Chapter Fifteen: What Goes Around, Comes Around
Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.
Mr Dursley worked for his father at a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. Like his father, he was a beefy man with hardly any neck and a very large moustache. Mrs Dursley was thin, blonde and bony, with one of those extra-long necks that were very useful for looking over the garden fences at your unsuspecting neighbours. The Dursleys had two children - an eight- year old girl called Petunia, and a seven-old boy called Maxwell - and in their opinion, they were the finest children anywhere.
The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that some day, someone would discover it. They couldn't bear it if someone found out the truth about Potter. Mr Potter was Mr Dursley's cousin, but they hadn't met since before Mr Dursley's last year at school; in fact Mr Dursley usually pretended that he didn't have any cousins because Mr Potter was as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. Mr Dursley shuddered to think what would happen if Potter or any of his friends arrived on the street.
When Mr Dursley went out to work that morning, he was rather surprised to see a large black bird watching him from across the street. No looking in his direction, birds didn't watch people. did they? He shook his head at his own foolishness and got into his car - the sports car, Mrs Dursley had taken the children to school in the people carrier an hour ago - and drove off, putting the odd bird out of his mind.
When he returned home, he was rather irritated to find that bird hadn't moved from its perch on top of the 'Privet Drive' sign. He glared at it. "Shoo!"
The bird screeched at him, but other than that did nothing. Mr Dursley frowned and moved to enter his house. If there was one thing that he hated more than anything else, it was animals that didn't act like they were supposed to.
Mrs Dursley had his dinner ready for him, and so he put the bird out of his mind again, deciding that even if there was anything going on with Potter and his kind it couldn't possibly harm him. No, he decided, there was nothing to worry about. He and his family were safe as long as they didn't interfere, Potter had made that clear when they had last spoken.
Little did he know how wrong he was. The appearance of that bird, which was indeed rather more than it seemed to be, heralded a blip in his otherwise boring existence.
----
The bird watched as the lights clicked out all along the street. When the lights of number four clicked out, the bird finally shifted position, glancing up and down the road as if it were looking for something, or someone.
It was midnight before the person that the bird had been waiting for appeared. Nothing like this woman had been seen in Privet Drive for many years. She was tall, and severe-looking with square glasses, long, slightly greying black hair that was drawn into a tight bun, and was wearing an emerald-green cloak over dark green robes. Her name was Professor Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Professor McGonagall looked around until spotted the bird, then smiled slightly. She reached into her cloak and pulled out what looked like a very large silver cigarette lighter, but was in fact a very different device, known as a Put-Outer. She clicked the Put-Outer twelve times and all the lights in the street went out, hiding both her and the bird from view. She moved over to the wall next to the signpost and sat down, she didn't look at the bird - which she easily identified as a peregrine falcon - but after a minute or two she spoke, the corners of her mouth crinkling into a smile. "Good evening, Professor Potter."
She turned to look at the falcon, but it had gone. Instead she was smiling at a young woman in her mid-twenties. Unlike Professor McGonagall, this woman was clearly used to trying to look 'normal' as she wore a pair of cotton slacks over a dark red jumper and a short leather jacket, her long unruly hair was pulled back in a rough ponytail and she wore large, round glasses exactly the same shape as markings around the falcon's eyes. Her name was Jamie Potter, and she was the DADA professor at Hogwarts.
"How did you know it was me, Minerva?"
"Jamie, I am an Animagus, one of the few of our kind on the register and as such it is my duty learn recognise other Animagi. Besides, I have seen you in that form before and we were supposed to meet here."
"Oh yeah. Sorry."
"It is quite all right." McGonagall assured her colleague. "Have you discovered anything?"
Jamie nodded. "I've been watching them for a few days now. Mostly from the air, but today I came in close. I haven't been watching long, but I've seen enough to know that Seamus' suspicions were correct."
"I see." McGonagall paused, as if wondering about something. "Should we alert Harry?"
"I think we have to." Jamie told her. "Dursley hasn't realised yet but he will, and as they seem to be exactly the same as his parents were, it'll be hell for the boy."
