XXXXX Reserve, Greek Islands, 7/21/1986, 23:39
Harry had just arrived by the portkey Narcissa had acquired for him and was making his way to the Eastern Beach. Emerald was the only basilisk on this island big enough to yield large enough scales for Cissa's potion, so he was making his way to her cave.
Narcissa had already given him the notes on the ritual that she had used to remove Bella's dark mark. Harry had made a copy of the notes and given that copy to Dumbledore to examine and modify the runic array to fit their needs.
Now it was time for Harry to hold up his end of their deal. So here he was on an island with seven of the most dangerous serpents on the planet and not another human being within a hundred miles.
Harry began making the hike towards the cave Emerald had turned into a den. He was walking around the outer edge of the beach where there was less chance of accidentally stepping on a XXXXX serpent.
Harry had been here before but never on his own, it was rather unnerving to be the only person on this entire island and took a minute to relax as he made his trek eastward.
Harry was amazed at how bright the moon was shining tonight, it made the white sand of the beach almost glow silver under his feet.
Harry was even more surprised when he saw a shape swimming a few hundred yards out in the sea. Looking closely, it didn't take Harry long to realize it was Emerald. She moved gracefully through the water and seemed completely relaxed as her massive body cut through the gentle waves.
Harry would admit that he had never considered the basilisk a swimmer but Emerald proved they were very at ease in the water. From the way she was moving, Harry suspected she was fishing as he had seen water snakes hunt like this before.
Every so often she would dive under the surface and reemerge about ten minutes later a few hundred yards away.
Harry sat down in the sand and let her have her hunt. He was in no hurry and If he had learned anything from working with snakes for the past few years, it was that you never interfered when they were hunting. This was doubly true in Emerald's case as she was easily big enough to eat him if she decided he was easier prey than whatever she was searching for in the water.
Harry was rewarded an hour later when Emerald emerged with a large fish flopping in her mouth before she glided back to shore.
Harry couldn't identify what kind of fish it was as she began to swallow it as soon as her front half began moving up the beach.
§You're the speaker that I met in my old master's chamber?§ Emerald asked as she slithered towards him.
§Yes, I and my mentor moved you here a few years ago§, Harry answered softly.
§I am very grateful for that, I hadn't felt the sun on my scales since I was a hatchling§, Emerald hissed as she curled up in the sand in front of him.
§We thought you would like it here better, you have grown since we brought you here§, Harry chuckled.
§There is plenty to eat, and there are others of my kind here§, Emerald replied.
§I am glad you are happy here, I have come tonight because I wish to ask you for a few of your scales§, Harry said figuring it best to get to the point as she looked ready to rest.
§You may have some of my scales if you wish, I am close to shedding§, Emerald said with a lazy hiss.
§I will be gentle when I remove them§, Harry assured her.
§What are you going to use them for?§ Emerald asked as he approached her flank and used a spell to painlessly remove some of the dinner plate-sized scales along her side.
§A potion to heal two humans whose minds have been badly damaged by a dark curse§, Harry answered as he began placing scales into the collection bag Narcissa had given him.
§My first master was a healer, he used to let me watch him heal students when I was a hatchling§, Emerald hissed sleepily.
§Serpents are deeply connected to healing§, Harry agreed as he placed the seventh scale into the bag.
§Salazar said much the same, he tried to use my venom to create healing elixirs but my venom burned through his cauldrons§, Emerald hissed in a way that sounded like this greatly amused her.
§I find that easy to believe, I collect venom for a living and the venom from your species is very unique§, Harry admitted as he retook his seat.
§You work with serpents§, Emerald asked as her eyes found his.
§Yes, I work with serpents all over the world§, Harry confirmed.
§Am I the biggest serpent you've met?§, Emerald asked curiously.
§I have only met one serpent larger than you, it was a selma in Norway§, Harry admitted.
§Nasty cold water snakes§, Emerald muttered.
§It was a mindless beast and was nowhere near as intelligent as a basilisk§, Harry assured her, feeling slightly amused at her response.
