Who'll Fill a Coward's Grave? ↣ Harmione

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter 18 - Surprises

Ian MacLean was a confused man, not a condition he was used to. Ian deliberately led a intensely private and minutely structured life, even for a solider, but that was the way he liked it. After eight years in the Black Watch, and attaining the rank of sergeant, Ian was happy and content with where his life was.

A priority one memo appeared about to throw a spoke through the wheel of the life he'd built for himself, but Ian simply had to put his name forward. Volunteers were asked to submit their names for a special task force being formed, called Voldemort, to combat the terrorist group who had killed those civilians in London.

Thanks to a past life Ian had lived, a life he'd almost forgotten about, he knew what was really being asked for here. He didn't know why this task force was being formed, but knew he wanted to be involved. His Commanding Officer had sat Ian down with a questionnaire that further signposted the direction this task force would be going. He almost laughed out loud at some of the multiple choice answers available.

'Hufflepuff is: A, a house. B, a plant. C, Asthma inhaler. D, a pub.'

With a dozen questions on the paper, the chances of anyone guessing all twelve correctly would be astronomically slim. For people of a certain background however, the test was incredibly easy. Ian was then swept away to a waiting staff car that was currently speeding down the A9, taking him from Inverness to Edinburgh. He was told there would be some Brass waiting on him there, and yet more questions would be asked.

As the driver was being tight-lipped, Ian was left with no other option but to sit back and enjoy the ride.

-oOoOo-

The Order meeting was a lively one. Almost every member thought the annual Halloween weekend Hogwarts students visit to Hogsmeade was too tempting a target for Voldemort to pass up. A few, while not disagreeing, offered the opinion that was simply too obvious. While all eyes, and all their resources, were turned toward Hogsmeade, a practically undefended Diagon Alley would then be a choice target.

Everyone agreed on one thing however, they didn't have the manpower available to guard both effectively.

Emma now considered herself a member of this group and didn't feel so out of place offering her opinion. "By that time, we will certainly have our new Phoenix Force communications system up and running. The government also hope to have their Dementor task force in place well before that date too. We want these dementors to attack en mass, so they can be dealt with all at once. I agree Hogsmeade, full of children from Hogwarts, is the more tempting target. Before we get into details of how to plan for that, is there any way we can effectively close Diagon Alley for the day? When the dementors attacked at night, the only casualties were those people caught in the pub while Voldemort murdered the Minister."

There was some lingering resentment within the group over how fast this muggle had been promoted in their society. Some of that resentment was reflected in the tone of the question fired at Emma. "Wouldn't shutting Diagon just let the Dark Lord know we were onto him?"

Before anyone else could cut in to try and defend her, Emma fielded the question herself. "Yes, it probably would - if you phrased it like that. Announcing well beforehand that the closure was due to the wards being upgraded, or a better excuse than that, takes Diagon Alley away as a target. We can then focus all our thoughts and resources onto Hogsmeade."

Minerva then put her foot down, hard. "If we think there's going to be an attack on Hogsmeade that day, there's absolutely no way I'm allowing the children in my care to be used as bait!"

There was a rush of people agreeing with Minerva, but also claiming the children being in danger would never be part of any proposal made here. Shack then took over the meeting. Conjuring a large blackboard, he drew a chalk line down the middle of it before writing both suspected targets at the top.