any more after that first day, so he usually just hung out with Inès, Nicolas, and Sylvie. Evenings were spent training and practicing his spells. He had found that the intense practice helped more than anything as it forced him to clear his mind of extraneous thoughts. It was a waiting game now, and Harry was determined to win.

The end of classes on Friday could not come soon enough for Severus Snape. Finally Potter was going to get what was coming to him. The hardest part was listening to the little Malfoy brat harass Potter's former followers without being able to correct all of them on the true nature of their little hero. It was hard to maintain his cover at times. However, it would not do for him to show his true opinions o the Dark Lord's "cause". Until the Dark Lord was eventually defeated again, he would have to do what he had always done, survive. That is what he would have to consider this weekend as well. He had never been convinced of the Potter boy's worth himself, but if Dumbledore said it was so he had to go along with it. He owed the headmaster a great debt, and Dumbledore was not afraid to remind him of it. If he had to, though, he would leave the boy where he was and be done with it. Of course, if Potter showed himself able to throw off the vaunted "old crowd" there was no sense in pursuing the matter. Let him die if he was so intent on it. Besides, if he could fight off the "old crowd" he was obviously capable of taking care of himself.

Dumbledore had been busy ever since Severus had spoken to him. He had spent most of his time sending letters and in front of the fireplace. The last Severus had heard was that Lupin and Black could not make it due to the upcoming full moon and Mad-eye Moody was still recovering from the events of the previous year. Apparently being locked in a trunk did not help his health. Many of the people Dumbledore had once been able to call upon were not the heroes they once were. The Marauders were gone, Moody was a shadow of his former self, many of the aurors had left the Ministry to work in other countries due to Fudge's incompetence, and others simply refused to believe that the horror they had thought was gone had returned. At the end of the week the headmaster had only been able to get four others to return to Marseille with Severus. Fletcher, Ramajan, Blogett, and Cristof worked with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; doing as much as possible with Fudge's interference and working for Dumbledore as well. They were good, but the people Severus remembered would have torn them to shreds. He vividly recalled the late night raids he had been on that ended in disaster under the wands of Moody, Potter, Black, and the others, now long gone. He hated Black and Potter, but they had been good, even he would admit that. Now he had to deal with their creation, and maybe at least his demons would be buried. Sighing, Severus turned to grade more of the summer essays. Thinking about it only made the time till they left take longer.

Although he would never tell Harry this, Sifu was worried. Not for himself, of course, but for the boys. Claude was obviously unable to defend himself, but there was nowhere for him to go. Harry, on the other hand, could handle himself, but he had a tendency to let his anger overcome him. His want to finish off the man the other day had led to this situation. Sifu could have knocked him out easily enough, but Harry's obvious past history with the man prevented it, and the man had escaped. It was clear that Harry had issues that needed to be addressed, and if the man from the other day was an indication, the school he had fled would be a hindrance rather than a help. The matter of fact story of Harry's parents' deaths had chilled Sifu more than he cared to admit. He had seen and caused his share of death and suffering, but no one should have to go through what this boy had experienced. No, he was not afraid for Harry physically. It was the damage to his mind that Sifu feared. As for himself, Sifu knew that he could escape any magic attacks. It had become obvious that the sticks these wizards carried had to point at what they were attacking, so if he escaped the stick he would escape the attack. Hopefully they would leave when they found themselves helpless. If not, he would have to seriously consider breaking his vows.

Saturday was a cloudy day at Hogwarts. Fitting, thought Severus. After all, they were going into who knew what in a few hours. The aurors were overconfident and acting like it was a walk in the park. Severus was tempted to think the same, but he had seen how quickly Potter shook off his stunning spell and the quickness with which the muggle had attacked him. Five on two seemed like overwhelming odds, but Severus had seen friends and enemies alike die as a result of that very thought. Instead of joining the joking aurors, not that he would have anyways, he readied himself for what he could only describe as a battle.

