Harry Potter 1. Of powers and treacherous whispers

The beast paused. The rain pelted down upon him as he scanned the horizon, his eyes alert and his nose twitching, aided in his search only by the soft glow of the moonlight which gently cloaked the surface from it's position high in the heavens, bathing the forest and surrounding grasslands in light. But the beast hated the light. The light was the preserve of the others and the ally of the most hated ones, the vile composite of beast and being who stalked the night beside him and his brethren but who sought only to rip his tribe and his species apart. The beast's eyes were dim in comparison to the hated ones', but he could see enough to make out the silvery light of the moon, traitorously revealing him and leaving him exposed to the whim of the enemy and he knew that he had to flee before he felt fangs pierce his neck and his life slowly and painfully ebb away into nothingness.

The beast stopped, his nose in the air and his body rigid with fear and concentration. A scent. Danger. He suddenly whipped his body around, moving with surprising agility, as the mass of fur and muscle jumped in the air and flung itself to one side. But it was too late. All the beast saw was a streak of grey flesh before he felt himself knocked to the ground with incredible force. He jumped quickly back to his feet, giving a **_ROAR_** that echoed through the night, and snapped his jaws at the hated one as it grabbed him around the torso and threw him bodily to the ground.

The beast did manage to find skin with his jaws, however, and a chunk of flesh, nerve and sinew was torn from the hated one's arm, making it hiss in pain before attacking once more. The beast managed to climb to his feet again, but as soon as his paws felt solid ground, he was tackled to the floor and he knew that another had come to the hated one's aid. He knew that he was dead. The creature of the night held the beast to the ground, as it thrashed against it's grasp and the other hated one approached. The beast continued to thrash in an attempt to pull himself free, but saw from the corner of his eye as a tall, muscular, grey figure approached. It was humanoid in shape but there was no trace of human warmth in it's yellow eyes, completely bald, it's mouth hung open, salivating at the feast he knew was ahead and revealing a set of sharp teeth, with two large fangs in the centre.

Moving slowly, as if savouring the Lycan's pain and the pleasure of the kill, the Nosferat walked towards it's prey. Grabbing the lycan's head it pulled it around so their eyes could meet and the nosferat smiled, disgustingly gaining a perverse pleasure from seeing the pain and fright in the lycan's eyes as it moved in for the kill. Suddenly it plunged it's head down to the lycan's neck and the beast let out a bone chilling howl as the nosferat sunk it's fangs into it's jugular and started to drain his blood. Eventually, mercifully, the lycan was claimed by the darkness and sunk into unconsciousness, never to awaken again. The nosferat that had been holding the beast down, released him, as if it felt him pass from this world to the next, and joined it's brother in the feast. Together the two completely drained the beast of blood, before disappearing once more, into the night, leaving what left of the lycan's body to be claimed by the birds and beasts of the surrounding forest. And, as they stalked away, a victory had been claimed for the Nosferatu and a Lycan soldier lay, slowly decomposing, on the ground.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

All there was was darkness. Darkness and the infernal whispering. Whispering, too faint to hear, but always there, fading in and out, plotting against him. Plotting against his morals. A dark but powerful force within him. Whispering. Always whispering and plotting. Hissing their dark, but unintelligible plans in the darkness. But what was that? That was different. Not the darkness nor the relentless whispering but something new. Consciousness. Pain. A dull ache spread throughout his body as if he had just been beaten up and a groan escaped his lips. And then he heard something, though the fog which seemed to cloud his thoughts prevented him from deciphering the speech into anything as meaningful as language, it seemed desperate. Desperate and familiar. Like family. And he needed to reassure them that he was alright.

With this thought and desire dominant in his mind and with tremendous effort, Harry Potter tore open his eyes. He was met, as ever in these situations, by a painfully bright light which struck him in the retina, forcing his eyelids shut once more.

"Harry?" He heard a voice say. Now that really did sound familiar. "Harry are you alright?"

"I've stood up to Voldemort on countless occasions but I've now been rendered powerless by a mildly bright light Remus. Perhaps you would be so kind as to turn it down for me."

Through his eyelids, Harry could see the light being turned down and slowly and carefully, opened his eyes to look into the face of his anxious friend and guardian.

"How do you feel?" Remus asked, looking concerned.

Harry, whose strength was now returning to him, his mind unfogging and recovering from his sustained period of unconsciousness, thought upon this for a second before realising exactly how he felt.

"Hungry." He replied. "I feel absolutely starving, what's for breakfast?"

"Well it's three O'clock in the morning but I reckon I can rustle up something."

"Great." Harry responded, pulling himself up from out of the bed, he now recognised, as his own in his and Remus' house. Noticing that he had some tubes in his arm and some patches connected to his chest and a complicated looking muggle machine, Harry pulled them all off of him, before switching the machine off as it annoyingly bellowed that he was flat lining.

"Harry lay back down, you'll hurt yourself." Remus said as Harry started to walk slowly across the room. "I'll bring your breakfast to you."

"I'm perfectly capable of walking."

"I know your capable but the strain might cause you further injury, you might seven sink back into a coma."

"You worry too much Remus." Harry replied.

"You were in a coma."

"I _was_ in a coma Remus. _Was_. I am now no longer in a coma so I can go and get some breakfast."

Remus sighed, knowing that his charge would never back down and seemed to settle with walking alongside him, ready to catch him should he fall and secretly glad that his former student seemed to have retained his energy and stubbornness throughout the ritual and his long sleep."

"So how long was I out for?" Harry asked as they came to the bottom of the stairs and walked into the kitchen.

"Four days. You know you might have mentioned that you were going through with the ritual, you could have been injured, you could have been killed and no one would have been there."

"Ginny, Ron and Hermione knew that it had to be done during a full moon and I told Thane."

"Ron, Hermione and Ginny, if their constent bombardment of letter is anything to go by, didn't know it was full moon and Thane said that you just told him to meet you in that disused room in Grimmauld place. You didn't say anything about the ritual, he just went to the room at one O'clock in the morning to find you in deep unconsciousness. You didn't even mention it to me."

"You were a snarling, man eating beast of the night at the time, don't take it so personally," Harry responded. "Now stop going on Remus, you're like an old woman. Eggs and bacon please."

With that, the conversation turned to lighter things as an exasperated Remus gave up and magically cooked a three am breakfast and Harry sat and watched him. And though he didn't want to turn the conversation to the war when they were talking about pleasant things for a change, as Harry started to eat his bacon, his curiosity got the better of him.

"So have there been any more developments with Voldemort?" He asked, "What condition is he in?"

"I wouldn't know", Remus replied, "but I can only assume that he's been very quiet, because there has only been one Council meeting since you've been out and that was about you."

"Me?"

"Yes, well with both you and Dumbledore unconscious, we were left incredibly vulnerable, should Voldemort have decided to attack so Hogwarts as well as the Order were put on red alert."

"Red alert?" Harry asked, "You mean our lives have become a cheesy action film?"

"No. I mean that Order members were permanently stationed everywhere that was deemed to have a high risk of Death eater attack."

"Well, I suppose it's nice to feel needed. Tell the men that they can stand down, for Harry Potter saviour of the wizarding world is alive and here to save the day."

"Very amusing." The werewolf replied wryly, "But they've been there for four days, another hour won't kill them while I eat a bacon sandwich."

"That's the marauder way Moony, if necessary give your life in protection of others, but if it stands in the way of food, they can all go to hell. So, I suppose I should know, what exactly is this 'Council of the Phoenix' that I'm supposed to be part of, how exactly is it different from the Order?" Harry asked

"It's different in that it's only a small part of the Order. As you saw, there were about two hundred Order members fighting at the Battle for the Rock and even then about twenty five had stayed behind to look after Hogwarts with another seventy five dotted around elsewhere, Diagon Alley for example and the ministry. The council is a group of about fifteen of the most senior and/or trusted Order members, it's us who make the majority of the decisions concerning the war effort."

"Wow." Harry replied. "So I'm in the exclusive club."

"If you like. I hate to turn the conversation in this direction Harry but you haven't said anything about the ritual. Did it work? Do you feel any different?"

"I don't really feel any different, just very drained. As for if it worked, I suppose there's only one way to find out." Harry replied, before stretching out the palm of his hand upwards in front of him.

Concentrating on the air directly above his hand, Harry silently thought 'Incendio' and tried to force his magic to create a flame in his palm, planning to manipulate it and test out the degree of control he had over the ancient element. But nothing happened. The young wizard grew ever more frustrated as he tried to push more and more magic into the spell, only to see nothing happen, his hand remained empty and, try as he might, he couldn't feel the small tingle of magical power, usually present at his fingertips.. Panicking slightly, he drew his wand and waved it;

"Incendio!" Not a flame nor a spark appeared at the tip of Harry's wand and he started to get more and more worried. "Incendio! Incendio! Incendio!"

"What is it Harry?" Remus asked concerned at the look on Harry's face as well as the lack of activity at the tip of his wand.

"I can't do magic. My reserves have been drained, I can't even feel them." Harry replied, sounding completely desperate and panicky. "Tell me that can't happen to a wizard Remus. I can't have lost my power."

"I've never heard of such a thing happening Harry" Remus reassured his young charge, feeling anxious himself at the prospect of Harry not having power over his magic, even just temporarily. "It's more than likely a reaction to the amount of energy needed to go through with the ritual. Your magic is still there, you just don't have enough magical energy to use it. If your worried, I can set up a meeting with Madam Pomphrey and she will examine your magical core."

"You can do that?"

"Would I have suggested it if you can't?"

"I suppose not," Harry replied, "I would appreciate that Remus, if only to reassure me and maybe give me some idea as to when I'll be able to use my magic again."

Somewhat reassured, but still with a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach at the thought of being without his magic, being so defenceless, Harry finished his breakfast as Remus sent off an owl to Madam Pomphrey to request her services. Just as he was scooping the last scraps of bacon into his mouth, Harry saw Remus walk into the room, looking at him with an expression that was somewhat unfamiliar to him. Almost like fatherly concern.

"OK, you've had your middle of the night breakfast Harry, now get back to bed and get some rest. Molly Weasley will kill me if she finds out that I've let you up."

"Surely you could take her Remus?" Harry asked mockingly, smiling at his guardian.

"You'd be surprised Harry. Even Voldemort would think twice about crossing an angry Weasley woman, they can be deadly."

"Believe me Remus," Harry began, the youngest Weasley springing to his mind, " I wouldn't be surprised."

"Ah yes, Ginny. I'll have to send her an owl, she's been inundating me with letters since she found out what you had done. She seemed pretty pissed off that you hadn't told her mate."

"I'm dead aren't I?"

"Yes. Or else you certainly will be if you don't stop trying to keep me talking and go to bed. It's like looking after a six year old." Remus exclaimed, becoming exasperated, if amused, by Harry's antics.

"No you're like a six year old." Harry replied maturely

"Go to bed. It's almost four in the morning."

Harry smiled and stood, wishing Remus good night before walking up to stairs to bed. As he lay in the blissful comfort of his bed, Harry, for the first time since the battle felt an emotion that had been so far sadly rare and lacking in his young life, he felt true happiness stir up inside him. Happiness and relief that even after the horrors he had witnessed and been forced to perform, he could still laugh and joke with his guardian and friend. And as this thought came to his mind, a warm, comforting feeling, like a flagon of butterbeer, settled in his stomach as he realised that for the first time, he wasn't at Hogwarts but he felt like he was home.

His occlumency shields were useless, the voices were from within his own mind and they spoke to him now as he lay alone in the darkness, knowing nought but the whispering. It was all there was, constant and unforgiving, urging him, tempting him, conspiring against him and telling him to go against everything he stood for. And yet, he could not hear what they said, they were, as ever, relentlessly and infuriatingly just out of reach, like a word on the tip of his tongue. And then there was something else. Reality started to push against his little world which knew nothing of it, which knew no rational thought or emotion, nothing but the darkness and the whispering. As lucid thought returned to him, Harry embraced the consciousness and reality that was forcing itself upon him and with all his might tried to awaken, anything to get away from the damned whispering.

And slowly it came to him. He seemed to fall from the unknown and bleak world that he occupied during his sleep and then, suddenly, reality crashed home and his eyes opened.

"Oh good, you're awake." Came a familiar and stern female voice.

Harry's head snapped around to the source of the noise as he was shocked by the sound, believing himself to be alone. Upon seeing that he had awakened, Madam Pomfrey had walked to the small table beside Harry's bed where a number of potions lay and picked one up, bringing it over to him. As Madam Pomfrey handed him the goblet, Harry saw that it was a bright red in colour and giving off light grey wisps of smoke and recoiled slightly at the pungent smell that was emanating from it.

"Here." The nurse said, "Drink this. It's only an advanced pepper up potion, it will restore the energy you have lost and heal any minor injuries you have."

"I'm fine now Madam Pomfrey." Harry replied, "aren't you supposed to be checking my magic level?"

"There'll be time for all that later. And I will decide when you are fine Mr. Potter, you have been in a minor coma for the last four days and no one can recover this quickly, not even you. Now drink up."

Harry realised that, though Voldemort was a challenge, he would never beat Madam Pomfrey and so, having had plenty of experience of healing potions, he brought the goblet up to his lips and swallowed the potion in one gulp, forcing it down before his taste buds had time to register the foul taste. Harry hadn't truly realised how lethargic and ill he had felt until the magical liquid began to take effect as it spread throughout his system. He felt the various small, but irritating, aches and pains that had littered his body since the ritual disappear and the energy he had lost returning to him. Watching him carefully and recognising the look of relief and serenity on his face, Madam Promfrey seemed satisfied that the potion had done the job it was meant to do and said;

"OK Mr. Potter, if you feel up to it you may stand and I will carry out the magic revealing test."

Feeling like a new man, Harry sprung to his feet and watched from the side of his bed as Madam Pomfrey started to wheel over a large, translucent black screen which came to just below his shoulder as she brought it to a halt in front of him. Peering down at it and half expecting to see his own skeleton, Harry was a little disappointed when he was met only by his own body, slightly blurred through the translucentblack screen. Looking up, however, Harry saw that Madam Pomfrey had walked back to the table by the side of his bed and was now returning with a small glass vial filled with a clear, water like potion.

"On my word, Mr. Potter, you are to drink this as I perform the incantation of the magic revealing spell. OK now. Magus Acclaro!"

Harry downed the liquid in one go, before having to shield his eyes as the screen seemingly sprung in to life as a blindingly bright light burst forth from it.

"Finite!" Madam Pomfrey shouted, herself covering her eyes and reeling back slightly, staggered and shocked by the seemingly unexpectedly bright light. The nurse then, slowly, started to recover and walked over to her patient, sitting down on his bed.

"That is quite extraordinary." She began, "Such power I-. Not even Albus-." Madam Pomfrey paused and seemed to compose herself. "I think it is fair to say that your power has not been diminished Mr. Potter. The brightness of the light from the magic revealing spell represents the power of the subject and I have never seen anything like what I have seen today; your magic is, I dare say, very much intact. However, the magic is supposed to be centred in one bright spot in the middle of the witch or wizard's chest and, as I'm sure you noticed, the light of your magic seemed to emanate from the whole screen. Now, Mr. Lupin has told me that you have recently been involved in some sort of magical change or transformation, though I am not privy to all the information, it is my opinion that this has disrupted your magic and made it temporarily unusable as it attempts to realign itself under you power. This often happens when a new magical energy enters a witch or wizard's body and you should start getting use of your magic back in the next day or two, though be warned, you may well experience bouts of accidental magic and that, with your power, could be very dangerous. Now, I'm leaving you with a number of advanced pepper up potions which you are to take every morning and evening until you regain full use of your magic. In the mean time you are not to overextend yourself. That means no excessive exercise and no quidditch. Now, unless you have any questions, I will now take my leave and return to Hogwarts."

Harry shook his head to indicate no and Madam Pomfrey left, leaving Harry alone with nought but his own thoughts for company. He was ecstatic that his magic was fully in tact and that he would gain full use of it again in the next few days, but at the same time he was apprehensive about being left defenceless against attack for the next day or two and possibly suffering from occasions of accidental magic. It occurred to him that these two emotions were quite difficult to feel at the same time and it was this thought that dominated his mind as Remus walked in to the room.

"Good to see that you're up and about Harry, for a second there I thought you'd slipped back into a coma, it's not like you to sleep for twelve hours." The werewolf spoke.

"Hey Remus, has Madam Pomfrey told you the news?"

"Yep, good news. You should get your magic back within the next week at the latest."

"It does, however, leave us with the slight problem. Namely that I am a completely powerless wizard with one of the most powerful dark lords ever to walk the earth searching relentlessly for me so that he can rip me limb from limb."

"Yes that is a slight problem." Remus replied sarcastically. "I've spread the news that you are awake and instructed one of the Order's spies to leak the information to Voldemort, in case he somehow found out that you've been in a coma. I'm hopeful that Voldemort will be in the same condition as you, but we won't be revealing that you have lost control over your magic. It'll be extremely damaging to morale and we can't risk Voldemort gaining use of his power before you do and knowing that we're vulnerable. I have already called a meeting of the Council for this evening at six to discuss what to do to ensure your and the Order's protection. So that gives us a couple of hours, what do you want to do?"

"Well I've been forbidden from playing quidditch, so…how about a game of quidditch?"

Remus laughed, "I actually wouldn't put that past you. But instead of messing up your recuperation and potentially killing yourself, how about we play a game of chess?"

"That doesn't sound nearly as exciting as the recuperation, killing myself thing but, why not?"

The next three hours was spent playing chess and just generally chatting in Harry's room as the two of them relaxed and joked around. Any thoughts of war and pain and loss were extinguished from their minds as they just drank butterbeer and talked light heartedly, reminiscing about good times and telling anecdotes while Harry lost game after game of chess. Only occasionally would his worries return to him as he caught Remus looking at him concernedly while he took his turn. To someone who had been raised to look after himself, to never show any sign of weakness and expect no sympathy, such fatherly concern was a little strange and, while Harry was pleased to know that someone cared so much about him, it left him feeling a little vulnerable, reminding him that, for the first time in six years, he was truly defenceless.

Eventually, the time for the council meeting came around and Harry's silent question as to how they were going to get there was answered as Remus lit a fire and offered Harry a small pot of powder.

"A secure floo connection was set up after the battle, connecting Order HQ with council member's houses. It's basically so that we always have a way to get to each other, even if our houses are being watched." Remus answered the question he was about to ask.

One after the other they both stepped into the fireplace as it glowed green and they were magically transported to the secret headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Harry, as ever, landed with little grace upon arrival from his least favourite method of transport, having closed his eyes against the soot and the endless and nauseating spinning, he fell face first to the ground to be helped to his feet by a laughing Remus. Together, the two of them then walked from the secure floo point in the living room and to the kitchen where the meeting was to take place.

Looking around the room, Harry saw that ten people sat around the kitchen table, talking amiably between themselves as they waited for everyone to arrive and the meeting to begin. He recognised all of them and knew most well and both Harry and Remus were greeted with waves and smiles as they came into the room and sat down. As people chatted lightly, Harry had a chance to see who made up the Council of the Phoenix and, glancing around the room, he saw Professor McGonagall at the head of the table, to the right of her was Mad eye Moody, then Tonks, Remus, and himself. Sitting to his right was Mrs. Weasley, then Mr. Weasley, Bill, Hestia Jones, Aberforth Dumbledore and Amelia Bones. Aberforth Dumbledore was a strange one and, though he recognised him from the old Order photo and knew it not to be true, Harry couldn't shake the feeling that they had met before.

"Is that everyone?" McGonagall spoke, interrupting Harry's thoughts.

"No, we're just waiting for Thane." Remus replied.

"Well he has probably been delayed at the ministry, we'll get started and he can catch up when he arrives." McGonagall said, before opening the meeting. "Well as you all know, we're here to discuss the implications of Mr. Potter's temporary loss of control over his magic and what should be done about it to ensure his and our protection as well as the protection of the wizarding and muggle worlds. As I have little experience in the field of protection and defence I will hand over to Alistair to start us off."

"With Dumbledore in a coma and Potter without magical power, the order is left in a very vulnerable position and open to attack, assuming Voldemort hasn't experienced the same loss of power." Moody began.

"Surely if Potter has lost control of his magic as a result of the ritual, you know who will have also." The minister of magic interrupted.

"That is likely but we cannot afford to make such estimations, we have to assume the worst until it is confirmed otherwise", Moody growled in response, seemingly irritated by the interruption, even if it was from the minister herself. "Now first thing's first, no one in this room is to allow this information to go any further. No one outside the Council is to know of Potter's loss of power, should the pretence of normality be up kept, there is no reason why an attack should take place in the next few days but we can't afford such potentially dangerous information to fall into Voldemort's hands. Now, as this is the case, we can't afford to put the Order on red alert as this will seem suspicious. I propose that the members of the council take turns to guard Hogwarts and Order HQ and the rest of us should keep alert so that if the call comes through, we can react quickly and mobilise the rest of the Order to protect against any attack. Are we in agreement?"

There was a general mumbling of acceptance and Harry agreed that Moody's plan was a good one.

"Good." He said. "Any objections?"

No one moved or spoke and so he continued.

"OK so now all there is left to decide is who-."

Moody did not finish the sentence, however, as, at that moment, a figure came bursting into the room, to be confronted with twelve wands as the council turned to face the possible threat. Harry too drew his wand, reacting instinctively and momentarily forgetting about the loss of control over his magic. He relaxed, however, as the rest of the Council redirected their wands, seemingly recognising the tall, young man who now stood at the door, panting slightly and looking a little the worse for wear.

"What is it Katona?" Moody asked, concern discernible in his tone of voice for the first time Harry could remember. This in itself made Harry a little nervous and what Katona said in reply confirmed his worst fears.

"Commander Harding's house is under Death eater attack sir." The soldier replied.

The Council sprung to their feet, their wands in their hands and Moody started barking out orders.

"Katona, go back to the scene, Lupin alert the rest of the Order, Potter you stay here, the rest of you come with me to Harding's."

Upon these orders, the Council ran outside of the kitchen and, clearing the apparation wards, disappeared to Thane's. All of them, that is, except Remus and Harry, the former of whom stood adjusting his watch, while the latter watched curiously.

"What are you doing?" He asked the werewolf.

"I'm putting out a call to the Order to alert them to the attack on Thane's." Remus replied, holding up his watch to reveal a small screen on it, with writing containing a message of the attack. "The design was taken from the DA coins, genius idea of Hermione's."

"You know I can defend myself Remus, even if I don't have control over my magic right now. I'm wearing my battle robes and I have the knives I took from the Potter family vault."

"I'm sorry Harry but it's too dangerous, the Death eaters may have found out about your lack of magic and you'll be their number one target. Stay here, I'll be back as soon as possible."

Harry nodded and Remus drew his wand from his pocket and prepared to apparate away. Harry, for his part, made a decision. There was no way he was being left behind. He was an Order member, he was a Council member and he could look after himself. And so, as his friend and Guardian turned on the spot, Harry quickly placed his hand on the wizard's shoulder and felt a tug behind his abdomen as he was pulled through limbo and to the battle which awaited him.

Landing in front of Thane's, now half destroyed, house Harry saw that chaos reigned supreme. Dust seemed to be mixed in equal part with air and little more than flashes of light of all colours could be seen as the newly arrived Order engaged the Death eaters in battle. As soon as he landed, Harry saw Remus turn to speak to him but, out of the corner of his eye he saw a bolt of green light flying his way and he threw himself to the ground, pulling his guardian with him as the killing curse mercifully passed mere inches above his head.

The werewolf then sprung to his feet and incapacitated the death eater with a neat tripping jinx, followed closely by a stunner.

"Harry what the hell do you think you're doing?" Remus yelled at his young charge.

"Not the best of times Moony." Harry yelled back, trying to make himself heard over the deafening noise of battle. "We can talk later."

Quickly scanning the scene of the battle, consisting of the front garden of the house and the street outside, Harry saw a death eater running towards his teacher's home and suddenly sprung to life, giving chase as he realised that it was there, if anywhere, his friend was likely to be. The dark wizard seemed to sense his presence, however, as, just as Harry passed through the threshold of the house, he turned and fired a black jet of light at him and Harry had to throw himself to the ground as the dark magic travelled towards him with incredibly speed.

Landing neatly and with well practiced technique, Harry turned his fall in to a roll and was soon back on his feet, mere inches from the Death eater and his wand which swung around to face him. Reacting with reflexes born of years on the quidditch field, Harry hit the Death eater's hand to the side, sending his deadly, green curse flying uselessly into the floor, then, before the dark wizard had time to react, he plunged one of his knives deep into the wizard's leg. The Death Eater gave a howl of pain and Harry pulled out the knife, ready to finish him off, when a red jolt of light came flying from behind him, striking the dark wizard in the chest and knocking him to the ground, unconscious.

Turning around, Harry saw Remus crossing the doorway into Thane's house, his wand arm still outstretched and Harry wouldn't have been surprised to see his wand tip smoking as he felt an odd urge to laugh at the hate and concentration on the werewolf's face.

"Nice shot Moony. But you do realise I had him anyway?" Harry asked mockingly.

"You wish." Remus replied. "That's two to me now."

"I want partial credit for the guy, so that's one to me."

"Fine."

Remus suddenly stopped after his last statement and Harry knew immediately that something was wrong. Craning his neck slightly to look outside the door, Harry saw a wand pointing to Remus' temple as he stood just inside. Amazingly, the Death eater seemed not to have noticed Harry who was just out of sight and so the young wizard crept quietly through a hole in the wall and outside as the evil wizard taunted his prey. Now standing directly to the side of the Death eater, whose attention was still completely fixed on Remus, Harry levelled his wand at the man's heart and spoke.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said, the ice cold malice more than apparent in his hushed, whispered tone.

The Dark wizard spun around, redirecting his wand at the source of the new threat. Before he could utter the words of a curse, however, his eyes lit with shock and fear as they darted to his young opponent's forehead and recognised him as none other than Harry Potter. The wizard seemed almost frozen to the spot, his wand still outstretched and Harry knew that he had to play this right and slowly began to walk forwards as he spoke once more.

"I'm going to make this very simple for you," He said, his voice still low and menacing and his useless wand still pointing to the man's heart, "You're going to throw your wand to the ground or I'm going stop your heart from beating and I'm going to do it so fast your face won't have time to contort to the shock and horror that so beautifully adorned Bella's on the battlefield those weeks ago."

The Death eater just nodded, the comment about his powerful commander and her death by this young wizard's hand, clearly hitting home and he threw his wand to the floor.

"Good. Now get on to your knees." Harry continued. And once again the Death eater obeyed.

Harry, by now, was nearing the dark wizard and he smiled, satisfied at his victory. But then they started. The whispering. The voices hissed in his ear and this time they weren't foggy and unintelligible but clear and persuasive, a command from the darkest reaches of his soul as they whispered. 'Kill him. Finish him just as you did the girl.' Harry's free hand twitched, almost of his own accord, in the direction of his daggers and he had to physically restrain himself from reaching his hand into his pocket and plunging the cold steel into the man's heart. He closed his eyes for a second, doing battle, not for the first time, with his own mind until eventually, mercifully, the treacherous whispers faded and died.

Opening his eyes, he saw sheer terror staring back at him, the Death eater clearly fearing for his life and terrified at his enemy's strange behaviour. For a second Harry even felt sorry for him, but then he remembered who this man was and what he represented. He was not human, he was pure evil, he was one of the scum who robbed his parents and Sirius and Hagrid and so many others of their lives, all in the pursuit of personal gain. His brilliant, emerald green eyes grew dark and he took the last step towards the Death eater before drawing back his fist and punching him squarely in the jaw with all of his strength. Harry watched satisfied as the wizard crumpled to the ground unconscious, before turning his eyes to a staring Remus.

"That's two to me."

The werewolf just smiled and shook his head, before binding the Dark wizard to the ground and picking up his wand, placing it in his inside cloak pocket. The two of them then walked silently together back inside the house, ever vigilant against attack but also aware that the noises of battle seemed to have faded and silence fallen outside the house. Making their way upstairs, the two of them pushed away a big piece of collapsed wall that lay in their path, before climbing the final few steps onto the landing.

With the house and street now eerily quiet, Harry started to walk towards a door on the left hand side which stood slightly ajar. He was about to push it open when a hand suddenly came down upon his shoulder, holding him back and, turning around, he was met by the sight of Remus, his eyes filled with concentration and his finger to his lips, asking for silence.

"There's someone in there." He whispered in Harry's ear. "On the count of three."

He lifted his index finger up from his fist. One. His middle finger. Two…and his third, ring finger. That was three and as soon as the signal was given, the two of them kicked open the door, their wands pointing in front of them and at any potential threat as they stormed the room.

"Everybody throw your wands to the ground at put your hands on your heads." Remus shouted, commandingly.

"Is that any way to greet an old friend Moony?" A voice replied from the floor. It was Thane and he didn't look so good.

Lying on the ground, the room around him torn to pieces, Thane had propped himself up with a chair, his wand directed at the door, apparently to ward off any intruders. Scratches and wounds peppered the young teacher's face and his left hand was placed firmly on his right shoulder where blood was starting to seep through his fingers and shirt. But on his lips there played a smile and Harry breathed a sigh of relief that his friend and teacher was safe.

"You look awful." Remus commented kindly.

"I feel it." Thane admitted in return. "But the guy who did this isn't one to be messed with and anyway, you should see him." He redirected his focus to Harry. "You're going to love this mate."

Then, and with considerable effort, or so it seemed, Thane flicked his wand at a space to his right and slowly a spell began to fade and a figure began to come into view. Slowly the disillusionment spell disappeared, revealing a battered and bruised figure, lying unconscious and bound on the floor. It was the figure of Severus Snape.

Harry's face broke into a smile and he turned his gaze to see his feelings mirrored on the faces of both his friends.

"That is bloody brilliant. Thane you are bloody brilliant." Harry said, "Remus, take this man away and hold him under lock and key."

Remus saluted, "Right you are Mr. Potter."

"And Thane," Harry continued, "just a suggestion mate, but you might want to see a healer."

"What do you know Remus," Thane replied, "he's got James' intellect."


	2. Of aftermath, training and holidays

Thane Harding winced in pain as he pushed himself up to his feet, battling through the fatigue and the agony as every inch of his body cried out for him to stop and through injury or just sheer exhaustion, he found that his legs would not support him and collapsed back to the ground.

"Little help?" He asked the young wizard who had just rushed forward to him as he fell back down to the floor.

"You're such a pansy aren't you Thane?" Harry asked as he took his teacher's arm and placed it around his own shoulders before pushing him up to his feet. Thane winced again as he felt a sharp pain shoot through his legs and he knew that they were broken, but still he managed to croak out a reply.

"This from the guy who can't even enter a duel with Lord Voldemort without passing out."

"Yeah and we all know what a wimp he is." Harry replied as the two of them reached the stairs and Harry foresaw a potential problem. "This would be so much easier for someone with magic."

"Oh yeah, I heard about your temporary loss of power, I'm surprised that the Council let you out."

"Well I can be very persuasive." Harry said, "Even ask Ginny. Watch out." He saw Kingsley Shacklebolt coming to the bottom of the stairs and pulled his teacher and himself behind a partly collapsed wall, pressing himself up against it as he waited for the Auror to pass. After a few seconds, Harry peeked out from behind the wall to see that the coast was clear and, with considerable effort, started to pull his teacher down the stairs.

Thane laughed, "You're not supposed to be here are you?" He asked.

"Well technically not, but I thought that if only my friends, such as Remus and yourself, knew that it would be OK to break the rules. That's the way I live at Hogwarts and I seem to have done alright."

"You do realise that, friend or not, Remus is now your guardian and he is going to be, let's just say, a little annoyed, that you endangered your life like this?" Thane asked as the two of them reached the bottom of the stairs and hobbled towards the, now missing, door.

"Yeah, you're probably right but what can I say? I have, as Hermione put it, a saving people thing, I'm just a very brave person.." Harry replied, "Now, are you OK to stay here and shout for help while I go and hide?"

"Spoken like a true warrior." Thane said, "I'll be fine."

With that, Harry left his friend and teacher sat down and leaning against a wall, just inside his house, while he crept to the back door and quietly slipped outside to wait for Remus to return from taking Snape into custody. Eventually, after what seemed like hours and after much of the gentle murmur of conversation had died from the front of the house, Remus reappeared and, looking around, spotted Harry. Coming over to the young wizards Remus stopped in front of him and folded his arms, his face desperately trying to convey anger at his charge's disobeying of orders, relief at his safety and concern for him, before deciding that these three emotions were too difficult and settled for just anger.

"Not now Remus." Harry spoke just as his guardian opened his mouth. "We have to get back to headquarters before anyone notices I'm missing."

Remus just nodded before grasping Harry's arm, a little tighter than was absolutely necessary, and turning on his heel, and disappeared into limbo. Landing in Harry's old bedroom in Grimmauld place, Remus turned to Harry and said;

"We'll talk about this later." Before disappearing downstairs.

Harry waited a minute before walking downstairs to join his fellow Council members who were gathered in the kitchen and hallway, waiting for everyone to arrive. McGonagall looked up from her conversation with Moody as Harry reached the bottom of the stairs and spotted the young wizard who quickly remembered that he was supposed to act naïve of what had happened at the battle.

"Oh. I didn't know that the battle was over and all of you people here had returned to headquarters." Harry said not particularly convincingly, "Is everyone alright?"

Amazingly, neither McGonagall nor Moody saw through Harry's act and replied.

"A couple of minor injuries Potter and Professor Harding has two broken legs along with a few other wounds, but no one was killed or seriously injured. We managed to capture four death eaters, the rest of them fled, and we're now just waiting for everyone to arrive for the debrief , Professor Harding is just being fixed up by Madam Pomfrey now, it's him we're waiting on." McGonagall spoke.

Eventually, Thane joined the rest of the Council, looking much better than the last time Harry had seen him, and everyone filed into the kitchen and sat down for the meeting,. The de-brief was not a particularly thrilling experience, Harry already knew much of what was being said, as they mostly just went over who was injured and who was captured as well as discussing and debating how the death eaters broke the wards around Thane's house, without reaching a conclusion. The meeting was just drawing to a close when Thane spoke up;

"I think all that remains to be decided is where I live until my house is rebuilt and the wards have been replaced."

"It'll have to be a house of the Order, preferably belonging to one of the Council so he has the benefit of the added protection and the secure link to headquarters." Moody said.

"He can live us." Harry responded, pitching in for the first time, though he had to restrain himself a number of times, remembering just in time that he wasn't supposed to have been at the battle. "That's OK, right Remus?"

"Fine with me." The werewolf responded and Thane smiled at them.

"Well that about concludes the meeting then." Moody said as he rose to his feet. "Remember everyone, keep your ears to the ground and we'll be in touch over details of the next meeting. You are dismissed."

Everyone stood at these words and, one by one, they began to file out of the kitchen, where most of them said their goodbyes and apparated away. Soon only Harry, Thane and Remus remained and the latter spoke up.

"I just have to have a word with Moody, I'll be back in a minute and we'll go home." He said before turning and walking back into the kitchen where the ex-Auror was sat.

"You don't think he's telling on me do you?" Harry asked Thane.

"No, I don't think so somehow, if he let some of the things James and Sirius did go by without snitching he's not about to tell on you. Thanks for letting me stay at your place mate, but I'm going to have to go for the moment. Madam Pomfrey said she'd only let me go if I promised to return after the Council meeting, hopefully she'll release me after an hour or two but I really don't want to cross her."

"OK, I'll see you later."

Thane waved as he turned and disapparated away to the clutches of Madam Pomfrey and just as Harry turned away, he was met by the sight of his guardian coming out of the kitchen, looking rather angry.

"I'm in big trouble aren't I?"

Remus just nodded, looking as if he was forcibly restraining himself from exploding right there. Placing his hand on Remus' arm, Harry watched with a sense of looming dread as his guardian turned on his heel and the two of them were sent flying through limbo.

"Harry I can't believe how irresponsible that was, you could have been killed." Remus shouted at his charge as they appeared in their living room.

"I'm sorry but-"

"You're supposed to be a member of the Council now, responsible and making wise decisions over the war, I mean forgive me if I'm wrong but I wouldn't have said that charging completely powerless into battle is responsible. What if Voldemort would have been there?"

"If Voldemort would have been there-"

"If your Mother would have been here she would have been very disappointed and filled with worry, just as I was and just as I am. If your father was here, he would be very…" He paused.

"Very?"

"Don't bring your father in on this Harry." Remus began once more.

"I didn't it was-"

"James valued bravery and loyalty to your friends very highly, but that's not to say that he wouldn't have been very worried. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Harry didn't say anything, unsure as to whether Remus' rant was finished.

"Well?" The werewolf prompted.

"Do the rest of the Order know that I have been inducted into the Council?" Harry asked his guardian, calming himself down and keeping his voice slow and steady.

"Yes, but don't change the subject Harry, you shouldn't have-"

"Well then think of it this way," Harry interrupted, "if the Order know then I think it's a fair assumption that the Death eaters will know, one way or another, and me not turning up at the battle would, therefore, have been very suspicious. But now I've shown my face, they have every reason to think that I still have control over my magic, I have convinced them of this which, I believe, was a direct order from Moody."

"A direct order from Moody, you're sure you want to go down that route Harry?" Remus asked in reply, "Because, I seem to remember the words; 'Potter, you stay here' coming forth from said ex-Auror's lips and that is an even directer order."

"Directer?"

"Shut up, you know what I mean."

"OK Moony, I admit that it's not a perfect excuse but if Moody's orders contradict each other, like they did today, you have to choose which to follow."

"But they didn't contradict each other, you may have shown your face tonight but you didn't show any magic."

"Yes, but that's not the point. Because, even though you're right, when Voldemort, in pleasant conversation, asks his slaves about why they lost tonight, I'm willing to bet that they will swear blind that I did use magic. And besides, just because I didn't use magic, doesn't mean that I can't, I mean, who in their right mind would willingly go into battle without magical power?"

"You've got me." Remud replied, his voice now more reasonable as he calmed down, "I'm still not happy with you Harry, but seeing as you saved my life tonight, I suppose I'll have to let it go for now. That was two all, competition carries on to the next battle?"

"Deal." Harry replied, "Now I don't know about you Remus but I am completely shattered and I'm going to bed. If Voldemort tries to start another battle tell him to come back in the morning." He said as he walked out of the living room and towards the stairs.

"Will do. Goodnight."

"night."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

No. Not the whispers. Please no. He could just hear them on the edge of his sub-conscious, his mind trying desperately to fight them. To just let him sleep. But then he realised; something was different, the whispers were not conspiring, they weren't urging him to go against his morals, in fact they seemed quite happy, talking between themselves. And then the words became clear, though no meaning was derived from them at first in his state of deep unconsciousness, two voices broke through into his sleeping mind.

"Do you think we should wake him?"

"No you're definitely not supposed to wake them."

"I think that's sleepwalkers."

"Well this is almost the same thing."

"This isn't close to being the same thing. I mean, it must take a hell of a lot of magical energy."

"Yeah but this is Harry we're talking about."

"Screw it I'm waking him up. Hey Potter! Get up!"

The last part was shouted and Thane's voice penetrated Harry's subconscious, jerking him out of his slumber. Opening his eyes, he recoiled slightly as he found that his nose almost touched the ceiling and noticed that his bed, which he usually kept under him as he slept, could not be felt beneath him. Confused, he twisted around, turning his head to look downwards, only to gasp in shock and fright as, rather unusually, he found himself floating fifteen feet in the air, watched by an interested Thane and a worried looking Remus. His mind just had time to register all of this before he felt whatever force was holding him up, let go and he started to fall to the ground. He braced himself for impact but was relieved to find himself engulfed in the comforting clutches of his bed, albeit with an odd squelching sound and to the vast amusement of the two supposed adults standing by his bed.

"What the hell was that?" Harry demanded as he rolled of his bed, only to find himself covered with a thick, pink liquid.

"Nothing to do with us mate." Remus replied, "Remember the accidental bursts of magic Madam Pomfrey warned us about? Well I think it's fair to assume that you've just had one. We were downstairs when there was a sudden flux of magical power in your room, both of us sensed it and came up to see what was happening to find you floating fifteen feet in the air."

"And also you conjured some pink paint on your bed." Thane added, his eyes darting from side to side.

Harry shook his head, both amusement and annoyance written on his face as he tried to shake the paint off of him. "You do realise that if I had control of my magic, you'd be dead right now?" He asked.

"Yeah but you don't." Thane replied, "Say Remus, you know how you were really annoyed at little Prongs jr here for running off powerless into battle?"

"Yes."

"And you know how he has no control over his magic, so we could mess with him and transfigure him without fear of retribution?"

"Yes." Remus responded once more, smiling evilly.

"Well, you won't believe this, but I have a cunning plan." Thane said, turning and smiling manically at Harry.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Hey guys." Harry said as he opened the door to find his best friends.

"Hey Harry." Hermione replied, looking at him strangely, "What-"

She was interrupted by a small figure pushing past her and running into the house. All Harry saw was a small red blur before he felt the air knocked out of him and two arms snake around his torso as Ginny Weasley flung herself on him. He was just relaxing into the hug, when Ginny pushed him away and hit him hard, twice in the chest.

"Ow." He said. "What was that for?"

"What is the matter with you? Going through with the ritual without telling anyone, then charging into battle without control over your magic, are you crazy?"

"Oh that." Harry replied but was stopped from saying anything else when Ginny hit him, with surprising strength, in the chest once more. "Ow. Stop hitting me."

"Fine." She said, "Now, why are you green?"

"Actually I was wondering that." Ron commented as he walked into the living room where Harry had backed away from his attacking girlfriend.

"I have no control over my magic and I'm living with an old marauder and Thane Harding, do I really have to answer that question?"

"I suppose not, do you want me to fix that for you?" Ron asked, surprising Harry.

"Don't think that he's being nice." Hermione said, seeing Harry's surprise, "He's just being using magic at every opportunity since coming of age."

"It's not that, I'm always nice." Ron said, drawing his wand and pointing it at his friend's face. He seemed to hesitate. "Now, what spell shall I use Hermione?"

"No offence mate," Harry said, " but I'd really rather you not point your wand at my face ."

"Is that so?" Ron asked in reply, an evil smile on his face, "Well come to think of it, I know exactly what spell to use."

With that, Ron flicked his wand and even Hermione and Ginny burst out laughing as Harry felt something growing from his back. He was about to kill Ron when the four of them were interrupted by Thane and Remus walking into the room.

"Oh good you're all here." Remus began before the two of them stopped in their tracks, their mouths agape before they both doubled over with laughter. "Harry, can I ask why you have fairy wings?" He asked, recovering slightly. Harry just glared at him.

"Ginny, Hermione, can one of you please change me back?" He asked.

"Sorry Harry, but you do look pretty funny." Hermione replied, a huge grin plastered on her face and Harry looked hopefully to his girlfriend who too was smiling broadly.

"Sorry, not of age." She said.

Harry just shook his head, exhaling in exasperation, "You lot are so dead once I get my powers back."

Eventually all of this was forgotten as the four friends, along with Thane and Remus, relaxed and played chess, exploding snap and gobstones, enjoying each others company while lunch cooked itself in the kitchen.

"So what does everyone want to do after lunch?" Asked a still green and winged Harry as they all sat down and began to tuck into their roast beef.

"Sorry," Ginny replied, "but Mum's insisting that we go home after dinner."

"Why?" Harry asked in response.

"Something about the war and only being home a few weeks. And I think she said something about us growing up so fast, I'm not sure, quidditch was on the WWN at the time." It was Ron who spoke this time.

"Hermione?" Harry said as he turned to his other best friend.

"Sorry Harry but you know what my parents are like, they don't like to let me out of their sight during the holiday, especially since I told them about the war." She replied.

"How about after lunch, the three of us go down into your trunk and we do a bit of training, see if we can coax a bit of magic out of you?" Thane asked.

"Actually Tonks said that she might come over a bit later." Remus said a little too casually, his eyes firmly on his dinner. "So it'll be the four of us."

"Really?" Harry asked, smirking and looking towards Thane where his expression was mirrored.

And so the rest of lunch was spent teasing Remus about a certain young Auror until, all too soon, their stomachs were filled and Ron, Ginny and Hermione said their goodbyes.

A lull in the conversation followed Ron, Hermione and Ginny's departure as Harry, as Thane and Remus collapsed on to the chairs and sofas of the living room after a merciful Remus removed the spells on Harry.

"So Remus," Thane interrupted the silence, speaking as if he had been trying desperately but rather unsuccessfully to restrain himself, "when are you going to ask out Tonks?"

Remus sighed, wary of the question that had been posed to him so many times in the last few months, "I've told you before Thane, I'm too old for her. And besides, she doesn't like me in that way."

"Really?" The Auror asked disbelievingly.

"Yes really."

"Well if your not going to, maybe I'll ask her out." Thane said teasingly.

"Fine with me." Remus replied, rather more tight lipped than usual, as if he was trying to restrain himself from hitting his old friend, or else passing a particularly nasty kidney stone.

"Yep, I'm sure I'll have a lot of fun with that 'being able to change her face and body' thing."

"That sounds splendid." Remus responded, now starting to turn ever so slightly maroon.

"Maybe I'll ask her to transform in to a really flexible form." Thane continued, "Actually I've always liked the look of your Mother."

"Alright that's enough." Remus cried as he jumped to his feet. "Fine, I will ask her out."

"You don't have the guts to." Thane replied challengingly.

"I bet you that I'll have asked her by the end of the week."

Harry had watched this all amusedly and chipped in for the first time, "Why not put your money where your mouth is then Moony?" He asked pulling ten galleons from his pocket and placing it on the table.

"You're learning young master Potter." Thane said, pulling out some coins of his own and placing them on the table with Harry's, "Soon you will be adept in the ways of the marauder. I will match his stake, Moony; the ball is in your court."

Remus hesitated for the second before delving into his own pocket and pulling out twenty of the gold coins. "You're on." He replied.

At that moment, the doorbell rang and had he not have been connected by ligaments and cartilage Remus may well have jumped out of his skin.

"Well, well," Thane began, "it looks like you beloved has arrived young Remus. Perhaps now would be a good time to win your bet.

"Shut up." Remus replied as he went to open the door and Harry and Thane looked at each other amusedly.

"I'm afraid we haven't got anything too exciting planned, we'll just be helping Harry to get some degree of control over his magic." Remus said to Tonks as the two of them came walking back into the living room.

"Hey that's pretty exciting Remus." Harry chipped in before Tonks had time to reply, "Though it may not be as romantic as you'd have liked."

Harry's statement was met by somewhat of an awkward silence as Remus and Tonks both turned an attractive shade of red and decided that they should avoid looking at each other at all costs.

"So," Remus finally spoke, breaking the silence, "how about we head in to Harry's room and we can start his training in his trunk."

Tonks mumbled her agreement and together the two of them walked off in the direction of Harry's room as Harry himself stayed back and shared an amused smirk with Thane who held his hand up for Harry to high five.

"Nice one." The Auror said as Harry brought his hand up to Thane's

"I try my best."

Together the two of them then walked to Harry's room and then into his trunk where Remus and Tonks were waiting for them.

"So what are we going to begin with?" Harry asked as he sat next to Remus on the duelling platform. "Do I start small or just dive right into the big stuff?"

"Harry you seem to be labouring under the delusion that we have even the faintest idea of what we're doing." Remus replied, "What you've got to remember is that, although the founders created the Rock and Slytherin created the potion and so we know a little about them, no one ever got the chance to go through with the ritual. So basically your input is just as, even more important than ours, you're the only one who can tell us how your feeling."

Harry thought upon this, closing his eyes for a second and reaching out to his errant magic in an attempt to find some clue as to what to do. He delved deep into his magical core and found that, though his magic was bright, it was still scattered, and felt far away, as if just out of his reach.

"My magic is still there," He said, opening his eyes, " and it's still powerful, but it's not concentrated and I just can't seem to reach it."

The four of them thought upon this for awhile before Thane spoke up.

"I think we should stick to simple magic to begin with," he began, "Wingardium Leviosa, for example, but I also think that we should make it so that you have to use quite a bit of power."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Well, we know that you're powerful enough to pull of the levitating charm, you just need to find a way of putting your magic to use again. So there's no point in making you levitate a feather, I mean, muggles can levitate feathers, but it takes a fair bit of magic to levitate, for instance, a heavy safe. I know it would still take little effort if you were at full power, but it will at least force you to gather together a bit of power and utilise it."

Harry thought about this and nodded as Remus and Tonks did the same. "That makes sense." Tonks said.

"Yes, well there is a first time for everything." Remus chipped in before drawing his wand and giving it a wave.

A large, grey, iron safe, five foot by four, materialised on the floor of the trunk a few feet in front of Harry and the young wizard turned to the three adults who were now sat behind him.

"Nothing like throwing me in the deep end eh guys?" He said as he drew his wand.

"Are you ready?" Thane asked and Harry nodded, concentrating simultaneously on both the safe in front of him and his magic, calling it to his fingertips as he imagined the iron block rising in to the air.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!"_ He whispered, giving his wand a swish and a flick and pushing out his magic as he had learnt to do all those years ago in a class with the now late Professor Flitwick.

Harry knew that something had happened and felt the magic leave his wand, but at the same time knew that the safe would not lift into the air. He was proven right as he sensed the invisible strike the safe and not much seemed to happen, apart from it wobbling a little before, suddenly, it came to a standstill and unexpectedly turning a bright yellow in colour. Harry was taken aback by what had happened and let up his magic as Thane stepped forward.

"OK." he said, "Not exactly the effect we were hoping for. On the upside it was magic, in fact quite a bit more advanced than what you were trying to do. If you think your ready and up to it, you can try it again but this time try and put a bit of oomph into it Harry, we know you've got the power it's just a case of channelling it."

Harry nodded and closed his eyes, summoning his magic to his fingertips as he delved deep into his inner magical core and started to gather together his scattered magic, exhaustively reaching out and pulling together the small but bright pricks of light magic which shone within him like stars in the night sky. Remus, Tonks and Thane looked at each other, satisfied smiles on their faces, as they felt the hairs on the back of their necks stand on end. The air cracked and fizzled and the room seemed to filled with a pulsating, raw magical energy as Harry reconnected with his magic and his true power began to manifest in the air around them. Light seemed to emanate from the young wizard and, as he opened his eyes, the three adults were shocked to see that they were glowing a brilliant emerald green.

"OK Harry, now levitate the safe into the air. Don't lose concentration." Remus spoke.

Harry gave no response but raised his wand and levelled it at the safe, his eyes unblinking and determined. Then, with a swish and a flick of his wand, he cried;

"_Wingardium Leviosa!_"

Though still transparent, the usually invisible charm seemed to almost solidify with the sheer power of the spell, it was palpable to the eye as a constant beam and Tonks gasped in surprise and the other two just stood rooted to the spot as the charm escaped Harry's wand. Flying through the air with massive speed, the beam soon struck the safe and Harry's gaze seemed to harden with the effort of lifting it into the air. Nothing happened at first but then the trunk started to shake, softly to begin with but then with ever increasing force, as if an earthquake had just taken hold of the trunk.

Weapons clattered to the ground from the walls where they stood and Thane, Remus and Tonks all almost lost their footing as Harry and the safe alone remained steadfast and still. Then, suddenly, the safe started to wobble and Harry, encouraged, forced yet more power into the spell until it took of into the air like a rocket. The safe shot into the sky, crashing through the ceiling of the trunk and into Harry's room proper. Harry immediately released the spell and the room suddenly stopped shaking, leaving it perfectly quiet and still, the four occupants still staring into the sky where the safe had disappeared.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Remus broke the silence, "You know what they say, what goes up-."

He was interrupted by a second huge Crash as the safe came back through the ceiling and into the duelling arena of the trunk, falling right at the shocked wizards and witch. Harry reacted instinctively, raising his hand above him as the safe neared his head and his magic flooded the place once more, his eyes glowing as the safe stopped suddenly in mid-air. Harry, feeling as if his magic was seeping out of him and weakening by the second, flung the safe across the room before collapsing on to the floor as it landed with a bang.

Thane, Remus and Tonks rushed over to Harry to find him conscious but weak, but together the three of them helped him to clamber to his feet.

"Perhaps next time I should be more specific in explaining what I mean when I say 'levitate this safe Harry'" Thane quipped.

"I did it didn't I?" Harry retorted, an exhausted smile on his lips.

"True." Remus conceded, "Of course it would have been even better if you hadn't destroyed your trunk and much of the house in the process but I suppose a step at a time. Here drink this."

Harry drank greedily from the goblet Remus offered him, knowing that it would restore his erstwhile absent energy. That it did and Harry thanked God for the advanced pepper up potion as the familiar, warm sensation of his magical and physical energy returning to him spread throughout his wary body.

"I think that's enough magical training for now. Thane?" Remus said, handing over to his old friend.

"What?" The Auror asked, confused before it seemed to dawn on him. "Ah yes, I'm sure that big head of yours hasn't failed to comprehend, Harry, that Remus and I are running out of things that we can teach you. As brilliant as I am, after the ritual, and even before it, your power level has surpassed ours and, in fact, that of all other known wizards and witches except Voldemort and the upshot of this is that, even though there are still spells that we haven't taught you, the vast majority of them are too weak to be of any use. Personally I thought that that meant we could pat ourselves on the back and go down the pub, but my wolfish friend here disagreed and so we are going to teach you the noble art of fencing."

"Fencing?" Harry and Tonks asked at the same time, slightly incredulously.

"You didn't learn how to fence?" Remus questioned the metamorphogus.

"No and frankly it's a little bit weird that you two would be shocked by that." Tonks replied.

"Fencing," Thane began, cutting off any reply Remus might have been about to make, "and swordsmanship was first taught centuries, maybe even millennia, ago by the Lords and Knights of this kingdom, especially by the magical Lords and Knights who became the ancient pure blood lines of today. While it has died out in muggle families, it is still traditional for old pureblood families to teach their sons how to duel with swords."

"Sons?" Tonks asked and Thane smiled at the slightly accusatory tone of her question.

"Yes." Her replied. "There wasn't too much feminism around the turn of the ninth century. Anyway, I was taught how to fence as I was growing up and now I am ready to pass on my vast well of knowledge to you."

"So you're a pureblood?" Harry asked his DADA professor interestedly.

"Thane, you're kidding aren't you?" Remus interjected, "he's got hereditary wizarding titles coming out of every orifice."

"Thank you for that pleasant image Remus." Tonks replied sarcastically.

"Hereditary?" Harry asked

"It means inherited." The werewolf replied, "Lord Harding here has a lineage that's almost as noble and traceable as yours. Tonks and I are just mere peasants comparatively.

Thane just smiled a little embarrassedly, "Can we get on to teaching young master Potter here how to duel please?" He asked.

"Whatever you say your Lordship." Remus replied with a mock bow, prompting a giggle from Tonks who had been watching the whole show with an amused look on her face.

"How exactly is this helpful to the war effort?" Harry asked his guardian.

"Well it's sort of derived demand-."

"Moony you're a great friend of mine and I really appreciate you becoming my guardian and welcoming me into your home and everything but if you keep on using really big words I'll be forced to hit you very hard in the face." Harry interrupted.

"Yeah, as much as I hate to agree with squibby here, " Thane began, prompting a glare from Harry, "you are starting to make my head hurt."

"It's so good to see that the education system is working in giving people a comprehensive grasp of the English language."

"Just get on with it." Harry interjected.

"Well, the point of learning to fight with a sword isn't necessarily so that you can beat Voldemort if the war ever leads to a fencing match, although you've proven that knives and other weapons can be very effective in a duel. Much of the skills used in swordsmanship can be transferred to a duel with a wand."

"But isn't fencing just a sport?" Harry asked in reply.

"Yes, it's actually more like duelling with swords that we're teaching you, but it's much the same and, for now at least, you'll be practicing with foils." Thane responded

"Fair enough." Harry replied, "What are we waiting for?"

"You'll be up against Remus first, because I learnt all this growing up, I'm just a bit better than him. Once you beat Moony here, you can have a go at me." Thane said.

With that, Thane wandlessly and silently summoned to him two of the swords that had fallen to the ground during Harry's magical training session, two Italian grip foils, and threw one each to Harry and Remus. **(A/N: Do not try this at home. Prongs_Potter does not accept any liability for injuries sustained while throwing swords!)** Both of them caught the foils by the hilt and Harry looked to his professor questioningly.

"Real swords Thane? Shouldn't we start with wooden ones or something? "

"Probably, but don't worry we'll fix you up if you get injured."

Harry was completely and utterly reassured by this answer and turned to face his opponent.

"Are you two actually going to teach me anything or are you just going to let me get my arse kicked?" Harry asked as Remus began to circle him.

"Well the latter does sound quite entertaining," Thane replied, " but seeing as the wizarding world is depending on you to save them I suppose I better teach you some moves. OK, there are three basic attacking moves; a strike, a cut and a thrust and three basic defences, you can block, you can parry or you can get the hell out of the way."

"Is that the technical term?" Harry asked.

"I assume so." Thane replied, "that's what my Dad used to say to me anyway, usually when we weren't fencing."

"This isn't therapy Thane, just get on with it." Remus interjected.

"Good to know I can rely on you emotionally mate." He responded. "OK, let's start with stances, always keep your feet about shoulder width apart, your front foot should face forwards and your back foot to the side in the shape of an 'L', except for the crossover step and the lunge, but we'll come to that later.."

Harry placed his feet as Thane instructed and looked up for further instruction.

"OK, that was the ludicrously easy bit, now the not quite so ludicrously easy stuff. To advance, first move your front foot forwards on to the heel, follow that with your back foot and then place your front foot flat on the ground."

Harry did so, moving slightly clumsily as he fought the urge to simply step forward.

"Good. You have proven that your not a complete moron and that you can step forwards in a slightly different way than usual. Now let's see if you have the same success stepping backwards."

They practiced this for about ten minutes, with Harry moving forwards and backwards in step with Remus and to Thane's instructions, in a sort of duel but without the 'trying to hit the other person' bit. Eventually, Thane was satisfied that Harry (and Remus who himself was a little shaky) had mastered the steps and the stances and they moved on to the blocking and striking techniques and finally started to put it all together. After two hours of training and a lifetime of jibes and general mocking from Thane and Tonks who, though having never fenced herself, decided that Harry's mistakes were hilarious, it was decided that he was ready and that it was time for him to face Remus for a full sparring session.

Readying himself and getting into the correct stance, Harry felt butterflies stirring in his stomach as he looked to Thane, awaiting the signal to begin. Eventually it came as the Auror slashed his hand downwards between the two combatants and Harry started to advance. He had decided before the duel started that if he was to stand any chance of winning, he would have to take the duel to Remus and not just sit back and wait for a chance to respond. Lunging forwards, Harry thrust his sword to his guardian's chest and it almost made contact before the werewolf had time to right his stance and position and parry the blow to one side.

Harry made to continue his offensive and rose his sword in to the air, ready to strike it down. He was forced to turn the strike in to a block, however, as Remus recovered faster than he had anticipated and immediately struck his foil downwards towards the younger wizard's head. Harry's hurried block managed to hold off the attack, however, and Harry just had time to feel proud of himself before he felt his foil being flipped by Remus' weapon, pushing it out of the way before the werewolf finished him off with a lunge and thrust to the chest.

Harry let out a sigh of frustration as he let his foil drop to the ground and Thane and Tonks came forward to meet them both, he noted, smiling broadly.

"That was great Harry." Thane said as he approached the young wizard.

"What are you talking about?" Harry responded, "I was thrashed, I got in one attack and one block."

"Yeah but you looked great." Tonks replied.

"And, believe me, that is more than I was expecting." Thane added, "No matter what I may have said earlier and even though Remus was never taught as a child, James and Sirius did a great good at teaching him how to fence while at Hogwarts. He's been doing it for longer than you have lived and with that first attack you damn near had him. Now get back into position and we'll go again."

Harry was not entirely convinced but did as he was told and assumed the correct stance as waited, once more, for the signal to begin the second duel. They continued like this for three quarters of an hour and, though Harry lost a further four duels, he lasted longer and longer each time and even Remus conceded that it was only a matter of time before he was beaten. After five duels, however, Harry was exhausted and Remus wasn't much better and, as Thane came forward after the fifth duel, Harry spoke.

"Thane, I'm exhausted mate, can we continue tomorrow?" Harry asked.

"Of course we can continue tomorrow Harry." The Auror replied and Harry smiled, relieved, "but that doesn't mean that you can stop for today. Come on, one more duel and this time it will be a proper duel; the loser is the first to draw blood and seeing as you might have a bit of trouble so much as scratching each other with those things, you'll be using these."

Thane summoned to him two large swords, before throwing them to Remus and Harry as he had done before. Harry caught one of the two handed highland claymores and twirled it around a little to get used to the feel of it, surprised at heavy it was.

"Is this strictly safe or legal?" Harry asked.

"Don't think you can handle it Harry?" Remus asked mockingly.

Harry rolled his eyes but walked forwards and, for the last time that evening, got into duelling position. Thane slashed his hand down between the two duellers and the duel began, this time with Remus taking the offensive, pushing back the wary young wizard with a few strikes that he was forced to block and parry. This continued for a full minute as Remus was unrelenting in his attacks, constantly driving forward as Harry had to use every inch of his new found skill just to keep hold of his weapon and keep Remus' from striking him.

Slowly, however, Remus began to tire and Harry's stamina, built up from years of quidditch, began to give him the advantage. Parrying one of Remus' blows, he quickly responded with two successive strikes of his own which put the older wizard on the back foot. Taking advantage of having the upper hand, Harry then raised the claymore high and brought it down hard towards Remus' shoulder.

Harry's sword met only with Remus', but before he could counter, Harry spun the sword around, catching the werewolf's hand with the tip of his weapon and making his grip relax in shock and pain. The claymore came free of Remus' hand, sent spinning through the air and, despite his impending defeat, the slightest trace of a smile flickered on the older wizard's face as he realised that this too was a skill his young charge would soon master and that he had given him another weapon in his ongoing fight against evil.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Thane pluck Remus' sword from the air, but Harry was aware that the duel was not yet over and kept his focus unwaveringly on the werewolf. Advancing on the now retreating Remus, Harry feigned a blow to the torso and Remus jumped back to avoid it, only to feel Harry's sword drop down to his legs and pull them from under him, sending him flying to the ground where he landed with a painful thud. The older wizard made to get up again, but was prevented from doing so as Harry stepped forward and lowered his weapon.

Harry's sword levelled with Remus' throat before he brought it to the werewolf's shoulder and nicked it slightly, just enough to draw blood, he then smiled at his first victory of the day before stooping to help up his old friend and guardian. But then they came. His mind clouded as it was wrapped in the darkness the ritual had created in his psyche and the whispers began, corrupting his mind with treacherous thoughts and hissing their evil orders in a voice which was both sinister and bone chillingly familiar. 'Strike him down' they seemed to whisper in his ear and, just for a second, his sword hand twitched in Remus' direction as he responded on instinct to the dark temptations of his mind.

"NO!" Harry cried as he pushed away the maleficent voices of the dark side of his psyche and threw down his sword in alarm at what he had almost done.

"What is it Harry?" Remus asked, alarmed at Harry's reaction as he, Thane and Tonks all rushed over to him.

Harry placed his head in his hands and closed his eyes, sinking down on to the floor, exhausted and yet still alert and on guard against the whispers should they once more try to infiltrate his mind. After a full minute, Harry was confident that, for now at least, they had gone and he slowly climbed to his feet and uncovered his face, looking into the concerned gazes of the three adults who had waited patiently for him to recover.

"It's nothing." He said, diverting his eyes to the ground, unwilling to meet Remus' stare after what he had been so close to doing. "I think the training's taken it out of me guys." He said, Forcing a strained smile on to his face, "I don't think I can handle any more, I'm going to bed."

With that, Harry walked to the exit of his trunk and back into his room proper where he collapsed on to his bed, leaving behind three very concerned and confused people. He found that as soon as his head hit the pillow exhaustion consumed him once more and so he didn't have to wait long to sink into a dreamless but uneasy sleep.

Harry woke with a start hours later as two men came barging loudly into his room. He groaned in protest at the sudden awakening but was forced up as he felt his pillow being yanked rudely from under him, opening his eyes, he glared at his two older friends who were indecently cheerful for such an early hour.

"Good morning young Harold." Thane said as Harry reluctantly sat upright, the Auror purposefully using the incorrect form of his name.

"What do you want?" He asked groggily.

"Well, after you went a little crazy in the duelling arena," Thane began sensitively, "Remus, Tonks and I began talking about how we could cheer you up a bit. Now personally I thought we should beat it out of you, but Moony here thought we should be all sensitive and nice-."

"Which Thane is managing perfectly." Remus interjected.

"Well quite." Thane continued, "Anyway, Tonks then said that we should invite Ginny around and you could talk about your feelings or something. You know, girly crap."

"OK." Harry replied, "I'm still not getting why you had to wake me up so early."

"It's nine O'clock mate and Ginny is coming around in ten minutes." Remus replied.

With that, Harry jumped up in alarm as how much he had overslept (for him at least) and Remus and Thane left the room as he started to get dressed. Ginny showed up fifteen minutes later and Harry showed her to his room where they sat down and started to talk. For half an hour the two of them just talked about things in general, relaxed in each others company as Harry felt himself begin to unwind. Eventually, however, the conversation lulled and the subject turned to more serious matters as Ginny said;

"So Thane tells me that you went crazy?" She began and Harry had to smile, "Care to talk about it?"

"I'd really rather not." Harry replied, feeling his depression start to return to him.

"Harry you know that you can trust me." Ginny responded.

"I'm sorry Gin', as much as I do trust you, I don't think I can just spill my guts and describe to you all of my feelings. It's not how I was raised and even though I now know that how my Uncle and Aunt brought me up was wrong, I just can't deal with all of this talking about your emotions rubbish."

"It is not rubbish Harry." Ginny chastised in response, "And you hit the nail on the head, you weren't brought up by your family at all, they rejected you and mistreated you and ever since you were a small boy you have had to look after yourself. I understand that this must be difficult but I'm not leaving until you talk to me, so you may as well just spit it out Potter."

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes but at the same time was rather pleased that his girlfriend had cornered him. The whispers, the damn treacherous whispers were driving him crazy and he was still consumed with guilt every time he saw Remus, unable to bear the knowledge that he had almost harmed someone who had shown him nothing but affection and friendship.

"Ginny, ever since the ritual I have heard voices in my head, usually just out of reach and mostly silent but always there, lurking in the back of my mind." He confessed.

"Like in your second year?" Ginny asked, looking slightly confused but deeply concerned, thinking back on the horror that had been her first year at Hogwarts.

"No." Harry replied. "The voices aren't just around me, they're within my mind, speaking to me, urging me to do terrible things and trying to corrupt my soul."

Ginny seemed at somewhat of a loss to say, but was torn a part at the angst she could hear in her boyfriend's voice. "Is it Voldemort Harry?" She asked, "Is he trying to posses you again?"

Just then it was like a light had been triggered in his mind; that hissing, evil voice; it was Voldemort's, the whispers were faint and they seemed to echo as they rung out from the deep recesses of his subconscious but Harry still marvelled at how he failed to recognise them.

"It was Voldemort's voice." Harry replied before pausing to think, "But it's not him speaking to me. The whispers come from my own mind, of that I'm sure, they seem to occupy the dark side of my sub-conscious and speak to me when I'm vulnerable or least expecting it, as if they're trying to take over."

Harry bowed his head in sadness and shame as, for the first time, he allowed his mind to consider something he had previously wrestled to expel from his own mind.

"Harry," Ginny began, he voice caring, "I know that you would never let that happen. You're the strongest person I know and however hard this dark force may try, I know you'll never let it win, you never have. It's fairly clear that this is a side-effect of the ritual and, more than likely, the potion of Slytherin's design. You should really talk to Thane and Remus about this Harry and Madam Pomfrey too, I'm sure that it's only temporary and they may even figure out a way to cure it."

Harry sighed as he realised that he couldn't keep it to himself any longer, he had to confess something to Ginny that he had sworn he would take to his grave.

"Gin', there's something that I haven't told you. As you know, Slytherin added the potion to the ritual of the Rock of Initium as well as the blood line spell to make sure only those he deemed fit to hold it's power could do so. What you don't know is that this potion had some of the vilest, most evil ingredients known to wizarding kind. There was unicorn blood and the sliced heartstring of a dragon, but much worse, even than that, there was the blood of a foe spilled in cold blood. When I came to the battle, I still had none of these and, though some would be pretty difficult to get, it was the blood of a foe killed in cold blood that resonated through my mind, presenting a problem that seemed insurmountable. And then Bellatrix was there, she had almost killed you and she was mocking me about escaping with ease from Azkaban, she said that she would come back and kill you, along with everyone else I love. I had beaten her in a duel, she was at my feet and I killed her. She was unarmed and I killed her in cold blood."

Ginny seemed to shiver next to him for a second and Harry was terrified at what he might see in her eyes should he meet her gaze, the one he was resolutely avoiding.

"Harry," she said, pulling his face around to look at her, "you have a different definition of cold blood to everyone else I know. It must have been awful for you, but don't doubt that you had a good enough motive to do it. Bellatrix would have kept her promise Harry, she was too dangerous to be kept alive and you turned her into a tool for good, the ritual was essential in the war effort and as much as you'd have liked it another way, any other way, you had no choice."

