The following week saw the start of July as a summer routine set in for the Potters. Although the manor still wasn't completely safe, they visited it during each day and spent time either training in the basement, studying in the library, or enjoying time out on the grounds. On Monday Sirius visited for the first time and set up a comfortable seat while the elves supplied refreshments and he spent hours talking to James and Lily's portrait, giving them a much longer history of all that had happened. Wednesday brought the arrival of all of their allies for their first training in the basement training rooms, with everyone quite appreciative of the facilities.
After two weeks of regular visits to the manor, and with the elves now in residence, Harry started to see firm changes in the wards, with the manor now showing yellow green and the grounds firmly yellow. Grandfather Fleamont had warned him it would take time, but the progress was encouraging.
What wasn't encouraging was the ongoing Death Eater attacks. Voldemort had truly gone to ground and frequent inquiries with Tonks brought no further leads. For at least the hundredth time, both Harry and Hermione regretted the fire that flushed him out of his known base.
One day in mid-July the routine was set to deviate slightly due to a morning meeting at Gringotts. The meeting was fairly routine to discuss a possible acquisition of a new apothecary goods supplier in Croatia. It was an opportunity that the Silverstaff said the business division had identified as having high potential and Harry was willing to hear about it. Anyway, it would break up the usual dullness that had infiltrated summer, especially now that they had finished the last of their homework assignments.
After eating an early breakfast with the Grangers and wishing them a good day at the practice, they had a bit of time to kill and then apparated to Diagon Alley as usual. Harry was in a hurry, hand on his wand as usual, but he would later admit to being a bit distracted as he thought about his businesses. It was Hermione who noticed the first trouble and gave the mental shout of warning.
Get down!
They were almost to the bank and Harry grabbed Hermione as they dove to one side of the marble stairs. All around them was chaos as Death Eaters suddenly appeared in clouds of wispy black smoke and began to fire immediately. There weren't a lot of shoppers, but there were enough. It was a Friday discount day after all. Harry immediately sent a patronus off for help and then put up a shield as he began to coordinate with his wife.
Hermione, we need to help these people, only the one man by Eeylops is even trying to defend himself. I'll go over by Flourish, you take the Menagerie side.
Got it. Shields up. Let's just try to herd the sheep into buildings first.
With their destinations selected, the two young defenders began to help shoppers try to get into buildings, providing shields while at the same time sending cutting and bludgeoning curses at the attackers. Harry was done using anything weak like stunners. He was hoping to not have to use anything more severe. Once they were done with Flourish and Blotts and Magical Menagerie, he and Hermione inched their way up their sides of the street, trying to sweep innocents along under their shields and into shops as they went.
Where are the fucking Aurors?
No idea.
As they passed two more shops, the Potters finally heard the welcome sounds of apparition around them and then saw Auror robes. The Death Eaters seemed to realize that they were outnumbered and began to disappear. All too soon it became eerily quiet as shields were dropped and Harry and Hermione went to embrace each other. Hermione had a nasty cut on her leg and Harry was holding his left hand painfully, but the injuries appeared minor. They were also exhausted. Looking around, they saw at least ten downed Death Eaters. Then Director Shacklebolt appeared and began barking orders before turning to them.
"Well Lord and Lady Potter, I may not have been happy with all of your escapades of late, but I have to thank you. If you hadn't been here, we'd have more than two innocents dead. We also have four dead Death Eaters and another seven captured. That will give us plenty to question. It looks like you both could use a healer though. Come this way."
Harry nodded, still stunned that they apparently had killed four. Of course those four were in the process of killing innocents. He had to remember that. They were led into a makeshift triage tent and Hermione's cut leg was healed quickly. Harry though had four broken bones in his hand. A splint was applied and he was handed doses of skele-gro and pain potion to be taken once they were home. Rightfully he should go to St. Mungo's, but he refused. Hermione would take care of him. Anyway, they still needed to check in with Silverstaff. They thanked the disgruntled healer and left him to his other patients.
As they left the healing tent, they spotted familiar pink hair and went to check in with Tonks. She was happy to see they were alright and glad to see evidence that her training had paid off. Then she was called away, but she promised to check in with them at the Grangers' house the next day.
After talking to Tonks, they finally made it to the bank and their very late meeting with Silverstaff, who was just amazed that they had still decided to come see him. The business discussion was kept brief and then they made a quick trip back home.