McGonagall nodded. "I agree. Remain here until help arrives." "Understood."
"I shall return to Hogwarts and call Harry from there."
Jamie nodded and with a pop returned to falcon shape and flew back to her perch. Professor McGonagall walked away, and once she was out of sight of number 4, she clicked the Put-Outer once more and light flew back into the street lamps. She returned the Put-Outer to her robes, and disappeared the same way she had arrived.
----
Harry's office had nothing in particular to distinguish it from any other, other than the fact that number of mirrors adorned the top of the desk rather than the usual Muggle devices like a computer or telephone. There were also a number of photos sitting on the desk or around the room - pride of place went to a small round frame with himself, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Jamie at his wedding, and a larger picture featuring himself with Ginny, and their four children.
It was almost midnight, and Harry was trying to finish a report on the latest developments in the Phantom Slayings case, the case that had been bothering his Task Force for over four years. Most of the team were had already gone home, but Romulus and his DMT Liaison Anthony Chong were still in the office, as was Bilius Masters, the Vampire Hunter that he'd hired in the first year of the case to assist them.
Harry signed his signature on the last piece of parchment and dropped it in his Out tray. He reached for his combat vest and slipped it on, then pulled on his dragon-hide coat. "Romie, I'm heading home. I've got my radio if you need me."
"Okay."
Harry was almost out the main door of the office, when Romulus shouted something. He turned around again. "What?"
"Professor McGonagall on the Floo for you. Says it's urgent."
"Okay, I'll take it." Harry told him and turned back.
When he reached his office he closed the door and turned towards the fireplace. "What is it, Minerva?"
"I talked to Jamie an hour ago," she told him. "Mr Finnigan was correct. The boy is indeed one of us."
"Any sign he's been compromised?"
"None that she could observe. Neither Mark or Arabella believe so either."
"I don't want to take any chances. We move at first light. Jamie will stay there?"
"I have asked her too."
"Ok. I'll contact you when we're done."
"Agreed."
Professor McGonagall's head disappeared from the fire with a pop and Harry left his office. "Tony!"
"What's up Boss?"
"I've got a job for us. Contact the team, tell them we leave at 0600 tomorrow morning. It's not an official op, so they don't have to be here, I'm asking for your help as a favour."
"I'll them Boss."
"That goes for you three as well." Harry told them. "Who's on monitor duty tonight?"
"Me." Bilius replied, rising from his desk.
"Okay. Romie, head home. Tony, try and contact the team. If you can't reach them in ten minutes, go home and let Bilius do it."
"Okay Boss." Chong confirmed, and then started moving dials on the WWN transceiver on his desk.
Romulus met Harry at the door and the two of them walked through the mainly empty Auror Headquarters together. Romulus didn't speak until they reached the lift. "What's up, Harry? You've never asked us for a favour before."
"I know that, Romie," Harry confirmed. "It's a personal matter."
"The Headmistress is involved though?"
Harry nodded. "Do you remember the stories about my Muggle 'family'?"
"Yeah, the. Dursleys, wasn't it?"
Harry nodded. "Well, something's come up regarding them, and I'd like a couple of the team to give me a hand sorting it."
Romulus paused for a moment to think. "Is it what I think it is?"
"Probably," Harry confirmed. "Will you help?"
"I'm with you, Harry," Romulus told him. "Every step of the way."
----
Harry's team assembled in the Task Force main office at 6am as instructed, there were seven of them - his Inspectors, Romulus 'Sandman' Moon and Blaise 'Dea' Zabini; Sergeants Debra 'Katana' Ling and Tony 'Lacus' Chong; Agents Belinda 'Torque' White and Bennie 'Bullseye' Pantolov; and Bilius Masters, as known as Cruento the Vampire Hunter.
"Ok, sorry to get you here so early," Harry said. "But this is not an official operation so I want to get it over with before our shift officially starts. Therefore, I'm asking for three volunteers to come with me."
