Chapter Four
Over the course of the next ten days, Harry spent most of his time at home. On his second day with the SAF, Harry was present as all six members of the SAF departed from the Ministry for places all around the world. Most of the SAF left the Ministry through the Floo Network, although Daphne, who was headed to The Philippines, had to take several Floo connections and then a Portkey in order to make the trip. This was largely due to the fact that years ago, Fudge had upset their Minister of Magic to such an extent that he banned all direct magical travel to Great Britain and Ireland as a result. While Harry had been able to ensure their Ministry's cooperation, they had been unwilling to remove the ban on connecting the Floo Network to Great Britain, which meant that Daphne had to go to Turkey, then Uzbekistan, China, and then, finally, The Phillipines where she would meet her contact in Manilla.
Once they were all gone, Harry returned home with stacks of files, effectively everything the SAF had done since Voldemort had left Britain. While all of the Aurors were tasked with capturing Dark wizards, the SAF was focused solely on high-value targets like Antonin Dolohov. If Voldemort was reconnecting with his Death Eaters, these would be the first that he would contact and so Harry dedicated hours of every day for the next nine consecutive days to reviewing these files, often reading for twelve or fourteen hours a day.
When all was said and done, Harry had a fairly decent understanding of where the Death Eaters stood with one notable exception. It was the same mystery that everyone in the Ministry had asked over the last few years and yet, no one had been able to answer the question. After months of investigation, research, interviews, and dozens of searches of suspected Death Eater hideouts, no one knew who was running the Death Eaters in Voldemort's absence. Most of the information that the SAF had collected over the years seemed to suggest or at least vaguely point to either Snape or Dolohov, both of whom would have been Voldemort's natural successors after Bellatrix, although Harry doubted that Voldemort would have ever used such a term to define who was currently running the Death Eaters.
But the fact that both Snape and Dolohov had been seen operating different teams with the Death Eaters over the last four years, along with the knowledge that some of the information led to Snape while some led to Dolohov, suggested that there was someone over them. All of the natural assumptions for that role were either dead or locked up. Bellatrix and Lucius were both gone, Rodolphus Lestrange was in Azkaban, and no one had seen nor heard from Augustus Rookwood or Walden Macnair in months.
Some of the SAF had theorized that either Corban Yaxley or Ezekiel Greengrass could theoretically be the person in charge. However, there was only one problem with that: neither of them had been Death Eaters prior to Voldemort's fall. While it was possible that they were simply lying about their connections with Voldemort, both Yaxley and Greengrass had been double-checked multiple times over the last four years. While both were wealthy, no money had disappeared mysteriously and they didn't appear to be actively aiding the Death Eaters in any way.
However, both men had been close friends with Antonin Dolohov's father and even after Dolohov had publicly declared his allegiance to Lord Voldemort, it was common knowledge that both men still spent a great deal of time with Dolohov and his wife before her passing in 1985.
The biggest issue with either man being in charge of the Death Eaters was posed by the other part of the supposed triumvirate, Severus Snape, who, to no one's surprise, was hated by both Ezekiel Greengrass and Corban Yaxley. In fact, Yaxley had once very publicly attempted to stab Snape at a gathering only a few years after the two of them had graduated from Hogwarts. Greengrass, on the other hand, made no bones about informing everyone that he believed that Snape was still working for Dumbledore, even after Snape had murdered Professor McGonagall at The Battle of Hogwarts.
Harry supposed that it wasn't impossible that the one of the two men could have reconciled with Snape, but given the deep seated hatred from one and the general sense of mistrust by the other, Harry found it unlikely. In fact, Harry had to wonder if Snape wasn't the odd man out with Yaxley and Greengrass both vying for power with Dolohov's support. If it had been anyone else, Harry might have tried to reach out and secure a deal for them in return for their assistance.
But this was Severus Snape. Not only had he spent years emotionally abusing him in class, but he had killed Minerva McGonagall, the most loyal and trustworthy professor that he'd ever had. No, Snape would not escape punishment for his part in her death and if Harry had his way, Snape would fall by Harry's hand. It was a rare thing that Harry openly and violently wished death upon someone else. That list had only two people on it, Voldemort and Snape, but considering Snape's actions over the years, Harry felt justified in adding him to the list.