When the Grangers got home that evening Jean sought out her children and found them up in their room. Hermione was reading, watching over Harry, who was surprisingly asleep. What Jean didn't like were the potions bottles on the night stand and the splint on Harry's hand. She had knocked lightly and now whispered, albeit urgently.
"Hermione, what happened?"
Hermione sighed and set an alert spell over Harry, knowing that he would most likely still be asleep for a while. Then she guided her mum out of the room.
"Come on mum, let's go downstairs and I can tell you and dad everything at the same time."
Jean didn't like the sound of this, but conceded to that and a minute later Neil was looking at his worried daughter with concern as she sat her parents down in the living room.
"Dad, mum saw Harry upstairs. He's resting while the potions work on him. Our outing in Diagon today didn't go as planned. Death Eaters attacked. Thankfully we were there since the Aurors took a full three minutes to show and the general populace did little to defend themselves. Of course most of the shoppers were housewives out for Friday discount day. Harry and I both sustained minor injuries. Two innocents were killed. Several others were injured. Four Death Eaters were killed. I honestly don't know how many of those were due to Harry and I. Some might have been from friendly fire on their side with how inaccurate they were firing. A number were captured and will be interrogated by the DMLE. All I got was a minor cutting curse on my leg. A healing spell and a bit of salve tonight and I'll be fine. Harry took a glancing blow from a bludgeoner on his left hand. It could have been worse. He had four broken bones. We came home with skele-gro and pain potions. He refused to go to St. Mungo's. I would have preferred the hospital, but the bones were clean breaks and the potions are straight forward, but they will make him sleep a lot. I need to make a hearty soup tonight with lots of starchy potatoes for him to aid in the treatment. He should be fine in a day. Honestly, it was terrifying while it was happening, but our training proved out and we're fine now."
Neil was off the couch and pacing anxiously as he turned back to his daughter, shaking his head.
"Damn! Damn! Damn! I hate this! I wish we could take you both away from all this!"
"I know dad. I don't like it either. Remember, Harry and I feel each other's pain. I feel a bit of his fatigue as well. I'm ready to be done with Voldemort and live my life with my soul mate reforming pureblood wizarding Britain. Until then we do the best we can. Now, I really should work on the soup. Do you mind having that for dinner?"
"No dear, make what you need. I'll come help."
Hermione nodded and Jean went to help her in the kitchen. Meanwhile Neil decided to go work in the backyard. Jean had purchased some new large bushes the previous weekend and they needed holes dug. He figured taking his aggression out using a shovel on their rocky soil might help his attitude.
Harry slept for a couple of more hours and then insisted that he eat dinner downstairs with the family, although he did allow Hermione to make a sling for his hand. The soup was quite good and the potions made him eat three bowls worth. By the next morning he had finished the last potion and only needed to keep the splint on for the rest of the day to complete his treatment.
The next day was Saturday and normally they would visit the manor, but Harry was still recovering and Hermione wanted him to limit his movements. He had been thinking on something during the night though and wanted to do some research that would require the library. Of course, with their link, Hermione was well aware of his idea. She wasn't entirely thrilled with the idea, but she could see some merit to it and so she agreed on Saturday morning to visit the manor and find the books he needed.
Early Saturday arrived and Hermione woke, unable to sleep any longer as her thoughts churned with Harry's idea. Or Harry's thoughts were churning. Sometimes when they were both thinking about the same thing and working through the same problem it was hard to tell where one person's thoughts ended and the other's began. She carefully climbed out of bed so that she didn't disturb Harry. Then she showered and dressed before using her lady's ring to portkey to the manor. That was an incredibly useful bit of information they had found a week earlier in the lord's office-the information to allow the lady's ring to be granted portkey status to the manor.
As soon as she arrived, Giley and Dobby appeared, but she sent them back to their tasks and made her way to the library. It didn't take more than an hour to find what she needed and she was ready to return home. Before she did, she checked with Besa in the kitchen and the elf was happily waiting with fresh baked buns and fruit from the orchard that she took back for breakfast.
When Harry woke, he thanked his wife for her early errand and gave her a searing kiss. After breakfast they then both began working on research. After several hours, he had his answer and a plan began to form. Hermione didn't like it much, but she had to agree that she didn't have anything better.
