Harry Potter and the Child of Tourach

“He didn’t” said Harry completely stunned at Tonks’ statement. “Not even Scrimgeour can be thatstupid. How do you know about this anyway?”
“Kingsley has sent me an owl a few minutes ago. I guess that the minister did not inform me because he knew that I would tell you immediately. He has made it quite clear in the past that he does not want you in the picture. I think that he even chose to attack today because it is your free day. But listen to me, we really have to go and help them.” replied Tonks in a rush, impatience evident in her voice.

“But why the hell would Scrimgeour order such a suicide mission?” asked Harry confused. The minister certainly was no fool and he had years of battle experience to guide him. “Unless…”
“Unless he’s very sure that he will win.” said Ginny pensively. “And that means that he is…”
“… terribly underestimating the leviathans, exactly.” finished Harry, his face grim. “Damn, we have to help them! Where are my pants?”
“Accio Clothes.” said Tonks rolling her eyes. Instantly a heap of clothes surged out of the wardrobes and landed unceremoniously on the floor. “Honestly Harry you are one of the most powerful wizards alive and do not think of a simple summoning spell. I daresay that I am disappointed.”

“You are so funny.” replied Harry sarcastically, while pulling on his boxers. “Where is the battle anyway?”
“Kingsley included a portkey in his letter, so we do not have to worry about this. It probably started half an hour ago. Get ready you two, time is running out!”
“Two?” asked Harry, buckling his belt. “Ginny won’t accompany us, this is much too dangerous.”
“I can take care of myself, thank you very much.” snapped Ginny, irritated at her husband’s protectiveness. “I am a mediwitch in my last year of training, you will need me to tend the wounded, and so I will come with you. I do not have any intentions of getting killed; therefore I won’t do anything stupid. Don’t be a prat Harry; we do not have the time to argue!”

“All right.” replied Harry grimly, not at all pleased with the outcome of the discussion. “Let’s get on with it then.”
As soon as Ginny and Harry were dressed and had grabbed their wands plus some healing potions, Tonks produced an old boot out of her pocket. Harry and Ginny touched it and suddenly all of them were portkeyed away.


* * * * *


Harry, Ginny and Tonks hit the ground hard and struggled to remain standing. Once again Harry found himself standing at the entrance of the canyon, which he had visited so few weeks ago. A feeling of dread rose in his stomach as he remember which great impact this unholy place had had on his life. They were completely alone, only the great number of footprints indicating that something big was going on. A chilly wind was blowing causing the few trees around to moan and to creak in protest. The aura of disaster, which shrouded the place, was enhanced by the thick grey fog covering the whole crevice.

Harry did not like the situation one bit, the lack of reinforcements or other supporting troops waiting at the entrance greatly disturbed him. Either the minister was so confident that he did not bring any or they were already involved in the battle. He could sense that the fog was magical in nature and he strongly suspected that it was one of Crosis’ combat tricks. In each case it disabled his ability to feel magical auras, everything in the canyon felt completely the same.

“Any more information Tonks?” he asked, wanting to know as much as possible before joining combat. “Did Kingsley tell you if all the leviathans would be attacked here? Or are they launching three separate attacks at the same time?”
“I don’t know Harry.” she replied, biting her bottom lip in nervousness. “Kingsley only told me to get you and to use the portkey, which would bring us directly to the battlefield. I don’t like this at all, it is much too quiet.”

Just as Harry opened his mouth to reply a person burst through the fog zone, slamming into Harry, causing both of them to fall to the ground before he had any time to react. Tonks and Ginny had their wands out in an instant, but lowered them again as soon as they had gotten a glimpse of the attacker’s tattered clothes. He was a high-auror! And judging by the shaved black head he was no one but Kingsley Shacklebolt himself!

“Kingsley! Thank god!” cried Tonks, relieved at finding her old friend so soon. However her relief turned into shock as soon as she had gotten a closer look at him. His auror robe was nothing more than rags, reduced to tatters by some great force. Tonks knew how resistant these garments were and she considered it a miracle that Kingsley had survived a blast, which had ravaged his clothes that badly. Through the countless holes in his clothes she could see all kinds of injuries: slashing, stabbing and bludgeoning wounds, burns and even frostbites.

