Harry Potter and the Destiny of Prophecies - 14. Chapter 14

It felt weird to be back at Hogwarts. The day before Easter Break marked the second day Harry and Draco had spent at the school since the night they learned Voldemort had moved into power in Russia and Eastern Europe. Although most of their remaining studies were being taken care of with Aurors and through essays, there were a few practical classes they had to attend, and for the past two days business the Ministry had allowed them to go to school instead of their offices.

Professor Grubby-Plank was nothing like Hagrid when it came to Care of Magical Creatures, but her classes were still somewhat entertaining. Draco was off somewhere in with Professor Vector taking exams while Harry played with horn-tailed salamanders. Still, it was relaxing to be surrounded by his old school friends instead of Ministry officials. He was also amazed at how…childish everyone seemed.

“Harry, have you been studying for your N.E.W.T exams at all?” Hermione questioned him after the fourth time the Salamander bit him.

“Yes.” Harry said crossly, sucking on the bleeding finger and glaring at her. “That’s why we’re here now though, because sometimes book knowledge just isn’t the same as practical knowledge!”

“Fine.” Hermione said rather persnickety. “You really should be making the Ministry let you spend more time here. Not even Pansy has been bitten by a salamander in the last two weeks.”

“Watch it, Granger.” Pansy said from the other side of Hermione, where she was tickling her own salamander. “Harry may not be here to see you sneaking off to cuddle with your baby every night instead of staying in your Head Girl’s room, but some of us are.”

“I take my books with me…” Hermione said defensively.

“But how often do you even pick them up?” Vincent (Crabbe) asked from the other side of Pansy. “Katie told me that you always drop the bag near the entrance and don’t pick it up again until you leave back for Hogwarts.”

“Neville’s my son!” Hermione was very defensive now.

“Of course he is, Granger.” Greg (Goyle) said as they all laughed. “No one in Hogwarts really cares that you leave, but when you tease Harry about the need to study…well we just have to tease you as well.”

“Oh, all right.” Hermione said in a very exasperated tone. Professor Grubby-Plank interrupted them then and told them to put the salamanders back into their cages before heading to their next class. While the Slytherins headed back inside, Harry walked with the remaining Gryffindor seventh-years towards the greenhouses and Herbology with Hufflepuffs.

“Wow, you’re both actually walking with other Gryffindors!” Seamus said, his tone a little testy as they walked in a group.

“It’s amazing isn’t it?” Parvati said in a sickly-sweet tone. “You spend years and years living with them in a dormitory and then they get into the upper years and you never see them anymore.”

“Well we see Hermione when she comes back to cuddle with Ginny.” Lavender reminded them.

“Okay, okay.” Harry said sharply. “Message received. Now, how’s Gryffindor House doing?”

“Just fine.” Seamus said. “I’ve got a room all to myself now. There’s not a single bloke in the dormitory that I started school with so I get my own room.”

“Um…” Harry said, unsure of where this was going.

“Girls room is now just the two of us.” Lavender said airily. “Of course it’s been that way for a while.”

“Is this somehow my fault?” Harry asked sharply.

“Not really complaining, Harry.” Seamus said a little more pointedly. “I mean, Neville died rescuing you, but you didn’t make him go. He volunteered and I would have gone too if I could have. Dean’s in Azkaban where he belongs. Ron’s disappeared off the face of the world, which is good riddance as far as I’m concerned. Still, mate, it’s like we’ve all lived together for years and it kind of hurts that you’ve abandoned us all now.”

“Seamus, sorry.” Harry said as they entered greenhouse number six. “I haven’t been thinking about much besides the war lately. Draco and I were going to have a party a couple of weeks after graduation. I’ll make sure you’re all invited.”

“What are you doing over Easter Break, Harry?” Parvati asked him while they waited for Professor Sprout.

“Work, mostly.” Harry said. “Draco’s throwing a party for his friends one day. I was going to throw one myself but I really just don’t have the time. I’ve got so many meetings with the muggle government and at the Prime Minister’s that I just don’t have the time to organize everything.”