"But don't you get it Gin'," Harry began a note of panic entering his voice, "I killed someone, I took another human life, not in self defence but for my own motives, that's murder and now I'm hearing evil voices speaking to me from my own psyche, trying to corrupt me, to get me to commit yet further acts of evil. I mean, it's pretty clear that my-."

"No Harry." Ginny interrupted, rather aggressively, "I know what you're thinking and you can stop right now. I have known you for five years, I've seen you perform feats of light magic that even Dumbledore could not and on countless occasions I have seen you sacrifice much and be willing to sacrifice everything in the protection of others, even those you have never met. So no, you are not a dark wizard Harry and your soul remains very much intact."

Harry smiled grimly at his girlfriend's passionate defence of him as she seemed to read his mind, "You can't possibly know that."

"Did you hear any of the voices in the few weeks between the battle and the ritual?"

"No." Harry felt the first signs of blissful relief stir up inside him before he realised that this knowledge, though good to have, didn't change anything. He had still almost killed his guardian and friend and he still had very little control over his own magical abilities.

"Exactly." Ginny said, happy that Harry had finally accepted the truth she was speaking.

"But it doesn't change anything. I've suffered losses before Ginny, I've even been subject to mental attack before, but at least then I was able to offer some sort of defence, at least I could put up a fight. Now, the attack is coming from within my own mind and I have no magic with which to fight. Now, I have an army of powerful, dark wizards, witches and magical creatures baying for my blood and I have no defence to offer, yet I am still expected to defeat one of the most powerful men to ever walk the planet."

You don't need magic to have some fight in you Harry." Ginny replied, "You showed it in the battle at Thane's house and you showed it in the Battle for the Rock, magic or not, you're the bravest person I know and, though I know you don't want this responsibility, there's no one I would feel safer about having this job. You will find a way to defeat him."

Harry smiled again, Ginny seemed to have that power over him, but her talk of the Battle of the Rock immediately made him come down, his mind refusing to let him move on from the image of the men, women and children he had led to their deaths which was seared forever more into his brain.

"All that pain and death and suffering and what do I have to show for it?" Harry asked, sinking ever deeper into depression as he let out the woes he had kept bottled up for the past weeks. "Two dozen deaths on my conscience, no magical power and now there DAMN WHISPERS!" He shouted the last part and Ginny reeled back in alarm but quickly recovered and put a comforting hand on her boyfriend's shoulder as he lowered his voice, though it still contained enough sadness to break her heart. "The whispers of my own psyche trying to corrupt me, trying to make me attack the closest thing to a father I have ever had. Apart from Sirius."

"Your loss of magic is only temporary Harry." Ginny replied, "Hagrid and the others didn't die in vain, when the ritual takes effect you will have power over the four elements, the power the prophecy said you would need to end this war once and for all."

"But even if I gain use over the elemental powers, where does that leave us?" Harry asked, "We're exactly where we were before the damn battle and ritual; at a stalemate. Thirty human lives Ginny along with countless losses for the magical creatures and countless more casualties, all for nothing."

"Harry you can't honestly think that." Ginny replied, her voice rising slightly. "Do you think that if you hadn't chased the rock Voldemort wouldn't have either? If those people hadn't given their lives to get half the Rock of Initium for the light, Voldemort would have gone underground for a few days and then emerged more powerful than ever, more powerful than anyone could handle, even you. Forget about stalemate, it would've been checkmate to the dark."

Harry thought upon Ginny's words and smiled as he realised the truth contained in them.

"You're right." Harry said. "I don't know why-." He was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in." Both Harry and Ginny shouted.

The door swung open to reveal Thane, his right hand over his eyes and his left stretched out in front of him, feeling his way forwards.

"Can I open my eyes or will I be scarred for life?" He asked.

"Shut up and come in." Harry replied. "What's up?"

"I just thought you should know that a date has been set for Snape's trial."

"When is it?"

"Tomorrow." Thane replied.

"Tomorrow?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Yep, the ministry wants to speed up death eater trials as much as possible and it was just a case of the two sides gathering evidence. He'll be tried by the highest court in the land; the Wizengamot, and you Harry will be required to give testimony. Ginny, you may also be called seeing as how you were also there when Snape betrayed us."

"OK." Ginny replied, her face resolute.

"Well that was all I wanted to tell you. I'll leave you kids alone to get back to what you were doing. Remember Harry, don't do anything I wouldn't do, but don't worry, that still leaves you pretty free." Thane said, an irritatingly and unworthily knowing look on his face as he walked towards the door.

Thane Harding exited Harry's room rather more quickly than he usually would have, a number of winged bogies hot on his tail.


	3. Of leglimency, trials and tribulations?

Harry woke early the next morning feeling somewhat better than he had the day before and quickly decided to forgo his usual morning exercise as he had little time before he was due to appear in court for the trial of Severus Snape. Descending the stairs and walking into the kitchen, he found a rather chipper looking Remus and a rather dead looking Thane who was lying with his head on the table.

"Rough night?" Harry asked as he sat down next to the Auror.

"You could say that," Thane replied as he sat up, "but no night would be more accurate. I was up until two in the morning sorting out Snape's transportation from Azkaban and then I had to get up at six to sort out his protection during trial."

"His protection?" Harry asked, "I hope you left a few holes in case one of us feels the needs to kill him."

"Personally I wouldn't give him the satisfaction." Remus chipped in as he joined the two of them at the table, placing their bowls of cornflakes in front of them. "The Dementors can do far worse to him than we can and that's what he'll get when found guilty."

"Good riddance." Harry replied, "Remus can you pass the-"

He suddenly stopped and looked at his hand, feeling for the first time what was making him feel so much better and realising that it wasn't simply the prospect of bringing the traitor that was Severus Snape to justice. Harry turned his hand over and looked at it closely, as if this was the first time he was truly seeing it. He could sense Remus and Thane's gaze upon him but for a second he was lost as he felt, first in his hand and then, as he concentrated, within his entire body, a feeling both familiar and yet oddly different, as if he was meeting up with an old friend, long forgotten and unseen in years. He felt truly safe for the first time since the ritual as his magic seemed to awaken within him and wrap him in it's warmth and power and, looking up, a wide grin on his face, he tilted his hand towards the jug of milk he had been about to ask Remus to pass. Closing his eyes for a second, Harry revelled in the power and ease he felt as he reached out to his inner magical energy and gently coaxed it to his fingertips and then; he released it and, as he knew it would, slowly but surely the milk jug started to move, sliding along the table until it reached his hand which he gently and reverentially wrapped around it as if it was a great treasure.

Harry couldn't help it. He jumped into the air as his palm came in to contact with the cool, white jug and shouted;

"YES! I'm back."

It took a little while longer for Thane and Remus to react as they just sat in shock as their young friend, who had only two days ago struggled to lift a safe at all and certainly with no degree of control, wandlessly and silently summoned a jug from across the table with apparent ease. They were fairly quick to recover, however, and jumped to their feet to congratulate Harry, who was still beaming widely while flexing his hands and staring at them lovingly.

"Congratulations mate." Remus said as he patted him on the back. "I knew it would be just a matter of days."

"And it couldn't have happened on a better day." Harry replied, "If Snape so much as blinks in a way I don't like he's going down."

"Just be careful." Remus warned, "You still have enemies in the Wizengamot who would like any excuse to push you bodily from grace."

"Don't bring him down Moony." Thane joined in, "How does it feel Harry?"

Harry considered this for a second. "I don't think I'm up to full power yet." He responded, "Obviously I could kick your arse up and down the room, but as for someone with a bit of power; I'm not so sure. Even after that small piece of magic I feel a little more fatigued."

"Well first of all," Thane said, "bring it on. Any time, any place squibby. And secondly, I think it's only a matter of hours, rather than days before you're up to your pre-ritual power and then, we start to get into bog boys' territory as your elemental powers start to develop."

"Well let's hope you're right." Harry replied, "What time does the trial start?"

"You have to be there around ten but I need to go to Azkaban first to collect Snape." Thane said.

"You're a witness in the case, wouldn't that be somewhat of a conflict of interests?" Remus asked.

"Yeah but I managed to get special permission from the minister of magic who, quite coincidentally, is a member of the Council of the Phoenix." Thane replied with a smirk. "I'm not comfortable with the anti-muggle sentiment that has started to spread around the Wizengamot and ministry in general since Dumbledore went into a coma. Voldemort's starting to gain influence in the ministry and I'm not going to let Snape slip through our fingers now."

"So when do you have to be at Azkaban?" Harry asked.

"Half past eight."

Remus looked at his watch, "Do you realise that it's eight now?"

"Do you realise that I'm a wizard and so it takes me less than three seconds to apparate to the middle of the North sea?"

"Do you realise that there have been further wards placed on Azkaban since Voldemort's return and you now have to take a thirty minute boat ride from Shetland?"

Thane looked a little worried. "No I didn't actually."

For a second he just sat there but then, suddenly, he sprung to his feet and summoned his jacket before apprating away without another word, leaving a laughing Remus and Harry behind.

Harry and Remus quickly finished off their breakfasts after Thane's departure before going up stairs to change. The two of them then spent the next hour and a half or so doing next to nothing as they both sat in near silence, contemplating the importance of the trial ahead and going through their respective roles in it over and over in their minds. Eventually, glancing at his watch, Remus declared that it was time to go, Harry just nodded, still lost in thought, before taking some floo powder from the bowl Remus offered him and throwing it into the roaring fire.

Harry stumbled, as usual, out of one of the countless fireplaces that lined the atrium of the ministry of magic and immediately started glancing around for familiar faces as he waited for Remus to emerge from the fire. His eyes raked the room in vain, however, and he soon became aware that he was drawing the stares of others and turned away from them and towards the fireplace just in time to see Remus step out of it.

"OK, let's go." The werewolf said and the two of them walked together the familiar route to the golden lifts which would take them downstairs and to the courtrooms. Taking the lift down to level ten, Harry felt his heart sink and a hundred bad memories seemed to flood over him as he realised exactly where this trial was to take place. Walking down the corridor, he kept his head purposefully straight forward, fighting against his own neck muscles and the malevolent part of his mind which wanted him to look at the door which led to the department of mysteries, wanted him to remember his mistake that had cost his Godfather his life. As if sensing Harry's thoughts, Remus placed a hand on his young charge's shoulder and sped up his pace, keeping his own eyes forward as he felt the grief of one of his best friend's death threatening to overwhelm him as it had the previous summer.

Mercifully, the two of them were distracted as they saw a mass of red hair down the corridor, adorning the heads of seven Weasleys who stood waiting outside the courtroom. Arthur, Molly, Ron, Ginny, Bill, Fred and George were accompanied by Hermione, Moody, McGonagall, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Hestia Jones and Aberforth Dumbledore, who were filling the corridor, their attention focused on a small, balding, professional-looking man with thick glasses, who stood in front of them giving out instructions.

"Ah Misters Lupin and Potter, welcome, I think we're waiting on a few more people and then we can talk about what is going to happen."

"That's all of the Council." Moody growled. "Harding is collecting Snape and the rest are just regular Order members who have no real role in the trial, they can catch up when they arrive."

"Very well." The man replied. "If you would all like to follow me."

Together the group followed the man into a side room, with Harry leaving Remus' side to go to Ron, Hermione and Ginny, giving the latter a wide smile as he fell into step with her.

"You're looking happy." The youngest Weasley commented.

"And why shouldn't I be?" Harry asked, as he silently and wandlessly summoned a shocked Ginny's hand to his. "My magic is back and Snape is going down."

"If you would all like to take a seat." The man spoke again, gesturing to the seats and desks which were set up like in a classroom and which curved around the room, facing where he was stood.

McGonagall and a couple of others looked a little put out at sitting at desks like children but did so anyway and soon the room quietened down and everyone's gaze fell upon the small, mousy, fifty-something man at the front.

"Thank you all for coming, I am Mr Vogt and I'm the barrister for the prosecution. I have brought you all here so that we can go through what is going to happen in the trial and who I and the defence might call as a witness."

Vogt spent the next forty minutes talking them all through everything they needed to know and everything that would happen during the trial, all in the most tedious and mind-numbingly boring way he could manage. Eventually, after what seemed like days rather than minutes, Harry, who had been dozing in his seat, his eyes closed, felt a nudge in his side.

"What?" He asked, opening his eyes to find everyone standing up and starting to file out the room.

"He's finished, the trial's about to begin." Ginny replied.

Harry nodded and stood up before walking with her and Remus to the courtroom. Entering the room, Harry saw the full assembly of the wizengamot sitting high above him on the balcony in their purple robes, staring down upon them analytically as everyone entered the court. The Weasley's all filed into one row of seats on the floor of the court, just in front of the chair that Snape would be seated in when he arrived, but Harry, finding that there was no room, went onto the row behind and was joined by Remus, Moody, McGonagall and a few others he didn't recognise.

Taking his seat, Harry scanned the members of the Wizengamot, looking for any sign of betrayal or bias in the lords and ladies' eyes and more than once he was tempted to use his leglimency skills to delve deeper into their minds as his gaze was met squarely with a glare. It was the shaky state of his magic rather than any moral objection that prevented Harry from doing just that, he was determined that he would do nothing to harm Snape's chance of being found guilty but, looking over the men and women who would make up the jury, he began to see what Thane meant; he could feel the hate emanating from some of them as he met their stares.

"Why exactly is Snape being tried by the Wizengamot, rather than a jury of his peers?" Harry asked, turning to Remus.

"When the emergency protocols are activated, as they were when Voldemort's return was finally accepted, certain ancient laws come into effect. As you probably know, your old granddad Merlin set up the Wizengamot and it has remained the highest court in the land for appeal since then. It was deemed by Merlin that in times of emergency, Habeus Corpus should be bypassed, it was felt that ordinary juries would be too open to corruption by dark lords."

"Right now I'd say the same about the Wizengamot."

"It's still made up of mostly hereditary wizarding lord; purebloods, so you're bound to get a few idiots in there who like this whole wizard supremacy thing. We've just go to hope that the majority of them stay on side, even without Dumbledore."

"Hereditary lords?" Harry asked, "So Thane has a seat?"

"Yes but, obviously he couldn't sit in the jury and give testimony for the prosecution, it was decided that he would be best served as a witness." Came Remus' reply, "When you turn seventeen you will also have a seat, of course, it's the elders who have the most respect and are the most influential but another vote for the Council can't be a bad thing."

Harry was cut off from further questioning as a shout of; "All rise." rose above the general murmurings of conversation and everyone quietened as they stood. He saw a bailiff walk in to the courtroom, followed by the minister of magic. "The Right Honourable Lady Amelia Bones presiding."

The minister took her seat and the rest of the court followed suit, all watching her closely as she turned to the bailiff and muttered something to him. The bailiff nodded and walked out of the room, returning moments later with Thane Harding, who gave Harry a small smile and a wink, and a bedraggled looking Severus Snape, who was led to the very seat Harry had sat in two years ago. As soon as he sat down, the chains of the chair sprang to life, binding Snape to it and Bones nodded satisfied.

"Thank you Commander Harding, you may take your seat."

Thane nodded; "Thank you your honour."

Harry watched as the Auror rather clumsily made his way past everyone who had filled in the spaces of the bench to the sides of Remus and Harry, apologising as he trod on toes and brushed past people. Eventually he arrived next to Harry and took his seat beside him. "Hey guys." He said as he sat down, unaware of the glares he was receiving from the judge and much of the Wizengamot.

Composing herself, Bones turned to face Snape and with her opening question, began the trial.

"Severus Snape you are brought before this court charged with murder, aiding and abetting a known criminal and death eater affiliation, how do you plead; guilty or not guilty?"

"Not guilty your honour." Snape replied, a smirk on his face, which was still scarred from his duel with Thane."

"OK. Would the prosecution like to deliver their opening statement?"

"Yes your honour." Replied the barrister for the prosecution as he stood up and turned to address the Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot. "My Lords and Ladies, there stands before you a sadistic killer, a man without morals or compunction, a man who would sell his soul to he who must not be named simply in pursuit of greater power. I will put before you irrefutable evidence that this man, Severus Snape, not only perpetrated these heinous crimes, but he did so without regret, that he continues to associate with and aid the most evil of men and that he presents a great threat to society ."

As he concluded his opening statement, Vogt took his seat, looking rather pleased with himself, and the barrister for the defence stood and turned to address the Wizengamot.

"My Lords and Ladies, my client has made some terrible mistakes in the past," he began, "of that he does not deny and he can only apologise for. But some nineteen years ago he realized the errors of his ways and turned, at great personal risk, against He who must not be named and acted as a spy for the light. Albus Dumbledore himself gave testimony at his previous trial and told this court in this very room, how much Mr Snape's efforts contributed to he who must not be named's downfall-"

Harry snorted disbelievingly at this, earning himself a glare from both Remus and the barrister for the defence who turned to face him.

"Ah Mr Potter." He said, "Do you have anything to say?"

"I'll have my say later." Harry replied, "I was just amused that you seem to think Snape had any role whatever in Voldemort's downfall. Even if he had in fact turned spy, the only reason Voldemort fell is because his own spell rebounded off me."

"Well thank you for your contribution." The barrister sneered before turning back to the members of the Wizengamot. "As I was saying, Mr. Snape has selflessly put his life in mortal danger countless times to pay off his debt to society and he continues to do just that. Seventeen years ago he was excused his crimes for his essential work for the light and seventeen years later, after seventeen years of service to the light, he finds himself accused by people who hold personal grudges and an Order that panders to the needs of a spoiled child."

Harry had to give it to him; it was well done and Vogt didn't seem nearly as confident as his opponent gave him a small smile and sat back down. Looking a little shaken, the barrister for the prosecution stood and walked over to Snape.

"Severus Snape, you are accused of the murder of Freya Vivas-"

"Objection your honour." The defence interrupted.

"What is it?" Bones asked, a little confused.

"Mr. Snape has already been tried for the murder of Freya Vivas and was acquitted, according to Double jeopardy and the precedent set in the Connelly Vs. DPP case, no man can be brought to trial for the same offence, unless special circumstances, such as tainting or corruption has taken place. Seeing as no accusation of such activities has been made this charge is illegitimate and should be dropped immediately." The barrister replied.

"Your honour, the charge was dropped before it went to court due to Albus Dumbledore's testimony. Mr Dumbledore convinced the Wizengamot, who were the ones charging Mr Snape with murder, to drop the charges." Vogt responded.

"Yes but the Vivas family put forward charges of their own and the trial did come to court, though it was kept secret due to Mr Snape's work as a spy." The defence said.

The minister looked troubled. "Mr Gromford is right, Mr Vogt. You should have been given this information, but it appears that in the rush to bring this case to trial, certain mistakes have been made, these will be investigated. Nevertheless, it is my ruling that the charge of murder is, in this case, unlawful and it will be withdrawn. Under the circumstances, I will grant a five minute recess for the prosecution and their witnesses to discuss this and whether it is in their best interests to push for the Dementor's kiss." Bones banged down her gavel and Vogt stood, turning to look at Mad-eye Moody who signalled that they should go and talk outside.

Vogt nodded and walked outside, followed by Moody and the rest of the Council. Soon they were all gathered in the room where Vogt had explained their roles in the trial, only the Council were all a little more awake than they were then as Moody rounded angrily on the barrister.

"Double jeopardy? How could you possibly not know about this?" He yelled.

"You heard the minister," Vogt replied nervously, "the details of the trial were kept secret and I wasn't told of it before the trial as I should have been."

"I don't like this." Thane spoke up. "I assume you all saw the look on Amelia's face when she found out we didn't know about this? She looked damned scared; someone in the Wizengamot doesn't want Snape to go down and they're doing a good job of ensuring that he doesn't."

"Perhaps we should discuss whether or not we should drop the push for the Dementor's kiss?" Vogt interjected, looking completely out of his depth, as a minor order sympathiser surrounded by Council members.

"You've got to be kidding." Harry said desperately. "You know as well as I do that, as far as Voldemort's concerned, Azkaban may as well be made of paper and guarded by bunnies, if Snape is sent there he'll be out before you can say travesty of justice."

"Naturally it is up to the Council," Vogt replied, "but I'm telling you that we won't get the Dementor's kiss just for Death eater affiliation and aiding and abetting a known criminal, even if it is he who must not be named. You have to remember that Minister Bones is trying to help us, she clearly wants us to drop the kiss."

"As much as I agree with Potter, Vogt is right." Moody said after a moments pause for thought. "Pushing for the kiss will only harm our own case and letting a senior Death eater get away without conviction is a precedent we don't want to set. Drop the kiss."

Vogt nodded and led the way out of the room, followed by the rest of the Council, except Harry who waited until Moody was alone with him in the room.

"You do realise that you're handing a senior and powerful Death eater back to Voldemort on a silver platter?" He asked the Council leader.

"We have to get a conviction Potter." Moody replied. "We'll think about what to do with him after that and we will keep him locked up; even if it means we keep him at Order HQ."

Harry nodded and together the two of them walked back towards the courtroom, still talking as they went. "I wish I shared your optimism Mad-eye," Harry said, "but you and I both know that if he is still living and still with a soul, Voldemort will have him as soon as he leaves the ministry."

Harry took his seat in the court just as the trial restarted and Vogt stood.

"I now call Mr Harry James Potter to give testimony." He said and Harry stood and made his way over to the witnesses' chair.

As he stood before it, a bailiff carried a bible over to him and, holding it out, instructed; "Place your left hand on the bible, raise your right in the air and repeat after me. 'I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.'"

Harry did so and the bailiff nodded and walked away as Harry sat down and Vogt walked forward to begin his questioning.

In response to the barrister's questioning, Harry went through the details of the night he had first apprehended Snape. He told the court of his overheard conversation with Ginny, of the battle that followed and of his confrontation with Snape in number twelve Grimmauld place.

"And how can you be sure of the accuracy of Mr Snape's comments?" Mr Vogt asked as Harry came to tell him of Snape's confession.

"Well, I don't know why he would want to implicate himself in Death eater activities unless he was being honest." Harry replied, "Oh and there's also the fact that he was under the influence of Veritaserum."

"Objection you honour. The use of Veritaserum by unauthorised persons is both illegal and not a legitimate means of gathering evidence." Gromford interjected for the defence.

"Sustained." Amelia Bones said reluctantly, "The jury should strike the last statement from the record."

The deep wrinkle of concern on Vogt's forehead deepened still further at the minister's words and he said; "No more questions you honour."

"Would the defence like to cross-examine the witness?" Bones asked.

"Yes your honour." Gromford replied as he stood up, an arrogant smirk on his lips. "Mr Potter, I think I'm right in saying that the only 'evidence' that you have of Mr Snape's involvement in the betrayal of you to He who must not be named, is the fact that you claim he was the only person in the house at the time. But how can you possibly know this?"

"Only members of the Council of the phoenix have unlimited access to houses with advanced wards, as there was a Council meeting at the time and Thane and Remus had both left it seems pretty unlikely that anyone else could have entered. There's also the fact that Snape has made no mention of seeing anyone else in the house, which he probably should do anyway, even if it is a barefaced lie, and the fact that after Snape walked in on my conversation with Ginny, my senses were heightened and so I would have known if anyone was in or around the house."

"I'm sure you are a very powerful wizard Mr Potter but are you honestly saying that your magical senses are so attuned to magical beings that you can sense them within, what, a fifty yard radius of you? Are you making this claim despite the fact that all magical households have a huge amount of background magic, making impossible to distinguish between that and magical beings?" Gromford asked.

"Impossible for you maybe, but yes, I am saying that even though we are in the ministry of magic and in a court full of witches and wizards, I can still sense that your magic is considerably below average. I would say that you're not quite powerful to conjure, a large, live mammal; a dog for instance, would you like to prove me wrong?"

"I 'm not the one on trial here Mr Potter."

"What a coincidence, neither am I; although at times it has felt like I am. However, I don't think it would be too much hard work on your part simply to conjure a dog, if that's what it takes to discredit what I am claiming and, therefore, help to clear your client."

"Your honour." Gromford protested, looking up to Bones for support.

"You're not forced to do anything you do not wish Mr Gromford." She replied, with a small, barely distinguishable smile in Harry's direction. "But as Mr Potter says, if you wish to discredit him by performing this piece of magic, then you're quite free to."

Gromford looked furious. "I will not be party to any of this!" He exclaimed, his face now a bright red and stimulating gasps and shocked looks from the occupants of the courthouse.

"I thought you might not be." Harry replied with a slight smirk.

"Mr Potter," Gromford began, taking a deep breath to calm himself and making an effort to get his questioning back on his own terms, "is it fair to say that even before this alleged incident, you had a deep hatred for Mr Snape and remember that you are under oath."

"It's certainly fair to say I disliked him." Harry replied after a brief moment's thought, "But no, I didn't hate him. I pitied him. I pitied the fact that he felt the need to treat all students but those from his own house unfairly, just to gain an ounce of pleasure in the meaningless existence he calls a life."

Gromford's questioning went on for a little longer with little else being achieved for either side as Harry did verbal battle against the barrister as both tried to wear each other down. Eventually, however, the questioning came to an end and the next witness was called; a Mr Thane Harding. Vogt questioned Thane of the events of the battle for about ten minutes but Harry was beginning to doubt the man's skills as, in as dull and straight a fashion as can be imagined he simply ran through basic questions over Thane's version of events while the Auror, like Harry before him, desperately tried his best to convey the seeming obviousness of Snape's guilt. The barrister for the prosecution had a way of making even the most exciting of events seem boring and after what seemed like hours but was in fact entirely too short a time, he announced that he had 'no more questions' and sat back down. Gromford stood and immediately began his cross-examination as Harry soon realised that they were in trouble.

"Mr Harding will you please tell the court again and in more detail, how the duel between yourself and my client began." The defence began.

"Well the battle had been going on for a little while and the Order of the Phoenix were starting to arrive and fight back the Death eaters at the front of my house. Seeing that the Order were gaining control, I decided to go back inside and flush out any Death eaters that remained. I went upstairs and was about to walk inside my bedroom when the door opened and Snape started to walk out, I can only presume that he was searching my room for information to give to Voldemort. Anyway, reacting on instinct, I quickly drew my wand, just before Snape had time to pull his, and blasted him back inside the room and the duel-"

"So it was you who cast the first spell?" Gromford interrupted, a sinister and worrying smirk on his lips.

"Yes, I reacted before Snape could draw his wand." Thane replied, he too looking slightly nervous about this particular line of questioning.

"So rather, as you would like the court to believe, my client attacking you, you, in fact, attacked my client who arrived at your house out of concern for his fellow Order member?"

"That is not what I said!" Thane responded, his voice getting louder and more aggressive as he finally saw where Gromford was going with his questioning. "Snape did not arrive with the rest of the Order; we all already knew he was a traitor. He did not apparate to the front of my house where the battle was taking place, but snuck into my bedroom to look for information for his master. And he is certainly not just a concerned citizen, helping out an old friend, Snape would be delighted to see me drop dead, even when we thought he was on our side, that much, at least, was obvious. I know what you're trying to do Mr Gromford, but let me tell you this, even though Snape didn't start the duel, he certainly made no effort to stop it in any other way but by striking me dead and he used illegal and dark magic to try and achieve this aim."

Thane's impassioned reply sounded good but Harry, along with the rest of the courtroom, knew that it was too late, that Gromford and Snape had won this round and that the prosecution's case had been seriously damaged. Soon after this, Thane's questioning came to an end and Vogt and Gromford called a few more minor witnesses, with little new information, before moving onto the next stage of the trial.

"Mr Snape," Bones began. "the court will now question you under the influence of the truth serum; 'Veritaserum', to ascertain the accuracy of your claims, do you have any objection to this?"

"No your honour." Snape replied, a small smile just about visible on his lips before his expressionless mask fell once more.

Harry didn't like Snape's response one bit. But, as a glass vial of the clear liquid was brought forward by a member of the Wizengamot, he pushed his fears to the back of his mind and knew that this was when they were going to get him. The whole court would hear Snape speaking under the influence of the truth serum and confessing to his crimes. Harry watched with a smile as four drops of the potion were placed on Snape's tongue and he was forced to swallow, with a slight grimace, before turning back to the judge who called forward the prosecution.

"Mr Vogt, if you would like to begin?"

"Yes. What is your name?" Vogt began.

"Severus Snape" came the reply, in the familiar, monotone voice.

"Were you present at the battle at Commander Harding's house?"

"Yes."

"Were you there to look for information for He who must not be named or to harm Mr Harding in anyway?"

"No." Harry immediately sat up straighter in his chair, his mouth falling slightly agape. Vogt seemed just as shocked and glanced back towards the only man whose face remained neutral, before receiving the nod from Moody to continue his questioning.

"Do you serve He who must not be named?" Harry held his breath but felt, with an almighty knot in the pit of his stomach, that he knew what the answer would be.

"No."

One side of the court gasped in shock as Vogt, looking disconsolate and beaten, muttered; "No more questions."

'How had he done it?' Harry wondered, his brain working furiously to try and make some sense out of the events. And then he saw it. The tiniest flicker of a smile came to Snape's lips as his barrister said; "No more questions your honour." and Harry remembered. The grimace of distaste. Veritaserum was tasteless. He stood up and looked over the sea of heads to the table by the barrister for the defence and his team.

"Stop" He shouted. But it was too late, the Wizengamot lord who had brought the Veritaserum in the first instance, vanished it with a flick of his wand.

The whole court turned to look at Harry but he only had eyes for the tall, wiry lord in front of him, who met his gaze with a small but clear smile, his dark, bushy eyebrows lowered as they both confirmed the other's knowledge of their now shared secret.

"What is it Mr Potter?" A slightly shaky looking Amelia Bones asked.

Harry's stare remained on the dark haired, sinister looking lord in front of him. There was no way to get the potion back. He had no proof and the only way to even suggest what he knew to be true would be to accuse a member of the Wizengamot of corruption.

"Nothing your honour." Harry replied, his shoulders slumping as he sat down and his eyes clearly saying 'I'll tell you later' as he met the stares of Remus, Thane, Ginny and Moody in turn.

"Mr Vogt, would you like to make a closing statement?" The judge asked the barrister for the prosecution.

"No your honour." He replied and Harry glared at the small, mousy man who sat slumped at his table, and who had clearly accepted defeat.

"Mr Gromford?"

"Thank you your honour." Gromford replied. "My Lords and Ladies, as I'm sure you will agree, I have shown tonight that there is absolutely no evidence to implicate my client in the awful crimes of which he has been accused. Severus Snape is a man guilty of nothing more than determination to do his duty, despite the defamation of character he has suffered at the hands of his former colleagues and so called friends who acted on the word of a boy who let his personal feelings stand in the way of his judgement of a decent man. I am sure that you will make the right decision and I have nothing more to say."

With that, the court was dismissed and, while the jury went off to discuss the trial and come to a verdict, Harry and the Order remained seated, shocked and disconsolate over how the trial had progressed.

"Come on," Moody growled, "Council meeting in the side room."

Harry nodded and, while the rest of the Order, along with Ginny, Ron and Hermione stayed where they were, Harry, Thane and Remus silently followed the rest of the Council into the side room where they had been originally prepped for the trial. For thirty seconds or so after the door was closed, locked and warded, nothing was said as the Council simply stood looking at each other.

"We're screwed aren't we?" Harry broke the silence.

"Yep." Thane replied.

"The jury hasn't come back with the verdict yet, it may well be that Snape is convicted." McGonagall contributed, looking as if she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else.

"Be that as it may, we have to prepare for the worst and, in this case, the most likely scenario." Moody said, taking charge. "What shall we do if Snape is let off all charges and one of the most senior and powerful Death eaters there is, is allowed to walk out of here a free man?"

There was a moments silence before Thane spoke up. "I hate to be the one to suggest this, but we all know that it is an option and frankly an attractive one; we could kill him."

Moody shook his head, "There are too many ministry employees about and as soon as he is out of sight of the ministry a group of Death eaters and possibly even Voldemort himself will be there to collect him. I'm not risking a battle and Order members' lives for the sake of one man."

"Well it seems you have ruled out all but one option Moody." Harry responded, "If we don't kill him then our only other option is to let him go and try and get him another time."

"We could attempt to apprehend him and keep him at Grimmauld place." Kingsley suggested.

"We run into the same obstacles as the assassination idea." Moody said. "OK, so we have no choice but to go with Potter on this one. Now, I have two questions; where the hell did we get this barrister and how did Snape manage to beat the Veritaserum?"

"Mr Vogt is the only barrister we could truly trust. He may not be in the Order but that's simply because he's a pacifist, he is a sympathiser and has helped us out many times before." McGonagall replied.

"And as for how Snape beat the Veritaserum, that's simple; he didn't." Harry added. "He answered questions in a monotonous voice after drinking a clear liquid, but it wasn't Veritaserum. Somehow the potions were either switched or the wrong one was brewed. Either way, we have a Death eater or serious sympathiser in the Wizengamot and that is very, very bad. Does anyone know who the man that brought the-"

Harry was interrupted by a knock on the door. Releasing the wards and the locks, Remus, who was the closest to it, opened the door.

"The jury is ready to deliver its verdict." The bailiff said as he walked into the room.

"But it has only been ten minutes." Molly Weasley said." Is that good?"

"What do you think?" Remus replied.

Together and with a sense of foreboding the Council walked back into the courtroom and took their seats as the foreman of the jury, an elderly, hunched wizard, stood.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" Bones asked.

"Yes your honour." The foreman replied.

"On the charge of aiding and abetting a known criminal how do you find the defendant?"

"We find him not guilty."

"On the charge of Death eater affiliation how do you find the defendant?"

"We the jury find the defendant not guilty."

Harry closed his eyes and put his head in his hands as Bones made her closing remarks and banged her gavel down, ending the trial and making Severus Snape a free man. Looking up, he saw the devastation he felt mirrored on the faces of the people around him and it was reluctantly that he stood and followed the despondent Order of the Phoenix out of the court. The group made their way up to the atrium above, the golden lifts seeming to take an age to travel in the all encompassing silence that was the journey. Eventually, however, they arrived and McGonagall walked to the front of the group before turning to face them.

"I know that everyone is disappointed but there is nothing more we can do about the outcome of the trial. The Council will now escort each of you back to your homes in turn and there will be a meeting when we all arrive back at Grimmauld place to discuss the implications of what has happened. Remus, if you would like to take Mr Potter back to Order headquarters first, we will meet up at the Burrow." She said before turning to talk to Mr and Mrs Weasley as Remus and Thane broke away from the crowd to talk to Harry.

"Thane and I just have to sort out a couple of things with Vogt about the trial." Remus said. "Stay here and we'll be back in about five minutes to take you back."

Harry was too depressed to make any sort of argument against them taking him to Order HQ while the rest of the Council escorted people home and so simply nodded as Remus and Thane walked back towards the courtrooms and the rest of the Order apparated away. Left completely alone, Harry looked over to the lifts to see a smirking Severus Snape speaking to Gromford and a man he recognised as the Lord who had brought him the Veritaserum; he was smiling in a way that made Harry's stomach turn. Then, suddenly, Harry felt the dark edges of his psyche start to cloud his mind and the once whispered voices seemed to roar loudly in his ears. 'Go to him. Get him Kill him.' But this time Harry made no attempt to push away the dark forces that threatened to overtake him, instead he embraced them and he felt a rush of power in his veins as he obeyed the voices of the dark side of his mind and started to stride over to his old enemy.

Only as he approached the man did he make any effort to control the treacherous voices of his own subconscious. He did not kill the traitor as instructed but held out his hand, a hand which was gripped and shaken by a confused but still smirking Snape.

"Congratulations Severus." Harry said, his cold, hate-filled eyes giving his pleasant words away. "You do your master proud."

Snape looked about to respond but then the arrogant smirk was wiped of his face to be replaced by one of utter agony and he was prevented from screaming only by the silent silencio Harry had cast as the also silent and wandless cruciatus curse took effect. Overcome by the pain, Snape dropped to one knee and Harry leaned forward to whisper in his ear, watched by a confused but oblivious Gromford and friend.

"Make no mistake about it Snape," Harry began, feeling invincible as the whispers and dark temptations that he now embraced seemed to give him added strength and power, "you will just live to regret the decision made by the jury today. You will die by my hand and I will make you pray for the Dementor's kiss."

With that he released the spell and the traitor's hand and gave a small but threatening smile as he turned away and walked over to Remus and Thane who had just reappeared in the atrium.

"What was that about?" Remus asked as Harry approached them.

"Just a friendly chat with an old friend Remus." Came Harry's reply, prompting a grin from Thane and a slightly worried look from Remus which didn't completely hide his own amusement.

"OK, I don't think I want to know anyway." Remus said. "If you're ready then I'll apparate you back to headquarters."

"I'm ready." Harry responded and Remus, gripping his arm and with a quick goodbye to Thane, turned on his heel and apparated himself and Harry to the kitchen of number twelve Grimmauld place.

"I'm going to meet up with the rest of the Council at the Burrow to escort everyone home, I shouldn't be much longer than an hour." Remus said. "But before I go, I've been asked to give you this." He handed Harry a watch, one that he recognised as being identical to Remus' own. "All of the Order have one. Messages appear on the back and are invisible to all but the wearer. The time sets itself magically so you create messages by fiddling about with the small dial on the side and send them by tapping the face with your wand. I'm sorry but I have to go, I'll see you in a bit." And with that, Remus apparated away, leaving Harry alone once more.

For about five minutes Harry sat at the table in the kitchen of number twelve Grimmauld place, doing little more than going over the events of the trial again and again in his mind, thinking about what might have been if so many mistakes hadn't been made. Eventually, he decided that there were more productive uses of his time than dwelling on past events, events that he could do nothing to change, and so started playing around with his magic, experimenting to ascertain the level of power he could reach. Stretching out his hand, he started to levitate the pots and pans by the sink, one by one at first but, as his confidence grew, more and more at the same time until he was making them perform complicated patterns in the air.

Pleased with himself, he quickly moved on to conjuring and, step by step, over the next fifteen minutes, he covered all areas of magic, from charms to defence and at varying degrees of difficulty right there in the kitchen of his Godfather's old home. As he silently extinguished the large flame that danced in his palm and came to an end of his magical experimentation, Harry smiled to himself; while his magic wasn't quite back to its pre-ritual strength, it was getting there. Without once touching his wand or uttering a word, he had performed feats of magic that would impress even the harshest of NEWT examiners with relative ease, though, he had to admit, he was feeling a little worn out now.

With that done, Harry suddenly felt quite lonely and at a loss as to what to do before suddenly an idea occurred to him. Jumping to his feet, he summoned his cloak and broom and walked out of the kitchen and into the hall where there was no anti-apparation ward. As soon as he stepped into the hall, Harry turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, disappeared into thin air. Re-appearing on the edge of the grounds of an ancient but beautifully preserved castle, he quickly mounted his firebolt and kicked off the ground, speeding off towards the large, oak doors of Hogwarts. Harry was hit by a wave of happiness and relief as he flew up into the sky and towards his home, the joy of flying still working like magic in making him forget all of his woes and worries.

All too soon, however, Harry arrived at the old, wooden doors and dismounted his broom, for the first time seeing a problem with his plan. He needn't have worried, however, because, as soon as he touched down, the doors opened to greet him and he entered before making his way up one of the great, moving staircases. Eventually he came to a stone gargoyle at the end of a corridor and was about to utter the last password he knew before it too opened automatically to admit him. Walking into Dumbledore's office, an open door caught his eye and it occurred to him that it was as if the whole castle had been charmed to lead him to it, as he strode purposefully up to the headmaster's living quarters to find the man himself lying death-like and pale on his bed.

Staring down at his old mentor, weak and frail in the bed in front of him, Harry had an overwhelming urge to speak to him, to seek his guidance as he had once done so often and to finally get an explanation of his actions over the previous year. And then he realised; he could. While few others had the knowledge and power, he could feel the magical energy of his inner core expanding by the minute and with a sudden calm and confidence in his own abilities he knew that he could pull it off. Pulling out his wand, Harry Potter paused for a second and closed his eyes, reaching out to his magical energy and calling it to his fingertips until, as he felt the familiar rush of power, he opened them once more. His eyes glowing a brilliant emerald green for the first time since the battle, Harry steadied his wand between Dumbledore's eyes and muttered the word; "Leglimens!"

He was immediately met by stiff resistance, firmer and more powerful than he had come across before but, as they were weakened by the old wizard's comatose state, Harry still had relatively little trouble in smashing through them. Memories started to flash before Harry's eyes, thick and fast and he had to stop himself from taking a look as he caught glimpses of, not only himself, but of his parents, Sirius and even a young Tom Riddle. He pushed forwards, however, and continued past the outer edges of the mind where the memories are kept and deeper into the subconscious where Harry knew Dumbledore's personality currently resided. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the rush of images stopped and for a moment there was only darkness and a deafening silence but, just as Harry started to worry and even considered withdrawing from Dumbledore's mind, colours started to flash in front of his eyes; blues, greens, reds, yellows, oranges, pinks, all the colours you could imagine swirled and intertwined, dancing beautifully in the air before gathering in one place in front of him and starting to solidify. Eventually, an image started to appear and Harry gasped in amazement as a beautiful, serene meadow took form and, stood just five feet in front of him, Albus Dumbledore appeared.

"Good afternoon Harry." The old man began pleasantly, a smile on his lips and his light blue eyes twinkling brightly. "I trust my natural defences gave you little trouble?"

"No." Was all that Harry could manage in response as he gazed out over the rolling green hills that were the inner sanctums of Dumbledore's mind. It was just so realistic. The smell of freshly cut grass danced in his nostrils like the birds in the clear blue sky and the sound of the running water of the stream was interrupted only by the cheerful singing of a robin perched high on a branch in one of the evergreen trees. "I know this may be a stupid question but where are we?"

"We are in the depths of my consciousness or sub-consciousness, I have to admit that I myself am not entirely sure." Dumbledore replied, "This is the setting my mind has created for me in which to spend my coma. There is a small castle just over the hills with a library which has kept me busy and I must say that it is rather idyllic."

"I'll say." Harry responded. "I wish my coma had been like this."

"You're coma?" Dumbledore asked, looking intrigued and mildly concerned.

"You have no idea how much has happened in the few weeks you've been unconscious." Harry said

"Well you are alive and with enough magical power to break down my occlumency shields, so the battle clearly did not end as, I have to admit, I feared it might." Dumbledore replied, "But apart from that you are quite right and perhaps you would be good enought to take a walk with me and fill me in."

And he did. For the next twenty minutes or so, though time seemed to have little meaning where they were, Harry told Dumbledore of all the events that had taken place since he had been struck down by the coma curse. They spoke about Harry's duel with Voldemort, of the ritual he had gone through, of the loss of power he had suffered and even about the whispers and dark temptations of his mind. They then went on to Snape's trial and Harry told his headmaster about the mistakes that had been made and the fears he had both about Voldemort's influence in the ministry and Wizengamot and Snape's release. Throughout all of this Dumbledore did nothing but listen as Harry let out all that had been troubling him since the battle, prompting the young wizard to continue whenever he hesitated until there was nothing more left for Harry to say.

"First of all Harry, I have to agree with Miss Weasley's diagnosis of the whispers and temptations you've had since the ritual and, I'm sorry, but there is little more you can do other than continue to fight it." The old man began in response, "I believe eventually you will beat it and they will disappear but until then you have to remain focused and remember who you are and what you have to do to achieve your goals. I think you were right not to tell Madam Pomfrey, you can trust her but she isn't the most powerful of witches and, not being a member of the Council, she would have been especially susceptible to Voldemort's powers. Having said that, you have become very close to Remus and Thane over the last year, why didn't you tell them?"

"I don't know." Harry replied truthfully. "It's not that I don't feel close enough to them, I don't think I would have told Sirius either. I suppose it's because Remus and Thane especially, aren't really very good at all this emotional stuff. They would have done their best but I have a feeling that Thane's best would be to call me a girl and tell me to snap out of it."

Dumbledore smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. "Yes, you and Thane are more similar than you know, what has made him, him, has also made you, you." He said. "I respect your decision Harry, but I would encourage you to speak to Remus at least, I can already see how good it has been for you to get all of this off your chest. Now, as for the ministry, you're right; don't trust them. Madam Bones is a good woman and she would never betray us or knowingly allow Voldemort to gain influence, but I fear that she may be losing control. Voldemort won't take over the ministry just yet, but he will use sympathetic lords, ministers and personnel as well as his own moles to gain more and more influence. I'm afraid that sooner or later the Order will have to break away and act independently of the ministry, I trust Alastair, Minerva, yourself and the rest of the Council to decide when that moment comes. Is there anything else you wanted to know?"

"Yes." Harry replied and he suddenly couldn't meet his teacher's eyes. For the past twenty five minutes they had felt like they had done before but now Harry's feelings of betrayal began to return to him. "I'm sorry Professor, I know you saved my life and your advice has been invaluable now and in the past but I just have to know why."

Dumbledore sighed. "You have nothing to apologise for Harry, you have a right to know. The truth is that I had no real reasons other than those I have already given to you and my own foolishness."

"I can accept why you didn't originally tell me about the prophecy and why you wouldn't let me in the Order, I can even stretch to see why you would issue the order to bring me in by force, but what about my heritage Dumbledore?" Harry asked, his voice getting involuntarily louder as he spoke, over a years worth of anger finally escaping his lips. "You know I love to know anything about my parents, why would you keep my ancestors a secret from me and why would you not tell me about my family vault?"

"Again, I should have Harry, but let me ask you; what was your initial reaction to finding out that you were descended from Merlin the Great and Godric Gryffindor."

Harry thought for a second. "I felt annoyed that there was another thing to set me apart from all my friends and I felt more pressure on my shoulders, it was another indicator that if I don't kill Voldemort, no one else can."

"I know that doesn't give me the right to keep these things from you Harry, I realise now that that was wrong and I can only apologise profusely and hope that you can forgive me, but can you see why I did it? I have no way of accessing the Potter family vault, your family has always been extremely powerful; I think James would have caught up with me in power had he lived a long life, and you all know how to protect your secrets and treasures. I knew that there was evidence of your lineage in there and I didn't know if it was in your best interest to know about it just yet."

Harry just nodded, thinking about Dumbledore's words and when he spoke next it was about something completely different. "Professor I killed an unarmed and defeated Bellatrix along with countless other Death eaters I could have stunned, I threatened to kill Snape and I underwent a dark ritual, how far can you go in committing acts of evil for a pure and good motive?"

"Alas I cannot answer that Harry." Dumbledore replied. "It is up to your conscience to decide and I trust in you to make the right decision. Now, I fear that we have little time left together; no one can sustain leglimency indefinitely, not even you."

As he said this, Harry noticed that he felt quite weak and the meadow and Dumbledore himself seemed more blurry than they had before and were starting to fade away.

"OK sir but can I at least ask you your opinion?" Harry asked. "Snape poses a huge threat to the public, should I hunt him down and kill him?"

"No. Not yet at least, it's too dangerous." Dumbledore replied as he continued to fade away. "But remember Harry, sometimes in war you have to use your brain as well as your brawn."

With that, both Dumbledore and the meadow faded away into nothingness, replaced briefly by darkness before reality came swimming back into view. Looking down at his watch, Harry saw that half an hour had past and swore, realising that Remus and the others were due back in around five minutes. Knowing that he had no time to spare, he picked up his broom and mounted it before speeding back down the stairs, through Dumbledore's office and outside. Upon reaching the edge of the Hogwarts grounds, Harry apparated away in mid-air and through limbo to number twelve Grimmauld place, knowing that there may well be a seriously worried and annoyed Remus awaiting him.

Luckily, as he landed in the corridor of Order HQ, Harry found that no one was there and so, as far as anyone else was concerned, he had never left. Finding himself at a loss of what to do once more, Harry, thinking like his best friend, decided to listen to his stomach and make himself a sandwich and so went into the kitchen to see what he could find. Unfortunately, after Harry had tracked down come bread, butter and ham, made himself a sandwich and eaten it, still no one had arrived and he was starting to get worried. Another twenty minutes past until Harry, who had spent the past fifteen pacing and checking the watch Remus had given him for any message from the Order, heard a commotion outside and went out to investigate. He had just entered the hall when the door flew open and a rather bedraggled and exhausted looking Council of the Phoenix filed in.

"Where the hell have you been?" Harry asked as they walked into the kitchen.

"There was an attack Potter." Moody growled in reply as the rest of the Council collapsed into their seats.

"What!? I didn't get any messages!" Harry exclaimed.

"We felt that your magic is still too unreliable and untested to risk letting you go into battle." Remus replied.

"_Letting me_ Remus?" Harry asked, "I seem to recall that I am now a member of the Order and the Council."

"Yes and that means that you have to obey the commands of your superiors Potter." McGonagall reprimanded. "It wouldn't have made any difference anyway, sit down and we'll explain."

Harry obeyed and listened as Thane took over and began their tale.

"We were escorting Hermione back when a message came through from Katona, saying that there had been an attack. Naturally we headed over there to support the Order members who had already arrived and engaged the enemy in battle. It was a seemingly random attack on a muggle village but Voldemort was there, along with about twenty Death eaters and a couple of Dementors to our thirty Order members, we were only fighting for about ten minutes before we realised that it was a lost cause."

"What?" Harry asked, confused.

"Twelve minutes after engaging the enemy, I sent out the order to all troops that they should evacuate the area; get all the muggles away to the ministry and the obliviators and then retreat." Moody replied.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Two words," Remus began, "elemental powers."

Harry's eyes widened in shock. "Your joking?"

"Actually yes." Thane replied, sarcastically. "We just decided to go out for a beer and leave you here for an hour and a half."

"We barely got out of there alive Harry." Remus said, his voice sombre. "We just managed to get the muggles out but the battle and the village itself, wass a lost cause. It's still burning."

"It's vital that Voldemort doesn't think that he has a free reign so I've already put the word out that Potter's own elemental abilities have started to come through." Moody said. "Are there any more suggestions as to what to do?"

"Won't You Know Who be a little suspicious that Harry wasn't called into battle?" Mrs Weasley asked.

"She's right." Thane said, "Harry how is your magic?"

"I've been testing it and practicing while waiting for you and it's nearly back to the pre-ritual level." Harry replied, "Powerful enough to convince someone who doesn't know better that I have control over the four elements."

"Excellent, we'll arrange for Potter to be seen putting on a bit of a show." Moody said. "I'm sure we're all tired so if we can on to talk about Snape, exactly how costly is his release?"

"Very costly. With Bella and Dolohov dead, Snape is now one of Voldemort's only trusted Death eaters." Harry replied. "Along with Malfoy, he'll be second in command with access to specialist magical training from Voldemort himself."

"How do you know this?" Amelia Bones asked.

"You forget, I have had a privileged insight into Voldemort's dealings with his Death eaters on more than one occasion." Harry said. "With so many of his inner circle dead, only Snape and Malfoy are truly trusted and have been with him from the start. It's no secret that Voldemort trains up his best men and women, with Snape freed from his duties with the Order, he's bound to receive special attention and training."

"So what do you suggest?" McGonagall asked.

"I wish I had a suggestion." Harry replied.

"Anyone?" The deputy headmistress asked, rather desperately.

After a brief silence Thane spoke up. "There's nothing we can do. Snape will be heavily protected and Voldemort will be expecting us to take action. For now at least, the Order is completely helpless."

Moody nodded, looking over the sad, beaten faces of the men and women under his command and with a sigh he said; "OK. The meeting is adjourned."


	4. Of Espionage, the Elements and Nosferatu

"Happy Birthday Remus!" Thane exclaimed as the werewolf took a sip from his firewhisky and pulled a cigar from his breast pocket.

"Thank you very much." Remus grinned, putting the Montecristo to his lips, "If you would young master Potter."

Harry smiled at the gusto with which the two adults had thrust themselves into their charade. "With pleasure." He said and, with a flick of his finger, a small, circular flame escaped the tip before flying through the air and landing perfectly on the end of the cigar.

"Come on Remus, aren't you going to offer me one?" Thane asked in mock outrage as the werewolf started to puff on his cigar.

Remus' head snapped round and he glared at his old friend, "You said that you hated smoking. You said that it was disgusting and you couldn't even contemplate doing it." He exclaimed.

"Yes but I was lying." Thane responded as if it was obvious.

"Why?" Remus asked, incredulous.

Thane rolled his eyes and spoke very slowly, as if talking to a child. "Because - I - knew - it - would - annoy - you."

"You know how much I hate-" Remus began but was interrupted by a clap of Harry's hands as a large globule of water appeared above the two adults before being taken hold of by gravity and falling on to their unsuspecting heads.

"What did you do that for?" a soaking wet Remus spluttered, turning on the younger wizard.

"A few reasons", Harry began, fighting back a grin at the look on the werewolf's face and charming the booth so he couldn't be heard by unwanted ears. "Firstly, you were giving the plan away by you're arguing. Secondly, water is another element so it further demonstrates my 'power'. And lastly, it was very, very funny."

"OK Harry." Remus replied, drying himself and grinning evilly. "If you want to play it that way, I believe a bit of marauder style revenge is in order and it'll come when you least expect it."

Harry, a little weary of the looks on the two adults' faces said little else as he finished his drink and Remus' 'birthday celebration'. Standing, the three of them prepared to leave before Remus suddenly had a thought.

"You don't think they'll check when my birthday is do you?" He asked, still under the protection of Harry's privacy charm. "I mean, all it would take is a question to Wormtail and the charade is given away."

"I think it very unlikely that anyone watching will even mention the birthday part to Voldemort." Thane replied. "As far as they're concerned, it's irrelevant, they'll be far too concerned with Harry's supposed elemental powers. Now can we go home? All this drinking and partying for the sake of the war effort has taken it out of me. Lead on Mr Potter."

Harry smiled and shook his head before making his way over to the exit. Pushing open the door and making his way outside, he came to an abrupt halt, almost crashing into the young family in front of him.

"Sorry about that." He said, his eyes registering a twenty-something couple stood behind a small boy, no older then eight, with dirty blonde hair. The boy was staring up at Harry with something like awe, his eyes alight with excitement and recognition as they raked Harry's forehead.

"Wow. You're Harry Potter." The child spoke breathlessly and Harry couldn't help but smile at the boy's enthusiasm.

"Don't be rude Cassian." His Mother admonished. "I'm sure Mr Potter doesn't want to be disturbed."

"That's quite alright." Harry replied, fighting the blush that was threatening to take hold of his cheeks as he heard the barely concealed snickers behind him.

"Can I have an autograph please Mr Potter?" Cassian asked.

"It's Harry. And sure, do you have a quill and parchment?"

"No." The boy replied looking disappointed.

"Not to worry." Harry said, silently conjuring a quill and small piece of parchment and starting to write.

"Whoa." Cassian exclaimed as Harry scrawled his name, forcing another smile to Harry's lips.

"There you go." He said, handing the small boy the piece of parchment.

"Thanks." The child replied.

"Yes, thank you so much." Cassian's mother interjected.

"It's no problem." Harry said as he, Remus and Thane started to walk away.

"Bye Harry." Cassian shouted over his shoulder and Harry turned to give a small wave.

"It's good, how well you deal with your millions of adoring fans." Thane said as they walked down the main street of Hogsmeade.

"Yeah but what gives Harry?" Remus put in. "I've known you for four years and you've never given me an autograph."

"Shut up." Harry replied.

"Witty come back mate." Thane said. "You should think about becoming a stand up comedian."

Harry didn't reply, his light-hearted mood gone as his eyes narrowed and focused across the street where a darkly cloaked man stared into a shop window, every now and again throwing glances at the three wizards.

"Come on." Harry spoke, the horrible feeling of being watched starting to get to him.  
"Let's go home."

Looking down at his watch as he appeared in his kitchen, Harry realised that it was still only five in the evening.

"So what do you want to do now?" He asked Thane and Remus as they apparated beside him.

"Well it's been awhile since I took you to school with a sword." Thane replied. "How about some training."

"Fine with me." Harry said. "While we're at it, I'll see if I can coax a bit of elemental power from my magical reserves."

"You up for it Remus?" Thane asked, turning to his old friend. "I know it's your birthday and you may want to relax but we probably should help the wizarding world's only hope to gain control over an ancient power which could rid the world of a great evil. Or if you want we could have a game of chess."

Remus paused for a moment in mock thought. "I think we should do the ancient power, ridding the world of evil thing."

"Right you are." The Auror replied and Harry led the three of them into his room and to his trunk.

Entering the duelling chamber, Harry turned to face the two adults who had followed him in.

"OK, elemental magic will probably take a lot out of me so I suggest that we start with the fencing." He began. "Who's up first?"

"Well if I remember correctly, you went mental after you beat Remus last time." Thane replied. "So how about a match against the Daddy?"

"If you think you can handle getting your arse kicked by an amateur, bring it on Daddy."

"Right you are son. I trust you remember the rules and moves?" The Auror asked in reply.

"You just worry about yourself Thane." Harry said, conjuring two large Highland Claymores and throwing one to Thane. "If you would Mr Moony?"

Remus smiled and got in position between the two men, who were stood poised for battle.

"On my count." The werewolf began. "Three, two one, begin." Remus slashed his hand down between Harry and Thane and the sparring match was under way with Harry lunging forward the moment Remus withdrew his hand.

Thane was an even better swordsman than Harry had been expecting. His reactions were lightening fast and every move Harry made was anticipated and stopped before it even began, leading the younger wizard to believe that the Auror was toying with him. Still Harry attacked, however, figuring that it was the best form of defence and sooner or later the older man would make a mistake.

But it seemed that it wasn't to be as Thane continued to block, parry and dodge with ease before starting with his own counter attacks, forcing the boy who lived to let up slightly and start to defend. It was then that Thane saw his chance. And he took it. Sweeping away Harry's attack, he lunged forward with a stab to the chest, forcing Harry to step back out of the way. Taking advantage of having the momentum, Thane pressed forwards and Harry just managed to parry the next three blows aimed at him. The younger wizard managed to counter but Thane dodged out of the way and, coming up, sliced his weapon horizontally, just catching Harry who had jumped back and leaving a shallow cut across his arm.

Looking down, Harry saw blood and knew that the duel was over. Throwing down his sword, he quickly healed the wound before grasping Thane's outstretched hand.

"Very good." He muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "Far better than I was expecting on the first attempt. Now you're all healed up, fancy another round?"

"Sure." Harry replied and summoned his weapon from the floor before taking up his position. "And this time, you're going down."

Thane smiled and got into his starting stance, waiting for Remus to give the signal for the second duel to begin. This carried on for another hour and, though Harry never beat his old teacher, he was definitely improving and at a fast rate. Eventually, however, he started to tire of feeling the piercing pain of a highland claymore as it tore his skin and suggested that they move on to magical training.

"How is your magic?" Remus asked.

"I think it's finally returned to full strength but I don't know about the elemental powers, I haven't really had chance to test them out."

"OK but don't overextend yourself, the last thing we need is you magically exhausted and unable to fight again." Remus warned.

Harry nodded and waved his wand over one wall of his trunk walls, strengthening it and making it fire proof. Steadying his wand, he then took aim and reached out to his magical inner core. Pulling the energy to his finger tips, Harry opened his eyes and released it, forcing fire from his hands in a huge and endless stream. As the fire struck, the wall immediately began to glow a ferocious orange and all three wizards started to sweat as the heat of the room became almost unbearable. Harry continued, however, and was shocked as the wall began to melt and catch fire, the elemental strength of the spell too strong for Harry's protective charm. Cancelling the spell, Harry extinguished the flames with a flick of his hand.

"Well that certainly had a bit of kick to it." Thane said. "But it doesn't really tell us anything. We already knew that you were powerful and could perform elemental magic and frankly I wouldn't trust any magic power meter to stand up to that kind of onslaught."

"So how do we know whether or not the elemental powers have started to come through?" Harry asked.

"We go outside." Remus replied. "There you'll have enough space to really exercise your power."

The other two agreed and the three of them left Harry's trunk to the magically enlarged expanse of land at the back of the house. Positioning himself in the middle of the large square of grass, Harry waited until Remus and Thane had backed away safely to the edge of the garden before closing his eyes in preparation. His wand in his pocket, Harry did nothing for almost a full minute as he called upon as much power as he could muster, for what he knew would be a magical feat to stretch even he. Feeling the familiar tingle of magical power at his finger tips, Harry opened his eyes, unaware of the brilliant emerald glow they were giving off and the waves of palpable magical energy that was pouring off of him.

Holding his hand straight in front of him, Harry conjured a small ball of fire, little bigger than a snitch. Thane and Remus exchanged confused glances but just then the ball began to grow. Slowly at first but with ever increasing speed, the flame expanded until it was the size of a small car. Suddenly, with a slight twitch of his hand, Harry summoned the fire towards him until it reached his hand then, he thrust his arm forwards and a massive jet of fire exploded outwards, pouring into the expanse of nothingness in front of him. For a full thirty seconds, the fire came from Harry's hand, growing in ferocity and circumference as the temperature around him soared.

Harry was beginning to tire at the constant strain on his magical energy but he delved deep within himself to his magical core to find just a little more power. But then something strange and incredible happened. Fire continued to pour from Harry's palm but the strain was suddenly lifted. A powerful wind whipped up around the young wizard and the flames exploded outwards, doubling in power as Harry tapped into the elemental power inside him, performing the amazing magic with ease.

But then the flames started to slow before coming to a complete halt. The fire hung still in the air for a split second before accelerating back towards its master. There, it started to swirl around the young wizard, growing even larger, hotter and more ferocious. But Harry felt no pain, no heat, only power. With an upward gesture of his arms, he flung the flames high into the sky before reaching up to the heavens and closing his fist. Harry's eyes pulsated and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up as yet more power poured from him and suddenly, it started to rain. The water fell from the air, extinguishing the flames and turning the sky black with smoke as the three wizards looked on.

When he was satisfied that the fire had been extinguished, Harry stopped the rain with a wave of his hand and stood completely still for a second before collapsing to the ground. Remus and Thane quickly ran over to the young wizard.

"Harry, are you alright?" Remus asked as he drew level with his charge.

"Yeah." Harry replied, pulling himself up into a sitting position. "Just exhausted."

"That's understandable," Thane interjected, "it's the first time you've performed pure elemental magic. It should get easier but, for now, I suggest you get some rest."

Harry nodded, his aching body begging him for rest. With the help of Remus, he managed to pull himself up to his feet and together the three of them walked back inside and upstairs to Harry's room. With a sigh of relief, Harry fell on to his bed and instantly welcomed the comforting arms of sleep

Harry awoke the next day to an incessant tapping coming from across the room. Stretching as he dragged himself out of his warm, cosy bed, he crossed to the window and the source of the tapping. As he pulled it open, a large tawny owl swooped in, dropping a newspaper on the table before landing on Harry's shoulder and awaiting it's payment. Harry duly obliged, placing some coins in the bird's pouch and watching it fly away before sitting down at his desk and unfurling the paper.

As soon as he saw the front page, Harry felt his blood run cold. His stomach muscles clenched painfully and he started to hyperventilate. Jumping to his feet, he stumbled across his room and away from the paper, knocking over his chair as his head began to spin.

"Oh God. No" He whispered as he looked across to his desk where the paper still lay. Staring back at him was a young family, a couple in their twenties waving to the camera and in front of them, a gut-wrenchingly innocent an enthusiastic smile on his face, there stood a young boy, no older then eight, who went by the name of Cassian. Above this picture a simple, bold headline taunted and tortured the young wizard. It read; **'Family of three brutally murdered by You Know Who'**.

Closing his eyes and covering his face with his hands, Harry allowed himself a couple of seconds of reflection before he stormed out of his room and downstairs. Flinging open the door of the living room and marching in, he found a disconsolate Remus and Thane sitting on the sofa, each seemingly lost in their own thoughts with a glass of fire whiskey grasped in their hands.

"You saw it?" Remus asked, his eyes not meeting those of his young charge.

"I saw it." Harry replied, his voice cracking slightly as he collapsed down on to the sofa between his two older friends.

"Why didn't we know?" Harry asked no one in particular. "Where was the call from the Order, from the Aurors."

Thane shook his head. "I don't know." He responded, pulling himself to his feet. "But I'm damn sure going to find out. Come on, I'm calling a meeting of the Order."

Half an hour later, Harry was pacing the kitchen of number twelve Grimmauld place, waiting with Remus and Thane for the rest of the Order to arrive. Eventually, the sound of a door softly opening reached their ears and the three of them turned to the kitchen door to see the rest of the Council walking in.

"Where was the call!?" Harry burst out as the kitchen door closed, his eyes boring into those of Mad-eye Moody.

"Watch your tone Potter." Moody growled in reply. "I'm still your superior."

"No, I think Harry's right." Thane jumped in, also getting to his feet. "We're the Order of the Phoenix. Why the hell should we have to learn of an attack in the bloody paper?"

"Because we didn't know." Moody shouted back, shocking everyone. "You're a senior Auror and a member of the Council Harding, if you didn't know then how the hell are the rest of us supposed to?" Moody sighed and forced himself to regain his usual calm exterior. "Everyone sit down and calm down and I'll explain."

Harry and Thane complied and Moody began:

"You didn't know there was going to be an attack because we didn't know there was going to be an attack. Quite frankly, we now have little to no information of Voldemort's activities; Snape may have been a traitor, but he still gave us some good intelligence, he had to. Potter's spies are now all useless and now all we have are a few men and women in the outer echelons of the Death Eaters and that just isn't enough. Voldemort has learned from his mistakes and now only confides important information in his inner circle. He only tells his less senior Death Eaters information out of necessity and even then not until the last minute. That's why we didn't know anything about this atrocity."

"But even at the best of times, we're a reactionary force." Harry said, calming down slightly. "What good are we if we have no information?"

"This is all we have to work with Potter." McGonagall spoke up from her place at the head of the table. "As you well know, we are constantly trying to recruit agents and spies and get the ones we have promoted but at the moment, nothing's happening. Until something does happen, we just have to work with what we have, even if that is next to nothing."

The meeting carried on for another hour or so but nothing else of substance was said. Suggestions were made and shot down and eventually, everyone came to realise that they quite simply needed more or better spies and Harry left the meeting deep in thought, determined to make that happen.

"I want to see the crime scene." He said to Thane as the three of them apparated back home.

"Why?" Remus asked.

"I don't know, I just feel like I have to see it."

"Harry it's not your fault-." Thane said.

"I know that." Harry interrupted. "Can you arrange it?"

"I'm second in command of the Aurors and you're Harry Potter, I think we can manage it."

"Are you sure you want to do this Harry?" Remus asked.

Harry merely nodded, not quite knowing why.

"OK then. Let's go."

Appearing in a quiet suburban neighbourhood a few moments later, a feeling of foreboding crashed down over Harry as he looked upon the detached house in front of him. A large skull with a snake for a tongue hung ominously and chillingly above the home and Harry allowed himself a brief moment to close his eyes and steel himself before walking determinedly to the front door.

Inside he found an unexpected hustle and bustle as Aurors and the magical forensics squad went about their duties.

"Commander Harding." One Auror spoke as Thane passed over the threshold, saluting his commanding officer. "We weren't expecting you sir."

"Well I wouldn't worry about it Kardos, I wasn't expecting me either. Where are the bodies?"

"In the living room sir. Just over there." He pointed towards a door to their left. "It's not a pretty sight."

Thane nodded. "OK, thanks. You can get back to work."

"Sir." Kardos said with a quick salute before rushing back to the crime scene.

Any other time a mocking would have been in order but something about the vile stench of death which was now assaulting Harry's nostrils made it feel inappropriate. Taking a deep breath as one and anxious at what they were about to see, the three wizards pushed open the door to the living room and walked through.

Harry couldn't help gasp at the gruesome spectacle that met his gaze. Reaching out, he supported himself against the wall as he felt his lunch start to rise from within his stomach. The first thing that had met his eyes was blood. Blood everywhere. What seemed like gallons of the red, life giving liquid was splattered over the carpeted floor, the walls and even the ceilings. It was everywhere. Everywhere but in the bodies.

The bodies themselves seemed completely drained, ghostly pale and devoid of any human warmth, their eyes unseeing and their faces and limbs contorted in agony. Harry had to close his eyes as they found what had once been the face of a young boy named Cassian, but was now nothing more than a horrific record of a life snatched away all too soon. He felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder and forced himself to open his eyes and look into the face of Remus Lupin. A face which fought unsuccessfully to disguise the werewolf's own horror and grief as he tried to reassure the young man in his charge.

It was then that Harry realised that Thane had gone. It seemed that his training and Auror instincts had taken over as he was now speaking with his men and inspecting the bodies for information, a cold mask on his face that Harry felt didn't suit the usually happy-go-lucky wizard.

"This isn't the work of humans." Thane said as he walked back over to where Remus and Harry were standing, the disgust and sadness in his eyes giving away his professional demeanour.

"Then what was it?" Remus asked.

"I don't know, some of the men are saying-" The Auror stopped mid-sentence as Harry's head suddenly snapped up.

"What is it?" Thane asked.

"You can't sense that?" Harry asked.

"Sense what?" Remus questioned in response.

"I don't know. It's a magical signature, but different from the rest around here. It's dark, but like a beacon, calling to me."

All of a sudden, Harry started to stride to a blank area of wall to one side of the bodies, a five foot square stretch of white which was untainted by the blood that covered everything else. Taking out his wand, Harry quickly scanned the bit of wall and found that this indeed was what was calling to him. Steeling himself once more and feeling that he knew what was coming, Harry muttered a simple revealing charm.

