The Assassin

Chapter 2

The sun was close to setting in the town of Little Wellington in Surrey. While most of the occupants of the small town had gone home and begun to unwind for the evening, in one particular house on Privet Drive, a family of three had just begun to start their rather loud and disruptive nightly routine. Unaware of their obnoxious actions, the obese father and son duo walked out of the house and to the shiny sports car in the driveway.

Harry Potter sat perched on the rooftop directing across from his disgusting family’s house. He was hidden from their view by the chimney, never once being caught in all of the years he had spied on them. Even after all this time, anger and resentment heavily weighed on him as he watched them from afar. Harry had studied their routine for years. But never had he carried out any sort of revenge like he would desperately hope for when he was younger.

“Here you are my dear boy,” Vernon Dursley’s obnoxiously loud voice boomed throughout the whole neighbourhood. “Take us for a drive. You’ve earnt it.”

Scoffing and rolling his eyes, Harry watched as his uncle handed the keys to his cousin. After all this time, that kid was still being spoilt as if he was the prophet boy that was destined to save the entirety of the planet. Not only last week had the whale of a boy spat a tantrum in the middle of Privet Drive when his father had not allowed him to drive. Harry smirked as he thought back to a red faced Petunia Dursley rushing out to resolve the conflict.

Earnt it his arse. The fat pig had never done a productive thing in his life, let alone be a good student. Harry had done his research on them all. He had seen the school report cards, the complaints from neighbours, the police reports on Dudley, the client claims of disrespect or mishandling from Vernon’s business. This family was probably the most hated one in town. Which made Harry very happy indeed.

The detestably loud rumbling brought Harry out of his thoughts while it also filled the previously peaceful surrounding streets. Harry chuckled darkly as he watched multiple neighbours angrily storm up to their open windows, glaring in the direction of the offending car before almost simultaneously closing them. Never before had he witnessed such a collective dislike for one family in his life as right now in this small town of Little Wellington.

The front lawn was slightly torn up as the vehicle reversed as fast as an airplane. Smoke begun floating up from the back tires as the young drive held the car stationary in the middle of the street and spun the tires. After a headache inducing minute of a continuous burnout, the car roared off down the street, barely missing a street lamp and mailbox on its way.

“Typical,” scoffed Harry as he turned his attention back towards the now quiet house.

By now Petunia Dursley would have almost finished cooking the large sized dinner for her family. As the two boofheads normally leave the house for a joy ride, she sets the table and sits down on the couch to watch whatever program her heart desires. Harry has stalked their house enough times to observe how controlling Vernon is over every aspect of his wife’s life. He has witnessed the physical, mental and emotional abuse many a time. In a way, he almost empathised with his maternal Aunt. Yet a part of him can never forget what she did to him.

The sun had almost completely set, casting the town in darkness. It was now a little safer for Harry to move positions and not become compromised. He slowly came out from behind the chimney, sitting in front of it now. Just as he settled in, Petunia entered the living room with an exhausted expression on her face and collapsing haphazardly. He watched as she didn’t even bother to change the channel, instead choosing to close her eyes and rest her head back.

“Harry,” his body not flinching at all, Harry turned his head to the side and smiled as he saw the white, glowing figure of a patronus. “New mission. Come back immediately.”

The transparent and clearly defined unicorn dispersed in to thin air, the deep echo of Drew’s voice lingered in the air. Work never stopped for the field in which Harry worked. Wanting nothing more to distract him from his new possible mission, Harry quickly pulled out the small box from his pocket, picking up the shrunken wooden broom. Unlike last time, he did not cast any spell on himself. One thing he had learnt from all of the years he had spied on the Dursley’s was to never perform any sort of magic near their house. Dumbledore had set up a spell to trigger an alert if Harry’s magical signature was detected in the immediate area.

Knocking quickly three times on the door, Harry waited for the grunt of acknowledgement before he entered Drew’s office. He opened the door to find a rare sight inside. Papers were scattered haphazardly on his desk as well as piling up on the two chairs meant for guests. Harry frowned as he saw Drew pacing back and forwards, hair messy, clothes untidy. The man looked like a mess.

“Sir,” Harry cautiously approached him as if not to spook the other with his presence. “You needed me?”

