Ron Potter and the Next Generation by PEMDAS
Chapter Notes: I hope everyone enjoyed Deathly Hallows! I know I did...but hopefully, even though this story now contradicts some of what is in Book 7, you'll read and enjoy...
Harry was in disbelief. “How can that be?” he breathed. “Didn’t they do a magical scan of the forest?”
“Well, yeah,” Ron said, looking around underground at the hideout. “But they said they searched for Dark magic. The Death Eaters probably aren’t performing any Dark magic. I mean, their bodies themselves can’t give off Dark magic, except maybe their Dark Marks...but they went dormant after Voldemort died...”
He was talking quickly, searching underground. He was looking for an entrance to the hideout. Suddenly, he saw it: a slender tube, running down to the hideout about twenty feet to their left. An elevator shaft, in fact...Ron saw the hooded figure they’d been following descending in a rudimentary elevator.
“But what about the structure itself?” Harry asked. “I mean, wouldn’t that be enough to set off any indicator?”
“No,” Ron murmured. Something began to dawn on him. “It’s a Muggle structure,” he mumbled. “The Death Eaters probably took a Muggle structure and magically dug a hole, put it in, and filled it in again...genius...”
Ron followed the tube up towards the ground level, where it attached to a tree. Ron stood up and walked towards the tree. “Looks like this tree is hiding the entrance,” he said, feeling the bark with his hands. Ron could see through the bark, and the elevator door inside it. He spotted a button, and pressed it. Hidden as ordinary bark, it depressed into the “wood”, and the doors slid open. Harry’s eyes went wide, but he followed Ron into the elevator nevertheless, leaving their brooms behind, hidden in the bushes.
As they descended into the ground, Ron looked for anyone that might get in their way. It appeared that all the Death Eaters were in a room deep into the structure, and the one Death Eater that had just arrived was walking towards the room. They arrived at the bottom, and Ron and Harry stepped out into an empty hallway. “Don’t you think they have a “ a security system or something?” Harry asked.
“Doubt it,” Ron said dismissively. “They figure that no one could possibly find the hideout in the first place, so they don’t need one.”
“What are we going to do now?” Harry asked. “Why can’t we just go back to the school and tell your dad where the hideout is, so the adults can take care of this?”
Ron turned to Harry indignantly. “So you’re saying that we can’t do this on our own?” he asked. “You’re saying that first-years can’t amount to anything, and we should just be good boys and let the adults do everything? Isn’t that what we were trying to convince my dad of so far this year?”
“Well...” Harry said. “I’m just saying...we can’t exactly take on four dozen Death Eaters on our own, no matter who our parents are...”
“Who says anything about fighting the Death Eaters?” Ron said. He tapped his glasses. “Besides, we have these. We’re just going to get some information first, then leave. It looks like they’re having a conference of some sort...”
Ron and Harry walked through the hideout, wands drawn, looking for signs of movement. Several times, Harry jumped at a slight creak of something, but Ron, knowing nothing was nearby, kept walking without stopping. He had purposely led them to the floor above the conference room, because he saw a balcony over the room, which would be ideal for listening in on them. They opened a door and found themselves looking over a railing, directly on top of a conference room. The fifty-odd Death Eaters were seated around a long table.
The Death Eater they’d been following arrived in the room, and took the last empty seat near the end of the table. The Death Eater at the end of the table, whom Ron and Harry recognized as Draco Malfoy, cleared his throat. “This meeting is now in session,” he declared, and the room grew silent. “Nott, what’s the status in the wizarding world right now?”
Nott, the Death Eater they’d been following earlier, stood up. “I’ve just spoken to our mole up at Hogwarts,” he said gruffly, making Ron and Harry look at each other. So there WAS someone up at the school giving them inside information! “They said that Dolohov was taken back to Azkaban,” Nott replied, making several Death Eaters grumble with disapproval. “They’ve done magical scans of the forest, but we still haven’t been found.”
“Of course not,” Malfoy said, sneering. “We already made sure we wouldn’t, right?”
“Yes, but an underground hideout isn’t exactly subtle,” another Death Eater said. “Surely they’ll find us eventually...”
Malfoy stood up, and Nott silently slipped back into his seat. “Crabbe, I’ve known you for twenty years and you’re still as thick as ever,” he spat. “This place is, for one, made of Muggle material, and it’s Unplottable. Someone would have to actually stumble across it to find it!”
That silenced Crabbe. Malfoy sat back down, and looked around at the other Death Eaters. “Now, you all know why we’re here, correct?” he said, and the Death Eaters all nodded. “We’re here to avenge our master...the only man in the wizarding world brave enough to take a stand against Mudbloods in the world, and all those that supported them. We’re here to kill the great Harry Potter.”
Several Death Eaters nodded again, but a few looked frightened. Malfoy noticed this. “What?” he demanded of those who looked scared. “You think, just because he defeated our master at age seventeen, he is invincible? Let me tell you this: he won last time because his idiotic friends lured us away from the Dark Lord. They are not at Hogwarts now, are they?”
Ron felt Harry tense up next to him at the insults to his parents, and nudged him to indicate him to calm down. Harry nodded slowly, but kept his eyes narrowed at Malfoy, who was still talking.
“...and, of course, Potter’s son is at the school now,” Malfoy was saying, and it was Ron’s turn to tense up. “From what Nott has told me so far from his source at the school, Potter, Jr. is intent on finding us. He’s definitely got his father’s blood...the Sorting Hat obviously mistook their idiocy for bravery.”
Ron was shaking with anger, but he struggled to control himself. There will be time for revenge later, he told himself. Just stay hidden.
