Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling's and she lets us use it out of love or something.

A/N: Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed and subscribed. I really appreciate it.

Chapter 7

Harry sat across the table from Fred and George. Between them lay a copy of the Daily Prophet, folded to the page of an editorial written by Percy Weasley himself. Prior to their arrival Harry had been reading the piece titled "Blood Purity: The Endurance of Magic." It normally would have enraged him, but now his eyes poured over it with a strange sense of satisfaction.

"Harry, honestly mate, you had us at 'high explosives,'" George said while Fred smiled and nodded along.

"Yeah go on about those a little more." Fred added.

"Welcome aboard," Harry smiled and shook both their hands. "Ron'll contact you with more details shortly." Fred and George stood to leave and Harry continued where he left off reading Percy's article.

Lucius Malfoy had spent the past month trying to unravel the mystery before him. He had first traveled to Potter's last known residence himself and used every detection spell he knew to try and discover what had happened. When that turned up little to nothing he turned to the detection spells he didn't know and learned how to use them and returned. Still nothing. His investigation into the Minister's escape and the chase through the back alleys in Oxford had turned up similarly little. Sure he had found hundreds of brass casings that smelled putrid. It took him a few days more to discover that these were bullet casings used in a muggle gun. That was bizarre he thought to himself. From what he knew, guns were slow to fire, if there were so many shell casings then there must have been hundreds of muggles firing rifles on the scene. But how would they have all fit in this narrow alleyway? Interviews with Death Eaters had been similarly frustrating and directly contradicted that. According to them there were no muggles, just two, maybe three, wizards were there. If that were so did this mean wizards were now using muggle guns? Or were the witnesses wrong? Perhaps muggles had been present? Would the Minister of Magic actually sink as low as to get help from muggles? Could there be some sort of link between the muggle weapons used in Oxford and the still unknown means used to destroy Potter's house? Perhaps. Each question just left him more confused and there seemed no obvious answers. Muggle methods, though, could explain the lack of any magical traces at the house. That left an obvious but undesired path for Lucius to pursue next and it was only after he had exhausted every other means of investigation that he walked down it.

Now here he sat in the living room of perhaps the only person who could help him. A muggle who worked for the police in Surrey. Lucius moved about within the man's small flat looking at pictures on the wall (of which there were few). It appeared he lived alone. That was good. Lucius did not want any unexpected visitors. He sat down on the man's atrocious and ancient red sofa and propped his feet on the coffee table and waited. Shortly after 8 pm he heard the door open and a tall, dark man with short black hair entered. He wore a positively ugly brown coat, so Lucius thought. When he saw Lucius he almost let out a shout of surprise. Almost. With a flick of his wand the man froze in place. His eyes darted around in panic.

"Good evening," Lucius said in his characteristic silky voice. "I mean you no harm. I just have a few questions about one of your investigations. After that I will depart and you will never hear or see me again. Blink twice if you understand." The man blinked twice. "Good." Lucius partially unfroze him with another flick of his wand. Just is head though, he didn't need him moving anywhere. Lucius then stood back and sat back in the man's armchair. "What is your name?"

"Detective Chief Inspector John Lugger and you can kiss my arse," he spat towards Lucius. Animals he thought with a flash of rage. Still, he supposed, it was his fault for not treating them as such.

"Imperio," Lucius said with almost boredom. After a moment a dazed look came over the man's face. "That was my mistake," he said feigning sorrow, "I forgot there was only one way to deal with your kind. Let's try this again now shall we? You are going to answer my questions." The rage burning in his voice as he unrolled some parchment with his list of questions.

Over the next 4 hours Lucius meticulously questioned the man. He had a quill charmed to write down everything that was said. In addition, he also took meticulous notes of his own. If Lucius was one thing, it was incredibly thorough. It was incredibly slow going. Lucius was almost completely divorced from the world of muggles. Almost every question he had required him to stop and inquire about basic things like "radios" and the sort before he could understand. What he learned was almost as much of a shock as the explosion of Potter's house. The detective told him that the house had been destroyed by an explosion of "Sea 4." (Later he found out it was actually C-4). That was a sort of muggle potion that exploded. Well that answered that he supposed. Muggles always were a dangerous bunch and had to be controlled. But the detective was not done. According to him, the source of the C-4 was unknown but likely military in origin. Furthermore they had been unable to confirm how many people had been in the house, the explosion had pulverized anything and everything within it. The detective also spoke of how the explosion, for all its power, seemed to have been contained somehow within the house as if it were fortified in some way. Otherwise the damage to the surrounding area should have been much worse than had been observed.