Drew turned to Harry slowly, his dark brown eyes holding all of the emotions the quiet man was experiencing. The older wizard conjured two chairs from books that lay nearby. He gestured for Harry to sit as he, himself lowered his tired looking body down.

“As you know, I sent Parker out on a mission to track down the diary a few days ago,” Drew begun slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose. “He has yet to return. I may need to send you out for a rescue.”

“Yes Sir,” Harry nodded, concerned for the slightly older, missing man. They were rarely sent on rescue missions. And when they were, it was more so to retrieve the fallen bodies. “Exact location?”

“Unknown,” he sighed. “I sent him on a mission to find the diary. I believe the last known location was Wiltshire, England. And as we know, a known follower of the Dark Lord Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy, has a property there. Begin your investigation there and work your way around any possible locations until he is found. I want a report by midnight otherwise I will come hunting for you.”

Harry nodded before swiftly standing up. He left the room without another word and headed downstairs to his room. Closing his door, he conducted a quick check over himself and his weaponry to make sure nothing was out of place or damaged. He chuckled at himself as he realised he almost forgot something. So wasting no time, he grabbed the only missing weapons from his body; his two bicep knives and holsters. After he quickly attached them to their correct place and adjusted his leather cloak to hide all his weaponry, he walked out of his room.

Walking over to the room directly opposite his, Harry entered Parker’s bedroom. He looked around for a small object that he could take with him to help track down the missing man. His eyes were drawn to pocket knife sitting on his desk. Harry bent down to inspect it, finding much to his delight, that it was indeed covered in useable fingerprints. Grabbing a tissue, he picked the pocketknife up and wrapped it carefully to preserve the prints. He placed it in his pocket before he apparated to Wiltshire without moving from his spot.

Landing in a quiet, dark alleyway, Harry took a second to observe his surrounds. The street appeared mostly empty. Nearby restaurants and stores had barely any customers. He could feel no magical aura in the immediate proximity. Harry pulled out the pocketknife carefully. He held it delicately in the palm of his hand while removing the tissue to reveal the object. Looking around once more, he quickly casted a non-verbal Disillusionment Charm over himself and the object. Although he blended in with the environment around him, if anyone was to concentrated on his spot then they could easily find him. Keeping that in mind, he flicked out his wand from his holster to prepare the tracking charm.

“Avenseguim,” he whispered, moving his wand in the required motion.

The pocketknife vibrated in his hand for a second before lifting a few inches in to the air. It begun to float out of the alleyway, Harry following closely behind it to ensure he did not get lost. He carefully walked along the fairly quiet streets, his guard up at all times and wand at the ready. Anytime someone new started walking on the same path, he would spend time observing them, looking out for signs they see him.

After a lengthy walk, the pocketknife had led him to a more secluded part of the town. Along this road were houses that looked to be built in the 18th century, many based in the middle of giant blocks of well-maintained land. This sure did look like the type of area a pure-blooded, rich family would buy and live. And Harry was correct in assuming as the pocketknife begun to slow in it’s travel and turned to what looked like a gravel driveway that led to the middle of an empty paddock.

Watching the pocketknife carefully, it headed towards the gravel driveway only to bounce off an invisible barrier. A dark smirk overtook Harry’s features as he snatched the pocketknife out of the air and cancelled the tracking charm. He took two steps towards the boundary, careful to not get close enough to the point of tripping alarms. He held his hands up while closing his eyes. He studied all of the charms and spells placed over the house in hopes of easily being able to break them.

Tonight seemed to be his lucky night. Whoever warded this house did a poor job, it was almost laughable. Who would have thought that a pure-blooded household didn’t properly ward their home? In his mind, Harry was able to see all of the current occupants in the household. It even included all of the magical and non-magical creatures. The word human appeared behind his close eyes, followed by a list of names: Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, Parker Basely. Bingo!

With his eyes still closed, Harry begun to slowly dismantle certain wards, temporarily placing new ones in their place that will benefit his entry and escape. The wards that sounded an alarm when triggered were now gone. So were the wards that prevented apparition and unlawful trespassing. Harry opened his eyes after he was satisfied, finding the beautiful mansion appearing slowly before him.

Taking a deep breath in and scouring the land in front, Harry made a mental plan of the best route. His plan was to stick to the shadows and along the hedges that led up to the magnificent house. He took one step forwards. Feeling the wards shift around him, accepting his presence without triggering alarms. A dark smirk played with the edges of his mouth.