The three wizards watched as, slowly but surely, words, scrawled in blood red, started to form on the wall. Harry stood agape and mortified as the sentence began to form wobbling on the spot and being held up only by the strong hands of Thane Harding.

Not wanting to believe what his own eyes had told him, Harry forced himself to look once more upon the simple but damning words on the wall;

**THEIR BLOOD IS ON YOUR HANDS POTTER.**

'You killed them' The whispers of his mind started once more, taunting him with words he knew to be true. 'You fed them to the wolves to feed your own ego. Let go. Let go of your feelings and you'll never feel this way again.'

Harry forced the voices to the back of his mind and quickly vanished the writing before turning away and marching quickly from the room, followed closely by Thane and Remus.

"Harry this is not your fault." Remus said as he caught up with is charge just outside the house.

"Isn't it Remus?" Harry asked as he directed his wand upwards and vanished the Dark mark from the sky.

"No it isn't." The werewolf replied.

"So you think that if I hadn't spoken to them that family would still be dead?"

"Harry look at me." Remus exclaimed, grabbing hold of the young wizard's shoulders and pulling Harry round to face him. "You can't live your life in exclusion. Not when you're fighting a war. You have to talk to people and you have to get on with your life. I can understand why you're so upset but this is exactly what Voldemort wants. You to act irrationally, with your heart and not your head when you actually need both."

Harry sighed and his shoulders slumped in defeat. "You're right." He said to the older wizards. "Let's just go home."

Remus nodded. "OK."

"I'm going to stay here and watch over the operation." Thane said. "I'll see you later."

With that Thane took a deep breath and walked back inside the house while Remus and Harry apparated away.

The rest of the day passed slowly for Harry. The visit to the house had left him saddened and drained of all energy but yet more determined to go through with the plan he had formed after the meeting of the Council. Thane returned an hour or so later and the three wizards spent a quiet evening together, drinking firewhisky and playing chess, though none of their hearts were really in the game.

As the clock struck eleven, Harry announced that he was going to bed and walked up to his room. That's when he sprung into action. Pointing his wand to his bed, Harry conjured a perfect image of his sleeping self under the covers. He then turned his wand on himself and, with a quick disillusionment charm, faded from view before silently apparating to the library of number twelve Grimmauld place.

Searching the bookcases of the empty room, Harry quickly found, as he knew he would, a book on ancient pureblood families. Flipping through the pages, he came to rest on one entitled; 'Zabini' and started to read. Harry rolled his eyes as the book harped on about the purity of the Zabini's blood but eventually found what he was looking for towards the bottom of the page, it read;

_The ancient Zabini manor, of baroque design, is situated in Curridge, West Berkshire in the South East of England. _  
Having found what he needed, Harry snapped the book shut and disapparated away. Reappearing miles away, he found himself in a large expanse of countryside, a few miles away from the town whose lights were just visible on the horizon. Trailing his gaze across the landscape, Harry spotted the large manor house about a mile away atop a small hill covered in trees

Making his way up the hill, Harry sensed magical wards just ahead and paused to decipher what they were. After a couple of minutes, Harry had finally identified all the charms and curses and immediately got to work negating them. A further five minutes later and this was done, leaving Harry able to walk onto the grounds of the house and up to the manor itself.

Stalking around the circumference of the house, Harry reached out his magical energy and eventually sensed Blaise's magical signature in the west side of the house, second room from the right. Still disillusioned, Harry pulled his broom from his pocket and unshrunk it, before throwing his leg over one side and starting to rise up through the air. Drawing level with the window, Harry reversed the effects of the disillusionment charm so as not to startle Blaise too much and magicked open the window.

Stealthily entering the darkened room, Harry cursed under his breath as he sensed a silent magical alarm being activated and prayed that it was there by Blaise's design.

"Take one more step and you'll be dead before you so much as have time to blink." A familiar voice came from the shadows.

Harry smiled. "Blaise, if you had the power to do such a thing, it would be you trying to kill a powerful dark lord, rather than me." He said as he wandlessly illuminated the room.

"Harry?" Blaise said surprised, his wand still pointing to his commander's heart.

"Yes." Harry replied, before adding, "You are a sergeant in the Defence Association and I killed your scumbag of an uncle."

Blaise seemed convinced by this and lowered his wand before waving his arm to offer Harry a seat by his bed where he lay.

"What are you doing here?" The Slytherin asked, climbing out of bed.

"Actually, I'm here to ask you something rather sensitive and before you answer or respond, I want you to know that I am fully aware of the dangers of what I'm asking you to do."

"What is it?" Blaise asked, his face contorted in confusion and apprehension.

Harry sighed, steeling himself to do something he wished he didn't have to bust knew he must.

"As it stands, the Order of the Phoenix are practically powerless Blaise." He began. "As you will know, Voldemort has now gained ultimate control over the four ancient elements of fires, wind, earth and water-"

"But I thought that your own elemental powers had come through? " Blaise enquired and Harry smiled, knowing that his little performance with Remus and Thane must have worked.

"No. They haven't. Well, that's not quite true, and this information is deemed top secret Blaise, Council of the Phoenix and DA commanders only. I had to tell Ron, Ginny and Hermione, there's no way I could get anything like this past them. Occlumency or not." Harry added. "My magical power was knocked out during the ritual and, while it has now just about fully returned, my elemental powers have only just started to develop and any attempt to use them leaves me completely exhausted. But, you don't have to worry about that, that's my problem, what I must ask of you is, if anything, more important. The Order is powerless because, quite simply, we have no information. You saw the paper today. Three more dead and we had to read about it in the Daily Prophet like everyone else. Voldemort suspects the outer echelons of his Death Eaters and is increasingly relying on members of his elite inner circle, in which we have no spies."

The truth dawned on Blaise in an instant and he immediately felt smothered by the enormity of the task that was being asked of him. Jumping to his feet, he turned away from his friend and commanding officer, away from one of the only men on this god forsaken planet who had shown him an inch of compassion and trust.

"Th-This is big Harry." He stuttered, before closing his eyes and forcing himself to regain his ice cold, Slytherin exterior. "You're asking me to join the Death Eaters and infiltrate Voldemort's inner circle"

"That's correct." Harry replied, knowing that any platitudes he could give would be useless with someone who had seen first hand what the Dark lord could do.

"Spy on the most powerful dark wizard to ever walk the earth." Blaise mumbled to himself and Harry once more felt a stab of pity and concern for the young wizard under his command. "The idea is crazy. I can't even perform occlumency and Voldemort is a master of Leglimency, he has ways of knowing when he is being betrayed."

"I know." Harry replied softly. "But I can help you to protect your mind from him."

"You just said yourself that, as it stands, Voldemort's power is well in advance of your own. If he suspected me, no one would be able to stop him from penetrating my mind, not even you."

"That is exactly why I have no intention of fighting him within your mind. Much like I did with Wormtail, I would create false memories for you. Memories that Voldemort will be happy to see. I will put basic occlumency wards up around your true memories along with an alarm system so that if Voldemort does try to infiltrate them, I can fight him off. But.." Harry added, as Blaise made to interrupt him. "..he won't try to infiltrate your true memories because what he will find will be much closer to the front of your mind. The false memories, protected by the basic and mid-level occlumency shields I will teach you to create."

"Even if I did join the Death Eaters, what makes you think that I'd be inducted into the inner circle?"

"Because you are a member of an ancient pureblood and dark family, filled with sympathisers and Death Eaters, because you are powerful and shrewd and, most importantly, because you're on speaking terms with me."

Blaise's head jerked up at this last remark and his eyes met Harry's questioningly.

"Oh don't get me wrong, you're not in the DA, I don't let Slytherins in the DA." Harry replied to the unspoken question. "But we are associates and I'm sure that you would be able to get some non-lethal information from me."

Blaise seemed to think on that point before asking; "The ritual for new Death Eaters contains a loyalty test under Veritaserum, how would we get past that?"

Harry smiled, noting that Blaise's questions were getting more practical in nature. "I would follow you to the ritual and, just after you have been given the Veritaserum, I will temporarily possess you and answer the questions to Voldemort's liking. The beauty of this being that, no one would notice the unfeeling look in your eyes, this affect is identical for Veritaserum and possession."

Blaise smiled for the first time since Harry had entered his room, shaking his head at his commanding officer's ingenuity.

"You've got this all planned out haven't you boss?" He asked. "You knew exactly what I was going to ask."

"It didn't take a genius to figure out." Harry replied, with a small smile, "You asked what any sane person would ask."

"If I'm sane," Blaise began, his eyes giving away the fear and apprehension that his face and voice did not, "then why am I agreeing to this crazy scheme of yours?"

Harry stood and walked over to his soldier and friend and grasped him in a sort of one armed hug. "Because you're a brave and loyal soldier. Oh and because I'm a genius and if anyone can pull it off, it's me." He added at the ended, sensing that the moment was getting a little too emotional.

"When do we start?" Blaise asked.

"First of all, we have to lay the ground work of the plan. My birthday's coming up and most of the Order will be there, including anyone I suspect as a spy. When you arrive, they will see me using my fine acting abilities in pretending that I'm surprised to see you. I will greet you warmly and you will be nice to my face but, as soon as my back is turned, you will be all glares and mean looks, as only a Slytherin can be. In the mean time, if you can get some books on Occlumency and Leglimency without raising suspicion then do it, if not, don't."

Blaise nodded his acceptance and Harry started to leave, walking towards the window where he had come in. "Don't talk of this to anyone else and don't write any of it down, even in letters to me." He said, turning around as he reached the window, "I'll be in touch about my party and the plan will begin properly when we get back to Hogwarts."

With that, Harry Potter mounted his broom and kicked off, flying away into the night sky and leaving a surprisingly calm Blaise Zabini in his wake, staring into the black sky and going over the plan in his mind.

Reappearing in his room less than a minute later, Harry smiled as he saw the image of himself that he had conjured was still there, snoring undisturbed. It was only then that he realised how truly exhausted he was and it was with great relief that he vanished his doppelganger and gratefully let his head fall on to the pillow.

The next day, Harry awoke to a vibrating feeling on his wrist. Realising what it was, he felt himself instantly awaken and glanced down to read the message appearing on his new watch. It read simply;

'Urgent Council meeting. Fifteen minutes. - Thane Harding.'

Jumping to his feet, Harry summoned his wand and waved it over his body. Instantly cleaned and clothed, he left to brush his teeth before rushing downstairs. In the kitchen, he found Remus apparently going through the same ritual as he.

"Morning." The werewolf said as he quickly grabbed a piece of toast.

"Morning." Harry replied. "Any idea what this meeting's about? And where's Thane."

"He left for work about an hour ago and no, I know as much as you."

"Well I guess we better get going." Harry said, picking up an apple before nodding to Remus and disapparating away.

Landing in the hall of number twelve Grimmauld place at the same time as Remus, Harry led the two of them into the kitchen to see much of the Council already gathered.

Exchanging greetings with the others, Harry and Remus took their seats and waited for the meeting to begin. Eventually, Thane came striding in to the room and the chatter that had taken residence amongst the Council instantly died.

"We have a big problem." The Auror began, standing at the head of the table. "The pathologist has just got back to me with the results of the autopsies. The Fondas were killed due to shock and blood loss brought about by the bite of three Nosferatu."

Gasps and frightened whispers filled the room, mixed equally with confused looks and queries.

"QUIET!" Moody shouted, silencing the room. "First things first, we need to make sure that this goes no further, there would be panic."

"Already taken care of." Thane replied. "I wiped the pathologist's memory after checking that he had come straight to me with the results. He had."

"And the physical evidence?" Mad-eye questioned.

"Oh so illegally destroyed."

"Good work." Moody said. "Now-"

"Wait." Harry interrupted. "I realise that I'll sound very stupid but what's the big panic? I thought Nosferatu was another word for vampires."

"You don't know the difference between Nosferatu and vampires?" Thane asked. "What did you teach him Moony?"

"Hey, I took over from Gilderoy Lockhart." Remus defended himself. "When I started teaching, they didn't know the difference between a Griffin and a flobberworm."

"Nosferatu, Mr Potter, are some of the darkest and most powerful creatures on the planet." Minerva McGonagall began her explanation. "They are often confused with vampires and for obvious reasons. Nosferatu are humanoid in shape, but are around seven foot tall, completely hairless, with grey skin and fangs. When they bite humans, they become vampires but Nosferatu are born, not created. Much stronger, quicker and more agile than their vampire brethren, they are engaged in a millennium old war with the Lycanthropes to gain control over the night. So far they have resisted any attempt to embroil them in a human war but if You Know Who has managed to recruit them, then God help us, because he has just made a major breakthrough in this war."

Harry walked out of the Order meeting half an hour later, lost in his own thoughts, his head spinning with the consequences of what he'd just been told. He was just contemplating some of the plans they had discussed when a foot came flying out, tripping Harry up and sending him flying to the floor. Looking up, the young wizard saw a grinning Remus.

"What was that for?" Harry asked his guardian angrily.

"Remember a few days ago at the three broomsticks, you're little stunt, drenching me and Thane?" The werewolf asked. "Well I believe I said that some revenge was in order and it would come when you least expected it. And, well, you seem pretty surprised to me."

Harry rolled his eyes, fighting back a grin but took Remus' outstretched hand and pulled himself up. In a way the incident was comforting, the war had just taken a big turn for the worse but, as ever, life had to go on and childish pranks had to be made in revenge for other childish pranks.

"You realise this means war don't you?" Harry asked as the two of them walked away from the kitchen together.

"Yes I do Harry." Remus replied. "Yes I do."


	5. Of Battles, the Cave and Order HQ

Delving deep inside himself, Harry reached out for what was left of his magical energy. Finding the power deep within his magical inner core, he summoned it to his finger tips and then released it, causing the huge stream of fire pouring out of his hands to explode outwards and increase even more in ferocity. The thick wall of platinum that he, Remus and Thane had spent over half an hour constructing and strengthening was already showing signs of weakness.

As the air around him grew wavy and distorted with the heat of the spell, Harry saw the platinum, now glowing bright red, start to melt and so, just as he was growing tired, he pumped all he had into the raging inferno at his fingertips. He watched exhausted but satisfied as what was left of the wall liquefied before his eyes and, with a smile, he negated the spell.

The flames died instantly and Harry swayed on the spot slightly, holding his hand up to Thane and Remus as they came rushing over.

"I'm OK." He reassured his older friends, before taking out his wand for the first time and giving it a flick, conjuring a comfy chair for him to collapse into. "So what do you think?"

"Pretty damn impressive mate." Thane replied.

"That's putting it a bit lightly." Remus interjected. "Platinum has an extremely high melting point, higher than iron, higher than gold-"

"Remus," Thane interrupted, "I believe you gave us an extremely long explanation of this before we conjured the wall."

The werewolf glared at his old friend. "Fine." He replied. "I won't share my incredibly interesting metal based knowledge with you. How are you feeling Harry?"

"Absolutely knackered Moony." The young wizard replied. "Although I feel that not collapsing was an improvement."

"It'll get better." Remus reassured him. "We just have to keep training."

"We Remus?" Harry asked. "What the hell are you training for by just standing there and watching me do all the work? Because whatever it is, sign me up."

"I wasn't just standing there Harry." Remus replied. "Thane summoned some firewhiskey, so we got a bit of drinking in as well."

"I stand corrected." Harry responded. "Come on, let's get back inside. It's nine O'clock at night and I don't know about you but I am starving."

Remus smiled and led the three of them back inside and into the kitchen where he set the pots and pans to work, magically preparing the food. Harry, meanwhile, had collapsed into a chair before leaning his head on the table.

"Here," Thane said to him, handing Harry what he recognised to be an advanced pepper-up potion, "that should wake you up."

Harry thanked the Auror and drunk greedily from the vial, feeling the elixir's restorative effects begin to work as soon as it touched his tongue. Feeling instantly rejuvenated, Harry sat up in his chair just in time to see Remus bringing over three steaming hot steak and kidney pies.

"I don't know how you do it Remus." Thane commented as he tucked into his delicious meal.

"The theory is very much similar to that used in muggle microwaves-" The werewolf began in reply.

"I said I didn't know Moony," Thane interrupted, "not that I wanted to know."

Remus was about to start his own dinner when he suddenly froze. The sound of three watches vibrating reached Harry's ears just as he felt it on his wrist. Looking down at the watch given to him by the Order as he sensed the other two do the same, Harry's mouth dropped open. Just for a second, the room was completely still as the three wizards contemplated the words magically appearing across the faces of their charmed watches. HQ is under siege. Code red. All report immediately.

Suddenly and all together, Harry, Thane and Remus jumped to their feet and started rushing around. Harry pulled out his DA coin and immediately relayed the message to Ron, Hermione and Ginny, three out of only four people Harry had taught how to apparate. He hesitated at the thought of Blaise but decided that it wasn't worth blowing his cover before the plan had even begun. This done, Harry waved his wand over himself to summon the battle robes he had received for Christmas on to his person. Then, looking into the eyes of Remus and then Thane, Harry steeled himself for the battle he knew lay ahead before nodding to them and disapparating away.

The three of them landed in the living room of number twelve Grimmauld Place less than a second later and immediately scanned their surroundings, their wands drawn and ready. After about thirty seconds, they were confident that no one was there and that there was no sign of forced entry. The three of them were just beginning to exchange confused looks and wonder whether it was a false alarm when a huge THUD rang out from the front door, reverberating around the house.

"The Order's gathered in the hallway." Harry said as he reached out and sensed his colleagues' magical signatures.

Thane and Remus nodded and followed as Harry led them through the lounge and towards the hall. Opening the door and walking inside, the three wizards froze as around a hundred and twenty wands turned to face their way.

"Thanks for the warm welcome guys." Thane quipped as recognition dawned on the order members' faces.

Looking around in awe, Harry saw that the hall had been widened and lengthened to about twenty times it's original size. Over a third of the Order's forces were gathered inside, their wands pointing towards the front door which, every few seconds, was rocked by a loud THUD. Looking around and finally spotting what they were looking for, Harry, Remus and Thane all made their way to the front of the group where the rest of the Council was standing.

"Good, you're here." Moody began as the three wizards reached him. "There are around a hundred Death Eaters outside supported by a further hundred Nosferatu. Voldemort is yet to make an appearance and we have reason to believe that his forces are up to four times what we see outside. For this reason, we've had to keep some troops stationed at Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, the ministry of magic and Diagon Alley, we can't rule out this being a distraction."

Another thud rang out through the hall. "How did they find us?" Thane asked.

"We don't know." The old Auror replied. "That's a question to be answered another time, for now we have to concentrate on repelling them. Now much of the wards have been disabled, leaving only a basic Dark mark repelling charm, but that won't last forever, no matter who cast the spell. As far as we know, they aren't aware that we're all gathered waiting for them, so when they break in we're going to make the most of that advantage and drive them back outside where there's more room. Take out as many as you can in the first charge, that's hard arrests boys. No prisoners."

The three wizards nodded their understanding of the thinly veiled order. There would be no stunners tonight, they couldn't risk another fiasco like Snape's trial. Tonight all Death eaters would be killed on sight. As he took his position next to Thane and Moody, Harry saw three figures appearing out of the corner of his eye. Glancing round, he saw that Ron, Ginny and Hermione had arrived and with a discreet movement of his hand, he told them to blend in amongst the Order's troops, away from the eyes of the Council who would surely disapprove of Harry's decision.

Another loud THUD brought Harry's attention back to the front door. And brought silence to the corridor. After a full minute of silence, Moody turned to his troops and, after casting a silencing charm so he couldn't be heard by unwanted ears, he spoke.

"This is it." He began. "As the wards fall and they break in, we charge. No hanging about, just charge forward and drive them back outside, taking out as many as you can."

The men and women of the Order of the Phoenix nodded their understanding and Moody turned back to the door. Silence fell once more and Harry forced himself to remain focused as the Order collectively held their breath. Glancing along the front line, Harry saw the Council in duelling stances, leaning forward as if preparing for a race. To his left stood Thane and then Remus, while to his right there stood Moody and McGonagall, behind him, he knew, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were ready for battle and despite the situation, Harry smiled, knowing that there was no one else he would rather have fighting along side him. Turning back to the front door, he felt a tingle run down his spine and knew that this was it.

The floor glowed a deep purple with what Harry recognised as an anti-apparition ward before, with an almighty CRASH, the wards and wall gave way and the Order prepared to charge. It was not humans that flooded into headquarters, however. Hundreds of Nosferatu sprung forward with incredible speed, flooding the corridor and charging down the witches and wizards of the Order as the Death eaters hung back. This wasn't how the battle was supposed to go, from the first seconds they were on the back foot and the charge was quickly forgotten. Vampire killing curses burst forth from Order wands but even as the evil beasts started to fall, Harry knew it wouldn't be enough. There were too many of them.

Acting on instinct, the young wizard closed his eyes to gather up as much power as he could muster, he knew that if his plan was to work, he would need all the magical energy he had. In what seemed to Harry like an hour but was in fact less than a second, the boy who lived opened his eyes and even the Nosferatu seemed to falter. Pure magical energy poured from Harry and he seemed to shine with a dazzling white light, lifting the hairs on the back of spectators' necks. But it was his eyes that struck fear into the hearts of the watching Death eaters. They glowed a brilliant emerald green, brighter than anything else in the room; a testimony to the great power they all knew resided in the young wizard. Yet, at the same time, they lacked the warmth that usually lit up the young wizards face, his eyes were ice cold and seemed to bore into every single one of them, whispering threateningly in their ears, no not a threat, a promise, it said simply; You will not come out of this alive.

Einstein smiled from beyond as his theory was proven correct. Time was surely not constant in the heat of this magical battle as all of this happened in less than two seconds. It was then that, all of a sudden, time seemed to awaken from its slumber and sped back into action. Harry swept his wand purposefully through the air, cutting horizontally across the corridor. With another great surge of power, a massive, translucent gold wall sprung up in front of the Order's forces, stretching from wall to wall. Like some sort of force-field, it seemed to pulsate and buzzed with magical power as the Nosferatu screeched to a halt in front of it.

The monsters growled and pushed forward against the shield of pure light magic, but it was in vain. As they were held back by the sheer power of Harry's light magic, the Nosferatu numbers started to dwindle as the Order fired vampire killing curses in to the mass of pale grey bodies.

The Death eaters were slow to react but as the vampire-like creatures started to fall, they knew their plan of attack had failed. Charging forwards, the hundred and fifty strong dark wizards returned fire, forcing the Order to raise magical shields against the sea of luminous green and black that was heading their way. Harry knew that he wouldn't be able to hold the pure light force-field while defending himself against an onslaught of dark curses and his mind groped around furiously for a solution, knowing that if he was to let the Nosferatu go, the iniquitous creatures would be draining the blood of his friends and allies in seconds. Narrowly dodging a killing curse, Harry knew that he had to act and, thinking quickly, he came up with a plan.

Steeling himself for what he knew would be another test of his magic, Harry suddenly dropped the shield. The Nosferatu charged forward but didn't get far as Harry raised his hands in front of him and, for the first time in battle, called upon his elemental powers. A powerful wind picked up around him as he called upon every last bit of his magical energy, his eyes glowing once more. Harry thrust his arms forwards and the wind hit the Nosferatu like a brick wall. Just inches from the front line of the Order's forces, the beasts were picked up and flung bodily across the room, crashing through the wall and into the street.

Making the most of the Nosferatu's vulnerability, Harry negated the powerful wind he had conjured and drew his wand as the monsters flew through the air. Aiming into the sky, Harry cried;

"Permultus Necus Lamia!"

Dozens of vampire killing curses flew from his wand like machine gun fire and Harry smiled a grim smile as some of the curses found the target and the more unfortunate of the Nosferatu turned to dust. Stumbling back slightly with the effort of performing elemental magic, he sensed dark spells heading his way and had to duck, seven killing curses passing over his head from all around him. Realising that he had been ambushed, he stretched his arms out and, his head ducked down to avoid the barrage of dark spells being fired at him, and started to spin, firing killing curse after killing curse out of his wand and empty hand as he did so. All around him, black robed men fell to the ground as they were struck down by a deadly jet of green light while charging at their enemy.

The floor around him now littered with Death Eaters, Harry stood up but had to raise a silver shield as ten more killing curses flew his way. But Harry knew that he couldn't take this onslaught forever and some sort of exploding curse was out of the question: the hall was to crowded. Suddenly an idea struck him as yet more deadly curses were repelled by his shield. Pointing his wand to the floor, he whispered;

"Pulsum!" Putting just enough power in the spell to raise him off the ground.

He then waved his hand over the floor around him and thought 'Lubricus Humi' . The floor was instantly filled with a slippery substance and the Death Eaters, charging towards him, couldn't keep their balance and feel to the floor. Acting before anyone could vanish the slippery stuff on the floor, Harry fired ten well aimed killing curses and watched with grim satisfaction as each one found its target.

Vanishing the substance from the floor, Harry lowered himself to the ground and glanced around the battle for his next move. It was then that, out of nowhere, he saw a grey blur zooming his way out of the corner of his eye. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to turn in time, Harry closed his eyes and started to transform. The Nosferat hit the Gryon with shuddering force and the two of them were sent tumbling to the floor, arms, legs and claws flailing and the two beasts fighting for supremacy. The Nosferat managed to sink its teeth into Harry's leg and the young wizard thanked God that only humans were affected before throwing the beast from him and pouncing, his claws raking its chest.

The two of them went falling to the floor once more and started to wrestle, eventually, the Nosferat found itself on top and went to sink it's fangs into Harry's neck. It was not quick enough, however, as Harry pushed out his four limbs, sending the beast of the night flying into the air. Acting quickly, Harry transformed back into his human self and, drawing his wand, took careful aim above his head before screaming;

"Necus Lamia!"

The spell hit home and with an unearthly shriek, the Nosferat was turned to dust. For the first time since the battle began, Harry found himself with a second to spare to look around the magically enhanced hall for a Death Eater to take down. It was then a decision was made for him.

Suddenly a cry of;

"Get the girl!"

rose up above the noise of battle and Harry's head jerked to the source of the command. With a stab of fear and fury to his heart and a rush of power to his fingertips, Harry saw a piece of Death eater scum pointing to Ginny. The whispers, ever present in the back of his mind, awakened at the sight before his eyes, adding to his power and fury and screaming 'KILL HIM'. For once, Harry made no effort to supress the dark urges of his mind. A red mist shrouded his vision as his gaze met that of the would be killer of the girl he loved. Harry's eyes glowed a brilliant emerald green and he thrust his arm forward, sending a huge beam of electric blue flying with amazing speed from his palm. The pathetic excuse for a human being just had time to look terrified before the spell struck him in the torso and he was sent crashing through the wall and outside where he lay still, never to move again.

As the whispers grew silent once more, Ginny flashed Harry a smile and he winked back but the two of them were interrupted as a bolt of red flew at Ginny and Harry sensed two killing curses heading towards his back. Turning quickly, he raised a silver shield, which took the force of the two spells. Then, pointing his wand above his shield, he shouted;

"Expelliarmus Duplico!" The two Death eaters were caught of guard by the simple spell and simply raised advanced shield charms with cries of "Aegis Ultimus!"

It was not the red bolt of two disarming jinxes that flew from Harry's wand, however, but the rather more deadly green of the Killing curse. Two of them which struck the Death Eaters' shield charms and shattered them to pieces before hitting the lapdogs themselves and robbing them of their lives. Harry did not have time to relax, however, as he sensed another dark presence behind him and turned to find a death eater raising his wand.

Slashing his wand downwards, Harry cried;

"Scissum Intermundia!"

And watched as his apparition shield swallowed the Death Eater's curse. The man turned in alarm, looking for his own spell and raising a silver shield to try and protect himself from it when it remerged back into reality. He searched in vain, however, as the rip opened behind Harry and the killing curse struck a Death Eater who was sneaking up on him.

Harry glanced around to reassure himself that the Death Eater had fallen before turning back to his other opponent and slashing his wand downwards once more. A sword appeared in front of Harry and started to spin, flying through the air and burying itself in the Death Eaters chest. The weedy little man's eyes grew wide and he coughed, spewing blood from his mouth before collapsing in a heap to the floor. Harry stared for a second at the man laying dead in front of him and wondered briefly what had made him turn to the dark and had ultimately cost him his life. Shaking himself out of his reverie, Harry remember he was in a battle and, back to his senses, felt another Death Eater trying to creep up on him.

It was a woman and quite powerful but that was all Harry knew as he stood still, letting her get close to him and tracking her progress with his magical senses. When she was about two feet away, the woman suddenly stopped and Harry felt a flux of power from within her and knew she was about to strike. Knowing that his moment had come, he spun on the spot and knocked her wand hand downwards, the killing curse burying itself in the ground . The woman looked shocked but didn't have time to react as Harry pointed his wand to her chest and blasted her backwards and high into the air with an exploding hex.

Behind the Death Eater, revealed as she was blown into the air, there stood a Nosferat whose eyes met Harry's and who stood still for a second before started to charge. Quickly raising his wand, Harry cried;

"Deflagratio Maxima!"

A huge stream of fire flew from Harry's wand and engulfed the beast and started to melt the wall behind it. Harry kept the spell going for fifteen seconds, unsure of the effects it was having on the Nosferat and only negating the spell as he was starting to feel the strain of using his elemental magic. As the flames and smoke cleared, Harry saw that little more than charred remains were what was left of the once powerful beast, unrecognisable and scattered across the floor.

Just then, a scream snapped Harry's attention to the right hand side where he saw a young, blonde man in Order uniform fall to the ground. The Death Eater stood over him thrust his wand forwards to finish off his opponent. He would have succeeded but Harry, acting quickly, conjured a shield and flung it in front of the vulnerable soldier. The green bolt of light rebounded harmlessly off the shield and into the wall and Harry felled the dark wizard with a flick of his wand.

Rushing over to the Order member on the ground, Harry placed two fingers on his neck. With a sigh of relief, he found a pulse and noticed that the man was still breathing, though shallowly. Pulling out his wand, Harry tapped the man's wand and muttered "Portus!" and watched as it glowed blue and the man was transported to Hogwarts and safety. Harry knew that in the hospital wing of Hogwarts, Madam Pomfrey would be set up and waiting to take care of any patients who came her way.

Getting to his feet, Harry fired a tripping jinx at a Death Eater he saw running towards the main body of fighting and finished him off with a well placed killing curse as he went flying through the air. Looking around for his next target, his eyes fell on Remus who was battling with two Death Eaters. As Harry watched he took out the first and then the second and turned to see Harry looking at him. Snapping off a salute to his young friend and charge, Remus smiled and Harry returned the gesture. But Harry's smile soon dropped from his face he saw a grey blur heading Remus' way. Harry drew his wand, which he had stowed away and began to take aim but feared that he may be too late. Remus started to turn but Harry knew that he wouldn't make it in time and that the werewolf's life was in the balance, dependant on Harry's speed and aim.

The Nosferat reached Remus just as the words of the vampire killing curse escaped from Harry's lips. The beast grabbed Remus' head and pulled his neck upwards, baring its fangs and preparing to sink them in to the werewolf's jugular. The black jet of light screamed towards the grey, muscular beast who seemed to hesitate as if sensing that his life was in danger. This was enough for the magical bolt to reach its target and strike the Nosferat in the chest, turning it to dust. Harry released the breath he didn't realised he had been holding and time, which had slowed as his friend was in mortal peril, returned to normal as Remus walked over to him.

The two of them said nothing for a moment, recovering from the shock of what had happened and then Remus spoke, his voice and eyes full of gratitude as he said simply;

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Harry replied.

Remus looked as if he was going to respond but stopped as Harry seemed to go rigid, his eyes vacant.

"What is it?" The werewolf asked.

Harry suddenly doubled over in pain, his hand clutched to his scar in agony he hadn't felt since the last time he had encountered Lord Voldemort. He felt as if his head was splitting in two and he sensed the delight of the whispers in the darkest reaches of his mind at the fight they and he knew lay ahead.

"He's here." Harry gasped through the pain. "Voldemort's coming."

Remus paled as Harry forced the pain to the back of his mind and climbed to his feet, his wand springing to his hand and his stare focused on the front door. His eyes widened slightly and he suddenly thrust his arms out, pushing Remus away from him and onto the floor. Harry then raised his hands in front of his chest just as the restored door and the wall around it exploded inwards and a huge jet of fire sped towards him.

His arms wide and his hands pushed out in front of him, Harry seemed to catch the wall of conflagration and, with huge effort, his face contorted in concentration and pain, tried to force the fire back at the Dark Lord. Voldemort forced yet more power into the spell, increasing the ferocity of the inferno as he slowly started to walk forwards, his hands stretched in front of him as he tried to force the flames to consume his young opponent. Harry pushed back and couldn't help but be reminded of the pure light and dark duel he had with Voldemort at the end of the previous year, it occurred to him that that hadn't ended well. Just as this thought came to him, the force of the elemental magic intensified and at that moment Harry knew he was fighting a losing battle. Voldemort was too strong.

Harry was having to call on very last bit of his magical power to keep the fire off of him but he knew that he couldn't hold it off forever. He collapsed down on to one knee as he felt his energy draining away from him and then, all of a sudden, he knew he could hold it no more. Sweeping his hand behind him, Harry magically flung everyone to one side before he felt his magic stutter and he was engulfed in flames. His world turned orange and Harry felt the searing heat of the elemental flames as Voldemort started to laugh in triumph.

His elemental magic was just allowing Harry to keep the fire from touching him but he wouldn't be able to keep even that up for long and knew that he had to act. And act now. Calling on what little was left of his elemental magic, Harry thrust his hand upwards and the floor beneath Voldemort started to shake. The Dark Lord's magic seemed to falter slightly in shock and the fire was cut off entirely as a metre square of floor beneath him rose into the air with incredible speed, threatening to squash him beneath the ceiling.

Voldemort, to Harry's dismay, reacted quickly and leapt from what was now a platform and on to the ground just before it crashed into the ceiling. He had just landed when two huge walls of rock, conjured by Harry's wand, sped towards him to crush him in the middle. The evil wizard stretched his hands out either side of him and stopped walls dead in their tracks but had to react quickly once more as a killing curse rushed towards his face. Raising his wand, Voldemort conjured a silver shield to block the curse before transfiguring it into a dagger and flinging it at Harry. As the dagger flew through the air, Voldemort pointed his wand at it and, with the use of a multiplication spell, turned one dagger into a dozen before lighting them all on fire.

Harry reacted just in time and vanished all but one of the daggers flying towards him. He then flicked his wand at the remaining dagger and extinguished the flames before muttering, "Portus!" and plucking it from the air. With a tug behind his naval, Harry was transported through the limbo and landed about fifty yards away from Voldemort who raised a silver shield and started to spin around in search for his enemy.

Harry took aim from his hidden position and, with as much power as he could muster, silently fired a beam of pure light magic towards the Dark Lord. Voldemort seemed to sense the spell coming, however, and spun around, raising a silver shield and infusing it with pure dark magic. The white beam of the light magic was absorbed by the shield and Voldemort turned to face Harry who realised that his cover was blown. He also realised that, by being there, he was putting everyone around him in danger and so, jumping to his feet, he raised a silver shield before pointing his wand behind him and muttering, "Pulsum!"

Harry was propelled forwards into the open, his shield taking the force of Voldemort's killing curse as he zoomed across the ground. He thought that he had got away without harm but, just then, the ground in front of him disintegrated, courtesy of a well placed 'Motus Humo' from the Dark Lord's wand. Unable to stop in time, Harry went tumbling to the floor and had to quickly roll to one side as a beam of pure dark magic was fired his way.

Climbing to his feet, the young wizard had to fire off two vampire killing curses to kill the Nosferatu closing in on him before raising a shield against Voldemort's coma curse. The deep brown beam of light rebounded towards the Dark Lord, but he reacted in time, slashing down his wand and tearing through space-time as he created an apparition shield, which swallowed the spell before fading away. Harry didn't stick around to see where it went and dived to the ground, rolling out of danger as he was bombarded with spells of all kinds and the coma curse buried itself into the ground.

Still rolling, Harry could sense the powerful bolts of magic hitting the ground around him and knew that he had to get out of there and fast. As he dodged a particularly nasty looking hex, the young warrior transformed into his Gryon form and jumped to his feet before starting to charge at the startled Dark Lord. Voldemort took aim with his wand and fired a powerful disembowelment curse but Harry leapt into the air, spreading his wings and swooping out of the way of the deadly bolt of light before landing on top of the dark wizard and baring his fangs.

Voldemort was too quick, however, and thrust his arms upwards, hitting Harry with a powerful 'extrudo' and flinging him into the air. This was followed by a large and powerful jet of fire which reached up to the young wizard and threatened to incinerate him. Harry just managed to raise his defence, however, and conjured a huge stream of water which he fired downwards, extinguishing the flames as he fell to the floor, hidden by the steam created by the two elemental spells.

But Harry didn't have time to rest as, through the slowly clearing fog, a massive steam train emerged, bolting towards him with incredible speed and power. Shocked and alarmed, he threw himself to the ground and the train faded away but Harry realised too late that he had just seen a magically conjured illusion as ropes sprung up from the ground and bound him to the floor. Voldemort leapt forward and Harry desperately called upon his magic to aid him as a killing curse flew from the Dark Lord's wand.

Just in time and with incredible effort and power, Harry silently and motionlessly ripped through the fabric of the universe, conjuring an apparition shield which swallowed Voldemort's killing curse before vanishing and re-appearing behind his back. The Dark Lord was forced to turn and raise a silver shield to block his own spell and this gave Harry time to turn the ropes that bound him into a huge anaconda and order the snake to attack his enemy.

Voldemort made short work of the anaconda by slashing his wand diagonally and cutting through it's body before turning back to his young nemesis. Harry had made the most of his advantage, however, by taking careful aim and shouting;

"Condolesco Maxima!"

Voldemort quickly twisted out of the way but the quick, scarlet bolt of light struck his shoulder and he gave a gasp of pain as it exploded with pain. The Dark Lord negated the spell and looked up just in time to see a huge fist of water heading his way with speed. Taking aim with his free hand, Voldemort froze the huge hand just before it reached his face and shattered it to pieces before sending the razor sharp shards flying back at his opponent.

Harry raised his hands and a thick wall of flames rose up from the floor, melting the ice bullets which fell harmlessly, in a puddle, to the floor. Harry was about to counter the attack when he sensed the dark magic of the killing curse heading his way. Ducking down, he just managed to avoid the green bolt of light but immediately felt a powerful grip tighten around his throat and pick him up into the air. Black dots started to form in front of Harry's eyes but he knew that he couldn't afford the comfort of unconsciousness as the air restriction spell was sure to be followed by a deadly curse.

Drawing on as much power as he could muster, Harry managed to break free of the spell and slashed his wand down, creating an apparition shield that swallowed the green bolt of the killing curse as it sped towards him. The curse reappeared to the Voldemort's left but, suddenly, a huge gust of wind picked up and blew the Dark Lord up into the air and out of the firing line of the curse. From his position, just below the ceiling, his robes billowing in the wind he had created, Voldemort took aim and slashed his wand downwards, conjuring a giant Bengal tiger which pounced downwards towards Harry as it was followed by a killing curse.

Back on the floor, Harry rolled away from the curse and hit the tiger between eyes with a killing curse before looking up to see Voldemort falling to the floor. Harry took aim and fired yet another killing curse but, just as it was nearing its target and Voldemort was nearing the floor, the Dark Lord waved his wand over himself and conjured bat-like wings on to his back. Just as he was about to crash into the ground and as his face shone with the green light of Harry's killing curse, Voldemort flapped his giant, leathery wings and slowed his fall, allowing the deadly curse to pass underneath him and bury itself into a wall.

But Harry still had the advantage as Voldemort had to regain his composure. Making the most of this, the younger wizard steadied his wand at his target and cried;

"Avada Kedavra! Conflus Visco! Fulemenus Iaculor!"

Unfortunately, Voldemort reacted in time to dodge the killing and entrails exploding curses and Harry could only watch in horror as the Dark Lord slowed down and seemed to catch the powerful bolt of electricity he had fired. Now gathered into a cricket ball sized globe, the lightening bolt hovered between Voldemort's palms and Harry's eyes widened in shock as the evil wizard's eyes flashed red and the ball of energy turned black.

The Dark Lord flung the ball of magical energy at his young enemy and Harry desperately raised a silver shield, enforcing it with pure light magic to try to protect himself from the powerful dark magic. The ball did not fire at him with speed as he expected, however, but rather floated slowly towards him before stopping about five yards away. Harry looked up from his shield confused, but his confusion soon turned to alarm as he sensed a powerful flux in magic energy from the dark globe in front of him. It was then, suddenly, that the ball of pure dark magic exploded with massive force, flinging Harry back and releasing a shockwave of dark magical energy.

Harry's shield protected him from the worst of the dark magic but it still hit him like a bullet to the stomach and he was thrown back more than a hundred yards before he landed on the ground with a sickening THUD. His wand went spinning away from him but, even in his dazed, semi-conscious state, he knew that he had to get up. Forcing himself to his feet, Harry stumbled forwards and sensed, rather than saw, two powerful dark curses coming his way. He somehow managed to raise a silver shield to protect him but the force of the spells proved too much and, though the shield held, he was knocked back to the ground and his protection faded into nothingness.

From the floor, weak and in agony, Harry looked up, wearily, into the eyes of his nemesis who was smiling as he looked down upon his prey. The Order was starting to struggle against the forces of the darkness, overwhelmed by sheer numbers and Harry knew that there was quite simply no fight left in him.

"Any last words Potter?" Voldemort asked.

Harry, surprisingly calm given the situation, thought that was quite a cheesy thing to say and, rather strangely, had to fight the urge to laugh. But as he saw an unfamiliar Order soldier take a stinging hex to the shoulder the reality of the situation came crashing down upon him. He was clearly in no fit state to continue fighting but without him, Voldemort would be free to run riot, massacring the Order's forces who would be unable to flee due to a Death Eater's anti-apparition ward. It was then that, with a rush of power and determination, an idea struck and he looked into Voldemort's eyes as he started to reply.

"Actually yes." Harry began. "Well, more advice really. You see, even though I'm magically drained and exhausted from our duel, I'm still much more powerful than any one of those pathetic slaves you call Death Eaters. So next time you turn up late for your own party, I suggest you strengthen the anti-apparition wards."

Voldemort's eyes widened at Harry's last comment and he drew his wand, pointing at the young wizard. It was too late, however, as Harry, summoning up what little remained of his strength, smashed through the apparition wards and turned on the ground. With a flux of magical power, Harry and the rest of the Order were flung through limbo and to the only safe place that Harry could think of in time.

Around a hundred people landed with a thud in the living of the cave that had once served as the Marauders' hideout. Remus was the first to recover and ran over to Harry who was the only person to land on his feet.

"Harry, that was incredible." Remus gasped in shock. "I've never seen side along apparition on anywhere near that scale before and certainly not when you weren't even touching anyone. Are you OK?"

Harry thought for a minute, wobbling on the spot slightly as a wave of pain and absolute exhaustion hit him with the force of a speeding train.

"Not really." He replied before finally giving in to the darkness starting to cloud his mind and collapsing to the floor.

Through the foggy haze of unconsciousness, words and sentences began to penetrate Harry's mind. He was drifting in the darkness, blissfully unaware of the pain and exhaustion that would greet him when he came back to the world. Eventually, however, as memories and reality started to return and the pull of consciousness proved too strong, Harry slowly opened his eyes to find himself propped up in a chair, one of around twenty gathered around a long table where the Council was discussing the days events.

"Nice of you to join us Harry." Thane said as he noticed that his younger friend was now awake. "I didn't think you'd want to miss anything so when Madam Pomfrey had patched you up, we had you brought down here."

"Thanks." Harry replied sincerely. "What did I miss?"

"The Council has been looking further into the nature of the Fidelius charm." McGonagall answered. "When a secret keeper is killed, the charms effects discontinue until a new secret keeper is found and while Professor Dumbledore hasn't died, it seems his coma has deepened and that, apparently, was enough to negate the spell. Once You Know Who became aware that the charm was out of the way, the other wards didn't stand a chance."

"The cave has already had some wards set up around it." Remus spoke up. "The Council agrees that the old marauder hideout is the best place to continue the order's operations, at least for now. The only ward yet to be set up is the Fidelius charm and we decided that it would be best to wait for you to do that."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Well there is no obligation Harry," The werewolf answered, "but it was unanimously voted that you would be the best man for the job of secret keeper."

"Me?" Harry asked, mildly surprised. "Wouldn't Moody or Professor McGonagall be more qualified for the job?"

"Not at all." McGonagall herself responded. "The secret keeper must perform much of the charm so it makes sense to have the most powerful witch or wizard do it, that would be you. Plus, Alastair and I would also be the most obvious choices, member of the Council or not, we don't think You Know Who would suspect that we would risk making you secret keeper."

Harry fell silent and thought upon the request, but only for a couple of seconds. This was a big show of trust from the council and he would be damned if he didn't step up. "I'll do it." He said, his face set in determination.

The rest of the Council smiled at him and the meeting moved on.

"How many were injured in battle?" Harry asked.

"About fifteen or so of our lot, though fortunately none were bitten by a Nosferat and only Aberforth had to receive hospital treatment." Remus replied.

Glancing around the table, Harry wondered how he had missed the eccentric old man and instantly felt a stab of concern for his health."

"Is it serious?" He directed his question at Remus but it was Moody who answered and Harry suddenly had the horrible feeling that the old Auror given this kind of news to family and friends a million times before.

"He took an advanced cutting curse to the chest. Very quick spell that one and nasty effects." He growled. "He lost a lot of blood and one of his lungs was punctured. Pomfrey said that he was still serious but, for now, is stable."

There was a moment of silence as Harry it all in. He had never been close to Aberforth, in fact he had only spoken to him a couple of times, but he was still a member of the Council and Harry's concern was not just his own, he didn't want Dumbledore to wake up and find that his brother had been murdered. After a moment or two of silence, Harry looked up from the table at which he was staring to find the rest of the Council's eyes on him, a look of concern painted on their faces (except Moody, he just looked grumpy). He gave them a reassuring smile to show them that he was alright and the meeting progressed.

"OK, so the bad news is that we've been driven out of our headquarters by our sworn enemy, Voldemort and his forces are more powerful than ever and we have witches and wizards injured from battle, including a member of the Council, what's the good news?" Thane asked.

The room fell silent. Harry briefly considered telling them about Blaise but he knew that the less people who knew about him, the better and safer it would be.

"Well Harry seems to be mastering his elemental powers." Remus said.

"Yes, that is a good thing. Well done Remus." Thane responded. "How are the old elemental powers Harry?"

"Well they're definitely improving Thane. Thank you for asking." Harry replied. "However, you may have noticed that I've just been destroyed by Voldemort in a magical duel and spent the first half of this meeting unconscious from exhaustion."

"Yes, that could pose a bit of a problem." Remus said.

"We can't expect Mr Potter to wake up one day and have mastered his elemental powers. You Know Who was more powerful before the ritual and so he has been able to master the new powers more quickly but as long as Mr Potter trains hard, I'm sure that it will come. Overall, I'd say that he's doing very well."

Harry had the strange feeling that he had just had a sort of school report in front of the rest of the Council and, glancing around, he saw that much of the Council had had the same thought as they were all looking at McGonagall strangely and trying to hold back smiles.

"Ok, well if there is no more business, then we'll get going on the Fidelius charm. The you are dismissed." Moody said, not looking amused in the slightest at the teacher's strange comments. "Potter come with me, you better come too Weasley."

The three Weasleys on the Council looked at each other.

"Bill." Moody clarified as he saw their confusion.

Bill nodded and followed as Harry and Moody left the room. The three of them treaded the familiar, to Harry, path through the cave and outside; he assumed that Remus or Thane had told them the password to get out. "Alright Potter, listen up, because this is complicated and I don't want to tell you twice." Harry suppressed a smile at his commander's military demeanour but nodded anyway and Moody started his explanation.

For the next fifteen minutes, Harry, with a little help from Bill and guidance from Moody, placed spell after spell on the cave, tracing the limits of it with his wand and muttering long and complicated incantations. As he came to the last spell of the Fidelius charm, he stopped and closed his eyes for a second, summoning up as much power as he could so to fully protect his friends and allies. After a minute or so he opened his eyes, a serene look on his face and his eyes shining green as the air around him rippled with magical energy and he raised his wand. Bringing it down in a complicated swirling pattern, he whispered;

"Celo Integus!"

The cave glowed a deep scarlet in colour and seemed to pulsate with magical power and energy as the spell hit. This lasted for about three seconds before it returned to its usually shade of grey and Harry, with a small smile on his face, nodded in satisfaction. Looking across to his compatriots, he saw Moody nodding too and Bill beaming at him.

"Very good Potter." Moody commented. "Come, I expect the Council's waiting for us."

"Is it done?" McGonagall asked as the three men entered the room and took their seats.

"It's done." Moody replied.

"Good." McGonagall began." Now we can-"

She was interrupted by a knocking on the door and, on instinct, the Council drew their wands and pointed them towards the potential threat.

"It's Pomfrey." Moody growled, his magical eye focused on the door, or rather through, the door to the kitchen. "Come in."

The door slowly and hesitantly opened and Poppy Pomfrey walked in, a sad expression on her face and her shoulders slumped ever so slightly in defeat.

"What's the matter Poppy?" Professor McGonagall asked, concern in her voice both for her friend and the news, they were all sure, she was about to bestow.

"I'm afraid that Aberforth has passed away." Madam Pomfrey said, her voice steady but saddened.

There was a moment of shock amongst the Council as they all tried to truly take in what she had said and Harry felt a dull, throbbing sadness inside of him.

"I thought you said he was stable?" Moody asked, his voice as close to grief and sympathy as, Harry was sure, it would go.

"He was an old man Alastair" Madame Pomfrey replied, " and he was never as strong as his brother. He lost a lot of blood and went into cardiac arrest about fifteen minutes ago, all attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful. Is there any family who should be informed?"

The Council turned as one to Professor McGonagall who shook her head, her eyes disconsolate and dull.

"Just Albus." She whispered.


	6. Of Birthdays, parties and DA expansion

"What about Fred and George?" Harry suggested. He was in yet another Council meeting, the fourth since the battle only ten hours ago, the Council had worked through the night on examining wards, researching their strengthening, scouting out Voldemort's protection of their former headquarters and a million other things that had to be done following their defeat and the loss of number twelve Grimmauld place. This time, the twelve men and women of the Council were trying to decide on a replacement for the late Aberforth Dumbledore. Moody had asserted that recently the Council was getting too low in numbers and with Aberforth's death, at least one more member was needed.

"They're too young." Mrs Weasley snapped in reply, reminding Harry of their one and only argument that took place only hours before. He couldn't remember the Weasley matriarch ever being truly angry with him before, but she certainly was today, knowing that he was the only person who could have called her son, daughter and Hermione into battle. Harry had stood his ground, however, and, though she still didn't like it, she seemed to accept that Ron, Hermione and Ginny would play an active part in this war.

"I agree." Moody growled. "Potter was a special case and even Tonks is a little too young for my liking. Besides, they've only been in the Order for a year."

"Poppy Pomfrey?" Mrs Weasley suggested.

"Poppy's not even a full member of the Order." McGonagall responded. "Of course she fully supports our cause but, as a healer and a pacifist, she won't join up entirely."

Harry's mind flashed back to shortly after he had awakened from his coma and now realised why Madam Pomfrey knew nothing of how he came to be in the condition he was.

"Pomona Sprout." Remus said, bringing Harry's attention back to the Council meeting.

The Council seemed to consider this for a moment and Harry was in two minds about the suggestion. On the one hand, he had no doubts over Professor Sprouts loyalties and she had been a member of the Order for a long time, but, though he didn't know her too well, he didn't think of her as someone who would be good at making military decisions.

"As good and loyal an Order member as she is," McGonagall replied, "security and defence aren't her strongest areas of expertise. And, with the greatest respect, she isn't the most powerful of witches."

Silence fell over the meeting as each and every member of the Council wracked their brains for another candidate for the position of one of their own.

"I think I'm right in saying that all the members of the Order from the last war are either dead, in a coma, sitting around this table or have just been ruled out as a candidate." Thane chipped in, breaking the silence. "Which means that Aberforth's replacement will have to be someone who joined up shortly after Voldemort rose once more. How about Kardos?"

"Who's Kardos?" Harry turned to his right and asked his friend.

"You met him at the Fonda's house after the massacre." The Auror replied.

"What else do we know about him?" Harry asked.

It was Moody who answered. "One of the first to join up after Voldemort came back to power. He's been an Auror for about six years, good soldier, reliable, made lieutenant last year."

"He's also a friend of mine." Thane added. "I can vouch that he is a good fighter, very trustworthy and quick at making decisions."

"He has my approval." Moody growled and Tonks, Kingsley and Amelia Bones nodded as the rest of the Council thought for a moment.

"Obviously I don't really know the guy but I don't really know anyone who remains a candidate for the position." Harry said. "I trust Thane, Kardos seems a good choice."

"Then we'll take a vote. Unanimity is needed." Moody said. "All those who wish to induct Jude Kardos into the Council of the Phoenix raise your hands."

Harry put his arm in the air and saw everyone around him do so as well.

"And all those object." Moody continued and waited for a second to see if anyone raised their hand. They didn't so he continued. "Good, then if there are no further comments….pending his agreement, I pronounce Jude Kardos a member of the Council of the Phoenix. Let's get him here."

Ten minutes later, Jude Kardos was stood in front of the Council of the Phoenix looking confused and just a little intimidated as all the eyes of the Council looked upon him. The young, mid-twenties, Auror stood awkwardly, he was quite tall and thin with jet black hair, cut short like a muggle soldier and his brown eyes were alert and focused.

"Thank you for coming Lieutenant Kardos." McGonagal began. "I expect that you're wondering why we called you, and you alone, here today."

"Well, yes, to put it bluntly." Kardos replied a little nervously.

"Aberforth Dumbledore is dead." Moody cut in, earning himself a glare from Professor McGonagall.

"Well I'm very sorry to hear that sir." Kardos replied to his General, the newly recalled head of the Aurors. "But what does that have to do with me?"

"Well, the sad demise of Aberforth, leaves the Council short of members, down now from the original seventeen to twelve, even with new members recruited after the battle for the rock last year." Moody continued. "And so we need some new blood. That new blood is you Kardos, you will start immediately and, on a trial basis at first, will be a member of the Council of the Phoenix."

Kardos broke into a smile and said, "It would be an honour sir."

"Excellent." Thane replied, smiling up at his colleague and rising from his chair to give the young soldier a pat on the back. "Welcome aboard mate."

The rest of the meeting was taken up with introductions and Jude Kardos' formal inception as a member of the Council of the Phoenix.

"And on one final note." McGonagall said just as the meeting was drawing to a close, prompting groans from the wary Council. "I would like to wish Harry a happy birthday."

"What?" Harry asked in confusion before realisation dawned upon him. It was, indeed, his birthday, the last two days of solid fighting and work had completely thrown him off but it was now the morning of the 31st of July and everyone was now offering him their congratulations.

"Thanks everybody." Harry said sincerely as everyone, even Mrs Weasley, still angry at him for telling Ron, Hermione and Ginny of the battle, hugged him, patted him on the back and/or gave him their best wishes.

It was with great relief, though, that Harry exited the kitchen of the Marauder's cave, finally dismissed to go home for the night, well day, Harry reminded himself. It was now half-past nine in the morning and he was exhausted.

"Come on Moony." Harry said, interrupting the werewolf's discussion with Thane. "Let's go home. I will be spending my birthday dead to the world in my nice, comfy bed "

Remus smiled and nodded, saying his goodbyes to Thane. As they were told during the second meeting of the day, Thane's house had now been rebuilt and warded and so the Auror was moving out of his temporary residence with Remus and Harry.

"See you later Thane." Harry spoke to his friend.

"See you mate." He replied.

With that, Harry and Remus turned on the spot and apparated just in front of their front garden. Remus was about to walk to the gate when Harry pulled him back and quickly disillusioned both himself and the werewolf.

"What is it?" Remus asked as Harry led them over to a car parked on the street and crouched down behind it.

Harry held his hand up, signalling for Remus to wait, before realising that his guardian couldn't see him and saying;

"Hold on."

As the two of them sat silently, Harry reached out with his magical senses into the grounds of the house he shared with the man sat beside him. Confirming his fears, Harry spoke once more.

"Death Eaters." He whispered.

"In the house?" Remus asked in alarm.

Harry paused once more in concentration. "five inside the house, four patrolling outside, all disillusioned and obviously hoping to catch us injured and off guard, otherwise Voldemort would have sent alot more. Some of them are pretty powerful but not enough to give me too much trouble and they know it too, I can sense the fear."

Remus smiled. "Then let's give them something to be afraid about."

Harry smiled and waved his wand over the house's grounds, conjuring what seemed to be little golden sparks in the air, which slowly fell to the floor. As they did, the Death Eaters slowly came into view and Remus looked at Harry, impressed.

"A little trick I picked up from one Thane Harding." The younger wizard explained. "We are the only ones who can see them so, as far as they're concerned, they're still invisible."

"Very nice." Remus commented. "Let's go."

Still disillusioned, the two wizards stalked towards their home, their wands in their hands and invisible to all except each other. Communicating via hand signals, Remus told Harry to take the two on the left while he took the two on the right and Harry nodded in agrrement before manoeuvring himself behind the first, unsuspecting dark wizard. Sneaking up from the back, Harry covered the man's mouth intending to stun him when suddenly his mind started to cloud. He felt rage, raw and ferocious, stir up inside of him and the deepest reaches of his mind seemed to whisper to him. 'Kill him Harry.' The evil corners of his psyche spoke to him. 'This scum, he is one of them, they have taken everything from you, now take away his life.' Harry felt the beginnings of the killing curse rise from his magical core and, horrified, fought desperately to push the evil magic back down. He saw the iniquitousness of his thoughts and fought hard against them until, eventually, his mind cleared.

Though still held tight in Harry's headlock and unable to breath, the Death Eater was now struggling against what he recognised as imminent and mortal danger. Twisting his arm, he managed to point his wand at Harry's leg and he searched his mind desperately for a silent spell that could free him. It was too late, however, as Harry released a silent but powerful stunning curse from his hands and, with an eerie red glow around him, the Dark wizard passed out.

Lowering the man on to the ground, Harry shook himself before moving on to his second target, a woman of around thirty with jet black hair and cold, dark eyes. Casting a silencing charm, Harry levitated the shocked woman into the air, where she started flailing wildly, silent screams escaping her lips before she too was stunned by the red bolt of light fired from Harry's wand. As she fell limp, Harry lowered the woman down to the floor and smiled at a job well done before he heard a thump from about thirty yard away. Running around the side of the house, Harry found a sheepish Remus stooped over a dark robed figure.

'What was that?' Harry mouthed incredulously.

'Sorry I dropped him.' Remus mouthed back and Harry rolled his eyes, feeling relieved that the five Death Eaters inside hadn't all rushed out to greet them.

Pointing to the door, Harry motioned that they should blast their way in and quickly take out the remaining Death Eaters before taking out his wand once more. Waving his wand over the outer façade of the house, Harry watched with satisfaction as the wall seemed to fade, becoming translucent so that they could locate the remaining dark wizards. Remus smiled and shook his head at his young friend's ability and nodded as Harry said that he would take the three on the left, leaving the two on the right for Remus.

Allowing himself and Remus a moment to compose themselves, Harry held up three fingers; three.. two fingers; two…one finger; one. Dropping the final finger, Harry whipped his wand forward and blew the wall apart before charging into the house. He took out the first two straight away with well placed stunners but was forced to raise a shield as the third man recovered quickly and fired a bolt of deadly green in the general direction of the spells. To the side of him, Harry sensed Remus take out the two shocked dark wizards with ease, leaving only the man in front of Harry who took this moment to negate his disillusionment charm. The Death Eater's eyes widened in fear and recognition of the young wizard stood in front of him and threw down his wand and raised his hands.

Harry looked at Remus who was smiling at him.

"Taking out Death Eaters with a single look now, eh Harry?" The werewolf spoke.

"You know it." Harry replied, before silently firing another stunner and knocking out the final Death Eater. "As much as I'm loathed to say it, I think another Council meeting is in order."

After calling the meeting on his watch, Harry went with Remus outside, the unconscious Death Eaters hovering in front of him. Gathering up the four dark wizards outside the house, the two Council members then turned on the spot and flung themselves through limbo, landing a split second later in front of the kitchen door of the cave, the unconscious Death Eaters still hovering strangely in front of them.

Walking into the room, Harry and Remus found the rest of the Council, with the exception of Thane, already gathered. Some of them gasped as they saw the Death Eaters and Harry levitated them into the corner where he dropped them, unceremoniously, into a pile on the floor.

"I think we have a problem." He said, taking his seat.

"So it would seem." Kingsley said as Remus too sat down. "Where's Thane?"

"I don't know." Remus answered. "His house has been repaired so we haven't seen him since leaving the last meeting."

It was that moment that Mr. Thane Harding chose to make his appearance, walking into the room with a small cut on his cheek and four Death Eaters hovering in front of him.

"Snap!" He exclaimed as he dumped down the unconscious bodies next to the ones Harry and Remus had brought in.

"You too eh?" Thane asked, taking his seat next to Remus.

"Yep, nine of them. Obviously, I took them all on single-handedly while Harry cowered in terror." Remus replied.

"Obviously." Harry said. "Did any of them pose you a problem?"

" Yes, one of them asked what got wetter as it dries." Thane quipped, smiling. "No they didn't really, they just surprised me, catching me off guard enough to hit me with a cutting hex." Thane replied.

"It does seem strange that You Know Who would only send nine Death Eaters to Harry and Remus' place and four to Thane's, he knows how good the three of you are at duelling." Arthur Weasley commented.

"True." Harry conceded. "But he also knows that we have just been up all night having meetings and investigating the attack, all this following a huge battle after which I collapsed. If I hadn't sensed the Death Eaters as we were walking towards the house, or if we'd apparated inside, there's a chance we wouldn't have made it out."

"And if that cutting hex had been a killing curse, I wouldn't be here." Thane added.

The rest of the Council shuddered at the thought of losing three of their most powerful and skilful wizards and a silence descended over the room.

"If it was us who were ambushed," Mr Weasley began, looking thoughtful and a little frightened, "I don't know if we'd have made it out alive. Most of the kids have had training from Harry but Molly and I, and even Bill and Charlie, have learned next to nothing since Hogwarts."

"It's a good bet that most of the Order hasn't learnt much since Hogwarts." McGonagall spoke, she too looking thoughtful. "I taught most of them and some didn't even learn much back then."

"I think I know where you're all going with this." Thane said. "The Order is vastly under-trained. Obviously us Aurors are constantly training, as are a few others but we are few and far between. I've mentioned this before, we can't expect to be a fighting force to match Voldemort's army when they train and we don't."

"There are a few problems with that though." Molly Weaslyey spoke up. "Finding the time is one and there's also the issue of who would teach us."

"I'd have thought that part was obvious." Harry responded. "We would. Me and Remus and Thane, Kingsley, Tonks, Kardos, even Moody. Personally I think we have little choice if we hope to survive this war, I can teach the Order while I'm here and during the holidays but I still have school and other duties, we'd have to work out some sort of rota."

"That's quite easily done." Remus said. "Do you think that the troops will be OK with being taught by a student, even you Harry?"

"If they're not, they'll have to become OK with it." Moody spoke for the first time, his tone final. "You're right, we all put this off because we really don't have time for training along with our other jobs and duties, well we'll have to make time. We can no longer tell ourselves that our Hogwarts lessons will be enough, we will schedule lessons open to the entire Order, including the Council. No matter how experienced or powerful the witch or wizard may be, we could all learn something from the likes of Potter and Harding. Potter, you can take as many of these lessons as possible in the holiday, during term time, us Aurors and Lupin will divide the lessons between ourselves, being head Auror and having the minister of magic on side, that shouldn't be too difficult to arrange around our jobs."

During the next ten minutes, the Council of the Phoenix compared shifts and duties and slowly came up with a timetable of lessons taught by Harry, Moody, Remus, Thane, Kingsley, Tonks and Kardos. Harry was to take the first lesson the next day and, despite everything he had done, felt a twinge of nervousness in the pit of his stomach at the thought of teaching adults. With that done, the Council were reminded of the other problems at hand as a groan escaped the lips of one of Thane's Death Eaters. He was quickly silenced by another stunning curse but it had succeeded in re-focusing the Council's attention.

"Potter, Lupin, Harding, you are to remain here at the cave until we can be sure that your houses are safe again." Moody growled. "The rest of you should be careful when going home, apparate a little distance away and scan the area for magic before entering. Your lives may depend on it."

The rest of the Council nodded solemnly at their commanders words before McGonagall started to speak.

"The only issue that remains is what to do with the Death Eaters." The professor said.

"Actually," Jude Kardos spoke for the first time, "I think I may be able to help with that."

"How so?" McGonagall asked.

"Well, quite recently, I was asked by my Great Uncle for assistance in fixing up his old manor, including the dungeons." Kardos explained. "I still have the magical renovation books and with the power we have at our disposal, it would be quite simple to add a second floor underneath the cave and conjure up some dungeons. And, as we are now using the cave as Order HQ, it would be fairly easy for someone to call down there a couple of times a day to feed the prisoners, give them water and interrogate them."

"No, I can't in good faith approve of this plan." Minister Bones interjected. "These men and women should be given to the ministry, at least there they will get a fair trial and we have the resources to properly imprison them."

"I agree with Amelia." McGonagall said. "We can't do this."

"Actually," Harry chipped in, "I think it's a good idea. The thing is minister, the Death Eaters will not get a fair trial with the ministry, they will get one that is unfair and in their favour. You yourself have expressed fears over Voldemort's growing influence in the ministry and we've seen first hand his influence in the Wizengamot and, though it may not be ideal, we're at war and have to do things we wouldn't normally do."

"I agree." Moody growled. "We'll take a vote on it. All those in favour of Kardos' suggestion of detaining the prisoners here, raise your hands."

Harry, Moody, Thane, Remus, Kardos, Kingsley, Tonks, Bill and Hestia Jones all put their hands in the air.

"And all those against?"

Molly, Arthur, Professor McGonagall and Amelia Bones raised their arms.

"The ayes have it." Moody said. "Are there any other objections?"

"I don't like this Alastair." Amelia Bones spoke up. "I appreciate that the time may well come when the Order must distance itself from the ministry but that time has not yet come."

"When the ministry can guarantee fair and impartial trials, Minister, the Order will happily turn over it's prisoners." Moody replied. "Until then, we will not and, while we're not completely separating from the ministry, in some matters we need to keep our distance. Does anyone else have anything to add?"

No one spoke.

"Good, then motion passed. Potter, Harding, Lupin, can I trust you, along with Kardos, to set it up as you'll be living here anyway?"

The three of them nodded.

"Well if there is nothing else to discuss," a slightly disheartened McGonagall began, "then this meeting is adjourned."

"Have you finished the basic wards, Harry?" Thane asked. "It's getting tiresome having to stun a different Death Eater every fifteen minutes."

It was twelve hours later and after a very long and very deserved sleep, Jude Kardos was directing Harry, Remus and Thane in the construction of some dungeons underneath the Marauder cave.

"Actually, yes. I'm done." Harry replied, stepping out of the 7 foot by 7 foot cell.

One of twenty the four Council members had constructed in the last two hours, it was made of brick with one wall of glass, mirrored on the prisoner side and enabling whoever was on guard to see the prisoners.

"If we gave the Death Eater a wand, a battering ram and an army of curse-breakers," Harry continued, "they might just about be able to take off the first layer of paint."

"Good," Thane said, "because frankly I'm sick of all this house work. Remus can we go and blow something up now please."

Putting on his best puppy dog eyes, the 33 year old, battle-hardened Auror addressed the last part to his old friend. Remus rolled his eyes before replying.

"Not until you've done your chores Thane." The werewolf replied jokingly. "Now go and help Harry finish off the interrogation room."

The Auror reluctantly agreed and twenty minutes later, Kardos having excused himself and gone to work, Harry, Thane and Remus collapsed on to the sofa and plucked their well earned and magically conjured fire-whiskeys from the air.

"Shouldn't you be at work too?" Harry asked his teacher after about ten minutes of comfortable silence.

"Yeah, because my weekend has been so relaxing." Thane retorted sarcastically. "Actually, Mad-eye told me that I could take the day off as long as I do a bit of training."

"Well this is sort of training." Remus said, after taking another sip from his strong, alcoholic beverage, his feet resting on the table in front of him. "We're training our minds to work well under the influence of alcohol in case Voldemort decides to attack while we're at the pub."

"Well exactly." Thane yelled in reply, having downed his first and second glasses and conjured himself another already. "But you try to tell that to Mad-eye, apparently there's some sort of war on and we've all got to be in top duelling form otherwise we might die."

Harry smiled before flicking his wand at his older friend's glass. Just as Thane tipped the fire-whiskey back, it vanished and the Auror looked up in indignation as Harry stood and addressed him.

"I think we better get this training out of the way." The younger wizard began. "You know, before you dance naked into the duelling arena claiming to be the Norse God of awesome."

Thane rolled his eyes but stood up anyway, followed by Remus. "That only happened twice." The Auror replied as Harry led the way to his room and his trunk where the duelling chamber awaited.

