Lucius Malfoy had become an almost constant presence at the Ministry since Fudge had become minister. As such, he managed to get access to information he shouldn't, but a few gold coins and some vague promises about talking to the Minister usually gave him access to what should have been restricted.
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That's how he managed to find out where Harry Potter was living. It wasn't stated plainly, of course, but he was good at puzzles, and he got the information piece by piece until it formed the whole picture.
"He lives with muggles," he told his close associates a few days after the New Year. "As such, it can't have any wards. It would be child's play to go there and take him. We can then keep him prisoner until our Lord returns, or we may kill him, if it becomes a burden to keep him. Our lord will thank us, I'm sure."
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Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott agreed. In fact, the first two would agree with anything he said. Nott was one to think it over and ask questions, but this was such a simple task that he didn't bother.
"How will we go there?" Nott asked.
Malfoy was ready with his answer. "We can apparate there under disillusionment charms. If we go in the middle of the night, nobody will be able to see us even without that charm. It's at number four in Privet Drive. Funny name for a street."
The other three nodded.
Discover moreWatch Sci-Fi FilmsDiscover Sci-FiTour PropertiesPlan GardensSearch Guides"Come to the Leaky a few minutes before midnight. We shall apparate from there."
They all nodded again.
–..–
Harry was awakened by the 'ping' of the wards. He and Dudley added themselves to the wards to be immediately informed of any breach attempt. For several months, nothing happened. This was the first time.
Before he was even fully awake, he felt three more pings, about one second apart. A moment later, he heard Dudley's door open and then his. Dudley was standing at the door. He was looking a bit frightened. "Harry, do you know what happened?"
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Harry wasn't quite sure. "I guess four people tried to apparate into our house or yard. The ward probably sent them elsewhere. They should be able to swim if they don't want to drown."
A hesitant smile appeared on Dudley's face. "Is there a way to know for sure?"
Harry sighed. "I don't know. We need to ask your Mum if the goblins planned to inform her of such events. I'll ask Hermione about getting more information from the wards when we meet again."
Dudley yawned. "Fine. We should sleep some more now. Goodnight, Harry."
"Goodnight, Dudley."
A short while later, both boys were soundly asleep again.
–..–
Petunia wasn't happy to learn about the attempt. Whoever tried to reach her home didn't have positive intentions. That was quite worrisome. The wards protected her little family, but that might not be enough. Harry and Dudley went to school; Vernon had his work; she spent time visiting neighbours or shopping. They were not protected when away from home. She'd need to think about that.
Discover moreStudy PlantsIdentify PlantsFind Study AidsLearn a LanguagePrep for TestsShe also asked the goblins about the wards' logging. It wasn't very useful. They confirmed four redirected apparitions but couldn't identify the people or the location from which they came. "Since the perpetrators were punished, nobody is interested in them," Sharpclaw explained.
"And what if they survived their dunking in the channel?" Petunia asked.
Sharpclaw gave a predatory smile. "If they're smart, they won't try again. If not, the next time will send them much farther."
Petunia didn't like it. "They may try to arrive on foot. Besides, how will the wards know it's the same person?"
Sharpclaw explained. "I'm not an expert, you should know. Still, our wards record the magical signature of the perpetrators and punish them harsher if they repeat. The various wards are also connected, so even if they try to come by foot, the intention-based wards will recognise them and act accordingly."
Discover moreFan fiction booksWriting softwareCreative writing coursesOnline writing communityFan fiction merchandiseHarry, who was also present to still keep Dudley's magic as secret as possible, was intrigued. "Does that mean that one ward activates the other for the punishment?"
Sharpclaw nodded. "Indeed, that's how it works. In some cases, various wards are interconnected in ways that make even dismantling them almost impossible. Since whichever ward one tries first may activate some others."
Harry smiled. "Interesting."
Petunia was not interested in the Ward theory. "Is there a way to ward a person in a similar way?"