“Quick, help me turning him around!” shouted Ginny, switching into professional healer mode. Harry complied and pushed him as gently as possible away from him. Tonks grabbed Kingsley’s shoulders and together they managed to lower him to the ground gently. Even though he was only semiconscious, he still screamed in pain as his back contacted with the ground.

“Stand back!” ordered Ginny as she waved her wand in a complicated pattern over the injured auror. Her brows furrowed in concentration and she opened one of her potion vials. Pouring the content down Kingsley’s throat, she spoke up again. “This potion will stabilize him for the moment. I will take him to St. Mungo’s and will return with more healers as soon as possible. I am not sure if he will make it, he is really badly injured.”

In precisely this moment, Kingsley’s eyes popped open. After drawing a very rugged breath he managed to speak.
“All dead… all dead… fire… leviathans…”


* * * * *


Five minutes later, Ginny had apparated away with Kingsley, promising to return with a group of healers as soon as possible. After seeing Kingsley’s condition and hearing his ragged statements Harry had the distinct feeling that only a group of gravediggers would be needed, but of course he did not point that out to his wife. Tonks and him had decided to enter the canyon, hoping that the fight was long over before they got anywhere near the leviathans. Harry still wondered if all of them had been in this canyon at the time of the attack or if they had been attacked separately. Unfortunately Kingsley had fallen unconscious before they could ask him any further questions and Ginny had told them not to expect him to wake up anytime soon. Hoping to find at least one more survivor they had entered the impenetrable damp white veil, which shielded the whole canyon from view.

To say that it was unnerving to walk through the mist would be the understatement of the century. The silence was almost absolute, only the cracking of their shoes on the strange ground, which appeared to be burned and frozen at the same time, disturbed it sometimes. It was cold in the canyon, an icy wind and the dampness of the fog forming what felt like a hull of ice on their bodies. At first they had called out when they had found a body, but soon they ignored the dead, there simply were too many of them and focused on finding someone alive. Suddenly Harry stopped dead in his tracks, causing Tonks to run into his back. On the ground in front of them lay the corpses of three aurors, one of Shai’s crystalline knights and one of Crosis’ ice zombies. To make matters even worse, a small puddle of lava was glowing not far away and you do not have to be a genius to know who had created it.

“This is really bad.” said Harry, his voice reduced to a hoarse whisper and icy dread filling his stomach. “All of the leviathans were here. That means the chances of finding anyone still alive are less then zero.”
“But I thought they could not stand each other.” said Tonks, brows furrowed in confusion. “Why are they now hanging out together?”
“I was wondering about the same thing, it does not make any sen…” started Harry as he suddenly remembered something. “Now I remember! They have to renew the challenge between each combat round. This is very important for the contest and it is crucial that they are not disturbed…”
Tonks gulped. “And what happens if they are disturbed? By an attack for example?” she asked.
“Then they will defend themselves and deliver retribution for the deed…” replied Harry tonelessly.

It took a few seconds for this information to sink in and suddenly Tonks and Harry found themselves staring at each other.
“Oh no.” they said before apparating away.


* * * * *


“This can’t be happening.” said Harry, completely shell shocked. He and Tonks were standing in front of the visitor entrance to the ministry of magic, after not having been able to apparate into the ministry directly. Or at least they were standing in front of what remained of the entrance. The old, broken phone booth had vanished, as had most of the street where it had stood. A gigantic crater was all that remained. It was immeasurably deep and nearly one hundred fifty feet long. Harry was very sure that it led directly to the lobby of the ministry, which probably had been reduced to dust by whatever blast had created the crevice. Thick, black smoke was shrouding the scene, rising from the tunnel as well as from the scattered, burning ruins of the muggle homes, which had been destroyed by it as well.

People were milling around, trying to tend the countless wounded, searching the ruins for any survivors, trying to bring order into the gigantic chaos or simply standing around and glaring at the bizarre scene in disbelief.
“Do you think we should try to get down there?” asked Tonks, pointing at the crevice. “Not the whole ministry seems to be destroyed; maybe we can find any survivors.”
“Anyone alive in it will have apparated away by now.” replied Harry, his voice barely a whisper. “If anyone survived. I would not be surprised if they hunted down everyone.”
“Then what?” snapped Tonks, irritated at his lack of action in this desperate situation.
“I DON’T KNOW!” shouted Harry back. “This has never happened before and I really don’t know how long it will take until their blood thirst is satisfied. The arbiter has no power in this situation so all we can do is waiting and trying to minimise the damage. Stop wanting to play the hero Tonks, it won’t change anything and it frankly gets on my nerves!”

