Harry Potter - Hellion!

 

From the previous chapter:

At some point a horrible cry was heard from a tree top, the last one to clear: "Avada Kavadra!" and the ugly green spell sped toward Harry Potter, who looked at it with a growl.

"Harry! Move!" yelled a frantic Sirius, as three cutting spells converged on the lone death-eater, cutting him to pieces.

Back to the story:

The wolf suddenly disappeared, as a bright white light flashed, turned an ugly green, than a dark black before reversing to green and blinding white as a beam exploded toward the tree. The tree that had harbored the death-eater was vaporized explosively, as well as the falling pieces of said death-eater. Everyone nearby was blinded, and saw black and white spots, As they looked around, something was missing, The wolf.

"Hey! Where is Harry?" asked an anxious Mrs. Longbottom.

The muggle scouts and platoon made their way along the path.

"What happened? All we saw was a flash followed by a powerful explosion. I thought we had been nuked!"

"I wish we knew. All we know is that there was this terrible fight between Harry and a rather large group of death-eaters; we began killing death-eaters on our side, and were converging toward Harry's wolf form when..."

"When?"

"What Sirius can not utter is the fact that the last death-eater tried the AK spell on Harry..." completed Remus.

"The AK?"

"The Avada Kavadra, the death spell. No one ever survived it... except Harry, according to Dumbledore. He told the Queen he thought the curse mark Harry wears is the mark of a survivor of the AK. No one can verify this, since the only one to have ‘examined’ Harry after the attack by Voldemort, was Dumbledore."

"Notwithstanding scaring debates, we must find Harry!" exploded Alice.

"What else did you see? Especially during the last few seconds of the battle, just before Lord Potter vanished?"

Sirius, who had been closest, described his observations. "I saw the AK go to Harry, and called him to jump out of the way. As the AK hit, there was a white flash, followed by a green flash, and a very black cloud. I thought Harry had vanished in a cloud of dust, but then the green flash came back, even more sickly green, and there was a beam, much like the AK spell, but which looked a lot deadlier than the most powerful AK I have ever seen, that went and hit the tree where the death-eater had taken position. I noticed your own ruby-red cutting spells had already taken out a good portion of the members of the death-eater, chopping it like a muggle chain-saw, but when the spell hit the tree, it vaporized everything, from tree, to falling branches, to falling limbs. The explosion was so powerful I got blinded and fell on the ground."

"That white flash, the first one, just as the AK, as you call it, hit Lord Potter, did it have a specific shape?"

"Mmmm, let me think. Why do you ask?"

"I wonder if Lord Potter was not in the process of porting or changing shape. You guys have way too many things going on for you for me to conclude that spell worked."

Sirius sat on a tree stump and thought hard. White flash! White Flash! White Flash! A shape appeared in that flash... A bird... The crest... A phoenix. From its color, an ice phoenix.

"Come to think of it, he was in the process of taking a phoenix form, an ice phoenix. Those are immortal. They die and are reborn from their ashes for an Earth Phoenix, from their water vapor for Ice Phoenix, from their last breath for air Phoenixes, and from energy or ethereal spirit for Fire Phoenixes. Dumbledore’s familiar, Fawkes, is an Earth Phoenix. The wand of Prongs, Harry’s father, was cored by a tear from an ice Phoenix."

"Phoenix?"

"There are four known variety of phoenixes, known by their dominant color, and the four element of life established by the Greeks of old, before even the time of the Pharaoh Imhotep."

"What, then, happened? If a Phoenix is immortal, the AK can not have killed him."

"Err..."

"Sirius’ description makes me believe the Phoenix, even partially formed, captured the spark of life contained in the AK, and redirected it back at the sender. That would explain the AK rebounding to destroy the Death-eater and its support," Frank said, scratching his beard. Itchy beard, always reminding me of your presence when I need to think. When I thought I was so happy when it surfaced. How stupid can we be?

"But what about the black cloud?"

Sirius spoke again. "I think that was Voldemort’s horcrux being expelled, as the bit of his wand burned while the Phoenix was being created. Get this: The Phoenix begins transformation, and begins burning the wood piece, releasing the soul shard. The soul shard is caught in phoenix fire, something far worse then fiend-fire, and is being burned ‘alive’ by it. Then it is hit by the AK, whose main role is to uproot a soul and push it on its way to the next great adventure. The AK hooks to the soul shard, extracting it from Harry in the process, and expels it to the ether. As the AK is overpowered by the Death-eater, the AK has substantial left-over potential, which gets redirected in a reverse AK spell by the phoenix, who is, by definition, insensitive to it. Harry is still human and adds his own fury to the spell, which then vaporizes everything in the path of the refurbished AK."