§I must rest now speaker, but come and visit me again§, Emerald asked as she looked at him.
§I will§, Harry promised as the rose to his feet and left Emerald to digest her meal in peace.
If Harry were being honest, he would not have expected her to be so open to his company. He hadn't dealt with many magical serpents but the ones he had were all distrustful of wizards. Harry couldn't exactly blame them, most magical snakes had been hunted to the brink of extinction for one reason or another. The horned serpents were a perfect example of this as they had been wiped out in Europe altogether.
Emerald seemed mellow, she had seemed to enjoy his company before her meal relaxed her into slumber. She was much more intelligent than any species of snake he had met well except for the horned serpents in Arizona.
Harry knew he would be keeping his promise. He would make sure he got the job to collect ingredients here next time the Greek ministry needed it.
Deciding he had walked far enough, Harry removed the empty Coca-Cola bottle portkey from his pocket and said the activation phrase, "Cissa's due," and felt the jerk behind his navel as the portkey took him to the entrance hall of Malfoy Manor.
Sanford , Florida, 8/14/1986, 15:59
Harry had been collecting snake venom for the past week in the Ocala National Forest and had even taken Bella and the twins with him a few times. The twins hadn't been in the forest much so it was all very new for them.
The only real danger here for a parselmouth was going near the many lakes in the area because the American alligators were everywhere. At nighttime Harry could actually cast a lumos charm over any of the nearby lakes and see the eyes of multiple alligators reflecting at him with a reddish-orange glow at various points in the water.
Harry had rented them a hotel room in nearby Umatilla so the kids could enjoy the hotel pool while he worked. Bella would usually take them down to the big lake in the centre of town and just let the kids watch the boaters or to the muggle playground which the kids seemed to love.
Bellatrix was actually becoming more comfortable in the muggle world now and blended in pretty well once she got the hang of dealing with their paper currency.
Today Harry was taking the family to the Central Florida zoo and Botanical Gardens.
They had already visited the theme park a week ago and while the rides were certainly fun the lines were quite long and it was sweltering hot. He and Bellatrix were absolutely exhausted by the end of the day though she seemed to have enjoyed herself quite a bit which Harry hadn't expected. The kids loved it as well and looked unbelievably cute in their little mouse ear hats.
Currently, they were walking through the reptile exhibit and listening to the snakes call people names as they walked by. The other serpents quickly became quiet when they saw Harry with Athena draped over his shoulder (under a muggle notice-me-not charm). Athena looked at the snakes through the glass as if trying to understand why the snakes were in cages.
§Why are they in those tanks?§ Athena asked curiously.
§So people can look at them§, Harry explained.
§How awful§, Athena hissed looking horrified at the thought of being trapped in a tank.
"Come on kids let's go see the alligators," Harry said as he realized this was a bit upsetting for Athena.
"Athena's sad," Corina said looking up at the snake in worry.
"She'll be fine princess, she just doesn't like seeing the snakes in cages," Harry soothed as he looked at Bella who looked to be fighting amusement.
'Pop'
Harry jumped in surprise as the glass from every snake enclosure in the reptile house suddenly vanished.
§RUN YOU'RE FREE!§ Athena hissed loudly over the shrieks of terror from the other visitors as the muggles saw the Indian cobra begin slithering out of his container.
"Oh no," Harry muttered as every snake in the reptile house slid out of their enclosures onto the concrete floor and slithered out of the door that had been propped open with a rock.
Harry scooped up his daughter who was beaming as the snakes slithered past her.
"Did you just vanish the glass, Corina?" Harry asked as panicked screams could be heard from outside as the snakes slithered to freedom and left pandemonium in their wake.
"Maybe," Corina said nervously.
"Harry I think we should go outside," Bella suggested looking like someone had just told her Christmas was coming early this year.
"You just want to see the muggles fleeing in terror," Harry sniggered as he set Carina down now that all of the snakes had left the building.
