Chapter Two

The Seven Days War: Day One

August 13, 1995

The attic was the only place to escape the mad ritualistic cleaning compulsions of the Weasley matriarch. The door, once thought sealed shut with another Permanent Sticking Charm, wasn't the only way inside, as Harry found while cleaning a wall sconce one afternoon.

The rage eating its way through Harry's gut the entire summer of being ignored by everyone in his life at the direction of his once trusted Headmaster forced Harry into seclusion. Now he felt as if he was being shoved to the side with cleaning duties to keep him occupied while the vaunted Order of the Phoenix fought his most hated enemy. The adults, thinking him too young and fragile, gave him the same duties as if he was at Privet Drive. Clean. Don't ask questions. Do what we tell you to do.

He slammed his fist down on the empty wooden crate he was sitting near and cursed.

"Harry?" a voice came from the room adjacent to the attic.

He froze and tried to make as little amount of sound as possible, even going so far as to taking a breath and holding it so that the only thing that would give him away was the sound of his beating heart.       

A few moments passed and the voice returned. "Harry, Sirius would have told us if zere were zings zat go bump in zee attic. Please open zee door."

Fleur. The first person he had taken his anger out on at the beginning of the summer. Harry released his breath and sighed as he dropped his head backward in dread. He took to his feet and unlocked the door. With a slight push Fleur watched as the door along with the entire frame surrounding it swung free.

She smiled in wonder at a mystery solved. "Zat is how it was done."

Harry blocked the doorway with his body and raised his eyebrows in question as to what she wanted.

Having learned her lesson at the beginning of July she reigned in her more aggressive tendencies. "May I enter?"

Harry sighed slightly again but stepped aside as she entered the dusty attic. After she passed he closed the door again.

"Can you do that charm that they use downstairs at the meetings? I don't want anyone else to hear us." He looked down slightly. "This is the only place I can come to get some peace."

She looked around the room with a frown on her face and nodded. "I can also clear out the dust if you like?"

Harry looked back up and gave her a slight grin. "Thanks."

With a flourish of her wand the accumulated dust of a decade or more rose from the surfaces of the stacked boxes and furniture stored in the room. She directed it out the small window vent on the far wall and then she turned and cast the Imperturbable Charm on the room.

"Zere, you may make as much noise as you like, Harry."

He walked over to one of a few uncomfortable looking wooden chairs and tested its durability for sitting. "Handy charm."

"I can teach it to you if you want," she offered.

Harry moved one of the chairs close to Fleur and took one for himself. "I'm only fifteen," he used as an excuse. "Underage sorcery laws."

A look of confusion took Fleur's face once more. "Nobody has told you?" She rolled her eyes. "Of course not."

After she sat and crossed her legs she explained further. "Zee Ministry cannot tell exactly who is using magic in a house full of wizards and witches. It is up to zee parents to enforce zee law."

She waved her arm. "Zee point is moot because zis house has not been occupied in over a decade. Zee Ministry has long since stopped monitoring the area."

Harry's jaw unhinged at the revelation and then clamped shut again as another rage was boiling. "She … that woman …"

Fleur raised a single delicate eyebrow. "What?"

"Molly Weasley!" Harry said through clinched teeth. He stood up and walked to the door pointing. "That woman has had us scrubbing every nook and cranny in this filthy house." He stepped back quickly and shoved his hands forward. "Look! Blisters, burns!"

He rolled up his one of his sleeves. "Cursed Doxie bites. And all this time I could have used my bloody wand!"

Fleur crossed her hands atop her leg and let Harry blow off steam for another few minutes until he stopped and dropped onto his chair.

"Are you finished?"

He crossed his arms and drew back to his default grimace.

"If you wish I will teach you zee Charm and you may escape here whenever you will without bother," she began. "However you may not tell any of the others that I am teaching you."

At Fleur's condition Harry looked hurt. "But…"

"Zat is zee price, Harry. Molly Weasley has put a restriction on the children of zis house while she is here."

The cool grace of the French girl calmed him somewhat.

"Then why are you offering to teach me?"

A grin stretched across her face. "Because, Harry, I am your friend and I want you to be happy."

~0~

January 3, 2000

"What do mean, the last straw?" Harry asked nervously.

The PM looked down at the stunned Obliviator. "We have always had contingency plans, Mr. Potter. We have top people in place to ensure that events like those we just seen will not progress much further than they already have."