After nine consecutive days of reading, Harry finally closed the last folder. Several members of the SAF, including Daphne and Parvati, had already returned and the others were expected back in Britain within the next two or three days. Harry knew that this was the calm before the storm. If things went as Harry wanted, then these two or three days might be the last few days that he had to himself until he finally ended Voldemort once and for all.
That being said, Harry had absolutely no idea what to do with free time. During his training with Dumbledore, the idea of free time simply hadn't existed and that hadn't changed when he had gone after Voldemort the first time. Now, for the first time in his entire life, he was faced with the prospect of being completely in control of his life with three empty days on his calendar.
Harry looked up at the clock above his desk, which read 9:15 PM. For almost anyone else his age, just after nine on a Friday night would be the prime time to go out and let their hair loose after a long work week. Of course, Harry hadn't relaxed since Voldemort had regained his physical form almost eight years ago. What did people do with their free time?
Harry knew that he needed to get out of the house for a bit. He went to his closet and grabbed his coat before he turned in place, Apparating from his home to The Leaky Cauldron. However, this time, instead of sitting down for a drink, Harry made his way to the secret passage into Diagon Alley. He hadn't been to The Alley in years, not since the summer before his third year. Any time that he had needed money after that, either Mrs. Weasley or Dumbledore had visited Gringotts on his behalf.
The last time he had been there, posters of his godfather had plastered the walls, although he, of course, hadn't known that Sirius was his godfather at the time. Now, those posters were gone as well as the general sense of despair that had reportedly blanketed Diagon Alley for the better part of the last few years. Instead, there were more than a dozen shops that Harry had never heard of, new businesses that seemed to have popped up since his last visit. There was a new second-hand broom shop, The Banished Beast, which sold expeditions to the homes of rare creatures, and Dungbombs, a shop that sold gag gifts that smelled like a wide variety of terrible things. Additionally, there was Ely's Scrolls and Tomes Aplenty, a rare book shop, and Rold's Clockwork Toys and Trinkets that sold small magically enhanced Muggle toys.
But, the biggest (and loudest) addition to Diagon Alley was a bar at the far end of the lane called Chasers. It was as if someone took the idea of a Muggle sports bar and applied to the magical world. Jerseys from Quidditch clubs all over the world adorned the walls and the new Wizarding Wireless was broadcasting the image of the Chudley Cannons-Tutshill Tornados match from last weekend on the far wall. While the magical world had never really accepted television, the updated wizarding wireless that magically transmitted live images from a matching mirror up to five hundred kilometers away was something that they had immediately embraced.
If only they knew about cable TV.
Along the back wall was a large bar with hundreds of different bottles of magically-inspired liquor covering the shelves behind it. The four bartenders, each of them dressed like a Keeper from the four Hogwarts Houses, actively tended the bar, creating a wide variety of cocktails, most of which had Quidditch-inspired names like The Golden Snitch or The Wronski Feint. As Harry walked by, he could see that practically every seat in the place was full.
Harry had no intention of stopping in, but he found himself fascinated by the presence of such a modern place existing in Diagon Alley, let alone anywhere in their world. Magic was a wonderful thing, but it also meant that technology hardly advanced compared with the Muggle world. Harry wondered who had come up with such an absurd idea and just how much support they had needed to get such a thing approved by whoever it was that ran Diagon Alley.
"Harry?"
Harry knew that voice. He turned over his left shoulder and saw Alicia Spinnet walking toward him, hand-in-hand with Fred. Katie Bell and Ginny were behind them along with Angelina Johnson and Oliver Wood. They had clearly been coming to the bar and saw Harry, standing across the street, watching the people.
"Hi," Harry replied, doing his best to feign a smile. Harry wasn't sure that he was ready to spend time with friends yet, but it was apparent that Alicia wasn't going to give him a choice. Almost before Harry's response was out of his mouth, Alicia had wrapped her arms around Harry's neck. Only seconds later, Angelina, Katie, and Ginny had joined in, followed quickly by Fred, and then, when it became clear that they weren't going to let go until he joined in, Oliver.
Meanwhile, Harry was quietly panicking at the bottom of the pile. A few days ago, Hermione had hugged Harry and that had stressed him out. Now, half a dozen people had almost piled on him and didn't seem to be in any rush to let go. Harry resisted the urge to push them away, even if that was the only thing that he wanted to do. Eventually, they let him go and when they did, all of them stood around him, smiling.