“The Prime Minister?” Seamus squeaked, his eyes wide. “You bloody meet with the Prime Minister?”

“Yes.” Harry said, giving his old dorm mate a questioning look. “Draco and I had dinner with them the other week.”

“Bloody hell, Harry.” Seamus croaked just before Professor Sprout entered. “No wonder we hardly ever see you anymore. Hanging around the good old PM you are.”

“Okay, class.” Professor Sprout said, ending their conversation. “Let’s get ready to do some re-plotting of the Amazonian Strangling Vine!”

Harry managed to escape that class with only a minor bruise on his arm when he let the vine get to close to him. Still, it went a little better than he had expected. Lunch was…odd, to say the least. He sat at the Gryffindor table catching up on idle chatter with Seamus and his other year mates, occasionally listening to the excited banter of the lower years, and returning warm greetings to the kids he’d been teaching until earlier in the year. Still, it felt odd to be in a room full of children and he really felt like he didn’t belong. A glance at Draco showed a similar feeling on his husband’s face and that caused both of them to grin slightly.

The afternoon was spent reviewing with various Professors and going over completed essays and a schedule for practicals during the weeks remaining before the N.E.W.T exams were given to the school. The Ministry had promised them every Friday off for school, and as many Thursdays as possible until the N.E.W.T exams, then they’d be done with Hogwarts until the Leaving Feast. After that, they’d be considered fully graduated, educated adults.

Not that they weren’t functioning in that capacity already, but then they’d have the paper that made it all official.

After dinner, they made their way to Hogsmeade with Hermione. Little Neville had grown so much that they were shocked when Hermione picked him up from Katie’s arms. The little boy giggled and played with Harry’s scar when Hermione let him hold the boy. Draco just smiled as the boy kept tapping Harry’s scar with a very inquisitive finger.

By ten p.m. they were back at Black Manor and asleep in bed, luxuriating at being able to sleep so early.

Saturday morning they spent in each other’s company, making love wildly. Something about having been back to Hogwarts stimulated their desire for each other, and they were very happy that the house elves were seeing to all the preparations. By six that night, they were both worn out as their guests arrived in a large, excited, and talkative group.

“You so did not scare me with that stupid trick!” Seamus was bellowing at Pansy as they entered Black Manor, preceded by one of the house elves. “I was just pretending!”

“Say that now, Irish boy.” Pansy smirked while holding Jeremy about the waist as they entered the living room where Harry and Draco had been sitting in armchairs before the fire. “But you still screamed like a little girl.”

“Give it up, Seamus.” Hermione said, switching Neville from one arm to the other while Katie brought in the bag of baby things behind her. Ginny was by her side. “They got you good.”

“Score another one for the Slytherin team.” Greg said with a broad smile on his large face. Vincent was smiling just as broadly as the pair lugged several overnight bags, presumably for all the girls. Morag was the quietest, her dark hair framing her smiling face beautifully. She’d completely recovered from her encounter with Voldemort over the Christmas holidays.

“Harry, you have to come back to school.” Seamus said as he entered the room. “These Slytherins are winning the practical joke wars. Poor Fred and George’s legacy is doomed!”

“I seem to remember a certain second-year Gryffindor with good prankster skills.” Harry said warmly, also smiling.

“She’s on THEIR side!” Seamus wailed, and everyone laughed. The house elves came in, taking all the bags upstairs to their respective rooms. Harry and Draco greeted their guests and soon everyone was sitting on couches and chairs around the fireplace while Kreacher and another of the elves took trays of drinks around the room.

“So, how was the train ride?” Draco asked to no one in particular.

“Boring.” Hermione replied. She was bouncing Neville gently in her lap while the baby giggled. “Poor little Neville didn’t like being in the compartment and insisted we walk through the whole train.”

“Oh please.” Jeremy groaned from where he sat between Pansy and Seamus. “The little guy was just fine. It was his mother that kept pacing up and down the train.”