"But where is Lord Potter?"

"One characteristic of a Phoenix is it can jump space and move anywhere in a flash, the phoenix flash. He could be any place now. The last flash we saw was a phoenix flash of astounding power," replied Alice.

"Phoenixes are ‘light’ to the core, but it does not mean that it can not kill if necessity requires it. This tells me that Harry’s true nature was not affected by the presence of Voldemort’s horcrux in the scar, for which I am immensely relieved, for many reasons," replied Sirius.

"As to tracking Harry in this form, forget it. We have no starting point; it moves in the blink of an eye; and I doubt the phoenix transform allowed any of Dumbledore's tracking spells to survive, especially if it was anchored on that wood shard," added Frank. "Let us go back to that military base. Can we get picked up? Or we could bring you to the front door... I need to talk to that security guy. There is a leak in security, a serious leak."

"Sirius, stop playing with your name, it is getting to be a pain."

"Better with my name than with my joy stick."

"Sirius!" exclaimed the three other mages, as the muggles reddened noticeably.

"Dinner seems a good idea. I can tell you the cook does one mean hot dog!"

Sirius fainted. Again.

"Not again! Aquamenti!" exclaimed Remus, drenching Sirius as a result.

"Not again?" asked the platoon commander.

"This morning, when he was in dog form, a doctor told me he needed to be nutted. Now you tell me you eat dogs..."

The muggles laughed so hard at the dog animagus, much to his despair. No one bothered to straighten Padfoot’s misconception, and the mages did not know any better.

"Okay, the fun is over. There are twenty-four muggles, four of us, so six trips to the base. Call in to tell them to expect us at the front gate in two minutes. I want to give them time to prepare. One nervous guard a day keeps your blood pressure up," Frank said.

---

The transport was dealt with in three minutes flat, and the four mages made their way to the C3’s underground control centre with a seventh port. Barely had they materialized that Frank caught the sight of the Major-General.

"We have serious security issues. We were met by death-eaters and they knew exactly where the wolf was, and who he was. Get that guy in security here, pronto. We need to figure out how much this base is compromised!"

The Major-General snapped his fingers, and everything went red, while doors locked, and alarms blared.

"If that security leak is one of our kind, all these neat tricks will not stop the leak, or prevent it from escaping," noted Alice, sourly.

"Maybe he will not respond. We do those as exercises at irregular intervals. There is a good chance he will take it as another practice run."

"Maybe. Meanwhile, we can do a quick mental scan, called a ligilimens, and clear those who are secure. If we could do this in restricted areas, so the information could not move from one area to an unsecured one."

"The base is already divided in this fashion, Mrs. Longbottom. This is to allow keeping contaminated personnel separate. Start here, with my team and I, please. Declaring the base in secure lock-down makes any attempt at moving from one sector to the next physically impossible without triggering an alarm here. The dog tags and collars are for that purpose."

"What if someone removes the dog tag collar?"

"Two things, Sir. One, the simple fact of removing it triggers an alarm as the heart-beat is no longer registering; second, it tells us whom and where the dog tag is; third, and this is not related directly to the collar, but to base-wide sensors, any heat source not associated with a dog tag and collar triggers an alarm in the general vicinity of the life-form. A life-form is anything with a heart-beat. That is why you got these collars and tags. Had you lost or removed them while outside, this room would have automatically sealed off, and sleeping gas been diffused in the atmosphere."

"Could anyone listen to these radio transmissions?"

"They are digitized, encrypted, fragmented, and clouded. It takes a four-level key for things to become clear again, and they change continuously. So, no, no one can listen. And no one can insert a message either, as it would not fit in the sequence."

Meanwhile, Alice, Sirius, and Remus had scanned the current staff, and declared it safe.

"That was quick."

"A quick look in the eyes and a silent ligilimens allows us to scan surface thoughts and determine if someone has done anything related to our issue.", replied Remus. "If need be, we can go a lot deeper. For now, we are ferreting out a spy, and his ideas of what can be gained will surface. Is that a map of the base?"

"Yes, the floor plans, from level +5 to level K. all numbers are above ground, and all letters are below. I wish we had that, ligilimens, you call it."

"The act is called ligilimacy, the person whom is a practitioner is called a ligilimens. Maybe you do, maybe you do not. You do have something equivalent to the counter, occlumency. The guy that picked us up at the gate was a master at it, but yet untrained. All we met was a shield that was a blinding snow-storm. Had we stayed in his mind, we would have lost ours. Yet he did not ‘feel’ magical. Anyway, He will be verified as well."