Opening the compartment of his trunk, Harry allowed his two older friends to enter before him, listening with satisfaction to the shouts and thumps echoing upwards as the two men entered the chamber.

"Oh by the way," Harry began, walking into the room and addressing Remus and Thane who lay dazed on the ground, "I invited Ron, Ginny and Hermione and asked them to attack you with funny hexes and curses as you entered the trunk."

With a flick of his wand, Harry removed most of the spells on his two friends but decided to leave Thane with the purple skin and boils and Remus with the antennae.

"Who conjured the antennae?" Harry asked, turning around to face his grinning friends and girlfriend.

"That would be me." Hermione replied, rather proudly.

"Way to go Hermione." Harry commended. "I'd say that hanging around us had corrupted you but I think that ship has long since sailed."

"Sorry to interrupt." Remus interrupted, his antennae dancing around hilariously and independently of him. "But, why have we just been attacked?"

Harry smiled. "Cast you mind back four days, Remus." He began dramatically "Allow me to set the scene; it was Monday the 28th of July 1997. A meeting of the Council of the Phoenix. A young but heroic wizard by the name of Sir Harry James Potter innocently exits the kitchen of number twelve Grimmauld place when, suddenly, a foot is thrust out in front of him. Caught unawares, our hero goes tumbling to the floor, sustaining physical and lasting emotional damage. I put it to you Remus that it was your foot thrust out in to my path and now I have had my revenge."

Remus and Thane just stared at their younger friend, their eyebrows raised slightly until, casually, Thane took his wand from his pocket and flicked it in Harry's direction, making his hair grow longer and turn blonde with pink highlights.

"So," the Auror said, as if nothing was out of the ordinary, "let's get training."

The next couple of hours was spent doing just that. Magical training was, of course, the main priority but Harry soon moved on to fencing when a, now white-skinned, boil free Thane, taunted him about his abilities. Ginny, Hermione and Ron decided to have a go too and, though the girls were novices and had a bit of trouble to begin with, Ron turned out to be a good match for Harry.

"I didn't know you could fence." Harry said as his best friend skilfully disarmed him for the first time.

"My Dad taught me." Ron replied. "It's the one pure-blood tradition that he insisted we keep up. I hated it at first but in the end I think it does help your duelling ability."

"Well," Harry began, summoning his sword back to his hand, "let's see how good you are then."

The two friends sparred together for another hour, almost perfectly matched, with Ron just the superior dueller. Harry managed to score a few victories, though and, at the end of their session, sweating and exhausted, he felt that he had made some real progress. After a short break, the group moved back to magical duelling, with Harry adopting a teaching role for much of the time and making sure that his DA commanders were trained as well as he could manage. Occasionally, usually under pressure to do so by the others, Harry would train himself too, concentrating on elemental and pure light magic but also devising new and creative duelling techniques with his friends.

"So, Harry," Thane began as they exited the duelling chamber, "are we allowed to bring dates to this party of yours?"

Looking up, Harry saw a small twinkle in his older friend's eyes and he knew what he was thinking. Glancing at Ginny, he nodded towards Ron and Hermione and then Remus.

"Sure, why not?" Harry responded. "Have you got anyone in mind Remus, Ron?"

Harry had to fight desperately to hold back a smile as he, Thane and Ginny looked on in amusement as Ron, Remus and Hermione went red and the two men muttered uncomfortably and incomprehensibly.

"What about you Thane?" Harry asked.

"There may be someone at the office who has been admiring my incredible good looks and charms." The Auror replied with a smile. "And yourself?"

"I'm not sure." Harry said, glancing at his girlfriend. "I heard that Cho Chang might be available."

"Go for it mate." Thane responded as Ginny glared playfully at Harry.

"Harry aren't you taking the Order for a DADA lesson, this evening?" Hermione asked, conveniently changing the subject as the six of them collapsed onto the sofas in the living room.

"Yeah, but not until nine." Harry replied.

"So you're going to be teaching my parents how to duel?" Ron asked.

"Well I didn't realize they were coming, but I guess so."

"So what are you going to teach them then Harry?" Remus enquired.

"Them Remus?" Harry asked in reply. "You mean, you don't think that you could learn a thing or two from the master?"

"Oh I'm sure I could learn lots from this 'master' person." Remus responded. "I just don't think I could learn anything from you."

Harry grinned at his guardian's riposte. "To answer your question, I'm going to go through the basics of spell-casting, stances and wand holding in a duel,-"

"Well I'm definitely coming along now." Thane interrupted sarcastically. "The basics, wow that sounds exciting."

"Shut up." Harry said. "I'll also be teaching them some occlumency."

"You really think that it's a good idea to go rummaging through adult's thoughts and memories?" Remus asked.

"Well it can't be much worse than rummaging through teenagers' thoughts and memories." Harry replied. "I know that they won't all become masters in one session, but I'll make it a recurring theme, whenever I can take the Order for a lesson and I might talk to Moody about including it in his lessons."

"Well I've got them next week," Thane said, "and my lesson will be considerably more exciting then 'the basics'. Vampire killing curses and patronuses. Patroni? I'm going to stick with patronuses."

"Thane," Harry replied, "patronuses are the basics. Third year stuff, that is for the master here."

"Whatever you say, Harry." Ron said. "Now conjure us up some firewhiskey will you, oh master."

Harry happily obliged, opting to have a butterbeer himself, having a lessons to teach in a few hours time.

Those hours passed quickly and, in no time at all, Harry found himself in the living room of the cave, expanding the room and conjuring a stage on which he could stand.

"Good evening Professor Potter." A voice said from behind him and Harry turned to see Fred and George entering the room.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "You entered a room, coming up behind someone and didn't pull a prank, are you guys ill or something?"

"Oh we've pulled a prank Harry." Fred replied. "We just didn't think it was a particularly good idea to aim it at a powerful wizard who is allowed to fire curses at us for the next two hours."

"Probably a wise decision." Harry said. "You'd have been dancing madly on the stage with various things sprouting from your faces on the first 'demonstration' of the evening. All for your own good of course. So who is the lucky recipient of the famous Fred and George Weasley treatment?"

"Whoever the next person is to walk through that door." George responded, nodding to the entrance of the cave, which held a strange purple glow around it.

"Well, here's hoping that it's Moody." Harry said with a smile as he saw the expressions on the Weasley twins' faces turn to that of horror. "Don't worry, he's not coming." Harry added, not wanting them to take down the curse in fear.

At that moment, the entrance to the cave slid open and in walked…Nymphadora Tonks. Surprisingly, Tonks passed through the cave seemingly unscathed and walked up to Harry and the twins with a smile on her face.

"Hi Harry." She said. "You're guardian is Remus and I have a huge crush on him." Looking shocked, Tonks went bright pink and looked around, confused. "I mean, I love him and there are unmentionable things I want to do to him."

Clamping her hands over her mouth, Tonks clapped eyes on Fred and George Weasley who were now rolling around the floor with laughter.

"I'll kill you two." She yelled.

"Yes!" Fred exclaimed. "Tonks, you've just said the password."

"What password?" She demanded before slowly starting o float upwards and into the air.

Looking furious, the metamorphagus waved her wand over herself and negated the curses before starting to chase after the twins. Fred and George were forced to put their DA training to the test as curses were sent flying their way. Eventually, however, more people started to file into the room and Harry put an end to the pre-lesson entertainment as the room was soon full and he decided that it was time to begin.

"Good evening and welcome to what is quite probably your first lesson since graduating from Hogwarts." He began, standing on the conjured stage and addressing the group of around thirty Order members. As he spoke, to his own surprise, he had to force down nerves at teaching those who were, in terms of age at least, his superiors. It was quite odd, it occurred to him, but he felt that Voldemort might provide more comfortable company at this precise moment than the thirty odd witches and wizards staring up at him in anticipation. "Now I expect that some of you are wondering where a seventeen year old, such as myself, draws the authority to teach fully grown wizards how to use magic, well the answer to that one is simple, though perhaps a little big-headed. I am more powerful than you, I am a better dueler than you and what I am about to teach you could one day save your life."

It was hard to gauge the crowd's reaction but it seemed to be mostly accepting and so, without further ado, he moved on and, just as he had with the DA, started his new pupils with the basics. He was glad that he did. Again like the DA two years ago, fundamental errors were being made by many of the Order's so-called soldiers, both in dueling technique and, surprisingly seeing as they were working just with stunning curses and protego, the actual spell casting itself. For a few minutes Harry worked his way around the room but he saw the same mistakes being made over and over again and eventually decided to take to the stage and address the group once more.

"OK that was…" he began, searching for a polite to convey his true feelings, "…well pretty rubbish to tell you the truth. While all of you are successfully performing the spells, there are a lot of errors in your dueling stances and wand handling and many of you are taking an inordinate amount of time to cast the spells, time that can't be wasted in a mortal combat situation. Mr. Weasley and Tonks, can you come up here please."

Mr. Weasley, especially, looked surprised to be called up but both complied and climbed up on to the stage.

"O.K Mr. Weasley, I'd like to demonstrate with you proper dueling technique, if I may and Tonks, I want you to count to ten as Mr. Weasley and I pace away from each other. On ten, we will both turn and I will attack with a stunning curse and Mr. Weasley, you will defend with protego. I won't put much power into the curse so, if you raise the shield in time, the spell will be blocked."

Arthur Weasley nodded his acceptance and understanding and, with Harry, turned away and started to pace as Tonks began to count. Harry knew that this wasn't going to be much of a challenge. It wasn't that Mr. Weasley was a bad dueler; it was just that, like many of the others, he had a tendency to flourish his wand as he performed spells, giving an aggressor the time to attack.

"…eight…nine…ten."

As soon as the word left Tonks' lips, Harry spun on his heel, directing his wand to Mr. Weasley's chest and, for show more than anything else, crying;

"Stupefy!"

The red bolt of light flew at speed from Harry's wand and directly into the chest of a, still unprotected, Arthur Weasley. Harry felt a little guilty as the man who had treated him like a son, crumpled unconscious to the floor, but he buried those feelings, knowing that this was for his own good. He wasn't exaggerating when he had said that these lessons could save his life. To his horror, he found himself surprised that Mr. Weasley and many of his other new pupils had survived this long against Voldemort's well-trained Death Eaters.

"I am a very quick dueler," Harry started after reviving Mr. Weasley and checking that he was alright, "but Mr. Weasley hadn't even half completed his shield when my spell struck. And I'm sorry, if it seems like I'm picking on you Mr. Weasley because that's the last thing I want to do and, in truth, you're not the worst dueler here, not by a long way. What this demonstration was intended to show is that in a duel, you must not over-flourish you're wand, you are all powerful enough so that, for good but basic spells like these at least, you do not need to pause and concentrate on performing a spell. You're magic should already be at your fingertips, all you need to do is release it."

Harry paused there to let his message sink in before speaking again.

"Now, we don't really have much time this evening so I want to move on to something which I taught the DA at the start of last year and something which is incredibly important to the war effort. Occlumency. The art of defending your mind against external attack. This is not just useful in case of capture and interrogation, but it will protect you from possession and can even defend you against memory erasure. Lord Voldemort is also easily powerful enough to skim and even penetrate an unprotected mind from afar and that may be all he needs to gather the information that will cost you, your families or perhaps the person beside you their lives."

The room as a whole seemed to pale at Harry's last little speech and the boy who lived was glad. Every word of it was true and not nearly enough people realised it, plenty of Death Eaters and, of course, Voldemort himself were masters of leglimency, if their minds weren't protected, they may as well be shouting out Order secrets.

"If you would be so kind, I would like you to make a line up to the stage, where I will test and attempt to strengthen your mental defences." Harry spoke, watching with a strange feeling of power as everyone complied. "Now, everyone has natural, mental and magical defences against attacks on their minds and there are a number of fairly simple exercises that can greatly strengthen them. First of all, you should take any memories that you do not wish the enemy, me in this case, to see and put them to the back of your mind. Now cover them with memories that won't give anything away before clearing your mind completely. If, like me, you find it difficult to clear your mind then just focus on a single, innocuous memory or a feeling or emotion such as your determination to repel mental attack. Finally, imagine a huge and sturdy wall, built all around the edges of your mind and, when I attack, keep the wall strong and push it outwards, forcing me out of your mind. When I do enter your mind, and I will, I'll look only at innocent memories and search for something such as your mother's maiden name, you will see everything that I see so there's no chance of me sneaking a look at your wives or something to that effect.

With that, Harry beckoned on to the stage, George Weasley who, it had to be said, lookede a little releived at Harry's last word and the young wizard had to shake his head to stop himself from wondering what his older friend didn't want him to see. Focusing on the task at hand, Harry drew his wand and started to push, gently at first, into George's mind. The Weasley twin actually did rather well, having received some limited tutelage from Harry before. He managed to force Harry into pushing quite hard before successfully entering his mind and held out for a whole minute and a half. Withdrawing from George's mind, Harry complemented him on his efforts and gave him a few tips before moving on to the next person in line.

Like the DA almost a year before, it was very much a mixed result, with some pushing Harry's leglimency skills while others folded like paper the minute Harry applied any mental pressure. All of the 'students' went away stronger because of the experience, however, and a little later than he had hoped, Harry finally arrived at the final person in the queue; Nymphadora Tonks.

Taking his position in front of the Auror, Harry had a feeling that Tonks would not give in without a fight. He was right. The 'pushing gently' part of his mental attack was very short as Tonks easily stood up to the assault and was a match for Harry as he put on more and more pressure. She had clearly been taught occlumency before and Harry could sense her confidence growing as a new impulse hit him. The desire to prove her confidence wrong and penetrate her mind. Pushing on even harder, Harry felt Tonks' defences start to waver before they finally gave way. Entering the depths of her mind, Harry quickly found the address of her childhood home and was about to withdraw when he felt a dark and familiar presence start to cloud his thoughts and take over his weary mind. The whispers.

Harry felt a stab of fear as he felt his control start to slip and the dark side of his psyche began to dictate his actions. "She is weak!" The whispers became screams in his ear. "Destroy her! Make her beg to be released!"

Failing in his fight against his own mind, Harry found himself delving into the darkest corners of Tonks' mind, reaching out for her worst memories and fears. To Harry's horror, a dark and disturbing scene played out in front of his eyes. A young blue-haired girl, doubtlessly Tonks, watched as her Aunt writhed on the floor, screaming in agony as she was tortured by three dark cloaked figures. The young Tonks struggled to go to her Auntie's aid but was held back by a fourth Death Eater who laughed coldly in delight at the child's terror. Harry could now feel the adult Tonks pushing desperately to force him out of her mind and, with great effort, he regained control and dropped his attack, allowing himself to be pushed back out of the Auror's thoughts.

Stumbling backwards as he was forced back into reality, Harry looked up to see a shaking and shocked looking Tonks and felt terrible, all-consumingguilt rising up inside of him.

"Tonks, I am so sorry." He said sincerely, as the young Auror stood up straight once more.

"That's O.K Harry." She replied, smiling at him reassuringly, though still shaking. "I know you wouldn't intentionally make me see that. Your mind was tired and, besides, you had to push me right?"

"I guess but-"

"Say no more about it." The metaorphagus interrupted. "You are forgiven. Now, I have to go, they're expecting me at the office at eleven, but I'll see you at your party tomorrow."

"O.K." Harry replied, still feeling guilty and a little surprised that Tonks had so readily forgiven him for such an invasion of her privacy. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Tonks smiled at him once more before walking to the exit of the cave and speaking the words;

"Mischief managed."

Thus, she left Harry alone with his thoughts in the large, empty room. He sighed in disappointment in himself and felt a small twinge of fear in his stomach. The whispers were back. They had returned more powerful than ever when his mind was vulnerable and had caused distress to someone he cared about. It scared him that there was this dark force inside of him that was beyond his control and could come out at any moment and it was with a new determination that he decided to talk about this with Thane and Remus and try to find away from preventing it from happening again.

With these thoughts racing through his mind and a flick of his hand, Harry shrunk the living room back to its normal side and rubbed his eyes in exhaustion. It had been a long few days and, as he trudged out of the lounge and towards his room, Harry felt that he deserved an early night. It was with great relief that he collapsed on to his soft, warm bed and allowed the comforting arms of sleep to envelop him and ease his tired mind.

Harry woke up early the next day and, after going through his daily morning exercises, was surprised to find the cave empty. After having some breakfast, he decided to pass the time by reading one of his defence books and did so until around lunch time when he heard the cave door slide open and Thane Harding walked into his room.

"Where is everyone?" Harry asked the Auror.

"Not all of us are on holiday, Harry." Thane replied. "And a lot of us took an early shift so that we could take the afternoon to prepare."

"Prepare what?"

"Your party, obviously. So that means that you have to get out." Thane said.

"You're kicking me out of my own home?" Harry asked.

"Actually, I think you'll find that the cave belongs to the marauders, but essentially yes." Thane replied. "But don't worry; I've got someone who, I think, will provide adequate distraction for the afternoon."

"Who?"

"A certain little red-head, whose charms you can't resist."

"Conan O'Brien?" Harry asked jokingly.

"Yeah and he's a big fan, he snapped up my offer of a date with you." Thane replied.

"Well just don't tell my girlfriend."

"Speaking of girlfriends," Thane began, "guess who are now officially an item."

"You mean apart from me and Conan?"

"Remus and Tonks."

"Good for Remus." Harry said. "And Tonks, of course, though to a much lesser extent."

"Thane," a voice spoke from behind the Auror, "what happened to 'wait there, I want to reveal you dramatically?'"

"Oh, sorry Ginny." Thane apologised. "Look Harry, it's Ginny."

"Hi Gin'." Harry said.

"Hi Harry. It seems our friends and guardians have arranged us a date."

"So it would appear." Harry replied. "But how do you know that I don't already have plans? How do you know that there aren't a dozen other girls queuing up outside?"

"Because if there were," Ginny began with a smile, "I would be forced to kill both them and you."

"Well you have me convinced, where do you want to go?"

"Well seeing as it wouldn't be a good idea for us to be spotted near the cave, not that I have the foggiest where it is anyway, how about London?" Ginny suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Harry replied. "We'll get a drink in the city then go on to Diagon Alley for some lunch."

"O.K, let's go. See you later Thane." Ginny said.

"Bye Ginny." Thane replied.

"I'll see you in a bit mate." Harry added.

An hour later saw Harry and Ginny sat outside a small coffee shop in central London where Ginny ordered a cappuccino and Harry a tea.

"I never have liked coffee." He explained as the waitress brought over their drinks.

"Oh, you'll never guess what's happened." Ginny said after taking a sip of her coffee.

"You're probably right." Harry replied.

"Ron asked out Hermione." Ginny continued.

"You're joking." Harry said. "I'd have loved to have seen that."

"So would I." Ginny responded "They just went for a walk into town and when they came back they were both blushing and grinning their heads off, holding hands."

"I'm happy for them. Remus and Tonks got together as well you know."

"Wow." Ginny replied. "You're party's bringing everyone together."

"Yep, that's just the kind of guy I am." Harry responded. "I don't even have to do anything; my brilliance just spawns love wherever I go."

"Or maybe no one wanted to be dateless at you're party."

"Perhaps, but I like to think it was my brilliance." Harry said.

Ginny laughed

"Come on." She said as the two of them finished their drinks. "Let's go over to Diagon Alley, I'm starving."

Harry was about to reply, before his stomach did for him, giving a rumble that Ron would have been proud of. With a grin, Harry linked arms with his girlfriend and the two of them apparated into Diagon Alley. Once again, as he appeared in the normally bustling street, Harry was struck by how quite it was. Just as last year, many of the would-be summer shoppers had decided that the retail therapy was not worth the risk to their lives. Shopping was now carried out as a necessity only for all but the few brave.

"Let's go into the Leaky cauldron." Ginny spoke, her tone of voice betraying the same feelings that Harry felt.

Nodding in acceptance, Harry allowed himself to be led into the comparatively busy pub. Going up to the bar, Harry managed to get the attention of Tom the barman and asked for a table for two, which he was promptly given. Now extremely hungry, it didn't take the two of them long to finish their large meals once they arrived and soon the young couple was back out in Diagon Alley.

Harry spent the rest of the afternoon in Ginny's fun and comfortable company, the emptiness of the street the only dampener on the mood, a constant reminder of the war. Eventually, sitting outside Florean Fortescue's ice cream stand, Ginny checked her watch and saw that it read eight O'clock.

"I suppose we should get back." She said to Harry, reluctantly breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen between them.

"Do we have to?" Harry asked, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes.

"I'm afraid so." She replied. "As much as I'd like to, I don't think your guests would appreciate me keeping you to myself."

"The party doesn't start for another hour and a half."

"Yes but we both need to go back to the burrow to get changed."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Get changed?"

"The party requires formal wear." Ginny replied.

"I don't have any 'formal wear'." Harry responded.

"Don't worry, Hermione, I and a very reluctant Remus Lupin picked some new dress robes out for you this morning. Now stop wasting time, I only have an hour and a half to get ready as it is."  
Harry rolled his eyes but grasped Ginny's outstretched hand and apparated with her to the rickety but homey old house, known to all as 'the burrow'.

"Hello?" Harry shouted as he walked inside.

"There's no one else here." Ginny replied. "And no, that doesn't mean you can change with me in my room."

"How could you possibly think that I'd ask that?" Harry asked all too innocently.

Ginny just smiled before running up the stairs towards her room as Harry went in the direction of Ron's. Inside the small, still orange, room, Harry found his dress robes hanging up on the back of the door and had to smile at the choice Ginny, Hermione and Remus had made. They were a noble red in colour with golden piping around the shoulders; Gryffindor's colours. Having a quick shower before getting changed, Harry found himself downstairs twenty minutes later and settled himself onto the sofa for a long wake.

An hour passed before Harry was awoken from the nap into which he had fallen by the opening of a door. Jumping to his feet, he scanned the room but found no trace of dark magic and so refocused his attention to the top of the stairs. There stood the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Dressed in a long, wavy, golden dress to match his own robes, Ginny Weasley started to descend the staircase. She was a vision of perfection, seemingly glowing with beauty and radiance, her hair somehow different, accentuating her deep brown eyes which drew Harry's own. Holding them there for what seemed like an eternity as he got lost within them.

"This is just a tip Harry," She spoke, "But gaping open mouthed isn't a good look for you."

Harry forced his mouth shut and smiled. "You look absolutely gorgeous." He said, kissing her softly on the lips.

"Actually, you don't scrub up too badly yourself Mr. Potter." Ginny replied. "Are you ready to go?"

Harry laughed. "Ginny, if you didn't look so stunning, I may have had to curse you. I've been ready for the last hour."

"Then let's go."

Linking arms, the two of them walked together out of the burrow and it's new anti-apparation wards before turning on their heels and apparating away. Reappearing just outside the cave, Ginny walked forward and whispered the password;

"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

Before standing back and allowing Harry to walk inside.

"Happy Birthday!" The shout went up as Harry entered the, once again magically enlarged, room, conjuring a smile on to the young wizard's face.

"I'll let you greet your guests." Ginny whispered into his ear. "I'll go and find Ron and Hermione and we'll meet up later on."

Harry nodded before turning to the crowd.

"Thanks guys." He responded as people rushed forward to shake his hand and congratulate him on his coming of age. "Hi Remus, Tonks." He continued, walking up to his guardian who stood arm in arm with the purple haired metamorphous.

"Happy Birthday Harry." Tonks responded.

"Yeah, Happy Birthday mate." Remus added.

"Thanks you two, though it's not actually my birthday." Harry replied. "So you found a date then Remus?"

"Actually, it was me who asked Remus out." Tonks responded. "After I'd confessed my feeling to you, thanks to two certain, soon to be dead Weasleys, I felt I had little choice."

"Well congratulations and it's about time." Harry said with a smile. "Oh and don't let anyone tell you that you're a complete girl for not having the courage to ask Tonks out yourself, Remus."

"I won't." Remus replied before the new couple walked off to go and talk to Kardos and his date.

Turning away from his guardian, Harry spotted Thane coming over, his date on his arm.

"Hi Harry, meet Sarah." The Auror said, a smug smile on his face as he saw his friend's reaction. Sarah she was absolutely gorgeous, petite, with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes, a smile on her lips.

"It's an honour to meet you sir." She said, to Harry's mild bewilderment.

"Glad you could make it." Harry replied.

"Sarah, if you go over to the drinks table, I'll join you in a minute." Thane said. "I just need to talk to Harry."

Sarah complied and Harry turned to his older friend. "Sir?"

"Well, she may be a huge fan of yours who was very impressed when I told her that I was going to your party." The Auror replied. "I suppose I owe you a thank you."

"Anything to further your love life Thane." Harry replied. "She's an Auror?"

"If she was, I think the light would be in big trouble. No, she works as a secretary in the Auror office." Thane responded before walking away and joining Sarah at the drinks table as Harry turned to find…

"Blaise!" He exclaimed, perhaps a little too heartily as the Slytherin walked over to him.

"Hi Harry." Zabini replied, the conflicting expressions of dislike and fake friendship on his face convincing Harry that his friend was a better actor than he himself.

"Glad you could make it." Harry continued, bringing his enthusiasm down a few notches. "Make yourself at home, the drinks are over there by the man who is ridiculously out of his league and there are people you know milling around."

"Thanks." Blaise said before walking away and dropping the fake smile for a sneering look of contempt which he directed at Harry for the benefit of anyone watching.

Harry smiled inwardly, glancing around to see if anyone was watching. Though he didn't spot anyone, he was sure that word would get back to Voldemort one way or another. There was a spy in the Order and every single suspect had been invited, along with half of Hogwarts. Blaise would spend the next few hours in conversation with many of these suspects and students Harry didn't know so well, hinting that he hated Harry with a passion and that his feelings towards 'mudbloods' were less than friendly.

Turning his attention back to the party, Harry greeted a few more people and shook dozens of hands as he made his way through the crowd in search of his best friends and girlfriend. Spotting them stood by one of the many buffet and drink tables scattered around the room, Harry walked over to them.

"Hi Ron, Hermione." He said as he reached them.

"Happy Birthday Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, enveloping her friend in a hug.

"Happy Birthday mate." Ron greeted, giving him a friendly pat on the back.

"So, I hear that congratulations are in order." Harry said, gesturing at Ron and Hermione's joined hands. "How did this happen?"

The tips of Ron's ears went a bright red but he looked as if he was about to reply when he was cut off by loud dance music, which suddenly erupted from a DJ station previously unnoticed by Harry.

"I guess I finally found my Gryffindor courage." Ron shouted, leaning towards Harry so that he could be heard. "And I couldn't have Remus and Tonks showing me up, could I?"

A smile lit up Harry's face for the briefest of seconds before it was wiped away instantly with a tug on his arm. Ginny wanted to dance.

"Do I have to?" Harry very maturely asked.

Ginny just smiled and continued to pull him onto the dance floor where the two of them started to dance, one considerably better than the other.

"You call that dancing Harry?" Fred asked as he himself jumped about extravagantly and frankly ridiculously. "You look like you're out for a jog."

"At least I don't look like I've just been hit with a jelly legs curse." Harry shouted back, prompting a grin from the Weasley twin.

Three energetic but agonisingly long songs later, Harry managed to drag Ginny of the dance floor, followed closely by Ron and Hermione who had joined them.

"See, that was fun, right?" Ginny asked.

Harry and Ron just looked at her before the latter walked away, returning a couple of minutes later with four glasses of firewhiskey.

"Great Party Harry." Cried a slightly drunk Lee Jordan as he danced passed, pulling his date along with him.

Harry raised his glass in reply before turning back to Ron, Hermione and Ginny.

"I suppose I better go and mingle with the crowd." He said, downing his drink and putting the glass on the table beside him. "I'll be back in a bit."

For the next half an hour or so, Harry walked around the living room, talking to all of his friends in attendance including Dean Thomas, who stood with Seamus Finnegan and his date, rather surprisingly; Luna Lovegood. It was just as he was leaving that bizarre conversation when Blaise walked up to him.

"I'm going to get going now Harry." He said.

"Why so soon?" Harry asked. "The party's just getting started."

"Well I told my father that I wouldn't be too late. I'll see you at Hogwarts."

Harry nodded and said his goodbyes. This was all pre-planned, it was decided that Blaise would leave early both to emphasise the fact that he didn't want to be there and allow any watching spies to go after him and initiate the second stage of their plan. Satisfied that Blaise had left and that, for now at least, his duties as host were seen to, Harry returned to his best friends and girlfriend.

Over the next few hours, various people joined Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny, chatting to them about various things and wishing Harry a happy birthday before leaving once more. Occasionally the girls would manage to drag Harry and Ron onto the dance floor but this was rare and after a while people started to leave and the party slowed down.

"I'm really sorry Harry, but I have to go. I told my Mum that I'd be back by half past twelve." Hermione said a while later, as she checked her watch.

"Don't worry about it Hermione, I don't think the party will go on for that much longer anyway." Harry replied as Hermione gave him a hug.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said, "and happy birthday."

"I'll walk you out." A slightly tipsy Ron volunteered to everyone's surprise.

"He'll walk her out?" Ginny said as Ron and Hermione disappeared into the crowd. "Since when has my brother been a gentleman?"

"Since Hermione agreed to go out with him I think." Harry replied. "Oh and since he drunk about three glasses of firewhiskey. Five galleons say that when he comes back, he's skipping with a huge grin on his face."

"You're on." Ginny replied. "He'll be smiling after Hermione's goodnight kiss but he's not drunk enough to be skipping yet. He'll come back with more drinks and trip over his own feet."

"Well we're about to find out." Harry said as he spotted his best friend making his way through the crowd. "Huge grin, check. Drinks, check. Damn, no skipping."

"Party Time!" Ron exclaimed as he rejoined Harry and Ginny, holding three large glasses of firewhiskey, one of which was half empty, and stumbling as he neared them.

"Ron, are you sure you want to continue drinking firewhiskey?" Harry asked, surreptitiously slipping Ginny five gold coins. "I mean, it's hugely entertaining for me but I fear that I might get the blame when you make a fool out of yourself."

"Don't be silly Harry, I've never been more not drunk and focused in my entire life." Ron replied, staring aimlessly around the room.

For the rest of the conversation, Harry hardly said a word, preferring to listen to his best friend's increasingly drunken and ridiculous rantings.

"…All I'm saying is, the key to destroying Voldemort is beards. I mean look at Dumbledore, he's got a beard and he's really powerful. You'd look ridiculous with a beard Ginny, but I think it's worth the sacrifice, I mean stop being so selfish. Harry would still love you wouldn't you mate?"

"Thank God Hermione's gone." Harry whispered to Ginny as Ron was distracted by a buffet table that slowly floated by, more than likely directed by a Weasley twin wand. "I can't be sure, but I don't think drunken rambling is particularly sexy on a man."

Ginny was stopped from answering by a loud pop which rang out beside them. Ron, it seemed, had taken a chocolate frog, not finding it at all suspicious that the table had moved to him of its own accord. Disappearing from where he stood, Ron reappeared about ten feet in the air where he hung for a few seconds, before falling bodily to the ground.

"Whoa, are you O.K Harry?" He asked as he climbed to his feet.

"Yes thank you Ron, I'm fine." Harry replied. "Does anyone want another drink? I don't think firewhiskey is a particularly good idea, but I can get us all some punch."

"That would be great Harry." Ginny replied.

"I'll have a firewhiskey mate." Ron shouted in reply and Harry shook his head before walking off towards the buffet table furthest away from Fred and George Weasley.

"Great party Harry." A slightly drunk Thane Harding said as he joined Harry at the table. "Sarah certainly knows how to have some fun, if you know what I mean."

"Thane, I would have to be as drunk as Ron, not to know what you mean."

The Auror laughed. "Yes, he did look a bit out of it when he boogied past me. Mind you, that was about fifteen minutes ago, I wouldn't like to see him now. Anyway, I'd love to stay and chat Harry but Sarah's waving me over and frankly no conversation could beat what we're about to-"

"I get the picture." Harry interrupted. "I'll see you later."

Thane smiled and raised an arm as he picked up his drinks and made his way over to his date.

"Where's Ron?" Harry asked, returning with the drinks to find Ginny alone.

"He said something about Merrill expecting him back at the bakery." Ginny replied, a smile playing on her lips. "He never could take his firewhiskey, my big brother."

Harry laughed. "I guess it's just you and me then."

It was at that moment that the party music died to be replaced by a slow romantic song. Harry looked up to find Dean Thomas at the controls of the music, smiling at his friend and DA commander. Remus and Tonks were already on the dance floor, as were Thane and Sarah and most other couples at the party, leaving Harry stood rather awkwardly next to his girlfriend.

"So," he began, reluctantly, very aware that dancing was certainly not his strongest skill, "would you like to dance?

Ginny smiled back, half sweetly, half evilly, knowing full well of Harry's reservations as she replied; "I would love to."

Surprisingly, without the extravagant waltzes and jives of the Yule ball, Harry found that he was able to avoid his girlfriend's toes quite nicely and was beginning to enjoy the feeling of Ginny in his arms as they moved to the music. He smiled down at her as they moved slowly together in time and bent his head down, meeting his lips with hers in a soft kiss before suddenly pulling back.

"What is it?" Ginny asked, alarmed.

Harry bent his head down once more to whisper into her ear. "My two-way mirror has just vibrated; my spy is trying to reach me."

"Your spy?"

"My spy." Harry confirmed. "Follow me up to my room and I'll explain."

With that and a quick glance around to check that no one was watching him, Harry disillusioned both himself and Ginny and led her by the hand, away from the magically expanded living room and towards his own bedroom. Shutting the door behind him, Harry locked it and warded it with powerful charms before sitting down on his bed and motioning for Ginny to join him. She did so and, as the small, circular mirror vibrated once more, Harry pulled it out of his pocket and said;

"Blaise Zabini."

Suddenly Harry's own reflection and that of Ginny magically faded away to be replaced by the face of Blaise Zabini.

"Blaise?!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Hi Ginny." The wannabe spy replied. "So I'm guessing that Ginny has been let into our little plan Harry?"

"I haven't told her yet," Harry responded, "but, as I've said before, I have trouble keeping secrets from her."

"That's fine with me. Would you like to explain or shall I?"

"How about a joint effort?"

And so the next the next five minutes or so was spent explaining in detail, Harry's plan

o an ever more impressed, yet worried Ginny.

"Very clever." Ginny admitted as the explanation drew to a close. "Though massively dangerous of course."

"I know the dangers Ginny," Blaise assured her, "and I have agreed to the plan. If we manage to pull it off, the information I could get for the DA and the Order would be worth the risk."

"Wow, that's certainly a change from the 'I want five hundred galleons a month or I'm not joining the DA' from last year." Ginny commented.

"What can I say?" Blaise replied with a smile. "I've grown as a spiritual entity and now want only peace and love in the world.

Harry and Ginny smiled and the former spoke once more.

"So what's the latest news?" He asked.

"It went just as you expected." Blaise spoke into the two way mirror gifted to him by his commanding officer.

"They approached you?" Harry asked in reply.

"Yes, but they were cleverer than we might have hoped. The Order spy, or spies, didn't come to me directly but after the party I arrived home to be greeted by none other than our own Draco Malfoy."

"Malfoy?!" Harry exclaimed. "He's a Death Eater?"

"I wouldn't be surprised." Blaise responded. "But he could just as easily have been relaying a message from his father."

"What did he say?"

"He was most complimentary Harry, it seems that being openly hostile to you is the way to make friends in the Slytherin common room. He said that 'we', as he put it, are very impressed with me for having gained your trust and that the Dark Lord would be in touch soon."

"He didn't test you?" Harry asked. "Check to make sure that you are sympathetic to the dark? I mean a few dirty looks and implications of anti-muggleborn feelings isn't much for Voldemort to go on."

"While it's true that he 'subtly' checked my feelings in regard to you and muggleborns, he didn't use veritaserum or leglimency or anything like that. The Death Eaters were so enamored by the idea of having a spy close to you, Malfoy practically begged me to join up. It's only a matter of time before they'll be in touch again and our plan will move into its second phase."

"Excellent." Harry said, smiling at his friend in the two-way mirror. "Then, until that day, our plan continues as it is now, nice and friendly to my face, all glares and bitchiness behind my back."

"You've got it. I'll be in touch when they make contact with me."

"OK, I'll speak to you then."

Blaise's face faded from view to be replaced by Harry's own and the young wizard looked up to where his girlfriend was sitting.

"I've got to hand it to you Harry, it's a plan of sheer genius." Ginny said in response to Harry's unspoken request for comment. "And it seems to be working, but I see one possible problem."

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"What if the Death Eaters want Blaise to prove himself? What if they order him to kill or torture someone?"

"That could pose a problem." Harry admitted. "Any suggestions?"

Ginny thought for a moment. "If he could communicate to you that he was being forced to do something like that, you could call him away for a DA meeting."

"The only problem with that is that we agreed that Blaise wouldn't tell Voldemort he was in the DA. If he did then Voldemort would know that Blaise had access to our plans and movements, he wouldn't accept minor scraps of information."

"Then say he's only a minor member of the DA and is only privy to certain information. It's a risk we'll have to take otherwise we could be putting Blaise's life into serious jeopardy. We can't ask him to be a spy for us if we're not willing to take risks ourselves." Ginny said.

Harry looked closely at his girlfriend and suddenly broke into a smile.

"You're right." He said but was cut off from any further comment by a loud shout of;

"Ginny!" from downstairs.

"That's Mum, I have to go." The youngest Weasley said as she stood up from Harry's bed and gave her boyfriend a quick kiss on the lips.

"I'll see you later."

"Bye." Harry replied.


	7. Of teachers and Returning to Hogwarts

The fifty or so Nosferatu moved with incredible speed and subtlety, keeping to the shadows and moving as one, safe in the knowledge that they wouldn't be detected. In the past they wouldn't have considered such a bold invasion of the Lycans' lair but their scent had been covered by the magic of the others; their new allies, and the hated ones' eyes were too dim to see their lightening quick movements in the darkness of the night. A twig snapped underfoot and the leader of the Nosferatu saw the Lycan guard's ears perk up and his nose scanning the night for any sign of danger. He found none. Just as the others had said he would not.

Smiling a smile of satisfaction, of eager anticipation of the kill, a smile which held no traceable signs of human warmth, the lead Nosferat motioned for three of his brethren to silently take down the wolf. They complied, breaking the beast's neck with their powerful arms before draining it of blood and stalking forward towards the door of the abandoned factory, the Nottingham pack of Lycanthropes called home. Silently pushing the door open, the Nosferatu filed inside before spreading out in their pre-designated teams of three. Slowly but surely, the smaller side rooms of the factory were cleared as the Nosferatu quickly and silently killed the beasts that had stayed back from the hunt, denying themselves the feast of their victims' blood only in fear for their own lives should they linger too long.

Eventually only one room remained; the old factory floor where, the others had informed them, the bulk of the Lycans would be. The first few kills were carried out as quietly and subtly as the others, concealed by the machinery which still littered the factory floor and hid the silent Lycans' silent deaths. However, as three of the younger brethren snuck up on a large hated one, the beast turned and locked eyes with the Nosferat at the front of the small group.

"Intruders!" The beast cried. "Most hated ones!"

The Lycan was soon silenced by the fangs of the three Nosferatu, but it was too late. The pack had been alerted to their presence and gathered on the old factory floor, ready to do battle. For a few seconds, the Nosferatu and the Lycans, outnumbered two to one, stood facing each other, hissing and snarling at their most hated enemies. But soon the peace was broken and the beasts ran towards each other, pouncing, biting, wrestling and scratching, coating the floor in blood as both sides saw their brethren fall. It was not too long before the Nosferatu's superior numbers started to pay off and some of the Lycans fled as they saw their kind ripped apart by the fangs of their most hated nemeses. Eventually, the head Nosferat stood with the last Lycan left alive; helpless and bleeding, in the evil being's arms. With relish and hunger, the beast of the night jerked the wolf's head and ended its life before bending over its neck to feast on its blood.

Once his feast was complete, the beast, along with the surviving twenty of its brethren, spread throughout the factory, searching for their prize. It did not take long. Soon a Nosferat, bleeding from its battle wounds, returned, a leather bound book in its arms. The lead Nosferat smiled an evil smile. Soon the Elixir would be theirs.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

August passed by surprisingly quickly for the members of the Council of the Phoenix; it was not so much time flying because they were having fun, but because they were too busy to notice it passing by. Voldemort had moved his terror campaign up a notch and two or three times a week the Council received word of another attack but, alas, always too late. The death toll had started to rocket and the Council found their efforts to gain information constantly frustrated by their inability to get a spy into Voldemort's inner circle. Harry was tempted, oh so tempted, to try and speed up his own spy's admittance into the Death Eaters' inner core but he knew that would be counter-productive and extremely dangerous, he needed Voldemort to make the move on Blaise to make it seem real. Blaise had in fact been approached two weeks after Harry's party by Lucius Malfoy and, this time, the young wizard had to practice his new occlumency skills, taught by Harry over the two-way mirror, as the elder Malfoy skimmed his mind for any deception. None was detected and Blaise was informed that the Dark Lord would be in touch in the fullness of time.

The plan to get Blaise accepted in the Death Eaters' ranks quickly became Harry's and, indeed the Council's (though they still knew nothing about it) only constructive action in the war at the present time. The formidable body of powerful witches and wizards had been reduced to clear up work only after attacks, though it was continuing to prepare for the time when another battle would be fought. Harry had taken another lesson, as had Thane and Moody, and the Order was making good and steady progress, they were finally turning from a rag-tag bunch of witches and wizards into a proper army and Harry knew that, by the time they met the Death Eaters again, they would be much better prepared.

Harry had spoken to both Remus and Thane about the whispers and, though he was sure the teasing would come later, they were surprisingly sensitive about the issue. The two of them had basically echoed Ginny's words that that the whispers were due to the dark ritual he had undergone about a month ago, not any corruption of his soul, and that all he could do was continue to fight them and eventually they should pass. Harry agreed with their sentiments and resolved to be on constant guard, dedicating some of his training time to strengthening his occlumency skills and researching possible defences against internal mental attack.

In what seemed like no time at all, the 31st of August rolled around and it was the day before Harry's return to Hogwarts.

"As much as I love Hogwarts," Harry began, sitting at the kitchen table of the cave, eating dinner with Remus and Thane, "I can't help but feel that it's a waste of time for me to attend normal lessons. It's not like I ever learn anything new."

"True." Remus conceded. "But it can never hurt to get a reminder of the basics, besides; it's good for you to have some semblance of normality."

"And, you never know, you may learn something." Thane added. "It all depends who your new Defence against the dark arts teacher is. When I was in the role, I like to think I taught you a thing or two."

"Yeah I suppose." Harry replied, not fully understanding the significance of Thane's words at first. "Wait, you mean you're not going to be teaching this year?"

"I'm afraid not." Thane responded. "I can't exactly break the 'one year only' tradition can I? That and the fact that we're at war and I'm second in command of the Aurors. Moody re-called me to active duty after last term; I simply can't afford to take another year to teach."

"So who's replacing you?" Harry asked.

Thane smiled and shook his head. "Sorry mate, I'm not at liberty to divulge that information."

"I guess you don't know then." Harry said, hoping his childish psychological technique would convince Thane to tell him.

"Ooh, very clever Harry, now I'll have to tell you to prove that I do know."

"You're really not going to tell me?"

"Nope." Thane replied.

"I could just break into your mind and look for myself."

"I'd like to see you try."

"Remus?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Sorry mate, he wouldn't tell me either." Remus replied.

"So it's not you?"

"No, I've had my turn."

"Is it Moody?" Harry turned to Thane once more.

"Yeah because, as head of the Auror department and co-leader of the Order of the Phoenix, he doesn't have enough to do." Thane replied sarcastically.

"Do I know them?" Harry asked.

Thane just smiled smugly at his young friend and took a sip of his tea.

"Is it a man or a woman?" Remus joined.

"It might not even be a human." Thane responded.

Harry and Remus raised their eyebrows.

"O.K, it is a human." Thane conceded. "But that's all I'm saying."

With that, the conversation was over and the subject was left alone, to be brought up only occasionally during the evening to try and catch the Auror off guard.

"I was surprised at the choice of the new DADA teacher, weren't you Thane?" Harry asked as the clock struck eleven. Thane had had a few drinks and Harry hoped that his tongue might be loosened. It wasn't.

"Sorry Harry." The Auror replied.

"Fine." Harry replied, finally accepting that he wouldn't get it out of his friend. "Then I'm going to bed."

Harry awoke early the next morning with a feeling of nervous excitement in the pit of his stomach. This feeling had been present every year on the morning of the first of September since he was eleven years old. Even now, about to enter his seventh year at Hogwarts, the thought of the majestic castle, the first place he had ever truly called home, made him smile.

"Morning." Harry said cheerfully after completing his morning exercises and walking into the kitchen to find Remus and Thane sitting at the table.

"Good morning." Remus replied.

"Good morning Thane." Harry turned to his former teacher. "Heard from our new teacher, Tonks, this morning?"

"It's not Tonks." Thane replied.

Harry sighed before dropping down into a seat at the table and pulling some cereal and milk towards him.

"How are we getting to the station?" He asked, after a brief period of silence.

"Apparation." Thane replied. "We're meeting the Weasleys down there. No military escort this time mate, the Council have finally decided that you can look after yourself."

"About time too." Harry said as he finished his breakfast. "I'm going to go and finish getting packed."

Entering his room Harry spotted Hedwig in the corner. Flicking his wand to magically open her cage, he called her over and allowed her to rest on his arm. He realised now that, with the war and Ron, Ginny and Hermione constantly visiting, he hadn't paid her that much attention over the holidays. (It wasn't that the author had forgotten about her at all).

"Sorry that I haven't had much time for you recently girl." Harry spoke to the owl, summoning her a treat. "I've just been really busy and not really needed any post delivered. I promise I'll pay more attention to you when we're back at Hogwarts."

Hedwig hooted her understanding and Harry marveled at the creature's intelligence as he flicked his wand and magically packed everything into the enlarged compartment of his trunk. Having done that, he checked his wand and did a double take, for once; he was on time for the Hogwarts express. Walking into the living room, with his, now packed and shrunk down, trunk in one arm and Hedwig's cage in the other, Harry found that Remus and Thane were ready to go and, together, the three of them apparated away to King's Cross station.

Placing his trunk and Hedwig's cage on one of the station's trolleys, Harry checked that no muggle eyes were on them before walking, with Thane and Remus, through the barrier that separated platforms nine and ten. Emerging on to platform nine and three quarters, Harry was struck, as ever, by the magical quality that the old, red, steam engine seemed to possess. That train would always hold a special place in Harry's heart, when he caught it, at least, it would always taking him away from the Dursleys' and to one of the only places to ever truly feel like home.

"It looks like the Weasleys haven't arrived yet." Remus spoke, scanning the crowd for the telling group of red heads.

"You're joking aren't you Remus?" Harry asked in reply. "There are still ten minutes before the train leaves; of course they're not here yet."

"Ten minutes isn't early." Remus responded.

"Remus, you are naïve in the way of the Weasleys." Harry said. "Ten galleons say that there are less than three minutes to spare when they come charging through that barrier."

"You're on." Remus replied.

Seven minutes later, Remus was digging into his pocket and fishing out ten gold coins.

"Here you go." The werewolf said begrudgingly. "Ten galleons."

"Ten galleons for what?" Ron asked, gasping for breath as he came charging through the magical barrier.

"I'll tell you on the train." Harry replied, checking his watch and seeing that they had less then two minutes to board the train. "Hi Ginny, Hermione. Bye Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Thane, Remus."

Giving Mrs. Weasley a hug and the three men a friendly handshake, Harry levitated his possessions onto the train and, quickly finding an empty compartment, opened the window.

"I'll tell Kingsley, our new DADA teacher, hi from you." He shouted as the train started to move away.

Thane just shook his head, a smile on his face, and soon Harry was forced to sit down as the train rounded a corner and the platform disappeared from view. Shaking his head in frustration, Harry turned to his friends.

"Thane won't tell you who his replacement is then?" Ginny asked. "Dad told us this morning that he wasn't going to be our teacher again this year. It's a shame, I learnt a lot from him."

"I know," Harry replied, "I just wish that I knew if they were going to be a good teacher or not."

"Do you have any idea who it might be?" Hermione asked.

Harry shook his head. "Only that it's not Remus and it's not Tonks."

"I bet it's Kardos." Ron said. "He's definitely qualified."

"Yeah but he's an Auror and a member of the Council," Harry responded, "just like Thane."

"It could be Hestia Jones," Ginny suggested, "or maybe one of the current teachers. Personally, I think you should apply for the job Harry."

"Little sister," Ron began "it almost sound like you're implying that Harry's better at DADA than I, the great Ronald Weasley."

"Actually Ron," Ginny replied, "I'm suggesting that a flobberworm is better at DADA than you and Harry could knock you out with a twitch of his little finger."

"That might be a little more insulting if Harry couldn't knock out most adult witches and wizards with a twitch of his little finger." Hermione chipped in.

"Wow," Harry said, "this conversation is doing wonders for my ego."

Ron laughed and was about to respond when he was cut off by the compartment door sliding open.

"Anything from the trolley dears?" The old woman, affectionately known as; 'the trolley lady' asked.

Harry took some money from the winnings of his bet with Remus and bought an armful of sweets and chocolates before, as the door closed once more, the conversation restarted and the four friends tucked in to the treats.

"Sorry guys but I have to go to the prefects meeting." Hermione said as they finished their snacks.

"It's not for another fifteen minutes." Ron responded, checking his watch.

"Actually, I have to go and set it up." Hermione replied. "I'm the new head girl.

"Wow, congratulations Hermione," Ginny said, "why didn't you tell us?"

"I don't know, it just seemed kind of insignificant when compared to everything that's been happening over the past few weeks. It felt strange that I should be celebrating."

"You never have to apologise for your successes Hermione." Harry said. "We know how much you wanted this, to be honest I completely forgot about it otherwise I would have asked you."

"Good job Hermione." Ron added, giving her a kiss on the lips.

"So I'm guessing that you didn't make head boy then Ron?" Harry asked.

"No, apparently it's not school policy to reward prefects who take advantage of the perks and barely do their job." He replied as Harry shook his head in mock outrage.

"Well as long as it's not Malfoy, I don't care." Ginny chipped in.

"It's Zacharias Smith." Hermione replied. "Now, I'm sorry but I really have to go, I have to set up chairs and prepare for my speech."

With this, she rushed off, looking nervous, followed ten minutes later by Ron and leaving Harry and Ginny alone together. It didn't last. Throughout the next fifteen minutes, half of the DA stopped by the compartment and had a chat with the couple before leaving once more and pretty soon Ron and Hermione returned from their meeting. Settling back in their places, Ron pulled out his battered set of wizards chess and challenged Harry to a game as the conversation stuck on light and cheery things. Eventually and almost inevitably, however, the topic of conversation darkened as their thoughts turned back to the war. Hermione had asked about the recent spurt of attacks and Harry had to wrestle briefly with his conscience as to whether or not he should reveal classified Council information. But there was only ever going to be one winner, he never could keep anything from his friends and girlfriend.

"They have all been on seemingly random targets." Harry replied after making sure that the door was locked and warded. "Muggle towns and villages only. As far as we can tell, Voldemort's only aim, at the moment, is to spread terror over his return and he's succeeding."

"What is the Order doing to stop him?" Hermione asked.

"Everything we can," Harry responded, "which, in truth, is not a lot. Until Blaise gets into the inner circle, our information on Death Eater movements is next to nothing. One of the only things we have picked up on is quite disturbing; Snape has led three out of the last six attacks, with Voldemort taking the other six. It seems like our old teacher has found himself a cozy spot on his mater's right hand side and Lord Voldemort may have got himself an apprentice."

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny dwelled on this information until their thoughts were rudely interrupted by a noise from outside; someone was trying to open the door. With a flick of his wand, Harry unlocked it and the door went sliding open to reveal Dean Thomas.

"Hey everyone." He said. "I just wanted to stop by and say hello and thank you Harry for inviting me to your party."

"Don't mention it." Harry replied.

"You know, we're only five minutes away from Hogwarts." Dean added, nodding at their, still muggle, clothes, "You should really get changed."

The four occupants of the compartment just smiled at him before simultaneously taking out their wands and giving them a flick, magically switching their normal clothes with Hogwarts robes.

Dean raised his eyebrows. "I've got to start paying more attention in charms." He said, before walking out the compartment and closing the door behind him.

As Dean had said, five minutes later, the train slowly came to a halt at Hogsmeade station and Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione filed off and in the direction of the thestral-pulled carriages.

"First years this way please." The familiar cry went out and the four friends exchanged sad looks; the voice was not Hagrid's.

Grubbly-plank was a good teacher, but she had nothing on Hagrid and Harry felt his stomach tighten in sadness for his loss. Shaking his head to rid it of the terrible thoughts inside, Harry walked up to the nearest empty carriage and climbed aboard, only to realise that Ron, Hermione and Ginny had not joined him. They were stood outside the carriage, staring wide-eyed at the thestral.

"What?" Harry asked in confusion.

"I can see it." Ginny muttered in reply.

Harry nodded in sadness and understanding. "That's what you were riding two years ago." He said. "Kind of elegant in their own way, aren't they?"

The three of them nodded, still staring at the thestral grazing on the grass until, getting a little fed up, Harry dragged the three of them into the carriage and it began to make its way up to the magical castle that was Hogwarts. Entering the great hall and looking up to the star strewn sky that was the ceiling, Harry smiled to himself and, just for a moment, he forgot about the war, about the losses he and the Order had endured and for that split second, everything was right in the world. He was snapped out of his reverie by an elbow in the ribs, courtesy of Ginny Weasley. Looking behind him, Harry saw that a line had formed and he was attracting a few stares.

Taking his seat between Ginny and Ron, Harry diverted his attention to the top table where he searched for a new face among the familiar old teachers. There were none, the seat on McGonagall's right hand side was empty and, figuring that whoever they were must be running late, Harry turned to the door where the new first years were filing into the hall, there faces pale and full of nerves and fear. There were, he noticed, less new students than normal, he had read in the Daily Prophet that, as the war intensified and Hogwarts no longer had the protection of Dumbledore, more and more parents were choosing to home school their children. Harry himself had received no fewer than five letters from parents checking that he would be at Hogwarts this year.

Lost in his thoughts, when Harry eventually came around he realised that he had missed the sorting hat's song and the first years were now being sorted into houses. (A/N: To those of you who were wondering whether I'd find away out of writing a song again; the answer is yes). The sorting didn't take long and soon Minerva McGonagall was standing up, addressing the room for the first time as interim headmistress.

"Welcome," she began, "to another year at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. I am heartened to see so many of you returning to your education despite the hard and terrible events outside these walls. Let me assure you that you are always welcome and safe at Hogwarts and in the coming year, your teachers will not only prepare you for your future careers but will train you in self-defence in case, heaven forbid, the day comes when you are forced to fight the forces of evil for your lives. But this will all begin tomorrow, for tonight, relax and enjoy this wonderful feast."

With these final words and to the appreciative gasps of the new first years, food appeared on the hundreds of golden plates that lined the table and the student of Hogwarts tucked in to their dinners. Glancing up to the head table, Harry purposefully ignored Hagrid's chair, now occupied by Grubbly-plank, and looked to the empty chair to McGonagall's left. It was still empty.

"Still no new DADA professor." He said, turning to Ginny.

"They're probably just running late or maybe they've been called away on an operation, assuming they're an Auror or Order member." She replied.

"I can't imagine that McGonagall would appoint someone who isn't in the Order to such an important post." Harry responded.

Knowing that he'd find out who the teacher was in time, Harry forcefully silenced his curious mind and listened instead to his stomach which was screaming at Harry to tuck in to the delicious looking roast beef in front of him. It was halfway through dessert when the door to the Great hall quietly opened and a figure slipped in, largely unnoticed by the students. Harry, however, didn't miss it and elbowed Ron and Ginny with a smile on his face, pointing over to the tall, dark figure of Kingsley Shacklebolt who was now sitting himself down next to McGonagall and grinning at his fellow Council member.

"I was right." Harry bragged.

"You were bound to be right," Ron pointed out, "you guessed about twenty different names."

"I thought that Thane couldn't return because he had been recalled to active duty as an Auror?" Hermione asked.

"Kingsley is only one rank below Thane," Harry replied, "I guess they wanted their commander back but still needed an experienced Auror to train and guard Hogwarts."

"Makes sense." Ron responded. "And as long as it's not another evil, theory-obsessed, frog-like git of a teacher then I'm happy."

At the end of the meal, McGonagall stood once more and made her announcements, introducing Kingsley as the new DADA teacher, Firenze as Hagrid's replacement and Grubbly-plank as the permanent potions master in place of Snape. Harry briefly considered going over to talk to Kingsley but, as his eyes drooped, he realised that he simply couldn't be bothered; it had been a long day of travelling and he longed for his comfortable four-poster bed in the seventh year Gryffindor boys' dormitory. And so it was with great relief that, after they were dismissed by the stand-in headmistress, Harry stood and walked with Ginny, Ron and Hermione up to the Gryffindor common room and Harry collapsed fully-clothed on to his bed.

Awakening the next day, Harry went through his normal morning routine of runs and exercises before returning to his dormitory, showering, getting changed and joining his friends and girlfriend downstairs in the great hall.

"Have you got your timetables yet?" He asked as he plonked down next to Ginny and across from Ron and Hermione and grabbed himself some toast.

"Not yet." Hermione replied. "McGonagall's just coming around with them now."

Taking his timetable from the professor a short time later, Harry groaned as he saw that he had potions first thing.

"Wait," he said, realising something, "do I hate Potions?"

"I was just thinking about that the other day." Hermione replied. "We've all just always thought of Potions as a bad lesson because of Snape but, if you think about it, when Grubbly-Plank took over last year, it was really quite interesting. It's still with the Slytherins though."

"What do you two have?" Harry asked, turning to Ron, who had given up potions the previous year, and Ginny.

"I'm free as a bird mate." Ron replied with a grin. "A free period first thing on Monday morning, I love it."

"I have Herbology with the Hufflepuffs; not too bad." Ginny chipped in.

"Well we should get going." Harry said, turning to Hermione. "Grubbly-Plank can be as strict as Snape when it comes to turning up late."

As it turned out, Hermione was right. The lesson was quite interesting, they were learning about veritaserum, and with the added training he had forced himself to go through and his experience with this particular potion, Harry found himself to be quite good at the subject. And, as Harry and Hermione walked out of the cold, dark dungeon, they were doing something they never thought they would; they were speaking enthusiastically about potions, satisfied with their efforts.

They met up with Ron in the Gryffindor common room and the three of them made their way down to Defence against the dark arts, listening to Ron as he bragged that he spent his Monday morning flying his broom over the Hogwarts grounds. Good potions lesson or not, Harry was a little envious of his best mate. As planned, Harry, Ron and Hermione arrived at DADA about five minutes early to have a chat with Kingsley and, knocking on the classroom door, found a very nervous new professor.

"You spend your life battling Death Eaters," Ron said, shocked at Kingsley's nerves, "how can you possibly feel nervous about teaching DADA?"

"Don't worry; I know how you feel mate." Harry chipped in. "Teaching is a lot scarier."

Kingsley nodded in agreement.

"So why did you apply for the job?" Hermione asked, seemingly trying to distract the Auror from his nerves."

"Thane had to be recalled, we couldn't have our deputy leader off active duty, but Moody wanted a senior Auror at Hogwarts both to train you lot up and in case of an invasion." Kingsley replied.

"Well good luck." Harry said, seeing that people were starting to come into the room and taking his seat near the front of the class

"Welcome to Defence against the dark arts." Kingsley began as all the students took their seats and the conversation became a dull murmur. "I am Professor Shacklebolt and I'm assuming that, as you had Thane Harding as a professor last year and you have seen the effects that the war is happening on the wizarding world, you don't need me to tell you how important this lesson is. I'll give you no speeches, let's just move straight to the lesson itself; the use of distractions and confusion techniques in a dueling situation."

This, Harry thought, was an interesting choice of a first lesson, but a good one. Distraction and confusion were both good allies in a duel, especially against the less experienced. Ron was called up for the demonstration and Kingsley showed the class the confundus charm as well as a charm to create a bang where the wand is pointing, both spells which Harry had used in past duels and had found extremely useful. After the demonstration, the class was split into pairs, with Hermione and Ron in one pair and Harry and Dean teaming up in another, for some reason that seemed to amuse Dean, Seamus had sought out and paired up with Lavender Brown.

Harry took a teaching role for much of the lesson, assisting Dean until he could perform the two spells perfectly, which didn't take too long. Harry did find that the recapping of fairly basic spells to be surprisingly useful for him and, as the class was excused by the ring of a bell, he felt that it had been a good first lesson.

"Good job." He said, walking up to Kingsley.

"You think so?" The Auror asked.

"Absolutely." Hermione replied. "Personally, I have always found distraction and confusion techniques to be incredibly useful in duels."

"It's a technique that's often overlooked, but it is a big part of Auror training. The enemy isn't going to hit you if they're not looking at you." Kingsley spoke, confidence now reigning in his deep, booming voice.

"Well, we'd love to chat, but we have to get to Herbology." Ron said. "Well done Kingsley, good job."

With that, the three friends made their way out of the classroom and downstairs before walking outside and towards greenhouse 7. Herbology was a pretty standard lesson and, as he stood knee deep in dirt, wrestling with a large plant, Harry couldn't help but feel that it was a waste of time. The Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs all left that lesson dirty, scratched and bruised and Harry was glad to be able to get back to the comfort of his dormitory where he took a very necessary second shower of the day. Getting changed after his shower, Harry went down to the common room, his lessons now over for the day, and found Ginny sat on the sofa opposite the fire, an empty space beside her and Ron and Hermione sat in the chairs next to it.

"Good first day back?" Harry asked, giving his girlfriend a quick kiss on the lips before dropping onto the sofa.

"Not bad." She replied. "Kingsley's lesson was interesting.

"Distraction and confusion techniques?" Hermione enquired.

"Yes. I'm doing the same as the seventh years?" Ginny responded. "I'm honoured."

"Well no one has really done it before and it's important, I think he wants to get it out of the way." Harry said.

"I've just gone through these lessons," Ron began, whiningly; "can we not go through them again. Game of chess Harry?"

"Why do you always ask me?" Harry asked. "I'm the worst player in the school."

"Because you're the worst player in the school and I like winning." Ron replied.

"Well surely, if you're so good, you could take on the mighty Ginny Weasley." Harry said challengingly.

"Ginny we're having a game of wizard chess." Ron responded before going to get the board from his room.

"Yes!" Ginny exclaimed twenty minutes later as stalemate was declared.

"How did I fall for that?" Ron asked in disbelief.

"Maybe you should try actually looking at the chessboard and not Hermione." Harry responded teasingly.

"O.K. Rematch." Ron said, resetting the pieces before Ginny could argue.

For the next few hours, the four friends played chess and just relaxed, chatting and laughing about the nothing in particular as subjects like the war were carefully avoided. But one by one, as the embers of the fire slowly died, the common room started to empty. The laughter and raucousness was replaced with muted conversation and then with yawns as the students made their way to bed, soon leaving the large room with only two occupants.

"As much as I'd like to stay longer Harry," Ginny began from her position; laid across Harry's lap, "I have a lesson first thing tomorrow and, unlike you, I can't get by with five hours sleep a night."  
"Good night." Harry said, giving his girlfriend a kiss as she stood and stretched before walking off to bed.

As he sat in the dark emptiness of the common room, Harry's mind began to drift to darker things, he thought of the new problem he was sure the Council was facing. It was the last thing they needed but it seemed that Voldemort's new project was already well under way and Harry knew that he couldn't just sit back and let it happen. It was then that a plan suddenly popped, full formed into his mind. It was brilliant, perfect even, but for one small problem. The line of morality was always blurred in times of war and Harry struggled with the problem for quite some time as he sat alone, watching out of the window as the moon journeyed through the night sky. His heart told him that it was wrong but, the more he thought about it, about the possible consequences of not acting, the more he was convinced that he had no choice.

Jumping to his feet, Harry waved his wand over his body, disillusioning himself, before walking over to the portrait hall and out of the common room. Silently, he made his way through the familiar corridors of Hogwarts, skirting around Filch, Mrs. Norris and the teacher and prefect patrols with ease as he used the Marauders map to navigate his way towards the library. Moving inside, he headed not for the restricted section, but for the reference section where the newspapers were kept.

Rifling through the papers, Harry found the copy of the Daily Prophet from the night of the most recent attack. Pulling it down from the shelf, he scanned the front page and it didn't take him too long to find what he was looking for. Medea Lawrence. The only witch to be killed in the recent spate of Death Eater attacks. Replacing the paper, Harry moved over to the books on ancient wizarding families and searched for the Lawrences. They were nowhere to be found but, after a full two hours of searching, he found a reference to Medea in a list of old school prefects and found that she had recently got married to a man named Tornincasa.

Spurred on by his find, Harry quickly found the Tornincasas in a book on pureblood Italian families and jotted down the address of their family home. This done, he moved onto the rather more difficult process of writing the recently bereaved man a letter. Harry wracked his brain for some way to explain to this man, who had just lost his wife, what he wanted to do. But it was to no avail, he knew that there was no way he could contain what he wanted to say in a letter and instead, he just asked if they could meet before calling Hedwig and attaching his letter. Telling his owl the address, Harry gave her a treat before throwing her out of the library window and into the night. His task complete, made sure that he was still disillusioned before making his way out of the library and back up to the common room, all the while wondering if he was doing the right thing. It was too late now anyway, his plan was in motion and for better or worse, he had made his choice.


	8. Of Dates, DA and Espionage

Harry was somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness, between life and death, where all there was, was eternity, the darkness and the endless journey of time as it both raced and stayed perfectly still. History of magic would do that to you. It was not a particularly comfortable sleeping position, but with Professor Binns' incessant droning, humming like a lullaby in his ears, Harry had managed to drowse, resting his head on his hand and his elbow on the table, for the last hour and a half. There was only half an hour to go but, then again, time no longer had meaning, there had been half an hour left of this lesson three days ago. The strange thing was that he had actually tried to listen this time, he knew that in the endless battles of times gone by, there may be some strategy or offensive that could prove useful in the war that was currently tearing apart his world. But it didn't matter; Binns had a power for putting people to sleep that was so great that, if it could be harnessed, Voldemort himself wouldn't stand a chance.

"…off Harry Potter." Harry's head jerked up at the mention of his name, briefly worried that Binns had decided that, for once, he would pay attention to the blatant napping taking place in his classroom. "He who must not be named then disappeared for a number of years. It is thought that he spent much of his exile in Albania and ventured in to Montenegro before moving for a time to South America, in particular Peru, Chile, Brazil and Panama. During this time he avoided all human contact and made several attempts to return to a solid form..."

As he listened, Harry realised that Binns had, in fact, moved on to Modern history which, Harry thought, was odd considering that at the start of the lesson they were still in the eighteenth century. Though the professor had, of course, paid no notice to the fact that a major figure in his lesson was sat in front of him, many of the class were now looking up and glancing at Harry, speaking to each other in confusion before succumbing once more to the Binns curse and relaxing back in their seats for a nap. Curious, Harry spotted some parchment in front of Hermione; her notes, and magically summoned them over to find out why, all of a sudden, they were learning about events from his own life.

Plucking it from the air, Harry skimmed down the parchment but found that, about twelve lines into the notes, the History of magic tailed off to be replaced by doodles of otters and the word 'Ron' scrawled dozens of times across the piece of paper. Smiling to himself, Harry held the parchment up and pulled a face of mock outrage in Hermione's direction, shaking his head in 'disappointment' that she had failed to take good notes. Hermione glared at Harry in reply and summoned her notes back to her before turning back to the lesson.

A torturously long time later, the bell rang to signify the end of lessons and Hermione and Ron came over to Harry's desk.

"So what was that about?" Harry asked looking, it had to be said, more in Hermione's direction than Ron's. "Why are we suddenly learning about modern history?"

"I don't know." Hermione replied. "The last I heard, Binns was talking about eighteenth century changes in magical statute law."

"Maybe nothing happened between then and Voldemort's rise." Ron suggested.

"For over two hundred years?" Hermione asked disbelievingly. "The two hundred years that contained both world wars and the rise and fall of Grindelwald?"

During their discussion, Harry had stood from his desk and, grabbing his bag, made his way towards the door with Ron and Hermione but they were interrupted and halted by a deep voice as it spoke from behind them.

"Excuse me Mr.…" Binns said and Harry turned around to see the ghost looking straight at him.

'Potter' Harry thought, unwilling to give in and tell his teacher of six years his name. 'Come on, you've just said the name over a dozen times.'

"Mr..."

Harry sighed. "Potter sir."

"Yes, Mr. Potter, can I have a word with you?"

Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise and confusion but signaled to Ron and Hermione that they could leave and walked over to the desk where the professor was hovering.

"What is it sir?" He asked.

"Did you happen to notice that, having covered the twelfth amendment of the 1743 non-magical object charming bill, I moved past the events of the later eighteenth century and nineteenth century to more modern history?" He asked with what almost looked like an attempt at a smile.

"Actually yes sir." Harry replied, more confused than ever. "May I ask why?"

"It was in support of you and the endeavors of the Council and Order of the Phoenix on the behalf of the side of good against he who must not be named." He droned in reply, his ever-dull tone seeming to contradict his words which almost sounded enthusiastic (relatively speaking). "I postponed some moments of importance during the last two and a half centuries so as to comply with the headmistress' wishes that professors should concentrate on recent events so as to prepare children for war."