“So what?” Hermione said in a waspish tone. “Maybe I’m a little nervous.”

“There’s nothing to be nervous about.” Pansy said firmly, and Harry suppressed a groan.

“So what is up with you two?” Vincent said with a smile of his own, changing the topic quickly.

“Nothing much, really.” Draco said shaking his head slightly. “Poor Harry’s been locked up in meetings except the last couple of days. I’ve been portkeying all over Europe for the last couple of weeks. I think we’ve seen more of each other since we went to study at Hogwarts this week than we have in the last month!”

“What do they have you traveling all over Europe for?” Seamus asked. Of all the people in the room, he knew the least about what they were doing. Harry still didn’t believe the floo call from Hermione that morning talking about him and how she thought they should include him in the Blood Oath. However, she’d said she’d dropped hints with him the night before and surprisingly he had expressed many of the same concerns that Harry and the others had stated. During the train ride, Greg, Vincent, and Morag had sat him down in a compartment while Hermione walked around with Neville and felt him out a little more, before explaining the Blood Oath in detail and what was expected of him. If he’d refused, they’d been ready to alter his memory. However, he had agreed after a long hour of thinking.

Or at least that’s what Harry assumed since that had been the original plan and Seamus was here, memory intact.

“Dealing with those bloody awful wizards calling themselves Aurors over there.” Draco replied, a dark scowl on his face. Harry grinned slightly. Seamus was about to get an earful.

“Doesn’t sound like you’re too happy about that.” Seamus said softly, his eyes slightly wide. He hadn’t spent much time with Draco yet.

“Good.” Draco spat scathingly. “I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong impression. The bloody French are bad enough. Over a century ago they decided that spells worked better in French than Latin and they were quite wrong but refuse to admit that. The Germans at least use Latin spells, but they think all that’s needed is enough blunt force. Worse than you Gryffindors. Then there’s the Aurors from the other countries. The Spanish are decent enough, but they haven’t looked beyond their own borders for so long that they seem to have forgotten how to work with other wizards. The Italians are decent when they don’t have their eyes focused on each other waiting for a knife in the back, and those from the eastern countries don’t have any real organization or training. I swear, after working with them for the last few months I’m convinced that Hogwarts really is the best wizarding school in all of Europe.”

“What about the Americans?” Ginny asked, her eyes bright with curiosity.

“Don’t get him started.” Harry warned, before Draco could launch into an even longer rant. “They’ve gone completely nuts. The seem convinced that magic is limited to these ‘laws of science’ of theirs and refuse to acknowledge that something magical does not have to conform to their silly scientific laws.”

“They insist Time Turners aren’t really time turners.” Draco said in a low growl.

“What do they think they are?” Hermione asked in surprise. She had a lot of experience with Time Turners.

“Trans-dimensional devices.” Draco quoted with a look of disgust. “They insist that all a time turner does is transfer you to an ‘alternate dimension’ that you can change from your original dimension, but they insist the ‘original’ dimension remains unchanged.”

“That’s…weird.” Hermione said after a few minutes. “Still, if you think about muggle science you can see where they get the idea. While Einstein might contradict the possibility of time travel, the Chaos theory will…”

“Enough, Hermione.” Harry growled, feeling his eyes glaze over already. Half the people in the room had very vacant expressions on their faces, including little Neville. She looked at him in surprise for a moment, but blushed slightly after he smiled at her.

“Why won’t she shut up when we tell her to?” Seamus groaned, then winced when Hermione slapped him on the knee.

“You’re not Harry.” Hermione said primly, glaring at the Irish wizard.

“Yeah, you’re not Harry, Finnegan.” Draco said smarmily, leaning over and giving Harry a kiss on the cheek. “You don’t get to be kissed by me either. Harry’s special.”