Sharpclaw needed to give it some thought before answering. "I'm not aware of any such wards in use. Theoretically, any object can be used to anchor a ward. Most fixed wards use heavy stones with some magical properties as anchors, yet any object can do, at least for small or temporary wards. I'm not sure anybody has tried that, though."
Petunia was quite disappointed by this reply. She still thanked Sharpclaw before leaving. Harry brought her back home a short while later.
He then spoke. "I think Hermione would like to study the option of personal wards. I doubt we can have one to protect against the killing curse, but most of the wards to protect our home, we can probably cast on a person. We may also try some smaller stones, ones that can be embedded in jewels, as ward anchors. With Dudley and me helping her, Hermione is sure to find a solution."
Petunia smiled thankfully. Despite knowing how powerful and knowledgeable the three had become, they were still children. She wasn't sure if they could really deliver, but the mere fact they were willing to try it was very comforting.
–..–
The four conspirators escaped their dunking just barely. They all knew some swimming, but what helped them the most was their readiness to use their wands as soon as they arrived at their destination. It wasn't the destination they had in mind, but each then apparated home as soon as he felt or saw the almost freezing water. That was lucky for them, since any longer stay in the water would have chilled them to a level that they wouldn't have been able to even think. Wearing winter clothes while dunked in freezing water is not a prescription for a long and healthy life. They still caught a severe cold.
Discover moreAuthor collaboration toolsDigital book publishingStory writing promptsFan art commissionsWriting contest entriesThey all escaped, but each needed a few days to recuperate. When Lucius Malfoy felt well enough to plot again, he checked on his comrades and then invited them to update their plot.
"It looks like Dumbledore set some wards on that house. No warding firm would do that for muggles, you know, but the wards reacted a bit too harshly for ones set by the old man. He may have asked somebody else to do that. He's not known to have studied wards." Lucius tried to excuse his mistake without quite apologising.
"That means we can't apparate there. It probably works against portkeys, too," Nott said. "We can still use such means to reach out of the wards and then walk. The wards can't go very far. The houses there almost touch each other."
Lucius was ready for that. "There are some small parks and playgrounds nearby. The closest may still fall within the wards, at least partially, but the ones two or three streets away are surely beyond the reach of the wards. We can appear there and walk for a short distance. Since it's a muggle house, the wards should allow anybody to at least walk to the door."
Nott agreed, as did the other two.
–..–
Much later that night, the four walked from one of the farther playgrounds. The streets were empty, and nobody could notice them. Some charms kept them completely unnoticeable, even if someone looked at the street.
When they arrived at Privet Drive, they checked the house numbers. The nearest one was number ten. The one to its left was number twelve. They turned to the right and passed numbers eight and six before arriving at an empty plot. They could still see some signs that a house had used to stand there, but the area looked like the house had been razed and the terrain ploughed, preparing it for a new building. The next house, number two, was the last on that side. The other side had only the odd numbers.
"That can't be!" Lucius mumbled.
He tried some spells to check for disillusion wards and illusion charms, but they all came up negative. He tried to use his wand as a powerful torch to scan the area visually, and all he could find was a sign, "Plot for Sale", with a phone number.
Unable to hold back his disappointment, he also needed to apologise. "It looks like the information was outdated, although I checked and cross-checked. I'm sorry to have bothered you."
They tried to apparate back home, but failed. "It looks like whatever wards had been here are still active," Nott remarked.
Just to be safe, they walked all the way back to where they had initially arrived before trying to apparate again. This time, each reached home feeling completely exhausted.
–..–
Harry and Dudley were awakened by their new ward pinging. Harry got out of bed and peeked behind the curtain, Dudley joining him a moment later. They watched the four Death Eaters as they searched for the house and couldn't find it. Unlike the Goblin wards, their new ward also had a reporting mode that allowed identification of the people involved. The children added it after the first attempt. While neither could identify the names, they wrote the names down and intended to pass them to Gringotts. Harry wasn't sure what Sharpclaw could do, but knowing one's enemies was the first step.