"Well thanks for your support sir." Harry replied. "I'm sorry but I have to go now, I have transfiguration in five minutes."

The ghostly professor nodded and Harry backed out of the room, more than a little confused about the conversation he had just had. Shaking his head to clear his shock at Professor Binns actually disrupting his timeline for the sake of the war, Harry looked at his watch and saw that he did in fact have transfiguration in just under fifteen minutes and headed in the direction of the classroom.

"Well it must be a hell of a relief to know you've got Binns on your side Harry." Ron laughed.

It was now the end of the day, three weeks into the new term at Hogwarts and Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were all sat comfortably in the common room talking about the day.

"I know, I mean, disrupting his timetable of lessons just for a war, next thing you know, he'll be signing up to Auror training." Harry joked in reply.

"He'll probably turn up at the next DA meeting." Ginny chipped in and the four friends fell about laughing.

"We really shouldn't laugh at him." Hermione said as she wiped away her own tears of laughter. "He's not a bad man; he just has a less than modern teaching style."

"That's putting it lightly." Harry replied. "I heard that the teaching style came free with this building."

The other three laughed but quickly stopped as they saw the expression on Harry's face abruptly change. He nodded his head in the direction of his dormitory door before getting up and leaving the comfort of the fireside sofa for his own bed where he sat, waiting for his friends and girlfriend to join him.

As they three young witches and wizard filed into the room, Harry flicked his wand to lock and ward the door before pulling out his magic, two-way mirror and saying;

"Blaise Zabini."

"Are you secure?" Blaise asked as his face replaced Harry's in the mirror.

"Yes, have there been further developments?" Harry asked.

"You could say that." Blaise replied. "I've had a message from Malfoy senior. He says that the Dark Lord wants to meet with me."

"When?"

"Tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night!?" Harry exclaimed. "That doesn't give us much time, do you know where you're going?"

"No, I was just told to sneak out of Hogwarts and to the Hog's head in Hogsmeade where I'll be met by an escort."

"That's a little inconvenient but not entirely unexpected." Harry responded. "I'll place a tracking charm on you and follow you wherever you're taken; obviously when I get there I'll negate it so that it can't be sensed."

"And the blocks and alternate memories in my mind?" Blaise enquired.

"When do you have to meet with them?"

"Midnight." Blaise replied.

"Very original." Ginny muttered.

"O.K," Harry began, "then I'll meet you in the Room of requirement at six; it shouldn't take more than an hour and a half."

"Well, I suppose that's all I need to know." Blaise responded, looking a little nervous. "I'll see you tomorrow at six."

"See you then," Harry said, "and don't worry, we've planned every detail, nothing will go wrong."

The DA lieutenant nodded before fading from view, leaving Harry's anxious reflection in his place.

"That's not an assurance you can make." Hermione said.

"I know but every precaution that can be taken, is being taken." Harry replied. "I'll get him in and out of there alive if it's the last thing I do."

Ginny looked about to say something but Harry held up his hand to stop her and reached out with his magical senses. Someone was ascending the stairs up to the dormitory. Harry quickly reversed the warding and locking charms and lay back on his bed just as Dean Thomas entered the room.

"Not interrupting anything am I?" He asked as he spotted the two girls, his eyebrows raised and a knowing smile on his lips.

"Goodnight, Ron, Harry." Hermione said, ignoring the question. "Good night Dean." She added as she left the room.

"'Night everyone." Ginny spoke before she too left the room.

"You do realise that my sister was in here with me right?" Ron asked, looking at Dean. "I don't know what you get up to around your family Dean but the Weasleys have a little thing we like to call discretion."

Harry and Dean laughed. "Ron, I saw you snogging Hermione in the common room the other day, the only reason you know the meaning of the word 'discretion' is because people so often use it in the following sentence; 'That Ron has no discretion'." Harry said.

"You're one to talk Harry." Dean began. "Remember when I caught you-"

Dean was cut off by a look from Harry and the realisation that what he was about to say may not be well received by Mr. Discretion.

"What did you catch him doing?" Ron asked.

"I caught him skipping naked around the dormitory." Dean invented, prompting a bewildered and questioning look from Harry. Dean shrugged in reply as Ron turned to Harry and started laughing.

"Well, I could listen to humiliating stories about Harry all night but I am exhausted. I'm going to sleep." Ron said.

Soon the room was filled with the red-head's snores and Harry turned to Dean, secure in the knowledge that Ron would not awaken until the next morning and even then only reluctantly.

"Why?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Well would you rather I told him that I caught you in a broom closet with his sister?"

"But why did I have to be naked?"

"I don't know, it was just the first thing that came in to my head." Dean replied.

"Well I think that says more about you than me." Harry said. "I'm going to sleep, try not to picture me naked."

"It's not you I'll have the problem with." Dean responded. "Ginny was looking very nice when I came in."

He was shut up by a pillow which flew across the room and, with incredibly accuracy, struck him in the face.

"Point taken." Dean said.

The next morning, Harry was feeling a little less light-hearted. Nerves about the plan about to be put into action were assaulting his mind and he was finding it difficult to concentrate throughout the day's lessons. This would have been bad enough on its own but Kingsley had taken to a very Thane like trick of throwing curses at people who he thought weren't concentrating. Harry walked out of that classroom considerably sorer and with much, much longer ears than when he went in.

The day did eventually pass, however, and at ten to six that evening, he found himself stood inside the Room of Requirement waiting for his lieutenant and wannabe spy to arrive. The door opened at five to and the Slytherin entered, closing the door and pausing to allow Harry to add his own wards on the room, before speaking.

"Difficult day Harry?" Blaise asked with a questioning look, as he spotted his commander's ears.

Harry looked puzzled for a second but realization quickly dawned on him and he reversed the spell before answering.

"A little bit of advice;" he began, "even if you know the spells you're learning inside out, don't daydream in Shacklebolt's lessons."

"Thanks for the tip." Blaise replied with a smile before his face turned serious once more. "I suppose we better get down to business, you know my occlumency is still a little shaky."

"That's OK; Voldemort won't be expecting you to be a master." Harry responded. "And it will be my fake memories and the blocks I place around your real ones that will protect you during the ceremony and any tests of loyalty. The occlumency I've taught you is just to protect against sneaky skimming of your mind both by Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

Blaise nodded, looking a little more confident. "So what do I need to do?" He asked.

"First of all, I need you to gather together all of your incriminating memories; every DA meeting, every exchange with me or other DA soldiers, your true feelings towards me and the light. You don't need to think of all of them, just concentrate on your allegiance with me and the DA, think of your feelings towards us and cast your mind over the meetings and then place them to the back of your mind."

Harry paused to allow Blaise to do as Harry had instructed, utilising the occlumency techniques he had been taught over the past weeks. As the young Slytherin's features relaxed, Harry knew that he could move on and gently started to push forward into Blaise's mind.

'Don't resist me.' Harry thought, knowing that Blaise could hear him. 'Just concentrate on your thoughts right at the back of your psyche.'

Harry was happy to see that Blaise was doing just that, throughout his mind, his thoughts seemed normal but, in the darkest reaches of his consciousness, there was a shining ball; his collected memories. Still careful not to disrupt the spy's focus, Harry slowly constructed mental barriers around Blaise's true memories of him, the DA and the light and reinforced them with as much power as he could, before withdrawing from his mind.

"OK, you can relax and open your eyes." Harry said as he returned to reality. "How do you feel?"

"Well my mind feels incredibly clear and I feel like my memories are sort of locked away, I can access them but only if I try. How does it feel to be protecting someone else's mind?"

"Tiring." Harry confessed. "I'm OK at the moment but as the night goes on, I will start to feel more and more drained, it's like constantly having to perform leglimency and, rather than just look at your thoughts, I have to protect them from attack."

"How will you keep it up throughout the year?" Blaise asked.

"I won't. The alarm I'll set up in your mind will tell me if your mind is being attacked and, when and if I sense it, I'll re-enter your mind then. This constant protection will only be for your initiation ceremony when you're least trusted and your mind is under constant bombardment."

Blaise nodded. "So what's next?"

"The fake memories." Harry replied. "This is the long and complicated bit."

For the next forty five minutes, Harry worked constantly, entering Blaise's mind and transferring memories into it from his own where he had carefully created the fakes. It was a long and tiresome task but, eventually, it was done and Harry withdrew from Blaise's mind once more. With the most complicated part over, Harry took little time in placing an alarm around Blaise's hidden thoughts, one that would sound in his own mind if they were being invaded.

"Is that it?" Blaise asked as Harry came out of his mind for the final time.

"That's it." Harry replied, checking his watch and seeing that it read ten minutes past seven. "Go and get something to eat, you'll need your strength for what's to come. We'll meet up at half eleven in the entrance hall. Do you think you'll be able to get past the patrols?"

Blaise smirked. "Never underestimate a Slytherin Potter."

Harry smiled. "Then, I guess I'll see you later."

Blaise nodded and waved his good bye before departing the Room of Requirement, looking a little paler than when he came in. Harry sighed, he wouldn't want to put anyone through this, but it really was the only way. The Order's lack of information was costing lives and that had to stop. His mind was still racing as he followed Blaise in exiting the room and walked up to the common room to meet up with Ron, Hermione and Ginny before he himself went for lunch. He needed his strength; it was going to be a long night.

Harry spent the rest of the evening nervously discussing the upcoming mission with Ron Hermione and Ginny, going over every possibility for the thousandth time and coming up with plans B, C and D. Eventually, however, and all too soon for Harry, the Gryffindor common room started to empty and, checking his watch, Harry saw that it was ten minutes to eleven (five minutes since the last time he had checked). Knowing that he wouldn't be able to relax, Harry excused himself and left Ginny, Dean and Seamus, Ron and Hermione having gone on prefect patrol, to walk down to the entrance hall.

Covered by a disillusionment charm, Harry took the long way downstairs and was happy to see that there was a good level of patrols in the corridors of Hogwarts. He didn't like the thought of leaving the place vulnerable while it was full of students but it was unavoidable and he had made sure that Ron and Hermione were on duty and were keeping a close eye on the entrance. Arriving at the front door and giving Ron and Hermione a discrete signal to tell them he was there, Harry only had to wait five minutes before he sensed another magical presence join him and, soon after, a small tap on the shoulder. Knowing that it was Blaise, Harry checked that he wasn't being watched before magically unlocking and opening the door and slipping outside.

"Invisibility cloak?" He asked as he walked down the path to the outskirts of the Hogwarts grounds.

"Yep." Blaise replied, pulling off the cloak as he exited the Hogwarts grounds into Hogsmeade.

"Wow, aren't they meant to be expensive?"

"Well, money is one thing I never had to go without." Blaise replied. "I heard that you have one too."

Harry nodded before realizing that he was still disillusioned and so couldn't be seen. "Yes, but mine was inherited from my Dad." He paused. "Nervous?"

"I think there'd have to be something wrong with me if I wasn't."

"Good point." Harry replied. "Don't worry too much about acting; you'd be crazy not to be terrified even if you weren't on a dangerous espionage mission."

"Thanks Harry, that's really reassuring." Blaise said before stopping, his gaze about two hundred yards in front of him. "There he is."

Harry looked up to see Lucius Malfoy's tall figure silhouetted against the midnight sky, glancing around somewhat impatiently. Holding his friend back, Harry took out his wand and waved it over him.

"What was that?" Blaise asked, curiously, but not accusingly.

"The tracking charm." Harry replied. "As soon as I've followed you to Voldemort and the Death Eaters, I'll remove it; I'm sure you don't want old Voldy to sense that Harry Potter is tracking you."

"If it's not too much trouble, no, I'd rather he didn't sense anything." Blaise said, smiling nervously.

"Ready?" Harry asked.

"Not really." Blaise responded before walking away from his friend and commander and towards the elder Malfoy.

Harry watched as the two of them exchanged a few words before Lucius took hold of Blaise's arm and disappeared into limbo. He waited a few seconds before following the signal of the tracking charm, thinking that it may hamper their plans a little if he was to land on top of his spy and his Death Eater escort. As it happened, Harry landed closer to the Death Eater circle than he was expecting and, with a rush of panic, he spotted Voldemort glance up as he undoubtedly felt a surge of power in the area. Harry quickly waved his hands over himself to disguise his magical signal and negated the tracking charm on Blaise, but his heart was still racing as Voldemort continued to stare close to his position from his place inside the Death Eaters' circle.

After what seemed like a lifetime, the Dark Lord seemed to convince himself that the power surge had been in his mind and turned to Blaise who had been standing nervously by Lucius' side. Finally, Harry had time to look around his surroundings and found that he was in a field that could have been anywhere in the country, surrounded by tall hedges and with a small village just visible in the distance. Crouching down, Harry moved stealthily towards the circle of dark wizards as he saw Voldemort start to speak. He found himself a well covered spot between a large rock and a hedge and listened as the Dark Lord addressed his friend.

"…have been most impressed with what they have seen of you young Zabini. I, however, have somewhat more discerning tastes and if you wish to join with me, you will have to convince me that your intentions match my own, your life depends on it."

Blaise nodded and Voldemort continued.

"I am a busy man, so we'll make this quick." The Dark Lord hissed as he walked away from Blaise. "I could, of course, ask you of your intentions but that would not be very thorough of me would it? And not nearly as enjoyable. Leglimens!"

With this last word, Voldemort span around and thrust his wand at towards the young spy. Blaise winced in shock and pain as the Dark Wizard assaulted his mind, powering through any mental defences the young wizards may have had. Blaise continued to squirm, held up by Malfoy senior, as Voldemort continued to attack and search his mind, basking in the pain and discomfort he was causing to the young wizard in front of him. This torture went on for a full five minutes but, eventually, Harry breathed a sigh of relief as Voldemort pulled out of Blaise's mind; the false memories had served their purpose and Harry hadn't had to enter his spy's mind to protect and hide his true intentions."

"Good," Voldemort spoke, a small and evil smile now playing on his lips, "but not enough. There are ways to fool even a master leglimens and, as a member of Potter's, what was it, DA? You could quite easily have been taught them. Snape, the Veritaserum."

Blaise still looked exhausted and in pain from the mental assault he endured and, as he prepared for his part in the operation, Harry knew that the next stage wouldn't be any easier on him. At his master's order, Snape had stepped forward from his position in the circle and was now pulling a small vial from his pocket.

"This, young Slytherin, is Veritaserum." The Dark Lord whispered, his voice nevertheless carrying across the field to Harry's position, filled with threatening menace and evil. "Three drops of this potion and you will be spilling to me, your deepest, darkest secrets. Be warned, if just one of your answers arouses in me, a trace of suspicion that you are Potter's pet, your death will be slow, it will be excruciatingly painful and it will be by my hand."

Voldemort smiled an ice cold smile before taking the vial from his senior Death Eater and pouring three drops of the clear truth-telling potion onto Blaise's tongue. As the last drop hit, Harry, who had taken careful aim at his young spy's head, fired the spell necessary for possession and felt his reality melt away as he was transported into the emptiness of Blaise's mind. Focusing, through Blaise's eyes, on the Dark Lord in front of him, Harry had to concentrate hard to hear the words;

"Are you Blaise Zabini?" Spoken from Voldemort's snake-like lips.

"Yes." Harry force Blaise to reply.

"Are you a pure-blooded wizard?" Harry felt a surge of anger at these words but, nevertheless, answered;

"Yes."

"Are you a spy, working for Harry Potter or any other witch or wizard on the side of the light?"

"No."

"To whom are you loyal?"

"To the Dark Lord. Lord Voldemort."

Voldemort smiled a triumphant smile of satisfaction as he waved his wand over Blaise to negate the effects of the Veritaserum. Harry pulled out of Blaise's mind at that moment and saw his spy regain his focus as Voldemort addressed him once more.

"Excellent. You are a worthy addition to the ranks of my inner-circle of Death Eaters, your place in Potter's DA, along with your power and pure blood place you in a unique position. From this moment forth, you will act as my spy, delivering to me all information you can gain of the movements and actions of Potter and the light. Your job is a dangerous one but, do it well, and your rewards will be great when Lord Voldemort and his armies defeat the muggle-loving fools of this world and rises to power over the wizarding world."

Harry rolled his eyes at this last little speech but the Death Eaters cheered in admiration and Blaise did a good job of looking nervously excited at his new position in the Death Eater ranks.

"Now go." The Dark Lord hissed. "You will return to Hogwarts before your absence is discovered and you will be contacted when we next meet."

Blaise bowed down and said; "Yes master."

As Blaise stood, Voldemort suddenly reached out and gripped his arm, pulling it towards him, before placing his finger on it and watching as Blaise screamed in pain. It was over in a few seconds but Blaise looked shaken as his arm was released and he stumbled back away from the Dark Lord. As Blaise pulled back his sleeve, Harry saw the grotesque outline of the Dark mark on his arm; it seemed to pulsate with dark magic and glowed in the night before disappearing completely.

"It will remain invisible and untraceable, but when I wish for you to come, you will feel it burn." Voldemort spoke. "When you do, you will concentrate on the mark and you will come to me."

Blaise nodded, his breathing ragged.

"Lucius, take him back to Hogsmeade. We will meet again soon young Zabini."

Blaise bowed once more before Lucius grabbed his arm and the two of them apparated away. Again, Harry waited a few seconds and saw the rest of the Death Eaters dismissed, before apparating back to Hogsmeade himself. Landing next to the Hog's head pub, Harry jogged to catch up with his spy who he saw, alone, a hundred yards in front of him.

"You did it." Harry spoke as he drew level with him.

"Yeah." Blaise smiled through his pain and exhaustion. "It wasn't exactly a picnic but it all came off perfectly, no need for plans B, C or D."

"We must be smarter than we thought."

"In your case Harry," Blaise replied, "that would be impossible."

Harry smiled and together the two of them walked back up to Hogwarts, sneaking back in the front door to the entrance hall where Harry gave Ron and Hermione the signal that they were back. Harry watched as the two of them locked the door once more before saying his goodbyes to Blaise and walking up the stairs to his dormitory. There, he happily collapsed onto his bed, a smile on his face as thought back on to a job well done.

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"In a duel, the only way of incapacitating an enemy or multiple enemies is to not be dead. This means that you have to avoid being hit by fatal spells." Harry addressed the DA. "There are two ways of doing this, you either block your enemy's curses or you dodge them. The advantages of dodging are; you don't have to use magic, so you won't become magically exhausted as easily, some curses can't be blocked easily; most people won't have the power to block the likes of the killing curse and while you're dodging you can launch an attack which, after all, is the best form of defence. So, for the first part of the session, I'll be showing you how to dodge, roll and fall in a duel and then we'll move on to techniques for beating multiple opponents."

It was almost a month after Blaise had successfully infiltrated the Death Eater ranks and the young spy was currently watching, along with the rest of the DA, as Harry rolled out of the way of Dean Thomas' stunner before hitting him with an 'extrudo' curse. Blaise smiled as Dean was sent flying backwards and Harry had to magically catch him to stop him from slamming into the wall. As Harry went into another speech, Blaise's mind began to drift and he thought back on the three times he had been called to Voldemort's side, the last time being just three hours ago; it hadn't been pleasant, but so far he hadn't been ordered to commit an evil act. The first two meetings had been fairly unproductive but at last, after the third, Blaise had some information to pass on to his boss.

Blaise was snapped out of his reverie when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a red bolt of light heading his way, he rolled out of the path of the stunner just in time and fired a stinging curse back at Harry who blocked it easily with a wave of his hand and smiled before carrying on the lesson. Two hours later, Harry dismissed his troops and, one by one, the wizards and witches of the DA started to file out of the room until it was just Blaise, Harry and Ginny. The latter, Blaise realised, was waiting to leave with Harry and he hesitated, but quickly decided that Harry would tell Ginny anyway so walked forward.

"I almost got you there." Harry said, conjuring three chairs and sitting down as he saw Blaise approach him.

"Almost, but not quite." Blaise replied, taking his seat and seeing Ginny do the same. "I have some information for you."

"Excellent. What did you find out?"

"Your suspicions are right Harry; Snape is definitely regarded as above all other Death Eaters, even those in the inner circle. He sits at Voldemort's side in meetings, speaks when the rest of us are supposed to be listening, has extra powers over the rest of us and receives extra training."

"So old Voldy's got himself an apprentice then." Harry responded.

"How powerful is Snape?" Ginny asked. "Is he a threat to you or the senior Aurors?"

"He's powerful enough." Harry replied. "I don't think he has enough innate magical power to match Voldemort's abilities or mine but, as we saw in the holidays, he can already put up a good fight against Thane and, if he continues to receive training, he could certainly overtake him and Moody. Did you find anything else Blaise?"

"Yes, Voldemort has indicated that, as well as carrying on the muggle attacks, he will be moving back to targeting magical targets as well. I'm not sure when or whereabouts exactly but Diagon Alley has been suggested. He's gaining more and more influence in the ministry doesn't currently have enough to take over. That's all I have at the moment."

Harry nodded. "Good, thank you Blaise. I'll pass on the information Council and make sure that the Order guards are increased and on the alert at places like Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. If you hear anything else, you can contact me at any time and let me know."

Blaise nodded and said goodbye before leaving the room and Harry and Ginny alone.

"So, Voldemort's looking at magical targets again." Ginny said. "Do you think Hogwarts is in any danger?"

Harry shook his head. "If he's not ready to take the ministry then he's not ready to take Hogwarts. But, we can talk about this later, because tomorrow is the beginning of a Hogsmeade weekend and you are a very lucky girl Ginny Weasley, because I happen to be dateless."

Ginny smiled. "Is this your cocky way of asking me on a date Mr. Potter?" She asked.

"Yes it is."

"Well then, I accept." Ginny replied. "Madam Pudifoot's here we come."

"I'd rather take Ron out on a date than go back there." Harry said. "And I think he'd accept too. I'll sort out somewhere nice to go; just don't expect me to beat Paris."

With that, the two of them walked out of the Room of Requirement and up to the Gryffindor common room where they found Ron and Hermione waiting for them.

"What took you so long?" Ron asked as they sat down next to the fire.

"Well," Harry began, "I don't know what your sister was thinking but when we were alone in the Room of Requirements, a bed appeared, so we-"

"We received some information." Ginny interrupted as Ron reached for his wand. "We'll tell you about it later."

Ron and Hermione nodded in understanding.

"So, it's Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow and Sunday Ron." Harry said. "Could this be the first big date?"

"Yes." Hermione replied as her new boyfriend's ears turned red. "We're going to Hogsmeade together and no Harry, we won't be going to Madam Pudifoot's. You've told us so many times how that placed scarred you for life; I have no desire to force Ron into the same fate. What are you two doing?"

"We're undecided." Ginny responded. "But if my big brother's going on a big date, we could follow him around, shouting things and firing funny hexes at him, what do you think Harry?"

"That's a good idea." Harry replied. "Stink bombs may add to the atmosphere quite nicely as well."

Ron smiled and shook his head, knowing full well that his best mate and sister wouldn't ruin his big date with the girl he had loved for years. "You know, I can't believe Mum thinks that Fred and George have been a bad influence on you Ginny."

Ginny just smiled and, ten minutes later, she excused herself to go to bed, soon followed by Hermione.

"I suppose I better get some rest too." Ron said as he downed the rest of the butterbeer summoned for him by Harry. "It's a big day tomorrow."

Harry wished his best mate goodnight before sitting staring into the fire as the common room started to empty, thinking of the night's developments. Taking out the watch gifted to him by the Order, Harry called a meeting of the Council for the next night before he too trudged upstairs to bed.

The next morning, after Harry's daily exercises and breakfast, found him standing in front of the mirror, Ron by his side, as the two of them got ready for their big dates in half an hour's time. In truth, they had been ready a while ago but still they stood, tampering with their clothes to make sure they looked right, Harry trying to flatten down the back of his still unruly hair.

"I'm a bit nervous about this date, mate." Ron said as he stared critically at his reflection. "Any advice?"

"You're coming to me about dating advice?" Harry asked incredulously. "Do I need to remind you of Cho? And everything's going great with Ginny so far but I could mess that up any day now."

"You better not mess it up." Ron warned.

"Are you actually encouraging me to date your sister young Ronald?"

"Until I can convince her to become a nun, you're better than someone I don't know." Ron explained. "Besides, she seems quite fond of you. Now, my date with Hermione?"

"I don't know, on TV they always say to be yourself, so don't possess anyone. Other than that, just act normally around her. Don't think of it as a big date, just as hanging out with a good friend, with privileges." Harry said.

"Thanks mate." Ron replied. "How do I look?"

"Absolutely stunning." Harry replied jokingly.

"Thanks. Time to go and meet our dates I suppose."

Harry nodded and together, the two of them walked out of the Gryffindor common room and downstairs to the entrance hall. There they stood for half an hour, repeatedly checking their watches to make sure they had the right time. Eventually, after seeing dozens of people pass by on their way into Hogsmeade and as the hall started to empty, Harry and Ron spotted their girlfriends. Harry was about to say something when Ron rushed forward and embraced Hermione, telling her how beautiful she looked.

"Hi Gin." Harry said as he walked up to his girlfriend and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "You look incredible. You look great too Hermione."

Harry added as he turned to face her. Hermione smiled and thanked him and the two couples set off down the path towards the edge of the Hogwarts grounds and Hogsmeade.

"I guess this is where we split up." Hermione said as they came to the main street of the village.

"We'll see you later then." Harry replied. "Good luck."

"Where do you think he's taking her?" Ginny asked as they watched the new couple disappearing.

"Either to a quidditch match or a chess tournament knowing Ron." Harry replied. "He'll be fine, though I doubt he'll beat Paris."

"Speaking of which, where are you taking me today Mr. Potter?" Ginny asked.

"I thought that we could walk around the town first and then we'll go somewhere, in Britain, for lunch." Harry replied.

"Sounds good to me."

"Oh and I want to make a suggestion." Harry said. "Tonight, I'm going to a Council meeting where we'll be discussing Voldemort and Snape and all that nastiness. Until then, how about no mentions of the war?"

"Deal." Ginny replied.

So for the next two hours, Harry and Ginny walked hand in hand through Hogsmeade, their conversation light and playful, stopping in the Three Broomsticks before walking up to Zonko's and Honeydukes. Only when their stomachs growled with hunger did Harry and Ginny interrupt their walk and Harry grasped Ginny's arm and apparated them into London. Walking around the capital city, the two of them spotted a muggle Italian restaurant and went inside.

"This place looks pretty expensive." Ginny said as a waiter escorted them to their table.

"Ginny, Ginny, Ginny. You forget who you're with." Harry replied. "Lord Harry James Potter, heir of Merlin and Gryffindor and head of the Potter estate."

Ginny laughed. "Sorry, I forgot that I was in the company of magical royalty Lord Potter."

"Exactly, plus a little memory charm and the bill just goes away."

"I don't think your beloved ancestors would like you taking advantage of muggles." Ginny said.

"Believe me, they aren't that beloved." Harry replied. "I had to sort out the mess Granddad Godric made with the Rock of Initium."

"So do you think Ron's panicked in conversation and made a fool out of himself yet?" Ginny asked, changing the subject as she sensed them getting ever closer to the subject of the war."

"I hope not, he was really nervous about it this morning, you know." Harry replied. "He even asked me for dating advice."

"He asked you for advice?" Ginny asked in mock incredulousness. "He must have been desperate."

"That's what I thought." Harry replied with a smile. "Naturally, I was my usually sensitive self over the issue."

"Naturally." Ginny responded sarcastically.

The conversation was briefly interrupted as the waitress walked over to their table and asked them what they would like for their starter. Opting to skip the starter, Harry went for the lasagna and Ginny chose the risotto.

"Risotto?" Harry asked. "Very fancy."

"How is Risotto fancier than lasagna?" Ginny asked.

"Because I've never heard of it." Harry replied as if it was obvious.

"And that's the definition of fancy?"

"Of course." Harry said with a smile.

Soon after, their meals arrived and Harry and Ginny spoke lightly as they tucked in to lunch. Having worked up a large appetite walking around Hogsmeade, the ravenous couple made short work of the main course and managed to finish off a dessert as well before paying and leaving the restaurant.

"I think I might have to join you on your run tomorrow morning Harry." Ginny said as she and Harry wandered aimlessly around the streets of London. "Ron would have been proud of the amount I've just eaten."

"Well, you're always welcome to join me, just be in the common room at half past six in the morning." Harry replied.

"You know what," Ginny said after a few seconds of mock consideration, "I think I'll give it a miss."

Harry smiled. "How about we go and get another drink in the three broomsticks before heading back?" He asked, changing the subject. "I could do with a few butterbeers to wash down that meal."

Ginny agreed and together the two of them apparated from London back to Hogsmeade and started walking in the direction of their favourite pub.

"Hey, that's Ron and Hermione over there." Ginny said as they were about to enter the pub, pointing to a couple sat together on a bench about a hundred yards away.

"I think you're right." Harry replied. "Do you think we should go over?"

"No. They look so cute sitting there together, leave them alone."

Harry obeyed and led the two of them from the September weather, which was gradually getting colder, and into the warm coziness of the three broomsticks public house. Inside, the couple quickly got a booth and Harry asked Madam Rosmerta for two butterbeers, which she quickly obliged. Taking a sip from his drink, Harry allowed his mind to drift, basking in the comfortable silence that had developed between him and his girlfriend.

"You know, a few years ago, I couldn't have dreamed of having a moment like this with you." Ginny eventually spoke. "There was plenty of silence, just none of it comfortable. I was just Ron's little sister who ran out of the room whenever the great Harry Potter entered the room."

"You were never just Ron's little sister Ginny." Harry said. "And it was only natural for a ten year old to be nervous around me because of my greatness and God-like tendencies."

Ginny laughed. "OK, so maybe I was never just Ron's little sister but, you have to admit, the only time you noticed me was when I was lying beneath a huge, man-eating snake."

"Well then, here's to foolish boys coming to their senses."

Ginny smiled and tapped her glass to Harry's before finishing her drink and walking with the once foolish boy out of the pub and up the path towards Hogwarts.

"Do you think Ron and Hermione are back yet?" Ginny asked as she and Harry walked up the stairs towards the Gryffindor common room.

"I hope so." Harry replied. "It all got a bit emotional towards the end of the date; I could do with a bloke to make fun of."

Ginny grinned. "Don't be too hard on him; you know how sensitive he can be on the issue of Hermione."

"I'm sure it went fine." Harry said.

Walking into the common room, Harry and Ginny found that Ron and Hermione were yet to return and so, summoning two butterbeers, they sat down on their favourite couch and chatted as they waited for their friends to arrive. Only fifteen minutes passed before the portrait hole opened once more and Ron and Hermione entered hand in hand.

"So how'd it go? Ginny asked; a smile on her face as Ron and Hermione sat down together in the same chair.

"Brilliantly." Hermione replied, blushing a little as she grinned from ear to ear. "We walked around in the countryside around the village and then Ron took me to this beautiful little country restaurant."

"You old romantic Ron." Harry teased his friend.

"You don't have to apparate across the channel to impress the ladies Harry." Ron responded.

"For your information, I didn't apparate across the channel." Harry said. "Just to London."

Ron laughed. "So you haven't messed it up yet?"

"Not yet." Harry grinned.

"Messed what up?" Ginny asked.

"Nothing." Harry replied.

For the next five minutes, Ginny and Hermione tried, to no avail, to convince a grinning Harry and Ron to tell them what they were talking about. Eventually, however, the conversation moved on but, keeping to their deal, avoided the war like the plague. The two couples told each other about their dates before moving on to quidditch and homework and all manner of subjects as they laughed and drank butterbeer together.

Sitting in his comfy chair by the fire as the light conversation around him filled his ears, Harry was reluctant to get up but he knew that, as he had called the meeting, he was expected to be the first to arrive. So, pulling himself to his feet, he excused himself from his friends and walked down to the entrance hall and then to the edge of the Hogwarts grounds where he apparated away. Appearing in the kitchen of the cave ten minutes before the meeting was due to begin, Harry sat down in his regular seat and waited for the others to arrive. The first to do so was Remus, arriving with Tonks and Harry embraced his guardian in a one armed hug before greeting the two of them.

"How have you two been?" He asked. "Has Remus messed the relationship up yet Tonks?"

"Not yet." Tonks replied and Remus glared at her playfully.

"It's good to see you Remus." Harry said.

"You too Harry." Remus replied.

"Wow, it's like some sort of re-union in here." Thane Harding said as he walked into the room. "We all only saw each other three weeks ago at the last Council meeting. So Harry, can we have a preview of what the meeting's about."

"What an interesting turn of events." Harry said, grinning evilly. "Thane Harding wants to know something that I know, I wonder if I should tell him or not."

"Oh no, I'll have to wait five minutes to find out." Thane responded in mock frustration. "That'll teach me."

The conversation was interrupted as Professor McGonagall entered the room and Harry and the others sat down as more people started to file into the kitchen.

"Thanks for coming everyone." Harry spoke as the rest of the Council took their seats. "I come to you today with news; some good, some bad. The bad news is that Voldemort has taken Snape on as an apprentice and is training him up in the Dark arts; he is also going to start targeting magical buildings and places once more. I don't know when and where exactly, but Diagon Alley has been mentioned. The good news is that I am able to bring you this intelligence because I have a new source of information."

"A spy?" Kardos asked. "Who is it?"

"I'm afraid I'm not willing to divulge that information." Harry replied.

"I realise that there may be leaks in the Order but surely in the Council we have to share information." Kardos argued.

"Potter's right." Moody ended the discussion. "The less people who know, the better. As for the threat to magical targets, I'll have the guards stepped up. Harding, I want you to organise a twenty four hour patrol of Diagon Alley with Kardos acting as team leader and Tonks, you can look after Hogsmeade. I doubt Hogwarts is a target but Shacklebolt and the teachers and Potter, of course, should keep on their guard."

"What are we going to do about the Snape problem?" Tonks asked. "The last thing we need is another Dark Lord."

"The only thing we can do is continue to train as we have been doing." Thane replied. "I knocked out the greasy haired last time and if he fancies another go, I'll do it again."

Harry smiled at his friend's enthusiasm and realised that he was right, he himself had been concentrating on the training of others, but none of them would be facing as big a challenge as he. Snape was one thing, Voldemort another entirely. He needed to start training in earnest once more.


	9. Of Stings, Spies and Being Proactive

The flames whipped around Harry's body like a tempest of fire, stripping the paint from the room's walls with its sheer and incredible heat. His conjured enemies stood no chance and, with an unearthly scream, they fell to the ground one by one, to be replaced immediately by another. The onslaught was never-ending, as he had asked the room of requirement for it to be, and soon Harry was forced to nullify the blaze in magical exhaustion. Ducking under a dark curse that was fired his way, Harry swung around and hit his opponent with a bolt of pure light magic before raising a silver shield to defend against the barrage of spells fired from the wands of his virtual foes.

Pointing his wand to the floor, Harry silently fired a propulsion charm and was sent flying into the air and above the curses still being fired relentlessly at him. As he flew upwards, Harry twisted in the air and, with a cry of; "Permultus Avada Kedavra", started firing killing curses from his wand like machine gun fire. When he touched the ground, he was the only man alive in the room, but still he knew that he couldn't afford to rest. As he knew he would, as soon as his feet touched the floor, Harry sensed another curse being sent his way as the magical room conjured more foes for him to fight. He quickly dived to the side and rolled out of harm's way before transforming, with a pop, into his Gryon form and pouncing at one of the dozen virtual wizards turning their wands on him.

The jet black beast made short work of the man but Harry was forced to change back to his human form and quickly raise a powerful shield as his other opponents attacked. His shield held up to the first barrage of spells but he was now surrounded and knew that he had to come up with something fast. Sensing the fifteen or so wizards all forcing yet more magical power to their fingertips, Harry knelt down in the middle of the circle and closed his eyes. Concentrating with all his might, just as over a dozen powerful, if fake, witches and wizards fired their curses; Harry slashed his arms vertically downwards. All around the young wizard rips started to form in the fabric of space and fifteen red bolts of magical energy were swallowed and transported into limbo. Less than half a second passed before fifteen stunning curses re-emerged from back into reality and slammed into the chests of Harry's opponents who were too late in reacting and crumpled to the floor.

Now absolutely exhausted, Harry stood up as he sealed the apparition shields before stumbling slightly and collapsing on a bed which appeared to accommodate him. Knowing that his training session was done and sensing more bodies appearing in the room, Harry waved his hand and watched as the twenty or so witches and wizards disappeared before closing his eyes. He was lying there less than five minutes when he heard the door to the room of requirement open and a voice said;

"So this is how you train. It's such a shame that we in the DA aren't at your level Harry, I think I'd enjoy this particular training regime."

"I've been down here for an hour and a half," Harry responded exasperatedly, "why did you choose this moment to come down?"

Ron smiled. "Because I didn't think that it would do for the world's saviour to Miss Defence against the dark arts."

Harry hurriedly checked his watch and saw that Ron was right, they only had five minutes before DADA and, as Harry had already discovered, Kingsley was the wrong teacher to piss off. The two young wizards made their way quickly down to the DADA classroom and just opened the door as Kingsley started to speak, prompting a glare from both their teacher and Hermione.

"Thank you for joining us Harry, Ron." Kingsley spoke. "And I'm glad you did, because I need two volunteers for a demonstration I'm about to do for the class."

Harry and Ron groaned but obligingly stood up from their desks and made their way to the front of the classroom.

"What I want to talk about today is how to deal with multiple attacking spells from one source; how to defend yourself against them and how to turn that into an offensive. Ron, you will be attacking Harry."

Ron groaned again and Kingsley grinned at the evil looking now spreading across Harry's face.

"Harry you will deal with Ron's multiple spells and turn them into an attack of your own. All spells except those capable of inflicting great pain or lasting damage are allowed, but I would prefer it, Harry, if Ron was conscious for the rest of the lesson."

Harry smiled before adopting a defensive duelling stance and waiting for his best friend's attack. Ron took some time to consider his move, desperate to at least test his friend, but after around a minute, he too adopted a duelling stance before suddenly springing forward and brandishing his wand.

"Stupefy!" He cried. "Condolesco! ElicioCanis!"

Harry rolled out of the way of the first spell before, coming back to his feet, he slashed his wand upwards, ripping a hole in space-time itself. The rip swallowed the stunning curse and, just as the summoned German shepherd pounced at him, a new rip opened and spat the curse at the dog, knocking it unconscious. With Harry distracted, Ron decided to test his friend further and shouted;

"Extrudo!"

Harry just reacted in time, but managed to cross his arms in front of himself and then tear them apart and, as the rest of the class looked on in astonishment, the extrudo curse seemed to tear in half, with one half being sent to the right and one to the left. Harry then slashed his wand and empty hand downwards once more and conjured to more apparition shields, which swallowed the two curses. There was a second, after this moment, when Harry's eyes met with Ron's and he gave his fried a small smile before opening up an apparition rip in front of him. Ron reacted with great speed and managed to roll out of the way of the first half of his extrudo curse. There was no avoiding the second half, however, as Harry opened another rip and the beam of electric blue light zoomed out and struck his friend in the chest.

Ron was sent flying backwards and Harry had to magically catch him to stop him hitting the wall, before disarming him and lowering him to the floor. Turning to face the rest of the class, Harry found them to be staring at him in awe, all that is, except Hermione and Kingsley who were both beaming at him and Ron who was looking a little dazed.

"Now, that's how I would do it." He said. "Some of you might find that a little difficult."

"Wow, that was amazing Harry! You too Ron." Kingsley exclaimed shaking his head as he wondered if the young wizard in front of him would ever cease to amaze him. "Though, as you said, Harry, it's not really an option for most of the people here. Perhaps you could show us another, simpler, way to turn defence into attack."

Harry agreed and so, extremely reluctantly, did Ron and the two of them got into duelling stances once more.

"When you're ready Ron." Kingsley said and Ron nodded in reply.

A few seconds later, Ron cried; "Stupefy! Deflagratio!"

Harry dived to the floor and rolled out of the way of the stunning curse and the powerful jet of fire that followed it, feeling the heat from his best friend's spell as it passed by just inches from his body. Coming up from the roll, Harry found himself, as he knew he would, staring in the face of another spell, this time an extrudo curse. Quickly raising a silver shield, Harry sent the electric blue bolt of light back at Ron and followed it by flinging his own shield at his friend. Ron had raised a silver shield of his own in anticipation of Harry's fight back and it absorbed the power of his own spell but was knocked loose as it was hit by Harry's heavy, metal shield. Taking advantage of this, Harry aimed his wand below his friend's displaced protective barrier and fired a silent tripping jinx at his ankle.

Ron went tumbling to the floor, only to be levitated off of it by a simply Wingardium Leviosa and then disarmed by another flick of his best mate's wand.

"Excellent." Kingsley said as Ron and Harry returned to their seats. "As you can see, simply rolling out of the way of a curse can provide ample opportunity for you to launch a counter-attack. And, as Harry showed, shields can be used as offensive weapons, but beware, this leaves you without protection and if you miss or don't knock your opponent off balance, you can be in big trouble."

Kingsley went on to lecture the class about opportunities for turning defence into attack; how to do it and when it was safe to do so. He then went on to perform a couple more demonstrations before, in what seemed like no time at all, the bell rang to signify the end of class and the students began to file out of the classroom.

"Great lesson Kingsley." Harry said as he approached his teacher. "I was actually thinking about taking the DA through something similar."

"Thanks. I've never seen that last attack before; very impressive." Kingsley commented.

"Well let's hope Voldemort has never seen it either, he shouldn't have, I got inspiration for it from an old text but the spell itself is my own."

"Have you heard anything from your spy?" The DADA professor asked after magically closing and warding the door.

"Nothing much." Harry replied with a sigh. "But there are more and more leaks coming from the Order. Voldemort seems to know every move we make, even before we do and I'm convinced that there's a spy high up in the Order's ranks."

"Do you think it's possible that it's coming from the Council?"

"I don't know," Harry said, "but I intend to find out."

"What are you going to do?" Hermione asked.

Harry was now back in his dormitory and he, Hermione, Ron and Ginny were talking about the Order's leaks.

"The Order have been stifled and rendered practically useless thanks, among other things, to the leaks of information and plans. It's essential that we find the spy or spies and deal with them, I just don't know how."

"How about a sting?" Ron suggested. "You could lure any suspects you may have into revealing their true loyalties."

"How?" Harry asked.

"Arrange a personal meeting with each of them." Ginny said. "Tell them that there's a private matter you wish to discuss alone, provide them with the perfect opportunity for Voldemort to attack while you're vulnerable."

"Just because I arrange a meeting with them, that doesn't necessarily mean that the spy, if we do guess correctly, will bring along Voldemort and a Death Eater army to attack. They will only get one chance at such a thing and they won't reveal themselves to be a traitor unless they can be sure of taking me out."

"Which is why, you need to make them sure of taking you out." Ron said, a smile on his face as the plan started to develop. "Ginny's right, the key is in emphasising your vulnerability. Tell them that you want to talk to them and them alone in a remote location, where no one will hear you scream and tell them that you want to talk about you suffering from temporary decreases in magical power, due to the ritual. There's no way that Voldemort would pass up on an opportunity like that."

Harry smiled. "Genius, though I think if I ask them to meet me somewhere where no one will hear me scream, they may get a little suspicious." He said jokingly. "There's also still the matter of who we should target."

"That's not really something we can help you with." Hermione chipped in. "You're going to have to look at the more senior Order members and decide who are absolutely trustworthy and who are potential suspects."

Harry nodded. "I'm going to have to talk to Remus; he's been in the Order longer than me. Maybe he can give me some clues as to who might have method and motive to work for betray the light."

A little under a week later, Harry had his list of the top four suspects. At the next Council meeting after his discussion with Ron, Hermione and Ginny, he had found a moment to speak to Remus in private and together the two of them discussed the mostly likely origin of the Order's leak. They spoke about the stranger members of the Order; ones who weren't well known to any of the Council but had risen quite high up the ranks and had been recruited around the time the leaks of information had begun. They ended up with four names; William Triggs, Amadeus Innocenti, Cordelia Butler and Guiomar Guerrero. Harry was now ready for the next stage of the sting.

Appearing in the magical and captivating street that was Diagon Alley, Harry allowed himself a few brief moments to look around, convincing himself that he was scouting out the area when in fact his mind had taken him back to the first time he had been to this incredible place and the sense of amazement and awe he had felt that day. Though the famous street still lacked its pre-war hustle and bustle and the atmosphere that brought, Harry still smiled as he looked around at the magical and impossible buildings around him and the oddities they sold. Eventually, however, his eye caught one particular shop and Harry refocused on his mission as he walked towards it and stepped inside.

"Mr. Potter!" A voice exclaimed in surprise and, as his eyes re-adjusted to the dimness of the shop, Harry saw a portly, balding man in his late fifties with a shocked look on his face. "I didn't expect to find you here during term time, or are you on Order business?"

"Something like that Amadeus." Harry replied, smiling at the man as if he was an old friend. "I know we have only met a few times, but I feel as if I can trust you and I need to talk to someone. The ritual I went through in June, I'm sure you heard about it, has had some rather undesirable after-effects and throughout the months that have passed since then, I occasionally find myself without magical power. Now this has happened on numerous occasions but never for a prolonged length of time, until now."

"What can I do?" Amadeus asked; his voice and face full of concern and, if he was in fact the spy, Harry had to admire his acting ability.

"I can't talk here." Harry replied. "But I'd like to meet you, tonight, in this location." He handed the man a small piece of parchment with co-ordinates and directions written on it. "It's a small clearing in the forest, a few miles away from Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. Meet me there tonight at six, come alone and, whatever you do, don't tell anyone of this conversation."

The shopkeeper nodded and Harry left him stunned and alone in his shop as he walked out; he didn't have time to hang around, he had to repeat this process three more times this afternoon.

"Is it done?" Ginny asked as Harry finally completed the second stage of his sting and joined his friends who were waiting for him in his dormitory.

"It's done." Harry confirmed as he shut and warded the door. "All four of them agreed to meet me in separate, remote locations at six this evening, coming alone, or not as the case may be."

"Why did you organise to meet them all at the same time?" Ron asked.

"I want this done as quickly as possible," Harry replied," before any more lives can be lost and if I have to do this four times, I might get tired and sloppy. There are four of us and, as we're only planning on watching them from afar and not attacking, there's no need for us all to be in the same place."

"OK. "Hermione agreed. "How are we going to stay in touch? We could use the DA coins but it would be better if we could actually speak."

"That's why we'll be using these." Harry responded, pulling four tiny mirrors from his pocket and enlarging them before handing one each to Ron, Hermione and Ginny. "I made three more copies from mine and enchanted them with all the necessary charms; just say the name of the person you wish to speak to and their face should appear. They're all connected to each other and also to Blaise's mirror, but I don't think we'll be needing him for this particular mission."

"Great." Ginny said. "Well I guess that's all we need. At about five, we can all go out and take position a couple of hundred yards away from where Harry is supposed to be meeting the suspect and just wait. If they turn up alone then we can assume, for now at least, that they're innocent and if they turn up with Voldemort and a load of Death Eaters, I think it's safe to assume that they've got something to hide."

"Sounds good to me." Ron said. "Actually, wait. How are you going to explain not showing up at the meetings?"

"I'll just send them each a message apologizing for wasting their time and saying that the problem had been resolved and I'm being called away for a meeting." Harry invented after giving the problem a moment's thought.

The other three agreed to this and, with that, the plan was finalised. And so, quarter past five that evening found an invisible Harry sitting in a tree on a cold, wet evening, staring at a clearing in the forest about a hundred yards from his position. Time passed ridiculously slowly as Harry who, in truth, was not the most patient person in the world, had to sit and wait for forty five minutes, shivering in the biting autumn breeze. Eventually, however, six O' clock came and, two minutes later, so did Amadeus Innocenti. Alone. Harry waited for another five minutes but the Order member made no attempt to ward the area, nor did he seem to be expecting anyone, and so Harry took his two-way mirror from his pocket and whispered;

"Ginny. Ron. Hermione."

All three of their faces soon appeared in the reflective glass, a nice addition of his, Harry thought.

"Innocenti is here and he's alone." Harry continued. "What's the news from the others?"

"Guerrero has been here for about ten minutes Harry; he's alone and doesn't seem to be expecting anyone." Hermione replied.

"It's the same here." Ron added.

"Ginny?" Harry asked.

"Butler is alone and she's starting to look irritated, you may be getting an abusive message pretty soon on that watch of yours."

Harry nodded, not knowing whether to feel disappointed at not having found their spy or pleased that none of these men and women had betrayed them.

"It would seem they're all clean." Harry said before climbing down carefully and quietly from the tree and fiddling around with his watch, sending messages to all four targets that his problem had been resolved and that he was being called away for a Council meeting. "I have to go." Harry continued into his mirror. "The meeting starts in five minutes, thanks for your support guys, sorry that it wasn't more productive."

Ron, Hermione and Ginny all assured Harry that it was no problem and the young wizard bade his farewells before disapparating from the field and to the kitchen of the Marauder's old cave. Most of the Council was already present and Harry just had time to greet Remus, Tonks and Thane before McGonagall stood up and the room grew silent in anticipation.

"Thank you for coming." McGonagall spoke as they took their seats, a look in her eyes that Harry didn't like at all. "I'm afraid that it is my sad duty to inform you that the Order has lost three more wizards in combat. Jonathan Winston, Paul Beadle and Richard Starkey all fought bravely in response to a Death Eater attack on a muggle village and I'm sure you will all join me in sending our sympathies to their families and thanking them for the great sacrifice they have made for the side of light."

McGonagall sat down as her speech came to an end and, though he knew none of the deceased, Harry felt a great sadness envelope him at the thought of another three lives being lost and countless others being torn apart in this bloody war.

"We can't carry on like this." He spoke, breaking the mournful silence that had spread throughout the room.

"Like what?" Remus asked.

"We can't keep playing by Voldemort's rules. Every single battle we face is dictated by him. He decides when to attack, where, with how many numbers and using what tactics and all we can do is react, do our best and hope to God that we can repel his forces and that somehow we will eventually defeat him. The Death Eaters have a huge advantage before the first curse is even thrown and it's starting to cost lives."

"What exactly do you suggest we do Potter?" Moody growled. "With limited information, we can't plan our defence and we can't be on guard everywhere, all of the time."

"We're looking at this in completely the wrong way." Harry spoke softly, leaning forward as the Council listened to the young wizard's realisation. "We're not some sort of police force, there to react when the baddies decide they want a fight, this is war and they are the enemy. We have to hit him hard and there's only one real way to do just that; tell me Remus, what, according to the old adage, is the best defence?"

Remus smiled as he realised what Harry was getting at. "You want to go on the offensive young Harry."

"You're damn right I do Moony!" Harry exclaimed in reply. "We don't have to be a reactive force, we can be and we have to be pro-active. We have to target Voldemort and his forces and we have to hit him hard."

"A good idea Potter and one that was suggested, by your father strangely enough, at the start of the first war." McGonagall responded. "But the problem we faced then is the same problem we face now. Voldemort does not share the location of his hideouts, not even with his most senior Death Eaters, he simply summons them and they come."

"That's not an insurmountable problem." Harry replied, thinking of how he had followed Blaise to a field when his spy had been inducted into the Death Eater ranks. "Voldemort may move around but the Death Eaters have to have a couple of permanent bases, you just leave it to me to find out where they are."

"If you can do that Potter, you have the Council's support." Moody said. "Find us the location of a Death Eater base and we will take it down."

Harry smiled and he leaned back in his chair, his mind already racing through possibilities as to how to track down a Death Eater base and then how to infiltrate it. He had already told Blaise to try and find out where at least one of the Death Eaters' headquarters was and he trusted his spy to come through but it wasn't in his nature to just sit back and let things happen. Deep in his reverie, Harry had failed to notice that the Council had been dismissed and was only brought back to his senses by a nudge in the ribs from his guardian.

Harry stood and said his farewells to Remus and Tonks before glancing to his left to see Thane laughing, his arm around Kardos' neck as the two of them joked around together. With a few more words to his friend, Thane said his goodbyes and raised an arm to Harry before disapparating away, leaving the young wizard in contemplation. Harry's eyes were firmly rooted to the face of Jude Kardos, who was now speaking to Moody, and his mind started to race. As the Auror lieutenant moved away from his commanding officer, Harry realised that, if he was to act, it had to be now and, as much as it killed him to do it to a friend of Thane's, he stepped forward.

"Jude," He said, drawing up to the older wizard, "can I have a word?"

"You really think it could be Kardos?" Ron asked, as he sat with his best friend in a quiet room, conjured for them by the Room of requirement.

"For Thane's sake, I hope not." Harry replied. "But we have to look at the facts; he is new to the Council and, for that matter, the Order, the leaks started soon after he became a member of the Council and he's a fairly senior Auror; a prime target for Voldemort."

"So where did you say you wanted to meet him?" Ron enquired.

"A small field a couple of miles out of Hogsmeade, very discrete; the perfect place for a sneak attack. I also have another list of three other suspects Remus and I thought worthy of investigation if the first sting came up blank." Harry replied, handing Ron a piece of paper with four names written on it, followed by a set of co-ordinates. "Those are our suspects and where I've agreed to meet them. I'll follow Kardos, you can take Conway, Hermione can tail Tritter and Ginny; Nolan."

"Don't you think we should talk to the girls about this?"

"No, let them sleep." Harry replied. "It's two o'clock in the morning, it can wait for tomorrow."

"May I ask why you didn't take that point of view with me?" Ron asked, looking pretty annoyed, not to mention exhausted, as he sat in his pyjamas.

"Is it my fault that you woke up when I came in the room?" Harry asked innocently.

"It is when you conjure water and drop it all over me."

Harry sighed and shook his head. "Ron, you can't expect me not to conjure buckets of ice-cold water and drop them from the air. You really should be more careful about where you sleep."

"You're right," Ron responded sarcastically, "my bed was a stupid place to sleep. Now, if you're finished, it is two o'clock in the morning and I'd quite like to get back to my stupid, wet bed."

The next day found Harry training furiously in the Room of requirement once more, taking on more and more of his conjured foes and branching out into ever more obscure magic and mixes of magic as he trained for the inevitable and final battle between himself and the wizard who called himself Lord Voldemort. Harry had just vanished the rest of his opponents to give himself a bit of a break when he felt the coin he always kept in his pocket start to vibrate. Taking out the DA galleon ingeniously crafted by Hermione's hand, Harry turned it on its edge and read the words;

'R of R, five minutes – Blaise.'

The message didn't take a huge amount of deciphering; Harry had given Blaise the ability to contact his DA coin directly when he had become a spy. It was for use in emergency circumstances or when urgent information had come to light and Harry felt a twinge of nervousness in his stomach as he started to transform the room of requirement from a duelling chamber to a more comfortable sitting room.

A little under five minutes later, Harry was joined by Blaise who, Harry was relieved and delighted to note, walked into the room with a smile on his face.

"You're going to love me." The spy said as he closed the door and then took a seat opposite his commander.

"I trust you have some good information for me then?" Harry asked with a smile.

"You could say that." Blaise replied. "You may recall, Harry that about a week ago, you gave me the task of trying to find out the location of a permanent Death Eater base."

"I just about recall that."

"Good, because I have been successful." Blaise said. "This morning, I was called to a meeting, nothing major, just an update on recruitment; I'll fill you in later. Anyway, on arrival, I was able to magically track the location and am now in possession of co-ordinates."

With that, Blaise dug a piece of parchment out of his pocket and slid it across the newly conjured table to Harry.

"Oh, you're very good." Harry complimented his spy. "Do you have any idea where this is?"

"Actually yes," Blaise replied, "after I arrived back from the meeting, I looked it up. Naturally, we can just apparate to the co-ordinates, but the base is located somewhere in Warwickshire."

"Excellent." Harry said, checking his watch and finding that he only he had a few minutes before he was due to meet Ron, Hermione and Ginny for dinner and then he had to go on to Charms. "Damn. I don't have time now, but how about this evening, you and I check this place out and I can see if it's a good choice for an Order attack."

"It's a date." Blaise replied with a smirk.

The rest of the day passed torturously slowly for Harry who was keen for evening to arrive so he could scout out the building he hoped he was soon to attack, so bringing about what Harry considered to be a crucial change to the war effort. Charms was nothing special, Harry was now in the enviable yet unenviable position of being about two years ahead of his classmates and found himself bored in most lessons, though he knew it was good for him to refine 'the basics'. Eventually, however, it came to an end and Harry led Ron, Hermione and Ginny up to his dormitory.

"That's brilliant Harry!" Ginny exclaimed as he finished his explanation of events. "But the sting is planned for tonight, how are you going to fit it in?"

"I only plan to have a brief look around the building and its grounds, it shouldn't take very long." Harry answered. "If you all get in position for your parts of the sting, I'll make sure I'm there in time for mine."

His three friends nodded.

"So do you think any of these will turn out to be the spy?" Ron asked.

"Or spies." Hermione added. "There's a good chance that there are more than one."

"I don't know." Harry replied honestly. "Of the people I know in the Order, I'd like to think that none of them are a spy but the ones I've lined up for the sting are those I think are most likely. Now, if you'll excuse me, ladies and gentleman, I have some espionage and reconnaissance to take care of."

With that, Harry left his dormitory and the Gryffindor common room and walked down the moving staircases of Hogwarts to the entrance hall; where he was meeting Blaise. Arriving five minutes before they had agreed, Harry found his spy already there and he disillusioned them both before, together, the two of them left the castle. Coming to the edge of the grounds and the anti-apparition wards, Harry turned to Blaise.

"Ready?"

"I'll see you there." The Slytherin replied before the two of them turned on their heels and flung themselves through limbo, apparating to the co-ordinates they had memorised.

The two wizards appeared in a large expanse of land with seemingly nothing in it, about fifty yards apart and, using his magical senses to guide him, Harry walked over to his spy.

"I can feel a huge amount of magical power coming from about five hundred yards south of us." He said. "That must be the building."

"Can you make it so that we can actually see it?" Blaise asked.

Harry thought for a moment. "As Voldemort's not here, I think it's fairly safe for me to lower the first layer of wards."

After these words, Harry fell silent and Blaise didn't say a word as he sensed him working. A couple of minutes later, Blaise saw a flicker where the Harry said the headquarters was and, after a few seconds a large, Georgian manor house appeared where once there had been nothing. Safe in the knowledge that he was effectively invisible, Harry stalked forward towards the house and pulled something from his pocket.

"What's that?" Blaise asked.

"Omnioculars." Harry replied. "I knew there was a reason I kept them all these years."

As he looked at the manor, Harry saw the lights flicker on behind the curtained windows and instinctively threw himself to the floor.

"You're sure they can't sense us?" Blaise asked as Harry adjusted the Omnioculars and zoomed in on the large, dark manor house a couple of hundred yards away.

"If Voldemort couldn't sense me at your Death Eater induction, his wards aren't going to pick us up now, but there is no need to be overly overt about our location, sight and magical senses aren't the only way we can be found." Harry replied. "The windows are blocked and there are wards to prevent magical scanning. But I can still feel a lot of magical energy coming off the place. I'd guess that there are around two hundred wizards and witches in there, though in the ten minutes or so that we've been here no one has come in or out the door."

"The doors are never used." Blaise responded, shifting his position to get more comfortable as the dampness of the grass started to permeate his clothes. "Not in any of the Headquarters. No one is supposed to know their locations, strictly apparation only."

"I know that no one is supposed to know where the HQs are, I just assumed that Voldemort had warded the place to make it unplottable" Harry replied. "How did you find out where the place was?"

"Actually I got the idea from you." Blaise said with a smile. "I placed a tracking charm on myself, which I traced when I got back from a meeting. All of the other HQs are old, abandoned pure-blood homes, but this one is new. I gambled that Voldemort wouldn't have sent up an anti-tracking ward."

Harry grinned at his spy. "It's always the simple things. He's so focused on looking for all the obscure ways we could track him, he forgets to protect against simple charms. I would, however, remove it before the next meeting, the last thing we need is Voldy sensing the charm and matching it to your magical signature."

Blaise nodded. "Are we going to be here much longer Harry?" He asked. "As much as I enjoy laying on wet grass on a cold night, I don't think we're going to learn anything else tonight."

"It's just so tempting to attack." Harry whispered in reply. "In that building, only two hundred yards away, there are two hundred unsuspecting Death Eaters and information possibly vital to the war effort."

"But, unsuspecting or not, those Death Eaters do have wands and Dark Marks. Even you couldn't take on two hundred of them and, once they'd raised the alarm, Voldemort would arrive in seconds." Blaise responded, knowing that his DA commander was inclined to somewhat reckless decisions. "Besides, don't you have a sting set up for half an hour's time?"

Harry nodded. "You're right. You've done incredibly well Blaise, thank you. I'll pass on the location of the Death Eater base to the rest of the Council and we can start planning our attack. In the mean time, go and get some sleep and I'll try and weed out the Order's leak."

Blaise agreed and, together, the two of them apparated back to Hogsmeade before going their separate ways; Blaise back to the Hogwarts castle and Harry in the other direction, towards the location of his sting.

Just as he reached the top of a hill, overlooking the field in which he was due to meet Jude Kardos, Harry's mirror started to vibrate.

"Are you in position?" Hermione asked as Harry pulled the mirror from his pocket.

"I've just arrived." Harry replied. "What about you, Ginny and Ron?"

"We're all in place. There's been no activity so far but-"

"Hold on." Harry interrupted. "Something's happening."

As Harry watched with bated breath, Kardos appeared and, with a quick glance around to check that he was alone, started to place wards around the field.

"Kardos is here." Harry whispered into the phone. "He's alone."

"There's still no sign of Tritter." Hermione whispered in reply. "Do you want me to contact Ron and Ginny?"

"There's no need." Harry replied with pain in his voice. Just as Hermione had begun to speak, Dark robed figures had started to appear in the clearing, one by one until there were around fifty wizards and witches stood, magically camouflaged in the small field. Then, with a chill down his spine, Harry sensed them being joined by another, much darker, much more powerful presence. Lord Voldemort had arrived. "It's Kardos. Damn."

"I'm sorry Harry, I know that he's Thane's friend and you didn't want it to be him." Hermione replied.

Harry sighed. "That's OK. Contact Ron and Ginny and tell them that they can step down. I'll handle Kardos."

Hermione agreed before fading from view, replaced by Harry's own reflection and Harry put the mirror back in his pocket. He then delved his hand into the inside pocket of his robe and pulled out a mobile phone, a gift from Hermione fir his birthday last year and started dialling a number.

"Remus?" He said.

"What's up Harry?" His guardian asked in reply.

"I need you to call a Council meeting. Don't ask why, I'll explain when I arrive."

"OK, what time?" Remus responded, sensing the seriousness and urgency in his charge's voice.

"Now."

Harry hung up the phone and waited for his watch to vibrate. This it did a few seconds later and Harry saw Kardos look at his wrist across the field. Picking up his mobile phone, Harry made another call.

"Hello?" The traitor said as he picked up his phone and Harry had to struggle to control his tone of voice.

"Hi Jude, I'm sure you just felt, Remus has called a meeting." He said in reply. "We'll have to re-arrange our chat for tomorrow."

From across the field, Harry felt Voldemort's anger at the delay and saw Kardos curse as he covered the phone.

"OK" The spy eventually replied. "I'll see you at the meeting."

"See you then."

Hanging up the phone and, with one last, hateful glance at the traitor now talking to Voldemort in the field, Harry stood and turned on his heel, apparating to the kitchen of the cave. As he appeared in the room, Harry heard Moody asking Remus what the meeting was about and the werewolf glanced at Harry before answering that he would soon find out. About five minutes later, Jude Kardos walked in and Harry was forced to avoid the Auror's eyes for fear that he wouldn't be able to control his anger at the cowardly and treacherous man sat in front of him. Fortunately, soon the rest of the Council arrived and the room turned to Remus in anticipation.

"What's this about then Moony?" Thane asked from his position next to Kardos.

"Actually, I don't know." Remus replied. "Harry asked me to call the meeting."

The room turned to Harry and the young wizard glanced at Kardos before starting to speak.

"As you know, over the last few months, the Order has been suffering from a major leak of information; a leak that has cost lives. I have been looking into this matter and working hard to track down the source of the leak and it is my unfortunate duty to tell you that the spy is sitting at this very table." There were some gasps around the room and, out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Kardos freezing in fright, glancing towards the door. "That spy is Jude Kardos."

The room turned in shock to Kardos who jumped to his feet in outrage.

"I've never heard such nonsense." The Auror declared, his acting skills impressing Harry. "There is absolutely no evidence of such a thing.

"Do you deny that just a few minutes ago you were waiting for me in a field a few miles outside of Hogsmeade?" Harry asked.

"No, but you invited me." Kardos replied, sweat on his brow.

"True." Harry conceded. "I didn't, however, invite Voldemort and fifty of his Death Eaters, so perhaps you can tell me why you brought them along."

"What?" Kardos stuttered. "I didn't, I mean you can't-"

"Choose your next words carefully Kardos." Harry interrupted. "There are memories and potions and spells that can confirm my story."

The traitorous wizard was now shaking and sweating uncomfortably, his eyes darting to the door once more as his mind desperately searched for a solution, something to get him out of the situation in which he found himself. Suddenly, as the rest of the Council looked on in disbelief, Kardos flicked his wrist, catching his wand as it came flying out of its holster and taking aim at his accuser. Harry was too quick for him, however, and, as soon as he saw the Auror's hand twitch, he had flicked his hand, firing a powerful expelliarmus at the spy. The red bolt struck Kardos in the chest, sending him crashing into the wall behind him as his wand flew obligingly into Harry's outstretched hand.

The room became silent as the members of the Council looked down at the unconscious Kardos in shock. Moody was the first to recover and started issuing orders to the stunned Aurors around the table.

"Tonks, Shacklebolt, take Kardos down to the dungeons and keep him unconscious. Potter, you had better check the wards around the cells to make sure that Kardos hasn't added any loopholes for this eventuality."

Harry nodded before glancing at Thane who was sat perfectly still, as if frozen in place by the betrayal that was now tearing through him. His eyes were unfocused, staring at the place where Kardos had fallen, even as Tonks and Kingsley took him away. Reluctantly, as he felt a huge sense of pity for his friend crash over him, Harry tore his eyes from Thane and followed Tonks and Kingsley downstairs to the dungeon. It only took a couple of minutes to find and close Kardos' loophole in the dungeons' wards and soon Harry, Tonks and Kingsley had rejoined the rest of the Council in the kitchen. Walking into the kitchen, Harry saw Remus talking to a still unresponsive Thane and was about to say something himself when Moody began to speak.

"Just because Kardos has been captured, doesn't mean that there are no more leaks in the Order." He growled. "Harding, I want you to-"

Moody was cut off as Thane abruptly stood and walked out of the kitchen.

"Harding." Moody tried to call him back.

"Just leave him Moody." Harry said and Moody nodded before continuing.

"Shacklebolt, you interrogate the suspect and see if he can tell us any more names and any other useful intelligence. We'll reconvene in an hour's time to discuss any information you've received."

Kingsley nodded absent-mindedly as he stared after his departed friend and, with the Council one down, the meeting was quickly drawn to a close. Walking out of the kitchen, Harry locked eyes with Remus and the two wizards silently asked each other the same question; 'should they go after Thane?' Without speaking a word, they reached an agreement and Harry asked his guardian;

"Where do you think he's gone?"

"Not far." Remus replied. "However upset he is, he won't want to be too far away from the job and he'll know that the Council will have to meet again to discuss any intelligence we can get from Kardos."

Harry smiled a joyless smile as realisation dawned upon him. "I know where he is."

Entering the fourth chamber of Harry's trunk, Harry and Remus collapsed down into two overstuffed chairs and conjured themselves firewhiskies. Taking a swig of his strong drink, Harry stared into the dancing embers of the fire Thane had lit and allowed his friend and former teacher the choice as to whether or not to talk. For the first ten minutes he chose not and the three wizards sat in silent, sipping their drinks and thinking as Remus and Harry both kept a wear eye on their friend's expression and on his alcohol consumption.

"Well this is an uncomfortable silence." Thane spoke up at last, determinedly keeping his choice strong but light.

"Technically, it was an uncomfortable silence." Remus corrected him before pausing. "Now it's an uncomfortable conversation."

Thane smiled at this last comment but it didn't spread to his eyes, which remained dark, barely hiding the pain beyond.

"I'm really sorry Thane." Harry said. "I wouldn't have gone after him but-"

"This isn't your fault Harry." Thane interrupted. "And I don't blame you in the slightest; you did the right thing. It's just that Jude was one of my best friends, outside the Marauders that is. We were at school together, we were at the Auror academy together and then we fought the Death Eaters together. I trusted him with my life and then…well I don't have to tell you about the sting of betrayal at the hands of someone you care about." He laughed humourlessly as bitter resentment started to take the place of pain and betrayal. "It's not as if it's such an unfamiliar feeling to me."

At that last comment, Harry looked up at Remus who was staring sympathetically at his friend, obviously knowing more of Thane's story than Harry.

"My father was not a nice man Harry." The Auror spoke once more, his eyes distant and cold.

"A Death Eater?" Harry questioned softly.