“Special my arse.” Vince groaned aloud, and everyone cracked up. Kreacher chose that moment to announce that dinner was ready, and Harry led the group into the formal dining room. The next hour passed noisily as everyone at the wonderful meal the elves had cooked. Roast beef so tender it melted in the mouth, potatoes, carrots, the works. Over dinner most of the conversations focused on the upcoming N.E.W.T. exams, and Hermione gave another long speech about studying that had everyone’s eyes glazed. Fortunately, Kreacher arrived with desert at that moment, and everyone began to recover from Hermione’s speech with help from the wonderful assortment of tarts, cakes, and puddings.

“Is the library ready?” Harry asked the house elf when everyone had finished their desserts. Kreacher nodded, and Draco stood to lead everyone upstairs. Hermione gasped when she entered, and seeing the Oath Stone for the first time she gave in to her curiosity and headed right towards it to peer at it closely.

“You can study it more later.” Harry told her with a kind smile. She jerked a little, and grinned at him sheepishly. Neville was being cared for by the house elves while the others were taking the Oath. Ginny looked almost as nervous Katie did. Those who had already taken the Oath stood in an outer circle while those taking the Oath stood in a closer circle with Harry and Draco next to the Stone.

The actual ceremony itself took less time than it had before. When it was done, Harry and Draco had increased the number of their ‘followers’ by four, and everyone was smiling, even Hermione. The house elves entered the room at that time and quickly rearranged the furniture so that they were now all able to sit down. Little Neville had been brought upstairs and was drinking from a bottle while Hermione rocked him softly in the cradle the elves had provided.

“So what now?” Seamus said, staring idly at his hand that had provided the blood for his part in the ceremony.

“Now, it’s time for us to plan for the defeat of Voldemort and the prevention of muggles from taking over the wizarding world.” Harry said solemnly, gathering their attention immediately.

“Bugger!” Seamus snorted. “Are things that bad?”

“Yes.” Draco replied seriously. “Voldemort is first though, and probably the most dangerous to us at the moment.”

“Why is that?” Jeremy asked. “He’s operating in Europe and he attended your wedding without even doing anything. Everyone I know has been speculating that he’s afraid of Harry and has given up on ever controlling England as long as Harry’s alive.”

“At the wedding, Voldemort and I agreed to a truce.” Harry said. Everyone gasped a little at that. None of them had been told anything about that. “It wasn’t with the Ministry of Magic, it was with Draco and me personally and Voldemort. The truce ends on June 1^st, and he expects my answer on a more…permanent solution by that day.”

“What do you mean by ‘permanent’?” Hermione asked, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Voldemort has offered to divide the wizarding world with Harry.” Draco answered.

“Divide the world?” Pansy asked with a curious look in her eyes.

“Yes, I get to control England and he gets everything else, something he’s likely to achieve unless I oppose him because of the Prophecy.” Harry said with a frown.

“But the Prophecy says ‘neither can live while the other does’ or something like that, doesn’t it?” Hermione’s voice was firm as she spoke.

“He doesn’t know that.” Harry answered her. “I only let him know the little bit that I wanted him to know. I also know that once he secures the west of the wizarding communities, he’ll come after us, agreement or no agreement. If we wait for that to happen, we will never stand a chance and he will kill me, all of us, really.”

“So what are we going to do?” Greg asked.

“That’s what we are supposed to figure out tonight, and in the weeks ahead.” Draco answered. “When June 1^st comes around, Harry is going to send Voldemort his response, a resounding ‘No’. We’re pretty sure through the contacts we have that Voldemort will respond by attacking.”

“At Hogwarts, the Leaving Feast?” Hermione asked, her eyebrows furrowed in thought.

“Most likely.” Harry agreed. “The school stands as a bastion against him. We’ve locked him out almost totally from the student population. Everyone who is going to go over to him already has, and has either left the school or been found out and contained. Dumbledore, Hogwarts, and I have stood as a symbol of his weakness for years now, and any attempt to take over our wizarding community is going start with the destruction of the school.”

“Why doesn’t he just attack you here?” Jeremy asked. “I mean, you don’t have hundreds of students, faculty, and Aurors here. I figured you’d be an easier target.”