That afternoon, Tonks came by to check on them and also update them on the cleanup and arrests. Even with her unique skills, she looked like she hadn't slept since the previous day. When Hermione offered her leftover homemade soup and bread for lunch, the stalwart Auror's facade almost crumbled with gratitude. As they sat eating lunch, she gave them their update.
"Well, the attack was actually highly planned within Voldemort's ranks. One of the ones we captured was Lord Walden McNair. Looks like he was the leader on it and it was his idea to aim for a Friday discount day. Apparently Mum McNair used to favor them and he figured the Alley would have more visitors than usual. Everyone else was secondary, but all were still marked and fairly high up the food chain. A lot from families whose names you would recognize. Shack is having various charges drawn up and the trials should start in a couple of weeks. There are two individuals who will take that long before they are released from St. Mungo's anyway."
Harry nodded, taking in the information and thinking now may be the time to propose his plan. Not with McNair for certain, but someone a bit more junior.
"That sounds good Tonks, so McNair is inner circle, will he be able to tell us where Voldemort is based?"
"Maybe, but because he sits on the Wizengamot he is protected from serum questioning, at least until a trial. If he gets a good solicitor, he can delay that for a while. The others are marked and do not sit on the Wizengamot, so we have already questioned them with serum. Unfortunately, they all talk to someone like McNair who has protections. None of them are close enough themselves to know where Voldemort is based. You have to love our system. So, they are close, but not too close."
"Damn, it seems they're learning their lesson. I do have an idea though, but it's not something you can approve. I need to talk to Kingsley and soon. I know he's busy. This actually is a bit tricky since he doesn't know the prophecy. It was easier when Amelia was the director, because she was an ally. Anyway, can you take him a note directly?"
"Um, sure. Mind you, they're both still not happy about the fire, but you earned points with your work yesterday. Write something up and I'll take it as soon as we're done eating. By the way, did you cancel training today since I'm working?"
"Yes, I sent notes to everyone while Harry was sleeping off the potions yesterday. I figured you would be busy before you even told us, plus I knew Harry needed to recover."
Tonks nodded and finished her soup. Then Harry went and retrieved some parchment and drafted a brief note to Kingsley that he sealed with his signet, asking that he meet with him as soon as possible at a place of his choosing. Tonks took it as soon as he was done. She seemed a bit more relaxed after a few minutes with friends and some good food. She then apparated away, leaving the Potters to return to their reading.
Several hours later a pop in the Grangers backyard brought Harry to attention while he was cooking dinner. Despite the wards on the property, both he and Hermione had their wands in hand since they weren't expecting any magical visitors. Then they heard a familiar voice calling from the backyard.
"Wotcher Potters and Grangers! I brought you a visitor. The man you wrote a note to earlier today decided to come chat now."
That was way too specific, combined with Tonks' unique manner of address, to be an imposter and everyone calmed a bit. Hermione went and opened the back door for their visitors.
"Hi Tonks, hi Kingsley, come on in. Harry's turning his pots down and then we can talk."
"Pots? Ooh, something does smell yummy."
Harry laughed as Tonks grew her nose to an impossible length and extended it toward the kitchen.
"You're both welcome to stay if you wish. Shrimp scampi over linguini with spinach."
"It smells great, but my elf probably already cooked something."
"Well, I don't have an elf. All I have is a can opener. I'll be happy to stay."
Hermione laughed and then introduced Kingsley to her parents before all six of them went to the living room. Hermione looked warily at her parents. They hadn't heard the plan yet and she knew they wouldn't like it. Still, they needed to know.
"Mum, dad, you're welcome to sit in, but you need to know that we're going to discuss a final plan to take on Voldemort. You won't like it, but we have to move ahead."
"I figured by how serious the two of you looked all of a sudden that I wouldn't like it. I suppose it's better than random attacks on the way to the bank. Go ahead, I'll try to keep quiet over here."
Harry nodded and took a breath as he looked to Kingsley.
"Kingsley, Tonks briefed us on the arrests earlier today. I know McNair led the attack on Diagon, but he is protected due to his seat on the Wizengamot. That's ridiculous, but it's not something we can do anything about for now. It seems he is the only one of the group with direct contact with Voldemort. The others are marked, but haven't been that close. I want to use one of them for a messenger. That means letting one of them go though. I know, I hate the idea, but I have a possible solution. Here's why I want to do it. We can't just sit back and let Voldemort send out his attackers to do his dirty work whenever he wants. It took the Aurors three and a half minutes to respond and look what they managed to do in that time. And that was on a magical target. Muggle targets are worse. We need to find Voldemort. I know Dumbledore mentioned a prophecy, well it says that it has to be him and me. I know some don't believe the prophecy, but anyway we need to flush him out and fighting me will do it. So, I want to challenge him to a duel…"
Tonks hissed and Jean gasped. Neil could no longer sit still and got up to pace behind the couch as Harry continued.