Thane smiled. "Not all bad men are Death Eaters and my Father didn't have the courage. He was a petty thief and a drunk, but I never really blamed him for that; his father had lost most of the family money and estate, and there was a lot of it, on alcohol, gambling and women and my Dad didn't know any other way. And, though he was never what you would call a good role model, he never hurt me or my Mum, my amazing, gentle Mum and we got on fairly well. That was until I turned thirteen. I was doing well at Hogwarts and when we started to talk about future careers, I decided that I wanted to become an Auror, a wizard who was trained to fight the growing evil of the wizarding world. Well, this didn't go down too well with my old man; magical law enforcement was the enemy and he saw my ambition as a betrayal of him. That was the first time he hit me. Soon after that he started to drink more and more and his mental health declined as he moved on to harder drugs. My Mum and I became objects on which he could take out his frustrations when he came home at night, our house became one of abuse and fear and, eventually, we couldn't take anymore and my Mum and I moved out."

There was a pause in the conversation and Thane downed the rest of his firewhiskey.

"I'm really sorry Thane." Harry spoke sincerely. "Did you ever see him again?"

"Unfortunately so." Thane replied. "Not long after we moved out, my Dad started coming round to the family's holiday home where I was staying with my Mum. When he came around, he was like a completely different man, he apologised on bended knee and swore that he had changed, that he'd given up the alcohol and the drugs and that he was ready to start a new life with us. Like idiots we believed him. And things did change, for awhile. But soon he started to fall into his old ways, he started drinking heavily again and would yell at us and break furniture around the house in fits of rage. One day, I came home and he was in the living room, shouting at my Mum about something she had neglected to clear up and he raised his hand to her. Well, I was sixteen by this time and knew how to use a wand a damn sight better than he did. I cursed the bastard with all my power, flinging him back against the wall and knocking him unconscious, before taking my Mum's hand and leading her away from the house."

Thane paused once more and conjured himself another drink, but this time; Harry didn't interrupt, sensing that there was more of the story.

"And that was the last time I saw him." The Auror began once more. "That is until five years ago. Out of the blue, he rang me up and invited me for a drink in his local pub. My better instincts told me to say no, but I was curious as to what he wanted and so I agreed to meet him. Once again, he seemed like a changed man. The old stench of beer that used to constantly hang around him was gone and he had remarried to a very nice woman, he apologised again for everything he'd done during my childhood and once again, as you do with your family, I forgave him. We started to meet up fairly regularly over the next couple of months and I introduced him to my friends and my girlfriend at the time, though I did neglect to mention these meetings to my Mum. All too soon, I trusted him again and when I moved into my new apartment, I gave him a spare key. Then, one day, I came home from an assignment looking into Voldemort's connections with magical creatures, I came home to find that everything of value was gone. My Father's telephone number had changed and he had taken everything he could sell, even the family silver my Grandma had left me in her will."

Harry didn't know what to say as he stared at his friend sympathetically. He was about to open his mouth, when he was interrupted by a vibration of his watch and he looked down to see a message appearing. 'Interrogation is over. Report back to the kitchen.' Thane sighed as the three of them stood up and started to walk towards the exit of Harry's trunk.

"Here we go."

"It's not good news I'm afraid." Kingsley said as Thane, Harry and Remus entered the room and took their seats. "As we suspected Ju- Kardos knew as little as possible. No names that we didn't know, no locations and no future plans."

"Did he say why he did it?" Thane whispered, his eyes staring at down at the table.

Kingsley sighed. "He said that Voldemort approached him just after he had returned to power, that he was convinced that there was only one side that could win in this war and that he wanted to reap the rewards."

Thane nodded and the room became silent as the members of the Council sat, deep in contemplative thought. Eventually, it was McGonagall who broke the silence.

"Well, if there are no other orders of business-"

"Actually Professor," Harry interrupted, "there is something. It's about a Death Eater base and a certain meeting about being more pro-active…"


	10. Of Battles and the Elixir a Lumina

"That is all we have time for today." McGonagall said as the bell rang to signify the end of class and the students started to pack their things away. "You have your homework; I expect it to be in on time, the coming of Christmas is no excuse for sloppiness and late or below standard work will be punished."

With these last words, McGonagall sat back down behind her desk, knowing that the students had not been listening, too wrapped up in their own worlds, but also knowing that they knew there would be a heavy price to pay for poor or late work. Harry was among the last to leave and was chatting absent-mindedly with Ron and Hermione as the three of them walked towards the door. Just as they were leaving the classroom, however, the young wizard stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned around, exchanging a significant look with McGonagall to confirm that she had felt it too. She had. Looking down at his watch, Harry saw a message start to appear across its face. It simply ready; 'Tonight'.

Harry didn't need any help deciphering the message; they had been planning it for weeks now and had been trying to find the perfect night, when they knew as many Order soldiers as possible would be free and the night would be dark. That night was tonight. This evening, the Order of the Phoenix would be executing a large-scale assault on a Death Eater base and, as such, would be completely changing the rules of the game. His eyes still locked on to McGonagall's, Harry gave a small nod before sweeping out of the room and making his way hurriedly in the direction of the Room of Requirement. On his way, he took out his DA coin and sent out a simple message: 'R of R. Now.' He knew that this would grab the DA's attention and it was important that they didn't waste time.

"What's happening?" Ginny asked as they entered the room of requirement and Harry shut and warded the door behind them.

"The attack's tonight." Harry answered as he conjured a stage at the back of the room.

He was about to add more when Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan and Luna Lovegood all walked into the room, a little out of breath.

"Thanks for coming so quickly." Harry said as he took to the stage and motioned to his friends that he was about to explain everything to the DA.

Less than five minutes passed before the room was full, the DA responding quickly to their commander's urgent call. Chatter broke out amongst the gathered masses as each of them wondered aloud what the meeting was about but, as Harry raised his hands for quiet, it quickly died away.

"Today is the dawn of a new stage of the war." Harry began. "It represents the moment that the forces of light cease to be a defensive, reactive force and become an army. At seven O'clock this evening, the Order of the Phoenix will storm a major Death Eater base, capturing and taking out as many Death Eaters as we can lay our hands on and, with a bit of luck, seizing information that could be vital to the war effort."

"We're with you Harry!" Someone shouted from the crowd and this was met with cheers of support.

"I'm afraid," Harry said, raising his arms for quiet once more, "that this is one mission on which you can't accompany me."

There was a grumble of discontent from the crowd below but it soon was soon silenced as the members of the DA realised that Harry had more to say.

"You can't accompany me," he continued, "because I have a job for you that is, if anything, more important. With me away, along with many of the teachers and the Aurors who could otherwise defend the castle, Hogwarts will be left vulnerable and Voldemort may think that an attack is worth the risk for the capture of the bastion of light that Hogwarts has always been. That is why I am entrusting its safety to you. The Council of the Phoenix know about this, but that does not include all of the teachers so you'll need to be either disillusioned or under invisibility cloaks and every one of you will be patrolling the corridors until either I, or one of the other members of the Council, should I be injured, gives the signal for you to step down. You will be-"

He was interrupted as he felt his watch vibrate once more and, looking down, Harry read the message, again, just one word; 'Now.' That was the signal; he had to get to the Marauder's cave.

"Ron, Hermione and Ginny are the commanders and as such are in charge in my absence, with the sergeants directly underneath them." Harry said hurriedly as he stepped down from the stage and walked towards the door. "If you don't have an invisibility cloak and can't perform the disillusionment charm, find someone who can. I have to go, good luck."

With these final words, Harry walked out of the door of the room of requirement and was just beginning his journey down the corridor when a voice called him back.

"Harry." Harry turned around to see Ginny walking towards him, an unreadable look on her face and suddenly, she flung her arms around him. "Stay safe." She whispered into his ear.

"You too." Harry replied before giving her a quick kiss on the lips and reluctantly prying himself from her grasp and jogging towards the stairs.

As he reached the entrance hall, Harry met Kingsley walking outside the castle and jogged to catch up with him.

"Ready for this?" Harry asked as the two of them approached the end of the castle's wards.

"Probably not." Kingsley replied with a smile, before the two of them passed the edge of the Hogwarts grounds and apparated away.

"You took your time getting here." Moody commented as the two wizards took their seats in the kitchen of the cave.

"If you'd prefer, next time, I could leave Hogwarts completely and utterly defenceless." Harry replied.

"So the DA agreed to defend the castle?" McGonagall asked.

Harry nodded. "They weren't too happy about it though, they wanted to help in the assault."

"Good." Moody growled. "Now, we're all sick of going through this plan but one more time for good measure, wouldn't hurt. Harding, take us through it."

Thane sighed, having gone through this process a dozen times already, but nonetheless, stood up and began to speak.

"On the conclusion of this meeting, the Council of the Phoenix will apparate to the edge of the wards around the Death Eater base and, upon arrival, start dismantling said wards. Now that we know where the base is, with the power and talent we have, this shouldn't pose too much of a problem; Harry has told us that there is no fidelius charm on the manor, probably due to the ever increasing numbers of Death Eaters who need access. Just before we've successfully and subtly lowered the wards, I'll put out an emergency call to the one hundred and fifty primary fighters of the Order to don battle robes and meet us at the base; giving them the co-ordinates. The Order will then be quickly told of the plan which is, simply, to storm the base as quickly as we can, capturing Death Eaters when it is safe to do so and killing them when it's not. Any captured Death Eaters will be stunned and bound and transported back here via portkey. When the manor has been taken, which, considering our numerical advantage, shouldn't take too long, each member of the Council will take charge of nine members of the Order, whom you have already been assigned, and search the place. We will seize any documents or any other sources of information that look of value to us and, within fifteen minutes, meet up in the central hallway and leave. Any questions?"

"What are we going to do with the manor once the mission has been complete?" Tonks asked

Thane considered this and turned to Moody to see his opinion.

"Burn it." The old Auror growled. "We don't need it but I'll be damned if we let them take it back."

"Agreed." Thane put in and the rest of the Council nodded their approval. "Well, if there's nothing else, let's get going."

The Auror commander then flicked his wand at a crumpled tin can that he had brought to the meeting and placed on the table. The can glowed bright blue and with a glance at one another, the Council of the Phoenix all leant forward and each placed a finger on it before, with a flash of light and a pulling sensation within their stomachs, the kitchen of the cave disappeared. Well practiced due to his dueling, Harry managed to land on his feet and held out a hand to help up Tonks before turning to face the Georgian manor house that was the Death Eater HQ.

Disillusioning themselves, the Council walked towards the house before Harry whispered;

"Stop." As they came within a couple of feet of the start of the wards.

"Right; Potter, Harding, Shacklebolt, Lupin and Bill Weasley, get to work." Moody ordered and the Council members obliged.

As agreed, Harry was the first to magically tap into the wards, subtly feeling around for any alarms that might inform the Death Eaters and Voldemort that the wards had been lowered. He found six spells to that effect and slowly started to lower them before, on completion, he gave the go ahead to Bill, Remus, Kingsley and Thane. The five wizards spent the next fifteen minutes slowly lowering and disabling the wards around the manor until, eventually, it was done and, stepping forward onto previously warded ground, the Council were satisfied that the Death Eaters couldn't sense their presence.

The first stage of their plan complete, the Council of the Phoenix then dropped back around two hundred yards away from the house before Thane adjusted his watch and put an emergency call out to the one hundred and fifty primary fighters of the Order of the Phoenix. The response was prompt and, in the following ten minutes, all of the Order's soldiers arrived, all dressed in battle robes and each seeking an explanation, only to be told that they would be informed when everyone had come. As Mundungus Fletcher made his appearance, Moody held up his arms for attention and, with one hundred and fifty eyes firmly on him, took the Order through their plan.

"Any objections?" Moody asked as he completed his explanation.

The Order members looked nervous and glanced around at the question but no one spoke up and Moody continued.

"Good, then let's go."

With this order, the Council of the Phoenix led the Order towards the manor house and, on Moody's signal, the first spell was thrown. Harry's powerful exploding curse blew apart almost the entire front wall of the house and, with the noise of the explosion ringing in their ears, the Order burst forwards and inside. As the Council had expected, the first Death Eaters were too shocked to put up any sort of fight and, as they ran forward, the Order fired stunners at seven of them in the main hallway, before binding them and transporting them to the cells of the cave.

The main hall now clear, Harry branched off into what turned out to be the main conference room. Raising a silver shield as he strode inside, the young wizard blocked a flurry of killing curses, which came flying his way, forcing him back out the door. With his shield still raised and still being pummeled by endless dark curses, Harry sensed twelve powerful presences inside the room and knew that, as their plan relied on time, he had little choice. Pointing his wand at the ceiling of the room, he then slashed it downwards, bringing the roof collapsing inwards and onto the heads of the Death Eaters inside. Carefully lowering his shield, Harry quickly scanned the room for signs of life. There were none.

Quickly moving on, Harry came to a corridor in which furious fighting was taking place and was forced to apparate away as a dozen deadly curses were sent his way. Re-appearing behind the Death Eaters, Harry knocked a wand to the side, which had quickly spun around to face him and silently fired an extrudo curse at the burly Death Eater, sending him flying back a hundred yards. The rest of the Death Eaters weren't slow to react, however, and, while some remained facing the Order members, several others turned to face him. Another flurry of curses were fired at Harry and the young wizard had to react quickly and raise an apparition shield; ripping through the fabric of the universe and allowing it to swallow the deadly spells heading his way.

As he closed the rip, the Death Eaters around him panicked and scattered, diving and rolling out of the way as the second rip appeared above their heads and spat their own curses back at them. In the chaos, Harry managed to fire off a few stunners and quickly bound those who fell to the floor. Glancing up, he saw that the rest of the Order were also doing well in taking out the remaining Death Eaters and their numbers were starting to dwindle. Harry was forced to raise a shield, however, as some of the witches and wizards recovered and started firing curses and hexes once more.

From behind his protective barrier, Harry pointed his wand to the ground and set up a localised anti-apparition ward before waving his hand at the walls either side of him. With a loud cracking noise, the walls either side of the Death Eaters ripped away from the corridor and flew towards the terrified Death Eaters. Having failed to notice the tell-tale purple glow of the floor, the dark wizards and witches all started to spin on their heels to try to apparate away, but it was to no avail. As he came up from behind his shield, Harry had to fight hard to stop himself from smiling as the conjured illusions of walls passed straight through the horrified Death Eaters and he and the other Order soldiers easily stunned the remaining, distracted witches and wizards.

The job done, Harry bound the Death Eaters and transported them back to the cave. Looking up at his fellow Order soldiers for the first time, he saw Remus at the other end of the corridor and grinned at his guardian before turning around and jogging towards the main source of the noise of battle. Rounding a corner, he found that the Order seemed to be in control, their superior numbers paying dividends as all around him, Death Eaters fell.

Glancing around, Harry spotted Thane and Kingsley battling with their backs against the wall, outnumbered nine to two and finding it difficult to counter the attack. Apparating in front of the two Aurors, Harry raised a silver shield to block the bombardment of killing curses and dark spells that were sent his way. Pointing his wand at the shield, Harry fired it forwards at his attackers and it went flying towards them, before transforming before their eyes into a tiger. The great, orange and black beast immediately pounced at one of the wizards and ripped into his flesh and, using the distraction, Harry pointed his wand at the floor beneath the remaining Death Eaters and caused it to shake violently. As the dark witches and wizards all tumbled to the ground, Harry quickly fired off four stunners and saw Thane and Kingsley fire two more each. Binding the evil men and women tightly, Harry then transported them back to the cells of the cave.

"Thanks." Kingsley said as they were gifted a few moments' respite from the action.

"Don't mention it." Harry replied. "Now let's get this finished as quickly as we can."

Walking up to the door at the end of the corridor, Harry motioned to Thane and Kingsley that there were five wizards in the room, all of them with their wands pointing at the door and ready to fight. The two Aurors nodded their understanding and Harry and Thane got into position in front of the door as Kingsley stood to the side. Counting down from three, Thane thrust his wand forwards at the door and, with a loud BANG a hole was blown in the wall. As soon as Thane had fired his spell, Harry flicked his wand at the inside of the room and muttered;

"Fulgonitus!"

A loud bang and a blinding flash of light erupted inside and Harry, Thane and Kingsley went charging in. Concentrating on the wizard nearest the door, Harry ran into the room and fired a powerful extrudo curse at him, the Death Eater attempted to raise an advanced protego shield but Harry's spell smashed through the pathetic defence and sent the man flying into a wall. As Harry strode forward into the room, he directed his wand at the crumpled figure in front of him and was about to fire a stunner to end the duel when the man stood up. Harry lowered his wand in shock as he recognized the face of the excuse for a man stood in front of him. He'd had nightmares about that face for years and as he looked upon it now, he started to shake as he was consumed by white-hot rage. Wormtail.

Harry froze, his eyes locked onto those of the treacherous rat and his expression one of utter loathing, as all around him, Thane and Kingsley fought and, eventually, took out the other four Death Eaters in the room. The two men then glanced at Harry before leaving him alone with Wormtail, who was now literally quivering with fear as, Harry was disgusted to note, the front of his trousers became wet. He wanted to move, to take down the pathetic little man in front of him, but he was frozen to the spot as a terrible scream rung out through his mind; the scream of his Mother. Eventually that awful and final sound was replaced by another; a muttering which soon became a shout. The whispers of Harry's mind were back and his arm wand arm seemed to move of its own accord as they yelled; "KILL HIM! END HIS WRETCHED LIFE AND AVENGE YOUR MOTHER!"

If anything, Wormtail seemed to become more frightened as he saw the trace-like state that took hold of Harry and, in desperation, he lifted his own wand.

"Avada Kedavra!" He cried, snapping Harry out of his thoughts as he was forced to conjure a shield to block the curse before flinging it to one side and magically lifting Wormtail up by the neck in anger.

The rat squirmed and dropped his wand as the suffocation curse took hold and he felt his body becoming starved of precious oxygen.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't end your life right now." Harry whispered, his voice cold and entirely unlike his own as he walked towards the levitating Wormtail who struggled to gasp out an answer.

"Please." He sobbed. "Don't kill me. I never meant to, I mean I didn't-"

Wormtail couldn't finish the rest of his sentence and he was starting to turn blue as he struggled to breathe through Harry's curse. This seemed to bring Harry out of his trance-like state and the young wizard shook his head disgust, both at the pathetic little man in front of him and at himself for succumbing to the whispers and the hatred in his soul. Seeing that Wormtail was about to pass out, he flung the rat to one side, where he struck a wall and fell to the floor unconscious, a small cut opening on his head. Wanting to get out of the room as quickly as possible, Harry hurriedly bound Wormtail before vanishing him to the cave and striding out the door.

Walking out the room, Harry found that the Death Eaters had all but fallen to the Order's offensive and he only knocked out two more before reaching Moody and the rest of the Council in the main hall of the manor.

"The building is now under Order control." The old Auror growled as Harry joined them. "Each of you are to take your pre-designated team and search the building, we'll meet back here in ten minutes."

Harry nodded along with the rest of the Council before leaving to track down the nine witches and wizards assigned to him in a previous meeting to help him track down any useful information. This he did in a little under five minutes and he went on to order the men and women under his command to split up and search the areas of the house he had been told to search. Assigning himself the most likely looking room for information; a large office, hidden behind a wall in a spare bedroom, Harry got to work rifling through drawers and cupboards in search of anything that the Order could use.

Two minutes into the search, he had found a couple of documents pertaining to the Death Eaters' attempts at recruiting magical creatures but, with a quick look through them, he found that much of the information had already been passed onto him by Blaise. Harry was about to give up his search and return to the Council when he sensed a small but definite magical aura coming from the filing cabinet against the far wall. Moving slowly towards it, he moved the steel cabinet out of the way before closely studying the wall, from which the magical aura seemed to originate. Focusing his magical senses on the small pieces of wall, Harry felt no trace of any curses or hexes that could do him any harm and so went to touch the wall. To his amazement, however, his hand passed straight through the seemingly solid concrete and into a magically concealed hollow.

Curious and knowing that he was on to something big, Harry groped around the hollow and soon felt his hand strike something solid and heavy. Pulling out the object, he saw that it was a book; an ancient and crumbling tomb with one word written across the disintegrating cover; 'Myrddin". Not having the faintest idea what this mean, Harry flicked open the book and found that it fell open at the beginning of a chapter, the name of which had been highlighted, it was called; 'The Elixir a Lumina'. He wanted to read further but a quick glance at his watch told him that he was already late for the scheduled meeting with the Order and so he shrunk down the book and put it in his pocket before making his way towards the main hall.

"Good, you're here Potter." Moody said as Harry joined the rest of the Order. "We'll examine what we've found back at headquarters, now let's get out of here."

Harry nodded and turned towards what remained of the door, before leading the Order outside. As soon as his foot touched the grass of the manor's garden, however, he knew that something wasn't right. Stopping dead just outside the house, Harry felt the Order come to a halt behind him. There it was again; some sort of fluctuation in magical power in the area. Then, all of a sudden, he knew what it was and, flinging his hands up in front of him, Harry desperately focused on conjuring a shield. But it was too late. With a final rush of magical power, an electric blue beam of light seemed to appear from nowhere and struck him in the chest. Harry was flung through the crowd of Order members and back inside the house, where he crashed into a wall and crumpled to the floor, a foggy haze descending over his eyes and a sharp and excruciating pain erupting in his back.

Through squinting eyes, Harry saw the floor around him glow purple and knew that an anti-apparition ward was now in place; there was no escape. Still on the brink of unconsciousness, he felt himself being magically picked up and slammed into the wall yet again, his back screaming in protest as this time he was forcibly held in place. A small, cold laugh escaped Voldemort's lips and, through the haze of Harry's mind, he knew that he had to act fast or he was as good as dead. Conjuring up as much magical energy as possible, Harry forced it into his back and felt the broken bones start to heal, even as they were slammed into the wall yet again. With the worst of his injuries now healed, Harry's mind started to clear and his vision returned and focused on the grim sight of a smirking Lord Voldemort; stood mere inches from him.

"Hello Potter." He hissed before flinging another extrudo curse at his enemy to blast him through the wall.

Harry was ready for him, however, and thrust his arms behind him, crying;

"Pulsum!" The propulsion charm stopped him just centimeters from the wall and sent him flying at Voldemort.

The two wizards collided and, making the most of his opponent's shock, Harry transformed into his Gryon form and sunk his teeth into Voldemort's arm. The Dark Lord gave a scream of pain before firing a pure dark curse at Harry and forcing him to fly up in to the air and out of harm's way. From his bird's eye view, Harry saw the Order battling a new wave of Death Eaters but didn't have time to dwell on the fact before a huge battering ram of ice was hurled his way. As the deadly elemental force closed in on him, Harry knew that he had to do something drastic and so, twisting in the air, he transformed back to his human form but, with great concentration, forced his Gryon wings to remain. Hovering in the air, Harry directed his wand at the ice and melted the missile with a jet of fire, only to be forced to swoop out of the way as a barrage of dark and pure dark curses were sent his way.

Knowing that he needed to get back on the offensive and he was an easy target in the air, Harry waved his wand behind him and banished the leathery Gryon wings from his back. As soon as he had done this, he felt gravity take hold of him and he started to fall to the floor, passing just beneath a dark curse, which Voldemort had fired. As he started to fall, he thrust his arms at the ground, making it shudder and shake with massive force and causing Voldemort to lose his balance and fall to the floor. Slowing down his fall, Harry landed gently on the ground and immediately started firing killing curse after killing curse at the Dark Lord with a cry of;

"Permultus Avada Kedavra!"

The deadly green bolts of light were on target but, as they were about to strike the prone dark wizard, a huge wind picked up and blew him out of harm's way and into the air. As he flew up, just below the ceiling, Voldemort pointed his wand to the floor and a stunned Harry was forced to react quickly and propel himself upwards and out of the way as a huge stalagmite burst forth from the ground. Landing back on terra firma in a roll, Harry pointed his wand into the air with a cry of;

"Avada Kedavra! Extrudo! Condolesco Maxima!"

The three spells shot at the Dark Lord like bullets but Voldemort quickly dropped under the spells and onto the floor, before magically tearing the massive stalagmite from the ground and flinging it at Harry. Thrusting his arms upwards, Harry conjured a great wall of fire, which melted the deadly missile, before conjuring a shield and infusing it with as much light magic as he could muster. As he had sensed and as the wall of flames disappeared, Harry saw an enormous beam of pure dark magic flying his way and it struck the shield with incredible force. With an awful feeling of déjà vu, Harry realised that he couldn't afford to battle Voldemort on pure magical power and, even now, he was starting to tire.

As he fought back against the pure dark magic, Harry pointed his wand towards his shield and desperately thought 'Portus'. The silver shield turned blue and, with a tug behind his naval, Harry found himself being transported through limbo, landing behind Voldemort. Quickly melting his shield, Harry fired the molten steel at the Dark Lord who, upon seeing Harry disappear, had thrown himself to the floor. Rolling back to his feet, Voldemort held out his hand at the white hot liquid metal and called upon his elemental powers to freeze it, before flicking his wrist at it once more. The now frozen stream of steel glowed bright blue and, with a small smile at his adversary, the Dark Lord caught it and disappeared outside.

As Harry was about to give chase outside, the house around him started to violently shake once more and chunks of plaster and concrete fell to the floor as the manor started to crumble. Harry struggled to maintain his balance and was struck painfully in the shoulder as more of the brickwork started to fall apart and Voldemort collapsed the house around him. Steadying himself as well as he could, Harry aimed his wand at a small piece of concrete that was falling his way, and silently fired a port-key charm. With huge relief, he saw it glow a bright blue and, just as the foundations of the house gave way and the walls of the house crumbled inwards, Harry plucked the bit of concrete from the air and was flung through limbo and outside.

Landing on the grass outside with a thud Harry quickly jumped to his feet as he sensed the dark magic of the condolesco maxima curse heading his way. Deciding that it was time to put his training and practice into action, Harry crossed his arms before tearing them apart and ripping the spell in two. He then slashed his wand and empty hand downwards and conjured two apparition shields before thrusting his wand forward and, with an explosion of magical power, releasing a swirling tempest of fire, which shot at the Dark Lord with incredible speed.

Voldemort was taken by surprise by Harry's defence but recovered quickly and pointed his wand at the ground, launching himself into the air and over the fire and his own spells, which shot out of the rips in space-time that appeared either side of him. The Dark Lord then brandished his wand in a complex pattern and, just as Harry was about to continue his attack, a Quintaped appeared from thin air and launched itself at the shocked young wizard. Harry recovered just in time to strike down the beast that, upon touching the floor, had charged at him with surprising speed. But Voldemort had made the most of his advantage and, still hovering in the air, supported by his powerful, elemental wind, he fired a powerful beam of pure dark magic at Harry, forcing him to roll backwards out of the way.

Even as he rolled, Harry sensed a barrage of powerful dark curses heading his way and, as he came up to his feet, he was forced to conjure a huge gust of wind to blow him up in to the air as a blood red bolt of magic headed straight for his face. The powerful elemental magic blew the young wizard into the air and over the decapitation curse but, even as he flew high into the sky, Voldemort followed him with machine-gun-like fire, forcing Harry to conjure a silver shield. His shield took the force of Voldemort's attacks but Harry knew that he wouldn't be able to keep it up forever and, if he didn't counter the Dark Lord's attack, he would end up very dead, very fast.

As he hovered in the air and felt his vast elemental magic reserves start to drain, Harry waited for a lull in Voldemort's attack and conjured up as much power as he could muster before thrusting his arms out. A huge and powerful wall of wind was released from Harry's fingertips and hit the Dark Lord with the force of a speeding train, sending him catapulting backwards through the air. Knowing that he had to maintain the pressure to keep the advantage, Harry then raised his wand and slashed it downwards, firing a jet of fire hot enough to melt platinum at the vulnerable dark wizard.

As he watched the inferno spiral towards a still flying Voldemort, Harry felt himself start to weaken ever so slightly at the effort of keeping himself suspended in the air but knew that he couldn't afford to give away the high ground and had to end this duel as quickly as possible. The powerful flames quickly caught the Dark Lord and were about to envelope him in their deadly grip when Voldemort twisted in mid-air, desperately thrusting his hand out to the fire. To Harry's horror, his conjured blaze twisted away from the Dark Lord and, as the wind righted Voldemort in the air, formed into a fist and shot at Harry at speed.

Harry negated his spell and the flames disappeared but the young wizard was forced to conjure yet another powerful gust of wind and swoop out of the way as Voldemort sent a volley of killing curses and pure dark magic his way. Now a good fifty yards above the Dark Lord, Harry conjured an apparition shield, ripping a hole in space-time, which swallowed a dozen dark curses before closing, forcing Harry to swoop underneath the curses still heading his way. But, as he knew it would, the second and third rips, as they opened either side of Voldemort, forced the dark wizard to drop downwards as they spat his own curses back at him. This provided Harry with a distraction that he wasn't going to waste.

Calling upon the power over earth, gifted to him by the Rock of Initium, Harry pointed his hands to the ground, before raising them upwards, conjuring long, thick vines, which sprouted from the soil and shot towards Voldemort. Catching the Dark Lord by surprise, the vines wrapped themselves around his arms and legs and held him tight, suspended a hundred feet in the air and unable to move. Acting quickly and hoping to catch his nemesis of guard once more, Harry fired a killing curse at incredible speed, towards Voldemort's chest. The deadly curse neared its mark but, at the last moment and, despite the Dark Lord's hands being tied to his sides, a shining silver shield appeared in front of him and took the power of Harry's spell before rebounding it back at him.

As Harry was forced to conjure a shield of his own, Voldemort quickly transfigured his shield into a sword and magically slashed the vines, freeing himself of their grip. Harry fired off a powerful beam of pure light magic but Voldemort simply flew over it before stretching his arms out in front of him and pulling them backwards as if beckoning the young wizard towards him. To Harry's shock and horror, he was hit in the back by a mighty wind and was sent flying towards the Dark Lord at speed.

As Harry came flying towards him, Voldemort raised his sword and slashed down, aiming straight for his enemy's neck. At the last minute, however, Harry twisted in the air and, as he raced towards the Dark Lord and saw a flash of steal, conjured a blade of his own and just managing to parry the blow. Righting himself in the air, Harry blocked another of Voldemort's attack and, floating a hundred feet above the ground, the two wizards started to duel. Having gained the upper hand, Voldemort attacked ferociously, slashing his sword at the young wizard again and again and forcing him onto the back foot. Soon, however, Harry's training started to pay off and, catching Voldemort's blade on his own, Harry pushed it back and launched his own attack. The Dark Lord barely blocked Harry's blow towards his head and, using the momentum, Harry twisted his sword, nicking Voldemort's hand and sending his sword spinning to the floor.

For a moment the Dark Lord looked shocked and Harry slashed his sword horizontally towards his stomach. Voldemort reacted at the last minute and dodged backwards but was caught by the tip of Harry's blade, leaving a rip across his robes and a centimeter deep cut across his stomach. Voldemort winced in pain but, as Harry went for the final blow to the head, he managed to thrust his arm out, sending the blue bolt of the extrudo curse flying at his young nemesis. Harry didn't react in time to the lightening fast curse and was sent shooting backwards, dropping his sword as he flew through the air.

Voldemort followed his extrudo curse with a huge and powerful bolt of pure dark magic, which flew straight at the vulnerable Harry. Harry desperately tried to right himself in the air but the pure dark spell glanced his ankle and, as it erupted in pain, sent him spinning towards the floor. Even as Harry felt as if the flaming tendons of his ankle were being ripped apart, he knew that he had to act fast and, conjuring up as much as he could of what was left of his magical reserves, he waved his wand behind him. Pure and great relief ignited in Harry's heart as he felt the large, leathery wings of the Gryon sprout from his back and, just as his toes skimmed the floor, he was able to swoop upwards and over the killing curse that had followed him to the ground.

Harry's happiness was short-lived, however, as he saw Lord Voldemort flying towards with great speed, his wand held aloft. Thrusting his wand out in front of him, Harry cried;

"Avade Kedavra!"

The deadly green bolt of the killing curse flew at the Dark Lord, who was now mere feet away. Voldemort didn't react in time and the curse found its mark but, as a horrific realisation dawned on Harry, the powerful spell passed straight through him and Harry shivered as the illusion of the Dark Lord flew through his body and out the other side. Harry frantically swooped to the side and raised a silver shield as he searched the sky for his opponent to no avail. Voldemort was nowhere to be seen but then, suddenly, the electric blue bolt of the extrudo curse seemed to materialize out of thin air, just feet in front of him.

The curse shot at him with incredible force and, though Harry desperately tried to fling his shield in front of it, it was too late and the blue bolt of the extrudo curse found its mark and struck him in the chest, sending him flying back to the ground at speed. Harry Potter struck the earth with incredible force, his back taking the brunt of the impact as he slammed into the ground, creating a crater where he lay. There was a loud crack and Harry couldn't help but scream as crippling pain tore through his body. He hovered on the brink of unconsciousness and through the haze of agony, which clouded his mind, he knew he was in trouble; he couldn't move.

The Dark Lord laughed softly as he landed gently on the ground and looked over his prey; his wand twenty yards away and the wizard himself in no condition to use it. Walking over towards the young wizard, Voldemort slowly pulled his wand from the pocket of his robe and stared at it almost reverentially, savouring the moment as he pointed it squarely at the chest of his nemesis.

"Your time on this earth has come to an end Potter" He hissed. "There will be no long drawn out goodbyes, I-"

The Dark Lord was cut off by two powerful bolts of light, which raced towards him, forcing him to raise a shield to protect himself. Harry managed to summon the energy to open his eyes and his heart and stomach dropped as he saw Remus and Thane running towards him, their wands at the ready as they prepared to enter a duel with Lord Voldemort.

"How touching." Voldemort sneered. "The blood-traitor and the werewolf come to the rescue of their precious chosen one. How unfortunate that their efforts should be in vain."

"I don't think so Riddle." Came a growl from Voldemort's left and the Dark Lord turned to see Alastair Moody striding purposefully towards him. "Your Death Eaters have gone; you have us all to yourself."

Moody was joined by Minerva McGonagall, whose wand was pointed squarely at Voldemort's chest and a pale and bleeding Bill Weasley who, nevertheless, managed to keep his wand arm steady.

"Then so be it." The Dark Lord hissed before launching into an attack, firing an endless stream of spells at Moody and Bill.

Bill dived out of the way and the old Auror just managed to react in time, conjuring an apparition shield, which swallowed Voldemort's curses. The Dark Lord simply launched himself over his own curses as they reappeared behind him and shot a huge jet of fire across the land and scattering the people below him who desperately ran and dived for cover. The five soldiers of the Council of the Phoenix battled bravely and well but, as time wore on, Voldemort started to gain the upper hand; his sheer power overwhelming the determination and number advantage of the Council. Five minutes into the duel, Riddle managed to scatter his enemies once more as he floated a ball of pure dark energy towards the group before exploding it outwards.

Voldemort then turned to Bill and started firing curses. The eldest Weasley son defended himself admirably but his dives and rolls couldn't last forever and, soon, he was glanced by a powerful condolesco curse and fell to the ground, disarmed and in agony. Not wasting any time, the Dark Lord thrust his palm at the wizard and cried;

"Avada Kedavra!"

The deadly, green bolt of light shot toward a helpless Bill with incredible speed and was about to hit its target when, suddenly, an apparition-shield opened up in front of him and swallowed the curse before fading into nothingness. Voldemort looked stunned but had the presence of mind to dive to one side as the second space-time rip opened up behind him and spat the deadly curse at his back. Shocked and confused, the Dark Lord turned to see Harry floating just above the ground, his wand in his hand and his eyes giving off a brilliant emerald glow as magical power poured off him. Behind the young wizard stood Remus, Thane, Moody and McGonagall, all with their wands drawn and a determined look on their faces.

Voldemort was about to launch a counter-attack when Harry thrust his wand at the ground, making the earth below him start to shake. Riddle magically forced himself into the air but was met by a volley of spells from the Council's warriors and was forced to raise shields to block their ferocious attack. Knowing that he needed to keep moving if he was to outdo these multiple opponents, Voldemort tapped his own silver shield a, as it shone blue, grabbed hold of it, transporting himself through limbo and behind the attacking Order forces.

As soon as he landed, Riddle launched into a counter attack but was forced to negate it as he saw a beam of pure light energy head his way. In the nick of time, the Dark Lord managed to fire a bolt of pure dark magical to meet Harry's ethereal beam and the two battled for supremacy as the opposing magics met. Voldemort was starting to gain ground on Harry as his power overwhelmed even that of the young wizard before him but, just as he was readying for the final push, the Dark Lord had to wandlessly raise two shining silver shields to defend himself from the attacks of the Council's fighters. Taking advantage of this distraction, Harry summoned up as much magic as he could from his exhausted core and flung everything he had at his nemesis. At the same time, the rest of the fighters fired powerful curses at the Dark Lord and, through his shield held up, his pure Dark magic did not.

The powerful beam of pure light magic slammed in to Voldemort's chest with awesome force and sent the Dark Lord flying backwards, letting out an unearthly scream of pain as he was struck by the ancient magic. Knowing that he wouldn't have much time, Harry immediately followed his attack with a barrage of killing curses aimed at the Dark Lord who now lay prone on the floor. As the green bolts of light neared their target, Harry felt his hopes swell but, at the last seconds, Harry saw a small rock by Voldemort's side glow blue and the Dark Lord disappeared, leaving the curses to bury themselves into the ground.

Utterly exhausted, with absolute agony tearing through every inch of his body, Harry gently lowered himself to the ground, letting out a small yelp of pain as he came to rest on an undoubtedly broken leg. Remus and Thane ran over and patted him on the back, smiles lighting up their faces before, all of a sudden, they faltered. Harry didn't meet their gaze, his eyes were unfocused and full of pain and, suddenly, he collapsed down on to one knee.

"WE NEED HELP OVER HERE!"

Remus shouted desperately as he saw his charge start to groan in pain, stopped from collapsing completely only by him and Thane. Then, Harry started to shake uncontrollably and Remus didn't even attempt to keep the panic from his voice.

"WE NEED MEDICAL HELP NOW!"

Harry started choking and coughing as his body continued to writhe in agony. He had never known pain like it. Even the cruciatus curse was no match for this, as he felt like the nerves were being ripped from his body, and he had to fight with all of his might to stop himself from blacking out. All of a sudden, he felt another coughing fit coming on and, as it calmed down, he looked down at his palm in horror; it was covered in blood. It was then that the Order's specially trained medics finally arrived;

"Can you stand up Harry?"

One of them asked and Harry shook his head in reply, unable to let out anything but another groan of agony before he felt his leg buckle and the rest of his weight fall on Remus and Thane. He had never felt like this before and a rush of fear tore through him, he felt as if his life essence itself was draining away and his thoughts turned desperately to the Order, to his friends and to the war; if he died, what would they do? Then, all of a sudden, his mind refocused and into it popped one person and, as he felt the last of his energy depart from him and he was claimed by the darkness, his thoughts were of her. Ginny.

There were no whispers this time, his mind was completely blank and his body, if he had one at all, seemed to float effortlessly in the never ending darkness. There was no pain here. His mind knew no worries; in fact he knew nothing, nothing but comfort and contentment. As he peered through the darkness, he saw a pin-prick of light, it seemed like a happy place, the place from which the comfort and contentment seemed to radiate and it drew him like a magnet before, suddenly, there was another presence. It glowed even brighter than the light beyond the darkness and seemed to call him. A voice. It was a woman's; kind and desperate and full of love. He knew that voice and, as it called out to him, he knew that he had to get back to her. Tearing his eyes from the pin-prick of light, he forced himself to move towards the bright glow and towards that beautiful voice.

All of a sudden Harry felt himself crash back to reality as incredible pain rushed through his broken body. But still, he forced himself away from the comforting arms of unconsciousness as it tried to reclaim him, battling to reach the glowing presence he felt calling to him and, eventually, his eyes wearily fluttered open. As his vision adjusted to the comparative brightness of his bedroom in the marauders' old cave, Harry's eyes met with the most beautiful and yet heart-breaking sight he could imagine. Emerald green stared deeply into chocolate brown and Harry felt his heart ache as he saw the tear stains streaking Ginny's cheeks. But then she smiled. She beamed radiantly at him; a smile of pure love and relief and Harry felt unfamiliar feelings stir up inside him. These feelings had long been there but as he looked into Ginny's eyes and returned her beautiful smile, he felt them explode from within his very being and he felt as if he could take on the world right there and now if it meant another moment with the girl sat in front of him.

"Hi." Ginny spoke, her voice brimming with happiness and barely controlled emotion as the sheer relief of seeing the man she loved awakening threatening to overwhelm her.

At that moment a million things raced through Harry's head as he searched for the rights words until, he realised that they didn't need to be said.

"Hi." He croaked in reply and was prevented from saying anything further as Ginny leaned forward and placed a tender and lingering kiss on his lips.

"Not interrupting anything am I?" Came a voice from the door.

Harry looked up to see his friend and guardian walking towards him, beaming as he took Ginny's place sitting on the end of his bed and greeted his charge with a somewhat awkward hug.

"Remus, if I was in any state to be doing anything, don't you think Ron would be in here supervising, rather than standing outside the door?" Harry replied, raising his voice for the last part and being rewarded by his best mate first peeping into the room and then walking inside.

"How are you feeling mate?" Ron asked as he was followed into the room by Hermione, Thane and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

"Just dandy." Harry replied with a smile.

"You had us worried for a while there Harry." Remus spoke, breaking the brief silence that had filled the room. "A punctured lung, four broken ribs, a fractured spine, broken bones in your neck, arms and legs, massive blood loss; you're lucky that your magic was able to protect you and then heal you as quickly as it did, if it had been anyone else…"

Remus let the sentence hang; there was no need to finish it, and his words were met by another small silence as the room contemplated the full meaning and truth behind what he had just said.

"I'll try to be more careful next time." Harry reassured his guardian ironically and his words were met with smiles.

"Right, everyone out now," Mrs. Weasley began, slipping effortlessly in to her role of Mother, "Harry needs his rest."

"Don't worry about anything mate," Thane said as he was leaving the room, "we've delayed the Council meeting until you're well enough to come. Get well soon."

Thane was followed by everyone else who hugged Harry and gave him their best wishes as they departed the hospital wing. Soon, only he, Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were left and, with a significant look to the closest thing to a Mother he had ever had, Harry let the Weasley matriarch know that he wanted a few minutes alone with her daughter. Mrs. Weasley tried her best to look disapproving but, as she walked out of the door, Harry was sure he saw a smile come to her lips.

"Are you OK?" Ginny asked as Harry gave a small but painful flick of his wrist, locking and warding the door.

"Yeah." Harry replied before pausing to think what was truly wrong with him. "I'm still not a match for him Ginny." He spoke at last, his voice somber and contemplative. "I've trained so hard and grown so much but still the power gap remains, I may be getting more powerful but so is he and I don't think I'll ever catch him, at least not before this damned war comes to a head."

"You have more than just power on your side Harry." Ginny whispered. "Just the fact that you're willing to battle a man more powerful than yourself speaks volumes about who you are and there is no doubt in my mind that you will defeat that monster. That time will come and all you can do is wait for it and continue to prepare."

"And in the mean time, people are dying every day, on both sides." Harry replied before stopping, a small lump in his throat as he felt guilt and horror threaten to consume him. "Do you know how many people I killed today Gin?" He asked, shaking. "Thirteen. Thirteen human lives I ended and countless more I ripped apart to add to my growing tally. My score must be above that of most Death Eaters."

"Harry look at me." Ginny said, her voice pleading yet still full of nothing but love and concern. "You had no choice, if you hadn't killed them, they would have killed you and then countless others. I know that it must be awful for you but what you're feeling right now is what separates you from them. The Death Eaters feel no guilt over killing innocent men, women and children for their own ends but you Harry, you do, even though your life and the lives of others depended on what you did. You care and that's why I love you."

With these last words, she gave him a quick kiss on the lips before she followed her friends and family and walked out of the room. As the door shut once more, Harry was left in silence; deep in his thoughts. He knew Ginny was right, though the guilt still lingered and lay heavy on his heart, but that wasn't what dominated his thoughts as he lay staring up at the ceiling. She loved him. That was the first time anyone had said that to him. The Dursley's certainly wouldn't and Sirius and Remus, if they did, had never said it either. It was true that his feelings for Ginny were beyond anything he had ever felt before, he would gladly die for her happiness and to think of her in pain or distress broke his heart, but did he love her? How could he truly know what love is when no one had said it to him before?

A long yawn broke Harry's thoughts and he realised that fatigue and sheer exhaustion were starting to get the better of him. As his mind started to become slow and sleep welcomed him into its midst, he decided that he would speak to Remus about it in the morning. For now, he just wanted to sleep.

Waking up a few hours later, Harry checked the clock on his bedside table, to find that it was now ten in the morning. He knew that he should contact the Council so that they could go over what was discovered in the Death Eater HQ, but, as he laid there, the greater chunk of his mind was concerned with something else entirely. For fifteen minutes he went over the problem again and again in his mind, until he knew that there was nothing else he could figure out for himself, he had to speak to Remus.

Careful not to alert anyone else to his presence, Harry, upon tracking down Remus with his magical senses, snuck towards his guardian's room and let himself in.

"Hi Harry." The Werewolf said, surprised, before putting down the file he had been reading and motioning towards a chair, silently telling Harry that he should sit. "Good to see that you're up."

"Remus, I have a problem." Harry responded he sat down in one of the chairs next to his guardian's bed. "I was speaking to Ginny last night and, well, she said that she loved me."

Remus smiled. "You know, most people would see that as a good thing."

"I know and it feels great to know that she cares about me that much, but she's going to be expecting me to say it back and…" He trailed off.

"And you don't know whether or not you feel the same way?" Remus finished the sentence for him.

"No one's ever said that to me before." Harry replied. "How the hell am I supposed to know what love feels like?"

"Sirius never-?" Remus asked.

"Can you imagine Sirius saying that to anyone other than a girl he was hoping to sleep with?" Harry asked with a smile. "Even if he did love me, then he was too much of a man's man to say it. Besides, that's a completely different type of love."

"Sirius loved you like a son Harry and so do I." Remus responded. "But you're right, that is a different type of love and I'm afraid, as far as Ginny's concerned, I can't help you. But it you're being entirely truthful, then I think you already know the answer. Now, we better call on the rest of the Council, we've been putting off the meeting while you were asleep, but we can't delay it any longer, we have to look at what we've found and discuss what is to be done about the captured Death Eaters."

Harry nodded, before adjusting the dial on his watch and sending out the message to the rest of the Council that he was awake and ready for the meeting. Harry and Remus then walked the short distance to the kitchen and Harry was shocked to find that much of the Council was already there.

"Wow, that was quick." He said as he took his regular seat.

"We were expecting you up soon Potter and so some of us got together for a discussion over breakfast." McGonagall replied.

A couple of minutes later, everyone was assembled and McGonagall started to speak from the head of the table.

"Though Voldemort's arrival was an unexpected and difficult complication," she began, "I am pleased to announce that the operation was an unqualified success, in that we sustained no deaths or lasting casualties and managed to capture twenty seven Death Eaters, killing about that number again. In addition, I believe that I am correct in saying that most members of the Council managed to find some documents or other forms of information on Death Eater activities and I will now give the floor to each of you in turn to give us further details, Molly…"

Mrs. Weasley went on to tell the Council about the documents she had found in her search, before passing the floor to Bill. Over the next twenty minutes, Harry listened as the Council told of what they had found and was pleased as they talked of new information regarding Death Eater numbers and possible targets for attack. Eventually, it came round to him.

"Well, I found a number of documents in a similar vein to what has been discussed but, inspecting them, I saw that it was all information that we already had from my source." Harry spoke. "However, in a magically concealed compartment in the room, I did find a book, entitled; 'Myrddin'. I haven't had chance to read all of it, but the chapter that's highlighted seems to be about theories on the location of something called; the 'Elixir a Lumina'."

Harry's final words were met by shocked and frightened stares from the members of the Council and Harry sighed.

"You know, I'm having the strangest feeling of déjà vu." He said. "I seem to be lacking in common wizarding knowledge, about some magical object that Voldemort is after."

"We better hope to God that you're wrong Potter," Moody replied, "because if Voldemort gets his hands on the Elixir a Lumina, any war effort we make would be inevitably futile, he would be too powerful. But, more than that, his army would become beyond anything that this world has ever seen before.

"What is it?" Harry whispered, his mind recalling the Rock of Initium in vivid detail and unable to keep the apprehension from his voice.

"Again, its existence has been argued over by magical historians for centuries, but, if Voldemort believes in it, we better start believing too. The Elixir a Lumina is intrinsically linked to the history of the Lycans and the Nosferatu so, I think, we should start with them." Thane spoke, taking the lead on the explanations. "According to magical legend, or history, whichever view you take, the Lycans and Nosferatu were once mighty magical beasts, whose powers threatened even those of witches and wizards and they walked in daylight without harm. The creatures had lived peacefully alongside humans for as long as anyone could remember but, as witches and wizards, under Merlin, started to develop and refine their powers, it's said that the Lycans and Nosferatu started to become edgy. They were nervous that humans would wish to control them, not an unreasonable fear given our past record, and as such, allied themselves with each other and started to become more and more defensive over their territory. This started slowly but, over time, reports started to emerge that Lycans and Nosferatu had killed humans, including muggles, who had wandered into their territory. The beasts had started to dabble in dark magic in their attempts to keep up with the ever increasing powers of the witches and wizards. Inevitably, as you've seen with Voldemort, the dark magic started to corrupt them and they sought ever more power, before, eventually, they became what they are today; incapable of emotional warmth; concerned only with their survival and craving for power. Soon, the Nosferatu and Lycan attacks increased and they started to venture out of their territory; terrorizing and even killing innocent people and magical creatures until, eventually, the wizarding leaders of the day decided that something had to be done. They assembled a great army and declared war on the Lycan-Nosferatu alliance and the two sides clashed in a huge battle in the grounds of Camelot. The witches and wizards, led by Merlin, were victorious and the Kings and Queens of the Nosferatu and Lycans were captured. Using their blood and an ancient and forgotten spell, Merlin, with help from other powerful witches and wizards placed a curse on the remaining Lycans and Nosferatu. They made it that the beasts would be stripped of the powers gifted to them by the dark rituals they had undertaken and, for their crimes and to protect people and magical creatures from them, they would be forever confined to the darkness of the night."

"I'm sorry Thane," Harry spoke up after a brief pause, "but you didn't seem to mention, at any point in that story, the words; Elixir a Lumina'."

"Are you questioning my story telling skills Potter?" Thane asked in mock anger. "Because, you can find all this out for yourself for all I care."

"No, no, carry on." Harry replied.

"Good." The Auror said. "The curse worked and the Nosferatu and Lycans were stripped of much of their power and confined to the night, where they quickly turned on each other, blaming one another for their failure and starting a war that has lasted to this day. Soon after, their defeat, however, a Dark witch started to gain power, you may have heard of her, she was called Morgana and she went on to become Merlin's sworn enemy. As she raised a dark army, much like our old pal Voldemort, she saw the potential of having the Nosferatu and the Lycans on her side and started her unrelenting search for a way to re-instate their lost powers. Through the course of the war that followed, she eventually managed to capture one of Merlin's top generals; a wizard who had helped in the casting of 'the darkness curse'. After days of torture and mental assault, this general eventually cracked and Morgana discovered the nature of the curse. She killed the general and then, and undisputed magical history backs this up, she went into exile, where she stayed for around eighteen months. It is assumed by those who believe in the legend, that she spent this time researching the dark arts and developing a cure for Merlin's curse. The legend then states that she tracked down the Kings and Queens of the Nosferatu and Lycans and gathered blood from all four of them. Using this, it is said that she developed a potion that, if drunk by the King and Queen, would restore to that species, the powers they had lost and the ability to walk in the day. That potion was called-"

"The Elixir a Lumina" Harry interrupted.

"How perceptive of you Harry." Thane commented. "Yes, the Elixir a Lumina, or the potion of light. Legend goes that, as she was about to gift it to the royal couples of the Lycans and Nosferatu, she was betrayed. Merlin learned of her plan and gathered his army, leading them to her and what became known as the Battle of the Tower, or Merlin's defeat of the Dark Lady Morgana."

"What happened to the potion?" Harry asked.

"It's said that only one Elixir a Lumina can exist at one time, due to the specific magical properties it possesses. With this in mind, Merlin supposedly took the potion and hid it where it would never be found and that's the last time it was seen. In the centuries that followed, the Nosferatu and Lycans, enemies once more, have been searching for any clues as to the whereabouts of the potion and warring with each for supremacy over the night."

"And now Voldemort has the co-operation of the Nosferatu." Moody added.

"And you didn't suspect that this is what he was after?" Harry asked incredulously.

"It's widely accepted to be just a legend." Moody said, raising a hand as Harry went to interrupt. "I know, that's what we said about the Rock of Initium, but there are thousands of these legends, particularly concerning Merlin and Morgana and just because one was true, it doesn't mean they all are."

Harry begrudgingly accepted this explanation and the room grew quiet as everyone thought about what they had learned.

"I think it's clear what we have to do." Harry spoke, breaking the completive silence. The rest of the Council turned to face him. "We have to approach the Lycans for an alliance."

This last comment was met by a flurry of shocked rebuffs and Remus' voice managed to break above the noise as he said;

"Harry, the Lycans aren't like werewolves, they have no sense of human emotion or morality. They are beasts, pure evil; just like the Nosferatu."

"Be that as it may," Harry responded as the noise of the Council died down, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend. We don't have to like it, we don't even have to deliver on promises we  
make to get the alliance, but, from what you've told me, the Lycans know more about the Nosferatu and the Elixir a Lumina than anybody else and we need all the help we can get."

"The Lycans won't be easily persuaded." Moody said.

"Then we'll have to pay them a visit and make them listen." Harry replied.

Moody and the rest of the Council thought for a moment.

"Minerva?" The old Auror turned to the co-leader of the Order of the Phoenix.

"I don't like it, but I haven't liked much of what we've done in this war, and Potter's right; the Lycans may be our only hope. We'll put it to a vote; all those in favour of approaching the Lycans for an alliance?"

Slowly and reluctantly, every member of the Council raised their hands.

"Then it's unanimous," the interim headmistress continued, "motion passed. We'll make our approach after Christmas."

"It wouldn't be a good idea for the Lycans to see our approach as a threat to them, so I don't think it's a good idea for us all to go." Harry said. "I suggest that Remus and I make the visit, we'll be able to look after ourselves but won't seem too intimidating and, with Remus being a werewolf, they may feel less inclined to eat him on first sight."

Moody nodded. "Agreed, when the holiday is over, Lupin and Potter will approach the King, Queen and court of the Lycans for an alliance."


	11. Of Christmas and a Fluffier chapter

"You must remember that some spells are faster than others while some spells are more powerful or have a more desirable effect on your opponent. It's vital in a duel that you find the right balance between speed, power and affect, because it's no good firing a killing curse at someone, if theyr'e going to have time to get out of the way anyway."

Kingsley's voice slowly started to fade into the back of Harry's mind as he stared adamantly at the clock above the door. It was actually a very useful lesson, but there were now only three hundred and four seconds before the bell rang, ringing in the start of the Christmas holidays. For the first eleven years of his life, Christmas had been the most depressing time of the year for Harry as he was forced to watch his whale of a cousin being festooned with gifts as he himself was given nothing but chores and, if he got in the way of Dudley's fun, punishment. Now, however, it was a different story and Harry was brimming with excitement as he waited for Santa Clause to come.

"Harry?" Kingsley's voice interrupted Harry's thoughts.

"Yes professor?"

"Do you mind coming up and helping me with a brief demonstration?" Kingsley asked.

Harry glanced at the clock. "As long as it takes less than two hundred and fourteen seconds sir, it would be my pleasure."

Kingsley nodded with a smile and Harry walked to the front.

"OK, all I want you to do is react." The professor said.

Harry nodded and braced himself. Kingsley turned back to face the class.

"Now pay attention everybody, because Extrudo!"

With that, Kingsley spun on his heel and directed his wand at Harry, firing an electric blue bolt at the young wizard with awesome speed. Harry just managed to react in time and threw himself to the ground before rolling up and wandlessly firing a stunner back at his teacher. Kingsley ducked under the red beam and held his hand up, signalling that Harry could stop.

"Thank you Harry." He said. "Can you tell me why you dived out of the way of that curse instead of blocking it?"

"Extrudo is one of the fastest curses there is." Harry replied. "There's no way I could have raised a shield in time when it was fired at point blank range."

"Exactly right, you always need to be aware of distance in duels and, in a split second, recall how quick a spell is and decide what course of action you should take. Over Christmas, I want you to read chapter twelve of 'Duel' and have a good one."

As soon as these words were out Kingsley's mouth, the bell rang to end the class.

"Have a good Christmas Kingsley," Harry said.

"Thanks Harry, Merry Christmas."

With that, Harry turned away from his teacher and excitedly bounded out of the classroom after Ron and Hermione. Seeing them walking hand in hand a few metres away, Harry ran up to them and, with a flick of his wrist, made them drop each other's hand before barging his way between them and putting his arms around each of their shoulders.

"Wooooh! Christmas!" He exclaimed.

Ron grinned before shrugging Harry's arm from his shoulders.

"Yep; everyone at the Burrow for three weeks, it's going to be bloody brilliant." Ron responded.

"So what have you got planned for us this evening Harry?" Hermione asked as the three of them entered the Gryffindor common room and were joined by Ginny."

"Seeing as it's the last DA session of the term, I thought I'd partner everyone off with someone of equal ability and just let them duel."

"Ooh, who am I against?" Hermione asked.

"Well," Harry began with a smile, "in one of my moments of evil geniuses, I decided that it would be somewhat amusing to have you up against Ron."

A look of horror spread across Ron's face as he contemplated duelling his girlfriend, but he hid it quickly. "I thought that you said the duellers had to be of equal ability?" He said with a playful smirk aimed in Hermione's direction.

"Don't worry Ron," Hermione retorted, "I'll go easy on you."

Two hours later saw Harry and the DA in the room of requirement for their last session of the term. As promised, Harry had paired everyone off with someone of roughly equal ability and was now walking round the room, giving tips to his soldiers on technique, spell choice and duelling stances. He smiled as, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ron manage to disarm Hermione, having lost the first two duels. He had to laugh when he saw the look on his best mate's face and almost doubled over when he saw Hermione's response; Ron wasn't the most gracious of winners.

Harry was snapped from his thoughts as a body was sent zooming past his vision. His gaze naturally following the flying man, Harry recognized Blaise and smiled as he spotted Ginny going for the finish with a stunner as his spy recovered on the ground. Blaise was quick, however, and pointed his wand to the floor, sending a streak of fire in Ginny's direction. Harry watched as his girlfriend was forced to cancel her curse and rolled out the way of the flames before pointing her wand to the fire and redirecting it at Blaise. He had used the distraction well, however, and was able to raise a shield to protect himself from his own spell, before returning fire with a barrage of border-line dark curses. Harry had to work hard not to jump to his girlfriend's aid as she desperately defended herself against the magical onslaught, reminding himself that Ginny could more than look after herself and that Blaise, as someone capable of fear, would never dare to even contemplate harming Ginny Weasley. The duel went on for another five minutes before, with a BANG, both Ginny and Blaise were sent flying across the room.

With a casual wave of his hand, Harry conjured thick padding on to both of the walls and watched as the two duellists smacked into them, before falling to the floor, exhausted from the duel and the blast. Still, Ginny and Blaise held their wands in their hands and stared at each other wearily from across the room, trying to conjure up the energy to cast another spell.

"I think," Harry said as he stepped between them, "that we'll call it a draw. Excellent duel guys."

Ginny and Blaise groaned in response and Harry laughed before waving his wand over the two of them and magically patching them up.

"I dare say that you'll feel drained for a while, don't bother starting another duel, I'm going to bring the training session to an end."

Blaise and Ginny nodded and Harry made his way over to the stage and hopped up, waiting patiently for everyone to notice him and stop what they were doing.

"OK that's it Ladies and Gentlemen." Harry said as silence spread over the crowd. "You need to stay alert over the holidays; Voldemort doesn't tend to take a break for Christmas, and I suggest that you read a little bit on defence to keep you fresh. But apart from that and, more importantly, I want you all to have fun. Merry Christmas and I'll see you in the new year."

Jumping down from the stage, Harry spoke briefly to all members of the DA, wishing them a merry Christmas as they walked out of the door and silently praying that, come January, they would all be walking back in again. Soon all but the four friends and Blaise remained in the room and, as he saw the significant look in his spy's eyes, Harry knew that he wanted to speak to him.

"Is this going to ruin my Christmas cheer?" Harry asked Blaise with a smile.

"I'm afraid it might." Blaise replied. "As you know, for months now, Voldemort has been looking to extend his influence beyond these borders and the plans he has made are now being put into operation. Throughout the world, he has started to place his spies and sympathisers in positions of power and he's stepped up his recruitment abroad."

"Do you know where any of the spies have been placed?" Harry asked.

"No. Only Voldemort, the spies themselves and possibly Snape know. I think he's starting to become suspicious that there's a double agent in the Death Eaters' midst; he made it clear that only the inner circle is to know of this operation at all. The only thing I can tell you is that there are several witches and wizards being placed at the heart of the American, German and Chinese governments, Voldemort plans to work outwards from there."

"We've been trying to warn foreign ministries about Voldemort for years but most seem convinced that his influence will remain in Britain, they don't know how powerful he truly is." Harry said. "We'll up our recruitment in the countries you've mentioned, but we can't let on we know anything, if only the inner circle has been told then he may grow suspicious of your own involvement Blaise."

Blaise nodded. "Shall I feed him any more information about the DA?"

Harry thought for a moment. "Tell him that its soldiers are being trained to protect Hogwarts and that we've discovered his alliance with the Nosferatu."

"You're going to feed Voldemort truthful information?" Hermione asked, surprised.

"Any lies will be discovered in time and I'm not telling him anything that he doesn't know or suspect." Harry replied. "Thank you for your help Blaise, what are you doing for Christmas?"

"I'll be spending it with my family." He said, looking less than ecstatic at the prospect. "Father always insists that we have a family Christmas, which in our case means a lot of twisted, dark witches and wizards gathering to bitch about muggles and mudbloods."

"Well try to have fun." Harry spoke. "We'd invite you to the Burrow, but obviously it would put your allegiances in doubt somewhat."

Blaise smirked and said; "See you next year." Before walking out the door.

"What are you thinking?" Ginny asked Harry as the four friends were left alone in the large room.

"That all this can wait until after Christmas." Harry replied, not wanting to put a downer on the Christmas cheer that had spread among the group.

"I'll tell you what I'm thinking;" Ron said, "I'm thinking of presents, parties and turkey; Christmas at the Burrow, nothing beats it."

"When are Remus, Thane and Tonks going to arrive?" Hermione asked as they walked out of the room and up towards the Gryffindor tower.

"The day after we get back." Harry responded. "So I'm thinking that we can all go into Diagon Alley that morning and do our Christmas shopping. Thane, Remus and Tonks have all done theirs and once they arrive the party can truly begin."

"Sounds good to me," Ginny said, "as long as you know that any humiliation I sustain due to a prank war is your fault Mr. Potter."

"Let's be fair, Ginny." Ron chipped in. "With us, Fred, George, Thane, Remus and Tonks under one roof, even Harry couldn't prevent a prank war."

The others laughed and, climbing through the portrait hole, the four of them collapsed into their favourite spots around the fire. The rest of the night passed in what felt like an instant as they all just sat talking and playing chess around the roaring fire as flakes of snow fell outside the window, adding to the Christmas spirit already roaring in the hearts of the Gryffindors. All too soon, they were starting to yawn and it was time to go to bed.

The next morning, Harry woke up early even for him and, grinning like a maniac, had to force himself to go through his exercises as he contemplated the joy that was Christmas at the Burrow. When he got back to his dormitory he found Ron, for once, already up and together the two of them went downstairs to meet the girls for breakfast. The house elves had put on a veritable feast for the students' last meal before the holidays and the war couldn't have been further from the minds of all those in attendance as laughter and chatter filled the room. Soon, with the scrumptious meal gone and McGonagall's parting words still ringing in their ears, the announcement was made that the Hogwarts express had arrived and was waiting for them at Hogsmeade station.

Together, their coats wrapped around them, Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione walked down the snowy path to Hogsmeade station, their trunks trailing magically behind them. Boarding the ancient locomotive, the four of them found an empty compartment and settled themselves down for the long journey home. For about five minutes they just stared out of the window and watched the scene as the students boarded the train, but quickly, Ron got bored.

"Who wants a game of chess?" He asked, prompting a groan from Harry.

"We played chess last night." He said. "Can't we play something that I'm actually good at?"

"Like what?" Ron asked.

"I don't know…" Harry replied, thinking hard. "………Duel to the death?"

"To be honest I'd rather play chess." Ginny said and took her position opposite her brother to take him on.

"I'm surprised that your parents are letting you go straight to the Burrow Hermione." Harry commented, after a brief silence, as the Weasley siblings engaged in mortal chess combat.

"Well with the war, they realised that it would be safer for me to be around witches and wizards." Hermione replied. "They're going to stay for some of the holidays so we can spend some time together."

Harry nodded and was going to speak again when he was cut off by Ron exclaiming;

"Check Mate!"

"Already?" Hermione asked, surprised. "You've only been playing for five minutes.

"Ginny should know by now that she can't match my brilliance on the chess board." Ron replied.

Ginny looked about to retort when she was interrupted and Harry smiled at the familiar sound of the words; "Anything from the trolley dears?"

Stocking up on the brilliant treats that trolley lady had to offer, the four of them waited for her to leave before starting to chat again. The train ride passed quickly after that and the countryside gave way to the urban sprawl of London, telling them that they were nearing their destination. As they disembarked from the train soon after, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were all greeted warmly by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley who had come to pick them up and together the six of them apparated away from the crowded platform and to the Burrow.

Mrs. Weasley had prepared a beautiful meal for when they got back and, sat around the expanded kitchen table, everyone tucked in gratefully to their lamb chops. As the meal came to an end, however, the long trip started to take its toll on Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron and soon their eyes grew heavy. Her motherly instincts too keen to miss something like this, Mrs. Weasley quickly cleared away their plates and ushered them upstairs, Harry to Percy's old room, and soon everyone was tucked up in bed.

The next morning Harry woke late, allowing himself a break from his regular morning exercises and having a lie-in. As his mind started to un-fog, however, he realised that something didn't quite feel right and, slowly opening his eyes, he gazed upon the dark, imposing figure of Lord Voldemort stood menacingly by the side of his bed. Letting out a small laugh, Harry waved his hand over his mortal enemy and watched as the illusion started to change; morphing until it was a perfect duplicate of Mrs. Weasley.

'Fred and George, you amateurs.' He thought to himself. 'You could have at least attempted a fake magical signature.'

With this in mind, he forced a part of his magic to emanate around the illusion and, quickly getting dressed, marched it towards his door. Magically scanning the area, Harry found that the coast was clear and so slowly opened his door and crept upstairs to Fred and George's room, the Molly Weasley doppelganger walking in front of him. Reaching his destination, Harry disillusioned himself and opened the door, letting himself and the illusion inside.

"How dare you scare Harry like that!?" The illusion shrieked as it entered the room, her voice a perfect match for Mrs. Weasley's.

"Mum!" Fred exclaimed as he and George jumped to their feet.

"Harry is such a sweet boy, how could do something like this!?" The illusion continued as the two young men cowered in fear. "Well that's it, there'll be no more joke shop. I don't care how old you are, you have to realise the consequences of your actions."

Fred and George looked horrified. "But Mum-" The latter began.

"But nothing." 'Mrs. Weasley' interrupted. "And one more thing, never mess with the master of comedy."

"What?" Fred asked confused.

The illusion suddenly disappeared and Harry, still trying desperately to stop himself from bursting out laughing appeared.

"I believe she said, never mess with the master of comedy." He said.

Both of the twins sighed in relief before breaking out in smiles.

"I've got to give you this one Harry." George spoke. "You really had us going there."

"Too bloody right he did, I was planning of taking Mum out the picture." Fred added.

"Well for now at least, you don't have to." Harry responded. "Besides, she's the best cook I've ever known and I'm getting hungry, let's go and get some breakfast."

The twins agreed and together the three of them went downstairs, where they were met by the glorious smell of bacon.

"Good morning boys." The real Mrs. Weasley greeted them as she turned away from the stove. "How many rashers; three, four or five?"

"Need you ask Mother?" George replied.

"Five it is." She said. "You'll be getting five too Harry, a year and a half away from that dreadful place and you still look far too thin."

Harry smiled, the still unfamiliar feeling of being mothered not grating with him as it did with the others.

"Morning everyone." A voice spoke and Harry turned to see Ginny walking their way.

"Is it really morning Ginny?" George asked sarcastically. "Fred and I were just about to go to bed, weren't we Fred?"

"We certainly were George, after our midnight snack outside in the glorious sunshine that is."

Ginny just smiled at them before walking over to Harry and placing a lingering kiss on his lips.

"Oone hell of a comeback Gin'," Harry said as he saw the glares on Fred and George's faces, "but did you really have to implicate me?"

"Yes." Ginny replied simply before tucking in to some bacon that her Mum had just put on her plate, smiling at her children's antics.

Halfway through his delicious meal and having been joined by Arthur, Hermione, Bill and Charlie, but still no Ron, Harry jumped in shock as his wrist started to vibrate.  
"Council meeting, Boxing Day at nine pm." Harry read aloud. "Anyone know what that's about?"

