Harry Potter And Bellatrix Lestrange

 "You're right, of course, Harry. Despite the fact that it might mean nothing to you at all, though, I wanted to apologize for everything we've put you through." The old man suddenly seemed even older as he spoke. "But more importantly, we need to discuss Voldemort."

"That's right," Harry turned back to Mockridge. "I don't suppose any of them spilled where Voldemort is hiding out at the moment?"

The Minister shook his head. "I'm afraid not. None of them were willing to, or even knew. Voldemort seems to have adjusted his tactics to using small-scale guerilla cells that are contacted and led by members of his inner circle. We've gotten a good number of them, but the foot soldiers don't know and the circle members can't talk, since apparently the dark lord's hideout is under a modified version of the Fidelius.

Their memories of its location were wiped the instant we treated them with Veritaserium, and our legilimancers confirmed that." Mockridge chuckled. "On a brighter note, though, they did reveal that Voldemort isn't happy at all about the bloody nose you gave him. A few Death Eaters even seem to think that he isn't as all-powerful as he claims to be."

"One defeat was all it took?" Harry snickered. "Looks like this is going to be easier than I thought it would. All we've got to do is rout his in a few places and his people are going to start leaving him." Man, wizards are cowards. Show any indication that there's someone stronger out there to follow, and they start making noises, he thought, though he kept it to himself.

"Right, but that's easier said than done," Mockridge noted. "He's going to be more careful where he plans his attacks from now on. I've already boosted the Auror corps and placed guards and warning wards around important targets I think he might be considering, like Diagon Alley, the Ministry, and Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, but we can't be everywhere at the same time. We also need a fast response group that can react quickly to any reported attacks." The Minister shrugged helplessly. "We simply don't have the manpower to guard every possible target and strike back."

"The Order has been helping out with that," Dumbledore informed Harry, "we've been securing potential targets, as well, and we've been trying to figure out where Voldemort would attack next, but Severus reports that he keeps his plans under tight lock and key."

Harry grinned at the mention of the Potions professor. "Well, then, I think I can solve the manpower issue for you. Before I left, I sent a request to Queen Xerina of the Ice people for a couple of contingents of troops, and Count Trazkaban has been putting together a rather considerable force of sorcerers already. As for figuring out where the next attack is going to be… well, I'd put my odds on it being an underdefended place with lots of potential for civillian casualties and collateral damage. Something like the middle of a wizarding village."

"Why's that?" Dumbledore asked, curious. The suggestion was something he hadn't thought of before, and it hadn't come up in any Order meeting, either.

"Simple." Harry smiled grimly. "If I was some maniac who ruled through fear and intimidation, and I'd just been dealt a nasty blow to my pride, I'd be damn well looking for a place to attack that would be lightly guarded if at all, where my minions could kill to their hearts' content without worrying about taking casualties.

If he blows up a wizarding town, no matter how small, it's going to be all over the papers the next day, and the death count is going to be ludicrously high, especially if it's an out-of-the-way town. That'll convince people that he's still all-powerful and intimidate them into following him again."

"But wouldn't he rather attack a target of importance? That would make much more of an impact on the public opinion than massacring a random town, especially if he's out to take over the wizarding world?" Dumbledore asked.

Surprisingly, it was Mockridge who answered as realization dawned in the man's eyes. "I see. He's not going to risk casualties in an assault on an important target while his followers are uneasy. It'd be much easier to intimidate the populace some more, regain support, and then attack important targets with fanatically loyal followers instead ones that have doubts about him."

"Exactly," Harry nodded. "Also, if he attacks an unguarded town, the public will demand you pull Aurors from their current posts and place them around the country to protect the villages and communities, weakening your defenses here."

"It's a good plan," Mockridge admitted reluctantly. "We don't have the forces to stop him from attacking anywhere else, and if we do, he'll just attack here. We're stuck."

"There's something we can do," Harry told him. "We can strike first. We take out more of his powerbase and force him to act… force him to attack a target of our choice."

"I don't know," Dumbledore mused, "getting Voldemort desperate enough to commit to an attack he was forced into seems dangerous. We don't know what he's capable of when he's cornered that way."

"Are you kidding me?!" Harry burst out. "Whatever he's going to do when we've got him where we want him can't be any worse than what he's doing right now! He's killing innocent people, unchecked, because he's running the exact kind of warfare he knows you can't defend against!"

Like the people in Southhallerton, Harry thought darkly. Logically he knew that there had been nothing he could've done; doing anything to save the populace would have cost them their best shot at Voldemort, but that didn't make it any easier to live with. Seventeen, he thought. Seventeen muggles had died in the attack before the trap had been sprung.

He had requested that the cleanup teams Hiscophney had sent collect the names of the dead and place them on a small memorial marker. Despite Bella's insistence, he had asked to know who and how many of them had died, because they had been his responsibility, because they had been his fault.

He'd gotten over beating himself up to try and find a better way to stop Voldemort - barely, with a lot of coaching from Bella and Neville and Xerina and Hiscophney, but he knew that it wasn't over. He would remember them when this war was over, because that was the least he owed them. He pushed his guilt and remorse aside for the moment, because he had a war to lead, and Voldemort would only be too happy to take advantage of any openings he gave him. The good of the many outweighs the good of the few, Harry thought bitterly.

"You don't know Voldemort," Dumbledore insisted. "You have no idea what he's capable of, what atrocities he is willing to commit when he is desperate. The people live in fear of him for good reason, and to force him into a corner will only make things worse!"

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