This is a Harry/Hermione Story. be warned.

Summary: The wizarding world has created its own problems

because they have a power they do not use.

H/HR

Starts during the eternal camping trip.

The Power They Do Not Use

by twilliams1797

"Hermione why are you crying, the git has abandoned us again, just like he did before, in our fourth year, he spent the whole year being
jealous of nothing, And sixth year, yeesh, all he did was go out of his way to make you feel bad, sucking face with Lavender! Harry was starting to get mad, not at his best friend, but at the actions of his so-called 'mate'
Hermione stopped crying and looked up at her friend, who by this time was pacing back and forth angrily, "Sure, I was a bit of a git, what with the book and all, but you know I would have shared everything with you if you had wanted.." he spun on her "You know I have made you my heir in all things, if anything happens to me, everything I own is yours, including the titles..anything you want, Hermione, if I can possibly give it or do it for you I will, Ron's a git, a fool and a jerk.. All he has been doing to us for the past four months is drag us down, hold us back and eat all our food."

He got down on his knees in front of the bushy haired woman,
keeping her from speaking, for she wanted to protest his declarations. She sat on the edge of the cot, her hands covering her mouth in shock, unable to speak what was bubbling in her heart.
"Hermione, you are the smartest woman I have ever met, hell you are the smartest PERSON I have ever met, I would like you to do something for me, one small task, and I will leave you alone"
She looked up and met his eyes, nothing was said, and everything was said.

"Think back , all the way back to the time you met us on the train, all the way up until today, Has Ron ever really thanked you for carrying him through school, for giving him all your notes and homework help, your tutoring and advice, putting up with his rudeness and crudeness? has he ever Respected you, even once?"
"Think about that, Hermione and get back to me with your answer, I'll be back in a bit and we are breaking camp when I do, I've had it with this eternal camping trip, we're straying in a hotel from now on."

With that, he strode out of the tent and into the night, placing assorted
warning wards and detection around and about the area.

Hermione looked inward, all the way back to the first time she met Harry and Ron, and with almost perfect recall (for she had an eidetic memory) scanned through seven years of arguments, conversations, meals and classes, and could not find a single place here Ron had given a true and honest thank you to her, and a myriad of times where he had mocked and belittled her for her desire to learn and success, and conversely turned right around immediately thereafter, and asked for homework help, notes or tutoring. Anger crept across her face, as she realized that without her support, at least two years Ron Weasley would have failed out a year in school.

He had horrible manners, and no desire to improve himself, and was quite fond of using Harry's fame to get an 'in' wherever he could.. in fact it was probably only Harry's presence that made it possible for the Weasley's to get into the top Box at the World Quidditch Cup, without Harry staying with the family, they would have been relegated to the cheap seats..

She stood and began to pace, following the pattern Harry had established earlier, all thoughts of loss and abandonment gone, any thoughts of a lost relationship were vanquished , the magic and anger in her was burning out the long term potions in her system. Harry returned, a small bag with the logo of an apothecary in Glasgow on the side. He silently held out a green bottle to her. She read the label, and nodded, twisting the top off, throwing it back like a shot as Harry watched. She shuddered and began sweating, and her whole body exuded a oily sheen, vaguely opalescent in color. "Go take a shower to wash it off, I'll make some tea, I got us Chinese."

She turned to go, but thought better of it, and threw herself into Harry's arms, burying her head into his chest. Her voice was muffled, but clear enough. "He has never once shown me any respect, or love, where, you have shown me all your love and respect from the day you met me..I'm sorry that I hadn't noticed properly, and I realize now that you have shown me true love.. wanting what's best for me, even if it hurt you." she leaned back and looked him in the eyes.
"I love you Harry James, and I always will, no matter what." He smiled and gazed back. "And ever since I became aware of my true feelings, I have loved you,Hermione Jane, and I will always be there for you, if you will have me"

"Can we pack up and head to that hotel now rather than later?"
"Sure, got everything in your bag?" She accioed a few items and looked around.
"Yep, sure do. Grab the take-out and lets go"

a moment later the tent stood empty in the glen where it was set up. The snow crunched with the sound of footprints, and a tall redhead came out of the woods, watching the lights on a device in his hand. He found the tent and looked inside, checking all the nooks and crannies, finding no one, sat down at the table and wondered who would feed him.