"It's been a while, mate," Oliver said warmly.
"What are you doing here? Are you meeting someone?" Angelina asked.
"I...uh...I…" Harry stuttered. "No, I...was...um..just...walking."
"Just walking?" said Katie. "Walking where?"
"It doesn't matter," Ginny said. "He's coming with us."
If being swarmed by them was the last thing that he wanted, then being trapped with all of these people in a very public place was second to last. But before Harry could even respond, Ginny and Katie took him under the arm and pulled him along, practically dragging him into the bar. Thankfully, when Ginny introduced herself to one of the barkeepers, they led the seven of them to a separate room. Here, there was a smaller bar, staffed by only one of the bartenders, with a single table sitting in the middle of the room. It had a small paper tent in the middle of it that said "Reserved."
"Can we get another chair?" Ginny asked no one as they walked in. A second later, a seventh chair materialized out of thin air. Once they were all in the room, a member of the staff came by and took their coats and their drink orders. The others easily rattled off the name of the drink that they wanted and conversed with the young man (his name was Sven, Harry would learn as the night progressed), a clear sign that they had done this more than once.
When time came for Harry to order, he panicked.
"Do you have any beer?" Harry asked, unable to stop himself from asking. It was a bar. Of course, they had beer.
"Yes, Mr. Potter, we have beer," Sven said in amusement. "Do you have a preference for any particular kind? We have over two hundred selections from across the world."
"Two hundred?" said Harry. "How in the hell are you supposed to choose?"
Before Sven could answer, Fred stepped in front of Harry.
"He'll take a Snowbird Ale," Fred said before he turned to Harry. "You'll love it."
"If you say so."
"Very well," Sven said before leaving them to their devices. Only moments later, seven glasses filled with a variety of multi-colored beverages appeared on the table along with a Muggle deck of cards.
"Have you ever played poker, Harry?" Katie asked as she took a seat at the table.
"No. Is that a thing that most wizards do?" Harry asked. He sat down in between Katie and Angelina.
"Not usually," Fred admitted. "But I went to France for work about a year ago. Convention for magical tricksters. While we're there, a group of us went to a Muggle casino where I fell in love with the game. Obviously, I am not going to be going to casinos weekly, so I arranged a room for us here. Now, the final Friday of every month, we come here, have a few drinks, play some poker, and then, if we can still walk, sometimes we go back to my house for a night cap."
"Sounds like a good time," said Harry.
"It is," Ginny replied, her eyes locked on Harry's. Clearly, she was thinking about their conversation a few days earlier.
"The buy-in is ten Galleons," Alicia said. "Do you have that?"
"Don't worry about it," Fred interjected. "I'll cover you this first time."
"Fred, I have money," Harry replied, although he did appreciate Fred's charity. Harry made a mental note to set up a meeting with his vault manager at Gringotts sometime soon.
"Yes, but I have more and we ambushed you."
"Fair enough."
For the next two hours, Harry and the others sat and played poker. The rules of the game were fairly easy to pick up. Harry quickly picked up that it wasn't the rules, but the odds that made the game interesting. Unfortunately, he wasn't very good and to no one's surprise, he was the first one to cash out.
Harry knew that he had an opportunity to leave, but found that he didn't want to. He was...enjoying himself. Katie and Ginny spent a great deal of time talking about the plans for the wedding while Fred regaled them all with stories about his customers and the incredibly weird things that they asked for. The best part was simply listening to Alicia and Angelina talk about Quidditch. They had both achieved their goal of playing for professional teams, Angelina with The Pride of Portree and Alicia with Kenmare Kestrels. Both were in their second year with their respective teams and were just starting to get some real playing time. It was fascinating listening to the two of them talk about what a professional Quidditch practice was like with Ginny adding some of her own experience from Holyhead.
"What have you been up to, Harry?" Oliver asked.
Harry froze. He had been having such a good time that he had forgotten all about the anxieties of his life over the last few years, anxieties that came racing back as Oliver asked the question. However, unlike every other time that he had answered this question, this time, Harry didn't completely lie.
"I was traveling," Harry said. It wasn't the complete truth and everyone at the table knew it, but it was closer to the truth than anything that he had told anyone so far. Harry tried desperately not to look at Ginny, but failed. She was smiling at him.