“There are so many spells and wards around this house and the whole area that the Ministry of Magic would know of any attack long before they go through the first ward.” Draco answered.

“Besides, it’s too visible to the muggle world.” Harry added. “Any attack that would succeed would bring the muggle government down on the wizarding community so fast that Voldemort’s efforts would be seriously hampered. An attack in remote Scotland, where muggles don’t even know a school exists, would affect the wizarding world directly, but not have a big enough impact on the muggles for them to take severe action.”

“Or so he thinks.” Draco finished. “He doesn’t know just how…involved the muggles are trying to become here in England so he doesn’t realize that any attack is going to set them off…unless he loses.”

“Doesn’t he know that you will be prepared for this?” Hermione asked.

“Of course he does.” Draco said sharply. “But he also knows that he has no other choice but to attack now. As soon as Harry is officially done with school, there will be no chance that Harry would not be involved in any operations in Europe. Everything he’s achieved there will be in jeopardy as soon as Harry takes an active part in the hunt for him. We also know he has agents in place at the different Ministries over there, and that they are filtering word to him of the preparations that are being made.”

“By late summer,” Harry continued, “the Ministries of France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and even America will begin to move against his holdings in Eastern Europe. Both Draco and I will be certified as qualified to take part in those operations. By the end of summer, the wizarding world will be at open war with him and his followers over there. The plans being drawn up include creating hunting teams with me along to find and kill him once his power base is destroyed.”

“Merlin.” Seamus gasped. “This is serious.”

“Yes, it is.” Draco said firmly. “His exploits in Russia and Eastern Europe have shocked the wizarding communities all over the world. They are moving to take action, and are being supported in that by their muggle governments. England is the best prepared to take him on, so if he can score an early victory here he might be able to fracture the alliance that is forming. Instead of fighting, he might be able to force the weaker governments to give in to some of his demands.”

“How many people does he have to attack with?” Vincent said, leaning forward with a gleam in his eyes.

“Several hundred wizards and witches.” Harry replied. “But he also has at least ten werewolf packs, three vampire clans, two tribes of giants, and there are reports that he has a few dragons as well. There are also some assorted dark creatures that he’s also gotten to ally with him.”

“That’s pretty much an army.” Hermione said, looking down at Neville with a worried expression.

“And we can’t really warn the Ministry beforehand without revealing too much about ourselves.” Draco admitted.

“We will however, tell them that I’ve had a vision he might be up to something.” Harry told them. “That should give us a few dozen Aurors and MLE on the Hogwarts grounds, plus the students. Once the attack begins reinforcements should arrive within an hour.”

“The disapparition barriers will prevent them from magical means of leaving.” Draco reminded. “The reinforcements should prevent them from leaving the grounds. The trick is going to be getting to Voldemort himself and actually killing him.”

“He’s got so many protective spells about him that harming him is going to be difficult.” Harry said. “I’m pretty sure that in a duel, I will have a slight advantage. The Sword of Gryffindor weakened him while I’m as strong as I’ve ever been. The real problem though is that once his body dies, it is his spirit we have to worry about.”

“Will he try to possess you like he did in fifth year?” Hermione asked.

“Probably.” Harry agreed. “But I know how to stop that from working. What the problem is that when he tried to kill me as a baby, the killing curse rebounded on him and destroyed his body. His spirit still lived and we saw the result of that.”

“He has a protective spell that binds him to the earth.” Draco told them. “When his body dies, his soul lives on. What we need to do is find some way to counteract that, or to trap his soul.”

“I’ll need to get into the restricted section of the library.” Hermione said immediately, her eyes gleaming, and Harry smiled. This was one of the reasons he was glad she had agreed to the Blood Oath.

“We’ll help as well.” Vincent said, and Greg nodded. Hermione almost said something, but then smiled and nodded at them.

“There’s also quite a few books here that I’ll show you how to access.” Harry told her.