He walked back to his desk and pressed a button on his phone. "Jamesonon, waken the sleepers and upgrade security status to red."

Harry took a couple of quick steps toward the PM. "Wait, you don't know what you're doing.

"On the contrary, Mr. Potter," the PM said as he took his seat. "By your own admission you Magicals are stuck in the eighteenth century. This should be a relatively expedient solution."

Harry turned to the Obliviator and then back to the PM. "Is it a requirement of elected officials to lose their common sense when they take office?"

The PM raised an eyebrow of distain at the insult. "I think taking steps to insure the protection of the rightful governing officials and the press displays a great deal of common sense. Do you not agree?"

He had a point, but then again…

"Look, give me twenty-four hours to put a stop to this."

After a few moments the PM leaned forward into his desk once more. "You have an hour."

~0~

Harry Apparated to the Ministry of Magic and proceeded to the bank of elevators. When he arrived at the top floor he was met by two Hit Wizards.

"I need to speak with the Minister," he stated flatly.

"We've been told not to let you pass," the shorter of the two answered.

Frustration was beginning to show on Harry's face. "Fine, then I'll go back to the Muggle Prime Minister and tell him he can go ahead with the war he has planned.

The two Hit Wizards looked at each other and the shorter one motioned his head toward a row of chairs. "Wait over there."

Harry moved to the seating area but did not avail himself to the convenience. Within a minute the taller Hit Wizard returned and escorted Harry back to the Minister's office.

"What's this about the Muggles and war?"

Harry dove right into the decisions of this latest of dismal Minister choices. "I think it has something to do with performing Unforgivable Curses on their people."

The Minister opened a decanter and poured himself two fingers of a brown colored beverage. "I think you know as well as I do that the Statutes of Secrecy take precedence above any other law. The use of Unforgivables are covered under section 342 b …"

"That's our law," Harry interrupted. "Not theirs."

The Minister sipped at his glass. "Wizarding law is the only one that matters, Potter. The Muggles are of no consequence."

He couldn't believe the utter arrogance of the man sitting before him.

"How would you feel, Mr. Minister, if a Muggle kidnapped you, subjected you to mind control and then popped you back into your lofty office to do their bidding; would you consider that an act of war? Would you rather-I don't know-maybe rather the Muggles contacted you and tried to work things out before resorting to this?"

After setting his glass down the PM answered the question. "Muggles would never go to war with Wizards we would decimate them and they know it."

Harry laughed mockingly. "Are you that completely stupid? They already have."

That froze the Minister in place. "What do you mean?"

Harry dropped himself into a chair and leaned back. "The Muggle Prime Minister had me over for a chat to thank me for saving those peoples lives and to show me a few things. Imagine my surprise when I see an Obliviator cursing one of their government types."

The Minister's eyes opened in slight surprise at what Harry guessed wasn't so much that it happened, but that the wizard had managed to get himself caught in the act.

"It's on tape, Minister. It's going to be showed over the Muggle television just like I was shown to all of those millions of people. Oh, by the way, the Muggles are estimating that it wasn't hundreds of millions but almost three billion people that have witnessed what happened on the bridge the other night."

The Minister jumped to his feet. "WHAT!"

Harry smiled sardonically. "I was shown saving people, Minister. If we had done this the right way we would come out smelling like roses, but now they are going to see you sending people out to effectively attempt a coup-de-tate.

"And then to top the whole thing off right when the Prime Minister was willing to see reason up pops an Obliviator to do the exact same thing to him."

The Minister started to look extremely nervous. "What did he do?"

"I'd be looking for a response from him very soon. He said I had an hour to straighten things out, and if I didn't there'd be war."

"Wallace, Ferring, get in here!" Pennington yelled. A second later the two Hit Wizards came busting through the door. "Wallace, alert the Aurors, alert level Morgana. Ferring, recall the Obliviators."

He turned back to Harry. "Potter, you've got to buy us more time to prepare."

Harry shook his head in confusion. "Prepare for what?" Then he connected the dots. "What are you doing? What's alert level Morgana? And, by the way, I don't work for you anymore, remember?"

The Minister slammed his fist down on his desk. "Are you a Wizard or not, Potter?"

Harry shifted forward to the edge of his seat. "If you are looking for a war, Minister, then the Muggles will give you one. You know as well as I do that it will be bloody and you will turn pretty much every Muggle in the world against us. Billions, Minister; do you comprehend what that means?"