Harry adjusted his long, leather cloak before swiftly walking to the left side of the path. He crouched down behind the very first bush, peaking around it to look for any signs of movement. This mission was going to take time and patience, one wrong move and the game is up. Perhaps that was why Drew choose him. A bubble of proudness engulfed him for a mere second before he squashed it down. He couldn’t let emotions interfere with the task at hand, it was too dangerous.

Slowly, Harry started to stand up from his squat. He studied the house once more to find no signs of movement. Looking around the front yard, he noticed a flock of white peacocks. Mentally shaking his head as he thought of how predictable it was for a rich, pure-blooded family to have fancy animals. Confident there was no one around, Harry dared his first of many careful moves. Darting out from behind the bush, Harry agilely ran towards the house, careful to hug his body as close to the bushes as possible.

Spotting movement out of his peripheral vision he quickly ducked behind the nearest hedge. Harry double checked his Disillusion Charm was still present before turning his head to the right side to locate the source of his problem. About a hundred yards away were a small group both in the air and on the ground, five to be exact as Harry squinted to make out the figures in the dark. They all looked to be around his own age, perhaps these people were Lucius Malfoy’s son and his friends. He sat and watched for a few seconds, observing the two up in the air chasing each other while the others cheered them on.

The group of five seemed to be in their own world and oblivious to the current intruder on their land. Satisfied the threat was nearly non-existent, Harry continued along the path once more at a rather restrained pace. He would rather take forever to get to Parker than rush in and be caught. Merlin would only know how a duel would go down in this household.

Snaking his way between the bushes and the path, Harry kept one eye on the group at all times while the other eye stayed on the house. Once again he crouched down behind a hedge, this time scouting out possible ways to enter the house. He scoured the building, looking for any windows open or any doors that had been left open. Smirking once he realised a window had indeed been left opened on the second storey floor.

Harry looked around the entire vicinity to ensure the coast was clear. He nimbly ran up to the base of the house, standing directly under the window. He lifted his hand up, aiming it just beside the opening.

“Carpe Retractum,” he whispered under his breath.

A long, slim rope shot out from the palm of his hand and attached itself to the wall of the house. Harry stilled, knowing the rope was now visible to anyone. He looked over to the group and silently sighed in relief as they were all occupied. Not wanting to get caught, Harry gripped the rope with both hands, giving it a tug to ensure it was sturdy. He begun to scale the wall as if he weighed nothing. In the short amount of time it took to get to the window, he was neither out of breath or sweating.

Harry peaked inside of the room cautiously to find a spacious bedroom decorated in colours of white, dark grey and green. He rolled his eyes at the glaring obvious Slytherin themed room. Pausing before he fully entered the room to check if there were any charms, spells, jinxs or wards in place. Harry scoffed as he sensed none. This family was either too careless to consider properly warding their home or too cocky to ward their home properly. It was probably the latter.

Looking around while perched on the side of the building, Harry located the small group over to the right. His eyes widen as he saw all of the lift in to the air on their broomsticks and speedily start to head towards the building, weaving and ducking around each other. Keeping his cool, yet knowing he needed to act fast, Harry pushed off the wall and swung his whole body to the left. He watched as the window got further away before it rapidly came back towards him. Pointing his feet and inclining his body slightly to be more vertical, Harry let go of the rope while at the same time jerking his body forwards.

Harry landed with his right hand out, aiding to stop his body overshooting his land. His left foot and right knee on the ground and the leather cloak wrapping around his body from the sudden halt. He looked back quickly knowing he didn’t have long to get out of the way. Running to the nearest corner to the window, Harry had just enough time to control his slightly elevated breathing before five people flew through the opened window. Stilling his body and calming his breath to nothing, his eyes observed every single inch of movement from the group.

“Dobby!” Harry’s eyes snapped to the right, locating who had just yelled without his body reacting.

A timid, skinny elf appeared in the middle of the room. He was already in a deep bow with his nose touching the ground. Harry looked upon the creature with pity as it shook in its place. While he wasn’t against owning house elves, he was wholly against the abuse they were often subjected to under the ownership of most pure-blooded and some half-blooded families.

“What can Dobby do for little master Draco Malfoy?” the elf squeaked out, not chancing to lift up out of the bow or to look at his master.