Lucius also questioned the man about Oxford. The muggle had little direct information on it but told him what he knew. According to him there had been some sort of massive shootout involving an unknown number of individuals. One in particular had been armed with a military grade assault rifle of unknown origin. As far as that the muggle authorities were stumped. Especially since despite all the damage and blood splatter they had found, no bodies had been recovered and there were no eyewitnesses to the event. For Lucius these pieces of information were shocking. Whatever muggle "technology" had been involved had instantly killed, if not completely vanished, 5 of the most dangerous wizards Lucius had known and the "shootout" had killed another 6 and wounded nearly twice that. Whatever bizarre muggle techniques Harry Potter and his friends had been using needed to be stopped. How, though, Lucius wasn't sure. The Dark Lord would, Lucius was sure, or at least hoped. Regardless, he must know about this as soon as possible.

Hogwarts was a remarkably well protected place. Hagrid had once bragged to Harry that there was no place more secure in Magical Britain than Hogwarts for keeping something safe. He was right too, Hogwarts was very secure, but not impregnable. Currently, Hogwarts protected the Sword of Gryffindor which they needed to destroy any horcruxes they might find. Thankfully it lay in the Headmaster's Office, compared to the other places it might be, this was a stroke of luck. Still, figuring out just how to get it had taken a lot of planning and coordination both outside and inside the castle. Now it was time to put their plan into action. Hogwarts was not a place anyone could just go to. The place itself was "unplottable" meaning it couldn't appear precisely on any map. The only way to get there was if you were a witch or wizard who had already attended Hogwarts. When Harry and Ron were second years they had tracked down Hogwarts' "location" by following the Hogwarts Express and flown to it in the Weasley's bewitched car. The two hadn't realized the luck and precise magic that had required. The incident, though, had given them the inspiration for this plan. Only this time instead of a magic car; Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat in the back of a C-130 cruising thousands of feet above Scotland. They had required specialized training for this that they couldn't have gotten while in the TDC and had spent a few weeks practicing over the deserts of the Southwestern United States. Now the time had come to put the plan into action. They heard the voice of the pilot in their earphones.

"Three minutes out." The three stood. Hermione hugged them both.

"You come back in one piece, alright?" They nodded their heads. They had all decided ahead of time that one of them had to stay behind in order to allow the pilot to stay on course. If Hermione left the plane then the pilot wouldn't be able to fly anywhere close to Hogwarts. Instead, the plane would essentially "skip over" where Hogwarts was. Ron and Harry walked to the end of the plane, struggling slightly under the weight of their parachutes and the slight turbulence from the plane. They checked each other's oxygen and lowered their night vision goggles over their eyes. The image on the small screen was a composite of the traditional "green" night vision and grays and whites of thermal night vision. The two primary methods for "seeing" in the dark were normally used separately. Here they were processed, combined, and projected as a single image. The composite image allowed them to see quite clearly and through obstructions like smoke and fog. The back end of the C-130 began opening as a yellow light began flashing.

"Thirty seconds out." The pilot said. The two perched at the edge of the plane, the wind whipping around. Harry could only hear the sound of his breath in his mask as the oxygen kicked on letting him breathe at this altitude. The jump light turned green and the two stepped out into the empty night.