Harry doubted that the Minister had actually thought through the larger picture.

"And what do you suggest, Potter? Perhaps we should crawl on our hands and knees and beg forgiveness," he snapped back.

Harry shrugged. "Nothing so dramatic. How about we lay the cover up at the Muggles feet. I can think of a few ways around what I did at the bridge, but you will have to undo what you ordered and let me go back to show the Prime Minister what an actual Wizard can do. Maybe it will scare him off the offensive and into negotiations."

The Minister picked up his glass and took another drink. He sat for a couple of minutes seemingly thinking through what Harry had said and maybe a couple of other possibilities before he committed to a plan.

"Go back and talk to him. Let him know I am amiable to a discussion."

Harry rose from his seat and gave the Minister a grim smile before turning and exiting his office. He glanced at his watch noticing the PM's deadline was fast approaching.

~0~

Harry chose to Apparate well in front of the chateau imagining what would happen to him if he chose to appear in the library. The thought of being shot didn't sit well with him for the near future. He noticed that the two security guards that were previously stationed on either side of the door had been replaced by uniformed types with very large automatic weapons which were trained on him as he approached.

He held his hands out from his body trying his best to seem harmless. When he made it somewhat near the chateau the uniforms stopped him and waved a device around his body. After another bracing pat-down he was allowed inside and led to the library once more.

Harry wasn't surprised to find several military types standing around the reading table with the PM amongst them.

"Mr. Potter," the PM began with a tone of expectedness.

Harry strode forward. "I've got him to pull all of his people out. There shouldn't be anymore attacks on your people. I can't speak to what other countries are doing."

The PM nodded thoughtfully.

Harry continued. "I would suggest you get your people in touch with his and start whatever you need to in order to bring this thing to a close. He said he was ready to talk."

"And what was his mood, Mr. Potter?"

"Excuse me?" Harry inquired.

The PM took a couple of steps forward. "His demeanor: was he ashamed, belligerent, frightened, aggressive?"

Harry shrugged. "I guess a little of each until I reminded him that he was trying to intimidate Billions of people. That kind of took the fight from him."

The PM nodded again.

"He did authorize a demonstration for you."

Some of the military guys looked interested at what that actually entailed.

"A demonstration of what?" asked the PM.

Harry pocketed his hands. "I guess he doesn't want to lose face or something. I suggested that I could show you what you'd actually be up against if you decided not to talk to him."

"You?" one of the better dressed military types said with a small amount of comedic disbelief in his voice. "You're barely out of your teens."

Harry smiled innocently.

The PM interceded before more words were had between the two. "I've seen his jacket, Barry. Don't underestimate what this young man can do."

Harry turned around looking for something. He took one of his hands out of his pocket and waved it around. "Is there somewhere around here that I can show you, preferably somewhere private and where you won't mind if I destroy a few things."

~0~

A short walk and two jeep rides later Harry was escorted to an area of the grounds that looked somewhat like an old junk yard of sorts. Three dilapidated tractors most likely kept for parts were lined up next to each other, and there were old oil drums containing various trash, metal and plastic here and there.

Harry nodded in appreciation. "This should do."

"What, exactly are you going to show us?" the officer known only as Barry asked.

Harry withdrew his wand as he faced away from his small audience. "Magic."

With a flick and a swish Harry levitated one of the tractors clear of the other two and sat it down. He pointed next to the barrel of metal scraps and all of them watched as its contents floated out and with a flamboyant arc of Harry's wand shot toward the tractor at a blurring speed. The scrap dinged loudly and ripped through the large tires, and most of the body leaving small holes and in other places gaping holes. The tractor shuttered and dropped a foot to the ground.

With another wave and a thrust of his wand a burst of violet a few inches wide shot straight through the engine block. He brought his arm in an uppercut motion and leveled it in the center shooting what remained of the tractor end over end in the air. It came crashing down with enough force to almost fold the back end to the front.

Barry the decorated officer looked uncomfortable but belligerent. "What you've just done could be accomplished with a rail guns or an explosive or two?"

Harry nodded in agreement. "True, but the thing is wizards don't need to carry around those things to get the job done. Plus we never run out of ammunition." He noticed understanding dawn on the other officer's faces.

"And that isn't the limit of what wizards can accomplish. "With a large flourish of his hand Harry shouted out, "Fiendfyre!"

