James growled, running his fingers through his hair as he threw the latest letter from Gringotts onto the dining table.
"What is it?" Lily asked curiously, picking up the letter to read it herself.
"The goblins," James retorted. "They've delayed the release of my family vault again. At this rate, we'll be lucky if they do it by the time Glory graduates!"
"What? Why?!" Glory demanded angrily. "We're supposed to go on vacation to Italy! You promised daddy!"
"I know, I know, sweetheart," James said with a long sigh as he sat down. "They're blaming it all on the break-in, some tripe about upgrading security and calculating losses. We'll figure something out."
"It's all stupid Harry's fault," Glory huffed, crossing her arms as she glared at the recent copy of the Prophet petulantly.
Even with the Prophet going after Harry, he still made the front cover. She couldn't even remember the last time the Prophet talked about her, let alone put her picture on the front cover.
Lily put down the letter, rubbing Glory's back comfortingly. "I know, sweetheart. It's not fair."
"James?" she asked. "What about the Wizengamot? Surely they can do something about this. I mean, how long does it take to complete an audit? They're clearly just dragging their feet."
James shook his head. "I doubt it. They're too focused on the goblins refilling their own vaults to worry about us, and even then, none of them even answer my Floo calls anymore."
"That's the first thing that's going to change when you get the Potter vaults back," Lily replied resolutely. "They won't have the luxury of ignoring you anymore. We won't let them."
James nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with his wife. Even before everything happened with Fudge, he got the distinct impression they were just humoring him, staying on his good side to curry his vote, and little else.
Gloria picked up the Prophet, re-reading the article, a small, vindictive smile on her face. The Prophet was holding Harry responsible for all the destruction he caused in Diagon Alley, and how he'd just been getting in the way of the Aurors and the Werewolf Task Force doing the real work.
Finally, people were seeing the real Harry, the one she grew up with. He got lucky with the vault, that was it, and everything that happened at Hogwarts was just exaggerated.
'Probably just so they can sell more newspapers,' Gloria thought snidely, making up her mind about stupid Harry. He wasn't anything special, not like her. He just took credit for what other witches and wizards had done. The Prophet had been saying so for weeks, so it had to be true.
'Typical Harry, always ruining everything,' she thought darkly. She had really been looking forward to Italy. It was the first real vacation they would have had in almost a year. She had already planned it out weeks ago: all the places she wanted to go, all the things she'd wanted to buy.
Her parents had promised her a brand-new wardrobe for when she started Hogwarts, but thanks to the quarantine they couldn't even leave Britain, let alone take a trip out of the country.
'If only Harry had taken care of that stupid werewolf at the Ministry, none of this would have happened,' she thought angrily. She certainly would have. Had she been at the Ministry, just like how she dealt with you-know-who when she was a baby.
Glory looked up at her mother as she placed her hands on her shoulders, interrupting her thoughts.
"Dung," Lily called over their 'house guest' lounging on the sofa. He had been taking advantage of their generosity for the last few weeks, and it was high time he earned his keep.
"What?" Dung grumbled, sitting up.
"I want you to call your associate," Lily replied. "The one that recast the wards for the manor."
"What? Why?" Dung asked, confused.
"I want him to re-examine them," Lily explained.
"For what?" Dung asked. "You've already got the best wards money can buy."
"The best wards didn't do much good at the Ministry, did they?" Lily retorted, crossing her arms. "Greyback just strolled right in, past all of them. There must be something else he can do. It's only a matter of time before Greyback targets pureblood homes, tell him James," she insisted.
"Not likely," Dung replied, shaking his head. "Greyback is all about spectacle. He wants an audience. He wants shock value. Not much chance of that when he attacks pure-blood homes in the countryside. Besides," he added, seeing that Lily was ready to argue. "He's already taken what, seventy million galleons? What does he care about the few thousand galleons you all keep stashed under your beds?"
Gloria couldn't hide her smile as she thought about the stupid look that must have been on Harry's face when he realized Greyback had played him, using him as a distraction so he could rob Gringotts.
'It wouldn't have worked on me,' she said smugly, looking at the picture of Greyback in the newspaper. 'He was just standing there in front of the bank, not doing anything. Obviously, he was up to something.'