“We need to act soon, or they may find us,” another Death Eater commented from the far end of the table. “The Potters can’t hide forever, but neither can we.”
“No, they can’t,” Malfoy said, “but believe me, we won’t be found. Let’s not start up on that again, Jugson. Now, Yaxley, did you bring the plan?”
“Yes,” another Death Eater replied. He pulled out his wand, making a rolled-up piece of parchment appear out of nowhere. Ron tried to read it with the glasses, but it was backwards and curved, which made it hard to see.
“Step One,” Malfoy said, taking the parchment and laying it out on the table, “is up to our mole. Nott, didn’t you say that...”
“Yup, they agreed,” Nott said.
“Yeah, the mole is going to lure Potter, Jr. into the forest,” Malfoy said. “Something about leaving the castle when they know Potter is watching...” They must have known a lot about Ron, because Ron knew that if he did see someone going into the forest, he sure would have gone after them. So far, if he hadn’t known the plan, he would’ve been in trouble.
“Then, of course, we ambush them,” Malfoy went on. “Hopefully, you are all able to subdue an eleven-year-old.” This caused some laughter among the Death Eaters. “Third, we send a hostage note to Potter, Sr., who will certainly find us and try to save his son. Knowing Potter, he’ll try to do everything himself, like his dear, stupid son. Then, of course, you know what to do.”
“But, Malfoy,” another Death Eater asked, “what are we to do after Potter is dead? What will we do with our lives?”
“What do you think?” Malfoy snapped. “We’re going to finish what our master started decades ago...cleanse the world of all Mudbloods and blood traitors. Then we shall have achieved what we set out to do.”
Ron leaned a bit farther over the banister, trying to read the parchment upside-down with the glasses. Suddenly, sweating from nervousness, the glasses slid off his nose. With dismay, he and Harry watched, frozen with fear, as the glasses fell down to the conference room. With a crack, they landed on the table, the lenses shattering upon impact. Immediately, all the Death Eaters looked up at the two boys.
“GET THEM!” Malfoy roared, and the Death Eaters stood up and began firing curses at them. Ron and Harry turned to run, but a few seconds later, stopped in their tracks...the Death Eaters had Apparated behind them, advancing towards them, wands raised. There was only one thing left to do. Ron grabbed Harry’s arm, ran back towards the balcony, and jumped over the railing. In slow-motion, he saw spells flying around him, barely missing. Then, he felt himself hit the table, and let go of Harry’s arm to roll, avoiding further injury. Harry, however, landed half on and off the table, resulting in a sickening CRUNCH and him floundering to the floor.
“HARRY, RUN!” Ron yelled, grabbing his moaning cousin’s arm again. They stumbled to the door, still avoiding spells, and ran out of the conference room. A closet was right outside the room, and Harry and Ron got into it, closing the door behind them, panting hard. Harry, moaning, was clutching his ankle. “I think I broke foot,” he muttered through gritted teeth.
“You can get it checked when we get out of here,” Ron said, still breathing hard. What he wouldn’t give to have the glasses back again...he heard no noise from beyond the door, but there could easily be a dozen Death Eaters there, silently searching for them...he drew his wand suddenly when he heard a noise, and a few seconds later, the door was flung open, and a Death Eater was staring in at them.
“EXPELLIARMUS!” Ron yelled, and the Death Eater’s wand was blown from his hand. But that didn’t silence the Death Eater.
“OVER HERE!” he yelled. “THEY’RE OVER-”
“Petrificus Totalus,” Harry muttered, and the Death Eater keeled over backwards, stiff as a board.
“Thanks,” Ron said, helping his cousin to his feet. Then, together, they half-ran, half-stumbled towards a stairway to their right.
A good minute later, they ran into more trouble. Two dozen of the Death Eaters rounded the corner, spotting them...Malfoy among them. Ron pulled Harry into a side door just as multicolored spells rebounded off of walls and the ceiling towards them. “Come out and play, wittle Potter!” Malfoy taunted, wand still extending as he approached the door. Ron, trying to think of a way out of this one, thought hard. Suddenly, as saw Malfoy’s shadow from under the crack in the door, an idea formed. Without thinking, he flung open the door, kicking it hard. The wood smashed into Malfoy’s face, sending him reeling. The two boys ran out, headed in the opposite direction.
They didn’t stop this time for anything...even Harry, pumped with adrenaline, was running at the same pace, and Ron no longer had to support him. They heard footsteps behind them, and sprinted when they came to the corridor with the elevator. However, a dozen Death Eaters Apparated in front of them, wands drawn, and the Death Eaters chasing them came up behind them, wands also drawn. Malfoy, with a bloodied nose, was at the front of the pack behind them, and Ron and Harry turned to face him, now very scared.
“So...you found our hideout,” Malfoy said, not a hint of surprise in his voice. “Congratulations. What do you plan on doing now, Potter? And who’s this? Can it be cousin Weasley?” Harry and Ron gripped their wands more tightly, pointed at Malfoy. “Wands away, boys,” Malfoy said coldly. “You are vastly outnumbered, and I would hate to have you cursed fifty times if you tried anything.”
“You’ll never kill my dad!” Ron said defiantly. “He once fought off a hundred dementors at once!”
“Yes, with the help of a Time-Turner,” Malfoy sneered. “No time-travel for you or your poor daddy today, Potter. You lose.”
“Never,” Ron said. He held his wand higher.
“Enough with this,” Malfoy said. “Stop them!”
Ron and Harry, caught like deer in the headlights, watched as fifty Death Eaters drew their wands on both sides of them, yelling, “Stupefy!”
***
Author’s Note: How is the Inseparable Duo getting out of this one, you ask? You’ll have to wait and find out in Ch. 15...thanks for reading; please review!