A jet of red and orange flame shot out and impacted the remains of the tractor. He directed the flame in a circular pattern with his wand and watched as it grew in intensity and size. Thirty seconds later they could no longer even see the tractor because it was totally engulfed in the almost sentient flame. Harry kept a line of sight between the wand and the inferno as he raised his hand and concentrated the ball of flame smaller and smaller closer to the ground until he waved it away and send it explosively to the other two tractors.

A serpent-like head grew at the lead and engulfed the tractors igniting whatever it touched sending the machines into the air with an explosion that mushroomed a hundred feet in the air. Harry backed up and quickly cast a repulsion charm to scatter any debris away from the onlookers.

When the flames dissipated he turned and saw the astounded faces of the military types and the resolute face of the Prime Minister.

Once more Harry turned to another barrel, this time loaded with discarded plastics. He adjusted his wand into a transfiguration grip and jabbed it forward. The barrel twisted and reformed into a large male lion which stood its ground for a moment and looked menacingly at the group of humans. Then it growled and let loose a loud roar.

Adjusting his wand back into a conjuring style grip he pulled his arm back and shot it forward loosing a wooden bolt into the angry face of the lion dropping it to the ground. He spun around and sheathed his wand.

"That is a taste of what wizards can do." Harry said with conviction. "Now, do me a favor and talk to the Minister; end this war before it starts."

 

~0~

From the sort-of-junkyard Harry Apparated to the atrium of the Ministry of Magic once more to relay the willingness of the Prime Minister to settle things before they had gone too far. Pennington still seemed willing to talk and soon Disapparated. Harry hoped it was to later appear in the PM's office to iron the issues out.

With a twinge of pride in his accomplishments of the morning Harry returned to Godric's Hollow and clicked on the television in the den while he ate brunch. He avoided the news channels during his meal and decided afterward to watch a few segments in order to come up with a plausible excuse for the PM that would pass muster with the Muggle public.

The major religions were represented on all of the talking-head panels who were in turn countered by the scientific community with the possibilities of current technology. Harry was surprised to learn that Muggles were in fact on the brink of developing a fabric similar in aspect to his Invisibility Cloak.  Of course that little factoid was submitted by a wide-eyed conspiracy theorist so it didn't carry much weight with the other panelists.

It was then that the anchor leading the panel interrupted the discussion.

"I've just been notified of breaking news. A hostage situation in the Barnet area of north London. We have a man on the scene outside a Florist shop on The Broadway off the A1. Brett?"

The scene switched to a heavily clothed man in his twenties. "Stephen, I'm on Hartley Avenue  across from Princess Daisy Florist where a lone gunman has taken two people hostage in connection to the Connex bombing on New Year's Eve."

Harry's attention was grabbed even tighter to the television screen.

"At ten thirty-five this morning, shortly after opening, a call was made to local authorities alerting them to the situation including the gunman's demands."

The screen split showing the anchor and the reporter. "Brett, have the authorities released those demands?"

The reporter nodded. "The gunman apparently wants the savior of the Connex survivors to appear before him thereby proving the existence of extra-terrestrials once and for all. He insists that the government has been in on a cover-up for decades and that the truth is out there."

Harry clenched his fists. "Along with the wanker's mind."

"Stephen, stand by, something's happening," the reporter said before being distracted by a disruption behind him.

The screen went wide with a shot from the front of the store. Princess Daisy was a simple glass front shop saddled on either side by a nail salon and a women's clothing store. The camera closed in on the three paned glass exterior, and even closer to the door on the left hand side.

Harry's face fell in horror as he watched someone he knew being pushed out in front of who he was assuming was the gunman, Susan Bones. She opened the door and the man sliding around behind her held a very large handgun to her head. Terror was etched on her face.

"Oh Bloody Hell!" Harry yelled to nobody when he jumped up and quickly opened the closet next to the front door. He spread the coats apart and pushed on the back wall to reveal a secret inset that hid his Invisibility Cloak. He grabbed the cloak and threw it over his head. A last glance at the television showed the gunman yelling something at the police. Harry didn't care what it was when he Disapparated away.