They quickly gained speed in their fall. The roar of the jet engines quickly diminished into a distant whine as they fell. The wind ripped at Harry's and Ron's clothes. For Harry, the experience was reminiscent of riding his Firebolt. As they fell he jerked his mind back to the present and forced himself to focus. The two arched their backs and faced downwards with their arms extended outwards just as they had been taught to. Hogwarts was surrounded by a sort of magical bubble of wards. They were set to prevent any intrusions from ground. However, they were only set to prevent any magical means of intrusion from the air. That was the key. If the wards stopped all falling objects then it would never rain or snow on the grounds and owls wouldn't be able to get in and out with mail. Wizards worried about people secretly entering the grounds from the air while riding broomsticks. However, they had never thought to consider wizards simply falling from over 25,000 feet. With their night vision goggles equipped the pair could easily see the bright torches from the castle through the clouds from miles up. The goggles themselves had been specially manufactured to be resistant to magic like the sort that was endemic to the air around Hogwarts. It was proving to be quite handy. The pair fell further, getting closer and closer to the castle. They made slight corrections here and there as they approached. Now for the real trick. Landing on the Hogwarts battlements. If they landed on the grounds and attempted to enter the castle they would be S.O.L. However, if they landed on say, the second floor of the battlements and say, someone had left a window unlocked as was common this time of year and still permitted (so they had heard) then they'd be golden.

Harry took a deep breath as he pulled the ripcord. His parachute opened easily enough, as did Ron's. He pulled back and forth on the controls, carefully lining up their approach, Ron was right behind him. He landed with a thud and a roll. Landing on the solid stone of Hogwarts was a lot rougher than the dirt of the desert on which they had practiced. He turned to see that Ron had safely landed too. Harry and Ron worked silently, vanishing their parachutes and stowing their oxygen and helmets in a small pouch with an undetectable extension charm on it. Afterwards they placed their night vision goggles back on and cast disillusionment charms on their camouflage uniforms. Neither were skilled enough to render themselves completely invisible, but in the darkness and with their camouflage they were invisible enough. They seemed to melt away into the darkness. Harry would have preferred just using the invisibility cloak but they would need that later. Neville had reported some complications and needed to speak with them in person on this mission. Neither were sure exactly why that was necessary and neither liked the last minute change to the plan but they went with it out of necessity. They pulled out their rifles and quickly checked the silencers on them and that a round was chambered. Then they crept silently towards the open window. Harry's heart was practically beating in his throat as he rounded the corner of the window and looked inside. Clear.

He motioned to Ron to follow. The pair stepped into an empty classroom. He realized this was actually the same room their first Transfiguration class had been held in years and years ago. It seemed like another lifetime practically. Harry tapped the mirror strapped to the inside of his left wrist like a watch and whispered "Hermione". The barely distinguishable outline of her face appeared on it a moment later. Ron did the same behind him.

"We're in. Do you copy?" Harry said, his voice barely a whisper. She replied with a whisper of her own.

"Excellent Harry. I'm reading you loud and clear. Based on the Marauder's Map I have your position as an empty classroom in the southwest corridor on the second floor within Hogwarts. The area is clear of any hostile activity. I'll update you as possible. Proceed with the mission." 28,000 feet above Hermione circled sitting at a computer station in the C-130. She had two mirrors taped to the wall in front of her. They were the same type of two way communication mirrors that Sirius had given to Harry. They would have prefered to use radio but within the walls of Hogwarts they had found it to be nearly impossible to get a radio signal out through the thick stone walls of Hogwarts. Neville had found out the hard way and was only able to talk to them by going outside. In addition to these mirrors, Hermione had the Marauder's Map open in front of her and was using it to search for any potential threats. She used a small red light to examine the map. She needed to keep herself in the dark as much as possible in order to prevent any reflections being visible on Harry and Ron's ends. The smallest thing might catch an enemy's eye and she worked to reduce it to as low as possible. The red light helped with that. She carefully held it over the map, squinting to make out the names that appeared. The Map would pick up any humans (and Ms. Norris) but did nothing for any lurking magical creatures that may have been deployed. Back down on the ground, Ron and Harry crossed the room with ease, they could clearly see that the room was deserted. When they reached the door Ron lined up to cover Harry as he opened it. When he did it opened with a groan. The pair cringed almost in physical pain. They stopped to listen. Silence.

