Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 239: Castle Under Attack
Dumbledore was startled. "What?! A large number of intruders?!"
There was only one possibility for a sudden attack on the Potters' property, and it could only be Voldemort's doing.
"I will contact Madam Bones immediately," said the Headmaster. "She may be able to send a squad of Aurors to assist."
"There is no need for that… this was far from unexpected," said James in a calm tone.
"How can you be so calm? Isn't your family in the house? They will be in grave danger," Dumbledore said.
"Why would they be there?" James asked. "I told you the attack was already expected. From the moment you warned me about the presence of his army in the country, I had put my plans into motion."
"Your plans?" It was then that Dumbledore realized another detail that didn't make sense. "How did they find your house so quickly?"
The wards at the Potter Castle were almost as ancient and powerful as those of Hogwarts.
Even if they knew the general location of the property and had some ward breakers with them, it would have taken at least an entire day to break them apart.
It had not even been twelve hours since the army crossed the border into Magical Britain. It should not have been possible for them to invade James's home so quickly.
"That's because I disabled the wards." James had only left a motion ward around the area so he would be alerted when they arrived.
"Why would you do that?" Dumbledore, as usual, had no idea what this person was thinking. James had the terrible habit of not explaining anything properly, leaving him to pick up the pieces and try to put them together.
It was very frustrating, and he was sure that James was doing it on purpose, as if he were trying to get revenge on him for something he didn't know he did.
"I didn't want them breaking the protective wards. Those are very difficult to repair, you know?… besides, they won't be able to cause much damage once inside."
"But what is the point? If the castle is empty…" Dumbledore wondered.
James glanced at him with a mischievous smirk on his face. "I didn't say it was completely empty."
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"Is that the Potters' Castle?" Voldemort asked.
"My Lord… this is very strange." Lord Carrow stared at the castle in the distance with complete bafflement.
"What is it?" Voldemort turned to his follower. The Carrow House had a long history of expertise when it came to Magical Warding, so of course, he had let the current Lord take care of breaking the wards.
He had heard from many sources how well-protected this ancient property was. So it was a bit surprising when they arrived at the general location and he could clearly see the castle.
"The wards… ehm… how can I say this?" The old man looked hesitant.
"Just spit it out already!" Voldemort was starting to lose his patience.
"Well… there are no wards at all," Lord Carrow said.
"That's impossible!" Lord Nott exclaimed. "How can there be no protections? This is the domain of an ancient wizarding family! You must have gone senile and can't find them."
Lord Carrow frowned. "What did you call me?! You're the senile one here! No one knows more about warding than my family!"
"Enough with the bickering!" Voldemort's voice carried his absolute authority. "There is a better way to find out if there are any protections."
He pointed at the pack of werewolves. "Fenrir! Send a couple of your beasts to investigate."
"Mmm…" The Alpha Wolf, as he liked to be known, didn't particularly like the idea of using his wolves as guinea pigs, but he also knew better than to contradict this person. So he pointed at two of his men and told them to go ahead.
The two werewolves took off running at great speed towards the castle while everyone observed with attention.
Most of the wizards present were half expecting to see these two werewolves die at any moment after hitting some of the protections set in place.
But much to their surprise, the two werewolves reached the castle walls completely unharmed. One of them even jumped onto the wall itself and waved back at them, showing that there was no danger.
"Unbelievable…" Lord Nott muttered. "How can there be no wards?"
"Hmph! I told you so," Carrow scoffed. "I bet that fool of Fleamont forgot to maintain the arkstone properly, and the wards lost their source of power."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Voldemort turned back to glare at his army. There were giants, werewolves, and Death Eaters all standing behind him, waiting for his signal.
"Attack!"
The moment the Dark Lord shouted, everyone began the final charge toward the castle.
Inside the tallest tower, the figure of James could be seen staring out of the window. "Our guests have arrived. Time to work."
"Kyu!" Primum could be heard from outside. He was no longer allowed inside the lab, as he had grown too big for that.
"Master, we are ready." Nyxaris landed on the table and pointed at the glass container in the corner. "What about her?"
Behind the glass, there was a beautiful young girl with long black hair, floating peacefully in a transparent liquid.
James walked toward the container and placed a hand on the glass. "She is ready as well. We just have to wake her up."
Bubbles started to emerge from her mouth, and her body stirred slightly as if she were reacting to his words.
This was James's ultimate creation...the perfect magical homunculus which he never managed to complete in his previous life.
Now, he had not only completed it but also improved on his initial design, as he was now able to obtain some particularly rare ingredients, like the black phoenix ashes, improving the homunculus's capabilities beyond his wildest imagination.
But now it was finally time to see her in action. As his ultimate creation, James thought that this name would be appropriate.
"Ultima… wake up."
The girl's eyes opened up and shone like a pair of blue beacons.
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