Everyone around the table shook their heads. "Well it can't be about the…upcoming plan," Mrs. Weasley said, choosing her language carefully as she remembered Ginny and Hermione sitting there, "we agreed not to meet about that until after Christmas."

"Maybe the Lycans have made contact themselves." Ginny suggested, smiling as she saw her parents' faces. "Or Harry and Remus' meeting with them is being brought forward."

"So," Harry said, staring at his plate to avoid the eyes of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, "Who's coming to Diagon Alley today?"

"Fred and George said that they want to go with us." Hermione said. "But we'll have to wait for Ron to get up first."

"I'm up." Ron said as he wandered, bleary-eyed, into the kitchen.

"Wow. That was really convenient timing." Ginny said.

"Yeah, it was." Ron replied.

"No, but it was really, really unlikely that you'd walk into the room at that exact moment." Ginny continued.

"I know, but it's not like someone planned for it to happen."

"I guess not." Ginny said suspiciously.

"Anyway, now Ron's here, we can get going." Harry changed the subject.

"Whoa." Ron said, holding his hands out in front of him to stop Harry, his voice outraged. "Are you suggesting that I miss breakfast?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "It's half eleven, the rest of us finished eating three-quarters of an hour ago."

"Well that's your fault for getting up so early."

Harry sighed. "Fine, but hurry up, I need to get all of my Christmas shopping done.

Three helpings and over half an hour later, the six of them apparated into the pub known to the wizarding world as the gateway to the magical street that is Diagon Alley. Walking out of the Leakey Cauldron and into the bustling street, Harry stood for a moment, taking in the unique atmosphere and wonderment that surrounded the place and was heartened to see that, despite the war, Christmas had brought in the crowds. Witches and wizards of all ages hurried about their shopping, decked out in tall hats and colourful robes as they ducked in and out of shops selling the most amazing of things. As they had planned, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George all immediately started to push through the loud and busy crowd of people and made their way over to the twins' joke shop.

"As our financial backer Harry, feel free to take what you want free of charge." Fred spoke.

"What about us?" Ron asked.

"Of course, you can as well Ron." George said.

"Yeah, as our brother, you too may take anything you'd like from the shop. You'd have to give us a thousand galleons first of course, but after you're cheque has cleared you can take anything you want free of charge." Fred added.

"On second thoughts, I think I'll just pay for what I need." Ron said before turning and following the others; looking around the packed shop, ducking occasionally as miniature explosions erupted and magical objects flew off the walls.

Fifteen minutes later, the six young witches and wizards emerged from the shop, Fred and George shouting back that they'd return later on, and set off down the street, all with arms full of tricks and pranks, just waiting to be pulled. The next two hours were spent laughing and joking as they all toured the shops of Diagon Alley, searching for gifts to suit their friends and family. Occasionally the group would split as they bought gifts for each other and the last of these occasions found Harry with Ron, Fred and George as Ginny and Hermione walked off in the opposite direction.

"Why did you three have to come with me?" Harry asked. "I could really use Hermione now."

"Why, what's wrong with us?" Ron asked in mock indignation.

Harry smiled. "Well I'm looking for a present for Ginny and, don't take this the wrong way, but you're all idiots when it comes to girls."

"How could we possibly take that the wrong way Harry?" George asked sarcastically.

"No, he does have a point." Fred conceded. "But then again, every man is an idiot when it comes to girls."

"What about men who used to be women?" George asked.

"But if they wanted to be men, then they always thought like men, so they can't know how other women thought." Ron countered.

"Yes but-" Fred began.

"I am not having this debate again." Harry interrupted. "We all agreed last time that there's only one way to know and none of you were prepared to have the operation. So let's just focus on the problem at hand."

"You really have no idea what she wants?" Ron asked. "Girls tend to drop hints, you know."

"How do you know?" George asked.

"I read it in a book." Ron replied.

"When did you read a book?" Fred enquired, looking shocked at the thought.

"I read lots of books." Ron retorted.

"Yeah but that doesn't sound like the kind that had pop ups." Fred smirked.

"Did you happen to pick up on any of these hints from Ginny?" Harry asked, interrupting them once more.

The group thought hard for a moment.

"She once said that she liked teddy bears." George suggested.

"Really?" Harry asked. "When?"

"1986."

"Anything more recent?" Harry said, exasperatedly.

"Sorry mate, looks like you're on your own for this one." Ron replied.

Harry sighed in frustration and started looking around the street for inspiration, or at least somewhere he could start looking. Spotting a jewellery shop, he decided that it was as good a place to start as any and the three of them made their way through the crowd in its direction.

"What have you got Hermione?" Harry asked Ron.

"Well I don't know if you've noticed, but Hermione likes books," Ron responded, "so I got her one on the history of house elf rights. I also know how much she likes otters so I bought her a charm bracelet with one on, along with a wand, a wizard's hat and a book."

"Wow, it almost sounds like you've got her something thoughtful and sensitive." Harry commented.

"I'm always sensitive."

"Harry, you know how you wanted to know how a girl thinks?" George asked. "Why not ask Mrs. Sensitive here?"

"Shut up." Ron retorted.

Harry smiled. "Are you two buying presents for any special ladies?"

"Sorry mate." George replied. "Fred, aren't you going out with that Lourdes girl?"

"Sort of, but I've only really spoken to her twice," Fred said, "once on Friday night and then on Saturday morning."

George laughed and extended his hand high, where Fred slapped it.

"So basically, you're all going to be no help whatsoever." Harry concluded as he opened the door to the jewellery shop and walked inside.

"How may I be of assistance young sirs?" A middle-aged, balding man asked as he walked forward to greet them.

"To be honest, I have no idea." Harry replied. "I'm looking for something for my girlfriend."

The man smiled knowingly and walked behind the glass counter, motioning towards the items inside as he began to speak.

"A ring perhaps? Do you know her birthstone?"

"I'd be careful with a ring mate," George said, "She might get the wrong idea. I made the same mistake a couple of years ago; she'd sent owls to her Mum and three of her friends before I could explain what had happened."

"A necklace then, perhaps?"

"Does Ginny wear necklaces?" Harry asked no one in particular. "Does she even have a neck? I'm drawing a complete blank here; maybe I should just look around to see if anything catches my eye."

Harry and the others spent the next fifteen minutes fruitlessly searching for Ginny's present, desperately hoping that something brilliant and obvious would jump out at them. It didn't. Harry was getting frustrated and was about to suggest that they move on to another shop, when he spotted one more glass counter in the far corner of the store. As he made his way over to the counter, the clerk walked up to him.

"These are some of our older pieces sir." The man spoke. "We do not usually buy jewellery from the public, but occasionally someone will come in wishing to sell or trade with a piece that catches our eye."

Harry nodded as his eyes raked the contents of the glass counter, looking in turn at all of the odd trinkets and jewellery; a miss-match of gold and silver pieces of all kinds. At that moment, one in particular caught his eye.

"Ron, Fred, George." Harry called the three brothers over. "Have I gone crazy from relentless searching, or is this perfect for her?"

"It's perfect mate." Ron replied with a smile. "She'll love it."

It was a necklace; silver and of the finest quality, moulded to perfection in the shape of an elegant horse; Ginny's patronus. But more than that, it seemed not only to shine brilliantly, but to give off a heart-warming glow, tinged with an auburn shade that reminded Harry so much of her.

"A fine piece sir," The clerk said, "brought in by a beautiful young woman almost two decades ago. She seemed sad to part company with it but was desperate, saying that she couldn't bear to have it fall into the wrong hands, I gave her a good price. It has upon it a spell, the like of which I have never seen before, offering protection to the wearer and a distress signal to her love. You see, it comes with a ring and when the wearer of the necklace is in peril, the ring will grow cold and if she is the ring-wearer's true love, then he will feel her pain."

"Where is the ring?" Harry asked.

"I keep it behind the counter." The clerk replied. "Just here."

As the man took a box from behind the counter and placed it, open, on the top, Harry's eyes grew wide with shock and he felt a tingle travel the length of his spine. Sat in the box, there lay a ring of solid gold, a large ruby set within, surrounded by two lions rampant. Shaking his head and smiling at the unknowable workings of the hands of fate, Harry looked up;

"I'll take it."

"I must warn you sir; such quality and power of magic comes at a price."

"Oh I don't think that will be a problem." Harry replied, casually brushing aside some hair from his forehead and, for the first time, revealing his scar to the shocked man stood before him. The clerk was almost shaking with excitement as he wrapped the two items and rung them up on the cash register.

"That will be two hundred galleons please Mr. Potter."

Harry smiled at the man's enthusiasm as he handed over the money before he, Ron, Fred and George were finally done and walked towards the door. Just as they were walking out of the shop, a voice to their left said;

"Hi guys."

Harry quickly shrunk the boxes in his hand and stuffed them in his pocket. "Afternoon Ginny." He replied, not wishing to draw attention to where he had bought her gift. "You're looking well."

"Coming out of a jewellery shop I see." Ginny commented with a smile.

"Yes, Ron wanted his belly button pierced." George invented, earning bewildered looks from the others and a glare from Ron.

"That kind of thing is done at a specialized shop, not a jeweller." Hermione responded knowingly.

"That's why I haven't had it done." Ron said, lifting his jumper and T-shirt as evidence.

"There's a place down the alley, if you want to go now." Ginny suggested.

"Harry was buying you jewellery." Ron replied, realizing that he was beaten and unwilling to go further for his mate's secrecy.

"I realised that when I remembered that I wasn't a complete idiot." Ginny said with a smile. "Is anybody else hungry?"

The boys all heartily agreed; it was a silly question really, and the six of them walked back to the Leaky Cauldron to have some lunch. The dingy, old pub put together, as always, a surprisingly good meal and the six young witches and wizards ate well, talking lightly and teasing each other by trying to pry clues about the nature of their presents.

"You know, my wrist is feeling a bit light." Ginny said after taking another bite of her cod. "Maybe I should buy myself a bracelet while I'm here."

"Good idea." Harry commented lightly, his eyes not meeting those of his girlfriend.

"Though, on the other hand, what I'm really quite low on his necklaces, maybe I should go back to that jewellers that you lot were coming out of." She continued.

"That's fine with me," Harry said, looking at Ginny with a smile, "just as long as you don't buy yourself a Celtic broadsword. Oh no, I've given it away!"

Ginny grinned. "Very funny Harry. You know damn well that my Dad got me a broadsword for my birthday."

The rest of the table laughed and Ginny gave up on her guessing, the conversation turning instead to the ever-present topic of Quidditch, or as Harry liked to call it; 'making fun of Ron about the Cannons losing again.' The rest of lunch passed quickly and the six friends all managed to polish off a dessert as Fred and George demonstrated some of their latest products. Too soon, however, it was time to go home and the six of them made their way out the pub and, together, they apparated away. Reappearing on the outskirts of the Burrow's new wards, the six of them walked up to the house where Harry spotted Thane, Remus and Tonks chatting happily at the kitchen table.

"Hey Guys." Harry greeted them. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas!" They all chanted back at him and Remus stood, enveloping his charge in a one-armed hug, before Harry moved on to greet everybody else.

"Remus dear boy!" Fred shouted as he walked into the room. "Jolly good to see you."

Remus looked confused and a little suspicious as Fred offered him his hand to shake, but took it anyway; big mistake. As soon as their hands clasped, Remus started to shake, glowing blue as his skeleton was illuminated behind his skin and smoke started emanate from to the top of his head. The others just stared, seemingly transfixed, at the amazing sight before them until, after about five seconds, Fred released the werewolf's hand and the spectacle died, leaving a shocked and slightly smoking, but otherwise normal Remus.

"What the hell was that!?" He demanded after recovering slightly.

"A little muggle invention." Fred replied, showing Remus the buzzer on the palm of his hand. "Of course, we've souped it up a bit."

"Thane, good to see you mate." George interrupted any further conversation as he stretched out his hand in the Auror's direction.

Thane simply raised his eyebrows, silently asking George exactly how stupid he thought he was. George, however, showed him his empty palm and, with a quick wave of his wand, Thane detected no spells and so clasped his hand. Wincing as he did so, the Auror breathed a sigh of relief, when he found himself still whole and entirely human. This was short-lived, however, as George suddenly pulled his other arm from behind his back, revealing a comically large mallet. A look of horror spread across Thane's face, but he didn't have time to react before George brought it crashing down on to his head. The charmed mallet blow didn't much, but the Auror was sent tumbling to the floor, landing on his back-side while little, yellow birds appeared above his head, flying in a circle and tweeting.

"The new Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes cartoon range." Fred triumphantly announced as Thane climbed back to his feet. "We got the idea from something we saw on the vellytision."

"Television." Hermione felt the need to correct him, even as she, Harry, Ron and Ginny were doubled up with laughter.

"Right, television." George said. "Now this has been fun chaps, but we have to get going back to the shop."

"Did you know they were going to do that?" Thane asked Harry as Fred and George walked out of the Burrow and apparated away, back to Diagon Alley.

"No." Harry replied. "Though when I saw the buzzer in Fred's hand and the mallet behind George's back, I suspected they might."

Thane sighed in mock resignation. "Harry, did you not learn anything from last Christmas?"

"Only that we four could kick your arses at a prank war any day of the week." Harry replied.

"What an interesting theory." Remus said. "I wonder if it'll be put to the test any time in the next couple of weeks. What do you think Tonks?"

"I don't know." Tonks replied. "I mean, you know how clumsy I am and sometimes I like to walk past teenagers' dinners holding mysterious potions."

They all smiled.

"So what are you all doing now?" Remus asked.

"While we have a bit of time, how about we all go into my trunk and do a bit of training?" Harry suggested.

"I'm not sure how much help we'll be to you Harry, but yes I'd love to join you." Tonks replied.

"Actually, you could be a lot of help; I was thinking that we could have a duel." Harry said.

"Me and you?" Tonks asked, shocked.

"All of us." Harry replied. "Me versus the rest."

Thane laughed. "Sounds good to me Potter, but be warned, you won't come out alive."

"Surely you realise by now Thane that nothing on this earth can defeat I; Lord Harry Potter, heir of Gryffindor and Merlin and the boy who lived." Harry responded with a grin.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Thane asked. "Let's go."

Everyone agreed and less than five minutes later, the seven of them were in Harry's trunk, wands at the ready as the six talented and powerful witches and wizards squared up against the boy who lived.

"On three." Harry said as he summoned his magic to his fingertips, knowing that he would need every scrap of power and talent he had if he wanted to come out of this duel conscious, never mind win it. "One. Two . Three."

As soon as the last word had escaped from his lips, Thane, Remus, Tonks, Hermione, Ron and Ginny all sprung forward, slashing down their wands and firing spells of all colours and sizes. Harry just stood his ground as the six spells raced towards him, drawing ever nearer and making his magical senses come alive, screaming at him to react. At the last possible second, Harry's eyes suddenly glowed a blinding green and the curses turned inwards, three to the left and three to the right, before crashing into each other dancing and fighting as they morphed into a football sized globe of pure magic. His six opponents all just had time to realise what was about to happen before Harry thrust his arms forward and sent the multi-coloured globule of light streaking towards them. They dived out of the way just in time, spreading out in different directions and desperately raising shields as the ball struck the far wall and exploded with massive force.

Closing his eyes, Harry allowed his magical senses to take over and guide him against his multiple, powerful opponents. Leaping into the air, he managed to avoid the motus humo spell, which was fired at his feet and dissolved the ground where he had once stood. He had no time to respond, however, as he sensed five spells heading his way, and was forced to propel himself upwards and over the curses. Flipping himself over in the air, Harry flew towards the wall and made contact with his feet, before pushing himself downwards and towards his stunned opponents. As he accelerated down, he directed his wand at Thane and slashed it up into the air; flinging the Auror towards the ceiling as he landed on his feet.

Hermione had reacted quickly and fired a stunner as soon as he had touched down, but Harry raised a shield in time, deflecting the curse away and managing to hit her with a wandless extrudo before he was forced to duck under yet more spells. He slashed his hand downwards, ripping through space-time with his apparition shield, as a volley of curses came flying his way and, allowing the rip to swallow the spells, sealed it up before conjuring another on the other side of him and forcing Remus to raise a shield.

Turning, Harry found himself facing Ginny and, a plan starting to formulate in his mind, he immediately started to run towards her. She determinedly fired a series of accurate and powerful curses at him but Harry simply aimed his wand at the ground and propelled himself into the air once more. Flying over his girlfriend's head, he twisted in mid-air and as he landed, fired off a simple stunner, which struck her in the back and sent her crumpling to the floor. One down. Harry had little time for celebration, however, as he found himself mere feet away from Ron and Tonks who had rushed to Ginny's aid. Ron's wand came swinging round, but Harry managed to knock his arm downwards and thrust his hand to his best friend's chest, sending him flying away from him, before ducking to avoid Tonk's confundus curse.

Knowing that he was now surrounded and vulnerable on the ground, Harry allowed himself a second to close his eyes and gather the full extent of his power to his fingertips. Thane, Remus, Tonks and Hermione just had time to feel the hairs on the back of their necks stand up and their clothes flutter as a magical wind began picked up around them, before Harry thrust his arms out, sending out a powerful pulse of pure magic. The four witches and wizards were blown backwards and Harry took the opportunity to jump to his feet and start spinning, firing dozens of stunners as he did so and catching Ron, Hermione and Tonks off guard. Just two more to go.

Diving to the floor as he sensed yet another curse heading his way, Harry quickly rolled to his feet and fired a rope at the perpetrator's legs. Thane was caught off balance and fell to the ground as Harry tugged the rope towards him. The Auror tried to resist the pull, but he could get no purchase on the floor and with Harry's magically enhanced strength, he found himself being pulled unremittingly towards the young wizard. Deciding to use the momentum rather than fight it, Thane rolled forwards and managed to come back up to his feet, conjuring a broadsword as he did so and slashing it at Harry. Harry was quick to react, however and managed to transfigure his wand into a sword of his own and block his mentor's blow. He was about to counter when he sensed a curse racing towards his back and saw Thane prepare for another strike.

As the double attack came towards him, Harry had to act quickly and, calling on his elemental powers, forced a great wind to pick up and fling him into the air. Thane had to block Remus' spell as Harry flew above it and didn't react in time when Harry directed his sword at his older friend and cried;

"Stupefy!"

The red bolt of light struck the Auror in the chest, sending him flying backwards and knocking him unconscious. Still in the air, Harry casually waved his hand to block Remus' attack from behind before setting himself back on the ground.

"So what do you think of your chances?" Harry asked his guardian with a smile.

"I'm pretty confident." Remus grinned.

With that, Remus quickly brought up his wand and fired a stunner at his young charge, before staring in shock, as Harry simply closed his eyes. Reaching out with his magical senses and feeling his power growing, Harry could sense the curse heading his way. It happened in a split second, but to Harry it seemed like he had an age to plan it and, when he opened his eyes, he simply stared at the red bolt of light and directed a rush of pure magical energy towards it. The stunner was enveloped by a blinding light and fizzled out to nothingness before Harry turned his attention back to Remus. The werewolf had not time to react as Harry waved his hands and a great ring of fire grew from the ground, glowing white hot as it trapped him where he stood. Remus was about to turn his wand to the flames but suddenly they were replaced by a swirling vortex of water, which spun around him before collapsing inwards. Finally, the water froze and Remus' mind went blank as he was frozen in the huge cylinder of ice.

Anxious about harming his friend and guardian, Harry quickly melted the ice and, transfigured the sword back into his wand before conjuring himself a chair. As he sat down, he waved his wand and enervated the six figures around him, before conjuring himself a glass of firewhiskey and watching in amusement as his friends stumbled to their feet.

"Drink?" He offered, fighting a smile at the looks of shock on their faces.

"I think we'll need one." Thane replied.

The next few days were some of the most fun of Harry's life as teenagers took on 'adults' in the war to end all wars; the second world prank war. It had started when, the day after the big duel; Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had gone downstairs to breakfast and, forgetting the threats of the previous day, all tucked into their breakfasts. The affects, Harry had to admit, were impressive as he and Ron instantly aged a good ninety years and Hermione and Ginny were blown up in a fashion reminiscent of Aunt Marge.

The quartet could not, of course, let this lie and, with the help of some of Fred and George's products, had retaliated while the others slept. Mrs. Weasley looked on, trying hard to be disapproving, as full-scale war was declared by the still large-breasted Thane and Remus and the flat-chested Tonks, with Arthur sometime lending support. So, attack was followed by attack, right up until Christmas Eve, when Hermione's parents arrived and a shaky peace treaty was signed.

At seven thirty am, a shrill noise started to shriek out to the room and Harry flung out an arm to silence it, his eyes groggily opening and his mind begging for more slumber. But then he was struck by a realisation. It was Christmas! Jumping up from his bed, Harry waved his hands over himself, magically washing and transfiguring his clothes before running out of his room and down the corridor to Ron's. Bursting in to the bright, orange bedroom, Harry made an immediate beeline for the bed and jumped up on it, before starting to bounce.

"GET UP!" He yelled. "IT'S CHRISTMAS!"

"What?" Ron asked irritably, shielding his eyes as they were assaulted by the bright light of day.

Then, suddenly, he too realised the significance of the day and jumped up himself, bouncing with Harry on the bed in his orange Chuddley cannon pyjamas. For a few seconds they just happily bounced before Harry jumped off saying;

"You get dressed, I'll wake the others."

Ron nodded and Harry raced out of the room, heading towards that of his girlfriend. Walking into the bedroom, Harry smiled to see Ginny sleeping peacefully in her bed and crept up to her, before leaning towards her ear and whispering;

"Ginny."

"What?" She whispered in reply, still half asleep.

"IT'S CHRISTMAS!"

The youngest Weasley jumped in shock and Harry laughed as she irritably got out of bed, muttering to herself.

"Going out with a bloody six year old."

"Just get dressed and get downstairs." Harry said. "Unless of course you want to not get dressed and stay up here."

Ginny laughed. "I'll meet you downstairs."

"Right you are." Harry replied, before running off in the direction of Hermione's room.

After about ten minutes, Harry had rounded everyone up and, with Ron, was enthusiastically leading the groggy household downstairs. Entering the living room and seeing it festooned with decorations, with the presents under the tree, the others perked up, forgiving the early hour as they sat down and Ginny started to sort the gifts. With the aid of magic, this didn't take long at all and wrapped presents were sent flying all around the room as they headed to their intended recipient; a neat little charm Harry had taught Ginny the previous day.

Excitedly starting to unwrap his gifts as he saw the others do the same, Harry's first was marked from Dumbledore and, tearing off the paper, found a beautiful scabbard, from which he drew a long and shining sword. The blade was crafted to perfection with goblin wrought steel of the finest quality and it still seemed to glow; undented and with its sheen still in place, though he knew it to be over a thousand years old. He knew this because today was not the first time he had wielded this sword; the letters G O D R I C G R Y F F I N D O R had been magically carved on the blade as Harry held in his hands the sword of Gryffindor.

"Dumbledore said that it was yours by right." Remus spoke, watching as Harry examined the blade in awe. "A family heirloom that you just might find useful."

Harry nodded, too stunned to speak and reluctantly placed the sword back in its scabbard and connected it to his belt, aware that he still had a pile of presents stacked high on the floor in front of him. Coming to the next gift, Harry saw that it was from Molly Weasley. Smiling and full expecting to find a Weasley jumper in the rectangular box, Harry ripped open the paper and took of the lid, not reacting in time as a boxing glove came flying at him and struck him in the face, sending him toppling over backwards and making tiny, yellow birds fly around his head.

"How could you Mum!?" Fred asked his Mother in outrage.

"After all Harry has been through, the last thing he wants is a patented Weasley's Wizard Wheezes classic cartoon boxing glove in the face." George added disapprovingly.

Mrs. Weasley glared at her two sons and was about to reprimand them when Harry cut in;

"It's OK Mrs. Weasley, I've left a similar gift in one of their presents."

He hadn't, but the look on the twins' faces and the caution with which they unwrapped the rest of their presents was worth the white lie. What he had done was leave a little surprise for his guardian and he smiled when, with a loud bang and a cloud of smoke, Remus found himself hanging upside down in the air.

"Very amusing." Remus said as his smoking box dropped from his hand to the floor.

"Sorry Remus." Harry laughed. "I couldn't resist.

"Hey Ginny, what are you wearing for the party tonight?" Harry heard Tonks ask.

"What party?" Harry interrupted the response his girlfriend was about to make.

"We've invited a load of people over for a Christmas party tonight." Ginny replied. "And Tonks, I'll be wearing this great little…"

The rest of the sentence was lost on Harry, who found it turn to a senseless white noise as Ginny talked about clothes. Losing the will to live, he redirected his attention back to the presents in front of him. Over the next couple of hours, he worked through the rest of his gifts, opening a new set of battle armour from Remus, replica England quidditch robes from Thane and a lion pendant necklace from Ginny among others. Every now and again, there were small explosions, pops and flashes as Fred and George tested their latest projects on their unsuspecting family and friends and after the third time this had happened, with Tonks' hair still giving off smoke, everyone was somewhat more careful in their unwrapping. From the excitement that Christmas morning had brought, there evolved a comfortable feeling amongst the occupants of the Burrow as they talked, laughed and examined their new possessions.

Harry found himself just watching the others as they opened their presents, a warm feeling spreading within him as he saw the happiness that Christmas could bring, war or no war. But even as he watched the faces of the people he cared about most light up, he felt a lingering sense of dread; not about the war, but about the box that was still in his pocket and what he was about to tell the beautiful girl sitting next to him. Determined to do this in private, Harry made sure that everyone was engrossed in their own presents or whatever else they were doing, before choosing his moment carefully and leaning over to his girlfriend to whisper;

"Gin, can I speak to you alone?"

"Sure." Ginny replied and the two of them snuck away upstairs and to Harry's room, where Harry locked and warded the door, steeling himself for what he was about to do.

"I wanted to give this to you alone Ginny, away from prying eyes. It's not that it's too personal, but I need to tell you something."

Pulling out a beautifully wrapped box, Harry watched as Ginny unwrapped it, her facing lighting up as she saw the necklace within.

"It has a charm on it," Harry began as he gently took the necklace from her and placed it around her neck, "it'll help to protect you and, if ever you're in danger, it'll call out to your one true love. That is, if he's wearing this ring."

All of a sudden Harry's mouth felt incredibly dry and he was having trouble meeting his girlfriend's eyes for fear of what her reaction might be. True, she had said it first, but there was a great and lingering fear in his heart that this was some sort of huge practical joke, or else a beautiful dream from which he would soon awaken.

"You said this to me quite a while ago and I didn't say anything back, not because I didn't want to, or didn't feel the same way, but because I needed to be sure that when I said it, I truly meant it. And, Ginny, I'm sure. You have no idea how hard this is for me to say, but I've never felt this way before and Gin' I love you."

Harry still couldn't meet Ginny's eyes and after a few moments, he started to worry, wondering why she hadn't said anything in reply. Fear was starting to grip his heart, when he felt two warm hands on his face, pulling his gaze towards her. As Harry's green eyes met Ginny's gorgeous chocolate brown, his heart ached a little as he saw tears in their corners. But then he saw her lips spread in a wide and stunning smile and for the second time, she spoke the most beautiful words in the English language.

"I love you too."

Harry let out a small laugh of relief before bending his head down to Ginny's and placing a soft but lingering kiss on her lips.

"And I love the present." Ginny said. "Now we better get back to the others. They'll be starting to get suspicious."

Harry agreed and, hand in hand, they walked back into the living room to join the others. Soon after this, all fifteen of them headed into the magically expanded kitchen where their undoubtedly delicious Christmas dinner awaited them.

"Mr. Granger, you haven't lived until you've eaten one of Mrs. Weasley's Christmas dinners." Harry said to Hermione's Dad as he sat opposite him. "If you look at all of those 'things to do before you die' lists, number one is always swim with dolphins, then right there, deservingly at number two, is 'eat a Molly Weasley Christmas dinner'."

Mr. Granger laughed but was soon concurring with Harry's words as dinner was served and he tucked in heartily to the plentiful and scrumptious food. For the next half an hour barely a word was spoken as everyone around the table enjoyed Mrs. Weasley's creation. As second and third helpings of dessert were polished off, however, the laughter and chatter arose once more, until it was time to clear the table. This was done quickly with the aid of magic and everyone sat back down around the table, talking while they recovered from their meal. Fairly soon, however, Tonks, Ginny and Hermione were announcing that they had to go and get ready for the party, which began in three hours time.

"Aren't you going to get ready boys?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Of course." Ron replied. "In about two hours and fifty eight minutes."

With that, the men all split off from their respective wives and girlfriends and moved into the living room, where Harry conjured everyone some firewhiskey. The men spent a pleasant couple of hours drinking and talking before one by one they decided that they should get ready too and walked up to their bedrooms to get changed. Entering his room, Harry opened the wardrobe and pulled out the red and gold dress robes Ginny, Hermione and Remus had bought him for his birthday. After a quick shower, he put them on before making a half-hearted effort to comb his hair down; he actually quite liked the way it stood up now, and checked his appearance in the mirror. Now ready, Harry checked his watch, to see that it was five minutes to seven and so he walked out of Percy's old room and up towards Ginny's. Knocking on her door, Harry waited for Ginny to say; "Come in" before going inside. Walking into the room, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and a wide and disbelieving smile spread across his lips. He couldn't believe that Ginny could still stun him like this, but she looked absolutely gorgeous, wearing a long, strapless champagne gown, her deep red hair long and curled.

"Ginny," Harry began breathlessly, "I've never seen anyone look as beautiful as you do right now."

"Did you happen to look in the mirror before you came out?" Ginny asked. "I mean you look handsome, obviously, not beautiful."

Harry laughed. "Yeah, I almost went for the strapless dress myself, but I couldn't pull it off."

"Shall we go?" Ginny asked with a smile.

"Of course." Harry replied, offering her his arm before the two of them made their way downstairs.

Walking into the now transformed living room, with his beautiful girlfriend on his arm, Harry let out a long groan. It was everything that could be expected of a good Christmas party with food, drink and…dancing.

"Why does there always have to be dancing?" He moaned.

"Because without dancing, it's not a party, just dinner." Ginny replied.

"I like dinner." Harry said. "And I'm really good at it."

"You're not a bad dancer Harry, besides you enjoyed your birthday party."

"I suppose, let's just hope there's some alcohol here, drunk Ron always cheers me up."

Ginny laughed. "It's a house with Fred and George in it, of course there'll be alcohol. We just won't know where until we've drunk it."

"Hey Harry, what took you so long?" Ron slurred as he stumbled towards him and enveloped him in a big hug. "It's really good to see you mate. Try the pumpkin juice, it's brilliant."

"So that's where." Ginny said. "What exactly did you put in the pumpkin juice?" The last part was directed at Fred and George who were walking over to them.

"Oh just a little concoction of our own." Fred replied. "One sip and you are completely off your face for precisely two minutes, after which you completely sober up."

"And the best part is he'll have no recollection of what he's said or done during those two minutes until the next day." George added with a grin, forcing a laugh out of Harry.

Ginny was about to comment further when Ron's loud voice rang out above the dull murmur of the crowd.

"Father, my dear boy, good evening to you and your good lady."

Two minutes later saw an irritated Hermione coming over to a giggling Harry and Ginny, with Ron by her side, looking confused and rubbing his cheek.

"Why does my cheek hurt?" Ron asked as he drew up to his best friend and sister.

"I believe that was Tonks." Harry replied. "You really don't want to know any further details. Ginny, I believe that the entertainment is over for now, would you care to dance?"

Ginny took his hand and the two of them walked out to the dance floor, soon followed by Ron and Hermione who looked like she had seen the funny side to Ron's confusion.

"I give up." Ginny said as she swayed in Harry's arms. "Why are you doing this voluntarily?"

"Because I love you and would sacrifice anything just to see a smile even briefly touch your lips." Harry replied. "And, also, this is a really easy song to dance to and I'm hoping it'll get me Brownie points."

Ginny smiled before leaning forward a kissing him softly on the lips. Pulling back slightly, she stared into his eyes and spoke softly;

"We're still dancing to the difficult ones, whether you like it or not."

"Fair enough, but can we get something to eat first?"

"Of course."

"I think I'll avoid the pumpkin juice." Harry said as he and Ginny made their way over to the buffet table and he poured himself a glass of lemonade.

Taking a sip, Harry noted that the drink tasted a little odd. At first he thought nothing of this but as he downed the rest of the glass, his eyes widened and he was struck by a horrifying realisation.

"Damn."

The next thing he knew, Harry was hanging from the chandelier that had been rented for the party, the words; 'and she said that she'd rather suck it' having just escaped rather noisily from his lips. Horror at what he was doing filling the essence of his being, Harry remembered the strange-tasting lemonade with a grimace and slowly lowered himself to the floor before, painfully aware of all the eyes on him, making his way over to Ginny.

"Please tell me that I wasn't as bad as Ron." He begged.

"Oh no." Ginny replied, holding her sides, her eyes alight with laughter. "You were much, much worse. Just a tip Harry, but if I was you, I'd stick with the dress robes."

Slowly looking down, Harry found that he was wearing a rather unflattering mini skirt and a t-shirt proclaiming 'Weasley is our King'.

"I thought that your rendition of 'Weasley is our King' was a particularly moving warm-up to the dirty jokes." Thane said as he and Remus walked over, both fighting desperately in a losing battle, against their own laughter.

Burying his head in his hands, Harry transfigured his clothes back in to dress robes.

"So I'm guessing that Fred and George are dead?" Remus said as a grinning Ron and Hermione walked over to the group.

"Harry I'd just like to thank you." Ron spoke, laughing. "I never knew that I was your King. Or, in fact, that the woman in the bar would rather suck it."

"It was pretty funny Harry." Hermione added before everyone doubled over with laughter and Harry himself felt a smile lift the corner of his lips, before his eyes found Fred and George.

"Oh they're dead alright." Harry said with an evil smirk, pulling out his wand.

"And when Fred started serenading McGonagall." Ron said, as the rest of the group burst out laughing once more.

It was now almost one O'clock in the morning and the party had come to an end, leaving Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Remus, Thane and Tonks talking and laughing about the night's events.

"I have to give it to you Harry, firing the spiked pumpkin juice at them was a touch of genius." Remus added, raising his glass in salute.

"I'm sorry that I hit you Ron." Tonks spoke. "It's just-"

"I don't want to know!" Ron exclaimed, putting his fingers in his ears. "I saw what happened to Harry, Fred and George; I really don't need those kind of mental images."

"Well I found it very entertaining." Ginny said. "And don't worry Harry, Ron; you'll both remember everything in vivid detail when you wake up tomorrow."

"That's why I plan to never sleep again." Ron replied.

"There's no need to be embarrassed Ron." Thane said. "You're right, you do have nice legs and I'd want to show them off too."

Ron's face fell and everyone else laughed.

"Though, personally, I think you took it a bit too far Harry." Hermione added.

"Yes, thank you." Harry said as everyone laughed once more. "As amusing as all this is, I'm tired and I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

With that and a kiss on Ginny's lips, Harry stood up and made his way up to bed, soon followed by the rest of the group.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I have called you here." Minerva McGonagall began her opening speech. It was the next evening and the Council was gathered in the Marauders' old cave, listening as their co-leader spoke. "Well, as you know, for the last few months, following Severus Snape's trial, we have been keeping a number of Death Eaters incarcerated while we decide what the best course of action is to deal with them. I believe that the time to make this decision is now. With the number of prisoners vastly increased after the battle at the Death Eater headquarters, it is becoming inconvenient and time consuming to look after them and interrogate them for information. It is also immoral to keep them locked up illegally if they have a chance of a free trial with the ministry."

"So the question is this," Moody added, "do we give the prisoners over to the Aurors or is it time for us to break with the ministry?"

"And you don't think that we can carry on as we are?" Tonks asked.

"If we can't trust the Wizengamot to deliver a free trial, we can't count on the ministry to lead the fight." Moody answered. "If Voldemort can corrupt the highest wizarding court in the land, there's no telling the influence he wields in the department of defence.

"So it all comes down to the question of whether or not we can trust the ministry." Harry commented. "Or at least, if it is significantly corrupted so as to get in the way of the war effort."

"Precisely." McGonagall responded. ""Which is why we come to the Council for suggestions."

There were a few moments of silence while the members of the Council of the Phoenix pondered the problem; searching their minds for a way to prove or disprove the ministry's impartiality once and for all.

"The obvious thing to do would be to put one of the prisoners on trial." Arthur Weasley spoke up at last. "But, of course, that brings up the problem of potentially releasing a Death Eater back to their master."

"Then we put up the weakest one." Kingsley said. "A captured Death Eater who we know is guilty and can be proven so, but who will pose little problem in re-capture."

Harry nodded in agreement, but then an image flashed up in his mind; a rat-like man with terror in his eyes, wetting himself as he was confronted by his former friend's son. Revulsion swept through Harry as he considered releasing that traitor back to his master and he interjected;

"Ranking in the Death Eater's order should also be taken into account," he said, "as well as prior crimes."

The rest of the Council nodded in agreement and understanding.

"If we're going to do this, we need to keep an eye on the Wizengamot." Moody growled. "Make sure the Lords and Ladies aren't being persuaded of their decisions at wand-tip and so we can root out anyone under Voldemort's control."

"Then either Harry or I will take up our seat on the jury." Thane said. "When we select the Death Eater to go on trial, the one of us who had the least to do with their capture can sit on the Wizengamot and the other can act as a witness."

There was general agreement among the witches and wizards of the Council that the plan was a good one and Minerva McGonagall spoke once more.

"Good, we're agreed." She said. "When shall we select who is to stand trial?"

"No time like the present." Harry replied, standing and walking towards the door of the kitchen, pausing only to check that everyone was following him before leading the way downstairs to the cells.

As the Council entered the underground hallways they had conjured just months ago, Harry drew his wand and waved it in a wide arc. The walls separating each of the cells from each other suddenly disappeared and the glass fronts melded into one as all but one door vanished, leaving just a single large cell with many frightened Death Eaters inside. Not even pausing for thought at the sight of dozens of murderers and dark wizards gathered in one room, Harry turned the handle of the door and walked inside.

"If any of you are currently thinking that now would be a good time to overpower your captors and escape, I would think again." He began, his voice loud and commanding. "It's true that there are more of you, but you must remember that I am much, much more powerful than the lot of you and if anyone makes any foolish decisions, they will be dead before they've even taken the first st

p."

Harry paused a moment to let his words sink in and was satisfied to see that every one of these supposedly powerful men and women, was terrified by his mere presence. Knowing that he had their co-operation and that the Council was watching from outside, he closed his eyes, letting his magical senses guide him and reaching out to the auras of the Death Eaters stood before him. For five minutes, Harry stood perfectly still as he magically examined the aura and then the mind of each of the Death Eaters in turn, before coming to his conclusion. Opening his eyes, he pointed his finger and spoke;

"Hanson, come with me."

A young wizard's eyes opened wide with shock and fear and tears started to well up as he dropped to his knees.

"Please Mr. Potter. I'll do whatever you want, just let me go."

The man was sobbing now, tears and snot rolling unchecked down his face as he cried and begged for his life. Harry felt his stomach turn in revulsion at the man but also felt another, unexpected emotion stir up inside of him; pity. Not for Hanson's fear; he had undoubtedly caused enough of that himself, but for the way Voldemort and his dark ideals had corrupted the man, causing him to throw away his life and become the pathetic shell that he now was.

"Come with me." Harry repeated.

The snivelling man just shook his head childishly as he backed away to the wall, tears running silently down his cheeks and absolute terror written all over his face.

"If you want to live, I suggest you do as I say." Harry said, his voice lowering dangerously.

Hanson just remained where he was; crying and quaking in fear as his master's mortal enemy issued demands of him. Harry rolled his eyes before raising his hand and magically lifting the cowering Death Eater off the ground. Hanson started to scream as he levitated across the room and the rest of the Death Eaters looked on in fear and disgust for their own fates and their comrade's reaction. Harry carried the Death Eater called Hanson out of the door and led him past the rest of the Council and to the interrogation room, waving his hand as he went, to restore the cells to their previous state.

For the next half an hour, various members of the Council of the Phoenix filed in and out of the interrogation room as they questioned Hanson and examined him to make sure he posed as little danger as possible, should the Wizengamot release him. Finally, Remus, the last council member to question him, emerged from the room.

"I think Harry made the right choice." He said.

"Good," Moody replied, "then the trial goes ahead. Amelia has contacted the Wizengamot and it is arranged for three days time."

The rest of the Council nodded and silence fell among them as each was lost in his or her own thoughts. Three days time would be an important day; it would mean either the strengthening of the bond between Order and ministry or its severance altogether.

"Mr. Harding, is it not at all possible that my client was present at the aforementioned address for purely innocent purposes? I don't believe that Death Eaters shout their commitment to He who must not be named from the rooftops, surely you would admit that it is entirely possible that my client was unaware of the allegiances of the other men." The barrister for the defence continued his cross-examination of Thane. The trial was now well underway and, as he sat watching from above the court with the rest of the Wizengamot, Harry had to admire the case that the Council had put together. They had got themselves a new barrister after Snape's trial of course and the evidence seemed pretty bullet-proof; Thane was doing well under questioning and soon they would move onto interrogating the defendant under Veritaserum.

"The fact that he started firing dark spells at me and other members of the Order of the Phoenix suggests that he did in fact know to whom their allegiance belonged." Thane replied.

"But would that not have been your reaction and the reaction of everyone else in this room, had a group of witches and wizards broken down a wall and charged into the room, firing curses at your friends?"

"Yes, but I wouldn't have done it whilst wearing full Death Eater robes and mask." Thane said. "Nor would I have responded to stunners, fired by members of the Order of the Phoenix, with killing curses."

The questioning carried on for a little while longer and Harry's confidence in Thane and their case grew as the Auror stood up well to the barrister's questions. The next part of the trial was the questioning under Veritaserum and, having already conducted such a questioning on the defendant himself, Harry was confident in getting the results he was looking for.

"If you would like to collect the Veritaserum, Sergeant?" Madame Bones said, looking at a young Auror stood beside Hanson.

The sergeant nodded and walked out of the room and Harry's eyes met with those of Moody, before he himself stood up and followed the Auror out of the court. Following the man into a side room, Harry found himself stood next to a small cauldron, filled with a clear liquid, from which the Auror was currently filling a vial. As he corked the now full glass tube and turned around, the Auror jumped to see Harry standing in front of him.

"M-Mr Potter," he stammered, "What are you doing here?"

"Just checking on something." Came Harry's reply.

The Auror nodded nervously before walking past Harry and in the direction of the courtroom. Following him down the corridor, Harry reached into the inside pocket of his robe and pulled out a vial, identical to the one in the Auror's hand. With a rush of magic, as Harry waved his free hand over it, the vial disappeared for a fraction of a second and when it re-materialised in his hand, Harry noticed that it was a little fuller than it had been, and the one carried by the Auror was a little less full. With a satisfied smile, Harry tucked the vial back into his pocket and followed the young man back into the court, before retaking his seat among the Wizengamot.

Harry sat just in time to see the Auror he had followed approaching Hanson, Veritaserum-filled vial in hand. Watching carefully, he was satisfied to see three drops of the potion being placed on the defendant's tongue before the Auror backed away and the barrister for the defence rose for his questioning.

"What is your name?" The man asked.

"Jeremiah Hanson." The defendant replied.

"Are you a servant of Lord Voldemort?" The barrister continued, a confident smirk on his lips.

"Yes."

The barrister's eyes grew large. "I-I'm sure my client misunderstood the question your honour." He stammered. "Are you a Death Eater?"

"Yes."

"Are you innocent of the acts for which you are on trial?" The man asked, increasingly desperate.

"No." Hanson replied.

"No more questions your honour." The barrister for the defence muttered dejectedly, his demeanour that of a broken man.

"We have no further questions your honour." The Order's barrister said as he rose to his feet, his expression that of barely concealed glee.

Madame Bones nodded, before waving her wand over the defendant and releasing him from the potion's influence. Hanson suddenly came back to reality, his face paling as he realised what he had just said.

"Would the barristers like to make their closing statements?" Madame Bones asked, a well disguised smile on her lips.

They did so; the barrister for the defence speaking just a few, half-hearted words on his client's behalf, before the prosecution rose and gave an impressive final speech, leaving Harry confident that a better case could not have been brought and surely only a corrupt jury would find the defendant innocent.

"Both cases have been stated." Amelia Bones spoke once more. "The Wizengamot may now leave to make their decision.

At the ministers dismissal, Harry followed the rest of the jury as they filed into a side-room, where they were to deliberate on their verdict. The members of the Wizengamot all took a seat around a battered old table, with the court appointed foreman of the jury at the head; a snivelling, patronising figure called Lord Serpico, who Harry didn't trust in the slightest. He had been sat next to Serpico throughout the trial and as far as he could see, the foreman had paid little to no attention to the proceedings, instead merely glancing around the court at the assembled members of the Order of the Phoenix; a superior sneer on his lips.

"I will allow the members of the Wizengamot a few minutes to think further on what they have heard before we come to a decision." Serpico spoke.

The rest of the jury nodded and Harry decided to use his time constructively, somewhat decided on where his vote would be placed. Looking at the foreman, whose eyes were boring into his own, Harry carefully started to reach out with his magic and probe his mind. Serpico continued to stare him down and as his leglimency was halted in the outer reaches of the Lord's mind, Harry realised that the foreman was well trained in occlumency. His mental shields were well constructed and Harry knew that Serpico suspected the truth; that his mind was being infiltrated. So, unable to guarantee that he would be undiscovered and unwilling to face the ramifications if he was, Harry withdrew from the man's mind and moved on to the next.

To his great frustration, Harry found that the story was the same for much of the rest of the jury as it was for Serpico; their minds were too well protected. And, though he could undoubtedly break any one of their mental barriers, he knew that his chances of going undetected were slim. For a few of the Lords and Ladies, Harry did manage to glide through the edges of their minds and was disturbed by what he saw. Though three were, as far as he could see, totally clean, in three more he detected leanings to the dark side and a raw ambition, coupled with a disregard for the simple rules of morality, that he didn't like at all. Harry considered investigating further, but his thoughts were interrupted as Lord Serpico stood up and began to speak once more.

"I hope you have all had time to gather your thoughts." He said smarmily. "I, for one, feel that this poor man is innocent and is nothing more than the victim of scare-mongering by certain groups, who wish to make the Dark Lord's influence seem greater than it is."

Harry sat opened mouthed at what he was hearing and, as a Lady began to speak, felt sure that his shock was about to be voiced.

"I quite agree." The upper-class, thirty-something year old responded. "I have seen nothing to convince me that this gentleman is a Death Eater and, quite frankly, I have seen nothing to prove that the Dark Lord is back to power at all. As far as I'm concerned, this is all orchestrated to keep the public scared and maintain control."

Harry felt the man beside him shift uncomfortably at these words and, glancing up at him, their eyes met. In the Lord's stare, he saw his own disbelief reflected back at him, along with another, more disturbing emotion; fear. For a second, Harry thought that the man was about to say something, but his nerve failed him and he kept quite as yet another leapt to the defendant's defence.

"I too agree with what has been said." The moustachioed wizard remarked. "The man is innocent."

"What are you talking about!?" Harry suddenly shouted, jumping to his feet as he couldn't bear to listen to anymore. "Anyone with even the faintest grip on reality could see that he's guilty. What about the Veritaserum? What about the testimony of twelve separate people who all put him in the Death Eater HQ, wearing Death Eater robes and shooting off killing curses? Maybe I'm missing something here, but that says to me that the man's a bloody Death Eater."

"Thank you very much for your view Lord Potter." The foreman sneered. "But to me this reeks of a set up by the Order of the Phoenix, of which I believe you are a member, are you not?"

"Are you accusing me of something Lord Serpico?" Harry asked, his eyes narrowed at the pathetic man in front of him, who, he was now sure, was a servant of Lord Voldemort.

"Not at all." The man replied smarmily, the fear in his eyes betraying his cool exterior. "I'm just expressing my view. Now, if you don't mind Lord Potter, we'll do this the old fashioned way, by way of vote, not on the opinions of a mere boy. All those who believe that the defendant is innocent of the crime of being a Death Eater?"

Seventeen people raised an arm and Harry sighed in resignation, his eyes individually meeting those of the Lords and Ladies who did not. In every one of their stares he saw a fear and understanding of what was happening; even if the majority of the Wizengamot weren't Voldemort sympathizers, those who were had the others scared enough to back down. Over the next couple of minutes, they voted on the other charges brought against the man but, as Harry knew they would, the jury found him innocent of all three. The motion was passed that the defendant was not guilty; the time had come for the Order of the Phoenix to split with the ministry.

Walking back into the main courtroom, Harry's eyes met Thane's and they exchanged a significant glance, Harry almost imperceptibly shaking his head. As he sat down, Harry refocused his attention on to Amelia Bones who, he could tell, had seen his silent exchange with Thane and looked saddened as she spoke.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?"

"We have your honour." Said the weasel-eyed foreman as he stood.

"On the charge of assault how do you find the defendant?"

"We find the defendant not guilty."

"On the charge of attempted murder, how do you find the defendant?"

"We find the defendant not guilty."

"On the charge of Death Eater affiliation, how do you find the defendant?"

"We find the defendant not guilty your honour."

Harry sighed as the verdicts were read out and he knew what they had to do. The time had come for the Order of the Phoenix to split from the ministry of magic.

"I know that it wasn't the verdict we were hoping for," Moody opened the meeting of the Council, "but we all suspected that this would be the case. And so, as agreed, the Order of the Phoenix will hereby be separate and beyond the Ministry of Magic, until such a time that we can be sure of its impartiality and lack of corruption."

The rest of the Council solemnly nodded their heads at this last pronouncement and Amelia Bones stood up to address the room.

"I will carry on as Minister for Magic and all those working for the ministry will retain their posts for as long as possible, so that we can at least influence ministry policy and keep You Know Who from taking over completely." She said. "And in light of events, I have decided that it is necessary for the Council of the Phoenix to be officially given full powers of arrest and imprisonment. The Order is too big and liable to corruption for everybody to be given these powers, but to legitimize our actions I believe that our powers should be officially sanctioned."

Harry walked out of the meeting later in deep thought, going over the day's events in his mind. Saying his goodbyes, he apparated from the Order's headquarters to the outskirts of the wards around the Burrow. Making his way back to the house, Harry happened to glance up and saw a small grey speck in the sky, getting ever closer as he watched it fly. Swooping down, as Harry suspected it would, the tiny owl dropped a letter into his hands and flew off into the distance, clearly not expecting a reply. Knowing immediately who it was from, Harry jogged the short distance back to the Burrow and made his way up to the privacy of his own bedroom. Unfolding the parchment and reading its contents, a grim smile of satisfaction grew on his lips. He had agreed.


	12. Of Lycans and the signing of a pact

Harry slowly paced the well worn carpet at the foot of the fire in the Room of Requirement, his mission for the night, the sole focus of his mind as he examined every possible outcome and made contingency plans for each of them. He was donned majestically in his new battle armour, topped with the navy blue battle-robes of the Order of the Phoenix, his high rank as a member of the Council shown by the crossed wands and phoenix on his shoulders. He knew that tonight's mission would be a difficult one; from what he had been told, the Lycans despised humans and he knew that as he was making his case in front of the Lycan court, they would like nothing more than to disembowel him and turn his entrails into a tasty snack. He could only hope that their hate for the Nosferatu and their all-encompassing desire for the Elixir a Lumina would be enough for them not to act on their urges. Harry's thoughts were interrupted as the door swung open and Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Blaise walked in, responding to the call he had put out minutes earlier..

"What's going on Harry?" An anxious Hermione asked. "Why has the DA been put on alert?"

"It's tonight." Harry replied. "The Lycans have responded to the Council's request for a meeting and it's been set for midnight tonight."

Ginny, Ron and Hermione paled at these words, knowing that, however powerful Harry might be, walking into a room packed full of the most powerful Lycanthropes on the planet always comes with dangers.

"Blaise has there been any word from Voldemort about his progress in his search for the Elixir?" Harry asked, breaking the brief silence that had encompassed the room as his friends' took in the news.

"No sir." Blaise replied. "As you know, he is privy to all Nosferatu knowledge on the Elixir, but he has made no progress in his search for the location. He grows frustrated with it and his relations with the King and Queen of the Nosferatu have declined in his anger."

"Good." Harry said. "But that doesn't mean we can sit back, he could get a breakthrough at any time and we need to track it down before he does. We don't want another Rock of Initium. Or worse."

"So why have you called us here sir?" Blaise asked.

"My absence makes Hogwarts a viable target should Voldemort find out that I'm gone, though I personally don't plan on telling him. Obviously the teachers will still be here and I've requested some further Order guards, but should there be an attack, I want my own troops there as the first line of defence. While I'm gone, I want you four, my commanders, to patrol the halls and keep me and the rest of the DA informed on anything suspicious, you know, masked men charging at the castle screaming spells, that kind of thing."

"You can count on us Harry." Ginny responded with a half-serious salute.

"Absolutely mate, Hogwarts is safe in our hands." Ron added.

"Good to hear." Harry said. "Should anything happen, you can contact the Order guards and the teachers on patrol tonight using your coins, other than that, have a good night."

"Commanders?" Blaise spoke softly, looking confused.

Harry smiled. "Blaise, no one in the DA has shown more skill, courage and leadership over the past two years than you and I can think of no one more deserving of this role. Consider yourself promoted."

Blaise nodded, a slight smirk on his lips and Harry took this to be what Slytherins did when they were happy.

"Well I'd love to stay and chat, but I have alliances to form, deep magical divides to bridge and worlds to save." Harry quipped. "Wish me luck."

The others wished him good luck as he hugged Hermione and shook Ron and Blaise's hands, before coming finally to Ginny. Touching her lips softly to his, Ginny wrapped her hands around his neck and whispered;

"Stay safe."

Harry nodded, before reluctantly prying himself from his girlfriend's grip and striding to the door. He was just about to walk outside when he heard a voice calling him back.

"Harry wait." Ron said

Harry turned, shocked that Ron of all people would be calling him back.

"Those are some kick ass robes mate."

Harry grinned and gave a quick salute before walking out of the door and disillusioning himself; making his way to the nearest window. Flinging it open, he waved his hand and silently conjured his Firebolt, before taking off into the night. As he reached the end of the Hogwarts wards, Harry jumped from his broom and banished it back to his room. Falling from the sky with ever increasing speed as gravity took hold, Harry waited until the last possible second and, as the unforgiving ground rushed up to greet him, vanished without a sound. Remus nearly jumped out of his skin and glared at his young charge as Harry suddenly materialised next to him in the living room of the Marauders' cave.

"I really wish you wouldn't do that." The werewolf said.

"Ready to go Moony?" Harry asked, taking in his guardian's deep blue battle robes, identical to his own.

"As ready as anyone can ever be to walk willingly into a court packed full of massively powerful dark creatures."

"When you say it like that, you make it sound like it'll be no fun." Harry responded.

"Well forgive me for giving off that impression." Remus said wryly.

"So how do you think it's going to go down?"

"I'm not exactly a Lycan expert," Remus replied, "but, from what I know, we'll be appearing before the royal court, which is a group of about fifty of the most powerful Lycans in the country. It's headed by the King and Queen, who are yet more powerful, stronger and, according to legend, have some divining and magical mental abilities."

"So, in other words, not the kind of creatures it would be wise to double cross, with promises of their greatest desire fulfilled?"

"In other words, we must be completely mad."

"That sounds about right." Harry spoke. "I suppose we better get it over with."

"Let's go." Remus said, his jaw set determinedly, fear and excitement dancing in his eyes as they battled for supremacy.

Harry nodded and quickly ran his wand over himself and Remus, muttering the words to the disillusionment charm, before the two of them disapparated from the cave. Less than a second later, the two wizards landed perfectly on their feet over three hundred miles away and quickly dropped to the ground, to avoid any unwanted attention. It was true that they were disillusioned, but the charm only worked if no one looked too closely and it wouldn't be wise to give themselves away before they could be sure they weren't walking into a trap. Reaching into the inside of his robes from his position lying on the wet grass of a field, Harry pulled out a tiny set of omnoculars, which obligingly grew to their original side as he placed them to his eyes.

"What do you see?" Remus whispered into Harry's ear, more than aware of the Lycans' powerful hearing.

"Two guards at the entrance." Harry whispered back."Just as they promised. No magical wards or detection charms."

"They don't need them." Remus replied. "Lycans detect a human scent from-"

"Three hundred yards, I know, that's why we're three hundred and fifty yards away."

Remus nodded. "I'll begin my sweep of the perimeter, looking for further Lycans and any sign of a trap, follow my progress from here."

Harry gave Remus a quick thumbs up to show that he had heard, before returning to his scoping of the Lycan HQ. As he sensed his guardian move away from him, Harry switched his focus to Remus and followed him as he slowly circled the building, his eyes, heightened by his own wolfish tendencies, carefully scanning the area. Ten minutes later Remus, completed his journey and crouched down by Harry.

"We're clear." He spoke.

"I never expected them to lay a trap. What's the point, when we're walking willingly into their midst?" Harry responded as both men stood up and negated their disillusionment charms.

"Just remember Harry that these creatures aren't like werewolves. Not only are they far more powerful and savage, but they're cunning and pure evil. Not a nice combination of personality traits."

Harry nodded in understanding. "Ready?"

"I'm ready."

With that, the two of them started to walk towards the base. It really was a clever choice of hideout; an ancient and derelict farmhouse, surrounded by nothing but plain fields and grassland for acres around, giving the beasts a clear view of any unwanted visitors. As they got closer to the house and their scents reached hundreds of powerful nostrils, Harry sensed the tension rise and the Lycans' power spike in distaste and in preparation for battle; they clearly weren't the sort of company that these creatures liked to keep. Soon they were close enough to see the two guards and Harry felt a shiver of apprehension travel down his spine at the sight of them; nine foot tall beasts, each grasping a Nordic broadsword in their huge paws, with a snarl on their lips. Forcing down his nerves, he brought his gaze to meet theirs as he walked up to the door.

Harry gave a smile and a quick wave to the snarling guards as he passed the threshold of the large but derelict house and it looked as if it took every inch of their self-control not to rip him to pieces where he stood. Inside, the building was surprisingly majestic; bigger than it looked from the outside, with a sort of dark grandiose atmosphere you might find in an ancient pureblood manor. A double staircase rose in front of them and torches in brackets along the wall dimly lit the room, revealing the large and foreboding hallway.

"You are the humans of the Order of the Phoenix." A deep, animalistic voice growled from their left.

It was more of a statement than a question, but Harry and Remus nodded anyway as they turned to face their greeter. Lesser wizards would have screamed in terror from what they saw in front of them and even Harry struggled to keep his expression neutral as he looked for the first time upon a Lycan of the court. It was huge; at least twelve foot tall, and covered from head to tail in thick, light brown fur, which failed to hide the obvious strength of the beast given away by the muscle definition of its long legs and paws. It looked, to the untrained eye, like a very large werewolf, but Harry could see the hate and cunning behind the beast's eyes and could sense its raw magical power, this wasn't a creature to mess with.

"I am Noapte a crea" The Lycan continued, the sight of such a thing speaking looking bizarre to Harry's eyes. "I have been told to escort you to the court."

"Lead the way Noapte." Harry replied lightly, prompting a low growl from the beast.

"Watch your tongue human. The Lycans are your superiors and such insolence could cost you your life."

Harry was about to respond, but Remus elbowed him in the ribs and, catching himself, he simply nodded and followed the beast through the hall. They soon came to a large, ornate door; oak with intricate runes and carvings embedded into the wood and polished gold handles, clearly telling of the importance of the room beyond.

"I leave you now to take my seat in the court." Noapte a crea growled. "You are to enter and bow to their majesties, your eyes remaining pointed to the floor until the King begins to speak."

"It was nice meeting you." Harry said with a smile.

The Lycan growled one more and its arm twitched, as if longing to strike down this pest. He quickly regained his control, however, and stalked off back down the corridor.

"You know, you really have a way with people." Remus said sarcastically.

"People, yes, man-eating beasts of the night, not so much."

"**ENTER!**" A booming, inhuman voice resonated from the court.

"Time to meet the allies." Harry muttered, before pushing the door open wide and marching inside

"Your majesties." Remus spoke as he and Harry bowed their heads.

"**You should consider yourselves honoured, humans to stand inside the noble Lycan court.**" Came the same deep, growling voice.

Taking that as their cue to look up, Harry and Remus did so and Harry locked eyes with the Lycanthrope King. Yet taller and larger than the members of his court, Harry put the King's height at around fourteen feet and even from thirty yards away, he could sense the power residing in this beast. His eyes were a piercing gold and, as they bore into Harry's emerald green, the young wizard raised his mental shields, remembering what Remus had said about psychic powers. To the King's left, there sat the Queen; slightly slimmer than the King, she was just as tall and, Harry sensed, just as deadly, with little to indicate that she was indeed female. They sat among around fifty other Lycans on a raised platform, similar to that of the Wizengamot, and every single one of the Court glared down at the two humans in front of them.

"**It was foolish to come here tonight. You claim to seek an alliance, we accept no such thing. Humans banished us forever to the night and so made yourselves our enemy. Tell me Phoenix Wizards, why should I not strike you down where you stand.**"

"Because any Lycan attacking me or my friend would be dead before they get within twenty yards." Harry replied calmly and as he did so, he felt an all too familiar presence stir in the back of his mind; the whispers were pleased, relishing in the joy of threatening such beasts and the rush of power it brought.

A dark and sinister smile spread across the King's lupine mouth at Harry's answer.

"**Why are you here?**"

"We come, representing the organization called the Order of the Phoenix; an army which seeks to destroy the threats posed to our world by dark wizards. The Dark Lord known as Lord Voldemort has formed an alliance with the Nosferatu-" Harry began.

"**IT IS NOT OF LYCAN CONCERN THAT THE MOST HATED ONES WISH TO DIRTY THEIR HANDS IN A HUMAN WAR!**" The King boomed his interruption, his eyes narrowing and spit flying from his mouth at the mention of their mortal enemies.

"Do you think not?" Harry asked. "Perhaps it will be of Lycan concern when I tell you that Lord Voldemort seeks the Elixir a Lumina."

The entire court stiffened at these words and a few wolfish heads turned to their leader, unsure of how he would respond.

"**So you seek an alliance to track down the Elixir before he. Tell me, human, do you wish to drink it yourself?**"

Harry turned in shock to Remus and saw the same look of surprise on his guardian's face.

"The Elixir can only be drunk by the King and Queen of the beasts of the night," Remus spoke, "to return to you your stolen powers."

The King laughed; a terrible, dark noise which made the hairs on the back of Harry's neck stand up.

"**You presume that human knowledge of the Elixir is greater than our own? The Elixir a Lumina was created by a female of your species, who sought to control us. It is true that the Queen and I would have had to drink the Elixir to restore the powers stolen from us, but Morgana too planned to drink and, had she done so, she would have gained the powers of the Lycans and control over our species. Lycan abilities and raw magical power combined with that of a witch would have made her unstoppable; more powerful even than that foolish man of light. Slavery is not a life befitting the glorious beings that are Lycans, but it was a fate I accepted for my species should it restore to us our powers of old and we would have served the female faithfully until we found a way to destroy her. The chalice was mere inches from my lips when it was stolen by that most hated man, but now you claim to want an alliance to return it to my possession. I ask again, human, do you wish to drink it yourself?**"

"It was you."Harry muttered. "It wasn't some Lycan lost to legend in the depths of time, but you. You are the King and Queen who made a pact with the dark sorceress Morgana. That would make you over a thousand years old."

"**Our life span surprises you?**" The King asked condescendingly, sounding almost amused. "**Your pathetic human years are nothing compared to Lycan immortality. Now answer the question.**"

For a second, Harry paused. He knew that the answer was 'no', but as he dwelled on the possibilities, on the power it would bring, he felt the whispers come alive once more._ 'These animals could be yours to control; an unholy army of incredible might. The Dark Lord wouldn't stand a chance, you could crush him and all your enemies, forcing your rule on those beneath you. It is your natural right heir of Merlin. Your power is incredible and the world could be yours.' _The whispers hissed in his mind, more clearly and powerful than ever.

"No!" Harry suddenly shouted, forcing the voices back to the outer reaches of his mind and finding himself sweating from the effort of doing so. "I do not seek to control you, the Elixir is yours."

The King stared deeply into Harry's eyes, a dark smile appearing on his lips.

"**You co-operate with this human werewolf?**" He suddenly turned his attention to Remus.

"I do." Remus replied, staring determinedly back. "He is a good friend and a good man."

"**There exists no such being.**" The Lycan King growled. "**How can I trust that the Elixir will not be destroyed, once it is found?**"

"You have my word." Harry replied.

"**Such a thing means nothing.**" The beast roared, but was stopped as the Queen placed her large paw on his shoulder. The she-beast leaned into the King's ear and whispered a few words.

"**Very well.**" The King spoke as he turned his attention back to Harry and Remus. "**We will consider your proposal. Leave and you will be called back to the court when we have your answer.**"

Harry and Remus nodded, before backing out of the room and closing the door.

"That wasn't as bad as it could have been." Harry said.

"Well we're still alive, that's always a good start." Remus replied.

Harry was about to comment further when two Lycans turned a corner and walked up the corridor towards them. Smaller then the Lycans of the Court, they were intimidating nonetheless as one carried a huge battleaxe and the other licked its lips as they glared down at them in loathing and disgust. Glaring straight back, Harry pulled his wand from his pocket and started to twirl it between his fingers, the subtle-threat not lost on the dark creatures of the night. The Lycans paused as they reached them in the corridor, but moved on as they looked fearfully at Harry's wand. A tense, silent five minutes followed as Harry and Remus waited anxiously to be called back in to the court, the unpleasant sensation of being at the Lycans' command sitting uncomfortably with them. Eventually, their wait was brought to an end, as a familiar, deep, gravelly voice cried out;

"**ENTER!**"

Harry stowed his wand back in his pocket, not wanting to upset their new friends, before he and Remus walked back inside.

"**The court has thought upon your request and we have accepted your proposal of a temporary alliance with the Order of the Phoenix." The King spoke his voice almost shaking the room as it boomed out powerfully. "You are to pass on any information you gain to the Lycan court and we in turn will respond your calls to battle." The beast stooped to pick something up from the floor next to him. Wrapping the object in his huge paw, he flung it towards them and Harry had to raise his hand to magically catch what he now saw was a book. "That is the Tome of Întuneric, it contains everything we know of the Elixir a Lumina, study it well and bring back to us the location of the Elixir. You may leave.**"

Harry and Remus nodded, not having the slightest inclination to stay any longer than necessary.

"Until next time your majesty." Harry said, before he and Remus spun on their heels and apparated away.

Harry smiled as he and Remus appeared in the living room of the Marauder's cave.

"That went as well as we could have hoped."

"Yes, the alliance has been secured. The only question now, is at what price?" Remus replied. "We're not really going to give them Elixir are we?"

"Of course not."

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Lycans may not be too happy about that."

"Then I guess we'll have to cross that little problem when we come to it." Harry said as he toyed with his watch, adjusting the dials to call upon the rest of the Council.

Less than five minutes later, it seemed that everyone had been waiting on the call, the Council of the Phoenix was gathered in its entirety in the kitchen of the Marauders' cave.

"Well you're alive," Thane helpfully pointed out, "so it can't have gone too badly."

"Not at all." Remus replied. "In fact, we secured the alliance."

There was a general murmur of congratulations at these remarks, the achievement tainted only by the thought of with whom they were now allied.

"In return for the promise that we will give them the Elixir a Lumina, the Lycan court agreed to put its army at our disposal and gave us use of this."

Harry threw the Lycans; Tome of Întuneric onto the table, before going on to explain the night's events and what their meeting had entailed.

"Of course, we are not actually going to give the Lycans the Elixir a Lumina?" Arthur Weasley asked.

"No." Harry replied. "But I didn't think it wise to share that particular information with the court. As I said to Remus, we'll just have to deal with the little problem of their reaction to our betrayal when it comes up."

"Do you think the Lycans are genuine in their promises?" Thane asked. "You know as well as I do that we can't trust them and if they suspect that we might betray them, things could turn very nasty."

"They're too smart not to have considered that as a possibility," Remus responded, "but we're talking about something they've been searching for, for over a thousand years. We just have to hope that their desire for the Elixir clouds their better judgment, we have no other choice."

Thane nodded and there was a brief silence before Kingsley spoke;

"I guess the question now is; where do we go from here?"

"We need to divide ourselves up; with some reading the Tome of Întuneric and the others starting research of our own." Harry said. "It may seem unlikely that we'll find something for which, the Lycans have searched in vain for centuries, but as wizards there might be sources that they couldn't access."

Professor McGonagall nodded and paused for a moment in consideration. "Remus, Kingsley and Bill, I would like you three to read the Tome of Întuneric; I believe you can speak Romanian Bill?"

Bill Weasley nodded and the interim headmistress continued. "The rest of us can spend whatever spare time we have searching for any clues to the potion's whereabouts."

"I'll ask for some of my most trusted DA members to help as well." Harry spoke up. "My source informs me that Voldemort hasn't made any progress as to the location, so we're not in any immediate danger, but obviously that isn't a reason to dawdle."