"Don't worry, no one seems to have noticed from here." Hermione informed them. She heard Harry whisper his thanks in response. The pair proceeded out the room and down the corridor, moving in a shuffle-step characteristic of SWAT teams. It allowed them to move relatively quickly and still shoot accurately. The silencing charm they had placed on the soles of their combat boots had greatly helped reduce any potential noises they might make as well and allowed them to move even quicker. The pair needed to get to the fifth floor and contact their asset, Neville, in the Gryffindor common room, from there they would make their way back to the third floor and the Headmaster's office. After that they would leave the castle as quickly as possible and dissapparate at the edge of the grounds. If everything went right nobody would know they had been there. They only trace that would remain was the absence of the Sword. They moved up the stairs easily enough. Harry was no stranger to night time adventures through the castle. In many ways, this was the easiest he had ever had it. The night vision goggles and Hermione watching their backs from high above helped ensure they wouldn't run into any trouble. The stakes however, had never been higher. Several times they had to pause and wait for Hermione to give the all clear as a death eater or teacher moved too close. At one point they had to detour through a fourth floor corridor in order to avoid one patrol.

"Alright, you're on the fourth floor now. Wait there, it looks like you got a Death Ea- err, a Tango," the new lingo took time to get used to, "out on patrol of the next floor. I'll let you know when it's clear." The two said nothing but crouched along the side of the wall waiting and listening. They heard the footsteps as they passed. Hermione watched as the name of Dolohov moved across the map. She held her breath as he walked leisurely just thirty feet from where her friends hid on the stairs. Finally he was gone. "You're clear, proceed." Harry and Ron stood up and continued. They arrived at the opposite end of the corridor on which the Fat Lady's portrait hung.

"Hermione, we've got two small security trolls guarding the entrance to the Tower." Non-humans didn't show on the Map. It was a problem that until now they had avoided. According to Neville, getting out at night was almost impossible. He had been unable to do so to examine the castle's night time defenses anyways. Now they saw why. The two trolls were far smaller than the one that had attacked Hermione in their first year but standing at 7 feet tall, they were imposing nonetheless. In their third year Dumbledore had brought a few into the castle to stand guard after Sirius Black had attempted to enter Gryffindor tower. Using them again seemed to be a pretty standard security measure in troubled times. Still, they needed to find a way to get around them. Hermione examined the map and thought through their options. They couldn't distract the trolls, not without raising some sort of alarm at least. If they fired at them and killed them they would have to move much faster. She considered the various options and possibilities before deciding on what to do.

"You're clear of anyone else on the map. Drop them if you think you can." She said. The pair nodded to each other and lined up their shots. Ron took the troll on the left, Harry the right. They placed their sights on their foreheads. "Fire on three. One, two, three." Their weapons fired in unison, completely silent, in the darkness. All Harry felt was the recoil of the weapon. He heard the round wiz down the corridor and smack into the skulls of their targets. The shell casing ejected from their weapons and bounced on the stone of the hallway. It sounded far louder than it was in the complete silence of the Hogwarts hallways. The two small trolls fell back and slumped down, unmoving. The pair advanced, keeping their targets in their sights.

"Clear," Harry whispered. They continued the down the hall, more quickly this time. "Hermione, alert the asset we're in place." Hermione already had her phone out and was sending a text to Neville. He had been in the Common Room with the window open and his arm extended outside in order to get a signal through the walls of Hogwarts. She could see on the map that he dutifully had held there. Unfortunately, he wasn't alone.

The portrait swung open as they got close. Neville and Ginny stood in the doorway. Harry almost gasped in surprise.

"Ginny!" He and Ron both said in a furtive whisper. "Ginny, get back inside. Neville, what the bloody hell is this?" Neville squinted, struggling to see Harry and Ron through the effects of the combined effects of their concealment charms and the darkness. He was only able to make out the murky, shimmering outlines of each.

"Don't blame me, she wanted to be a part of this!" He hissed back. "I needed her help figuring out some of the security here but in exchange she wanted to be a part of tonight. She wouldn't tell me the password otherwise, in fact she still hasn't!"

"Dammit, Neville! You cannot drop a change like this on us during the middle of the operation!"

"Hey, I'm right here! This was my choice, what you guys were doing affects me. Now accept it." Since Harry had broken off their relationship she had grown increasingly determined to prove herself. She wasn't some little girl anymore to be pushed to the side or who needed protection anymore and dammit she would show them whether they wanted to or not. "Besides, I have the password and I physically cannot tell you anyways, even if I wanted to." Harry gritted his teeth. They didn't have time to argue and he knew he would lose anyways.
"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I mean, Snape placed a tongue-tie curse on the password to his office. Only he can tell other people what it is, the only time they can repeat it is to get into his office."