"What's up Boss?" asked Pantolov.
Harry sighed. "Okay, I'll try and explain as quickly as possible," he paused for a moment, and then continued. "As you all know, I spent most of my childhood, and the first five summers of my Hogwarts years with my Muggle relatives, the Dursleys."
Everyone nodded to show they understood. "Now, my aunt and uncle were not the best people to grow with. in fact they were - and still are - a textbook example of why Muggles are hated by many in our world."
"Okay, I'm not seeing where this is going, Boss," said Pantolov.
"I'm getting there." Harry assured him. "Now, as I'm sure you know, it is not unusual for close relatives of Muggleborns to produce Muggleborns themselves, either in the same generation, or in a later one."
"So, one of the Dursleys is a wizard?" asked Ling.
Harry nodded. "Dudley's son Maxwell. Thankfully they haven't twigged yet, but he's due to receive his Hogwarts letter in a few years so I want to move on it."
"On what grounds?" asked White, the squad's legal expert.
"Section 13b of the Underage Sorcerers Protection Act." Harry told her. "Under that bylaw, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement may take a Muggleborn, or Wizard-born living with Muggles, into protective custody, providing that a family member - living within the wizarding world - believes that to remain with their current guardians would put the child in danger.
"I am Maxwell's second cousin, and I am positive that he will be in danger once Dudley and his grandparents find out he's a wizard."
"Okay, that's fine with me."
"Now that's sorted, I need three volunteers." Harry told them. "Not you, Tony. I want you on comms as usual."
Romulus and Blaise were the first to rise and join him, A minute later, Masters looked like he was about to volunteer, but Pantolov beat him to it.
"Okay. Tony, I'll need Floo Network access just in case." Chong nodded. During the later days of the war, most of the domestic Floo Network had been locked to all but the house owners and authorised visitors. Only the specially appointed Liaison Officers could open portals remotely. It was also decided that Apparation was pretty much forbidden in any place defined as Muggle, except in the most extreme of emergencies.
Harry, Romulus, Blaise and Pantolov left the office and headed for the lift, as soon as they were inside, Harry removed a small transceiver from his jacket and tucked it into his ear, the other three followed suit. "Lieutenant Scar to NSTF Control. Lacus, go you read?"
'Reading you loud and clear Boss,' replied Chong. 'The FRP access protocols are giving me some problems, but I'll have at least one exit for all five of you by the time you reach your target area.'
"Understood." Harry told him. "Lieutenant Scar out."
He turned back to the others, and was pleased to see that all three had their earpieces firmly wedged in their ear. "Okay, here's the plan. Bennie, I want you to take your bike up to Little Whinging, scout ahead. My cousin Jamie is currently on surveillance outside the house. Link up with her and back her up."
"Will do."
"Romulus, Blaise. You'll be going inside with me. Romulus, I want you to find Maxwell and remove him from the house as quickly and quietly as possible, Blaise and I will take of any Dursleys present."
"Got it."
"I want to keep this as low key as possible. So no magic unless absolutely essential." Harry told them. "Have you both got your sidearms?"
Romulus nodded, brushing aside his coat so that Harry could see the automatic pistol strapped into a shoulder rig under his arm. Blaise removed one of her pistols, a Colt Double Eagle .45ACP, from its rig and ejected the magazine, pulled back the slide then replaced the magazine and nodded. The gun was returned to its rig.
When they got to the Atrium they exited through a service exit into a carpark, which was filled with cars, only about two-thirds of which belonged to the Ministry or its employees, the rest were entirely Muggle.
Romulus got into the front of the car assigned to the team, a Ministry- owned Ford sedan, and Harry and Blaise got into the back. At a nod from Harry, Romulus started the engine and drove out of the carpark. Harry spoke into his earpiece. "Lieutenant Scar to NSTF Control. We have left Ministry grounds and are heading towards our target."
'Received. Bullseye is also en-route to the target, expected ETA ninety minutes.'
"Understood, standby."
'Standing by.'