"Don't ruin Bella's fun, it's a vacation," Bella pouted as they exited the reptile house to see people running in all direction trying to get out of the path of the fleeing snakes.
Many of the snakes were highly venomous so they had good reason to avoid the snakes not that the serpents had any interest in biting people anyway.
"He he," Ignotus giggled as an older woman shrieked in surprise when a gaboon viper slithered toward her.
Come on, I always liked watching the alligators," Harry said, trying not to laugh at seeing a large bearded man wearing a Harley Davidson cut screaming like a ten-year-old girl when the Indian Cobra slithered over the man's snakeskin boots.
Harry led them down the path seeing various breeds of snakes slither by as they walked towards a bridge. Once on the bridge, they could see an American crocodile basking on the bank with its mouth wide open in its enclosure
"Whoa, that's a big mouth!" Ignotus exclaimed in wonder.
"It's hoping a muggle will jump in its mouth and feed it," Bellatrix said wisely as an eastern diamondback rattlesnake slithered past them on the bridge.
"Oh brother," Harry muttered as his wife went on to explain the nutritional value muggles were to a crocodile's diet.
Harry let his wife carry on as he looked around the almost deserted zoo and saw animal handlers fanning out through the park in hopes of rounding up the escaped snakes. That's when Harry realized they were the only family still walking around the zoo.
"Ooooh they have eagles," Bellatrix exclaimed happily as they continued walking the path.
"Excuse me, sir," One of the handlers said trying to sound calm.
Though the look on the man's face and the way he was walking cautiously toward them as if scared of stepping on something ruined the effect somewhat.
"Yes?" Harry asked, already knowing where this was going.
"I am going to have to ask you and your family to exit the zoo, the reptile house had a malfunction and all of the snakes are on the loose," The man said in a voice of forced calm as his eyes constantly looked on the ground around him
"Really?" Harry asked feigning surprise.
"Yes, try not to panic and walk carefully towards the exit," the handler said in a calming voice, though the frantic look on his face contradicted this.
"Alright, just try and relax, mate. As long as you don't step on one of them they won't bite you," Harry advised as he led the kids towards the exit.
"Best vacation ever," Bellatrix giggled as she saw a family of terrified-looking muggles being led toward the exit by an equally anxious-looking animal handler.
'I am not taking them to the zoo ever again,' Harry thought to himself as they stepped out of the exit and made their way to the rental car.
Hogwarts Head's Office, 11/1/1986, 23:00
Albus sat in his office pondering the information he had just learned. According to Nicholas, seven doses of the elixir of life had been stolen just hours ago. Nick and his wife were lucky not to have been killed in the attack and it was even more fortunate that the Flamels kept the stone locked in a Gringotts vault.
Still, seven doses of the elixir would be more than adequate to restore Tom to a body so now it was paramount that the death eaters be prevented from reaching their master.
Sadly, there was little more Albus could do on that front short of posting up in front of the cave system Tom's wraith was lurking in. He did not own the land so he could not place a fedelius over the cave without the express permission of the owner and the Albanian government had already denied his requests to do just that.
On other fronts, the notes Harry Peverell had given him were simply genius and he was confident that with a little tweaking of the runic array, the ritual would work to remove the soul shard from young Harry Potter's scar. They would still have to wait almost nine months for the lad to reach his first maturity but Albus was optimistic that the ritual would work.
Albus knew all he could do was try and hold off Tom's followers from reaching him long enough for Harry to reach his seventh birthday. If they could remove the soul shard then Albus believed Tom would cease to exist.
"Well, now they've gone and done it!" Snape exclaimed as he burst into the office Looking agitated.
"What have they done now?" Albus asked looking at his potion's master.
."They have finally managed to buy an Albanian auror who has agreed to help them get into that damn forest," Severus scowled.
"This was inevitable, we knew they would approach it from that angle eventually," Albus consoled.
"Yes but this auror is on the squad responsible for guarding that forest," Snape drawled.
"The aurors do not know of the wards I have placed around that section of forest," Albus assured him before gesturing to the bowl of lemon drops.