All of Draco’s friends started snickering, hiding their laughter behind hands. Harry couldn’t help but smirk. The world was full of little gift wrapped bundles of karma. He watched in amusement as the Malfoy seed clenched his fist tightly around his broom handle and his face promptly turning as red as a tomato.

“Do not call me little,” Draco snarled, taking a threatening step forwards and looming ominously above the shaking elf.

“Dobby is sorry master Draco,” suddenly the elf begun to hit itself in the head repeatedly. “Dobby will make sure to give himself a good punishing.”

Draco smirked as he puffed his chest proudly, looking down at the elf with revulsion burning in his eyes. Throwing his broom carelessly on his massive bed and gesturing his head to the side, his friends followed his actions. While none of them could see him, they sure could sense him. The hairs on their arms and back of necks all stood up as a powerful, yet subtle wave of magic washed over them. Harry was shaking in anger at the mistreatment he had just witnessed.

“Be a good house elf and take all of these brooms to the shed for me,” Draco said with a silent shudder as he began walking towards his closed bedroom door. “Then prepare my friends and I a snack.”

“Yes master Draco, right away Dobby will do that,” the elf stammered out before clicking his fingers, Dobby and the brooms disappeared within an instant.

With a smirk on his face, Draco walked out of the room and loudly talked as they made their way down the nearest staircase. Hoping the coast was clear, Harry skilfully tippytoed over to the doorway. Poking his head around the frame and looking left then right, he silently sighed in relief as the hallway was empty.

Harry crept out of the room and stuck as close to the wall as he could. He headed in the direction of the staircase where all of the noise was coming from downstairs. Checking all directions, he made his move across the hallway and paused against the wall to ensure he was still clear. He poked his head around the corner, yet there was no one in sight.

Carefully and taking his time, Harry begun his decent. His eyes flickering everywhere to observe all of the surroundings. His ears on high alert, taking in all of the new sounds and processing them quickly. His body moving purposefully in a way that would ensure his presence would be kept a secret.

Just as Harry had reached the last step on the staircase, he detected small movement out of his peripheral vision as well as hearing approaching footsteps. Stilling in place, not even moving his head, he watched as a tall, lanky man walked briskly out of the hallway beside the staircase.

This was obviously Lucius Malfoy, no doubt in his mind. The older man had long silvery-blonde hair that reached passed his waist. He carried a cane with him, not that he needed the assistance, but rather needed to intimidate others. He dressed in a fancy silver and green robe that swished out behind him as he walked.

Harry’s eyes followed every movement of Lucius’s. His breathing almost inaudible as he watched the man turn to walk up the stairs, walking right passed him without knowing he was there. Lucius got so close to Harry that if he had gone more to his right while ascending the stairs then their shoulder’s would have brushed.

Only after the older man had entered one of the rooms upstairs did Harry dare to move or breathe. Taking the last step, he was safely on the ground floor. He cautiously walked over to the nearest wall and stilled his movements as he saw the room where Draco and his friends were hanging out in. He needed to be careful with his next few moves. Too much movement or too suddenly, then he would most likely be caught out by them.

Now his next problem was trying to locate where Parker would be. Knowing the history of pure-bloods, it wouldn’t be an uncommon occurrence to have a cellar big enough to detain a few prisoners. Thinking for a few seconds on the best solution, he knew he would have to risk a small chance of being caught. He would need to use a version of the revealing charm.

“Homenum Revelio,” Harry whispered under his breath, fingers crossed that this wouldn’t end in disaster.

Harry eyes were glued to the small group in the room across the hallway. He watched as the spell draw red crosses above each of their heads that was only visible to himself. His eyes were drawn to his far left where a marker had appeared on the floor, signifying the presence of a human underground. Smirking in relief, Harry took a step to his left, edging closer to the marker.

Draco turned his head, looking around the room. Harry held his breath and stilled all movement, hoping this moment would pass by smoothly. Draco scanned every inch of the room he was in before briefly looking out in to the hallway.

“Is something wrong Draco?” a female voice asked, presumably Pansy.

“Thought I felt something,” Draco shrugged as he turned his head away from the hallway. “I’m sure it was nothing.”

“Could be that house elf of yourself playing tricks,” a deep voice said, Harry didn’t know who it belonged to.

“Nonsense,” Draco chuckled, relaxing back in to the couch. “They wouldn’t dare try such a thing.”

