The-Fated-Meeting (III) [Chapter 233]

~~Heathgate, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London~~ (A couple of hours ago)

“This is the place?” Himera asked as she stared at the average-sized two-storey house. It was quite a rich neighborhood, that much was evident from the atmosphere around them. “I hope she is going to be worth all the effort” Himera added with a grimace as she continued to inspect the surroundings. They needed to be lowkey for this mission.

“Don’t worry, she will be worth all the effort if we can get her on board. I can assure you of that” Daphne stated coolly.

“Well, you are yet to prove yourself” Himera pointed out before she flicked out her Wand.

“I beat your arse into the ground” Daphne reminded the older woman in a mocking tone, but she didn’t manage to rile up the older woman. It irked her so much.

“Simple delusions. I am completely unharmed” Himera stated primly, making Daphne fume. Only if Himera wasn’t a Mutant… It didn’t take long for Daphne to realize that Himera was not an ordinary Witch.

“If you say so” Daphne muttered, not wanting to humor Himera any more. She wasn’t even sure why the woman was here in the first place. After all, she was here to recruit a 14 year old and deal with a couple of Muggles. She was sure that she could have accomplished the task on her own, but for whatever incomprehensible reason Harry wanted Himera to accompany her.

Was Harry keeping an eye on her? But with the brand on her arm, it was completely unnecessary… Her initial inspection of the Mark had revealed that it was very similar to the Dark Mark and Daphne was almost certain that the Dark Mark and the Sigil of the Lost were created using the same Spell… The Sigil of the Lost was simply much better than the Dark Mark, but it lacked one of the primary functions of the Dark Mark.

Harry couldn’t use the Sigil of the Lost to draw power from his followers, but considering the extreme amounts of raw power he possessed, he would never need to borrow Magic from anyone… Daphne looked down at her arm and the Sigil of the Lost appeared for a moment before it disappeared again… If Himera saw her staring at her Mark then she didn’t bother to make any comments on it.

“So, how well do you know this girl?” Himera asked as she stared at the 8th number house on the street, ignoring the fact that Daphne was staring at her Mark. She could understand what the younger girl was feeling, after all, she hadn’t joined Lost Garden willingly and she herself had stared at her own Mark even though she had joined Lost Garden willingly.

“We are not friends or acquaintances if you are asking that… We are basically yearmates, but I have a habit of learning about them as much as I can” Daphne answered, making Himera stare at her with a bewildered look on her face.

“Then I hope you have a silver tongue or are you planning to force her to join?” Himera asked. In the recluse of her mind, she would admit that Daphne was really strong for someone of her age, but she lacked the sheer presence Grindelwald and Harry possessed. After all, power wasn’t everything, you needed to have charisma too.

“Don’t know, I know exactly what she wants… You just need to be there and act scary from time to time” Daphne stated with a smile on her face. She knew exactly what made Granger tick and she wanted to get back at the girl for quite some time due to how the girl acted in her own timeline, but this girl was not the same girl who vexed her so much.

“I can do that” Himera gave her a deep nod before Daphne and Himera finally started toward the house in front of them. After the two of them arrived in front of the door, Daphne raised her hand and pressed the doorbell without wasting any time. A few seconds later, a woman in her mid-thirties opened the door, but she didn’t open the door completely. Daphne stared at the woman, the similarities between the woman and her daughter were simply uncanny.

“Hello, Mrs Granger, I am Daphne Greengrass, your daughter’s classmate, may I come in?” Daphne stated with a polite smile on her face and the woman seemed to tremble a bit at her words before she warily glanced at Himera. Then she once again turned toward Daphne… The younger girl looked high-class and proper while the older girl looked like a thug.

“I am not sure…” Emma Granger began to say but she froze when both Daphne and Himera revealed their Wands. The woman gulped before she finally removed the door chain and opened the door. “Please, come in” Emma invited the duo inside the house and now that she saw Daphne in a better light, she could see that the girl was of her daughter’s age, but the older thug-looking girl was making her really nervous.