"I think Dung is right," James replied, surprising Lily. He had time to get to know Dung over the last few weeks and realized the two of them were not as different as he initially thought. "But it wouldn't hurt to keep an ear to the ground, just in case," he added quickly, seeing the look on his wife's face.
In many ways he and Dung were cut from the same cloth. They both held a grudge against Dumbledore; both had been screwed over by the manipulative old man, and together they could finally make him pay for what he'd done.
"I'll see what I can find out," Dung said, going to the fireplace and throwing in a pinch of Floo powder. "But don't hold your breath. Without knowing more about how these portals work, there's not much anyone can do."
***
Harry stood beside Ron and Bill, staring out across the meadow surrounding the Burrow. The ground was flat in all directions. Only a few lonesome trees, barely even any shrubs to hide behind. It made it difficult for anyone to sneak up on them, but also gave them no natural cover in case of an attack.
"Any ideas?" Harry asked, looking over Bill's shoulder as he worked on the ward stone.
"Not really," Bill said, dusting his hands as he stood up. "The wards are good, better than good in fact. They'll tell us when someone is inside the wards that shouldn't be, even without them crossing the ward line, but with those portals, we won't get much advanced warning, probably just a few seconds at most before they're on top of us."
Harry sighed. "I thought you might say something like that. Do the goblins have any ideas?"
"No," Bill shook his head. "They're in the same boat as everyone else. They've quadrupled the guards at Gringotts, have round-the-clock patrols, but there's nothing they have to outright stop the portals."
"Greyback doesn't know you're here," Ron said. "At least for now," he added, knowing that it wasn't exactly a secret with the Minister and the Werewolf Taskforce already knowing about it. "But if you're worried about him showing up in force, I don't think that's likely."
Harry nodded, agreeing with Ron's assessment. "He had a chance to take me out at Gringotts, but didn't, even though it looked like he wanted to, but we can't count on that happening a second time."
"They had the numbers advantage," Ron agreed. "But with all of us, Hermione, me and Draco with you. It could be enough to turn the tide."
Merlin's words still echoed in Harry's mind, what he'd said about Greyback targeting his friends.
"Harry, I know what you're thinking," Ron said, recognizing the look on his friend's face. "But things are different now. We're stronger than we were at Hogwarts. Draco proved that in the alley, and you can't do this alone."
"I can't ask you to risk yourselves like this," Harry replied, uneasy about the idea of putting his friends in even more danger. "Greyback doesn't want to kill you. He wants to turn you," he revealed. "He said as much about Draco in the alley."
"I already talked it over with Draco and Hermione," Ron replied. "We know the risks, and we're with you."
"It's more than that," Harry replied. "There's something else about the werewolf curse. I don't know exactly how it works, but Greyback can at the very least strongly influence the actions of the other werewolves."
"That explains a lot, actually," Bill added thoughtfully. "Greyback's turned a lot of people, much more than the average werewolf, and they still follow him, even after everything he's done."
"There's another problem too," Harry added. "People are siding with Greyback. I saw it in front of Gringotts."
"Well, he was throwing sacks of galleons at them," Bill pointed out wryly.
"No," Harry shook his head. "It was more than that. He's tapped into something: The resentment people have for the government, it's growing. They think he's the answer to their problems; that he's on their side."
"You're right," Ron agreed. "And with the government locking up werewolves in Azkaban just for existing, it's driving even more werewolves to his side."
"I was at Gringotts during the attack," Bill said. "I saw the fighting in the streets, and from what I saw, most of them aren't in control of the change, at least to the same degree as Greyback."
"Maybe that's the answer," Harry said thoughtfully. "If they could keep their senses, maybe they wouldn't all side with Greyback."
"There is a potion for that, Wolfsbane," Bill replied.
"What?" Harry asked sharply. "Why aren't we producing the potion on mass?"
"It was only invented a few years ago," Bill explained. "And the ingredients aren't exactly cheap, but it does make the transformation easier, and help them retain their senses after the transformation."
"What would I have to do?" Harry asked.