The group laughed, all chance of being caught gone for now. Harry kept his eyes trained on the group while warily taking steps to his left and back against the wall.

“So is he back?” a voice asked.

“Who?” Draco responded.

Harry frowned as he continued to slowly make his way towards the still invisible marker.

“He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named,” a different voice asked.

Freezing in place, Harry watched the group. The three males were leaning in towards Draco, eager to hear the answer. While Pansy and Draco just smirked and sat back.

“You know we can’t say,” Draco boasted. “But if you promise not to tell anyone.”

“We promise,” all three boys immediately said.

“Yes,” Pansy and Draco said at the same time.

“But we can’t talk about it here,” Pansy continued. “Wait until we are upstairs.”

Shock flew through Harry’s system as he processed the information. Concentrating on the task at hand by pushing that information to the back of his mind, he finally stood near the mark and looked around at all of the possible doors that could lead underground to the cellar. Deciding to not risk opening each of the five nearest doors, Harry pulled out his wand and the pocket knife again.

“Avenseguim,” he whispered and repeated the same wand movement as before.

Once again, the pocket knife vibrated in his hand for a second before lifting in to the air. Harry watched as it travelled across the hallway and to the left, heading towards the second nearest door on that side. He was grateful to notice how close the door seemed to be the front door. Looking around the hallway, he followed the pocket knife carefully, a little nervous to have his back to the room where the small group currently were.

The pocket knife bounced off of the door, creating a small bang. Harry winced as he snatched it out of the air, cancelling the spell silently, wrapping it up again and pocketing it. He quickly turned his back against the wall and looked down the hallway just in time to see Draco and one of the others poke their head out of the room. Staying one hundred percent still, Harry’s eyes watched the two look around.

“You heard that too, right?” one of the unknown males said, voice deep but not as deep as the one before.

“Yes,” Draco whispered and squinted slightly as he looked down the hallway beside the staircase.

“You boys are overreacting,” Pansy laughed as she walked out of the room and headed upstairs. “This is an old house. Old houses generally making a lot of noise.”

“Not my house,” he replied as he rolled his eyes and followed her up the staircase.

Harry was still tense and on high alert as the other three males followed their friends upstairs, looking around the surrounding hallways in suspicion for a mere second. Only once he heard the door close from upstairs did he relax a little. Rolling his head to the right, he looked at the door. Surely it couldn’t be this simple? Frowning, he lifted his right hand and held it close to the wooden frame.

With his eyes closed and breathing slowed, Harry looked for any signs of wards, spells, charms or jinxs. And a few moments later he was glad he checked as behind his closed eyes he saw a nasty jinx for any unauthorised personnel and an alarm that would be triggered. Quickly disabling it, Harry looked around the area before opening the door only slightly. He slipped in passed it and softly shut the door, clouding the room in darkness once more.

“Can’t leave me alone for more than an hour, aye Malfoy?” the thick Ireland accent said from further down the cellar.

“Try again,” Harry chuckled before nonverbally casted a nox charm with his finger.

“Harry?” Parker asked in utter shock. “Harry is that really you?”

“The one and only,” he smirked as he walked down the few steps.

“No don’t come any closer!” he suddenly yelled out.

“Hush or they will hear you,” Harry paused on the last step, spitting out viciously and turning his head towards the door.

“Sorry, but I’d rather not see you caught up in whatever jinx or ward he has in place,” he sighed, shuffling around in the dark.

“Already done. I am not an idiot,” he growled out quietly, stepping towards the cell in which his co-worker and friend was being held in.

Harry cancelled the Disillusion charm as he came to stand in front of the nearest cell, holding his finger higher to cast some light in to the extraordinarily dark room. He saw his friend hunched over in the corner, clothes dirty and beard untamed. The room itself was basically bare and absolutely dirty.

“Well blimey,” Parker laughed, dragging his aching body towards the metal bars. “If anyone could successfully rescue me, of course it would be you.”

“I haven’t rescued you yet,” he smirked darkly, the light from his finger casting extra shadows over his face.

“Don’t tell me you are going to leave me here to rot, Mr. Potter,” the Irish man feigned hurt as he placed a hand on his chest.

“Me? Leave you here?” he chuckled. “Very likely but today is your lucky day.”