This only made the need for personal wards more evident.
Harry was also thinking about shielding. He already knew that some curses could not be shielded against by magic, yet all curses could be deflected. He wondered if he could make a shield ward that would act somewhat like a mirror, deflecting any spell to its caster.
He took a leaf from Hermione's book. When they went to Gringotts to report the names of the attackers, he also visited the bookshop and searched for books on shielding. He found quite a few, yet none of the shields mentioned acted like a mirror. Oh, there was one, but it wasn't quite useful. Experienced duellers could erect a small shield at the tip of their wand to deflect spells. One needed to intercept the incoming curse and redirect it with that shield. This was certainly not useful for a static ward. The way to create that small shield and the theory about it could turn out useful, though.
When Hermione popped into his room the next day, she found him studying a book very attentively. She liked to see him do that, but also thought she could tease him a bit.
"Are you ill?" she asked in mock worry and put her hand on his forehead as if checking for a fever.
"No, I'm fine. Why are you asking?" Harry responded.
She smiled. "You were studying something and not for school. What is it?"
Harry caught her intention and smiled back. "I can't always trust only you with the research, can I? I had an idea about a personal shield, and I'm trying to find some useful information to help make one."
Hermione got immediately interested, as expected. She pushed herself into the chair at his side, not minding the tight fit. "Do tell!"
Harry smiled. "We already know that some spells, mainly curses, cannot be shielded from by magical means, yet all magic can be deflected, at least by shiny metal objects. I was wondering if we could make a shield that acts that way. I'd like it to deflect any spell to its caster. That would be fair and not endanger others, assuming it can even be done."
"And what have you found until now? Let me see…"
They didn't even notice when Dudley tried to join them. He knocked on the door several times, first. He then tried to open the door magically since he knew no other way.
By then, the children had read most of the first and second year books on charms and transfiguration. They couldn't yet do all the spells, mainly due to not having enough free time, but were sure to master them all quite soon. The unlocking charm was one they had skipped until then, not finding it very useful.
Dudley found he wanted to unlock the door. He concentrated for a moment, recalled the spell, and asked his magic to perform it. He failed the first two times, but the third worked well for him. He opened the door and joined the other two, who barely noticed when he took another chair and sat at their side.
They spent more than half an hour on that topic, each submitting some ideas, discussing them and eventually rejecting most of them. "I'll do some more research on the ideas we consider promising," Harry finally said. He then turned to Dudley. "I'm sure I locked the door. How did you come in?"
Dudley shrugged. "We already read about the unlocking charm. I thought this was a good time to use it."
The conversation promptly turned to the unlocking charm and, inevitably, the locking charm too. All three children tried to lock and unlock the door using magic in one direction and manual action in the other until all three could do both charms flawlessly.
Hermione then stood and hugged both boys in turn. "It was a very fruitful visit, for such a short one."
Harry frowned. "You didn't come for this, though. What did you want when coming here?"
Hermione seemed momentarily annoyed at having forgotten. "Oh, I thought of discussing some more about the personal wards, but the shield you're planning may render them redundant."
Harry shook his head. "Not quite. All the shields I found need the caster to actively keep them while wards are cast once and then hold for a very long time."
Hermione didn't fully agree. "Since we use magic differently, we may be able to make that shield into a ward, too. If not, we'll need to give your family and mine personal wards for protection, especially when we join the magical world."
Harry frowned. "Why do you think so?"
She smiled sadly. "You're mostly protected merely by not being known to the magical world. Once we join it, everybody will learn about us, and I suspect quite a few will not like us, just the way it is at my school. That can cause problems."
She didn't need to elaborate, certainly not after the two attacks.
This only made Harry more determined. Dudley too. "I'll help Harry with his research. I want to feel sure about my parents' safety when we go to Hogwarts."
Hermione smiled at the boys. "Then I'm sure you'll find a way, and I'll help you, of course."