"Really?" Ginny asked. To anyone else, she would have seemed curious. But Harry knew better. Harry knew that she was about to start fishing for information. He had given her an inch and she was about to take her mile.
"Yes."
"Where did you go?"
"Loads of places," Harry replied. "I started in France. Spent a few years there. Then, Hungary, Romania, Greece, and Ukraine. Spent a few weeks there before I went to India. I've been to Japan, South Africa, Brazil, the United States, Spain, and...a few more."
That was entirely true. Over the last four and a half years, Harry had visited more than two dozen countries. Some of them he had only visited for a few days before moving on but he had been there, so he counted it. It had been the one positive about his training with Dumbledore. He had spent most of his life in two or three locations. Even if the training and the Voldemort hunting had been hard, he had gotten the opportunity to go places that he never would have gone to otherwise. He had seen The Grand Canyon and Mount Everest. He'd been to the Pyramids of Egypt and visited the Taj Mahal. He didn't get to spend much time sightseeing, but even seeing these places from a distance was something that most would never get to experience.
Harry spent the next twenty minutes talking. While he didn't tell them why he had been traveling or what he had been doing, he did tell them some of the more entertaining anecdotes about traveling with Albus Dumbledore, including the first time that Dumbledore had put on blue jeans in order to blend in with the citizens of a small town in rural Mississippi. Harry had never seen anything more out of the ordinary as that and by the time Harry was done telling the story, everyone in the room was laughing at the mental image.
While Harry told his stories, the poker game continued, and as people were eliminated, the number of people in the room began to grow. Just as Katie had lost, George had shown up with his girlfriend. Harry had been shocked to see that it was none other than Cho Chang. Cho was now the Head of the Committee on Experimental Charms, a subdivision of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Part of their jobs included regulating businesses, like Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, that sold items which used previously untested combinations of spellwork to ensure that all proper safety precautions had been utilized during the testing phase.
WWW became the Committee's biggest client rather quickly, which meant that George, who handled most of the business side of things, spent a lot of time meeting with Cho. One thing led to another and now they had been dating for more than eight months.
Less than an hour later, Padma and Luna both arrived. At this point, Harry became immediately suspicious. While Luna was a good friend of Ginny's, Padma wasn't particularly close with any of the Gryffindors inside the room. Even Ginny, who had also been on their adventure to Albania, wasn't in Padma's close circle of friends.
Harry's suspicions were confirmed when he saw Ginny stowing a golden coin in her pocket. While the others watched Fred and Angelina play hand after hand to try and determine a winner for the evening, Harry snuck over to Ginny.
"What was that?" asked Harry.
"What was what?"
"That."
"What?"
"That," Harry said, pointing to her pocket. "Did I just see you put your Legion coin in your pocket?"
"I don't know. Did you see me put my Legion coin in my pocket?" Ginny said as she withdrew the enchanted Galleon.
"What did you do?"
"You don't carry your coin with you?" asked Ginny. "We were your army, it seems like you should carry it."
"What did you do?" Harry repeated, rapidly tiring of Ginny's games.
"I may or may not have told the entire Lightning Legion that you were here," Ginny said boldly.
Harry closed his eyes, mostly to keep himself from screaming at Ginny.
"You know that I'm not here to play games, Gin," Harry whispered harshly.
"Really? Last I checked, you spent the last two hours playing a game."
"You know what I mean."
Ginny turned to Harry, a scowl on her face. While her voice never rose above an aggressive whisper, there was no hiding the anger or frustration her voice carried.
"I know what you mean, Harry. We all know what you mean and in less than two weeks, you have successfully managed to make everyone tired of your bullshit. You may be The Chosen One, you may be the one responsible for taking down Voldemort, but if you think that you are going to do that on your own, you're insane. And if you think that you're going to do it by working yourself to death, you're insane. Your girlfriend knows all about that. You should ask her what it's like."
"I will when I see her."
"Good. She's standing right behind you."
Sure enough, when Harry turned around, there she was. Harry's initial instinct was to run or to push her away, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to do that. Not this time, not with Ginny standing directly behind him.
For her part, Parvati stared at him indifferently, which was a first. The other few times they had interacted over the last couple of weeks, she had either looked at him like she wanted to curse him or she had ignored his very presence. Harry suddenly became very aware that the room had gone mostly silent with everyone watching him and Parvati to see what would happen.