Th sun shone in the windows of the 13th floor hotel room, the rumpled bed covers barely covering the entwined couple.
The golden winter light shone horizontally across the room, walking across the wall and down to the bed occupied by the pair

Harry had taken them to a property owned by the Potter clan since the first inn was built and an hosteling empire was formed.. Every hotel and motel in this chain had a floor or rooms set aside for the owners, and there was no tracking or magical signature that could be found to detect these suites. This suite was a smaller one, only two bedrooms, a sitting room, a kitchenette and a huge bath shared between the two bedrooms. They had decided that they didn't need the huge hospitality suite that was on the same floor, that the cozy smaller one would do nicely.

Harry groaned and rolled over on his back, a huge smile on his face, life was good. They had shown up here the night before, bypassed the check-in, as Harry had the Potter Ring, and that was the passkey to a private elevator. They had come to claim the suite and while Hermione had taken a shower to wash off the potion sweat, Harry had contacted the hotel elves and gotten a tea service set up, along with some extra food, as the Chinese take-away was already gone .

Ron really had eaten all the food

They had indulged in strawberries and chocolate, some nice wine and giddily fell into bed together.

They partook of each other and did many of the things young lovers do with each other, many many times, until they nestled together in an embrace which would last the night and a lifetime.

A few hours later.

"The Sun has risen, Hermione, shall we be about our day?"
She sat up, the sheet wrapped around herself, as he sat on the edge of the bed,"No.. I just want to grab you and take you into that huge bath in there and have my way with you.."

"well, that did occur to me also, so, just in case, I put that particular item
as the first thing on our list to do today, ok?"

she didn't speak, but held her arms up, and let the sheet fall. He stood and
scooped her up in his arms as hers were wrapped around his neck and he carried her into the waiting tub.

Later, they were sitting at the breakfast table eating a light breakfast with
coffee and juice, making plans for the day.

"The magical world cannot deal with the muggle world and not be noticed" Harry was expounding. "We can slip in and out and capture whoever the combatants are and put them on ice, to be dealt with later, all we need is a place where we can trap them in, a rat trap which will drain their magic, since we both know that the wizarding world doesn't have a bit of common sense, we should be able to take the upper hand as it were, but we can't do it alone, I don't think.. we need help.

"But who can we trust, Harry, the Ministry has been taken over by Umbridge and Voldemort, The Trace is capturing people and putting them in camps with the snatchers.. it seems untenable.."

He pondered for a minute. "Well, first we need to find out who we can trust.. I want to trust the twins, but I don't know if they were involved in the potions that were given to us.. if they were, that means we can't trust them, if they weren't then we can, probably trust them..I think."

Hermione sipped her coffee and looked out at the clouds of steam rising above the city. "We need to destroy that horcrux right now, so it doesn't fall into the wrong hands.. and find a way to track the others..quickly, and get that done with. we also need to get that link out of your head, once and for all, I don't believe that old man, all those years he knew and never did anything about it,it seems like he was setting you up as a martyr..that's not right."
Hermione groused. "We need to stop the Ministry under Tom, they are using the Trace to capture and control people.. "

Harry agreed with Hermione. "Do we know how the Trace is done, for that

matter, how do they catch us for underage magic?."

"It all seems to be out of Matilda Hopkirk's office..she's the one who sends

out the owls. "

"Can we contact Arthur Weasley, he might know how it's done and where.." "Good Idea, as soon as he gets a telly, I'll call him up."