"Antonin is getting a bit restless, he wants to have the dark lord restored to power by the spring," Severus sighed.
"He was never a very patient man," Albus agreed.
"That is the understatement of the century," Snape muttered before shaking his head to decline the offer for one of those disgusting candies.
"Try to have faith Severus, if all goes to plan we can deal with Lord Voldemort by mid-summer," Dumbledore assured him.
"I don't believe we can hold them off until then," Severus said candidly.
"All we can do is try, in the meantime, have you discovered how to take down the ward over your classroom?" Albus asked, not so subtly changing the subject.
"No, I have never seen a ward like this before," Severus said in a tone of frustration.
Three days ago some pranksters had placed a ward on the potions classroom that greatly reduced the effects of gravity. As soon as you crossed the threshold into the classroom your steps would send you bouncing into the air. These wards were very subtle but had caused chaos in that particular classroom and forced Severus to move his class two doors down to Horace's old classroom.
"We both know this was Nymphadora Tonks and the Weasley brat," Snape sneered.
"I am almost certain you are correct but sadly we have no proof," Albus pointed out, his eyes twinkling in amusement.
"Why not interrogate them, perhaps slip a few drops of veritaserum into their morning pumpkin juice?" Snape suggested.
"You could do that of course, but then you run the risk of Andromeda Tonks finding out and coming to the school to voice her displeasure," Dumbledore chuckled.
"No, I won't be doing that," Severus shuddered.
"Nor would I," Dumbledore agreed.
"Well, how was the meeting tonight?" Albus asked.
"Not much of a meeting, to be honest, they were all drinking in celebration of their first success," Snape snorted.
"So nothing of their future plans were discussed?" Dumbledore asked in disappointment.
"Other than Avery boasting about getting a man inside the Albanian auror corp and Crabbe and Goyle dragging in a teenage muggle girl in for their amusement, no," Severus said with a dispassionate tone but his eyes told exactly how disgusted he was with his comrades.
"I guess that will be all for the night, Severus," Albus sighed.
"The next get-together is scheduled for Yule," Severus informed him before gliding out of the office door.
Albus decided that he would have to call for another order meeting soon, things were starting to kick off and he wasn't certain they would be able to destroy the soul shard in time.
'All we can do is try,' Albus sighed as he popped a lemon drop into his mouth, lamenting that he was out of Coca-Cola.
Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, 2/7/1987, 23:19
Harry took a seat surprised that he had let Sirius talk him into coming to another order meeting. He was once again on weekend this time returning from South America.
He no longer had to venture to Australia or Asia anymore so he was basically repeating the previous year. South America in the spring and Africa in the summer, then he would be going to the southwest US this August.
Harry would not be taking the family on that trip as it was mainly in the Mohave desert and Bella and the kids would be miserable.
Harry would admit that the venom collection jobs were starting to get boring. He was thinking of leaving working in the field soon. Sanjay had recently sent him a letter asking if Harry would take on an apprentice. There was a girl from Brazil who wished to learn to collect venom for Chupacabra Potions Suppliers.
She wasn't a parselmouth but still wished to work with magical serpents which wasn't unheard of. Parseltongue wasn't a requirement to work with magical serpents but it certainly helped in getting the animal's cooperation.
Harry was tempted to take her on and let her take over the collection jobs in South America just so he could have less area to work. He doubted he would be able to pass off Africa though, nobody seemed to like working with black mambas.
"Thank you all for joining me this evening," Dumbledore said pulling Harry from his thoughts.
"There have been new developments recently and it is very concerning," Dumbledore continued.
"What happened?" Elphias Doge asked looking alarmed.
"On Halloween night the Flamels were attacked and several doses of the elixir of life were stolen from their home," Dumbledore answered in a grave tone.
"That was three months ago, why the hell weren't we informed before now?!" Alastor Moody demanded.