Harry was already sorry for shouting at her after the words had left his mouth. His helplessness was driving him mad and he felt guilty for not having taken care of the leviathans before this could happen. His brain knew that he could not have done anything to prevent it, but his heart was not convinced at all. He was worried about all the people working in the ministry, especially for Hermione, but he knew that this matter was far out of his reach. Well at least he could correct some wrongs of the morning.

Just as he opened his mouth to apologize to Tonks a gigantic explosion occurred several blocks away. Harry noticed that muggles did not hear a thing and this could only mean one thing: Diagon Alley was under attack as well!


* * * * *


Harry buried his face in his hands, the exhaustion of the day finally taking its toll. It was three o’clock in the afternoon, more than nine hours after Tonks had burst into his bedroom and he was sitting in one of the various waiting rooms of St. Mungo’s. He took a deep breath and smelled this unique hospital smell, a slightly nauseating mixture of cleaning and disinfecting charms, fear and distress mixed with a tiny sliver of hope. He hated hospitals, having spent so many hours in the hospital ward in Hogwarts. Glancing at the bloody makeshift bandage tightly wound around his right biceps, he was once again wondering when someone would finally take care of him. Even though his injury was not life threatening, it was still very painful. Knowing that his chances of getting healed soon were less then zero in the cramped hospital, he leaned back in his chair and wondered why on earth he had even bothered to leave his bed this morning.

He and Tonks had arrived in Diagon Alley only a few minutes after the explosion. It had turned out that the explosion had been the spontaneous eruption of a magical volcano, which had most likely been summoned by Anhur directly next to Gringrotts. It had been more than ninety feet high and had spewed tons of ash, rocks and lava. Hundreds of people had died as the large goblin-run bank was buried under the molten stone and Harry could only guess how many more had suffocated due to the toxic fumes the volcano had set free or had been buried under their collapsing houses.

With the ministry destroyed the few people actually able and willing to help had been hopelessly unorganized and extremely badly equipped. Harry and Tonks had spent hours of apparating injured witches and wizards to safety, protected by Bubblehead Charms from the ash and the smoke. They had even tried to freeze the lava, but only had been able to slow it down a little. At least the magical barrier around Diagon Alley prevented it from flowing into a muggle neighbourhood. To their relief the leviathans had seemed satisfied with the destruction and had not intervened in any way. Still the Alley had not been saveable. They had apparated away shortly before it was completely flooded with lava together with the other helpers. They had saved countless of people but an immeasurable number of deaths had occurred as well.

That had been almost two hours ago. They had spent the time waiting in St. Mungo’s all of them injured. Tonks had been hit on the head by a few stones of a crumbling building and had nearly been burned to death by the advancing magma. Harry had barely been able to pull her out of harms way and had suffered some cuts and bruise by doing so. Also a drop of the molten stone had hit his right biceps and, even though he had vanished it immediately, had left a nasty bleeding wound. Currently only seriously injured persons were receiving medical aid and Harry knew that he was nowhere near the top of the priority list. Tonks had already been treated and was spending the next two days in the hospital. He was neither allowed to visit her nor to leave the hospital without having been checked by a healer. He still had not heard anything from Hermione and this only increased his anger at being stuck. Pushing all thoughts of finding the healer in charge and giving him an earful about the situation from his mind, Harry started to use a meditation technique to ease his troubled mind. Five minutes later he was sound asleep.


* * * * *


Harry snapped awake in an instant and found himself lying on a mattress in a small and dark office. A desk and a file cabinet were the only other furniture and a single candle burned on the desk, creating a flickering twilight. Somehow it seemed to produce more darkness than light. Harry furrowed his brow in confusion; how had he gotten here? His instinct should have woken him up when anyone touched him or even stepped near him. Either he was more injured than he had thought or whoever had moved him was very stealthy and smart. The room was strangely blurred even though his contacts were unable to be removed without his help. Just as he wanted to get up from the mattress, the door of the room opened softly and a reddish blur entered.