"Well then how did you find it out then?"

"Don't be thick Harry, obviously I had to hear it from Snape himself. I hid outside his office and waited for him repeat it when he went inside. When he did I overheard the password." This did complicated things. Dammit, Harry thought to himself, why couldn't Neville have just done it himself! Still, it made no sense to rage against what could have been, especially not right now. They had to adapt to the change.

"Fine," Harry said, "I'm sorry Neville, thank you for your help. We'll be in touch in the future." Neville nodded to them.

"It's alright. Good luck!" Neville said. Ginny stepped out of the portrait as Neville closed it behind them. As Ginny stepped out she got her first look at the bodies of the security trolls. She struggled to suppress a grimace. The blood had begun to pool around their corpses and she almost stepped into the puddle. Troll blood had a particularly pungent odor to it that almost made her gag.

"Look, this isn't a game Ginny, from now on you do exactly what we say and you do not argue. Got it?" Ron had already pulled out the invisibility cloak and handed it to Ginny. She nodded her head before pulling the cloak over herself. Her red hair vanished first as she disappeared completely.

"Stay close to us," he said. "Hermione, are we still clear?" He asked.

"Yes, no sign of any activity in your area. It looks like you have a clear shot towards the Headmaster's office."

"Where's Hermione?" Ginny's disembodied voice asked.

"Don't worry about it, I'll explain later. Now stay quiet." Harry said as they proceeded back down the hall.

"Hey guys, don't forget to clean up your mess." Ginny hissed back to them.

"Oh right," Ron drew his wand and transfigured one of the bodies of the trolls into a pebble, Ginny did the same for the other troll. Afterwards her slender, disembodied arm reached out from the cloak and picked up each pebble, then withdrew and vanished as she placed each pebble within her pocket.

"Let's go," she said afterwards as she wiped away sweat lining her brow. The two trolls had taken a bit of magical effort and the stress and strain of tonight had begun to take its toll on each of them. They proceeded back to the stairways and began descending down to the third floor. They paused now and then with Hermione's directions to avoid any patrols. Each pause was increasingly unnerving. They had been delayed too much anyways and every moment they remained in the castle increased their chances of being found. Finally they reached the Gargoyle.

"Are we clear, Hermione?" Ron asked.

"Yes, Snape is not in the Tower. He's patrolling the other end of the school as he usually does between 0100 and 0400." Hermione replied. Does anyone here ever sleep? She thought to herself.

"Do your thing Ginny," Ron said as he motioned to where he thought Ginny was. She pulled the cloak off. She had been standing instead to the left and behind of Harry, the opposite direction Ron had addressed. Ginny walked up to the gargoyle and cleared her throat.

"Felixempra," she said. The gargoyle jumped aside and they got on the stone stair escalator to the Headmaster's office. So far so good. They all thought. As the moving stairway ascended Harry's heart began to pound. The last time he had been in this office he and Dumbledore were working out how to stop Voldemort. That had only been a few months ago. So much had changed since then.

The stairway stopped. The Headmaster's Office stood before them. To Harry it was still Dumbledore's office, not Snape's never Snape's office. He couldn't imagine it as anyone else's even. None of them moved, they all stood silently before the door. Finally, Harry boldly strode towards the door, closing the distance in only a few short steps and turned the doorknob. He was surprised to find it unlocked.

"Huh, who would expect Snape to keep his door unlocked?" Harry said. Hermione's response rang in all their ears.

"Harry it seems you've finally triggered some sort of alarm. Snape has immediately left his patrol route and is moving towards you. Get what you guys need and get out!" None of them waited for Hermione to finish her sentence.