"I saw no reason to alarm anyone as the wards around Voldemort are still in perfect order. I have been trying to recruit more people to our fold and realistically speaking, there is nothing we can do until the death eaters reveal themselves," Dumbledore sighed sounding exhausted.
"Typical, but I would prefer to know these things when they happen not months later," Moody grunted
"Very well but I am afraid that is not the worst of it. It seems Thomas Avery has recently made a deal with an auror on the team assigned to guard the area where Lord Voldemort is hiding," Dumbledore added causing many faces around the table to fall.
"I still say we send Snape in with a bomb of some sort and take them out in one fell swoop," Harry said knowing full well Dumbledore would never go for that.
"At the moment they haven't made any moves," Dumbledore said giving Harry a disapproving look.
"Only because they're waiting for the solstice before they plan on carrying out their plan," Harry pointed out.
"Why do you say that?" Elphias asked.
"Voldemort is in a disembodied form, they will have to create a temporary form for him to be able to ingest the elixir," Harry explained.
"And how would they do that?" Sirius asked and going by the look on his face, he already knew he wouldn't like the answer.
"The simplest way is a dark ritual that will let Voldemort take over the body of a small child," Harry said with a look of revulsion crossing his face.
"Unfortunately that is correct," Dumbledore sighed looking stricken at the thought.
"So I suggest again, destroy their hidden base with them inside of it. I would rather kill a dozen of these monsters than sacrifice an innocent child," Harry said and got several nods of agreement from others around the table.
"We will not resort to killing them," Dumbledore said firmly.
"Then the consequences that follow will be laid solely at your feet for not acting," Harry said flatly.
"We shall agree to disagree on this I think," Dumbledore sighed in a tone of finality.
"The main reason I called this meeting was to prepare you, if Antonin and the others are successful Lord Voldemort will be returned to full health within a single night," Dumbledore explained.
Harry tuned out the rest of the meeting as he pondered a way to deal with this problem. The death eater hideout was the most likely location of the stolen potion which made it impossible for Harry to retrieve it himself.
If he couldn't retrieve it himself he would have to get someone to do it for him or better yet someone to contaminate the supply and he had just the substance to do that. One drop of basilisk venom in each vial would completely negate the elixir and kill anything that consumed it.
It took him a few minutes but Harry finally figured out a possible way to at least deal with the potion and possibly take out a few death eaters at the same time.
Harry knew he would not be coming to any more of these meetings. He would work with Dumbledore on the soul shard but he would not be joining the order.
Albus' dogged refusal to fight a war the way it should be fought was the reason the body count was so high in Harry's timeline and he would not let that happen again.
'This looks like the parting of the ways,' Harry thought wryly as he listened to Dumbledore drone on.
McNair Residence, Highlands, 2/14/1987, 03:29
Getting into this man's house was laughably easy. Harry was currently standing over Walden McNair who was passed out in a drunken stupor if the empty bottle of Ogden's finest clutched in his hand was anything to go by.
Harry had disarmed the alert wards and entered the man's disgusting home to find him passed out in an armchair, sitting in front of a dying fire.
After relieving the man of his wand, Harry looked around the room finding one whole wall covered in trophy mounts. There were heads from different magical beasts from all over the world mounted on the wall. One trophy, in particular, sent a wave of fury through Harry, the head of an occamy with a familiar feather pattern.
The rest of the room was filth, the man was not poor but the house was filled with garbage and had rats darting around the kitchen counters. The place stank, and the smell was almost unbearable making Harry long to get the next part of this mission over with so he could breathe fresh air again.
"Incarcerous excruciare," Harry hissed as thorny ropes bound MacNair to his chair rudely waking the man from his slumber.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" McNair screamed as the inch-long thorns dug painfully into his flesh.
"Good morning Mr McNair," Harry said cheerfully.
"Who the fuck are ya?!" McNair demanded as he tried futilely to free himself from his painful bindings.
"Telling you who I am would defeat the purpose of hiding my face but you can call me, Reaper, if you must address me," Harry said coldly.
"What the fuck do you want?!" McNair demanded his face flushing with fury.