"I've been reading the ancient rules on dueling. I'm not talking the modern dueling circuit rules. The ancient rules are different. I, as the heir of Gryffindor, am going to challenge the heir of Slytherin to a duel under the ancient rules. I want a one on one battle at the ancient site that is said to be the birthplace of magic in the British Isles. I don't want to give him the advantage of calling on his werewolves for the full moon on the thirtieth, so the duel with be the 22nd of July. The spot will be at the confluence of the Rivers Tay and Lyon on the edge of the Tay Forest near the Croft Moraig. Anyone who is a student of history will know the significance. I am sure he will bring his Death Eaters and I will bring my supporters, but we shall personally only fight each other. His pride will force him to accept, not to mention that turning me down will look bad in the eyes of his followers. That is the message I wish to draw up and have carried to him by one released prisoner via a chain of compulsion charms. Also, even though we have to release one prisoner, we can try tracking him after he has a chance to carry his message. They may check for magical tracking charms, but I doubt they know a thing about muggle devices. I want to try to put a muggle tracking device on the person we choose. Then we can just take him back after he serves his purpose."
Kingsley sat back and looked at the young lord in front of him. The room was silent for long minutes while everyone contemplated Harry's plan, but it was his place to break the silence.
"Damn, alright Harry. It's a hell of a plan. I don't like it one bit, but I don't have anything better by a long shot. I can see that Hermione is supporting you, but I can guess she doesn't like it either. We would have just over a week to get our forces together. You wouldn't prevent us from going against anyone else besides Voldemort?"
"No, he will bring his best I'm sure and so will we."
"Fine. I'll agree. There is a young halfblood we have who has worked himself up the chain of command amazingly far. Name of Taylorson. I'd prefer to not release one of the purebloods back to their families. Draft your letter and I'll arrange to meet with him tomorrow and give him the letter. Tell me about the compulsion charm you are planning?"
Harry squeezed Hermione's hand. This was where her brilliant spellwork would come into play.
"Well, Harry's plan for the duel is the main focus, but the message has to get through several hands to Voldemort. That means getting past any number of individuals who may decide they know better and decide not to pass it on. The initial compulsion charm on the first person is easy enough, but we need to layer the charm so that it passes on to each person who handles the letter. I've found an interlaced charm that should work. It's tricky, but as long as it doesn't take too long between each handoff we should be fine. So I'm also adding a bit of an urgency compulsion. This kind of charm work is intensive though and typical parchment can only hold so much. I've seen some special parchment that's quite expensive, but we're going to pick up one sheet tomorrow. It's multilayered with dragonhide so that it will hold the charms better. Once we have that, Harry will draft his letter, I'll do the charms and he can seal it with his signet and blood. Then we can do the corresponding charms on Taylorson. Oh, we will also add a sonorous charm to the spellwork, not quite a howler, but it should make the letter read out loud so that anyone nearby will hear the challenge when Voldemort reads the letter. That will be important, so that anyone of his nearby followers knows he has been challenged."
"Damn. You would think I wouldn't be surprised by now. Are you sure you just finished OWLs? If this all works and we get past all this, I'm swearing Filius to secrecy and then telling him this so he can give you some extra credit. So, it sounds like you have some work to do in the morning. You also need to get that muggle device. I don't know if Taylorson will notice it or not, he was raised magical. Why don't you come by the department around two tomorrow. Once you're done with Taylorson we'll release him to a generic location and send him on his way. It'll be like winning the lottery for him."
"Sounds good. I know this is not the best situation, but hopefully this will see an end to the madness."
Kingsley sighed and nodded. He hoped so too. Still, it just seemed like more madness added to the rest.
The group spent another half hour planning and ironing out details for the next day. The Grangers were even given a couple of tasks. The timeline was tight, so everyone would be busy with tasks in the morning before releasing their messenger in the afternoon. Once the details were finished, Kingsley excused himself and then Harry returned to the kitchen to complete dinner. Tonks stayed and raved over the meal before leaving for her own flat shortly after nine that evening.
