The-Cold-War-Initiated (IV) [Chapter 191]

Harry looked around at the gathered group and he wasn’t able to stop himself from feeling a bit nervous… This was going to be Lost Garden’s first appearance as an organization, so obviously he was somewhat nervous. Even after mulling over the plan quite a few times, he wasn’t certain if everything was going to go as smoothly as he planned or not. After all, plans were meant to go haywire after the first contact with the enemy.

If Harry was on his own then he wouldn’t be so worried… He was strong enough to improvise in the face of all the odds, but that didn’t mean that all of his followers could… Gellert could probably handle himself, but that wasn’t the same for the rest of the members. The only saving grace was the fact that none of the members of Lost Garden were inexperienced, well, except for Jacklyn obviously, but she has access to his Magic, so he was certain that she would be alright.

|You are worrying too much. Everything will go according to your plan| Lily tried to comfort him and Harry seemed to relax a bit after her words, but still, he wasn’t completely certain.

|Well, there is no going back right now…| Harry pointed out internally with a sigh before straightening up. “All right. Let me make a few things clear before we leave… Once we are inside Hogwarts, there is no turning back. None of you will be able to leave without me, or Jacklyn from inside the Wards, which means escape options are pretty limited” Harry pointed out as he looked over at the group. Still, he didn’t manage to find anyone who wasn’t confident or excited.

“We have two objectives. First, Narcissa will retrieve her son from Slytherin dorms and when she is done, she will send me a message through her Mark” Harry explained as he pointed at Narcissa and the woman took all the attention in stride. “Secondly, Jacklyn will be paying a visit to Durmstrang ship to kidnap Karkaroff. When she is done, she will also send me a message through her Mark”

“While Narcissa and Jacklyn will be completing their tasks, all of you will be creating a distraction for them to carry out their mission as smoothly as possible. After getting confirmation from both of them, I will inform Gellert, who will be leading the distraction and he will be the one who will give the order for retreat. After he gives the order, all of you will have a timeframe of 5 minutes to make your way to the seventh floor, where I will be waiting for you” Harry paused for dramatic effect.

“I will be at the exact same spot where I will be dropping you guys and in case you can’t make it back to the seventh floor within five minutes, then you will need to make your way toward the Black Lake, where Jacklyn will be waiting for all of you at the edge of the lake. In case you can’t reach me or Jacklyn, then just leave the school and use your Portkeys after you are out of the Wards” Harry finished his explanation and took a deep breath before his eyes turned cold.

“And if you somehow fail to escape, then I will eventually spring you out from Azkaban” Harry said coldly and some people seemed to stiffen at his words. “And if you plan to sell me out in exchange for a lighter sentence, then I will find you and then I will feed your Soul to Dementors…” Harry growled and some paled at his promise while a lot looked somewhat uncomfortable. It was obviously a promise, after all, Harry didn’t make threats.

“Well, I believe Gellert has only made this clear, but I don’t want you to go for the kill, but at the same time, I don’t expect any of you to die just because you were pulling your punches…” Harry added softly in a caring tone. “All of you have memorized the map, right?” Harry asked, earning nods from every single member of Lost Garden. To make sure everything went smoothly, Harry drew maps of Hogwarts and handed them over to the members of the Lost Garden as he didn’t want any of them to get lost and get left behind.

“Good! I suppose we have wasted enough time… Let’s go” Harry declared and started to move his hands in the air, opening a sparkling green portal beside him, and on the other side of the portal, they could clearly see ancient stone walls. Without any further ado, Gellert made his way toward the portal with the others following behind him. Within a minute, almost everyone had stepped through the portal, leaving only Harry, Jacklyn, Himera, Narcissa and a few more members of the Lost Garden.

Harry inclined his head and another sparkling green portal opened on his other side… On the other side of the portal, they could clearly see the Black Lake and the Durmstrang ship floating at the edge of the lake. Jacklyn approached the portal followed by Himera and the rest of the members of the Lost Garden in the room, but just before she could enter the portal, Harry spoke up.

“Be careful out there, Jacklyn” Harry said with a clear hint of worry in his voice and instead of saying anything snarky or sarcastic, Jacklyn simply nodded her head before entering the portal. Himera and the others followed her soon… It wasn’t a secret that Harry cared about Jacklyn, but this was probably the first time he was showing concern for her so openly.

When everyone besides Harry and Narcissa were gone, Harry closed the portals and looked at Narcissa. The woman looked confident, but he could see that she was nervous… “Are you ready?” Harry asked and after getting a nod from the woman, Harry opened a portal, leading straight inside Draco’s dorm room. Severus had unwillingly given him the exact location of the boy’s dorm room as Narcissa didn’t know anything about his dorm room.

Thankfully the boy was already inside the room and as soon as he saw the portal, he turned toward the portal, but he immediately gaped when he saw his mother standing on the other side of the portal. “He is all yours” Only then did Draco register that there was someone besides his mom on the other side of the portal…