"To know where the elixir of life is being kept," Harry said almost lazily, the voice distortion feature on the hood of his unspeakable robes making his voice sound very sinister.
"I won't tell ya shit!" McNair exclaimed angrily before spitting in Harry's direction.
"Silly death eater, you think you have a choice," Harry chuckled before giving his wand a sharp twist, making the ropes binding McNair squeeze him even tighter.
"Holy shit stop it pleeeease!" McNair screamed as the thorns dug much deeper into his flesh.
"Look into my eyes and it will stop," Harry said calmly and was rewarded when McNair lifted his head to look up at him.
Walden's blue eyes were now widened in a combination of pain and fear. Harry's eyes easily bored into the other man's before he concentrated on his next spell.
"Legilimens," Harry hissed and dove into McNair's unprotected mind.
Harry was sickened by much of what he found in the man's mind but focused on the specific memory he was after.
It didn't take very long for Harry to find the memory he was looking for. The location that the elixir of life was being stored at was unplottable but it wasn't under fedelius like he had originally thought.
The death eaters met there fairly regular but here of late, they just met to make sport of kidnapped muggle women. Deciding he had seen enough, Harry quickly pulled from the man's mind and nodded, still looking directly at McNair.
"I believe I have a job for you Mr McNair," Harry said matter of factly after a moment of silence.
"I ain't doin' shite for ya," McNair grunted seeming to become more defiant now.
"Crucio," Harry said calmly.
Harry watched Walden thrash against the barbed rope, causing the thorns to tear through his flesh as he struggled under the curse. Harry held the curse for a minute or two before he cancelled the spell, noting the man's arms and legs were now covered in blood from the thorny bindings.
"I wasn't asking, McNair. Now is there anyone staying at the location where the elixir is being stored?" Harry asked conversationally as he watched McNair panting as he tried desperately to catch his breath.
"N-no, Dolohov used to hide out there but since he got citizenship, it is only used for meetings," Alden answered weakly.
"Good, you're going to take me there, do you have a portkey?" Harry asked.
"I ain't doing shit for ya!" Walden exclaimed angrily.
"Cruci-
"Alright, I-I got a portkey, it's me axe," Walden exclaimed before Harry could finish the incantation.
"Excellent, Imperio," Harry said as he forced his will to take complete control of Walden McNair.
"Are you ready to go to the hideout?" Harry asked mockingly as he cancelled the spell that bound McNair to his chair
"Yes," McNair said listlessly as he got up and fetched the axe holding it out for Harry to touch.
Harry placed his left hand on the axe while keeping his right pointed at McNair and urged the bloodied death eater to activate the portkey.
"Revolution," McNair said in the same toneless voice, causing the portkey to activate and taking them both away to the death eater safehouse.
Unknown Location, Balkan Mountain Range, 2/14/1987, 04:39
They appeared in a thick forest with six inches of snow on the ground and Harry immediately urged McNair to lead him toward the cabin. After about five minutes of walking, they stepped into a dark cabin and McNair pressed his left forearm to the door causing multiple locks to click open.
Harry followed Walden as he made his way inside and walked to the fireplace before the death eatervknelt in front of the hearth.
"The stone needs an offering to open," McNair said in a monotonous tone.
"What kind of offering?" Harry asked curiously.
"Blood," McNair replied simply.
"Well, if I must," Harry said and flicked his wand causing McNair's palm to slice open spilling blood all over the hearthstones.
Harry watched as the stone melted away similar to the cave he had visited with Dumbledore, to reveal a secret compartment big enough to hide a small book. Inside the compartment were seven vials of glowing red potion sitting on a velvet cushion.
Harry scanned the compartment with his wand and found no other wards on it before bending down and scooping up the vials of potion.
Harry had originally planned on forcing McNair to poison the elixir but that was when he assumed the location was under a fidelius. Now he realised there was no point in overcomplicating things and he would just take the potion for himself.
Harry carefully placed the potion in an empty potion holder and slipped it into his pocket. He already had an idea of the perfect use for this requisitioned potion that might do some good.