By the time the Potters turned in that night, both were feeling the fatigue of a long day spent planning monumental events and worrying too much. They needed the comfort of each other and happily cuddled up, wrapping themselves together tightly. Even mentally there wasn't much conversation, touch said so much more. After a bit though the kisses grew longer and more heated until they were snogging and soon even the few items of summer sleepwear started to be tossed aside. As Harry stared down at his wife and she saw the burning green fire that desired only her, she couldn't help but whimper as her body responded and she felt a trickle of fluid between her legs. Then he was kissing her again while his fingers explored her. His thoughts betrayed an apparent need to work up her desire, but she had about had enough.
Harry James, get your bloody fingers out of the way and make love to me already!
Harry gave a mental chuckle and then he finally complied as he quickly slipped into her, gasping as he pulled her closer and thrust as deep as he could into her. With their eyes locked, they were completely merged and began to set a mutual steady rhythm. Neither wanted to end too soon, but both desperately needed to come. It was a heady dance, an impossible balance that continued for long minutes. When Hermione felt she was close, she flipped them over and began to ride Harry in perfect, rolling motions, each downward plunge eliciting a perfect gasp from her husband. Finally neither could continue and the explosion came as Harry sat up and clutched her to his chest as he ejected stream after stream into his beloved as their mouths met in a kiss that drowned their silent screams as each clung to each other. The climax lasted untold minutes as each continued small thrusts before finally falling back to the bed and falling asleep still linked to each other in body, mind, and soul.
All too soon the next morning, Hermione's tempus charm tried to summon the lovers from their post coital bliss. Their lovemaking was always wonderful, but sometimes it sent them into a unique oblivion that was almost like an intense dreamless sleep potion that was hard to pull themselves out of and this morning was one of those. After several attempts, they finally managed to drag each other to the shower together and then mostly behaved and finished the shower in a relatively decent amount of time. They may have been a bit late on the schedule for the day, but neither was complaining.
For the Potters, their first errand was a visit to Flourish and Blotts for a single sheet of the special dragonhide parchment. At twelve galleons a sheet, Harry would be writing very carefully and only using the one.
While Harry and Hermione went to Diagon and then returned to start the letter, the Grangers both had errands of their own since it was Sunday and they weren't working. Jean was paired with Tonks, who was apparating her to the chosen duel site in Scotland. It was a relatively remote section of land with historic significance that was also the conjunction of a number of ley lines. Anyone magical would feel the power in the land immediately. Jean's task was to survey the land with Tonks' help. Hermione's methodical mind came from her mother, who spent the morning charting the ground and taking rolls of non-magical film, as well as copious notes, so that they would have the lay of the land. While she did so, Tonks also took lots of magical pictures to add to the effort.
While Jean and Tonks were busy, Neil was in north London at ten when a special shop opened that sold security and surveillance gear. A couple of years earlier he had bought security cameras for the dental practice there and knew they also sold tracking devices used by private investigators. Harry was covering the costs, so he was free to get whatever was needed.
With everyone else busy, Kingsley wasn't slacking either and had gotten to the office early to start contacting some muggle resources. He had been told that the muggles could get detailed pictures of the entirety of the British Isles from space and now he wanted to see if that was true.
By eleven in the morning, Neil was back home and Hermione was looking over the tracking device. With the battery it was about twice the size of her thumbnail, which was quite impressive. Her main concern was how long it would last around magic. Contrary to popular assumption, magic didn't kill electronics instantaneously. It depended on the amount of magic and the device. Still, she didn't think the tracker would last long if they took it into the Ministry. That brought up some discussion and planning that had just started when Jean and Tonks arrived back at the house. Tonks stayed to talk for a couple of minutes, while Jean left to drop off her film at the one hour photo center.
A half hour later Jean was back with a large order of fish and chips and the plan was worked out. Tonks ate quickly and then left to inform Kingsley of the slight change of plans. Harry and Hermione would still be at the Ministry as planned, but from there the plan would deviate a bit.
At half past one, the Grangers wished them well and the Potters apparated to an alley near the Ministry. Once there, they found a nook above some bricks and tucked away a brown paper parcel that contained the tracking device. Then they walked across the street and entered the Ministry via the visitor's entrance. As they entered, they knew their presence would be noticed, but the cover story for the media would be that they were there to give statements regarding the Diagon attack a couple of days previously. Of course they elicited stares, but thankfully Tonks was waiting at the security desk and escorted them quickly through.
