For reasons beyond my control, I have been unable to attain a beta on the sites I've searched. It'd be nice if you - yes, you, brutally honest Grammar God, with special attention given to characterization - would volunteer. Leave a review if your willing.

Make Room for the Wicked

The Order vows to destroy Voldemort, not knowing how far the darker members will take it. Meanwhile, several gory attacks leave the Hogwarts Houses divided against themselves. No romance.

Prologue: Make Room for Aggressive Eggression

A rain boot splashed in a small puddle, just beyond Diagon Alley. The small community was a wizarding high-class neighborhood, Merlin Street. The boots owner continued on, unaware of the splash that followed a few seconds later.

The man heard the crunching and scattering of pebbles underfoot, muffled by the rain. He continued blindly towards the sound of a fountain, pulling up the hood on his raincoat to keep out the water.

A small set of concrete stairs led between two lavishly decorated houses, curving slightly, down to a grassy park with a copper handrail. As the man thundered down them, rocks shattered under another man's heavy boot.

The second man drew a wand out of thin air. He descended the steps slowly.

Where...?

“Reducto! Recucto!” Came the voice of the first man, invisible behind him. The second, dressed in dark robes with a white skull mask, whipped around. His shield blocked the spell aimed at his head, but another struck his calf. Surprised, he dropped his shield. The invisible man pounced.

“Expelliarmus! Incarcerous! Stupefy!” The Death Eater's wand slipped his grip. He was bound tightly, and the stunner knocked him out cold.

Not daring to emerge from the cloak Dumbledore insisted he carry, Harry Potter slipped his wand away. He was glad that the Trace had been temporarily dispelled by the Ward Stone given to him by Alastor Moody. It only worked an hour a week.

“Dedecor! Pluma Pondus!” The man faded away, and his weight decreased dramatically. Harry turned off his Ward Stone. He walked briskly over to the fountain, in the middle of the park.

The park was circular, with short, well-cut crass. Cinder block walls separated it from the very private homes. The central, white fountain was fairly modest, made from the same stones as the wall.

Harry sat on one of the three ebony mock-benches surrounding the fountain. Mundungus Fletcher whispered a Canceling Charm. The area suddenly smelled of alcohol and tobacco.

“You rang?” Harry muttered. Dung looked confused. Harry waved it off, before realizing he couldn't see him. “You wished to speak with me?” Dung nodded. Faint pops came in from the North. Harry bristled, and waved for quiet.

“Potter, a wizard named Horus-”

“Shut up, Dung!” He must get used to this invisible thing. Was he imagining those footsteps?

“Redo your charm!”

“What-”

“Redo your charm!” Grumbling, he did so. Once he calmed down, he heard it to.

“Dragon dung! Turn on your Stone, now! They must've had an Alert Charm on that new recruit you knocked out!”

Harry was on his feet, and he suspected Dung was, as well.

“There's only one exit, Potter. There coming this way. They've been trying to get some Order members for months...Accio Death Eater! We'll take him with us.”

The invisible form rushed across the grass, leaving a large wake.

“They'll see us right away, we still leave footprints!”

“We'll have to give ourselves an advantage. Nox!” A dark blob hit the small stairway. All the light dissipated, the meager afternoon sun not intense enough to cut through the magic.

Harry glanced around for a way out. There was a backyard close to them, if they could get to it...

“Reducto!” The wall showed barely a scratch. Seeing, or rather hearing, his efforts, Dung helped.

“Praemium!” A large part of the wall came down. From behind them, came the Death Eater's response to there delay tactic.

“Lumos!” A sphere of light pushed back its opposite. Harry had a few tricks of his own.

“Finite Incantatum!” A blue cube crashed into the sphere before it did much damage. Mundungus took a more direct approach.

“Annullo! Incidere Nonaginta!” In the darkness, a slight flash of light, followed by rubble, signaled a success before Dung finished his next spell. A final flick, and the most destructive curse in Dung's, admittedly small, arsenal was unleashed.

Harry didn't think much of the stiff wind that blew his hair, until the Nox charm finally fell; there was nothing left of the stairs. No rubble, no dirt, just a three foot hole in the ground, perfectly circular.