Harry stepped back and held up his left hand. He flicked his wrist and with the tiniest pop, the door to the cell was opened. Harry moved forwards, opening the door, before he dragged Parker’s right arm around his shoulders to help carry his friend out. He silently cast a Disillusionment charm on them both as they begun slowly walking towards the exit.

“Best way to leave would be to go through the front door,” Harry whispered. “It’s the closet exit without apparating.”

“Why can’t we just apparate?” Parker asked as he went up the first step with a grunt.

“Because I want to get the diary after getting you to safety,” he replied as he tried to make it as easy as possible for his friend.

“But that would be a suicide mission,” he stopped walking, looking at Harry as if he had lost his mind. “Look where it got me.”

“I’ll be prepared for a duel if I know where the damn book is located,” he grunted before gently shoving Parker along. “Do you know where it is?”

“Yes,” Parker sighed, knowing it would be a losing battle if he withheld the information from this determined guy. “Downstairs office, first door nearest to the staircase. Bottom drawer on the left side of the desk. It is under a lot of protection, you’ll need to be fast before you make an escape. Be prepared for every charm and jinx in the history of Dark Arts to be thrown at you if you are caught.”

“Not a problem,” Harry smirks as they finally reach the door. “Thank you.”

Staying on the top step, Harry leaned forwards and placed his ear against the door. He stilled his breathing as he listened for any signs of life on the other side. After half a minute, he felt it was safe enough to open the door and begin their slow escape. Within a nod to Parker, Harry slowly turned the door knob, pushed it ajar slightly and peaked his head out to scout the surrounding areas.

“Safe,” Harry whispered, looking at Parker with a soft smile.

Slowly, Harry made his way out of the cellar and helped Parker along the way. He turned around to close the door, making sure to close it without making a sound. When he turned back around, he paused as he spotted movement to the left of them. A woman with long blonde hair, yet not as long as Lucius’, walked down the staircase and in to one of the rooms further down the hallway. Harry sighed in relief as the coast was once again clear.

“That was close,” Parker whispered, shaking his head in disbelief.

Harry hummed in response as he started walking towards the entry, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. They reached the doors without another hiccup. Looking around and finding the place still empty, Harry opened the door. He paused with it slightly ajar, looking around for any signs of life. He poked his head out and looked up towards the windows where Draco’s room was. But thankfully he couldn’t see anyone. Nodding to Parker, they stepped outside quietly. Harry leaned back to close the door gently, sighing once he successfully did.

“Halfway there,” Parker chuckled.

“Shut up,” Harry whispered. “There an open window up there with five people inside.”

“Well shit, this is going to be fun,” he rolled his eyes.

“It’ll just take a little longer, that’s all,” he said as he guided the both of them towards the hedges.

Unlike coming in, Harry wanted to stay on the grass side of the bushes as it will give more cover from the windows. As they walked to the first one, he kept looking over his shoulder and scanning the windows for any movement. He crouched down, forcing Parker to do the same, just after they got to the first hedge.

“Stay here, do not move,” Harry whispered. “You’ll be safe here until I get back.”

“You’re really doing this?” Parker asked with a shocked look.

“Yes, now stay,” he rolled his eyes and turned around.

Scanning the windows as well as the grounds, Harry felt it was safe enough to go back inside. He ran while staying as low to the ground as possible. Nodding in satisfaction when he reached the door within seconds, knowing it will be an easy run to Parker on his way out. He paused briefly to control his breathing before he opened the door once more. Sticking to the right side of the hallway, Harry made his way along it towards the staircase.

Harry kept every sense he had on high alert, not afraid to stop if there was something that caught his attention. Luck was on his side for now as he successfully made it around the staircase in to the other hallway. First door under the staircase. Harry smirked as he saw that he was standing right next to it. But before he entered it, he decided to check for any nasty hidden surprises. Holding his hand up and closing his eyes, he found nothing in place. How odd.

Looking around, Harry slowly opened the door and entered, closing it immediately behind him. The room was full of all sorts of peculiar items and furnished by dark wooden, luxurious items. He walked around to the other side of the desk, kneeling down in front of the drawers. Harry was just about to touch the desk when he felt a small ball of energy start to form. Maybe the room didn’t have any wards in place, but the desk did.