"It's not that simple, Harry," Bill explained. "You'd need a potion master to brew it, and it's such a complex potion that it can only be produced in small batches."
Ron and Harry shared a look, both of them thinking the same thing.
***
Harry, Ron, and Ted stood outside a dilapidated brick house on the outskirts of the muggle neighborhood of Spinner's End.
"Ted?" Ron asked, looking around at the other similarly gloomy houses on the muggle street, noting how they were nothing like the warm and lively atmosphere of Sally's home. "Are you sure we're in the right place?"
"This is definitely the place," Ted replied.
"Why would Snape live in a Muggle neighborhood?" Ron asked, confused. He didn't think Snape even liked Muggles.
"Apparently it was his mother's home," Ted replied as they walked up the path to the front door.
"Wait," Ron said, surprised again. "Professor Snape is a muggle born?"
"Half-blood, actually," Ted replied, knocking on the door.
A few moments later they heard footsteps before the door swung open, revealing Severus Snape.
"What are you doing here?" Severus demanded, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the pair of Gryffindors.
"We need your help with something," Harry replied, speaking up. "Can we come inside?"
Severus regarded Potter for a long moment. The boy hadn't been what he expected, hadn't been what anybody expected, and he could no longer think of him as simply Lily's son, not after everything he'd accomplished.
He said nothing, stepping back to let them inside his home.
Harry looked around Snape's home as they followed him into the living room. It was clean and functional, but sparsely decorated with yellowed and fading wallpaper, and decades old furniture that had seen better days.
He sat down on the sofa across from Snape in the old armchair. "How's your arm?" He asked.
"It hurts," Severus replied flatly, looking down at his arm, still in its sling. "Twice as much when it rains, but that's not why you came all the way out here, Potter, so out with it. What do you want?"
"I need your help with something," Harry replied, getting straight to the point. "How much do you know of what's been going on?"
"Greyback, that's why you're here," Severus said, wondering what that had to do with him. Potter didn't know that he'd met the werewolf on a handful of occasions, but that was during the war, and he hadn't seen the man for almost a decade since.
Harry nodded. "There might be a way to give the werewolves another option, one where they don't have to join Greyback's side."
"Wolfsbane," Severus said simply, already figuring out Potter's plan. "It's a good idea, but it won't work."
"What? Why not?" Ron asked.
"The healers told me I'll never be able to brew another potion that complex again," Severus replied, a hint of anger in his tone as he thought about what had been stolen from him. "You'll need nothing short of a potion master to brew it, and I was the only one left in the country."
"I'm sorry," Harry replied.
"I don't need your pity or your apologies, Potter," Severus replied coolly. "I made my own choices that day. You had nothing to do with it."
"If I could find you some apprentices, could you teach them how to brew the potion? Supervise the process?" Ted asked.
"That's only half the problem," Severus replied. "The ingredients are expensive, more so because of the quarantine. Myrrh, giant moonwort, black quicksilver in particular will be difficult to find, especially in the amounts you would need for all the werewolves in Britain."
Ted sat there, doing the mental math as he counted out how much the ingredients would cost, and the equipment, along with the cost of the workforce required to brew the potion, and it was far more than Harry had at his disposal.
"…We have a problem, Harry," he finally said. "I should have researched the potion before we came out here. This will wipe you out, Harry, including the money you set aside for your scholarship program."
"And with the risk of botching the potion, you may end up with nothing to show for it at the end," Severus added.
"There has to be a way," Harry said, refusing to give up on the idea. "The investment in Nimbus. The money I made from the goblins. We just need to arrange payment for the fall and we can make it work."
"No, Harry," Ted shook his head. "I wish it were that simple, but potion suppliers won't wait that long to get paid. A month at most, and that's even pushing it."
Severus looked at Harry, really looked at him. The boy was ready to sacrifice his entire fortune to help complete strangers. Werewolves, witches and wizards their entire society looked down upon, and would rather pretend didn't exist than reach out a helping hand.
He was aware, better than most, that the werewolf uprising didn't come from nowhere. It had been brewing for decades, perhaps even centuries, and no one had done anything to prevent it.