As soon as they were in the DMLE offices they were taken straight to a conference room to the side of Kingsley's office where the director was waiting. Once they stepped in, they saw Amelia was there too.
"Minister Bones..hello."
"Enough formality, we're all friends here. I'm glad you're early. Shack has filled me in on the plan and I had my secretary clear my calendar. I can't say I like this one damn bit, but I don't think anyone does. I wanted to talk to you first. You notice Shack just stepped out. This room is level one secure. I'm here to ask a favor, as an ally."
"Alright, please go ahead."
"I know you haven't told Shack everything, but he deserves to know. I respectfully request that you offer an alliance with the Most Noble House of Shacklebolt. You won't regret it. Kingsley's a good man."
Hmm, what do you think love?
Well, we did bring Amelia into the alliance at Arthur's suggestion and that's worked well. House Shacklebolt is one of the Sacred Twenty–Eight. And everything Tonks has said about the man is above board.
"Alright Amelia, we offered you an alliance at Arthur's prompting. I'm willing to do the same with Kingsley at your prompting. If he accepts. Let me bring him and Tonks back in."
Harry stuck his head out and gestured the two Aurors back in. Once all were seated, he took the lead.
"Kingsley, I have some non-Ministry business first. House Bones is allied with House Potter and Amelia has encouraged me to ally with House Shacklebolt as well, if you are willing? There are house secrets that would help you, but I cannot reveal otherwise."
Kingsley took a long slow breath and nodded.
"Alright. I had a suspicion that you and Amelia were allied. I've had some questions. I'll happily ally with House Potter. We both stand for the light. Who else is allied beside House Bones?"
"Houses Black, Longbottom, Weasley, and Lovegood, as well as Remus Lupin, and my in-laws the Grangers. Also the former Blaise Zabini, is now under Potter protection and is privy to our secrets. Now, I, Lord Harry James Potter, offer you an alliance with the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter, what say you?"
"I, Lord Kingsley Aloysius Shacklebolt, accept an alliance with the Most Noble House of Shacklebolt and the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter. On my magic, so mote it be."
The magic flared between them and Harry felt the familiar flare in his signet as he clasped hands with Kingsley.
"Thank you Lord Shacklebolt. Now, there is much you need to know. I will try to do this quick given what else we need to do today…"
Harry proceeded over the next twenty minutes to tell him about the prophecy and the horcruxes, including destroying all of them, up to and including the snake the most recently. Hermione helped with mental promptings to ensure he didn't skip over anything too important in his haste. Kingsley only barely managed to remain in his seat. When Harry finished, he leaned back to give the director of the DMLE a chance to talk.
"Alright, well that explains a lot. I knew there was a prophecy. Albus told the Order that much, but never gave us the exact wording. I don't know how much of it I believe. I know you told me that it said you had to kill him, but now to know the details about how it pinpointed you on Halloween…wow. I wish I'd known about the horcruxes sooner. It explains what the hell you were doing in Wales and why the Minister was aiding you recently and going around me, even if I don't like it. I still think the fire was foolish, but that's past and done. Let's move on with this next plan. We were going to release Taylorson at two. It's now a couple of minutes past. Not that it matters, he'll be glad to go whenever. Are we ready to move forward?"
"Yes, we've got the letter and Hermione's ready with the charm work. Her specialty."
"Well I for one will be interested to watch."
Kingsley nodded in agreement with Amelia.
"I've got that covered Amelia. I've reserved one of the interrogation rooms so that you can watch from the observation chamber."
"Excellent, thanks Shack. Let's get moving then. Tonks, you want to retrieve Taylorson?"
Tonks nodded and headed for the holding cell while the four others made their way to the interrogation room that Kingsley had set aside. The Potters went inside, while Kingsley and Amelia went next door to watch. A couple of minutes later, Tonks brought in the manacled and blindfolded Taylorson.
"Here he is. They changed out his prison garb this morning. I'll go next door and wait."
"Where ta bludy hell am I?"
"Shut up Taylorson!"
Harry cast a silencing charm, as well as a sticking charm on the chair. Then he let his wife begin working her temperance and compulsion charms. The first would calm the subject down enough to let the interlace of the second set of charms work better. Harry stood back and marveled at Hermione's spellwork. She was still fretting over their anticipated OWL results when she could do this? It took a full ten minutes and she was tired by the end, but soon the charms were done. When she stepped back, he waved the others into the room and Kingsley practically apparated over.