"Ginny, get in here!" Ron said as he closed the door and sealed it with a spell. "That spell won't hold for long let's hurry." Ginny figured a better way to block the door and reached into her pockets and withdrew the two pebbles of the transfigured troll bodies. She tossed them on the rug in front of the office door and undid the transfiguration. Two, seven foot, several hundred pound troll bodies materialized and now blocked the door. Their putrid smell soon filled the office as their blood continued leaking from their corpses. Harry meanwhile bounded through the office hardly noticing the changes in decoration Snape had made. Their first priority was The Sword of Gryffendoor, everything else came secondary. He saw it in a glass case on top of a bookshelf. He let his rifle hang by its straps and pushed it to the side over his shoulder, drawing his wand.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" He said with a flick of his wand and carefully nudged the case from the wall. Realizing there was no clear way to open the case he decided to speed things up. "This is going to be a bit loud," Harry said as he released the spell dropping the case with a crash on the floor. Ron and Ginny jumped at the surprising volume the shattering glass made. Harry reached in and grabbed the Sword of Gryffindor by its hilt and withdrew it. The hilt felt warm in his hand. He felt as though he were shaking hands with an old friend as he held it in his hand. Harry admired it for a moment before stuffing it into his pouch along with the rest of his equipment.

"Sword is secure. How much time do we have Hermione?" He said.

"Not enough, one minute before he reaches the tower. Snape appears to have brought a couple of other Death Eaters with him. Grab anything else of value in plain sight and go with plan B for extraction." She hurriedly replied. She could see on the map that Snape had called the two other Death Eaters that now worked at Hogwarts to join him for taking his office back. He probably also had grabbed a few other magical creatures too. Harry, meanwhile, withdrew his Firebolt and tossed it to Ron.

"We're going with Plan B to get out of here," he then turned to Ginny and apologetically added, "Sorry Ginny, you're going to have to leave Hogwarts. We can't get you back to Gryffindor Tower safely." Ginny struggled to suppress a smile. This was what she wanted all along. She was almost of age herself and with Dumbledore gone Hogwarts hardly felt like a school anymore. Ron darted across the room to the back window. It took a surprising amount of effort to pry open. He figured the window hadn't actually been opened in sometime. A gust of wind announced Ron's success. The wind blew through the window scattering papers piled on Snape's desk. Harry thought of something and began grabbing papers off his desk as quickly as possible and stuffing them into his bag hoping that one of them would provide valuable information. Ron mounted Harry's broomstick and dove out the window to the grounds below. It was a significant drop but the Firebolt carried him smoothly.

"I'm on the ground. No sign of any movement." He reported back, Hermione heard his report and relayed it to Harry.

"Accio Firebolt!" Harry yelled. Holding his wand out and focusing on the summoning charm forced him to stop grabbing up random papers. That was when he noticed it hanging on the walls. Dumbledore's portrait! It was empty, along with the portraits of all the other former Headmasters but still. The sight of it almost made him lose focus on the charm. Harry's Firebolt flew in through the window a moment later and into his hands.

"Ginny, you're up. Just go straight down to the ground where Ron is waiting. Do it now," he commanded her. Before she left she grabbed him around the neck and kissed him hard on the lips. The shock of it almost made him push her off. Almost. "Okay, go now!" He said a moment after she broke the kiss. Ginny hurried to the window, mounted Harry's broomstick in a single graceful motion, and dove out in a flash of red hair. Harry rushed over to the wall of portraits where Dumbledore's portrait hung. He reached up, grabbing it's frame and pulled. It wouldn't budge. "Goddammit, come on!" he said in frustration.

"Ginny's on the ground." Ron replied and Hermione repeated.

"Harry, Snape and friends have reached the gargoyle. Get out now!" Harry ignored her and pulled as hard as he could but the portrait wouldn't budge. Then a familiar face stuck its head out into the frame. Dumbledore. His blue eyes carried a tremendous amount of sadness.

"Harry, I'm sorry but you have to let me go." Dumbledore's portrait said.

"No," he protested, "We need your help. I need your help."

"No," Dumbledore's voice was sad, almost apologetic. "You don't. Not anymore at least. You've learned more than I could ever hope to teach you. You have everything you need to win. I cannot tell you how to put it together. But you will, and you must do so on your own."

"That is bullshit!" Harry yelled.

"Harry you have to go now!" This time it was Hermione yelling at him. Snape had begun ascending the stairs along with his compatriots. Harry ignored her.