Whatever happened, Harry didn't want it to occur in front of a crowd. He extended his hand to her.
"Come with me?"
Parvati looked at Harry, then down at his hand, and then back up at him. Nothing about her expression changed as she took his hand. Almost immediately, the room returned to normal as Harry led Parvati out of the room and out of the bar entirely. It was almost midnight and Chasers was the only thing on The Alley that still seemed to be open, which meant that the further they got from the bar, the quieter things got.
They walked in silence, hand-in-hand, which Harry considered to be a good sign. She hadn't pushed him away so far.
"Why have you been avoiding me?" Parvati whispered. Harry should have expected this to be her first question. He should have had a good answer.
He didn't.
"I don't know," Harry replied, which wasn't exactly the truth. He knew why he had been avoiding her. He just didn't have a good explanation for it.
"I think that's bullshit," Parvati said as she came to a stop in the middle of the square in front of Gringotts. "I think you're a coward."
Harry sighed. "You're right. I am."
"You are what?"
"I'm a coward," Harry moaned. "I was worried that the moment I got back, you would break up with me for leaving when I did."
"Harry, if I broke up with you for leaving at random times, I would have broken up with you half a dozen times."
"You have broken up with me half a dozen times."
"No, we've broken up half a dozen times, but some of those times, you were the one who did the 'breaking up,'" Parvati insisted. "Honestly, I wasn't mad that you left. I was mad at how you left."
"You mean without warning in the middle of the night?"
"Yeah, that would be it," Parvati grumbled. "Listen, I...I can't keep doing this. This on and off thing. I love you, Harry, but I have enough going on in my life that I can't keep waiting for you."
"From what I hear, the only thing you have going on in your life is Antonin Dolohov."
Immediately, Parvati tensed up. She turned back to Harry, clearly upset.
"So what? Have you forgotten what he did to my family?" Parvati barked.
"No, I didn't forget," Harry replied. "But Ron told me that you work...more than you need to."
"Ron is my partner, not my boss or my mother," Parvati snapped.
"He's also your friend and mine," Harry reminded her. "He's allowed to worry about you."
"I don't need him to worry about me. Besides, isn't that supposed to be your job?"
Harry deserved that.
"Do you want me to worry about you?" Harry asked. "Because I do. I worried about you even before I learned that you had turned into a workaholic."
"I'm not a-"
"Don't lie," Harry interjected. "I recognize a kindred spirit when I see one."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that you look like you haven't slept well in weeks. It means that you came to a party dressed for work."
This was mostly true. While she wasn't wearing her official Auror robes, she was the only person in that room who was wearing robes rather than whatever a normal person would wear on a Friday night out.
"And it means that I haven't seen you smile one time since I've been back."
"You haven't given me a reason to smile," Parvati said coldly.
"I know," Harry admitted. "I know that I haven't been an easy person to be with. I know that I have a martyr complex and a hero complex and probably several other complexes. But I am back."
"You're back because he's back."
"Does the reason matter?" Harry asked. "I'm home and I'm not leaving again. I would like you to come home with me."
Harry watched Parvati's reaction and wasn't surprised when there was none. He knew that it was a bold proposition. Ten minutes ago, they hadn't spoken in months and now he wanted her to come home with him. But he knew that he loved her and he knew that he wanted to work things out.
He only hoped that she wanted the same things.
"I...don't think I can," Parvati finally replied. "Don't get me wrong, I want to. I want things to go back to the way they were, but I'm not ready for that yet."
"Alright," Harry said as his heart sank into his feet. Parvati placed a gentle hand under his chin and lifted it so that his eyes met hers.
"But I'm not ready to give up on this either. Let's go get a coffee, let's get dinner sometime, something normal people do, and see where things go from there."
Harry smiled. "Okay."
Harry took Parvati's hand and began to lead her back to the bar when he suddenly heard the sound of someone screaming from one of the smaller side streets. Immediately, Harry and Parvati drew their wands and ran towards the sound, Harry just in front of Parvati.
It took them less than a minute to find the source of the noise. Standing at the end of the dead-end alley was Daphne Greengrass. Between her and Harry was about a dozen Death Eaters, all of them masked with their backs to Harry. Daphne's wand was on the ground and her back was pressed up against the wall. As Harry and Parvati approached, Daphne's eyes shifted toward Harry.