“Morsmordre!” The Dark Mark hovered in the sky. Families screamed from inside the houses.

“Time to go! Praemium!” Any remaining obstacle was obliterated.

The invisible duo jumped into the yard. Wards were starting to go up everywhere.

“Shit! Reparo! Let's get!”

“Dung, they'll start raiding-”

“The rich people who can afford good wards. Good wards which will be used against us, to!”

Dung leaped over the fence. Harry heard him land, and followed.

In the street, they scrambled to Diagon Alley. Both did there best to ignore the skirmish they deserted.

A large building on on of the side streets was taking refugees. Seeing the title, Mundungus giggled excitedly.

“Harry, thats the Ministry Controlled Magic Depository. If I could rob that place....”

“Dung, lets first hide shelter from the Death Eaters! Come on!”

They rushed with the shoppers. Dung led him over to a vacant corner

“All in? Right, shut the doors!” They clanged shut, and several heavy blots went into place.

“Not to worry, this is Diagon's designated Emergency Egress and Ingress Center. Floo powder and fireplaces this way, please - no apparition.” several wizards had been trying, spinning and pirouetting in place.

In the hustle and bustle, Dung whispered quietly to him.

“Just hear me out here. We stun the guards, I sneak in, and head for the library. Now, it'll be no use stealing the Pensive memories, it'll be easily traced back to us. I can use the Gemino charm with the a new spell the Order invented - turpis - to bypass any detection spells, assuming no one's leaked it to the Ministry. Even so, they probably won't have counter measures yet. Then, we find an Order member in the throng, hitch a ride with them, and we're home free!” Harry was reluctant.

“What about him?” Harry meant the featherlight Death Eater.

“Who? Oh, yeah, the recruit. A distraction, maybe? Give 'im here - oh, right, invisible. Um... where is 'e?”

“I'll prop him up against the pillar, here. See that little pit, above the 'ministry property' sign? Thats where his head is. Wait for it... okay, now.” cautiously, he backed away. Harry had a feeling what Dung was going to try.

“Obliviate! Enervate! Finite Incantatum!”

“Death Eater, quick!” Mundungus pulled him over to the small, stained oak door at the end of the hall. “Alohamora Maximum! Turpis! It's probably open, they'll be pouring all the power into the front door - oh, yes!” the thief jogged into a large, pure stone room with thousands of volumes on invisible shelves. All had stamps of Ministry Restriction. He shut the door quickly.

Harry almost felt sorry for the Death Eater.

 

-

“Can't thank you enough, Emmy. Harry's Ward Stone was running low-”

With perfect timing, the 'time's up' buzzer shrieked five times.

“Can you get us Order transport? Without magic, please - the Trace....”

As Emmeline Vance made a floo call, Dung pulled Harry aside.

“Thanks, Harry. I owe you one... or two... possible three. Here, take it..” It was one of the books they'd nabbed, Animation and Golem Creation.

“With any luck, this could move me back up from the proverbial 'messenger boy' in the Order. No one respects the guy who let Harry Potter get attacked by dementors.”

Harry smiled pleasantly. “Dung, can you teach me that Turpis spell?”

September First, Hogwarts Express

Please note that, as a Ministry Text, this book has a slight compulsion charm woven into its binding. This charm is meant to improve reading, comprehension, and retention, and can be copied with the the Gemino spell. Only make authorized copies. Alarms have been sewn in as well.

Harry was glad to read that. The bumpy Hogwarts Express ride was made much easier. He wished all textbooks worked that way.

Modern Wand Magic is controlled largely by concentration and wand movements. Before Merlin introduced the Animatory Stave, precursor to today's Crane-Smith Adjusted Core Animatory Wand, magic was near impossible to teach. The Old Wands, made with the owner's hair, were based on pure Core Magic. All spells were individual, unique.

The Animatory Wand simply converts core magic into a spell, with instructions taken from will and wand motion. This is the most widespread use of Animation Runes today. It is fortunate for animators, since all common wand spells can be translated easily into Animatory Runes.

The following page has all 153 Basic Animatory Runes, and a complete description of Basic Rune Grammar on the other side. Put your wand to the box in the upper right and say Gemino to create a copy. Later, you will be introduced to the 30 Advanced and Special Use Animatory Runes.