"Why can't you tell me? Why does every step have to be a riddle or bizarre puzzle?" He yelled while tugging at the portrait.

"Because that is how the most powerful of magic is! It cannot be taught, everyone must come to understand it on their own. Now go before it's too late," and Dumbledore strode out of his painting. Harry realized the futility of trying any further. He heard the stone escalator outside the office grinding to a halt and heard voices approaching. As much as he would have loved to stay and fight he suppressed the urge.

"Accio Firebolt!" He said again. He concentrated on it as hard as he could but he knew it wouldn't be here in time. He ran to the window and stared down into the seemingly infinite blackness of the drop. He slipped his NVGs back on and saw his broom flying up to him, it was getting closer. But not fast enough. To hell with it he thought and he jumped out into the darkness.

As he fell, his Firebolt seemed to approach him much faster. As did the ground of course. In total he probably fell for perhaps a second in total, maybe two. It felt much longer though. He would only have one shot at this. He reached out his arms and managed to grab hold of his broom. His left hand slipped off and he struggled to hang on with his other hand. Harry continued to descend but at a much slower rate. He didn't bother to pull himself up and swing his legs around it to ride. Instead he let himself drift downwards gently downwards, focusing just on maintaining his grip until he felt his feet touch the ground. Ron and Ginny watched him. When he landed he had a smirk on his face.

"Not bad mate." Ron said. Ginny gave him nothing but a dirty look and a punch on the shoulder. "Ginny's right let's go!" Ron said. They ran across the grounds and into the night. For Harry and Ron, running across the Hogwarts grounds wearing NVGs wasn't particularly difficult. For, though, Ginny it was. The grounds were horribly uneven and she struggled to keep her footing. They were forced to slow their pace. From behind them they heard shouts. Harry looked back to see five trolls bounding after their general direction. Ginny tripped and fell in the uneven earth of the Hogwarts grounds.

"Ron we need to slow down." Harry said as he pulled out his invisibility cloak and tossed it over Ginny. He reached under grasping her hand and pulling her to her feet.

"Alright mate," he replied with a whisper. They abandoned their direct path towards the edge of the Hogwarts grounds and began moving at a 90 degree angle of their original path. This took them out of the trolls' path and towards another, more distant boundary of the Hogwarts grounds where they would be able to disapparate. They had almost escaped. But then they came. Harry felt them before he saw them. The air seemed to freeze around them. Dementors. Even with NVGs they hardly showed up at all. The lack of body heat meant they were nearly indistinguishable from background heat. Their faint outlines still appeared almost as negative space on their NVGs. There looked to be about a dozen of them and they were the only things blocking their escape. His grip on Ginny's hands tightened. She felt it too. So did Ron.

"Hermione we've got a problem," Harry heard him say.

"What?" she hastily asked.

"Dementors." Harry answered for him. He realized the difficult spot they put them in. Sure, Harry could use his Patronus to fend them off, but the bright white light the spell emitted would surely draw the attention of everyone. Ron knew it too. "Any ideas?" he asked Ron.

"Yeah," he answered, "is a Patronus charm really the only way to fend off a dementor?" The dementors began homing in on them.

"As far as I know they're the only spell that works on them," he answered.

"Well yeah, I know that. But why are we limiting ourselves to magic?" Ron replied. With that Ron leveled his rifle at the nearest one and fired a burst into its chest. The dementor shuddered and fell over. "Hey it worked!" Ron said in surprise. He turned his rifle and fired at another one dropping it too. Harry stared at the first and shouldered his rifle, he was about to follow along with Ron when he saw it.

"Ron, no, hold fire!" Harry said. The first dementor began shaking on the ground. It's black robes dissolved as the elongated mass of rotting flesh began flopping around. It looked like a large black leech growing in front of them. Then the creature began to split in the middle, each half began to flop around on the ground almost independently until finally the two were separated entirely. The creatures stood up, the place where they had split had formed into the heads of each. Where there had been one there now stood two. Black robes formed around them, growing out of the rotting flesh of their bodies like skin. Finally, the two dementors raised their hoods and began gliding towards them.