----
Mr Dursley rose at seven-fifteen am as usual the next morning, and joined his wife in the kitchen for breakfast. They were alone for the moment, as neither of their children had come down. This was also not unusual. What was unusual, was that the doorbell ringing interrupted their breakfast. Mrs Dursley went to answer the door and came back looking rather white-faced.
"It's the police, Dudley." She told him. "They've come about Maxwell."
The three 'policemen' entered at that moment. "Actually, we're not police." Harry admitted - although as he was still wearing his dark sunglasses, his identity was as yet a mystery. "But we are with law enforcement and we do need to talk to your son."
"Really?" said Dudley. "Why's that?"
"Well, it quite simple really," said Harry, reaching up and removing his sunglasses. "He's not 'normal'."
----
Dudley's reaction to this revelation - and the much dreaded return to Privet Drive of Harry Potter - was characteristically violent. "Get out, you freak! You will not pervert my son!"
"Quite right," Harry agreed. "We won't pervert Maxwell, I never intended to. I will however require him to accompany me so that we may see to his education as a wizard."
"He will not be going with you!" Dudley bellowed. "No son of mine will become an unnatural abomination like you!"
Harry could tell that Blaise was getting rather annoyed, and if he was being perfectly honest she wasn't the only one. So he decided to cut to the chase. "How exactly are you going to stop me, Duddikins?"
Dudley looked a little perplexed at that, but then his muscles tensed and he raised his fist.
Harry shook his head. "Not a good idea, Dudders." He cautioned. His right hand went into his jacket and pulled out one of his own sidearms. "Do you know what this is?" he asked conversationally, pointing it in Dudley's general direction.
"It's a gun, Potter! I'm not that stupid!"
"That's a debatable point." Harry told him. "But you're correct. It is in fact a Desert Eagle .44 Magnum. One of the most handguns on the market. Ordinarily, it would enough to blow your head off at this range. But our quartermasters have acquired some interesting ammunition for it. Silver hollow-points filled with Ecrumpet Exploding Fluid. One round from this gun, would turn half your body into very small pieces and would probably have enough force left to blow a small hole through your wall. Understand?"
Dudley nodded.
"Now, where is Maxwell?"
"I'm telling not you!"
"That's a bit stupid, Dudders." Harry pointed out. "I mean, we could just go looking. It wouldn't take that long."
"He's not here!"
"That's a lie," Harry told him. "We've had someone watching the house for the last four days. He hasn't left. Last chance, where is he?"
"Piss off!"
Harry sighed. "Okay, be that way. I lost my patience." He raised the gun. "Goodbye Dudley."
He pulled the trigger.
Mrs Dursley screamed.
----
The Desert Eagle clicked as the hammer was deflected by the safety catch. Harry grinned. Dudley nearly passed out from the shock.
"You didn't think I was really going to shoot did you?" asked Harry, then thumbed a catch and his gun. "Now, where is he?"
"Th.th.the smallest bedroom. He's in there."
"Romulus, if you would be so kind?" Harry asked. "It's the first on the right at the top of the stairs." The bald Auror nodded and headed out to the hall. Harry lowered his gun, but other than that, didn't move. Blaise moved to cover the door into the hall. About half-an-hour later, she reported that Romulus was coming down.
Harry nodded and returned his gun to its holster. "Goodbye Dudley. I hope I won't have to see you again."
With that, Harry left the room and Blaise followed him. A few seconds later, the Dursleys heard the front door click shut.
Dudley sagged in relief and defeat and sat back down in his chair. That Potter, he's the cause of everything that goes wrong in my life. Him and that damned scar."
A/N: Sorry this has taken a few days. Anyone interested in regular updates on my stories or seeing some images that I've put together of some of the characters should e-mail me with a Yahoo ID at [email protected] and I'll set you up on my Group. I have a couple of one-shots planned at I'll hopefully be posting within the next week or so. The actual sequel, provisionally entitled Harry Potter and the Next Generation, is currently still in the planning stage but I will try and get the first chapter of that up within a month to six weeks. As always, feedback is appreciated.
Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.
Mr Dursley worked for his father at a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. Like his father, he was a beefy man with hardly any neck and a very large moustache. Mrs Dursley was thin, blonde and bony, with one of those extra-long necks that were very useful for looking over the garden fences at your unsuspecting neighbours. The Dursleys had two children - an eight- year old girl called Petunia, and a seven-old boy called Maxwell - and in their opinion, they were the finest children anywhere.
The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that some day, someone would discover it. They couldn't bear it if someone found out the truth about Potter. Mr Potter was Mr Dursley's cousin, but they hadn't met since before Mr Dursley's last year at school; in fact Mr Dursley usually pretended that he didn't have any cousins because Mr Potter was as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. Mr Dursley shuddered to think what would happen if Potter or any of his friends arrived on the street.
When Mr Dursley went out to work that morning, he was rather surprised to see a large black bird watching him from across the street. No looking in his direction, birds didn't watch people. did they? He shook his head at his own foolishness and got into his car - the sports car, Mrs Dursley had taken the children to school in the people carrier an hour ago - and drove off, putting the odd bird out of his mind.
When he returned home, he was rather irritated to find that bird hadn't moved from its perch on top of the 'Privet Drive' sign. He glared at it. "Shoo!"
The bird screeched at him, but other than that did nothing. Mr Dursley frowned and moved to enter his house. If there was one thing that he hated more than anything else, it was animals that didn't act like they were supposed to.
Mrs Dursley had his dinner ready for him, and so he put the bird out of his mind again, deciding that even if there was anything going on with Potter and his kind it couldn't possibly harm him. No, he decided, there was nothing to worry about. He and his family were safe as long as they didn't interfere, Potter had made that clear when they had last spoken.
Little did he know how wrong he was. The appearance of that bird, which was indeed rather more than it seemed to be, heralded a blip in his otherwise boring existence.
----
The bird watched as the lights clicked out all along the street. When the lights of number four clicked out, the bird finally shifted position, glancing up and down the road as if it were looking for something, or someone.
It was midnight before the person that the bird had been waiting for appeared. Nothing like this woman had been seen in Privet Drive for many years. She was tall, and severe-looking with square glasses, long, slightly greying black hair that was drawn into a tight bun, and was wearing an emerald-green cloak over dark green robes. Her name was Professor Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Professor McGonagall looked around until spotted the bird, then smiled slightly. She reached into her cloak and pulled out what looked like a very large silver cigarette lighter, but was in fact a very different device, known as a Put-Outer. She clicked the Put-Outer twelve times and all the lights in the street went out, hiding both her and the bird from view. She moved over to the wall next to the signpost and sat down, she didn't look at the bird - which she easily identified as a peregrine falcon - but after a minute or two she spoke, the corners of her mouth crinkling into a smile. "Good evening, Professor Potter."
She turned to look at the falcon, but it had gone. Instead she was smiling at a young woman in her mid-twenties. Unlike Professor McGonagall, this woman was clearly used to trying to look 'normal' as she wore a pair of cotton slacks over a dark red jumper and a short leather jacket, her long unruly hair was pulled back in a rough ponytail and she wore large, round glasses exactly the same shape as markings around the falcon's eyes. Her name was Jamie Potter, and she was the DADA professor at Hogwarts.
"How did you know it was me, Minerva?"
"Jamie, I am an Animagus, one of the few of our kind on the register and as such it is my duty learn recognise other Animagi. Besides, I have seen you in that form before and we were supposed to meet here."
"Oh yeah. Sorry."
"It is quite all right." McGonagall assured her colleague. "Have you discovered anything?"
Jamie nodded. "I've been watching them for a few days now. Mostly from the air, but today I came in close. I haven't been watching long, but I've seen enough to know that Seamus' suspicions were correct."
"I see." McGonagall paused, as if wondering about something. "Should we alert Harry?"
"I think we have to." Jamie told her. "Dursley hasn't realised yet but he will, and as they seem to be exactly the same as his parents were, it'll be hell for the boy."
