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HP - Chapter 380: Raids
🕑 Added 2024-11-01 06:53:10 +0000 UTCDisclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
“Dialogue”
‘Thoughts’
-Author notes-
Chapter 380: Raids
They flew for almost an hour, passing over several Muggle towns, but Bellatrix didn’t so much as glance in their direction. Their objective was clearly someone specific.
Eventually, Bellatrix stopped mid-air, and Snape halted beside her, hovering while looking down at the landscape below.
A large grassy clearing stretched out beneath them, with a stone path leading to a single, expansive house. Even from this altitude and in the night’s shadows, the house’s size was obvious.
“Who lives in there?” Snape asked.
“Our target,” was all she said before beginning to descend.
Yaxley found Snape’s predicament amusing, chuckling loudly. But didn't give any explanation either.
Snape could only hope the old man broke his hip during the landing.
“The wards shouldn’t be too strong. This family has been in decline for several generations,” Bellatrix noted.
“The last lord of the house dared to marry a half-blood with no standing… Disgusting, and not much different from choosing a mudblood. What a way to spit on your ancestors,” Yaxley sneered.
Then it dawned on Snape...this was not a Muggle household. They had come to attack a wizarding family. One that the Dark Lord had some disagreement with, no doubt about that.
“Which family lives here? Do I not deserve to know at least that much?” Snape dared to ask, needing the answer.
Was it someone from the Order? Or maybe a Wizengamot member who had displeased their Lord?
“Blood traitors,” Yaxley answered with a sneer.
“This family used to follow the old customs,” Bellatrix added, “but in the last generation, they’ve begun to change their ways. And despite being a pure-blood family, they’ve chosen to remain neutral and ignore our Lord’s invitation. Tonight, they’ll have their last chance to correct things, or they will perish.”
“Who?” Snape insisted.
Bellatrix glanced at Yaxley.
“The Davis family,” Yaxley answered, certain Bellatrix had already forgotten their name.
“Davis…” Snape echoed.
‘Tracey Davis…’ One of his Slytherin students...a girl from fourth year. This is her family…’ He thought with dread.
There was nothing he could do to save them from what was coming.
Any rebellion tonight could result in his immediate death.
“Can you breach the wards?” Bellatrix asked Yaxley.
“Sure, but it may take a bit of time. My skills aren’t what they used to be,” the old man said.
“We have time.” Bellatrix spoke calmly as she looked toward the house, a glint of anticipation in her eyes. “We have time…” she repeated.
<><><><><><><><>
“Is everything okay? You’ve barely touched your dinner,” Harry noted.
Since they couldn’t be seen together at the Yule Ball, he and Daphne had chosen to spend a relaxing evening in the Room of Requirement.
“I’m just…not very hungry.” Daphne poked at a chicken thigh with her fork.
“Dobby will be disappointed. He put a lot of effort into this meal,” Harry teased.
“Wait…” She looked up at him with concern while almost dropping her fork. “Dobby made this?”
Harry chuckled. “No, I was joking. Dobby’s enthusiastic about cooking, but his sense of taste when it comes to human food is… questionable at best.”
“Oh…thank Merlin.” She shuddered, remembering the one time she had tried Dobby’s cooking.
“So, what’s wrong, then? If you don’t want to stay here all night, we can go out. There’s still an hour left before midnight. We could get changed and…” He trailed off, not particularly keen on going out but not wanting to ruin her night, either.
Daphne smiled, appreciating his thoughtfulness. “Thanks, but it’s not that. It’s just… I don’t know how to explain it.”
“Try,” Harry suggested.
Daphne thought for a moment. “It’s like this feeling… a sense that something terrible is going to happen.”
“Like a premonition? I didn’t know you had a gift for Divination,” Harry said, smiling.
“I don’t…and Divination is no longer a thing, remember? They removed the classes from everywhere. They said that the entire branch of magic was dead.”
“Yes. Professor Silverbell believes it might be due to the fractures in the walls between alternate realities. Making it impossible to predict any future outcome.” Harry didn’t fully understand Divination, other than it had nearly ruined his previous life.
But the timing seemed too coincidental...prophecies going dark, Seers losing their sight, just right when the Convergences began happening.
Perhaps Diviners hadn’t been seeing the future at all, but glimpsing into alternate realities. Possible futures that might still come to pass, depending on certain choices. And now that the worlds were no longer connected, they had all gone blind.
“Well, I doubt it’s that. I think it’s…wait!” Daphne’s face went pale, and she nearly jumped from her chair.
“What’s wrong?” Harry’s expression grew serious. Daphne wasn’t one for overreactions, so whatever it was, it was serious.
“I think someone’s trying to break into my house!” Daphne exclaimed.
“Are you connected to your wards?” Harry asked, surprised. He thought only her father could monitor them.
Daphne shook her head. “I’m not. But at the end of the summer, I set up a basic Blood Guard perimeter around my house. It doesn’t offer real protection, but it does alert me if it’s breached… and it just triggered.” She looked at him, her expression deeply worried.
Harry immediately stood up, walked to one side of the room, and opened a black portal.
He reached inside, and pieces of enchanted jewelry flew out, arranging themselves on his body. His goblin-steel staff hovered by his side, and his black robes layered themselves under an even darker fabric.
“Harry…Astoria’s there too,” Daphne said, her voice tinged with fear.
“Let’s go take a look. If anyone’s trying to harm your family, I’ll deal with them,” Harry replied.
Daphne pulled out her wand, her eyes narrowing.
“We’ll deal with them,” she corrected.