Once again for the umpteenth time that night, Harry closed his eyes and examined the desk for any harmful measures. Glad he didn’t ignore his intuition, he found a novella sized list of charms, jinxs and wards. With his eyes still closed, he begun to dismantle them all. It would take a while, but the reward outweighs the risk. He would give an arm and a leg to get his hands on a known horcrux.

A few tense minutes went by before he could safely access the contents in the desk. He opened his eyes and reached his hand tentatively forwards to the bottom left drawer. With a shaky breath, his hand touched the smooth wooden handle. A second later, he slowly pulled open the drawer. Harry’s eyes laid upon an old, black diary on top of layers of unused parchment. Success. Harry reached in the drawer and stroked a finger down the smooth yet slightly rough cover.

“Lucius!” a high-pitched, piercing yell from nearby.

Harry whipped his head up to find Narcissa standing at the now opened door. Shit, he needed to get out as soon as possible. While Narcissa couldn’t see who he was, she could now see his outline. Without hesitation, Harry lifted his hand and stunned her. He winced as her stiff body hit the ground. Harry quickly secured the diary in his inner pocket of his cloak before standing up. He walked over to the door and paused as he heard a rushing set of footsteps.

“Narcissa!” Lucius’s voice yelled upon seeing his wife’s body lying on the floor.

Grabbing his wand, Harry attacked instantly, trying to stun the older man instead of harming him. Yet Lucius was ready as the red light raced towards him. Easily able to deflect it, Lucius fired back without hesitation. Going down the nasty root like Parker warned. Lucky for Harry that he has had extensive training in duels and has a comprehensive knowledge of defensive spells and counter charms.

“Reveal yourself coward,” Lucius yelled as he sent a vicious ’Diffindo’ at him.

Deflecting the cutting charm and sending another ‘Stupify’ again, Harry swore as he looked all around him for an exit. The only possible one was blocked by Lucius at this current time. Harry tried to throw two different stunning spells at the same time, one from his wand and one from his hand. The older deflected one and ducked out of the way of the other. Before things could get anymore out of hand, Harry needed to get out of there first.

“Fumos,” Harry whispered under his breath, dodging out of the way of a white coloured spell.

Smoke rapidly seeped out of both his hand and wand, filling the room with a grey haze with double the speed. Soon both Lucius and Narcissa were gone from his view, engulfed in the smoke. Praying that the older male didn’t move around too much, Harry drew upon his memory to help him escape. Walking slowly towards the staircase, sticking to the wall, Harry watched in amusement as Lucius casted spell after spell after charm after charm. What the other didn’t know was that by casting these spells, Harry could safely locate him and avoid running in to him while making his escape.

“Little bastard!” yelled Lucius in a fit of rage. “Where are you? Show yourself you little coward!”

It took all of Harry’s will not to laugh or snicker as he successfully made his way out of the smoke filled corridor. He quickly raised his hands and cleared all trace of his magical signature from the entire house. His head whipped up the stairs as he heard people walking down them, only to find Draco and his four friends storming down. Without any more hesitation, Harry ran for the entry, not even looking back as he heard a shout. Harry slammed open the front door and ran directly to Parker.

“I’m guessing that things didn’t go well?” Parker yelled as he saw Harry making a mad dash for him.

Harry didn’t have the time to react as a red spell whizzed over his head. Running lower to the ground, he dived towards Parker, crashing in to him roughly. But before either hit the ground, Harry apparated the two of them out of there, not wanting to chance getting hit by anything else. Harry had apparated them to the outside boundary of the house, out of sight from the occupants of the house.

Parker and Harry watched as Lucius, Narcissa, Draco and his friends all came outside and begun to search the area. Harry closed his eyes and removed his magical trace from the spot he had just apparated from. This took a lot of energy out of him, he rarely erases the magical trace from this far of a distance.

Without saying a word, Parker wrapped both of his arms around Harry’s tired looking body before apparating them both to safety. The two landed in the middle of the lounge room where there just happened to be half of the house. Everyone gasped as they saw the two tangled up in one another. Harry groaned out as he tried to get out of this mess.

“Harry,” Parker breathed out, in pain. “As much as I appreciate being rescued, I don’t swing your way mate.”

“Shut up,” Harry barked out, untangling his limbs and clothing from the other. He was in no mood for jokes.

While the rest of the group begun to laugh, Harry stormed his way up the stairs and directly to Drew’s office. That was the last thing he needed after the way the mission had gone.