"Please stop," Daphne begged, although Harry couldn't tell if she was talking to them or him. If she was talking to them, she would soon get her wish. Harry raised his wand and with a quick jab at the ground in between the Death Eaters, a small explosion threw a handful of the Death Eaters straight up into the air. Harry's wand next aim for a trio of Death Eaters to his left. With a series of simple waves of his wand, all three were thrown towards the walls of the street. When they hit the wall, they were suddenly absorbed by the wall itself, which Harry had temporarily transfigured into a quicksand-like substance. A second later, the wall was solid once more and the Death Eaters were trapped.
Three Death Eaters remained and Harry, without uttering a word, Stunned all three of them before they could even raise their wands. In all, eleven Death Eaters disposed of in less than five seconds and not a single one of them had managed to even raise their wands, let alone cast a spell.
At the far end of the alley, Daphne stood against the wall, sobbing. However, when Harry took a step towards her, her eyes locked on his and, in a panic, she Disappareated.
"Parvati, call in the members of the SAF that are back in town," Harry said as he began removing the masks of the Death Eaters.
"What about Daphne?" Parvati asked.
"We'll interview her in the morning," Harry replied. "Until then, I want the entire SAF here. Lock this place down and get me an ID on these Death Eaters."
In less than ten minutes, the other four members of the SAF that were in England (Kliner still hadn't returned from his assignment) had come to Diagon Alley and had sealed off all access to the sidestreet. Unfortunately, none of the Death Eaters would turn up much. They were all entry-level Death Eaters, no one of any real importance and no one that would know much other than the assignment that they had been given.
When Tonks arrived to discuss what had happened, she ordered that all of the Death Eaters be taken to the holding cells at the Ministry for further interrogation.
"We're not going to get anything from them," Parvati growled. Harry could see her frustration plain as day. It wasn't often that almost a dozen Death Eaters were just turned over the Ministry. Knowing that they would get nothing from any of them was clearly bothering her.
"We don't know that," Tonks replied. "Do we know why they attacked her?"
"No idea," Harry said. "All we heard was her screaming."
"And the two of you took them down on your own?" Tonks asked.
"Yes, we did," Harry confirmed, earning him a strange look from Parvati.
"Good. Glad to see that training with Dumbledore did something for you," Tonks replied, either ignoring the look that Parvati gave him or not seeing it in the first place. "We're done here. Go home and I'll see you on Monday."
Harry and Parvati stood and watched as the rest of the members of the SAF followed Tonks out of the alley before they all Apparated away, leaving Harry and Parvati alone.
"Why did you tell her that we brought them down together?" Parvati asked.
"Because I don't need everyone asking me how I suddenly learned how to disarm a dozen Death Eaters on my own."
"How did you learn how to disarm a dozen Death Eaters on your own?"
"Lots of practice," Harry replied. "Hours and hours and hours of practice. Almost four whole years of my life dedicated to getting better."
"And people shouldn't know that?"
"If they know exactly what I was doing, they'll have more questions and-"
"You don't want people asking questions."
"Not particularly," Harry said.
"You do realize that if you don't provide people with answers, they'll go looking for answers on their own."
"I know. But until that time, let's keep this particular secret between you and me, shall we?"
"Fine. I won't tell anyone that you have turned into a magical murder machine in the last four years."
"I didn't kill them," Harry replied. "I don't want to kill all the Death Eaters, just Voldemort."
"Some of us would like to kill some of the other Death Eaters," Parvati growled.
"Fair point. Alright, I'm going to head home and send a letter to Daphne. Meet me at the Ministry at nine tomorrow morning?"
"You want my help talking to Daphne?"
"I'm not an Auror. There should be an Auror there when I talk to her and who better than you?"
Parvati looked a little surprised that Harry seemed to want her there. Harry made a mental note of that.
"Fine. I'll see you in the morning."
Harry returned home and did exactly as he told Parvat he would. He sent a letter to Daphne, telling her that he expected her to be at the Ministry at nine the following morning. Sure enough, when nine rolled around the following morning and Harry walked into the small bank of offices allocated to the SAF, both Parvati and Daphne were already waiting for him.