Harry looked very dour, thinking about Hedwig. He stood looking out the

suite's windows at the steam rising from the businesses and buildings of

the city. Their suite was on a corner of the building and had windows on two sides and thus, had a panoramic view of the city. Gulls and pigeons arced and whorled around in the rising heat from the tops of the structures. Hermione came up behind him and put her arms around him, her chin resting on his shoulder.

He spoke. "I can't trust The Order anymore, Love, look at that half-baked plan they came up with to get me away from Privit Drive.. We lost Moody, we lost ..Hedwig.. for what?..." he leaned his head into hers and turned around in her arms and buried his face in her hair.

His voice was quiet in her ear. "I can't trust and depend on anyone but you,

Hermione, you are the only one who has always been there for me.. only you." She gasped as he held her tightly and could feel the tears running down his cheeks

Harry has never cried in my memory, never! Not when he was in extreme pain, not ever.!

her mind was reeling.

She clung to him tightly murmuring in his ear a litany of encouragement.

"I'll never leave you, not ever, I love you too much you are my

Harry, you are my love, I trust you with my life, I trust you with my heart."

she kept on like this for a time as she felt his breathing calm down.

Her words had helped him.. he felt them pierce through the darkness enveloping his heart, the words flowed around his soul and washed away much of the pain and grief he felt, they strengthened him in a way he had never experienced before.. her words made him stand tall and strong, and mad him feel as if he could do anything. he let her go and stood up straight and took her face in his hands and kissed her with all the love he could muster.

After a while they sorted themselves out and got dressed for the day..

the tenuous golden threads were stretched to the point of breaking.

More and more changed, and the past became the future,

and one by one, they snapped, leaving this possibility to dissipate into nothingness.

A couple years before:

"Boy! There will be no funny business in my house!"

"Yes, Uncle Vernon, I will write my Godfather, Sirius Black and ask him to come visit soon, he can advise me on how to get away from here, as you don't want me here as much as I don't want to be here."

Vernon grunted at the mention of the 'dangerous criminal'

"The old man said you were to have no visitors, so don't invite Black here..

I met him once and didn't like him then, either." Vernon slammed and locked the door to the smallest bedroom and stomped away.

Harry shook his head in disgust, and pulled out his books, hidden under the bed. He had to sneak downstairs after midnight, pick the lock to the cupboard and retrieve the contents of his trunk, so he could do his necessary work.

He ignored the assigned homework and opened his Runes book to the appropriate pages and continued his reading. The example given was a simple scourgify charm converted into a runic phrase. He took a stick he had found with the name of a paint company on one side, and carefully drew in the runes in the proper order. The next step was to incant a phrase and activate it with his wand, but since he didn't want to get another letter from the Underage magic office, he did it manually. He held the stick and forced his magic into it, with the intent of activating and powering up the runes. It worked, as far as he could tell, as the figures glowed briefly and the stick felt as if it were warm and vibrating. He waved it over the east side of the room and the accumulated hair and dust bunnies disappeared without a sound. He waved it all around the room, over the bed, over his clothes, and things became cleaner as he watched. There were fingerprints on the window and there was a bit of mess in the bottom of Hedwig's cage,

a wave and they were clean and spotless. He wiggled the door locks and slipped out of the room, and listened carefully. Petunia was in the kitchen, Vernon was obviously in front of the telly, and Dudley was out somewhere

beating someone up. He slipped into Dudleys' room and waved the stick.

Immediately the room was cleaner, visibly so.

Nodding in satisfaction that it worked, he put it away and settled down to the next bit of reading and experiment.

The knot of golden threads began to unravel, one at a time, and as each did, it evaporated into nothingness. Harry was unaware of these threads. Dumbledore was unaware.

Almost everyone was unaware.

Except one young girl.

The next few weeks of summer, Harry translated many spells and charms into runic equivalents, He had a key that would open almost any door, he made a bag that would hold a huge amount of stuff in a small space, The most useful thing he figured out was the 'notice me not' charm, which would make any muggle ignore his presence while he was wearing it.