McGonagall nodded. "I agree. Remain here until help arrives." "Understood."
"I shall return to Hogwarts and call Harry from there."
Jamie nodded and with a pop returned to falcon shape and flew back to her perch. Professor McGonagall walked away, and once she was out of sight of number 4, she clicked the Put-Outer once more and light flew back into the street lamps. She returned the Put-Outer to her robes, and disappeared the same way she had arrived.
----
Harry's office had nothing in particular to distinguish it from any other, other than the fact that number of mirrors adorned the top of the desk rather than the usual Muggle devices like a computer or telephone. There were also a number of photos sitting on the desk or around the room - pride of place went to a small round frame with himself, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Jamie at his wedding, and a larger picture featuring himself with Ginny, and their four children.
It was almost midnight, and Harry was trying to finish a report on the latest developments in the Phantom Slayings case, the case that had been bothering his Task Force for over four years. Most of the team were had already gone home, but Romulus and his DMT Liaison Anthony Chong were still in the office, as was Bilius Masters, the Vampire Hunter that he'd hired in the first year of the case to assist them.
Harry signed his signature on the last piece of parchment and dropped it in his Out tray. He reached for his combat vest and slipped it on, then pulled on his dragon-hide coat. "Romie, I'm heading home. I've got my radio if you need me."
"Okay."
Harry was almost out the main door of the office, when Romulus shouted something. He turned around again. "What?"
"Professor McGonagall on the Floo for you. Says it's urgent."
"Okay, I'll take it." Harry told him and turned back.
When he reached his office he closed the door and turned towards the fireplace. "What is it, Minerva?"
"I talked to Jamie an hour ago," she told him. "Mr Finnigan was correct. The boy is indeed one of us."
"Any sign he's been compromised?"
"None that she could observe. Neither Mark or Arabella believe so either."
"I don't want to take any chances. We move at first light. Jamie will stay there?"
"I have asked her too."
"Ok. I'll contact you when we're done."
"Agreed."
Professor McGonagall's head disappeared from the fire with a pop and Harry left his office. "Tony!"
"What's up Boss?"
"I've got a job for us. Contact the team, tell them we leave at 0600 tomorrow morning. It's not an official op, so they don't have to be here, I'm asking for your help as a favour."
"I'll them Boss."
"That goes for you three as well." Harry told them. "Who's on monitor duty tonight?"
"Me." Bilius replied, rising from his desk.
"Okay. Romie, head home. Tony, try and contact the team. If you can't reach them in ten minutes, go home and let Bilius do it."
"Okay Boss." Chong confirmed, and then started moving dials on the WWN transceiver on his desk.
Romulus met Harry at the door and the two of them walked through the mainly empty Auror Headquarters together. Romulus didn't speak until they reached the lift. "What's up, Harry? You've never asked us for a favour before."
"I know that, Romie," Harry confirmed. "It's a personal matter."
"The Headmistress is involved though?"
Harry nodded. "Do you remember the stories about my Muggle 'family'?"
"Yeah, the. Dursleys, wasn't it?"
Harry nodded. "Well, something's come up regarding them, and I'd like a couple of the team to give me a hand sorting it."
Romulus paused for a moment to think. "Is it what I think it is?"
"Probably," Harry confirmed. "Will you help?"
"I'm with you, Harry," Romulus told him. "Every step of the way."
----
Harry's team assembled in the Task Force main office at 6am as instructed, there were seven of them - his Inspectors, Romulus 'Sandman' Moon and Blaise 'Dea' Zabini; Sergeants Debra 'Katana' Ling and Tony 'Lacus' Chong; Agents Belinda 'Torque' White and Bennie 'Bullseye' Pantolov; and Bilius Masters, as known as Cruento the Vampire Hunter.
"Ok, sorry to get you here so early," Harry said. "But this is not an official operation so I want to get it over with before our shift officially starts. Therefore, I'm asking for three volunteers to come with me."
"What's up Boss?" asked Pantolov.