Harry motioned for the two of them to follow him and then led them to the office that he'd been allowed to use for the time being. The office itself was basically empty except for a few of the files that Harry had returned to the Ministry, a desk, and two folding chairs.
"Sit," Harry said to Daphne and Parvati, motioning to the two chairs. Harry took a seat on the top of the desk.
"Now, Daphne, we're going to have an honest conversation here. Those Death Eaters clearly targeted you for a reason. You can tell me the reason and we can help you or you can choose not to tell me. That will result in your removal from the SAF."
"What?" both Parvati and Daphne said simultaneously.
"The SAF is under my direction for the time being. You know what our goal is and I cannot have people around who are keeping secrets."
"Keeping secrets?" Daphne asked. "What do you mean?"
"Yes, Harry, what do you mean?" Parvati asked suspiciously.
"At first, I thought that what we saw last night was exactly as it seemed: a young woman with Pureblood family crosses family lines and goes to work for the pro-Muggleborn Ministry; the family gets mad and uses their influence to either attack or intimidate the young woman. But then I considered a few things. The location was strange, there's nothing back there except for a few small apartments. Last I checked, you don't live there and the list of people that do live there don't match up with anyone in your known circles."
"Second, most of the Death Eaters weren't prepared to attack. They either had their wands down or hadn't drawn them yet. This suggested that they weren't intending to attack you. Why not? Daphne Greengrass is one of the Ministry's most prominent Aurors. The Death Eaters would surely like the opportunity to weaken the Ministry and killing or harming a member of the SAF would be a surefire way to do that."
"But it was your wand that really made me wonder if we were looking at the whole picture. It was just laying there. So, unless they manage to cast a spell that Disarmed you with no sound whatsoever, and trust me, such a spell doesn't exist, you willingly put your wand on the ground at their request, which means that you knew they were going to be there."
"You can't prove that."
"You're right," Harry agreed. "I can't prove any of it. None of this creates a clean picture, Daphne. I am not accusing you of anything but I will say that the situation is far too strange for my liking at the moment. Now, what would you like to add?"
For a moment, Harry thought that Daphne might consider not answering the question. However, after a few seconds of silence, she spoke and revealed far more than Harry expected.
"The Death Eaters...they weren't trying to hurt me. They were trying to recruit me," Daphne said quietly. "After Godric's Hollow, the Death Eaters were in disarray. While a fair number ran, most of the more influential Death Eaters, people like Severus Snape or Antonin Dolohov, regrouped. But without The Dark Lord around, they needed someone who could get them access to the Ministry, someone who could keep them a step ahead of the Aurors."
"In the past, they had relied on people like Lucius Malfoy or even Theodore Nott Sr. But Nott Sr. ran after Godric's Hollow and you can't very well rely on the influence of a man buried at the bottom of the North Sea."
"So they approached your father," Harry realized. "Ezekiel Greengrass, the wealthiest and loudest Pureblood in the Wizengamot."
"Don't use Pureblood as a swear. We aren't all pieces of shit," Daphne replied. "But, in my father's case, you aren't wrong. For years, my father had existed just on the edge of the Death Eaters. He had provided them resources, money, houses, things of that nature, but he had never been told what they were for. After Godric's Hollow, that all changed. Now, he's become the primary banking solution for the Death Eaters. Sure, he lost his place in the Wizengamot a few years ago, but honestly that made his job easier. Now, he wasn't responsible for anything. He could pay anyone to do anything and if he was smart enough about it, and he was, he could ensure that there was no trail. Nothing would ever lead back to him and the Death Eaters would know everything that the Ministry was doing."
"As time passed, my father began to consolidate power. Now, when the Death Eaters make decisions, my father is in the room with Snape, Dolohov, Yaxley, and Macnair and since he controls their money, he likely has more influence over the Death Eaters than any of them."
"Do you know who they answer to?" Harry asked.
"No, but I wouldn't be surprised if the answer was no one," Daphne replied.
"What do you mean?"
"Those five, Greengrass, Snape, Dolohov, Yaxley, and Macnair, are the five most powerful Death Eaters. My father isn't stupid enough to trust any of them, especially not Dolohov or Yaxley. None of the Death Eaters trust Snape enough for him to lead and Yaxley is new to leadership."
"What about Macnair?" Parvati asked.