"If the Headmaster knew how much knowledge we have been telling the muggles, he would have a heart attack before the Queen could finish cooking his nuts."

"Do not worry about that old geezer, Frank. He is one tough nut to crack. He is probably healed from his encounter with the Queen by now. After all, you can not reach one hundred and ten without some innate healing magic to back you up. Next block to search?"

After looking at the map, they decided to start at level A and go down, An exchange with the Major-General reassured them. Their Omega-One collars allowed them to travel from one block to the next without triggering the automatic defenses.

"Meanwhile, check if some people are missing that should not be," said Alice.

"An unauthorized leave of absence, okay."

"Or anything occurring during the last three days with or without permission, sir," added Alice.

"By the way, can you have food brought to Sirius? Some hot food? He adores hot dogs."

"Remus! If I ever catch you, you mangy wolf, I will serve you hot wolf on a plate! And it will not be a bitch!"

The General caught the reference without being explained, and laughed at Sirius’ expense with the others.

"Your veterinarian care must be top-notch, he has yet to show his distemper!"

"Alice!" sneered Sirius while rubbing his butt.

By 18:00, the lower floors of the base had been scanned by the four mages and no one was found that had anything to do with the leak. A phone call to the Palace told the mages the proposed dinner had been pushed back to 20:00 and that left them more than ample time to complete the scan of the military. Of the six thousand five hundred men and women found on the base, two out of three were found to be squibs or magical. That shocked the Major-General.

"Do not take it badly, sir. It just gives you more dedicated resources, which, if used properly, can give you unexpected capabilities," said Alice.

"Lady Longbottom, that is exactly what bothers me: We have been under-using our resources, a treasure throve of capabilities we neglected. Those resources could help us move troops, fire-power, medical facilities, extract trapped personnel from behind enemy lines, and even ferret spies in our midst! They are worth more then their weight in gold!"

"The guy from MI5 said the same thing, if I remember," commented Sirius.

"We found no one under Imperius, no spy, so it is one of those that is not on base right now," said Frank.

"If he or she was involved in the failed attempt to capture or kill Harry, he or she will not show up. Harry did not mince the meat," Remus commented.

"Assuming the bastard did not operate from behind the scenes, waiting to recover the end result," Alice added, "Leading Death-eaters are notorious in sending muscle while keeping behind the lines to assess the options. They have been using that method during this war, with great effect."

The security chief made his way to the group.

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"I have looked at the visitors’ list from yesterday. One is registered as entering, but not leaving... And his signal is nowhere to be found. One Lord Evan Rosier, sir. He verified on the scrolls of the House of Lords, that is why he was admitted. He is a member of the Military Overview Committee."

"Rosier?" exclaimed Sirius. "That bastard is a member of the inner circle of Voldemort’s Death-eaters, a founding member of the Knights of Walpurgis, the group that evolved into the Death-eaters. He is a fanatic. They carried their name: they want to purge the world of impures, namely half-bloods, muggle-borns, and muggles. The Queen knows of it, as its founding charter dates to Slytherin’s second son, that did not take well to muggles at Hogwarts and went into a killing spree. He is, according to the scrolls of Peerage, the only one that survived of the eight Slytherin children. He carried the name by killing everyone with the name, including his father and his mother. Parricide and fratricide were not above him. He was also the only one that carried the capability of speaking to snakes, Parseltongue. I, for one, believe it is the association between that Slytherin and that capacity that has made Parseltongue such a sign of evilness. The founder could speak it, and yet showed no sign of evilness or ill-will toward muggles. It is a miracle he even mixed with muggles!"

"Probably on orders from Voldemort, Black. Voldemort may be a poor strategist, but he is not above trying to spy on potential enemies, however weak he thinks they may be," said Remus.

"We will have his picture at the gates with a shoot first ask questions later rule of engagement," decided the Major-General.

"If he is stupid enough to come back as Rosier, he deserves it. But, somehow, I doubt it. Sirius, I want you to put a reverto ward at each security point."

"Reverto?"

"A reverto, General, nullifies an animagus and any spell done to change the appearance of an individual, including the polyjuice potion, which changes one’s appearance to match that of a person whose hair is added to its base. He could have taken a complete collection of hairs if he visited the barber while here, or just yours, General. After all, we shed hair all the time."

"Talk for yourself, doggy, you are flea-bitten and the fleas are running a hair-logging camp on your belly!" exclaimed Frank.

"Let us get going, guys. We have to set these wards," replied Remus, ignoring the comment addressed at a now red-faced Sirius. "We must secure this base. General, it will take us until 19:00 to do so. We will come back here when we are done. Please explain the upcoming changes to the security shift that will take over at 00:00, as we will be gone to report to the Queen by then."