He inscribed a white t-shirt with the runes, and walked through the house, right in front of his relatives, and they looked toward him, saw the runes and their attention was deflected away. He did an experiment, and stood in front of the telly and Vernon started to yell, but upon seeing the runes, the grumbling turned into a comment about needing a new antennae.

Another time He and Sirius sat at the dinner table with the Dursleys making rude comments and faces at the 'normal family'.

That summer, Harry worked diligently on learning a number of rune based
spells, he acquired a book detailing how wards worked and the basic spells to erect them. While looking at this book and several others, he noticed that every book on warding referred to Golinards as the authority on wards. Harry made inquiries into finding a copy of Golinards book, as they were rare and only sold directly to the final user by Jack Golinard himself.. as they were self updating, and as such, expensive. Harry wrote a letter describing his situation and actions and sent it via Hedwig to Golinard himself. A couple hours later, a message arrived that the old man himself was going to visit, because of what Hedwig had done.

Golinard hid himself behind family wards that had been added to over the
centuries, as the entire clan had always been warders and curse breakers.
Hedwig flew to the location where she sensed the recipient of the letter and
traversed the wards without too much effort, and it was a very surprised old man who read Harry's letter at his lunch that day.

The fact that Hedwig had traversed the wards indicated to Golinard that the Owl was owned by a powerful and intelligent wizard..being not only a post owl, she was his familiar, and thus, sharing in the magical benefits.

He asked the Snowy owl to wait while he wrote a reply.

Mr Potter.
It is with some surprise that your Owl
reached me this morning, as I have some
very complex wards guarding my residence
these days. Her arrival indicates to me the
power that and intelligence you have
working for you, I assume she is your
familiar, and not just a post owl.

I have read your letter and request, and
I find myself intrigued enough to come
and visit your location. I would like to
examine the so-called 'blood wards'
that Dumbledore thinks are impenetrable.

If Tuesday at ten is inconvenient, please
let me know.

Jack Golinard.

Tuesday arrived and Harry watched from the front stoop, wanting to see how the master warder and curse breaker perceived and checked the wards from the outside. He kept a pole with a sign on it handy and when the Master arrived he stepped out to the street to greet him.

"Welcome,Master Golinard, and assistant, I am Harry Potter and this is where I was dumped fourteen years ago..4 Privit drive."
"Hello Mr Potter, Harry, I am pleased to meet you, this is my assistant and head curse breaker, Jay Bernheimer.." Harry shook hands with the man, who was using his wand and some detection equipment to 'feel' the warding. Golinard looked at the sign Harry was carrying.. it was an old broomstick with a piece of posterboard nailed to it, with the 'notice me not' and 'anti muggle' runes painted on it. "I figured you might want to do some checking around outside and this should keep any unwanted attention away from us.."

Both of the older men's eyes were widened a bit at this small piece of
diversion, and Harry's status in their eyes went up a little bit as well.
"Good thinking, sometimes you have to work in a mundane area and you need every tool you can get, nice shirt, by the way." Harry was proud of that, and told the men about the dinner he and Sirius had eaten with his family.

Bernheimer came back from his walkaround of the wards and the property with a look on his face. The data he had collected was all there written on his clipboard.. The clipboard was a recording device tied in with a set of spells and charms the man had used, and as he walked ward strength was recorded, types of wards, everything magical.

Golinard took the clipboard and looked it over. he raised an eyebrow to his
assistant who pointed back at the notations with a shrug.
"Mr Potter.. Harry..I don't know how to tell you this, but what you have over this property are not wards.. blood wards or otherwise."
"Really?, the old man claims that they are blood wards created by my mother's self-sacrifice, and that as long as I live with my blood relative, that is, my Aunt, I am safe from anyone intending me harm."
The two professionals looked at each other in disbelief. "Harry, someone is
lying to you.. my family has been involved in the warding business for over 800 years, and I have never heard of anything like that..ever."