Daphne scoffed. "Walden Macnair was an executioner for the Ministry. The only thing that changed is what he's killing."
"So you think they're some kind of council?" Harry suggested.
"That's my best guess."
That did make a certain amount of sense. While they all wanted power, they were all wary of each other and wanted to live. Rather than allow one of them to grab for power, they split it five ways, ensuring that even if one of them is removed, someone can't simply take control of the Death Eaters for themselves.
"Anyway, last night, I got a message on my Legion coin that suggested you were at Chasers. I was on my way there when the Death Eaters grabbed me and took me into that side street. That's the third time in the last year."
"Third time you've been attacked?" Parvati asked.
"Again, recruited, not attacked," Daphne corrected. "They grab me, take me somewhere private, encourage me to join the Death Eaters, and then leave. They've never told me why they're doing it, but I know my father's handiwork better than anyone. If it were up to Snape or Dolohov, I would assuredly be dead."
"How do they know where you're at?" Harry asked. "Are they watching your house?"
"They can't," Daphne replied. "My house is warded better than yours."
"How do you know how well my house is warded?"
"I was there after The Battle of Hogwarts just like everyone else."
"I never told anyone that it was my house."
"You didn't need to. Rumors travel fast," said Daphne. "My best guess is that my father has some sort of tracking charm placed on me."
"Is that possible?" Parvati asked Harry.
"It's certainly possible," Harry replied. Harry drew his wand and waved his wand over Daphne, checking for a few of the tracking spells that he knew. "If he put one on you, it's one that I don't recognize. However, if you're willing, I'm certain that Hermione could confirm that."
Daphne clearly didn't like the idea of Hermione scanning her but nodded anyway. Harry drew his wand and cast a Patronus message inviting Hermione to join them at the SAF. Less than ten minutes later, Hermione came walking through the door. Harry and Parvati briefly updated her on the circumstances that brought them all here before Hermione went to work.
Twenty minutes later, Hermione stepped back from Daphne, a concerned look on her face.
"What?" Daphne asked.
"It's not good," Hermione admitted. "The tracking charm has been linked to you through your blood. Thankfully, that narrows down the list of people who could have cast it to immediate family. Unfortunately, the process for removing the enchantment is going to be difficult."
"How difficult?" Harry asked.
"Harry is one of the only other people who could do it. That's how difficult," Hermione replied. "I can do it, but it's going to take at least a few weeks of research, a couple days of testing, and even then, the ritual that would be required would be challenging and would only give us a better than fifty percent chance of actually removing the charm."
"Are there any other ways?" Daphne asked.
Hermione hesitated for a moment. Clearly there was another way, but one that Hermione did not necessarily endorse.
"If the person who cast the tracking charm died, so would the charm itself."
"So, we kill my father?" Daphne suggested.
"Unfortunately, we can't do that," Harry growled. "Anything that any of us do would be considered a Ministry action and unless we have ironclad proof that your father is working with the Death Eaters, we couldn't do anything to him, especially if he hadn't attacked us first."
"Not to mention that it's wrong to murder people," Hermione added.
"Right, that, too," Harry said, although he knew that Hermione wasn't particularly convinced. In the past, Harry might have viewed murder as a black and white subject, but as time had passed, he knew better. Did he want to kill people? Absolutely not. But that didn't mean that there weren't situations where it was a necessary evil.
"Well, Hermione, can you work on the ritual? In the meantime, Daphne, you can stay at my place. The wards there will protect your father from being able to get to you."
"As do the ones at my home," Daphne replied.
"For now," Harry said. "Did your father help you buy your home in any way?"
Daphne swore under her breath. "Yes, he did."
"Then we can assume that, if he really wanted, he could get to you at home. Come stay at my house and you'll be safe."
"Besides, you've been there. You could stay on the other side of his castle and not have any idea that he was there," said Parvati.
Harry knew that Daphne didn't like the idea, but right now, her safety was more important than her comfort. Thankfully, Daphne didn't protest and a few moments later, she nodded her head in agreement.
"Great. Parvati, can you take Daphne to her house and then bring her to my place?" Harry asked. "I'm going to run home and get a room set up for you."
Parvati gave a curt nod and then led Daphne towards the door. Before they left, Daphne turned back to Harry.
"Thank you, Harry."
"Don't mention it," Harry said. "Let's just get you safe."