"What about Lord Potter?"

"We will have to wait until he surfaces. Chances are that all tracking, bindings, and other magical means implanted by Dumbledore got burned with the horcrux. It is a question of luck, now, nothing else." said Remus.

By 19:00, the base had been secured, and people were told to carefully monitor incomings for strange behavior that did not fit their usual patterns.

The mages made their good-byes to the general and popped into the room of the Round Table.

---

"Her Majesty wants you to take a few minutes and clean up before coming to the Imperial Dining Room," said a valet, that had been patiently waiting for their arrival. "You are expected in the antechamber by fifteen to 20:00."

"Where is that?" exclaimed Sirius as the valet made to leave.

"Oh, I forgot. I will be back in thirty minutes to pick you up. The washrooms are on your left after exiting this room. Be dressed for the circumstance: in full glory."

The mages showered, changed robes, put on their sword and helmet, and tied their shield to their left arm. They also wore their surcoat, tied around the neck with a gold clip and held in place by shoulder broaches. All in all, they were an impressive sight.

The men had shaved and trimmed their beard, while Lady Longbottom had put on a hat fit with her style of clothing, a long, conical hat that was held by clips to her hair and let down a white thin veil in front of her face while a long red feather topped it. All in all, it would have been one nice modeling parade for the tenth century nobility! Even Augusta had taken to the style, but she had gone out of her way to make it clear she was the dowager of the Longbottom line.

It did take a good fifteen minutes of a brisk walk to reach the antechamber, where the valet handled them to the Queen’s personal staff.

"Her Majesty is entering the Dining Hall now. It will take some time for things to calm down. From the Peerage list, you are to enter in this order: Mr Lupin, who just got added to the peerage list as of today; Mr Longbottom, who is the second oldest member of the peerage list present, and then Mr. Black, the oldest member in residence for today. Once Mr Potter can enter on his own, he would enter after you, Mr Black, as the oldest on the peerage list."

"Strange..."

"It is not physical age, it is whom appears on the list first. By being the heir of Merlin, Mr. Potter has precedence, and therefore enters last, according to the rules of Camelot. I know it has reversed over time, but Camelot rules now. So Camelot conventions have precedence."

A scant ten minutes later, a trumpet rang.

"Do your entrance, Mr Lupin. Move to the front of the steps, wait for the caller to announce you, and climb the step, turn right, and go sit at the first chair available from that end, facing the crowd. You can not miss it, since there are no chairs on the ‘public’ side of the table."

Remus Lupin left the group, and made his way to the dining hall.

Three minutes later, another horn blast was heard.

"I placed you in the proper order, Mr and Mrs. Longbottom. Please lead your family forward. Just in case you might wonder why you are not first, Mrs Augusta Longbottom, you are a Longbottom by marriage, not by blood. That is why you are after Mr. Longbottom and his wife."

This time, it took eight minutes for the last blast of the trumpet to be heard.

Sirius made his way to the dining hall on shaky legs. The doors opened and the caller began his recitation:

"Lord Sir Sirius Black, " (a lot of titles that Sirius had tried to forget) followed by "Knight of the Round Table, Left arm of King Arthur!"

Where did they find that? Sirius asked himself, as he made his way along the alley separating long rows of tables packed with all sorts of individuals, all dressed for a Middle-Age reenactment. He made his way to the table, and was guided to turn left by a valet. He was too stunned to discuss the change of pattern, and made his way to find he was seated on the Queen’s left. There was a seat to her right still empty. He wondered who would sit there. Remus was at the third seat from the left, and Augusta on his right side; Right beside Sirius was Frank and his wife.

"That is Mr Potter’s seat," said the Queen as she noticed his looks.

"He will need a high chair for a while."

"We know. And a bib."

Sirius understood the seating arrangements clearly. Even the Prince consort was relegated to a further place than Remus, and Charles, however Heir to the British throne he may be, was even closer to the end of the table. On Harry’s side, there was a single empty chair. Harry’s. If things continued, the Windsor line would find itself pushed off the table to the first row on the floor. Even the Queen’s sister. Princess Margaret, was down there now, and she looked baffled. The Queen Mother was at the far left end, the last available seat. If an imbalance of power ever could have been made clearer, that was it. Harry outweighed the balance of the royals by a far shot and ‘owned’ the right side of the power balance, whose fulcrum was the Queen herself.

Rumors were running wild as to whom would walk in next and occupy the lone empty chair.

Down on the front row, shockingly close to Margaret, was a one-year old in a high chair and bib, and right beside him, a four or five year old boy, busy feeding the baby. Who were they?