"Damn that was beautiful to watch! Alright, he's still looking a bit confunded, time for the next step. Here's the portkey. Set to activate when needed. Grab hold of our man, then tap the key with your wand and say 'Shack', it will take you to the spot we picked out. Tonks went there a couple of minutes ago to make sure no muggles are about."
Harry did as indicated and soon the three of them went spinning briefly and landed in the alley across from the Ministry. It was the same spot where Harry and Hermione had left the tracker about an hour earlier and Tonks was waiting for them.
"Wotcher you two. Let's get moving. Our man is starting to look more alert."
Harry nodded as he went to retrieve the package from the nook where he had secured it. Meanwhile, Hermione bent and cast a minor diffindo on the hem of Taylorson's robe. The small tear in the hem created a perfect small space to secure the tracker. Harry opened the package and turned on the device. Looking at the handheld monitor it appeared to be working. Hermione secured the tracker in the hem and then repaired the small tear in the robe. Finally, she worked one more small memory charm to cover the last few minutes that they were with Taylorson, then she checked that the letter to Voldemort was secured well within his robes. With that done, they all grabbed the portkey and returned back to where they had left to find Kingsley and Amelia waiting.
"So, how'd it go?"
"All according to plan, but I've got the monitor for the tracker turned off inside the Ministry. We're going to turn it back on when we get back to the Grangers. I want to see where he goes."
"Alright, it's Sunday, I want to see this. Will they mind visitors?"
"No. Especially not with how important this is. Mum's pictures should be done now as well. We can discuss strategy as well."
"Sounds good. By the way, I sent a team of Aurors to the Tay Forest region while you were gone and set things up as we discussed, but we can talk more when we get to the house."
Soon the five of them were back at the Grangers and found Neil and Jean waiting anxiously. As Harry looked around, he realized they really needed to bring all the allies in, last minute or not.
"Everyone, I'm going to try to gather all the allies. I would normally bring everyone to the manor, but we need a non magical location. Mum, dad, hope you don't mind?"
"Of course not son, how about I order Chinese? Should be able to order enough to have something for everyone. It's still a couple hours until dinner yet, but I figure we'll be here for awhile."
"Sounds fine. Hermione, should we split the list?"
Hermione and Harry split up and began to apparate to collect their allies. At times like this, they really could have used a phone, but it would do. Harry went first to Neville and then to Grimmauld, where he also found Remus. Amelia agreed to go home to retrieve Susan. Hermione meanwhile went for the Weasleys and Lovegoods, which included Blaise, who was staying at the Burrow. By twenty after three the Grangers house was full of the allies of House Potter, all of whom had been told there was an emergency meeting, but had not been given more details. Thankfully it was Sunday, so everyone had been home. Once everyone was seated with drinks, Harry took the lead.
"Thanks for coming everyone. Sorry for not giving you any notice, but everything has been happening fast. You all heard about the attack on Diagon. Kingsley can tell you more about that, but first you need to know that House Shacklebolt is now part of the House Potter alliance and he knows all the details about what we have been facing. Both Hermione and I received minor injuries during the attack and while I was recovering, I had an idea of how to pull Voldemort out of hiding. It isn't something that anyone is terribly happy with, but we don't have anything better. So, we're going with my plan and it's already been put into motion this afternoon…"
Harry was interrupted by Hermione, who was holding the tracker, which seemed to have now indicated that Taylorson had reached a steady destination.
"Harry, he hasn't moved for thirty minutes. Let me check the atlas."
Neil's large fold-out atlas of Britain had been moved from his office to the dining table and now Hermione was flipping through it and comparing it to the tracking map. Soon she stopped and slowed down before finding the page she needed.
"Kingsley, he's in Oxford just south of the old castle. Right next to the river. Should be just off Paradise Street."
"Understood. I'll be back in a few. We'll put some surveillance in the area, but let's keep tracking and see if he moves again. Harry, please continue, I'll be back."
"Right, we'll explain that in a bit everyone. Anyway, my idea that I had to draw Voldemort out is to challenge him to a duel under the old laws. I'm challenging him as the heir of Gryffindor to the heir of Slytherin."