~0~

Harry Apparated to the end of Hartley Avenue so as not to make the police or the gunman think that the report of Apparation was a gunshot. Getting through the crowd gathering was another problem altogether. With a burst of inspiration he cast a Muggle Repelling Charm on himself and made his way forward. The crowd in front and the surrounding ten foot area suddenly remembered that they had an appointment to get to, or that they left the gas on at home effectively clearing a swath to the police barricade.  

Harry looked around and noticed the Muggle Repelling Charm had everyone looking in every direction except at him. He whipped off the cloak, rolled it up and shoved it deep in one of the inner pockets of the trench coat and then canceled the charm.  The swarm of people noticing a better vantage point closed the empty area back up once again.

He hopped the barricade and hadn't made it two steps when he was stopped by the police.

"Hey, you can't … holy hell it's you!" The uniformed officer went white and he turned to someone behind him. "Inspector!"

Screams and gasps behind Harry made themselves known as the people in the crown recognized him from the film clip being aired on the news every five minutes.

"It's him!" "Blimey, it's E.T." "He's from the future!" He's hot!"

Harry turned at the last one and looked at the crowd with disbelief on his face. "Are you lot listening to yourselves?"

Turning back he almost bumped into a tall semi-well-dressed man who was taking a great interest in him. "It's you, isn't it?"

Harry held out his hand. "I come in peace."

The Inspector paused for a second and the raised an eyebrow.

"I'm kidding," Harry replied. "I'm not an alien, from the future or otherwise."

At the look of relief on the Inspector's face Harry continued. "I do however work with Her Majesty's Secret Service so what you know about me will be kept in the strictest confidence. No talking to news services or anyone else for that matter."

Harry had no idea what he was saying; only relying on what he had seen at the movies over the last couple of years.

"Right," the Inspector said as he looked on with a large amount of skepticism. "You know this joker?" he asked as he thumbed behind him at the shop.

Harry shook his head. "No, but those people that he has at gunpoint are my friends."

The Inspector filed that away obviously for later use. "Are they like you?"

"Well, I've only seen the one he brought out a minute ago. She's a civilian. Who's the other?"

Without a beat the Inspector replied. "Your lady friend from the other night."

Harry's heart sunk into his stomach. "Hannah," he whispered.

"Anything you can tell me about them?"

He ignored the Inspector's question and started to move forward. "I need you to get your men back and protect the crowd. I won't be held responsible for any stray gunfire."

The Inspector started to protest. "You can't just waltz in here …"

Harry turned on him and got up in his face. "I can do just about anything that I want, Inspector. If you have a problem with it then I suggest you call the Prime Minister. Now I will not tell you again to move these people back." He glanced back at the crowd and the news cameras as well. "And if you can do something about the cameras I'll be in your debt."

The Inspector shoved his hands in his coat pockets and gnashed his teeth. Harry didn't wait for a response and strode forward.

The T-section of Hartley Avenue and The Broadway widened as the police shoved the barricades back. There were a few cars left sideways in the road with an Armed Response Unit taking positions behind them. One of them offered Harry a bullet-resistant vest and he shook his head in response.

"I move quicker without the weight."

The lead man from the ARU briefed him on the situation. "He's got them both behind the counter. If you can get him to show himself without a hostage we can take him out."

"Without shooting me?" Harry asked with a slight bit of doubt in his voice.

"We're professionals."

"Uh huh."

Harry walked out into the middle of the intersection with his arms held out to the side showing he wasn't armed. A few seconds later Susan returned with the gunman behind her. Her scared look lessened when she saw her old classmate.

From about twenty feet in front of the shop Harry stopped. "Susan, are you all right?"

She couldn't move her head because the gunman had a handful of her hair in his grasp. "Hannah's dead, Harry."

He dropped his arms to his sides and looked like he'd been kicked in the gut.

"And she'll be next if you don't show everyone that I'm tellin' the truth!" the gunman yelled.

Several cracks of Apparition sounded in the distance and Harry knew he was running out of time. He didn't know if they were Aurors to help with the hostage situation or something worse. Focusing on the gunman Harry looked at the tension in his face and the positioning of the gun.

He knew exactly how long it took to pull a trigger. Given recognition and response time he had about three seconds before the gunman could make good on his promise. People that are armed always think that they have the upper hand to those not. It's surprising how much ground could be covered between the unsuspecting armed man and a determined enough person that is willing to get to him, he remembered his Unarmed Combat instructor saying to his class at the Academy.

"What do you want me to do?"

The gunman grinned and motioned to the crowd with his head. "Show'em your stuff."