“Let me guess, Dark Arts?” Hermione said with a frown.

“What else did you expect?” Draco asked her. “You don’t have to use the Dark Arts to realize that knowing about them can save you when facing dark wizards.”

“True.” Hermione admitted, then smiled happily. “I’ve always wanted to read up on them some more. Looks like I finally get my chance.”

“So, what happens once we face Voldemort and kill his body, then trap or destroy his soul?” Morag asked quietly from where she sat.

“Well, the various Ministries will have a lot of clean-up to do.” Harry answered with a sigh. “That’ll take a few months or even years.”

“Then we have our muggle government to worry about.” Draco added. “Voldemort, or the threat of him at least, has slowed down their efforts to take charge of the wizarding world. They’re worried that any overt actions to reduce the authority of the Ministry of Magic would cause a backlash and increase in support for Voldemort.”

“Why do they think that?” Ginny asked with a puzzled expression.

“Because that’s what I’ve told them, basically.” Harry said. “I’ve been able to get close to their leadership and am probably one of the people they trust most right now. They are planning to weaken our ability to govern ourselves and increase their control of us. According to them, we are all ‘their’ citizens and need to answer to ‘them’ instead of our kind.”

“That’s preposterous!” Millicent screeched, getting a dirty look from Hermione when Neville started to cry. Hermione cooed over the baby and he quieted down. Millicent looked apologetic, and her soft “Sorry” calmed Hermione down as well.

“Regardless of what we think,” Draco said when Neville was again quiet, “that is what they believe.”

“So what do we do about this?” Chris, their secretary at the Ministry asked.

“We have to maneuver them carefully.” Harry said. “After Voldemort is defeated, we have to maneuver them so that they make a very public, and aggressive move against the Ministry and totally discredit them with the wizarding population. Then we can step in and broker an agreement that fits our purposes.”

“How do we do that?” Morag asked.

“That’s why we’re bringing it to all of you.” Harry told her. “Most of our ideas involve the risk of people dying, and we don’t want that. We want you guys to think this over and come up with some ideas. We can work with them and refine them.”

“We’ll work on that.” Vincent said with a nod of his head, then he got a thoughtful look on his face (still on odd sight for Harry to see). “Back to the Voldemort thing though. You have a truce with him and the Ministry doesn’t know about that. How are you going to keep them from sending you to Europe or keep from acting against him there?”

“It hasn’t been a problem for the most part.” Harry answered honestly. “Most of the planning we’ve been doing with the European groups has been defensive in nature only, not actively hunting him down.”

“But that is changing.” Chris said softly. As their secretary he knew a lot of what they were up to.

“True.” Draco admitted. “We’ve got meetings scheduled next week about some plans to make moves against those Ministries currently doing his bidding. That would violate the terms of the truce.”

“So what are we going to do about that?” Hermione asked with a frown on her face. “I don’t like the idea of actually letting him go, but we need the time this truce gives us to prepare for him.”

“Kreacher.” Harry called out, and the house elf appeared in front of Harry immediately.

“Yes, Master Harry?” Kreacher said with a low bow. “How may Kreacher serve?”

“Go up to the attic and bring our guest down here.” Harry ordered softly. “Make sure he is bound appropriately.”

“Yes, Master.” Kreacher replied, disappearing with another pop.

“Guest?” Hermione asked quietly.

“You’ll see soon enough.” Harry told her with a wan smile. Fortunately they had prepared for this event. Silence reigned until the door to the library opened and Kreacher led in the short, portly, and balding figure of Peter Pettigrew, hands bound before him.

“Pettigrew!” Hermione gasped, rising from her chair, little Neville in the crook of one arm and her wand pointed fiercely at the bound man with the other.

“Calm down, Hermione.” Harry told her with a smile. It seemed she was just as angry at the man as he was.

“Harry…how long have you had him here?” Hermione savagely bit out as she sat down and curled her arm more protectively around Neville. She still had her wand out.