"…I'll help you, Potter," Severus finally said. "In whatever way I can. I've saved some galleons over the years, about twenty thousand. It's yours if you can make this work."
"…Thank you, Professor," Harry said, surprised by the offer.
Ted looked between Harry and Snape, the gears turning in his head as a plan formed in his mind. "Actually, Harry, there may be a way to make this work," he said shrewdly.
"What? How?" Harry asked.
"Give me a few days," Ted replied. "I have to crunch the numbers and see what arrangements I can make, but there could be a way to do this without bankrupting you."
***
Rita let out a long sigh as she sat at Xeno's dining table, her notes strewn across the table. She'd been sitting on the Werewolf Taskforce story for days, and she still didn't know how to make it work, how to present it to the public in a way that wouldn't make things worse.
The Taskforce was operating illegally. She had them dead to rights on that, and along with all the other crimes they'd committed, they'd earned a stay in Azkaban.
Attacking people in the streets, harassment, threats, false imprisonment, and that didn't even include what they did during the attack on Diagon Alley.
Casting killing curses alone was a minimum of five years in Azkaban, but considering they'd used it on people, it was a life sentence, and multiple times over with their list of victims, removing any possibility of leniency.
If she reported everything, all of it, the unvarnished truth, she knew it would make an already chaotic situation worse. What if the people rioted? What if they formed a mob to hunt down the task force? Greyback would take advantage of the large crowd and launch another attack, and the death toll would climb even higher.
She ran her fingers through her hair, staring down at her notes, hoping that if she stared long enough at them an idea would come to her.
"Problem?" Xeno asked, sliding into the seat beside Rita as he glanced at her notes, letting out a low whistle as he figured out why Rita looked so stressed.
"I don't know what to do," Rita confessed, the frustration seeping into her tone. "I've been at this for days…"
"I'm proud of you, Rita," Xeno said, patting her knee. "The old you wouldn't have even considered how this would affect other people. You're growing as a reporter, and a person."
"What do you think I should do?" Rita asked, leaning in to him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "What would you do?"
"I don't know," Xeno replied honestly. "You're right to be worried. This story, printing it now would be dangerous."
"So you think I should just bury it? Wait until all this is over?" Rita asked.
"I didn't say that," Xeno said, shaking his head. "The task force has killed people, and rather than stop, take a step back, and consider their actions, they seem to have doubled down. If we leave them unchecked, they're going to get even more reckless, and the death toll will rise."
Rita nodded along, Xeno's words echoing her own thoughts.
"But there's other things to consider as well. The task force, like it or not, is taking down werewolves, and there's only a handful of people in the country who can do that. Without them, things could also get a lot worse for everyone too," Xeno said.
Rita sighed, no closer to a solution than she'd been days ago, but took comfort in the fact that she wasn't in it alone. Having a partner helped; someone she could trust implicitly, someone she could share the burden with.
"We'll figure it out," Xeno said, trying to sound more confident than he felt. "Let's take a look at your notes again. Maybe we can split this up into multiple articles, give the people some time to digest the information rather than revealing it all at once."
Rita tilted her head, placing a kiss on Xeno's cheek. "Thank you, Xeno. I don't know what I would do without you."
Xeno smiled, wrapping his arm tighter around Rita's shoulder.
***
Rufus sat in his home, nearly pulling out his hair in frustration. Ogden still hadn't returned any of his floo calls, leaving him to deal with the mess on his own, and worst of all there was nothing he could do about it.
On paper, the Wizengamot acted as judges and passed laws. They didn't run the country, even though things were very different behind closed doors.
He looked up suddenly, startled as he sniffed the air. He recognized that scent, but couldn't place where it was from, at least until his kitchen door swung open, revealing Rita Skeeter.
"How did you get in here?" he demanded angrily, wondering how the reporter had bypassed his wards.
"That's not important," Rita dismissed, pulling out a folder and tossing it onto Rufus's coffee table.
"What is this?" Rufus demanded suspiciously, picking up the folder.
"The Werewolf Task Force is operating illegally," Rita said firmly. "I want to know what you're going to do about it."