"Let the girl go and I'll do whatever you want," Harry said plainly.

The gunman laughed. "I let her go and your police buddies end me."

Harry held up a finger and then turned around. "Drop your guns and get back," he snapped. "Now!"

He found the Inspector and gave him a quick nod.  When the ARU set their guns down Harry took a couple of slow steps backward to close the gap even further knowing the gunman was watching what the police were doing. When he turned back around he was only five or six good steps from the gunman.

Three seconds, the instructor's voice sounded in his head. He hoped to Merlin that he was right for Susan's sake.

While the gunman was watching the police step back unarmed Harry caught Susan's eyes and he looked quickly to the side and slightly motioned down. Her eyes widened but afterward her face hardened in resolution.

Harry held his hand close to his side with three fingers extended. Her eyes dropped and he checked to see if the gunman was still occupied with the police. He was.

Curling up each finger in turn Harry jumped forward as the last disappeared into a fist.

Susan dropped down and to the side as instructed. She screamed as a handful of hair was ripped from her head but managed to clear herself from in front of the gunman.

By the time Harry counted to two the gunman had raised his weapon and fired point blank, but it was already too late as Harry drove his shoulder into the man's midsection and both of them went flying through the open door into the shop.

Searing heat flared in Harry's right shoulder starting off a yell that lasted until the both of them were on the ground. The gunman relied too much on his weapon in close quarters because Harry reared back with his good arm and drove it into the man that had killed Hannah Abbott.

The gun wavered in Harry's face and discharged once more wide and to the right. With practice befitting a trained Auror Harry flicked his wand free and shoved it under the man's jaw.

"REDUCTO!"

~0~

Harry winced at the Healer prodding his shoulder with his wand. "Is it necessary for you to poke?"

The healer returned with a withering glare. "Only if you insist on acquiring holes in your body where there were none before."

Harry groaned as another tiny piece of his shirt and coat was removed from the wound.

"You're lucky we were able to restore hearing to your ear, Mr. Potter. Stop complaining."

The door to the examining room slammed open and in strode the Minister of Magic. "Do the words 'house and arrest' mean nothing to you, Potter?"

"Erm, duuuh," sarcasm dripped from his lips.

"You are not an Auror anymore." And then with a second thought he added. "Hell, you were never an Auror."

The healer eased back from Harry's shoulder. "Minister if you are going to be in this room then you will lower your voice. If not then after I am done probing Mr. Potter's new hole I'll be probing yours." He motioned up and down with his wand for emphasis.

The Minister curled his lip in a frightening similar way to a fallen Pureblood Harry used to know. He moved closer and continued his ramblings but in a much more civil tone.

"The Wizengamot is in an uproar over the death of the Abbott girl."

"Her name was Hannah," Harry snapped and then winced as the Healer poked him harder than was necessary. With a glare at the Healer he continued. "She was my friend and I wasn't about to let someone threaten her or Susan's life if I could help it."

The Minister leaned in perhaps so Harry could smell the garlic on his breath from lunch. "Your constant inability to restrain yourself from leaping to the aide of every single person in the United Kingdom may undo everything I've accomplished today."

Confusion raced across Harry face. "What?"

"The inroads to peace, Potter. I've brought the British Ministry of Magic back from the brink of war with the Muggles."

Harry's eyebrows came to a point as his display of disbelief was shown. "What! You arrogant, son-of-a …" He leaned forward and made a grab at the Minister only to inadvertently shove the Healer's wand further into his wound. "Aarrrggh! FUCK!"

The Healer reared back and snapped his wand at the Minister. "Out!"

Pennington stepped to the side away from the cursing patient. "I'm the Minister of Magic. You can't …"

"Probing, Mr. Minister," the Healer looked on in devilish delight. "Probing."

The Minister narrowed his eyes and backed up to the door. "This isn't the last you've heard from me, Potter."

~0~

With his arm in a sling and instructions not to overexert his arm for the day, Harry was released from the Healer's care. He made his way down to the cashier to make arrangements for payment when the front doors to St. Mungo's burst open.

Two Auror's were escorted, or more to the point carried in with blood rapidly dripping to the floor. "We need help here!"

Healer's assistants and Healers themselves rushed to the front. Harry noticed that the person that had treated him was among the rush to aide the Aurors.

"More holes!"

"Oh, crap," came from Harry's mouth.