Another data point stored away in his mind.

"So, what is actually over this property?"
"well, according to our initial survey, the things set up are to influence the
mundanes you live with.."

Harry learned a lot that day in the summer before his fourth year.. he created a set of anti-sensing wards to block the Ministry from locating him, or anyone else for that matter. He was informed of several tracking charms on his person and property, which he transferred to an inert object which he could dispose of at will. He kept the object in his trunk so that Dumbledore would see he was 'well and healthy' from his ivory tower.

Harry asked Golinard to disable the spells influencing the Dursleys, letting
them possibly have something of a normal life.. he may eventually forgive, but he would never forget., nor would he let his guard down, for Vernon's natural propensity may just be to be a bullying bigoted bastard..

_______________________________

The night he set up the personal wards that he had designed, he sat on the roof of 4 Privet Drive and looked out over the estate where the house was sitting. One house exactly the same as every other house, except for the inhabitants.. He wanted better, he wanted to have someone to love and be loved by, he wanted children, and happiness in his house.. he knew that he was a bit young to think of this, but the fact was, his circumstance had forced him to mature and be adult in many things.. even when he wanted to go and play.. he just wanted to go with Hermione and swing, to drag his feet in the dirt and jump to see how far he could go.. he wanted to have a mum, or someone who acted like his mum to hold him when he
felt bad. he wanted someone to talk to about guy things.. he couldn't talk to
Ron.. the boy acted so jealous and childish and selfish, that Harry just felt he couldn't trust him, and wouldn't. The next year would show how true this was.

Harry made some progress with his 'family' they were not actively hostile to him, but they were also not accepting him with open arms either. Vernon still had his outbursts, and more than once Harry had to duck to avoid the fat man's slap. It usually never went beyond that, as Vernon got winded easily, and encouraged Dudley to knock the skinny wizard around.

_________________________________

The episode with Master Warder and Curse Breaker Golinard was eye opening to Harry. He got way more than he had asked for, All he wanted at the outset was a copy of THE BOOK. what he ended up with, was a signed copy of THE BOOK, and a personal lesson in runic warding from THE expert in the field, not to mention an invitation to apply for an apprenticeship when he was older.

Harry was pleased with this development. He had found that he had enough money for his education and was planning on using it wisely, to hire tutors and specialists. Sirius had suggested several things that he do, one of which was to find his solicitor, and failing that, ask his cousin Andromeda to represent him. This was one of the few sensible things that Sirius had come up with, as his brain was still a bit addled from his years in Azkaban. Harry loved his Godfather, but had enough common sense to think about what was suggested before doing it.

He recalled a comment that Hermione had made in their first year.

"I don't think that wizards have an ounce of common sense or logic"

Harry had taken that to heart, and assumed the worst.

July ended and his birthday came and went, August was upon them and he had spoken with Hermione and her parents, They had been invited to go to the Quidditch World Cup with the Weasleys, but Harry had declined, as he was going with his Godfather. Arrangements were put in place and he boded his time, between his work and his daily calls to Hermione, his life was getting much better.

Harry pretty much stayed to his room and worked on various runic magic
projects, along the way he learned a lot of applied arithmancy and how to use it in his creations, for over on this side of the equation a long series of
formulae were the arithmatical description of the other side of the same
equation, where there was a rune or series of runes..

He figured out a sorting spell, where something was dropped in to one side of the ring he made, and the objects dropped were sorted into various piles. He experimented with a large bucket of mixed hardware he found at the curb in front of someone's house. He accumulated a bunch of soup tins and washed them, and inscribed them with a progression of runes, and had a ring made from an old embroidery hoop Mrs Figg threw out. The hoop had the same runes with redirection modifiers applied. It took about twenty tries before he got it ...sorted out..another joke he laughed
at.. and it worked. He dumped the mixed screws and nuts and bolts and
unidentified stuff out a handful at a time and it was all sorted into the soup
tins. A small victory. His next step was to make the sorting work over a
distance, and he set up his experiment in the back garden.. he lined up his soup tins at the back fence and he stood behind the garage with the hoop ring. He dumped a handful at a time and watched as the hardware flew across the yard to it's target.