“Since the wedding.” Harry answered her with a grim smile. “He was the price I demanded of Voldemort for the truce.”

“Who is he?” Morag asked, confused. Most of the people in the room did not know the full story.

“Peter Pettigrew was the secret keeper for the Potter family.” Hermione answered, her voice dripping with anger.

“It was in the news a couple of years ago when Harry inherited the Black Estates.” Pansy reminded the others. “Sirius Black was imprisoned for killing Pettigrew and thirteen others, but it turns out he wasn’t to blame.”

“Pettigrew betrayed my family, framed Sirius Black, then hid for nearly twelve years.” Harry summarized more quickly. “Then he returned to his master, Voldemort, and helped him get Barty Crouch to rig the Tri-Wizard Tournament so that I would be portkeyed at the end to where they were. It was Pettigrew who brewed the resurrection potion, using my blood and his hand to revive Voldemort. He owes me a life-debt, and he will pay that debt on Monday.”

“I’m surprised he can still walk if you’ve had him since the wedding.” Greg said with a snort. “If it had been me, he would be a bloody mess right now.”

“Take him back to the attic.” Harry ordered, and grinned when the house elf started kicking the man back out the door. Pettigrew just hung his head as he walked out.

“I’d have cursed him so bad he wouldn’t know which way was up.” Hermione growled when the man had left.

“He has a purpose to play.” Harry told them quietly. “Now, if there’s nothing else, how about we all get some sleep? It’s been a long day.”

Most of the people got up and left at that point, quietly telling each other goodnight. Ginny had pried Neville from Hermione’s grasp and was cooing at the boy as she passed and smiled at Harry. Soon enough, the room was empty except for Draco, Harry, and two others.

“We felt your mental tug to stay.” Greg said softly. “Did we get it right?”

“You did.” Draco said firmly. “We’ve got a little problem that you two are the perfect ones to take care of for us.”

“What is the problem?” Vincent asked.

“The French Ministry has caught two Death Eaters that know of our truce with Voldemort.”

“Not good.” Greg remarked.

“No, not good.” Harry agreed. “They haven’t managed to break them yet. They’ve been dosed against Veritaserum and most common interrogation methods, but that will soon break down. Voldemort can’t get them out, and neither Draco or I can do anything directly.”

“So you want us to go in there and kill them?” Greg asked.

“We can’t kill them. That would break the truce.” Vincent remarked, and Greg blushed.

“Very true.” Draco agreed. “They have to escape. We’ve gotten permission to send two Aurors down there Monday. You will intercept them before they portkey across the channel, stun them, and take their place using polyjuice potion. We’ve kept a stock of the stuff just in case something like this happens. You’ll have enough for three days. Make sure you take enough of their hair for those three days. On the second day you will meet alone with the prisoners. That is when you’ll tell them you’re there to help them escape. We’ll give you a portkey that takes them to Sarajevo. Then you get your asses back here.”

“You can’t be caught on this guys.” Harry told them. “Don’t give them wands, don’t help them do anything but get to Sarajevo. Once that’s done…their fate is in their own hands.”

“How are we supposed to stun two Aurors?” Vincent asked.

“Easy, you’ll use the polyjuice to look like us first, then use it again once you have stunned them.” Harry replied with a grin. “Meanwhile we’ll be with the Minister of Magic and he’ll be able to say we really were there since we’ll be talking about things no imposter could possibly know.”

“Which means they’ll suspect Death Eaters using polyjuice potion.” Draco added. “So long as they don’t catch you two, they’ll be nothing to suggest it wasn’t Death Eaters doing the job. Plus, Death Eater activity in the middle of the Ministry, along with what is going to happen with Pettigrew will freak the Ministry out so much that they will fear for our safety.”

“And since they’ll believe from everything that Draco and I are the main targets, and that their defenses are not so strong as they thought, they’ll likely pull back from offensive action and focus on strengthening defenses.” Harry concluded.

“Okay, we’ll do it.” Vincent agreed with a grin. “This sounds like fun.”