"Oh bloody hell." Ron said in a combination of disgust and frustration. The other dementor he shot was undergoing a similar process. Harry already had his wand out and was focusing on the happiest thought he could recall. He didn't have to think back too hard either. The thought of Ginny's kiss from less than 5 minutes ago did the trick just fine. With the warmth of the feeling rising in his chest Harry actually felt himself smile as he cast the spell.

"Expecto Patronum!" He yelled as a stag erupted from his spell. The light was incredibly bright and overwhelmed the sensors in his NVGs almost blinding him. He shut his eyes and ripped off his goggles. Ron did the same thing. His patronus charged the dementors and they fled before it. They melted back into the night. It was a beautiful sight to behold. Then there was silence and calm as the temperature returned to normal. The peace lasted the better part of five seconds when they heard a shout split the cool, night air.

"They're over there!" The voice carrying clearly across the grounds in the night air. Harry, Ron, and Ginny didn't wait another moment and took off as a hail of spells flashed through the darkness towards them. They had less than a hundred feet to cover. It reminded Harry of the fireworks display he had witnessed one July evening when he was in the United States. It had been a glorious sight to behold. This, was more terrifying than mesmerizing. They darted between the spells until finally they reached the edge of the Forbidden forest.

"I'm clear!" Harry said followed a moment later by Ron. He grasped Ginny's hand and with that they disapparated in a pop and were gone.

Mid afternoon of the next day came faster than Snape had expected. The events of last night had ensured he got no sleep. Now he sat behind his desk, looking up from his work to once again survey the damage. The air still stank of troll blood. Well they got the Sword at least. But more importantly he thought, how do I explain that the most wanted wizard in all of Magical Britain managed to sneak undetected not only onto Hogwarts grounds but into my office! This was not how it was supposed to happen. Snape was left with many awkward questions. The first being how had Harry Potter managed to enter the Hogwarts grounds without the wards alerting him. He had checked that himself and saw that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were still listed as students in the Hogwarts registry. That was quite an oversight he could quickly take care of though, or so he thought at first. When Snape sent an owl to the Ministry's newly formed Education Oversight Department asking why the most wanted witches and wizards in Magical Britain were still listed as students he received a curt reply informing him that it was because they had not graduated and because no one had asked to remove them. Snape sent another letter asking that they be removed. The reply almost made his blood boil and he still held it in his hand.

Dear Sir,

The Ministry's Department of Education Oversight humbly request

that you provide documentation on each of these students and please fill

out the following packet of forms detailing why and when these students are

to be removed from the official student role of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft

and Wizardry. Furthermore please attach documentation detailing the

criminal records you have cited for each student.

Kindly,

Engel Vitale

Dir. Department of Magical Education Oversight

Attached was well over 50 pages of paperwork for each student. When he had sent an owl to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement requesting the official criminal records of each he had received an equally infuriating reply.

Dear Sir,

The Official Criminal records of Wizards and Witches of Magical

Britain is a matter of the utmost privilege. As Headmaster you may only

access those of students who have not come of age. To access those of age

please send a letter to the Head of the DMLE who will decide on a case by

case basis. Unfortunately an new director has not been named since Pius

Thicknesse became Minister of Magic. Please contact the Department of

Records and Accounts and request a Special Waiver Request form 3D for

access. Thank you.

Best,

Gideon Wainwright

Associate Administrator, DMLE

Snape gritted his teeth and sent another owl to the Department of Records and Accounts. A department he had never thought much of until now. Their reply had taken much longer than the others.

Dear Sir,

We have received your request and in order to process it we ask

you fill out the following forms. We also request that a letter signed by

two-thirds of the membership of the Hogwarts Board of Governors

also requesting a Special Waiver Request Form 3D be attached as well.

In addition we request official documentation verifying that you are

the official Headmaster of Hogwarts. Proper documents can be obtained

from the Department of Magical Education Oversight. Thank you.

Regards,

Madison Marbury

Junior Administrator, Department

of Records and Accounts

"Dammit all!" Snape shouted slamming his fist on the his desk. He turned angrily to Dumbledore's portrait. "You didn't tell me anything about this! How did you manage it?" Dumbledore smiled back, a gleam in his eye.

"Where do you think all this grey hair came from?"