Harry sighed. "Okay, I'll try and explain as quickly as possible," he paused for a moment, and then continued. "As you all know, I spent most of my childhood, and the first five summers of my Hogwarts years with my Muggle relatives, the Dursleys."
Everyone nodded to show they understood. "Now, my aunt and uncle were not the best people to grow with. in fact they were - and still are - a textbook example of why Muggles are hated by many in our world."
"Okay, I'm not seeing where this is going, Boss," said Pantolov.
"I'm getting there." Harry assured him. "Now, as I'm sure you know, it is not unusual for close relatives of Muggleborns to produce Muggleborns themselves, either in the same generation, or in a later one."
"So, one of the Dursleys is a wizard?" asked Ling.
Harry nodded. "Dudley's son Maxwell. Thankfully they haven't twigged yet, but he's due to receive his Hogwarts letter in a few years so I want to move on it."
"On what grounds?" asked White, the squad's legal expert.
"Section 13b of the Underage Sorcerers Protection Act." Harry told her. "Under that bylaw, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement may take a Muggleborn, or Wizard-born living with Muggles, into protective custody, providing that a family member - living within the wizarding world - believes that to remain with their current guardians would put the child in danger.
"I am Maxwell's second cousin, and I am positive that he will be in danger once Dudley and his grandparents find out he's a wizard."
"Okay, that's fine with me."
"Now that's sorted, I need three volunteers." Harry told them. "Not you, Tony. I want you on comms as usual."
Romulus and Blaise were the first to rise and join him, A minute later, Masters looked like he was about to volunteer, but Pantolov beat him to it.
"Okay. Tony, I'll need Floo Network access just in case." Chong nodded. During the later days of the war, most of the domestic Floo Network had been locked to all but the house owners and authorised visitors. Only the specially appointed Liaison Officers could open portals remotely. It was also decided that Apparation was pretty much forbidden in any place defined as Muggle, except in the most extreme of emergencies.
Harry, Romulus, Blaise and Pantolov left the office and headed for the lift, as soon as they were inside, Harry removed a small transceiver from his jacket and tucked it into his ear, the other three followed suit. "Lieutenant Scar to NSTF Control. Lacus, go you read?"
'Reading you loud and clear Boss,' replied Chong. 'The FRP access protocols are giving me some problems, but I'll have at least one exit for all five of you by the time you reach your target area.'
"Understood." Harry told him. "Lieutenant Scar out."
He turned back to the others, and was pleased to see that all three had their earpieces firmly wedged in their ear. "Okay, here's the plan. Bennie, I want you to take your bike up to Little Whinging, scout ahead. My cousin Jamie is currently on surveillance outside the house. Link up with her and back her up."
"Will do."
"Romulus, Blaise. You'll be going inside with me. Romulus, I want you to find Maxwell and remove him from the house as quickly and quietly as possible, Blaise and I will take of any Dursleys present."
"Got it."
"I want to keep this as low key as possible. So no magic unless absolutely essential." Harry told them. "Have you both got your sidearms?"
Romulus nodded, brushing aside his coat so that Harry could see the automatic pistol strapped into a shoulder rig under his arm. Blaise removed one of her pistols, a Colt Double Eagle .45ACP, from its rig and ejected the magazine, pulled back the slide then replaced the magazine and nodded. The gun was returned to its rig.
When they got to the Atrium they exited through a service exit into a carpark, which was filled with cars, only about two-thirds of which belonged to the Ministry or its employees, the rest were entirely Muggle.
Romulus got into the front of the car assigned to the team, a Ministry- owned Ford sedan, and Harry and Blaise got into the back. At a nod from Harry, Romulus started the engine and drove out of the carpark. Harry spoke into his earpiece. "Lieutenant Scar to NSTF Control. We have left Ministry grounds and are heading towards our target."
'Received. Bullseye is also en-route to the target, expected ETA ninety minutes.'
"Understood, standby."
'Standing by.'