“I’m okay that you swing that way,” Parker yelled up to him. “Just don’t take it personal.”

“Parker, shut up,” he yelled and sent a wave of his raw magic down to the group.

Harry tried to calm his nerves down before he reached the third floor, which wasn’t an easy task. He stood outside the closed door for a second and breathed in deeply. Knocking three times, he waited for permission to enter. The door opened and Harry saw a worried looking Drew standing right in front of him.

“Come in, Harry,” the thick, Scottish accent calmed Harry instantly. “Report?”

“Successfully rescued, alive and mostly unharmed,” Harry said as he stepped in and closed the door. “Also successfully retrieved the diary.”

“You or Parker?” Drew sat behind his desk with a shocked expression.

“I did,” Harry stood behind the two chairs as per usual, taking on a comfortable yet powerful stance.

Drew nodded his head slowly, processing the information. He watched with intrigued eyes as Harry reached in to his cloak and pulled out the well preserved diary. Once the item was placed on the desk, he leaned forwards and studied it from a safe distance.

“How did the mission go?” he asked while flipping open the cover to reveal blank parchment.

“Relatively well,” Harry hesitated to answer.

“Harry,” Drew warned, giving him a stern look. “What happened?”

“We, or I, might have been compromised,” he whispered with his head down.

“Were you seen or identified?” he asked, slightly preoccupied with the diary.

“No,” Harry said.

“Magical trace?” he asked as he picked the diary up with both hands.

“Completely erased. Parker apparated us from afar after I did my final sweep,” he said, watching for a reaction.

“Well then why are you worried?” Drew asked with a frown, placing the book down and gesturing for Harry to sit.”

“You know why, Drew,” Harry shook his head as he sat down, his tired body agreeing in relief.

“They have no chance to identify you,” he rolled his eyes. “You will not be revealed to be alive. You did everything I taught you, correct?”

Harry nodded his head, worry slowly easing from him… Just not completely.

“Then you need to relax a little, Harry” Drew said as he placed down the diary and folded his hands together. “This is it.”

“Really?” Harry’s eyes lit up in excitement. “When shall you be destroying it?”

Drew leaned back in his chair, contemplating everything. He shrugged his shoulders as he tiredly ran a hand down his face. Harry picked up the diary and started to examine it. Suddenly a vital piece of information resurfaced to the front of his mind.

“Ah Drew?” Harry tentatively asked.

“Yeah?” he asked with a sigh.

“He’s back,” he said, putting the diary down.

“Who?” Drew asked, sitting up straighter in his chair with worry.

“Voldemort,” he winced. “I overheard a conversation that he is back.”

“Well shit,” he chuckled darkly. “This changes everything.”

Harry nodded his head. Drew and him had previously talked about what would need to happen if Voldemort came back. He dreaded the plan they were about to put in place. But he understood that he had an important role to play in this war.

“It’s time then,” Drew sighed. “You know what needs to happen.”

“I don’t want to,” Harry pouted, feeling all of his energy leaving. “Please don’t make me.”

“Harry, we’ve talked about this. You need to go back to the wizarding world and draw him in,” he said with a soft tone, empathising with the younger. “You need to find the remaining Horcruxes and destroy them so he is mortal once more.”

“But that requires searching Hogwarts, does it not?” Harry asked.

“It does,” he nodded. “Which means you need to go there under the guise of a student.”

Harry groaned and ran his hand down this face. This was another thing he didn’t want to do. He would only suffer while being in the presence of incompetent wizards and witches. All of the house dramas and love sick teenagers. Let alone being near one of the most dishonest, evil, manipulative wizards of all times; Albus Dumbledore.

“And how shall I reveal myself to that fuckwit?” Harry growled out. “It better be something miraculous.”

“Oh, I have a plan in mind that you will most certainly enjoy,” Drew smirked evilly, causing Harry to smirk along with him.

Harry leaned back in his chair, awaiting to hear the plan. He hoped that deep down it would include some type of revenge on some of the people that abandoned or hurt him. Mainly the Dursley’s. But that was not limited to just them. Dumbledore and some of the others tasked to ’watch’ him, were inadvertently responsible for all of the horrible things he endured as a child. Oh how desperate and dark his mind was as he sat there imagining all of the things he could do.