“Who is it, Mom?” Someone asked loudly as footsteps came down the stairs, and the girl froze when she noticed the guests. “Greengrass, what are you doing here?” The girl asked, sounding completely surprised, and Emma breathed out a sigh of relief as Daphne was really her daughter’s classmate…

<Line Break>

~~Bones Manor~~ (Present Time)

“Looks like Voldemort is taking no chances… He really really wants you six feet under” Harry pointed out as he used his finger to move the window curtain a bit to stare outside the manor. He could see at least twenty Death Eaters, dressed in the full Death Eater regalia standing right outside the Wardline and that was just on one side of the manor. He didn’t need to be a genius to know that the manor was surrounded from all sides.

“Ain’t I a lucky woman…” Amelia deadpanned sarcastically as she started to set up her defending position in the middle of the staircase. The sarcasm in her voice was so thick that Harry was going to need a diamond cutter to cut through it, but he was glad that Amelia was still in the mood to joke. “Can you help me set up the barricade?” Amelia requested as she wanted to save her energy for the fight.

“Sure” Harry immediately agreed and started to help her levitate the objects to the stairs. Harry had to admit, it was a really good position to defend.

“Why aren’t they attacking yet?” Amelia asked with a frown. After erecting Anti-Apparition and Anti-Portkey Wards around the house, they stopped doing anything. The Floo had also stopped working, but Harry was certain that the Death Eaters didn’t block it from this side, which meant, it was cut from the other side. “Their plan would fail if the Aurors showed up” Amelia muttered, looking confused.

“They are waiting for their Master, I believe and even if you somehow managed to alert the DMLE, I don’t believe anyone is going to come…” Harry stated after thinking for a bit. “By the way, when Voldemort attacked during the last War, did the Floo stop working at that time too?” Harry asked curiously.

“...I am not sure, but it must have been or the victims could have escaped through Floo even if they couldn’t use Apparition or Portkey to escape” Amelia answered with a thoughtful look on her face, trying to remember the reports. She was only a Junior Auror during the last time, so nobody showed her the investigation reports if she wasn’t present there at the site. “Why?” Amelia asked when she realized that he must be on to something.

“...I believe there is a rat in the Floo Department” Harry answered thoughtfully.

“Some of the Senior Aurors suspected that too, so they inspected the Floo Department during the last War, but nothing came out of it” Amelia stated after pondering for a bit. “The Grey Cloaks said that the Death Eaters were probably using some sort of Spell to disrupt the Floo network…” Amelia added as she remembered the fact.

“There are Spells to disrupt the Floo network, but that’s Blood Magic and I didn’t sense any Blood Magic… I highly doubt any of these schmucks know any Blood Magic beyond the Blood Boiling Curse” Harry scoffed. “There is definitely someone shutting down the Floo connection from their side” Harry added with a deep nod of his head and Amelia decided to believe him until proven otherwise.

“Ohh… Look Live, he is finally here” Harry softly smiled as he felt a strong Magical presence appear at the edge of his senses. Amelia immediately grimaced and started to do some last-moment checks before all hell broke loose… She looked around the manor with a longing look on her face… She was going to miss this place. Moments later, a loud crash was heard from the outside followed by similar type of noises.

The Death Eaters have finally started to assault the Wards while Voldemort was simply standing at the back and enjoying the show. Without wasting any more time, Amelia climbed over the barricade and decided to bunk down. Only a minute later, the Wards around the Bones Manor finally collapsed and some cheers were heard from the outside before once again, everything became silent.

Harry could have strengthened the Wards, but that would have been counterproductive… “Don’t die” Harry said to Amelia before he pulled out his Invisibility Cloak and put it on. It wouldn’t do if the Death Eaters noticed him… That might scare off Voldemort and he couldn’t have that. Amelia gripped her Wand tightly and then the entrance of her manor was blasted open with a loud bang…