----
Mr Dursley rose at seven-fifteen am as usual the next morning, and joined his wife in the kitchen for breakfast. They were alone for the moment, as neither of their children had come down. This was also not unusual. What was unusual, was that the doorbell ringing interrupted their breakfast. Mrs Dursley went to answer the door and came back looking rather white-faced.
"It's the police, Dudley." She told him. "They've come about Maxwell."
The three 'policemen' entered at that moment. "Actually, we're not police." Harry admitted - although as he was still wearing his dark sunglasses, his identity was as yet a mystery. "But we are with law enforcement and we do need to talk to your son."
"Really?" said Dudley. "Why's that?"
"Well, it quite simple really," said Harry, reaching up and removing his sunglasses. "He's not 'normal'."
----
Dudley's reaction to this revelation - and the much dreaded return to Privet Drive of Harry Potter - was characteristically violent. "Get out, you freak! You will not pervert my son!"
"Quite right," Harry agreed. "We won't pervert Maxwell, I never intended to. I will however require him to accompany me so that we may see to his education as a wizard."
"He will not be going with you!" Dudley bellowed. "No son of mine will become an unnatural abomination like you!"
Harry could tell that Blaise was getting rather annoyed, and if he was being perfectly honest she wasn't the only one. So he decided to cut to the chase. "How exactly are you going to stop me, Duddikins?"
Dudley looked a little perplexed at that, but then his muscles tensed and he raised his fist.
Harry shook his head. "Not a good idea, Dudders." He cautioned. His right hand went into his jacket and pulled out one of his own sidearms. "Do you know what this is?" he asked conversationally, pointing it in Dudley's general direction.
"It's a gun, Potter! I'm not that stupid!"
"That's a debatable point." Harry told him. "But you're correct. It is in fact a Desert Eagle .44 Magnum. One of the most handguns on the market. Ordinarily, it would enough to blow your head off at this range. But our quartermasters have acquired some interesting ammunition for it. Silver hollow-points filled with Ecrumpet Exploding Fluid. One round from this gun, would turn half your body into very small pieces and would probably have enough force left to blow a small hole through your wall. Understand?"
Dudley nodded.
"Now, where is Maxwell?"
"I'm telling not you!"
"That's a bit stupid, Dudders." Harry pointed out. "I mean, we could just go looking. It wouldn't take that long."
"He's not here!"
"That's a lie," Harry told him. "We've had someone watching the house for the last four days. He hasn't left. Last chance, where is he?"
"Piss off!"
Harry sighed. "Okay, be that way. I lost my patience." He raised the gun. "Goodbye Dudley."
He pulled the trigger.
Mrs Dursley screamed.
----
The Desert Eagle clicked as the hammer was deflected by the safety catch. Harry grinned. Dudley nearly passed out from the shock.
"You didn't think I was really going to shoot did you?" asked Harry, then thumbed a catch and his gun. "Now, where is he?"
"Th.th.the smallest bedroom. He's in there."
"Romulus, if you would be so kind?" Harry asked. "It's the first on the right at the top of the stairs." The bald Auror nodded and headed out to the hall. Harry lowered his gun, but other than that, didn't move. Blaise moved to cover the door into the hall. About half-an-hour later, she reported that Romulus was coming down.
Harry nodded and returned his gun to its holster. "Goodbye Dudley. I hope I won't have to see you again."
With that, Harry left the room and Blaise followed him. A few seconds later, the Dursleys heard the front door click shut.
Dudley sagged in relief and defeat and sat back down in his chair. That Potter, he's the cause of everything that goes wrong in my life. Him and that damned scar."
A/N: Sorry this has taken a few days. Anyone interested in regular updates on my stories or seeing some images that I've put together of some of the characters should e-mail me with a Yahoo ID at [email protected] and I'll set you up on my Group. I have a couple of one-shots planned at I'll hopefully be posting within the next week or so. The actual sequel, provisionally entitled Harry Potter and the Next Generation, is currently still in the planning stage but I will try and get the first chapter of that up within a month to six weeks. As always, feedback is appreciated.