The room echoed with protests, with Molly Weasley being predictably loud, but Harry put up his hands and eventually the room calmed.
"I told you that the idea wouldn't be popular. Having random Death Eater attacks in Diagon and in muggle shopping malls is worse. This is the plan we're moving ahead with, so let me continue with what we've done. I had to get word of my challenge to Voldemort, so we decided to use one of his junior flunkies as a sort of messenger owl. I drafted a letter on special parchment that Hermione enchanted with some seriously complex interlaced compulsion charms. That letter was given to a man by the name of Taylorson and he was released this afternoon. The charms will compel him to pass the letter on to whomever he reports to, who should then be compelled to keep passing it on until it gets to Voldemort. Of course we knew Taylorson would be checked for tracking charms, but we didn't think he would be checked for muggle devices. That's what you see Hermione watching. We have a muggle tracking device on him. It's our hope that he can serve his purpose and then we can still take him back into custody. Kingsley may even be able to track down some Death Eater bases and take some others in as well. We don't know how long the electronics will last around magic, but hopefully long enough."
Everyone looked a bit shocked, but it was Bill who asked the practical question.
"Alright, I don't like this much, but when and where is this duel?"
"The time I named is noon on the 22nd of July. The location is the purported birthplace of magic in the isles, the ley line center, the confluence of the Rivers Tay and Lyon on the edge of the Tay Forest near the Croft Moraig."
"Shocking, you weren't sleeping through all of History of Magic Harry."
Hermione laughed.
"I said the same thing Luna."
"I do a lot of extracurricular reading. Binns didn't have anything to do with it."
Next to speak up was Arthur, just as a pop signaled Kingsley's return.
"The 22nd doesn't give us much time to plan."
"No, but we've already started. Hermione, why don't I watch that for a few and you fill them in on what we've got so far. Jean, you as well."
"Yes, this morning mum and Tonks did a survey of the site and took magical and non-magical pictures, as well as sketches of the major landmarks. Kingsley, now that you're back, did you get in contact with your sources?"
"Yes. I don't understand these satellite images, but they say they have detailed pictures taken from space that will give us images from the sky of the area. I'll have them by tomorrow. Also, this afternoon I sent two teams to the area. The entire space has been blanketed with keyed anti apparition and anti-portkey wards. Keyed means that if you have the passcode you can get through, which we do. It means if you don't, you have to walk in from over three kilometers out. We've made one exception for a few days. We've created a funnel whereby anyone apparating in lands in a small open clearing. I've got a group of Aurors waiting there of course. Our hope is that when Voldemort gets the letter he'll send scouts and no matter where they try to land, they'll end up filtered straight into the Aurors. That way we at least arrest a few more of his lower echelon. One less wand we have to fight."
"Well, I have your non-magical photographs developed here already, as well as my notes, I can show you the layout of what to expect. Most of the area is open until you reach the forest on the west and southwest. There is some rocky terrain. The only animals are sheep and a couple of deer, but they took off and scare easily."
The focus soon turned to Jean and Tonks who had been at the site the most recently as a couple of card tables were setup and the notes and pictures were spread out in order of the actual lay of the land. Soon stomachs grumbled and Neil called for a large order of Chinese food, amazing a number of the purebloods both with the telephone and the idea that the food would soon appear on the doorstep. When everyone began to eat, the group started to rave over the amazing variety of the exotic cuisine.
As dinner wrapped, Susan was taking a turn watching the tracker and noticed that Taylorson was moving as she alerted everyone. Then there was a sudden jump that indicated he had apparated. As dishes were cleared, Hermione came to show her how to use the atlas and locate where he had moved to. It only took a couple of minutes for Susan to announce the new location.
"Kingsley, we've got him in Wimbourne. Cutback Street right where it bends down toward the harbor. It looks like he's stopped."
"Got it. I wonder if he's in for the night? We can hope. I'll send surveillance there as well."
"The rest of us should probably call it for the night. I know the Grangers have to get back to their business in the morning. Thank you for hosting us."
"Of course. This is all a bit surreal. To think I'm going back to fixing teeth in the morning."
"That's how I felt this past year mum. Working on horcruxes one minute and being the dutiful schoolgirl the next. It's a surreal life."
The rest of the group thanked their hosts and all the allies agreed to meet for training on Tuesday afternoon at the manor. As the last of the guests popped out, the house grew quiet again and Hermione could only think that it was the calm before the storm.