Now if he could do it without occupying the intervening space. Something to figure out over the next school year, as September was looming

and he was going to the World Cup with Sirius , Mooney, Hermione and her parents.

Sirius had located a place to live where the ministry couldn't find him, as he was still listed as an escaped convict, so he wore his Rune shirt that Harry had made for him, only this one included more comprehensive runes, which included wizard repelling charms.

Hermione was glad to see her wizard.. she had taken to thinking of Harry as Her wizard.. even though she didn't think too far about what that meant.. both for her and for him..
Her mother had a look that she knew something was up when the girl talked about Her wizard.. even unstated it was a given.

Sirius and Harry came to the Granger home and parked Sirius' new bike behind the garage, out of sight, unless you were in the back garden and no one was supposed to be there without permission. Harry dropped off a small crate that had several rocks carved with ward runes on them, to be dealt with later, right now they were heading for the World Cup. Sirius produced some appropriate clothing for the Grangers to wear, so they would blend in with the crowd.. and he also put a bracelet on every member of the group with a password to get them out in an emergency. One rock Harry took and with Hermione's guidance he dug a small hole
and planted it in the ground n the center of a grassy area. He took the sod and packed it tidily over the hole, leaving very little indication that it was
there. This was something they had planned ahead on doing. Sirius had bought the stone from a specialist, and the bracelets were tied to the stone, if the wearer had to bugout or just wanted to return home, they had to use the password and when spoken, would be portkeyed back. Harry had paid close attention to the runes and description of the spell, he had examined the bracelets, and copied down a mass of information on the subject to be studied later.. his drawing pad and notebook was growing by the day, with all manner of things. Sirius joked that he would be the only fourth year who had created his own Grimore.

The four adults and two teens spun through the ether towards the QWC
landing zone, and when the ground came up toward them, they did as they were instructed and landed with slightly flexed legs and all five kept their balance.
Earlier Sirius had instructed Harry on using the floo and portkeys and the young man was a bit angry with his so called friends who just laughed as he fell over himself every time he used either. Apparently to the average wizard, falling on you face is considered high comedy. This, of course explained a lot to Hermione, who wondered why everyone thought the Weasley twin's pranks were the biggest hoot around.

________________________________________

They entered the midway working it's way up to the stadium, saw all manner of crazy and lunatic things, people dressed oddly, people doing things normal wizards shouldn't do, The aurors were having a time keeping the crowds under control. "So why is everyone here waiting for the show, if the portkeys were made correctly, you could port directly to your ticketed seat.. in theory.." Harry asked of Sirius, but it was Miranda who came up with the answer.
"People want to be witness to the spectacle, the silly costumes and odd behavior of others, they want to have permission to act out in ways they would not usually act at home or with their peers."
"Oh,I see. so its like when the football hooligans go to Spain to start fights
and kick ass, regardless of if it's their team or not."
"Exactly."
"Everyone keep their bracelets tight and be ready to bugout in an instant,
please, I don't want anyone hurt." This was mature adult Harry talking. Jake and Miranda looked over the kids heads to Sirius, who just nodded quietly as the teens walked hand in hand ahead of them.

Harry bought three pair of omnioculars, one for Sirius and Mooney, one for the Grangers and one for himself and Hermione. he stuffed them in his pouch, which he had taken to keeping with him at all times. Your basic fanny pack with enlarging charms on the inside, giving him quite a bit of space to work with.. he had shown the things to do to Hermione and she was excited about doing the same to her bookbag before she went to school.