They made the trip in two apparitions. First, the longer hop to a known safe house in Marseille, and then a linked jump with Severus as the focus to an alley a couple blocks from the apartment where Potter had been staying. The aurors were making fun of Severus the entire way. After all, he was weaker than most if he could not take down a child and a muggle, right? In the meantime, Severus' doubts grew. What if the aurors had a hard time of it? Would they resort to the harsher spells? Would they be killed when their opponents realized what was going on? What if Potter had gotten assistance? It did not help when the aurors decided to split up and move in groups of two in case the targets were outside the building. This left Severus alone, which would leave him in the same position as before if he ran into Potter and the muggle. It was with relief that he met the other two teams in front of the apartment unscathed.

The aurors walked up the stairs, ready for an attack but much more relaxed than they should have been. They arranged themselves around the door, and a forceful "Alohamora" from Blodgett opened it with a bang. The aurors moved in quickly, searching the rooms one after another.

"There is no one here, sir," Ramajan said, returning to the kitchen.

"Are you sure this is the place, Professor?" Fletcher asked.

"Of course I am sure. What do you take me for, a fool?"

A muttered response came from the aurors. They had been suspicious of Severus' account and this made them begin to doubt it in its entirety. Finally they decided that they would wait for Potter to return. Settling down in the kitchen the aurors were soon completely at ease. Severus just sneered at them and leaned on the counter to wait. They were treating this too much like a lark for his liking. He did not plan on getting hurt, not again. At the first sign of the two being too much for them to handle he would be apparating out of there; survival took precedent.

It was almost an hour later when the stairs started to creak. The aurors immediately came to life, each of them getting a clear shot at the door. The door shot open and a small boy ran through it laughing. As soon as he saw the men and their wands inside he began to scream, a blood-curdling cry that turned Severus' blood cold. That was the scream of someone who knew what wands were, had seen what they could do. Even before the scream ended, an adult bounded into the room. As he in turn saw the men he reacted instantly, sweeping the boy into his arms and diving out the door before they could react. Severus' eyes narrowed in recognition of the muggle from before. Before he could say anything in warning, the aurors were moving towards the door.

As Blodgett approached the open doorway, a yell was heard from outside.

"Stupefy!"

Blodgett responded immediately with a shield, but the force of the spell still staggered him slightly. He swung the door shut as he fell back.

"It's a kid! And he doesn't have a wand!"

"I told you didn't I?" Severus said smugly.

The aurors turned to him as one, obviously a little irritated with him. However, they could not waste the time on yelling now, they had to worry about the threat outside. They opened the door cautiously, ready for an attack this time. By the time they made it out the door, the targets were gone. Grumbling in disgust they cautiously made their way down the stairs and onto the street, Severus close behind. They were circling around the house when they heard movement behind them. Immediately they whirled around, wands at the ready. Potter stood there in the alley alone, a slight smile on his face.

"Looking for me?"

Five wands were trained on him as he stood there, looking like an innocent child. However, Severus' trained eye saw something else. Harry was ready to move, his hands and legs tense for action. He realized their error too late, turning around just as the muggle struck Fletcher from behind. The group turned again, keeping an eye on Potter as they shifted to the new threat. Sifu had swept out Fletcher's legs and was now lying underneath him, and arm wrapped threateningly around his neck choking him.

"What do you want with us?" he asked.

"We want Mr. Potter, that's all. You can leave if you want to," Ramajan reassured him.

"You know that won't work. Where I go, Harry goes. Why do you want him?"

"He needs to be in school. We're here to bring him back to his friends. England needs him."

"Well, it sure seems like you need him more than he needs you. I know he doesn't want to go back, and he is getting his schooling here with me, so he is going to stay. Go back and tell whoever sent you that he is safe here, you won't have to worry."

"I don't think we can take your word for it. Harry, you're coming with us," Ramajan said.

"Actually, I'm staying here. I don't have to worry about people dying or getting hurt anymore. You can tell Dumbledore I'm my own person," Harry replied. He was getting nervous now, and his anxiousness was starting to become evident in his twitching.