When he got the potion stored, Harry turned to look at McNair again and decided it was time to finish things up. Raising his wand, Harry placed a simple paralysis curse on McNair before cancelling the imperius curse, leaving the death eater kneeling on the floor at his feet unable to move.
"Thank you for your help, Mr McNair," Harry said as he relieved McNair of the axe he was still clutching.
'You won't get away with stealing from us, we'll hunt you down for this," McNair threatened unable to move to even look in Harry's direction.
"I believe I will, your comrades will think you stole the elixir and they will never be able to find you and learn the truth," Harry said as he cast a portkey spell on the axe.
"What did you do to my axe?" McNair asked in alarm as he realized he couldn't get up from his place on the floor.
"I made it into a portkey, I thought I would send you to see some old friends of yours," Harry chuckled darkly, the spell on his hood making his laughter sound almost maniacal.
"Where does it go?" McNair demanded though he couldn't disguise the fear creeping into his voice.
"The Isle of Drear, since the war ended the little beasties haven't had much of their favourite food," Harry answered in faux sadness as he lifted Walden's limp hand and placed it on the axe.
"You're lyin' the island's unplottable," McNair exclaimed his voice much higher now.
"Unless you've been there before," Harry corrected.
"Why not just kill me?!" McNair exclaimed his face showing true fear.
"I saw all of the animal mounts on your wall, I think it's time the animals have their say," Harry chuckled as he stepped away from the trembling death eater.
"Pl-pleas-
"Occamy," Harry said cutting Walden off midsentence as the portkey activated, taking the animal executioner to join the quintapeds for dinner.
Harry looked around the cabin but didn't find anything of value in the cabin. Deciding he had been here long enough, Harry stepped through the open front door and began walking towards the ward's edge.
Harry had avenged the occamy family McNair had wiped out, he thought feeding the man to flesh-eating monsters was a fitting punishment. Doubly so when he considered that McNair used to ship bodies to that island to be disposed of during the war.
Taking out an old quill from his pocket Harry prepared to activate his portkey that would return him to his home. Tonight had gone better than he expected but he knew all this would do was slow them down. They wouldn't give up so easily and would continue in their efforts to bring Voldemort back though hopefully, it would hold them off long enough.
"Vengeance," Harry muttered and felt the familiar tug behind his navel as he was pulled into the uncomfortable vortex of portkey travel, intent on returning home after a productive evening.
Hogwarts Head's Office, 3/16/1987, 19:29
"You sure the elixir was stolen?" Dumbledore asked for the third time since Severus arrived with the news.
"Yes, all seven vials are gone! Dolohov is furious and they are trying desperately to find out who took it," Snape said sounding tired of repeating himself.
"I admit that I am at a loss as to whether this is good news or not," Albus sighed.
"Avery believes that Walden McNair is responsible for the theft as he has disappeared from Magical Britain since the first of last month. There are even rumours going around that he's been sighted on a muggle beach in Tahiti," Snape snorted at the ridiculousness of that particular rumour.
"I suppose that we can at least be content in the knowledge that Lord Voldemort cannot use the elixir to come back to power," Dumbledore said after some thought.
"What of the Flamels?" Snape asked.
"After the attack, they have moved away from Europe, I suspect South America but I can't be sure," Dumbledore shrugged.
"As I said, Dolohov and Avery are furious. They have been looking into other Avenues since the Flamels vanished without a trace. Avery has also relocated the meeting place to a location under powerful wards," Snape said, glad that Dumbledore had finally stopped harping on the elixir.
"I will look into the missing elixir, it could be worth a fortune to the right buyer," Dumbledore said thoughtfully.
"I must be going, all of the screaming at the meeting has given me a splitting headache," Severus confessed.
"No doubt, Thomas Avery's normal speaking voice is grating on the nerves I can't imagine being around him shouting," Dumbledore said sympathetically.
Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire, 3/21/1987, 20:29
Harry stepped out of the fireplace and was met by Dobby in the arrival room of his sister-in-law's home.
"Can Dobby be's helping you Mr Peverells?" Dobby asked eagerly.
"I need to see Narcissa if you would be so kind," Harry said.
"At once sir, mistress be with little master Draco in the aviary," Dobby said excitedly.
"Aviary?" Harry said in surprise.
"Mistress be recently having it built for her lessons so the little ones can see wildlife," Dobby explained.
"The twins are not causing too much extra work for you are they?" Harry asked as they stepped out the back patio door and Harry saw the massive dome-shaped aviary in the middle of Narcissa's rather impressive flower garden.
"No sir, the twins be very well behaved," Dobby assured him while leading him to the aviary entrance before holding open the door and gesturing for him to step inside.
Harry saw Narcissa explaining something to Draco, the boy was starting to get taller and resembled the boy Harry had met years ago now well minus the sneer Draco always wore in his timeline.
Draco seemed to be hanging onto her every word and Harry almost regretted cutting into their quality time.
"Mistress Cissa, yous has a visitor," Dobby said as soon as Narcissa finished explaining something to Draco about the red feathered birds they were looking at.
"Thank you, Dobby," Narcissa said in dismissal before Dobby disappeared with a quiet 'pop.'
"I must admit this is very nice, it reminds me a lot of the Amazon rainforest," Harry said as he looked around in interest.
"That's because mummy had it based on the Brazilian rainforest, Uncle Harry," Draco said excitedly.
"She did very well," Harry said shooting the boy a warm smile.
"What can I do for you, Harry?" Narcissa asked as she looked at him curiously.
" I was wondering how your progress is going with the Longbottoms?" Harry asked getting straight to the point.
"Close, but I need a more powerful restorative and am not having any luck with mandrake," Narcissa admitted as Draco wandered off already bored with their conversation.
"I thought as much," Harry said as he removed a small flat silver box about the size of a cigarette case from his pocket and passed it to her.
"What is this?" Narcissa exclaimed as she opened the case and saw two vials filled with glowing ruby red liquid.
"The elixir of life, the most powerful restorative known to wizardkind," Harry replied seriously.
"How on earth did you acquire this?" Narcissa asked in delight.
"That is a secret, will this help get the Longbottoms back on their feet?" Harry asked.
"I should say so, if I can blend it with the potion I've already started to heal their mind it should restore them to full health," Narcissa said thoughtfully.
"Good, they have rested long enough," Harry said as he looked at all of the colourful tropical birds flying around the aviary.
"What is the price?" Narcissa asked shrewdly.
"A favour to be named later and you have to keep silent on the specifics of the potion," Harry said though he was tempted to come up with some ridiculous task for her to complete just to be petty.
"Very well, I will get started as soon as Draco goes to bed," Narcissa promised.
"Good, the aviary really is very nice," Harry said as he kept finding new tweeting birds the more he looked around.
"The children seem to love it," Narcissa beamed sounding pleased with the compliment.
"Mine are behaving themselves, I hope?" Harry asked.
"Oh yes, Corina is a perfect little angel. Ignotus is a bit more boisterous but he is still very well mannered," Narcissa assured him.
"That's good to hear, I suppose I will let you get back to your lesson," Harry said smoothly.
"Good evening Harry, I will keep you informed of the potion's progress," Narcissa promised.
"Good evening Narcissa, Draco," Harry said before making his way out of the aviary and walking back toward the floo he arrived through.
Harry had known Narcissa had been struggling for a while to get the potion she had created to work. He knew she would get there in the end but thought the elixir might speed up the process tremendously.
With any luck, his old friend would get some of the childhood he lost in Harry's timeline. The damage the Longbottoms sustained from the cruciatus curse was thought to be permanent. Harry knew that the elixir could be the only chance they had of recovery, so he might as well use it.
'Hopefully, they will be on their feet by the summer,' Harry thought before stepping into the floo, intent on returning home to his family and maybe taking them out for ice cream.