They came in contact with the Weasleys along the way, and Ron didn't notice the
couple, he didn't recognize any of them, because they were all disguised, at
least Harry and Hermione were. Sirius looked completely different than his
wanted poster, and Mooney, he just blended in with the background, casting a silent disillusionment spell and activating his 'notice-me-not' charms.. they were a bit of an inconvenience in a crowd like this, people tried to walk right through the space you occupied, so he walked directly behind Harry with his hand on the young man's shoulder, and Sirius brought up to the rear. Harry whispered in the girl's ear, "did you see that, how he looked you up and down.. even I felt violated." Hermione had been speaking the week before about how males treated females in wizarding society, the more pureblood you were, the more
second class everyone around you became.

_________________________________________

The QWC was quite exciting to watch, the events with he leprechauns and
Veela were odd feelings for the men in the group, and amusement for the women.. Harry acted correctly when the Veela dance onto the field, and burrowed his face in Hermione's neck, holding her tightly.. When questioned about it, he spoke of feeling an odd pressure in an undefinable place, but instinctively he knew that holding the brunette girl was the cure. Jake stood up at the same occurrence, but held onto Miranda's hand, he quirked his head, watching the silvery dancers, but kept a hold.

Sirius had acquired a box up and behind the Ministry box, and as such Harry could watch the events within said box. Ron immediately got up and started toward the front of that balcony when Arthur grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him back. The twins acted a bit antsy, but stayed put.
The game finally began and the wizards explained the game and the players to the non wizards, and after a bit, even the non-fans could see the excitement of the game.
The players flew about with astonishing speed, and everyone gasped as Viktor Krum dove toward the field, as if diving for the snitch, and the opposing seeker assumed it was a feint.. unfortunately for Bulgaria, it was not. Krum caught the snitch and Ireland was still far enough ahead, they won the game.

The crowd surged to their feet, and were jumping about cheering and something odd caught Harry's eye. he touched Hermione's arm and spoke in her ear.."There, see the elf, it looks as if she is trying to stop someone....there under a cloak, an invisibility cloak.." The little female elf in the pretty blue dress fell as if cast off, and cringed as someone or something smacked at her.. she fell back, helpless as her charge moved away, toward the right..right behind where the Weasley's were milling about. The ripple passed by the Weasleys and Harry noted that Ron had his wand sticking out of his back pocket..and then he didn't.

The little elf started running toward the exit and just about where they had seen the last ripple, she popped away. The Grangers suggested staying in the stands for a while to let the crowds diminish, and everyone though that was a reasonably good idea.. They did find a spot overlooking the midway and the campgrounds and talked about the game and magic and things as they watched the thousands of witches and wizards mill about
below. They reviewed their omniocular recordings and used the devices to people watch in the crowd. They heard screams and noticed that there were people being tossed about in the air, like they were rag dolls being thrown about by a jealous little brother teasing his sister.

"Oh my lord, what are they doing?" Miranda pointed down the way at five or six people in dark cloaks and masks who were the ones tormenting the flying people...Sirius glared. "Death Eaters..the worst of our people, all good citizens, as long as they buy off the right people in our Ministry.." he
snarled. "What I would give to have a long range weapon now.." Jake estimated the range. "My squaddie Jeremy could take them out quite nicely from here.. I have seen him hit a target 1600 meters away."
The wizards all looked at Jake Granger with a question in their eyes.

Jake looked around at his hosts.."What?, I was in the SAS as a medic, those guys are deadly accurate, and the target never knew what hit them."
Just then, a huge glowing green skull and snake formed in the air above the
midway, and Sirius and Harry grabbed their guests and yelled 'BUGOUT"

A whirling trip through the ether and everyone landed in a pile in the Granger back garden. Harry got up swiftly, pulling Hermione up with him and they picked up her parents together.