Ramajan replied immediately. "You don't have a choice, Harry. We have orders from Dumbledore to bring you back so that is what we are going to do. Come with us peacefully or we will have to take you by force. Those are your only options. And get your friend here to let Fletcher go or we will have to hurt him too."

"I can't tell him to do that and I'm not coming with you. Do your worst."

Severus was worried now. The last time he had gone right into it without talking and had gotten the worst of it. Now Potter and the muggle were going to be mad and prepared for anything. This wasn't good. Even as he thought of it the muggle made his move.

Lying under someone else would have severely limited a normal man's options. However, Sifu was not normal. With the ease of practice he threw Fletcher off of himself into the man who had been talking and moved towards the only man he recognized, the man they had driven off the other day. The quicker he made him remember their previous encounter, the fewer enemies there would be. As Severus was bringing his wand to bear, Sifu grabbed the wand hand and twisted sharply. Before he knew what was happening, Severus found himself laying on the ground and Sifu taking away his wand. Before he could say anything, it was in two pieces on the ground; his lifeline a broken shard. Sifu did not even wait to see his reaction. He knew that Severus was no longer a threat. As he had thrown off Fletcher and attacked Severus, attention had shifted to him. Wands were pointing at him and words were being spoken. Although he could not see what was happening, Sifu knew from what Harry had told him that if the wand was pointing at him he would be hurt. Therefore we dodged and weaved, not letting the wands point at him.

Meanwhile Harry was left mostly unnoticed. He was amazed at how fast quickly Sifu had moved; the whole event had taken less than two seconds. As he began to respond, the two aurors left standing started to send 'Stupefy' and 'Petrificus Totalus' curses at him and the two on the ground tried to pick themselves up. Sifu was moving with almost inhuman speed, and the curses were not hitting anywhere near him. Harry moved closer to the group and brought up his hand at the nearer auror.

"Stupefy!"

The auror fell with a thud, his half-formed spell dying to nothing on his wand. The two aurors had finally gotten up and one of them moved towards him while the other angled to take him out. As spells began to fly, Harry was forced to abandon Sifu to the other two aurors. He had already established a shield around himself, tying it to his magical signature, so he did not have to worry until the first spell hit. A 'Petrificus' curse flew by him as he dove out of the way, rolling towards the man. A 'Stupefy' curse fizzled on his shield, burning it out as Harry reached an arm's length away from the auror. He quickly snapped out a foot into the man's knee and delivered a palm strike to his face. The man crumpled to his ground, one hand grabbing the dislocated knee and the other trying to stop his now-bloody nose. With the man's wand hand not pointing at him, Harry delivered another 'Stupefy' and tossed the wand out of the man's reach. When he looked up, Sifu was just reaching him, his opponents already taken care of.

As Sifu dove out of the way of the wizards' wands, he saw Harry knock out one of them and a new wizard join the attack. He continued to stay ahead of the wands while moving closer to the wizards at the same time. With one final roll he landed between them in a crouch, stretching out his arms and grabbing a leg of each. He quickly stood, causing the two of them to hit the ground, briefly stunning them. Sifu stepped towards one and snapped a hand down to his neck to knock him out and kicking the wand away at the same time. The other man was stirring slightly, so Sifu quickly knocked him out and removed his wand as well. With his two targets out of commission, he moved to help Harry, reaching his side just as he finished off his own opponent.

They quickly gathered the men together in the alley, pocketing their wands and binding their hands with rope. Severus had disappeared sometime in the fight, the broken pieces of his wand gone as well. Harry passed over each the aurors in turn to revive them. Once they were all awake, Sifu spoke to them.

"We are going to let you go. We have your wands so don't even think about trying anything. Now you," pointing at the auror Harry had disabled, "need some serious medical help. You might want to get him to a doctor."

They let them get up, untying one man's hands so he could help his injured comrade. The aurors limped off into the early afternoon, missing the sighs of relief as Harry and Sifu realized it was over, and missing the little boy who ran out into Sifu's arms sobbing in relief.