“Turpis!” A purple haze emanated around his wand, slowly forming into a halo. Harry had gotten quite good at masking spells during his weekly adventures in Merlin Street and Daigon Alley. It couldn't beat the Trace, but it was more than enough to cover the limited detection charms in the book.

“Gemino!” The Dursley's were surprised when they had double everything; two tables, two televisions, two fridges....

He made a second copy for Hermione, thinking she might be interested.

-

“It's cheating, Ron!”

“So what? I found it, it's mine! Theres nothing wrong with it, Hermione!”

Ron had found a potions book containing notes scrawled in the margin, and had won a vial of Felix Felicis from it.

“Harry has his book, I have mine, and you get to use both! What's it matter?”

“You shouldn't trust hand-written notes. They aren't Ministry tested! You could blow up half the school, Ron!” Seeing this could go on forever, Harry pulled his Transfiguration book out, and hid Animation in it.

“I'll tell Slughorn if you don't!”

-

Dung,

After seeing the quality and quantity of your products, I'd be interested in acquiring more. I recently ran into an interesting way to earn some pocket gold, and would enjoy talking over a walk in the park.

Yours in business,

Harry

Indeed, a funny idea on the train had resulted in possible gold. An unauthorized copy of his unauthorized copy of Animation had been sacrificed for the deed; the binding sliced out, and title cut off, he was thinking of selling it as an attachable book binding, once he figured out how to have an embedded Disillusionment and Sticking Charms. Maybe he could contract Bill Weasley for a reverse-age line of sorts; only people seventeen and under could see it?

Student would jump at the chance to have a product that almost guaranteed them remembering every word of what they read, certainly the NEWT and OWL years. Harry himself had tested the prototype, and his grades were on the rise.

He attached the letter to a fast, brown school owl. Hedwig hooted in a superior fashion. “Don't worry, girl, I've got something for you, too.”

Dear Fred and George,

I am tentatively saying that I have nearly finished a product, which may become several others at a later date.

There are several complications with the sales, which I will explain when it is ready for release. But I am confident that, if they can be solved, they will be a wildly successful school support product. Hopefully they'll be too harmless for Mr. Filch to ban.

The immediate problem is embedding a certain spell, which will remain unnamed. I was hoping you could help in that area; it needs to be absorbed into a fabric, preferably to be replicated with a Gemino spell, not interfere with other spells already embedded, hopefully be charged by ambient magic, but a spell would work, too, and perhaps be activated on contact with fabric of the same type? Have you any ideas?

Yours in business,

Harry Potter

His snowy owl hooted, indignantly, but delivered the letter anyway.

He made room for his Head of House carrying a small girl, rushing to the fourth floor....

-

 

Madame Pomfery was a calm, collected matron. She regularly treated broom accidents, severe burns, boils, curse scars, and the occasional misplaced internal organ.

But she had never know a Muggleborn first year to have been stunned and shoved in a closet with all the muscles but her heart and lungs obliterated.

But in this situation, too, she was calm.

“You, please, mix a pint of Skellegrow, three parts potion to one part water. Minerva, get on the floo with Saint Mongos. I want Dumbledore told. No one leaves this school. I want the culprit found and expelled. Tell Filch to be on the lookout - for himself too... someone call the Aurors, I want every inch of the ground checked for hexes, dark, light or, uh... otherwise.”

Quick, desperate footsteps followed.

“What happened to my child!” The parents had wasted not time.

“Get them out of my ward. I'll speak with you in a - of all the times...” The purple line hovering above the patient throbbed and spun wildly. Her magic was on the warpath.

“Accio Potion!” She force fed the young student the vile, goopy yellow Restraining Drought while two Aurors and a healer burst out of the fire place. Healer Penn rushed to her.

Kingsley led his trainee, Tonks, over to the panicking parents, assuring them that the school had the resources to handle the problem.

But Madame Pomfery was far out of her league.

- 

As you can now see, I desperately need beta. Pretty please with a cherry on top leave a review telling me 'I'll be your beta, for the sake of proper punctuation! My Lord, where were you in second grade!'