"What was that?" Jake demanded. He and Miranda were somewhat fearful of the answer they might receive. Sirius and Mooney were solemn faced, and not really wanting to talk about it, because they were both shocked to their core.
"It can't be, it just can't"
"You saw it as well as I, Mooney, they're back..at least they are getting
bolder"
"What are you two going on about?"
The group had moved into the house by now.
Mooney took the initiative.
What you saw tonight was Death Eaters muggle-baiting and the sign in the sky was The Dark Lords signature.. they are coming out of hiding, and I fear for our world."
He turned to Jake and Miranda. "If you care about your lives and your daughter's life, sell everything and get out of the country, as soon as you can." he looked scared. Go as far from here as possible, Australia, New Zealand.. Tristan Da Cunha .."

Hermione's parents looked shocked at this pronouncement, They had come to find Mooney as a calm, and reasonably sane person for a wizard.. Harry looked to his girlfriend at the last. she whispered an answer to the unasked question.
"Farthest inhabited place on earth."
"Oh."

Harry thought quietly for a few minutes as the older wizards filled in the
Granger family on the whole Death Eater situation, ideology and activities in the past. He held Hermione's hand and looked her in the eyes, saying
nothing..but he never stopped thinking. He was still looking at her when he
interrupted his Godfather.

"Sirius, could you stop giving Voldemort so much credit and start thinking about what we could do now?"
Sirius drew up short in is words.."um..what?"
Harry turned to him.
"We have no proof that Voldemort is back, just that some of his followers are acting out.. now it is the hands of the Ministry to deal with, am I correct?"
"Er, yes, I suppose so..What are you saying?"
"Is it our task to do any more than look out after our own families?"
"well, I suppose not, but who will?"
Hermione interjected. "Won't the Headmaster do something about it?"
"He should, he heads up two out of the three branches of our government..AND he is a full time Headmaster of our biggest magical school".
This got the attention of all the Grangers and Harry
"There are other magical schools?"
"Um, sure, there's Dublin School of Magical Arts and Sciences, there's The
Headington School in Oxford, it has both Mundane and Magical sides., Mooney, isn't there one in London too?"
"Yes, but it is by audition only, The Globe school of Theater and Musical
Arts, Started by Will Shakespeare back in 1500 something."
Harry and Hermione felt they had been cheated somehow..

"Oh, yes, the Dragon School in Oxford, they begin teaching basics of magic in primary school, so you could have been taught since you were 6, I believe.."
Miranda spoke first. "And why were we not told of these schools back then, when it might have given our Hermione a good start.. is there someone blocking us from hearing about it?"
Sirius answered.
"I don't know, There is a book in the Ministry that records every magical birth in the country, and those names are supposed to be forwarded to the correct parties.. I do recall that both I and my brother Regulus received invitations to the Oxford schools, but my Mother refused them. I don't know why, other than she was a bigoted bitch."

These revelations made the teens think long and hard about it
some years in the future, when the teens had time to think about it, they interviewed the staff of those schools, and found out that they had been blocked from speaking to Harry, and Hermione was never on their list.

______________________________________________

Fourth year started and by the second day of school, Harry had descended into confusion, forgetting many of the things he had learned over the summer. His ever-present notebook full of drawings and ideas was not to be found.

Hermione tracked him down to the Quidditch pitch where he was standing in the stands holding his broom, looking at the grounds, which were all torn up and hedgerows being planted.

"Harry?..are you all right?..Harry?"

Hermione quietly trod the risers of the stands to the platform where her best friend was standing, looking out over the grounds.

His eyes did not leave the maze as he spoke.

"I don't know, Hermione, I don't know what I do know and what I don't..

It's like I have bare spots in my mind, and I know something is missing, but I cannot tell what it is."

he turned his face to her.

"I think I have been obliviated."

Standard disclaimer:

If you recognize it, it's probably owned by JKR and her corporate lackeys.

I am borrowing her characters and playing with them, for this, I thank JKR for the privilege.

No money is being made from this exercise.

Jack Golinard is my version of a character created by jbern, creator of Bungle in the Jungle, Turn Me Loose and the original published work Deadeye

edited for continuity

2-16-09