“Ah Harry, you are awake.” it said in a very familiar voice. “How are you feeling?”
“Ginny?” Harry asked, still unable to see properly.
“Did you expect someone else?” she replied and Harry knew that see was raising one eyebrow even though he could not see it.
“No, I guess I am only pleasantly surprised.” he echoed, grinning. “I feel fine, a bit tired though. And I can’t see properly.”
Ginny nodded. “That’s a side effect of the potion we gave you. It puts the drinker to sleep and helps healing wounds and regenerating spent energy. Don’t worry, in one hour you will be up and around again.

“That’s good. Where am I by the way?” asked Harry, gesturing vaguely at the room around him.
“This den is my very own office, welcome to my realm.” she replied with a serious face, bowing extra deep to emphasize her point.
Despite the horrible day, Harry could not help laughing; Ginny’s acting skills were simply hilarious.
“Oh I feel so honoured by being allowed to stay here my fair lady.” he replied, having decided to continue their little game for a while. “But would you be so kind and evaluate how I have come here?”
“Well good sir I am afraid that you despite your greatness and bravery have been a bit exhausted by the day’s events.” she answered, her eyes dancing with mischief. “You fell asleep in a chair and I decided that it would be best to bring you here to take care of your every need and fortunately you were not making any problems.”
Looking into each others eyes they burst out laughing, feeling the weight of the day slipping away.
“You see?” Ginny managed to gasp between fits of laughter. “Laughing is the best medicine!”
“You are absolutely right.” replied Harry, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. His vision had become much sharper during the last few minutes and by now he could really see Ginny and not just a reddish blur. She looked tired and slightly overwhelmed by the day’s events, but he just could not help noticing how tightly her healers robe clung to her body. Suddenly he could think of a thousand ways to further brighten this day. “Especially if it gets delivered by such a pretty mediwitch.”

“I think it is save to say that you are getting better every second.” replied Ginny, grinning mischievously. She slowly walked over to the mattress Harry was lying on and laid down on top of him even slower. “Good. I need you in your best shape. After all I had a very rough day and I need someone to take care of my tension.”
Before she could say another word, Harry’s lips were on hers and one of his hands was buried in her fiery hair, while the other one was cupping her face. His tongue was tracing her bottom lip, begging for entrance and Ginny was more than happy to grant it. Their minds were wiped blank as their tongues started to dance and the lost each other in the passion of the moment.

Some time later, a loud knock on the door caused them to come back to reality. Harry’s shirt was lying forgotten in some corner of the room and Ginny’s robe was not far from getting separated from her body. Her hair was messed up and both of their lips were swollen from kissing.
“Mrs. Potter!” shouted a female voice through to door. “There is a flucall for you in fireplace number four. It sounds urgent!”
“Don’t answer.” whispered Harry into her ear. “She will go away.”
“No, she won’t.” sighed Ginny. “This is Mrs. Hutchens, the woman with the biggest stick up the arse in the whole hospital. If I am not out there in a minute, she will either come in or run to my boss. She knows that I am still in the hospital, so there is no way out. See you in a minute.”

Harry watched her go disappointedly, his own needs frustratingly unsatisfied. He laid down on his mattress and rubbed his temples, his mind wandering back to the less satisfying events of the day. He was very sure that Diagon Alley could be rebuilt quickly, with the ministry organizing it. The damaged had been severe but not devastating after all some parts, for example the Gringrott’s vaults had remained unharmed. But when would the ministry be organized again? Merlin only knew what Scrimgeour was doing in this moment. It even was possible that the minister had died in the attack. His office was nowhere near the area of effect, but maybe he had been in the lobby by coincidence. What was Wright doing? Was he alright? Or did he lead the attack on the leviathans this morning and was currently busy rotting and feeding a few maggots? Harry knew that his boss was one of the toughest guys around, but still he could not help feeling worried about him.

Also he had not heard from Hermione all day. The spellmaker areas were one the other end of the ministry so chances that she had been anywhere near the lobby at the time of the attack were very slim. Still a lot of unlikely things happened today and nothing seemed impossible to Harry in this moment. Just as he started to wonder why no one had bothered to gather all aurors to help cleaning the mess up, the door burst open and Ginny was standing in the doorframe. She was flushed and panting, but had a big smile on her face.

“Hermione just called!” she gushed. “She has finished the spell!”