"I've said this once already," Rufus said, tossing the folder back onto the coffee table without reading it. "The use of the unfogivables by the Task Force is authorized by both the Ministry and the Wizengamot. There's no story here," he bluffed.
"That's not what this is about," Rita said, promising herself to revisit the Minister's statement later.
She reached into the folder, pulling out a copy of the law and holding it out for Rufus to see. "The only branch of government that can field an Auror force, militia, or any other group of armed wizards and witches to carry out the directives of said government is the DMLE."
Rufus paled, skimming through the law, looking for a loophole he could use to make this go away, but couldn't.
"…What do you want?" He finally asked, knowing he needed to bury this, and fast.
"I want you to understand how serious this is," Rita said, pulling out three vials from her pocket, placing them on the coffee table. "Those are memories, taken from the people in Diagon Alley."
"…This is war, Rita," Rufus finally said. "It's not clean, it's not just. It's an unfortunate reality of wars. People are going to get hurt."
"This wasn't just friendly fire," Rita replied. "The Task Force fired indiscriminately into the crowd. They didn't even make a token effort to avoid hitting civilians, and because their entire formation is illegal, they're all facing a life sentence in Azkaban."
"What do you want from me?" Rufus said, feeling his agitation grow, something that had been happening much more frequently since he'd been bitten.
"I want you to disband them," Rita replied.
After a long talk with Xeno, she realized it was the only way forward. Revealing everything now threatened to topple both the Ministry and the Wizengamot, giving Greyback exactly what he needed to take over.
They would have to wait until the war was over to print the truth.
"You don't know what you're asking," Rufus said with a tired sigh, rubbing his face. "Without them, we have no defense at all against the werewolves. Is that what you want?"
"Of course not," Rita replied. "But at this point the task force has killed more people than the werewolves. You can't let it go on."
"Just keep quiet about it," Rufus pleaded. "Just for a little while longer, until I can figure out a way out of this."
"They're out of control, Rufus," Rita replied. "It's only a matter of time before someone else figures out what Xeno and I did, and then it will all blow up in your face. The only way to avoid the government collapsing under the weight of this scandal is to shut down the task force now."
"And do what? Leave the defense of the entire country in the hands of an eleven-year-old boy? Go back to sending Aurors after them? Believe me, they're not ready. None of them are," Rufus replied.
"I don't think you understand what's happening here, Rufus," Rita explained. "I'm not threatening or extorting you. This isn't a shakedown. I'm telling you what will happen if you allow things to continue the way they are."
"The task force is going to get more aggressive, not less. A lot of innocent people are going to be caught in the crossfire, and you have no hope of containing that. People aren't making it back home to their families, neighbors, friends, coworkers; it's only a matter of time before they compare notes, if they haven't already."
Rufus felt the hairs on his arm stand on end as he listened to the former tabloid reporter, unable to find a hole in her logic, but worse than that he could feel the wolf inside him stirring, as if responding to his growing stress and anxiety, struggling to break free in his moment of weakness.
"Thank you for this Rita," Rufus said stiffly, shoving his hands into his pockets as he abruptly stood up, turning to face the window to hide the fur growing on his fingers, and his nails elongating into claws, as he struggled to contain the change, the growing urge to rip, and tear, destroy the ones standing in his way.
"…Rufus? Are you alright?" Rita asked, surprised by the Minister's sudden shift in attitude.
"I'm fine," Rufus said, taking a deep breath. "You've just given me a lot to think about. Please see yourself out while I consider your words."
Rita nodded, "Of course," her instincts screaming at her to leave, although she didn't understand why.
She closed the door behind her as she left, turning into her animagus form before flying out of the window.
****
Hi! Thanks for reading. The wizarding world is continuing to deal with the fallout of Greyback's latest attack with Harry making moves to counter Greyback's growing influence as the government continues to deteriorate.
Please take the time to review, and let me know how the story is going.
f you would like to support me and my writing, please consider visiting https://taplink.cc/jumpin for all the stories I'm currently working on and early access to chapters 16, 17, 18, and 19 of Legacy of Shadows along with some character portraits for Merlin, Morgan and Nimue, and an audio versions of the chapters.