McGonagall nodded in agreement. "Just remember Potter that you must be discrete and tell only those who can defend their minds and who can be completely trusted with this kind of information. If there is no other business, then there's no sense in staying here. Good work Remus, Potter. You're all dismissed, keep us informed of any information, however little, that you find on the Elixir a Lumina."

With that dismissal, the members of the Council of the Phoenix stood and started to file out of the kitchen, chatting to each other and wondering where they could find such information. For Harry this wasn't an issue; his search would begin in the same place as always; Hogwarts library, maybe this time, he might not even have to use the invisibility cloak to get into the restricted section.

Three hundred miles away, in a grand but derelict farmhouse, the Lycan court discussed the day's events into the night.

"**The Phoenix wizards will not willingly give up the Elixir, they are humans of the light, merely using us to destroy the one the call Lord Voldemort.**" The King growled at his Queen. "**I trust you have reasons for your confidence.**"

"I do." The Queen spoke, her slightly softer voice the only sign that it was a female who was speaking. "The boy. Potter."

"**His power is astounding, of that there is no doubt, but I could see in his eyes that his intentions were pure. He too seeks to rid the world of the dark wizard Voldemort.**"

"True." The Queen conceded. "But I sensed in him something else. There was a dark presence, growing ever more powerful in his mind and when the time comes for him to drink the elixir; he will be unable to resist the lure of such power. We will use this to our advantage and gain our freedom, before disposing of the boy and turning our attentions to the rest of the human and Nosferatu population. With Potter and Voldemort dead, the light wizard Dumbledore incapacitated and our powers restored, we will numbers will overwhelm the humans and the most hated ones and we will take control."

"**You are getting ahead of yourself.**" The King snarled, holding no love for his mate. "**We will begin preparations. Sânge colþul, you and Ghiarele are to start work on the Draft of Vrajã moarte. Once Potter has delivered the Elixir, we will give him the Draft of magic death.**"

The court member known as Sânge colþul nodded his understanding.

"I will begin immediately your majesty, but the Draft will take four months to concoct."

The King turned to the Queen and she nodded at the unspoken question.

"That will be enough time."

"**Good. The humans think that they can outsmart and betray us, their blood will taste all the sweeter for the victory. For the revenge.**"

Harry, meanwhile, returned to Hogwarts and, after a few hours of fitful sleep, awakened to the next day; this just happened to be a Saturday and this meant, that they would be beginning their new assignment in earnest. After his morning exercises and a spot of breakfast, Harry retreated to the room of requirement and, when he deemed that he had allowed Ron a sufficient weekend lie in, summoned his commanders. Soon, Ginny, Hermione, Blaise and a groggy, grumbling Ron arrived and Harry conjured chairs so they could all sit as he took them through what had happened the previous night.

"That's all great Harry," Ron said, as the explanation drew to a close, "but the question remains; why couldn't this wait a few more hours?"

"I'm getting to that." Harry said with a smile. "But first, I trust that there weren't any problems last night?"

"No. Ginny replied. "Though Blaise did catch Malfoy sneaking around."

"He was going back to the Slytherin dorm." Blaise added. "I didn't see where he came from, but this was around two in the morning. He remained unaware of my presence."

"Good." Harry said. "I'll keep an eye on Malfoy, it was probably nothing but there's no sense in risking it. Now, to why I have got you all up at the ungodly hour of half past ten in the morning; we have some work to do."

Ron let out a long groan at these words, before he was quickly silenced by a nudge in the ribs from Hermione.

"What is it Harry?" She asked.

"Bill, Remus and Kingsley are taking care of the Tome of Întuneric, so we don't need to worry about that, but in the mean time we can be looking elsewhere for clues to the Elixir's whereabouts. We'll need to do this anyway because, obviously, the Lycans themselves don't know where the Elixir is hidden."

"If these guys have spent the last thousand odd years looking for the potion without success, where are we going to find clues to its whereabouts?" Ron asked.

"I don't know Ron." Harry replied, actin as if he was thinking hard. "If only there was a vast and ancient magical library that's located somewhere protected from Lycans and other dark magical creatures and has been for over a millennium."

So, for the next few days, practically all of Harry, Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Blaise's free time was spent in the library, their heads buried in ancient books and texts in the all too familiar, mind-numbing process of elimination. Hour upon hour was spent, day and night in the library proper and the restricted section as the five of them read anything and everything they could get their hands on to do with magical legend, mythical potions, Morgana, Lycans, Nosferatu or Merlin.

"On the upside," Harry said on the night of the fifth successive day of fruitless searching, "I now know everything about every single magical legend there is, so next time Voldy tries to search for something like this, I won't be out of the loop."

"Yeah, that makes up for the countless wasted hours of my life." Ron replied sarcastically.

"Let's call it a night." Harry said with a sigh. "We still need to keep up with school and training and if I have to read one more story about Morgana's downfall, I'm going to go crazy and go on a rampage through the streets of Hogsmeade."

Ginny smiled. "I just hope that Bill, Remus and Kingsley are having more luck than we are. The Elixir could be the turning point of the war and I'll be damned if Voldemort gets to it first."


	13. Of Family vaults and Parental advice

It was 1:23 am when Ron's snores finally filled the room, drowning out the noises of his dorm mates' own slumberous breathing. Harry knew because he had spent the last hour and a half lying fully-clothed in his bed, checking his watch every few minutes as he waited for this event to occur. When it did, a grim smile crossed the young wizard's lips and he waited for a few minutes to be sure that his best friend was truly asleep, before pulling back the curtains around his bed and climbing out. Safe in the knowledge that his roommates, used to the ear bursting volume of Ron's snoring, wouldn't hear his gentle footsteps, Harry crossed his dormitory and gently eased the door open, before slipping out unseen.

Waving his hands over his body, Harry disillusioned himself as he walked through the common room and out of the portrait. With his magical senses as his guide, no longer needing the Marauders map, Harry ran into no one as he made his way through the winding corridors of Hogwarts and down the moving stairs to the entrance hall. Unwilling to risk his silhouette being spotted in the sky by the watchful guards, Harry had decided against using a broom to sneak out of the castle, but this presented a problem. As per his suggestion, there were always at least three guards keeping watch in the entrance hall, their eyes searching for any sign of movement or foul play. Harry had not come unprepared, however, and, waving his wand over his invisible body, he silently cast a useful little charm he had learnt the week before. He then waited until the guards' attention was elsewhere and strolled across the hall, before walking straight through the solid oak door.

The hard work done, Harry walked casually past the great lake and through the grounds of Hogwarts, until he came to the edge of the ancient magic wards, where he silently apparated away. The street in which he appeared looked unfamiliar to Harry, but he knew that it would and he knew that his co-ordinates were correct. A quick glance at the nearby street sign confirmed this and, after pausing to steel himself for what he was about to do, Harry started to walk towards no. 17 Coniuro Lane. Pausing once more as he reached the door of the plain suburban house, Harry closed his eyes and struggled with his conscience, convincing himself for the thousandth time that this was the only way. That he had no choice.

He knocked. Seconds later, a handsome, young man of Italian descent opened the door and, with a forced calm, stared out into the apparently empty street.

"Mr. Tornincasa?" Harry asked as he negated the disillusionment charm.

The man nodded, not showing a hint of surprise as a teenager seemingly materialised out of thin air before his very eyes. Stepping to the side, Tornincasa allowed Harry to enter his home, before closing the door and following him inside.

"Mr. Potter. It's a pleasure to meet you." The Italian spoke for the first time, a somewhat forced smile on his lips as he shook Harry's hand.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Harry asked.

Tornincasa sighed deeply, but nodded.

"It is what she would have wanted." He replied. "She was always speaking of the importance of doing the right thing."

A long silence followed his words and Harry contemplated running out of the room and the house while there was still time.

"That's her." Tornincasa interrupted Harry's thoughts, pointing to a framed picture of an attractive young woman, smiling happily and waving at the camera.

"She's beautiful." Harry muttered as he stared at the picture of a dead woman.

"Let's get this over with." Her husband said.

"Once I do this charm, there's no going back." Harry replied, half wanting the man to back out of their deal.

"Do it."

Harry nodded resignedly before drawing his wand from his robes and aiming it between the man's eyes.

"Obliviate!"

Tornincasa's gaze immediately lost its focus and Harry led the man to a chair, where he obligingly sat down and dropped off to sleep.

"I'm sorry." Harry said, before tearing his eyes from the man and walking outside.

Re-entering the cold night, Harry felt the brisk wind trying to revitalize him, but his mood wouldn't allow it and he stayed saddened, but focused as he marched away from Coniuro Lane. His journey wasn't a long one and Harry soon reached his destination, apparating past the cemetery wall and beginning his search. It didn't take long; her grave was one of the few with fresh flowers, and, approaching the headstone, Harry bowed his head. Mumbling a few words under his breath, words asking for forgiveness, he took his wand from his pocket once more. Aiming at the ground beneath the headstone that read Medea Tornincasa, Harry muttered the incantation of one of his most recently learned charms and the ground beneath his feet glowed a bright orange, before quickly returning to as it was before.

His mission complete, Harry gave another sigh, before apparating back to the outskirts of the Hogwarts' grounds and wards. Sneaking back inside with the same useful little charm, he quickly made his way back up to the Gryffindor common room and then into the seventh year boys' dormitory. As he undressed and slipped back in to bed, Harry glanced at his alarm clock to see that it read 3:02. Only an hour and a half, but yet so much had changed, had been put into motion. He wouldn't sleep well tonight.

The next evening found Harry in the room of requirement, battling furiously as he dueled with dozens of the magical rooms' conjured witches and wizards. Rolling to the side, Harry managed to avoid yet another barrage of spell and, as he had planned, found six of the duelists lined up before him. Slashing his wand downwards, he sent a streak of yellow light from his wand, slicing through all six of his combatants and rendering them incapacitated. Another volley of curses was quickly sent his way, however, and Harry was forced to raise a silver shield to repel the powerful attack.

Closing his eyes behind his protective barrier, Harry reached out to his inner magical core, coaxing as much power as he could from his massive reservoir, before flourishing his wand in a long and complex motion. The conjured duelists raised shields in anticipation of the attack, but instead of a beam, a tennis ball sized ball of pure white light floated gently from Harry's wand. His opponents stared, confused at the spectacle in front of them but, as it reached the centre of the room, the ball of light exploded with an almighty **BOOM!** The explosion tore through the shields of the conjured men and women like they were paper and sent all forty of them flying backwards.

Even as he reinforced his own shield, Harry felt the force of the blast meet him and he was knocked backwards by its sheer might. His ears still ringing, Harry silently told the room that he was done before climbing unsteadily to his feet and examining the destruction around him. Countless conjured bodies lay, torn to pieces, on the ground and bits of plaster and brick had been blown from the walls by the explosion at the end. Conjuring a chair, Harry fell backwards into it and summoned himself a drink, knowing that he needed to recover before his troops arrived in under an hour's time. It was actually only half an hour before the door to the room of requirement opened for the first time and, as usual, his best friends and girlfriend walked inside.

"Hard session mate?" Ron asked as he saw Harry still draped lazily over the chair, a bottle of butterbeer in his hand.

"If it wasn't so early and I didn't have a training session to teach, I'd be drinking firewhiskey right now." Harry answered. "If we could just get those conjured duelists to leave the room, Voldy wouldn't stand a chance."

"Not possible I'm afraid." Hermione said. "What have you got planned for us today?"

"With the Nosferatu causing so much trouble, I thought it would be a good idea to look at the advanced vampire killing curse." Harry replied.

"I didn't know that existed." Ginny said.

"It's very advanced magic and usually pointless, as the normal curse would finish off a vampire and the Nosferatu have never involved themselves with a human war before." Hermione answered. "Do you really think the DA will be able to pull this one off Harry?"

"I don't know, but we have to try. The vampire killing curse can knock out a Nosferat, or even kill one if there's enough power behind it, but against a member of the court, or worse; the royal family, it's useless. Over the next few weeks, I'm also going to look at teaching some armed combat with charmed weapons, for use against opponents such as these and creatures with magic-repellent hides."

"That's a good idea." Ron said. "I can help with teaching some fencing if you like, a few of the pure-blood troops should already have a decent skill base but they'll be plenty who won't."

Harry nodded and was about to comment when the door opened again and more of the DA started to file inside. Taking this as his cue to prepare the room, Harry banished his chair and the cosy fireplace and conjured the usual stage at the front of the expanded room. As the minute hand of the clock on the wall approached twelve, more and more of the troops walked into the room and Harry took to the stage to say his piece.

"Good evening everybody."He began, once he was sure that everyone had arrived. "As you know, Voldemort has secured an alliance with the dark creatures known as Nosferatu and as a result, you may find yourself up against them in battle. I don't think that I need to stress how formidable these beasts are and they deserve to be respected as opponents, so today I am going to be teaching you some very advanced magic; the advanced vampire killing curse. I have every confidence in all of you, but it is inevitable that some simply won't be able to perform this curse, so in the coming weeks, we will also be looking at armed combat with magical weapons but for now, let's concentrate on the curse. The incantation is Necus Lamia Maxima and the wand movement is a diagonal slash downwards from left to right. Because it uses light magic, while performing the curse, you must stay in a positive mind-set, like you do with a patronus, though a specific happy memory is not required. Now, because of the power of the spell, you won't be aiming at each other, but at the far wall, which I have strengthened so that it won't simply collapse, but it won't reflect the spell back either. I don't expect anyone to get it right first time, so try not to get frustrated, remember; positive mind-set, I'll walk around and give tips while you work. You may begin."

Finishing his speech and, as the troops all line up facing the far wall of the room, Harry climbed down from the stage and walked over to Ron, Hermione and Ginny. As expected, not one person managed to fire the spell on their first attempt and the first five minutes of the session saw endless incantations, with absolutely no results. Eventually, Harry sensed a spell being released and he turned to see a large, black beam of light, burying itself into the wall, courtesy of Blaise's wand.

"Good work Blaise." He shouted at his commander and Blaise gave a wave of thanks back.

"Aargh this is so frustrating!" Hermione exclaimed, after another couple of minutes without success.

Harry couldn't help but smile, remembering how he had felt when he was unable to get 'wingardium leviosa' right all those years ago, Hermione had got it first time on that occasion.

"Your techniques are all perfect," he addressed Ron, Hermione and Ginny, "but your frustration is hindering you and you're not putting enough power into the spell. The first time is always the most difficult, so relax, call out to your magic, bring it up to your fingertips and, sure that you can't possibly fail, perform the spell."

Ron, Hermione and Ginny complied, all closing their eyes for a second, before taking a deep breath and letting out three simultaneous cries of;

"Necus Lamia Maxima!"

Harry was satisfied to see three bolts of light shoot from his friends' wands and strike the wall and patted them all on the back, before moving on to tell the others about the relaxation technique. He was just about to correct Pavarti's wand movement, when he froze, sensing something, yet at the same time being unable to grasp what it was. He tried to shake off the feeling, but it persisted and he started to glance around desperately, searching for something that would make his magical senses go haywire.

Finally, his eyes found Romilda Vane, who was repeatedly slashing her wand down and chanting the incantation, growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of activity at her wandtip.

"Just relax." Her friend told her and the girl nodded, before closing her eyes.

As she opened her eyes again, she slashed her wand down and cried; "Necus Lamia Maxima!"

But once again, nothing happened.

"It's not working." Romilda said as she turned to her friend. "Look: Necus Lamia Maxima!"

This time a black bolt of light did escape the girl's wand and shot in Hermione's direction. Harry realised that he wouldn't be able to react in time but, fortunately, Hermione's reactions were good and she managed to raise an advance shield charm with a shout of; "Aegis Ultimus!" The advanced vampire killing curse was blocked, but it deflected at an angle and Ginny didn't have time to protect herself before the black beam struck her in the chest. The youngest Weasley was sent flying with power of the curse and was about to hit the wall, when Harry's eyes glowed a bright green and she froze in mid-air.

"Ron, run and tell Madame Pomfrey what happened and that I'm bringing Ginny up to her." Harry barked instructions as he lowered his girlfriend to the floor and hurriedly checked her pulse.

It was there and Ginny was breathing, but she was still unconscious and unresponsive to Harry's revival charms.

"Harry I am so sorry." Romilda Vane said as she raced up to him.

"Now's not the time Romilda." Harry responded, trying to keep his voice even and calm. "The session is over, I'll contact you with details of the next."

With these words, Harry ran out of the room of requirement, Ginny levitating in front of him and Hermione hot on his tail. They soon reached the hospital wing and a flustered Madame Pomfrey showed Harry to a spare bed, where he laid Ginny down. The nurse then went on to carry out a number of, what Harry assumed to be magical health checks. She waved her wand over Ginny's still body in a massively complex motion and a piece of parchment appeared. Hurriedly reading what it said, Madame Pomfrey lat out a sigh of relief and smiled reassuringly at Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"She's going to be fine." She said. "The spell wasn't powerful enough to cause any lasting damage; as the name implies, the vampire killing curse is only effective on vampires. She's just been knocked unconscious and put into a deep sleep."

"How long until she wakes up?" Ron asked, relieved yet still anxious about his sister's health.

"A couple of days perhaps." The nurse replied. "Don't worry, she'll be perfectly fine. I suggest you get back to your common room."

Hermione and Ron nodded and made as if to leave, but stopped as they saw Harry, still rooted to the spot.

"I want to stay with her until she wakes up." He said. "This is my responsibility."

"No it wasn't Mr. Potter, Ronald told me all about what happened and it was Romilda Vane's carelessness that caused Ginny's injury." Madame Pomfrey was suddenly the strict yet caring witch they all knew and loved. "And you will not be staying. You're not helping her by wearing yourself out and worrying too much when she's going to be fine. Go back up to your common room, she may even be awake tomorrow."

Harry reluctantly agreed and, with Ron and Hermione by his side, walked silently back to the Gryffindor common room, what had happened still lying heavily on his mind. Collapsing into their favourite chairs around the fire in the empty room, with Ron and Hermione cuddled together in one, the trio remained silent as this time Harry did conjure some firewhiskey and drew a little comfort from the strong alcohol as he sipped it from his glass.

"That was scary." Harry muttered after a few moments.

"Tell me about it." Ron replied, taking a sip from his own drink.

"We train with dangerous spell every week, but it never occurred to me that something like this could happen." Harry continued. "And to Ginny of all people; when that curse struck, I've barely been more scared in my life."

"It really brings home the seriousness of the situation," Hermione spoke, "and the fact we're all mortal."

"Well there's no point moping around." Ron suddenly said, after another few moments of tense silence. "As Madame Pomfrey said, Ginny's going to be fine and the DA finishing early gives us some time to relax and chat."

"Actually you're right." Hermione said. "I love Ginny, but I can't remember just the three of us sat around and talked."

"I guess with the war, relaxing moments have been becoming gradually rarer." Harry responded. "And you're right, I have been neglecting you guys a little since I started going out with Ginny."

"We've been kind of busy too mate." Ron replied, motioning towards Hermione, sat on his lap. "But tonight, it'll be just like the old days."

"You mean you beating Harry at chess, while I do both of your homework?" Hermione asked.

"If that's what you really want 'Mione, then we're happy to oblige." Ron said, prompting a smile from Harry and helping to bring him out of his bad mood.

Though with lingering worries for the girl he loved still strong in his mind, Harry managed to relax a little after this. He, Ron and Hermione talked and laughed long into the night, reminiscing about the times they'd had together and wondering just what Norbert might be doing now. It was with reluctance that Hermione, tiring due to the late hour, excused herself and went to bed, followed soon after by Ron, and then Harry.

Waking up the next morning, Harry had to force himself to stay away from the hospital wing and go about his daily exercises; unwell or not, Ginny would not appreciate being woken at this time in the morning. After his jog and physical training, he returned to find the seventh year dormitory still filled with the snores of his roommates and, quickly showering and getting dressed, he walked down to the common room to see if Hermione was up. Unfortunately, she wasn't and Harry had to wait alone until he was unable to restrain himself any longer and climbed through the portrait hole to make his way to the hospital wing.

As he reached the door, Harry hesitated and pushed it open slowly so as not to wake any sleeping patients. Rather surprisingly, though, he found Ginny, the only patient, already awake; sitting up in bed and arguing with Madam Pomfrey about when she would be released, apparently not noticing that he'd entered the room.

"It pains me to say this Gin," Harry interrupted his girlfriend's argument, bringing her attention to him for the first time as Madam Pomfrey walked back to her office, "but Madam Pomfrey's right. You should stay until she's sure that you're fully recovered."

"Don't tell me you've gone soft Harry." Ginny taunted him as he walked over and perched on her bed, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. "I distinctively remember you sneaking out of this ward on many occasions in the past."

"Yeah, but I've never been hit by a killing curse. Well, just the once."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "It was a vampire killing curse." She said. "And as clueless as you can be sometimes, I think you'd notice if I was deathly allergic to sunlight and could turn into a bat. Ron might not notice, but I'd like to think you would."

Harry smiled, relieved to see that Ginny was still her old self. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I'm OK, a little but tired, but nothing that a nice drink of blood can't cure."

Harry laughed. "We could go and see the house elves, but they tend not to serve that at breakfast. It's more of an evening meal drink. When's she getting out Madam Pomfrey?"

The nurse had just walked back into the room, a steaming, gold potion in her hands.

"She's as bad as you Mr. Potter." She replied. "I wouldn't be able to keep her here if I tried. Drink this up Miss. Weasley and then you can go. If you feel any after effects, come straight back to me."

Ginny nodded and downed the potion, before jumping out of bed before Madam Pomfrey had time to change her mind. Together, the two of them walked down to the Great hall for breakfast, unsurprisingly finding it quite empty at this relatively early hour on a Saturday. As they sat down together, a large buffet of breakfast foods appeared before them and Ginny immediately reached out for some toast and started to tuck in. Harry, meanwhile, sat staring at his girlfriend, unable to shake the memory of the advance vampire killing curse striking her in the chest and still worried that she might collapse at any minute.

"Are you sure you're OK?" He asked.

"I'm fine."Ginny replied exasperatedly.

"You were released pretty early for the severity of the curse that hit you."

"Exactly and that's because I'm fine." Ginny said, explaining slowly, as if to a child. "Madam Pomfrey would never have let me go if I wasn't."

Shortly after this, and rather surprisingly, Ron appeared in the hall.

"You're up early." Ginny commented, as her brother took his seat and started to help himself to some food.

"A water fight broke out in the dormitory and I was hit in the crossfire." Ron explained.

"A water fight?" Ginny asked. "Does that happen often?"

"More often than you'd think." Harry replied.

"So you're feeling better?" Ron enquired.

"Yes thanks, I'm perfectly healthy and Madam Pomfrey let me go this morning."

"Good." Ron mumbled through his mouth full of food.

Soon, Hermione walked into the room and Harry waved her over to where they were sitting.

"How are you feeling Ginny?" She asked as she took her seat next to Ron and started to fill her plate.

"Much better thanks." Ginny replied. "Though apparently the spell does have the rather annoying side effect of making Harry suddenly becoming overprotective and ask me how I'm feeling all the time."

"You were hit by a powerful killing curse and I've asked you twice." Harry defended himself against the dishonour of being implied to be sensitive in front of his mate.

"It just goes to show that my decision to not become a vampire was the right one." Ginny said with a smile as she tucked in to some more jam on toast.

Harry was about respond when he felt his watch vibrate. Glancing down at the magical object gifted to him by the Order, Harry read the message; 'Council meeting. Half three this afternoon.'

"Council meeting; half three this afternoon." He read aloud, answering his friends' and girlfriend's unasked question. "Probably about the Lycans' tome of Întuneric and what they've managed to find out about the Elixir."

Ron's eyes widened as Harry said this and he quickly glanced around himself to check that no one was listening, surprised at his mate's carelessness. Hermione, however, met Harry's gaze with a knowing smile; it was her idea, Harry had already told Blaise to pass on the Order's alliance with the Lycans to Voldemort and, if Harry was heard mentioning it, Blaise's loyalty to the Dark Lord would seem more assured. Ginny too looked at Harry in surprise at first, but quickly caught on and shook her head at the obliviousness written all over her brother's face.

After breakfast, the four of them moved back to the Gryffindor common room; it was still cold outside and they had decided to spend the day by the comforting warmth of the fire, as they lazily allowed the hours until Harry's meeting to pass by. This they did quickly as the four friends chatted, played a few games and generally enjoyed each others' company, their thoughts far from the war as they relaxed and had a good time. It was with reluctance that, when three O'clock rolled around, Harry said his goodbyes and dragged himself away from the fire and comforting atmosphere of the common room. Making his way downstairs and out of the Hogwarts gates, he walked to the edge of the anti-apparition wards and apparated away to the Council meeting.

Appearing in the living room of the Marauders' cave, Harry immediately walked to the kitchen and greeted the Council members inside. Taking his seat, he glanced around the room to see roughly half of the Council present, including Remus, Bill and Kingsley who, he thought, must be about to give their report on the contents of the tome of Întuneric. Over the next few minutes, the rest of the Council walked in and took their seats and the chatter slowly quietened down as the Council collectively turned its attention to Professor McGonagall to begin the meeting.

"Today's meeting was called by Bill, Remus and Kingsley, I presume to inform us of what they have found in their study of the tome of Întuneric." The interim headmistress spoke. "Gentlemen, if you would like to deliver your report."

At these words, the Council members turned expectantly to Bill, Remus and Kingsley, waiting for them to deliver their report.

"You did most of the work Bill," Remus said, "I think it would be best for them to hear it from you."

Bill nodded and stood up, clearing his throat before addressing the Council.

"The tome mostly detailed past Lycan attempts to track down the Elixir which, needless to say, all ended in failure. It's also filled with somewhat obsessive rants about Merlin and the Elixir and gives a more detailed account of the legend we already know about." Bill began his explanation. "While this is pretty interesting, most of it doesn't help us, but there were some interesting snippets of information buried in there. Apparently Merlin originally took the Elixir back to his residence in Camelot, but moved it when he decided the castle wasn't safe enough for such a potentially dangerous thing. From there it is mostly speculation; there's a theory that it is hidden in the department of mysteries, but that none of the unspeakable know what it is. Countless buildings, rumoured to belong to the Merlin/Gryffindor family, have been suggested as hiding places, but all of them that can be found have been searched by Lycans over the centuries. However, the most compelling piece of information in the entire tome comes from a man called Alim Biermann. In the eighteenth century, the Lycans, for one of the first times in their history, sought the help of a wizard; Biermann was supposedly an expert in this area and, when the Lycans captured him, he told them of a line in some obscure text that has since been destroyed. According to the tome of Întuneric it read; 'Those who seek the Elixir a Lumina should look to the house of treasure of the dynasty of light.' We think that the dynasty of light refers to-"

"It means me." Harry interrupted.

It was more of a statement than a question, but Bill nodded anyway.

"That's the conclusion we came to, Merlin is often referred to as the Wizard of light by creatures of darkness and his dynasty obviously leads to you." He agreed. "We interpret the house of treasure as Gringotts, or, more specifically, your vault Harry. Which means, if we're right-"

"The Elixir could be just an unpleasant cart ride away." Harry finished the eldest Weasley son's sentence, hardly believing what he was saying.

He wasn't sure how keen he was on being wrapped up in yet another wizarding legend, but if the Elixir was indeed in his family vault, the Order had just been saved a hell of a lot of trouble and, potentially, lives.

"It can't be that simple can it?" Tonks voiced the doubts swirling around the minds of the Council members. "I thought the Elixir would be hidden and protected by masses of curses and charms."

"You can't get much more protected than Gringotts." Remus pointed out. "And only members of the Potter family can enter the family vault, I remember finding out as much when I was forcefully thrown from the vault, against the far wall. Apparently James had completely forgotten to let me in on that little piece of information."

Harry smiled at the story before speaking up once more. "Well then I guess I have a little trip to go on. "If that's the last of the information from the tome...?" Remus nodded. "... I'll get on my way. I don't know how long this will take, so everyone should feel free to go and I'll call another meeting when I've finished in the vault."

Moody nodded his agreement with this. "Good. As soon as you've done, call us on your watch and get yourself back here." He growled. "We'll talk about what you've found, or not found, then. Everyone else, until then, you're dismissed."

At these words everyone rose from their seats and started to file out of the kitchen, wishing Harry luck as they went and soon leaving him alone with just Professor McGonagall.

"I don't think I need to tell you how important this is Potter." McGonagall said to him, as everyone else apparated away. "Be sure to search everyone inch of the vault, not only for the Elixir, but for any clues that might point to its whereabouts, once we have the potion destroyed, we can turn our efforts back to Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

Harry just smiled his understanding, before sweeping out of the kitchen and apparating away from the cave and to Gringotts wizarding bank. He landed silently in Diagon alley, just yards away from the great white building at its end, and walked through the large bronze doors into the grand lobby beyond. Crossing the threshold, Harry made straight for one of the raised desks, behind which the goblins sat, scribbling notes and counting gold coins.

"Can I help you sir?" The elderly goblin asked without looking up, sounding as if he would rather be left alone to do his clerical work.

"I'm here to access my vault." Harry replied slightly irritated at the Goblins obvious disinterest in him and his refusal to look up.

"Key." The goblin said shortly.

"I don't have a key." Harry responded and at this the goblin looked up. "My name is Harry Potter, I'd like to access my family vault."

The Gringotts clerk glanced quickly at the almost concealed scar on Harry's forehead, but otherwise showed no recognition or interest.

"Hornak." He said, looking beyond Harry to a yet smaller goblin stood to one side. "Show Mr. Potter to his family vault."

Hornak nodded. "Right this way Mr. Potter." He squeaked, before leading the way over to where Harry knew the underground railway began. Passing through one of the many doors spread along the hall, Hornak directed Harry to one of the infamous Gringotts carts and, as he sat down, set the thing in motion. Though not nearly as bad as Hagrid when it came to the carts, Harry nevertheless disliked them and started to feel decidedly ill as it careened around corner after corner, travelling ever deeper into the bowels of the ancient wizard bank. Mercifully, as the vault numbers changed to single figures, the cart slowed and came to a stop at the vault Harry recognised as his own, or at least his family's; he had only ever been here once.

Rather unsteadily stepping out of the cart and onto solid ground, Harry shakily made his way over to the large, circular door of his family vault. Remembering his previous visit, the year before, he then traced his finger along the lightning bolt carved in the steel at the top of the door and stood back as the many large bolts and locks slid away and the door slowly swung open. Allowing himself just a second to take in the incredible sight of his family's massive wealth, together in piles of silver and gold in a room the size of the great hall, Harry turned back to speak to the goblin.

"If you don't mind Hornak, I'd like to take a look around alone." He said and the goblin nodded, before returning to the cart.

Not wanting to cause an avalanche of precious metal, Harry stepped carefully around the millions of galleons and sickles as he made his way to the back of the room, where the family heirlooms and magical artefacts were kept. He immediately recognised some of the weapons, furniture and portraits he had seen on his last visit, over a year ago, but instinctively knew that none of these things were what he was looking for, and so continued towards the back of the room. Just as he passed yet another portrait of a man looking remarkably like himself, Harry froze. That was definitely something. A pulsating magical energy that felt odd and powerful, yet comforting at the same time. Naturally cautious of a magical object that was trying to draw him towards it, Harry reasoned that he was safe in his own family vault and there was no way he could ignore the magical signature, beating like a drum against his magical senses.

It didn't take too long to track down the source of the magical energy and Harry immediately knew that this was what he had been searching for. He looked down on a large and ancient looking stone tablet, almost glowing with power, carved on to which was a series of ancient runes, headed by a single word; Myrddin. It couldn't be a coincidence and, as Harry looked closer at the ancient rock, his suspicions were confirmed because, though the markings upon it seemed to be meaningless squiggles; runes even Hermione would have a hard time translating, he understood every word.

Most courageous warrior of light, son of Merlin and defender of humanity. Should ye seek the potion of light, deposit on to me a sample of your blood and magic and I shall reveal my secrets. But beware, for if your blood or intentions are not pure, a terrible curse will be inflicted upon you and you shall remain forever trapped within this vault and within your mind.

Harry hesitated for a moment; if your blood or intentions are not pure? As far as the likes of Voldemort and Malfoy were concerned, his blood was nowhere near pure, but somehow he didn't think that a lack of muggle relations is what his ancestor had meant, besides, this was what they were looking for and he couldn't give up their best clue to the location of the Elixir just because of his own fears. Taking a deep breath, Harry summoned the ornate knife he had taken from this vault the previous year and touched the point to his fingertip, putting just enough pressure on to it to draw a single drop of blood. As the blood hit the tablet, it was immediately absorbed and the rock shuddered, glowing a blinding white for a few seconds, before returning to its previous state.

Taking this for a good sign, Harry prepared for the next offering he had to make and reached out his hand, before firing a burst of pure light magic into the stone. Just like the blood, the magic was absorbed and the stone shook violently, glowing once more, before, once again, returning to how it had been before. For a few seconds after that, nothing happened and Harry was beginning to think that he had done something wrong when, suddenly, it started to glow yet again; giving off a blinding light and forcing Harry to shield his eyes. As he squinted through the white light, he saw two figures materialising in front of him, seemingly emerging from the tablet. For a second, he didn't recognise them as the bright glow restricted his vision, but then the light was gone and Harry gasped in shock as he saw who they were. His parents

They stood before him, as lifelike and solid as they undoubtedly had done seventeen years ago, before they had died. As Harry gaped in awe and disbelief, Lily and James Potter, each decked in the navy blue battle robes of the Order of the Phoenix, smiled down upon him, tears in their eyes. Lily Potter was as beautiful as everyone had described; petite, with vivid emerald eyes and a face full of happiness and love, framed by her long, red hair. James, as Harry had seen in Snape's pensieve and had been told on countless occasions, looked just like him, but with an ever so slightly longer nose and, of course, without the startling green eyes of his mother. Slowly taking a step a step forward, Harry walked up to his Mum and reached out an arm, trying to lay his hand upon her, but never quite being able to reach. His hand didn't pass through her as it would have a ghost, but was rather pushed backwards, he simply couldn't reach her, no matter how hard we tried.

"You won't be able to touch us." Lily spoke, her voice music to Harry's ears, even as she told him what he didn't want to hear. "And, no matter how much I want to, we can't touch you either."

"Mum?" Harry asked softly, trying his best to keep his emotions in check. "Is it really you?"

"No. Not quite." It was James who answered, smiling at his son. "Nothing can bring back the dead. We're echoes of James and Lily Potter, magically animated for a brief period of time, but we share their feelings, their memories and their emotions. Almost two decades ago, we stored a sample of our blood and magic in Merlin's tablet, as you did just now and when you activated the stone's ancient magic, charmed by our Granddaddy himself, our personalities were awoken to help guide you in what you seek."

"But you're still my parents in memories and personality?" Harry asked, somewhat confused, not quite daring to believe that they were stood in front of him. "You feel everything they felt and remember everything they experienced up to the point you stored your magic in the tablet."

"Yes." James answered. "In fact and when you activated the charm, by providing a sample of your own magic, we were sort of updated on what you have done in the time that has passed since. Though not in too much detail, no father needs to know everything his teenage son has been doing."

Harry laughed, fighting to hold his emotions in check once more as he took this precious time to take in every detail of the young man and woman stood in front of him. His parents.

"In every sense except the physical, we are your parents Harry," Lily said, "and we love you. I wish that we could talk for hours and catch up on all the things we've missed, I know how hard this must be for you my darling, but we don't have much time and we have to pass on this message. James?"

"What?" James asked, confused, as he had not been paying attention, staring instead at the young man in front of him, the son who, the last time he had seen him, had just learned to walk. "Oh right, the message. In our time, a prophecy was made, well more than one actually, but you already know the first. The other one basically told us to track down the tablet of my ancestor, that of course being Merlin, and bring it to here, before following the instructions carved upon it. So the next opportunity we got, we took some time off from work and duties with the Order to track down the stone, eventually finding it in the ruins of a castle once belonging to our family and we brought it back here. As you've just seen, the tablet is engraved with ancient runes and Lily was always the clever one when it came to that sort of thing, but somehow I could understand what it said, whereas Lily just saw a load of meaningless squiggles. When we followed the instructions, the engravings changed and the message read; ''Son of Merlin, the information you seek lies in the seat of knowledge, in the bastion of goodness and hope, protected from the creatures of darkness by powerful magic and blood. The potion of light shall remain hidden until the chosen one emerges and destroys it to prevent it from plunging the world into eternal darkness.'"

"Hogwarts library." Harry muttered.

"That's what we thought and Lily deciphered the potion of light to mean the Elixir a Lumina. We did spend some time searching for a book or something that mentions its location in the library at Hogwarts, but we found nothing. I guess that's 'cause I wasn't the chosen one." James said. "Apparently we Potter boys just keep getting better and better, I'd watch out for your son Harry, he'll probably end up as all-powerful emperor of the world."

"That's if I don't manage it first." Harry replied with a smile, relishing sharing a joke with his Dad and prompting a small laugh from his Mum.

"You'll find the location Harry." Lily assured him with a smile. "And you'll bring an end to this terrible war. I'm so proud of you."

"We both are." James agreed, before suddenly becoming serious. "But be careful Harry, I sense a darkness in you, an ancient curse yearning to consume you and take over your mind. You must fight it son. You can beat it, but you have to remember who you are and what you're fighting for, don't let the urges cloud your judgement or make you do things you know are wrong."

As his Dad spoke these words, Harry could see both his parents starting to fade, becoming translucent and pale, almost like ghosts and when they spoke once more, their voices sounded distant.

"We have to go now Harry." Lily said tearfully. "Always remember that we love you and that we're watching over you."

"Goodbye Harry. I love you too."

With that, Harry's parents were no more. The tablet shook and shone once again and the faded images of Lily and James Potter disappeared, leaving Harry alone in his family vault. For a good ten minutes, Harry just stood there, staring at where his parents had stood just moments ago, where, for the first time in his life, he had spoken to them, where they had said that they were proud of him. Eventually, he remembered that the information he had learned was vital to the war effort and needed to be communicated to the Council and so, still stunned, he adjusted the dials on his watch to call a meeting. This done, Harry slowly made his way out of the vault and silently rejoined Hornak in the cart, too lost in his thoughts to say anything to the goblin.

As the cart pulled away, however, and he did his very best not to throw up on the magical being sat in front of him steering the damned thing, his feelings changed. They had almost got it. The knowledge he sought was in one of the only places that Voldemort couldn't reach it and, with the Council and DA's help, they would be bound to find it soon. There would be no split prizes this time, the Elixir would be destroyed.

With these thoughts still swirling around his mind as the magical cart roller-coastered its way back to main lobby, Harry smiled and jumped out of the vehicle as soon as it stopped, flicking a galleon to Hornak for his troubles. The thought of drawing attention to himself the only thing preventing him from breaking out in a sprint, Harry power walked through the lobby of the great wizarding bank and to the edge of its anti-apparition wards. As soon as he crossed the threshold back into Diagon Alley, he turned on his heel and apparated away, to the Marauders' cave and the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.

"It's at Hogwarts. In the library to be precise." He said as soon as he burst through the Kitchen door, startling the already assembled Council of the Phoenix.

"The Elixir?" Remus asked, standing up in anticipation.

"No." Harry replied, calming himself a little and taking his usual seat between Thane and Remus. "Not the Elixir, but a book, or something, containing information about the Elixir's whereabouts and that puts us at an advantage."

"How do you know?" Thane asked. "What did you find at your family vault?"

"It was a stone tablet, with some sort of ancient runes carved onto it, marked with Merlin's name." Harry replied. "At first glance, the carvings just looked like meaningless squiggles, but as I looked closer, I somehow understood what it said."

Professor McGonagall nodded in understanding but didn't enlighten Harry to how this could have happened. "And the engravings told of a book with the location of the Elixir a Lumina in the library of Hogwarts?" She asked.

"Actually it was just instructions." Harry said, more quietly this time as he thought back on the night's events, on meeting his parents. "It told me to place a sample of blood and magic upon it and, when I did; two figures emerged from the stone and they told me that information on the location was hidden in the library of Hogwarts."

"Who?" Kingsley Shacklebolt asked as the Council leaned forward, their collective interest and curiosity piqued by Harry's tale.

"My parents." Harry softly replied, before forcing some more strength into his voice. "Well, physical manifestations of shadows of their personalities, to be precise."

"They talked you?" Remus questioned, his expression conveying the multitude of conflicting emotions he felt at this piece of information; joy, sadness, disbelief, concern, even a little envy, he missed Lily and James everyday of his life.

"Just as you are now." Harry said with a small, bittersweet smile. "They said that a prophecy was made before I was born, telling them to track down Merlin's tablet. The tablet told them, as it did me, to place upon it a sample of blood and magic, but when they had complied, the runes disappeared, leaving behind a message saying; 'Son of Merlin, the information you seek lies in the seat of knowledge, in the bastion of goodness and hope, protected from the creatures of darkness by powerful magic and blood. The potion of light shall remain hidden until the chosen one emerges and destroys it to prevent it from plunging the world into eternal darkness.'"

"Did they say anything else?" McGonagall asked, clearly sympathetic to the emotional weight of the situation, but also aware that they needed as much information as they could get.

Harry thought for a moment, the truthful answer was yes, but he didn't think that the rest of his parents' words would be appropriate for the Council's ears, he didn't need them worrying about the 'dark presence' inside of him. "No."

"Are you OK?" Remus asked.

Harry nodded. "It was nice to hear their voices." He replied truthfully.

"Well thank you for bringing this to our attention Potter." McGonagall spoke, this time in a business-like manner as she returned the Council to the job at hand. "I would like you and your trusted DA members to continue your search of the Hogwarts library and, now that we don't have to spread ourselves round, the rest of us can begin searching there too. Kingsley and I, as teachers, will be able to access the resources there easily enough, as for the rest of you, I will have Madam Pince send a good number of likely looking books here, for you to search when you have time.

The rest of the Council nodded their agreement and a brief silence followed their co-leader's words.

"If that's all, I suppose that I'd better go and tell the Lycans the good news." Harry said, standing up.

"Would you like me to come with you Harry?" Remus asked.

"No, that's OK." Harry replied. "I trust them. Well, no that's not true, I'm just sure they won't kill me, which is pretty much the same thing."

"Constant vigilance Potter!" Moody shouted from across the table. "If the Lycans have had second thoughts, they won't hesitate before ripping you limb from limb."

"True, but they have no anti-apparition wards and I don't want to intimidate them too much. If I go alone, they'll take it as a sign of trust."

Moody nodded and Harry said his goodbyes before walking out of the kitchen and apparating away to the field, next to the derelict farmhouse that served as the Lycan HQ. Preparing himself for his second meeting with the beasts, Harry took a deep breath, before walking up to the door.

"Morning boys." He quipped to the guards as he walked inside.

The Lycans snarled, but recognised Harry's scent and wouldn't dare disobey the royal order to allow this human to pass unharmed into the court. Walking through the dark hallway, Harry passed a number of other Lycans, all glaring and growling at him as he went past, and he forced down his irritation and apprehension as he walked towards the court. Reaching the familiar, large, oak door, Harry hesitated, wondering whether to knock or simply walk inside. His decision was soon made for him, however, as a deep and snarling voice boomed out.

**"ENTER!"**

Thinking it bizarre that the Lycan king should share a trait with Albus Dumbledore, Harry opened the door and walked inside, briefly bowing his head as came before the King and Queen.

**"You have news for us already human?"** The King asked, sounding surprised and more than a little suspicious.

"I have." Harry replied, looking up and feeling surprised to see that just the King and Queen were sat on the raised platform of the court. Now that he thought about, though, it seemed logical; the entire court wouldn't just sit around, in case he dropped by to visit. "A book of some sort telling of the location of the Elixir is hidden somewhere in the library at Hogwarts."

The King nodded. **"I suspected that the hated human of light would have hidden it in such a place; where the Lycans can't reach. However misguided that man was, he was not a fool. Have you found the book?" **  
"No," Harry replied, "but we've got people working on it and we're hopeful that we'll recover it soon. The Elixir a Lumina is almost in your hands."

**"Then I suggest you get to work."** The King growled, a greedy expression on his face. **"Come back when you know the location and remember our agreement phoenix wizard, once it is found, the Elixir is ours."**

Harry nodded his agreement and, understanding the King's words as a dismissal, backed out of the door. Walking through the hallways of the Lycan HQ, the King's departing sentence played on Harry's mind, did he suspect something? He would be foolish not to, but how suspicious was he? Sighing, Harry knew that the answers to these questions would be revealed in time, whether or not it would be too late when they were, was yet to be revealed. Walking out of the farmhouse and back into the night, Harry turned on his heel and apparated away.

**"Sânge colþul."** The King said as he sensed the wizard's presence disappear. A member of the Lycan court walked to him, from where he had been standing in a side room.

"Yes your majesty?" The beast asked, with a small bow.

**"How goes the brewing of the Draft of Vrajã moarte?" **

"It is on schedule your majesty. In four months, the potion will be complete and the drinker will be consumed and killed by the power of their own magic."

"Very good." The Queen spoke. "Once the Potter boy has delivered the Elixir to us, we will give him the Draft of Vrajã moarte and he will drink, believing it to be the Elixir a Lumina. The dark presence in his mind grows stronger and the temptation will be too much for him to ignore. Fear not my King, Potter will die and leave the wizarding world to our mercy."


	14. Of Discovery and Magical Creatures

Harry shivered against the cold, biting wind of Scottish spring, pulling his cloak tighter around him and silently casting a warming charm as he stared out through the trees. They were late, but then that was to be expected; they needed to show him that this was happening on their terms, that they weren't at his command. Even as day turned to night, the forest clearing was lit brightly by the artificial light of Harry's wand and, eventually, he spotted some movement in the trees.

"Hello Bane." Harry said as he recognised the centaur's magical signature.

"What business have you calling upon me again human?" Bane asked angrily as he emerged into the clearing. "The blood of my herd was spilled fighting in your wizards' war, we did as you asked, now why do you call me again?"

"I wouldn't have if I had any choice." Harry replied sincerely, sympathetic to the centaur losses. "As you know, Voldemort wasn't defeated in the battle for the rock and he has been growing in power and influence ever since. I anticipate another battle, one final battle, to be coming soon as he attempts to track down the Elixir a Lumina."

"So the Elixir exists?" Bane asked rhetorically, looking mildly interested. "Tell me human, why should my kind fight beside you once more?"

"For the same reason you did last time. Nothing has changed, Voldemort is still a huge danger to the world as a whole and especially to creatures he considers lesser than wizards; if you think that you're oppressed now, you will have quite a shock should Voldemort come to power. I, on the other hand, am sympathetic to your cause; I can help you to gain the rights that you deserve."

"We do not need your sympathy." Bane replied superiorly. "But I accept your premise, I will take your request to the herd and you shall have your answer in time."

With that, Bane trotted away and disappeared in the thick trees as Harry turned around. As he had been speaking to the centaur, others had started to arrive and the clearing was now filled with magical creatures of all kinds. Trolls, unicorns, graphorns, thestrals, goblins, hippogriffs, giants and dragons all stood before him, looking at him curiously and sometimes damningly as he psyched himself up for convincing these creatures to fight by his side once more. Steeled for the challenge, he stepped up on to a tree stump and faced his audience, waiting for their attention before he began to speak.

"I know that you are wondering why I have called you here today." He began. "Why, when you fought so bravely and lost so much in the Battle for the Rock, I felt the need to interrupt your lives once more. I promise you that, if I hadn't thought it crucial to our very survival, I wouldn't have considered it. But despite our best efforts last year, Lord Voldemort survived and is growing ever more powerful as he and his dark army gain greater influence in the wizarding world and he gets closer to achieving his goal, his goal to 'purify' this planet and see its inhabitants reduced to servitude. I know that as proud and powerful magic beings, that is not what you want and so with a heavy heart, I must ask you to fight by my side, to rid the world of this evil creature and stop the reign of terror he wants to impose on humans and all magical creatures, which he considers to be inferior to him. A great battle will soon be fought, where the outcome of this war is decided and, though I will have to face Voldemort alone, we will need your help in facing his army and preventing them from taking control."

Harry brought his speech to a close and stepped down from the tree stump. His eyes met those of the two goblins stood before him as they thought over his words. They exchanged a brief look between themselves before turning back to him and gave him a small nod, before turning away and walking out of the clearing without a word. Harry took this to be a good sign and immediately moved on; turning to find himself face to face with the same dragon he had met in this clearing a year before. Just as he had done then, he stared deeply into the magical beast's eyes and slowly started to push into its mind, gently dismantling the natural mental defences present within all magical creatures. Inside, he allowed his own mental defences to relax and show the dragon exactly what he wanted it to do, what the stakes were and why it and its kind must fight by his side.

Eventually, Harry emerged from the dragon's mind, but he kept his gaze firmly on its eyes, trying to gauge the beast's reaction and whether or not he should raise a shield. To his relief, the dragon turned away without attacking and spread its wings before taking flight and soaring upwards and out the forest. Though he couldn't read the dragon's expression, he doubted anyone could, Harry felt confident that it had understood his meaning and that when the time came, it and its herd would be at his side once more. This done, Harry moved on, using leglimency to communicate what he wanted to say to all of the creatures in the clearing that couldn't understand English.

It took time but finally it was done and Harry was left alone in the clearing of the forest as one by one the beasts had departed. It had gone better than he had expected. After the losses they had sustained in the Battle for the Rock, Harry had expected the creatures to be reluctant to fight again. That they were, but most seemed to understand the desperateness of the situation and that if Voldemort was allowed to rise to power, it wouldn't just be humans that suffered. There was no way that he could know for sure, but he was confident that he had secured an alliance with at least some of the beasts and beings he had met tonight. Feeling tired, Harry stood up from the tree trunk on which he had been sat and made his way out of the clearing and the forest and back towards Hogwarts.

Entering the ancient and magical castle, Harry made a beeline for the library, where he had left his friends to their search for the location of the Elixir. Ignoring the look of suspicion on Madam Pince's face, he walked to the farthest corner of the regular library, to the table next to the restricted section, where Ron and Ginny were sat, their heads buried in books.

"Any luck?" Ron asked as Harry collapsed into the seat next to him, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Actually yes, it went really well." He replied with a small smile. "They weren't happy about it but I think I got through to most if not all of them. I'm pretty sure that when the battle comes, they'll be there to fight."

"That's great." Ginny said. "It's good to know that someone's night wasn't completely wasted."

"I'm guessing that you haven't found the location of the Elixir."

"No, I think that's something we would have mentioned as soon as you came in." Ginny responded.

"Where's Hermione?"

"She had patrol duty tonight, being head girl and all." Ron answered.

Harry nodded. "Well, it's getting late, we should call it a night and get some sleep, I don't think it's going to happen today."

Ron and Ginny nodded in agreement, exhausted from the constant and unsuccessful trawling through the endless volumes of the Hogwarts library. The three of them walked together through the largely empty corridors of Hogwarts back to the Gryffindor common room and from there, they all went straight to bed. As ever, Ron insisted on waiting as Harry wished Ginny goodnight, glaring at the back of his mate's head as he kissed her.

"If you don't like it, don't watch." Harry said as they entered the seventh year boys' dormitory.

"I have to look out for my little sister don't I?"

"Sure, but you wasn't even this protective when she was going out with Michael Corner."

Ron's eyes darkened at the name. "First of all, I think you'll find I was even more obsessively protective and, secondly, Corner didn't have the power to negate the wards on the girls' staircases."

With a PING, a light bulb suddenly appeared lit above Harry's head. "I hadn't thought of that." He said. "Thanks for the tip mate."

Ron just growled, vanishing the lit bulb. Harry laughed.

"I'm not going to do anything." Harry reassured him and Ron smiled slightly. "We've got the Room of Requirement anyway."

"I'm warning you Harry, don't go any further."

"The beds that you can conjure in that room are unbelievable."

"I won't be responsible for my actions."

"And you're sister gives the most amazing massages."

Ron slashed his wand down and sent a jet of icy water flying Harry's way. Harry simply raised his hand to vanish it and the next thing Ron knew, he was engulfed in a giant wave that soaked both him and his bed.

"An elemental spell mate? Really?" Harry asked.

"Shut up, so I forgot about that whole SuperHarry, king of the elements thing."

"I actually prefer emperor of the elements." Harry commented, but the smirk was taken from his lips as Ron quickly directed his wand to a leg of Harry's bed.

The boy who lived didn't react in time and the cutting curse struck, making his bed collapse to the ground.

"OK, we're even." Harry said as dust rose up around him.

"If you two don't shut up, I'm going to join the Death Eaters and not rest until I've killed the both of you." A voice came from the other side of the room.

"Sorry Seamus." Harry and Ron chanted back in reply.

With two flicks of his wand, Harry dried out Ron and his bed and fixed his own, before closing his eyes and drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

The next day found him, Ron and Hermione in transfiguration as Professor McGonagall taught her NEWT students how to banish conjured creatures.

"As you know, or at least you should by now, it is easier to cast a spell than reverse it, though most spells do decrease in power over time." McGonagall began. "For this reason, it is sometimes the best policy to simply kill the animal, remember though, as a conjured creature, it was never in fact truly alive. Having said that, if you are sure of the technique, banishing the creature is cleaner and safer."

As McGonagall started to talk of incantations and wand technique, Harry felt his attention slip, having mastered the spell over a year before. His mind travelled back a couple of weeks and to the Tornincasa residence, where his plan had finally been put into motion. Though his heart was still heavy with doubt over his intentions, he knew that he had to get past that and move on; there was still so much to do. So much to figure out. It was times like this that he wished he had Hermione or the Council to help him, but he knew that this was a path he must follow alone. Though he had convinced himself that the ends justified the means, Harry was sure that the others wouldn't approve and he couldn't risk telling anyone, even Ginny.

The real problem lay with the potion. It was now checked by more than one independent source and he didn't think that his potion brewing skills were up to the deception. A solution had more than once presented itself in Harry's mind and this he was sure he could pull off, but going unnoticed while doing it was another matter.

"...Potter?" McGonagall finished her unheard questions, he eyes focused on Harry expectantly, snapping him out of his reverie.

Harry inwardly cringed but knew that he had to say or do something, Gryffindor house points depended on his transfiguration teacher not realising that he had been miles away. Risking a glance at Ron, he tried to read the look in his best friend's eyes before turning back to his raised-eyebrowed professor. Sighing, Harry drew his wand and flicked it at the mouse on the desk in front of him, banishing it into thin air.

"Not what I asked for Potter, but impressive technique nonetheless." McGonagall said, her lips twitching slightly in a small smile, before she moved on.

Harry sighed a sigh of relief and allowed his mind to drift once more as the deputy headmistress began her lecture about the dangers of the spell and the rest of the lesson passed without event. After transfiguration was herbology. This was the one lesson in which Harry did not excel and in truth he wouldn't have been there at all if the Auror department didn't demand it as part of their entry requirements. In fact, Harry actually quite enjoyed having to work at something to keep up with the grades and, in a strange way it was reassuring that he and Ron could goof off and get things wrong to the tune of Hermione's incessant tellings off. Just like the old days.

Today, they were wrestling with rather large, tree-like plants, to gather their leaves, which were vital ingredients in various healing potions. This task was made somewhat more difficult, but also more fun, by the fact that exposure to magic would nullify their healing properties. The seventh years got quite a work out as they ducked under, parried and blocked the swinging branches of the junior whomping willows, snipping away leaves until Professor Sprout finally told them that she had enough. They were dismissed shortly after this and Harry walked with Ron and Hermione back to the Gryffindor common room, where they took their usual seats around the fire.

Ginny joined them soon after, looking grumpy in the aftermath of her History of magic lesson. She soon cheered up, however, as she joined her friends and boyfriend and curled up next to Harry on the large red sofa. It was like this they stayed for almost an hour, talking comfortably and lightly and laughing together before, inevitably, Ron got bored and his eyes started to dart towards his chessboard.

"I'm not stopping you from playing." Hermione said to him eventually, rolling off his lap.

"I know, you just looked comfy." Ron replied, before moving over to his board and beginning the long and familiar argument as he tried to convince Harry to play with him.

Harry had no real desire to be humiliated at chess once again, especially not when he was so comfortably, with Ginny curled up next to him. Eventually, however, Ron's child-like whining and incessant begging wore him down and, with a sigh, he prepared himself for a long night of defeat.

"That's a weird move Harry." Ron commented lightly as Harry watched his knight rip his best mate's pawn to pieces.

"Why?" Harry asked wearily.

"No reason. Queen to E5." Ron replied, a huge grin spreading slowly across his face as Harry's king threw down his crown. "It's just most people, you know people who aren't idiots, don't think that it's worth opening themselves up to checkmate in exchange for one pawn."

Harry groaned, and let himself collapse forward onto the floor, his head hitting the heavily carpeted floor. This was his and Ron's fifth game of the night and what seemed like their four hundred and seventy two thousandth since first year. Coincidentally, it was also Ron's fifth victory of the night and four hundred and seventy two thousandth victory since first year. And Ron was not a gracious winner.

"Don't feel too bad Harry." Ron said as he rose to his feet to begin his customary victory dance. "You can't expect a mere mortal like yourself to beat the God of chess."

"Strange that I don't remember you as one of the twelve Olympians." Hermione commented from where she was sitting, her head buried in a book of potions.

"I was kicked out because the other gods were jealous of my raw chess playing power." Ron answered, the body popping part of his victory dance now underway. "But, even for me, victory in nine moves is pretty good. Maybe if you gave up this defeating Voldemort thing Harry and concentrated your time on practicing chess day in, day out, I'd have to go into double figures. Fancy a game Ginny?"

"No, I don't think so." Ginny replied, shaking her head at brother, now well into the robot. "Annoying isn't he?" She added in a softer tone as Harry sat down next to her.

"You've only just noticed?"

"Please, five minutes after I was born, I wanted to go back in to get some peace and quiet."

"That's a disturbing image, but continue." Harry said.

"Recently he's been getting a bit too big for his boots, I think that it's time we take him down a notch."

"I'm intrigued." Harry said, leaning in closer to his girlfriend.

An evil grin took hold of Harry's lips as Ginny whispered her plan in his ear.

"...think we can pull it off?" She asked as she came to the end of her explanation.

Harry thought for a second, before nodding, grinning maniacally as he looked over to his mate, who was now sat next to Hermione.

"We'll pull it off." He said determinedly.

With that, Harry pulled out his wand and, making sure that Ron's attention was elsewhere, waved it over him. There was nothing to show that a spell had been placed on his best mate, but Harry was sure that it had worked and turned to Ginny.

"Come on, I think we have an appointment down in the kitchens."

The two of them excused themselves from their friends, making the excuse that they were going to the library (much to Ron's displeasure), before walking out of the common room.

"I can't believe we didn't think of this before." Harry said as he and Ginny walked through the mazy corridors of the castle in the direction of the kitchens. "It'll hit him right where it hurts. You're a genius Gin."

"You've only just noticed?" Ginny asked with a smile, echoing Harry's words.

Reaching the familiar painting of a fruit bowl, Harry reached out and tickled the pear, which gave a small laugh before transforming itself into a door knob. Pulling the painting open, Harry and Ginny climbed through the portrait hole and into the bustling kitchen and were immediately swamped by masses of house elves, offering cakes and treats of all sorts. They politely turned down the offers of food and pushed through the throngs of tiny creatures, until they saw one they recognised.

"Hi Dobby." Ginny said as she and Harry shrugged off the other elves.

"Harry Potter and his miss has come to see Dobby!" The elf squeaked excitedly, bowing low to them and giving Harry a quick salute.

"It's good to see you Dobby." Harry responded, smiling slightly at the salute Dobby had insisted on giving him since joining the DA last year. "How have you been?"

"Dobby has been well Harry Potter sir. Hogwarts is keeping him busy and he has been trying to convince the other elves to help Harry Potter in his fight."

"That's great Dobby, any luck?"

Dobby nodded eagerly. "Most of the elves is now willing to fight to defend Hogwarts. Only the ones with old masters and mistresses that were bad people have not agreed."

"That's excellent news Dobby, great work." Harry said, causing the elf to blush, tears springing to his eyes at Harry's words.

"Is Harry Potter and his miss wanting anythings to eat?" Dobby asked.

"No thanks Dobby," Ginny answered, "but we were hoping that you would help us with something. Can you tell us where the food is for breakfast tomorrow morning?"

"Of course miss, but why is you wanting this now?"

"Well, my brother has been getting a little bit too cocky lately, so Harry and I decided that a little pranking was in order." Ginny explained and the house elf smiled, his eyes shining with excitement over being included in the practical joke.

"Follow me." He whispered conspiratorially, before leading them to a hidden section of the massive kitchen, where yet more food, this unprepared, lay spread out on dozens of tables.

Ginny and Dobby both looked expectantly at Harry and, obligingly, the young wizard raised his wand and waved it over the food in front of him, which gave off a faint green glow.

"That's it?" Ginny asked as the light of the spell faded.

"That's it." Harry confirmed. "Hermione is now looking very confused at Ron, who has just glowed green, but apart from that there's nothing to show that a spell has even been performed. Thanks for your help Dobby, we have to get going. Feel free to visit me whenever you get the time."

"Thank you Harry Potter sir." Dobby replied happily, hugging his leg, before moving on to Ginny and showing them out of the kitchen.

The next morning, Harry and Ginny waited impatiently for Ron to wake up, dancing around with huge grins on their faces like children on Christmas day and ignoring Hermione's suggestions that they go down to breakfast without him, sending knowing smiles to each other. Eventually, the youngest male Weasley dragged himself from his slumber and together the four friends walked down to the main hall. As they took their seats, Harry and Ginny didn't help themselves to food, but watched Ron eagerly as he sat down.

"What?" Ron asked as he caught them staring at him.

"Nothing." Harry and Ginny responded quickly, turning away and glancing 'casually' around the room.

"You have to try this bacon Ron." Hermione said from next to them, biting into the scrumptious meat.

"Don't mind if I do." He replied, before reaching his hand towards the plate.

As he did this, however, the plate slid away from his hand. Confused, Ron leaned over the table and reached towards the bacon again, only to find it running away from him once more. Frustrated, his stomach growling loudly, Ron drew his wand and said "Accio!" The plate came flying towards him but, just as it was nearing his reach, hit an invisible barrier and zoomed off in the other direction, smashing on the floor as Harry and Ginny found themselves unable to hold in their laughter.

"What the hell is going on?" Ron cried angrily as food, his most beloved of God's creations, continued to escape him.

"I'd have thought that the God of chess would have the power to touch food." Harry commented as Ginny laughed.

"Take it off me Harry, take it off me now!" Ron demanded as comprehension dawned on him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Harry replied innocently.

"Here Ron, have an apple." Hermione said sympathetically, before throwing her boyfriend the green fruit.

Just like the bacon, however, as the apple neared Ron, the apple was repelled and shot off in another direction, this time lodging itself in Hermione's mouth.

"Sorry Hermione." Ginny apologised. "But we, I mean, whoever perpetrated this evil yet genius prank, had to make sure that no one helped Ron in his quest for food."

"Please Gin, have mercy." Ron begged as he looked longingly at the feast in front of him, his face that of a baby denied his bottle. "I'm a growing boy, I need my nutrition."

"If you're good, maybe you'll have more luck at dinner." His sister replied simply with a small smile on her lips.

"Harry," he turned to his best friend, "we're best mates. Look at me, I'm withering away."

"Sorry mate, you know I'd help you if I could but I just don't know how. Maybe if I too was a God of chess I would know but, gosh darn it, I just don't."

"That doesn't really make sense." Hermione pointed out.

"You don't make sense." Came Harry's witty riposte.

Throughout the day, the other three had to endure Ron's dramatic moans of hunger and pain and Harry was starting to regret ever putting the charm on him. At dinner, finally tired of Ron's complaining and the frankly very odd growling noise his stomach was making every three seconds, Harry and Ginny relented and Harry reversed the charm on his best mate. After they had eaten their fill, which took even longer than usual for Ron, the four of them and Blaise reluctantly decided to go to the library and continue their as yet fruitless search for the Elixir a Lumina.

They were just about to enter the library when Blaise suddenly froze, his eye catching Harry's and giving his commander a significant look. Harry told the others that he'd meet them inside and walked with Blaise to a disused hallway. Quickly placing silencing wards around the place to keep their discussion from unfriendly ears, Harry turned to his spy.

"I've been called." Blaise spoke.

Harry nodded before pulling out his wand. As had been necessary since additional security had been placed on the castle, Harry disillusioned his spy and, with a wave of his wand, temporarily unblocked one of the secret passageways out of the castle.

"Good luck." He said. "If you receive any information, I'll more than likely still be in the library by the time you get back."

With that, Harry felt Blaise's presence fade as the Slytherin walked away and he turned to make his way to the library. Taking up his place at their usual table, Harry found that Hermione had already placed a large pile of heavy books in front of them. With a sigh, he picked up one called 'Tales of Merlin' and flicked it open, before starting to read. Before he had even finished the first page, he knew that this wasn't what they were looking for, so he pulled out his wand and marked the word 'checked' on to the inside cover. It would fade in time, but the last thing they needed was to check the same books over and over, so, much to Hermione's disapproval, Harry had decided that they should mark the books.

Magically banishing the book back to its proper place on the library shelves, Harry moved onto the next one in the pile and was dismayed to see the number 987 printed in the top corner of the last page. Flipping it back over, Harry opened the cover to page one and started to read with a feeling that this would be a long night. The four friends continued like this for the next two and a half hours, skimming and reading any and all books that had some connection to Merlin or ancient wizarding legend, finding nothing and returning the book to its shelf before starting again. Eventually, Harry picked up the last book in the pile and started to read. Unfortunately, he found himself reading what he had read a hundred times before; the legend, without the facts and he reached the end of the tome no wiser than when he had begun.

Frustrated and weary at their lack of success, Harry let out a groan, before letting the book drop down on to the table in front of him and leaning back in his chair, his eyes closed. There he sat for a few seconds, allowing his mind to wander, blissfully problem free for those few precious seconds, before, suddenly, he felt something. Snapping out of his daze, Harry opened his eyes and brought the front two legs of his chair back to the ground, concentration and excitement written across his face. He had felt this before; the powerful, pulsating magic signature, the irresistible pull as it called out to him and him alone. The last time he had experienced it had been in his family vault just a few weeks ago and now, as he jumped to his feet, he felt its lure once more.

Ron, Ginny and Hermione all looked curiously at Harry but each had the presence of mind not to disturb him, seeing the look of focus on his face as he slowly walked towards the restricted section of the library. The pull became ever greater as Harry got closer to it and, as he entered the familiar darkness of the restricted section of the library, he sped up in anticipation, striding towards a particular book shelf tucked away in the corner of the room. Ron, Ginny and Hermione had to jog to catch up with Harry, but found him stood stock still, a look of eagerness and satisfaction on his face as he stared down at a small carving in the wood of the shelf. Looking closer, the three friends gasped as they saw a stylised lion whittled into the ancient mahogany; the unmistakable standard of Godric Gryffindor. Slowly, almost hesitantly, Harry crouched down so that the innocuous looking carving was at eye level and reached out his hand to touch it.

"Harry is that the-"

As soon as his fingers brushed the surface, the lion seemed to come alive and turned its head to face Harry, looking at him appraisingly before giving a small nod. The carving became still once more, but even as it did so, Harry felt a huge wave of magic envelop him; wrapping itself around him and making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as a powerful wind picked up around his feet. In awe, Harry turned to see his friends and girlfriend's reactions but found them stood perfectly and eerily still, fixed expressions of shock and wonderment on their faces as they moved not an inch. The wind and wave of raw magical power seemed to be ever increasing and, turning back to face the carved lion, Harry saw a small fly in front of him, fixed in the air, without flapping his wings. Peering around the bookcase and out the window, he saw owls and broom-riding people unmoving in the air and Madam Pince had frozen whilst replacing a book. Though every rational synapses of his mind was telling him that it couldn't be, Harry came to the incredible conclusion that time had come to a halt.

Even as this thought came to his mind, however, he felt yet another burst of amazing magical power and a blinding white light shone from the lion in the wood. Harry shielded his eyes against the onslaught, but couldn't tear his gaze away from the spectacle in front of him as all the books on the shelf flung themselves to the side, leaving just one, which seemed to emerge from the wood itself, levitating in the air in front of him and emanating masses of magical energy. In awe of the sight in front of him, Harry reached out to the large and ancient tome and grabbed it from out the air.

As soon as Harry's fingers touched the leather bound volume, the magical wind and energy around him instantly died and he felt his friends burst to life behind him.

"-seal of Gryffindor?" Ron completed his question. "Wait, what? How the bloody hell did you get that book?"

"Magic." Harry replied, grinning in spite of the situation at his friend's disbelief. "Guys, I think we're going to want to take a look at this one."

Unable to wait much longer to discover what was inside, Harry almost sprinted back to the table, the leather-bound tome under his arm and his friend's in quick pursuit. Hurriedly apologising to Madam Pince for running in the library, Harry set the book down in front of him and carefully opened it. Any doubts that this was what they were looking for instantly disappeared from Harry's mind as he looked down at the first, yellowed page; there weren't words upon this page but rather complex and meaningless squiggles, but the strange thing was, that Harry could understand exactly what it said.

"This is it." He breathed, seeing the confusion on his friends' faces. "Bloody hell, it's Merlin's diary."

For the next ten minutes, Ron, Hermione and Ginny watched on silently as Harry first read page one of the tome, before excitedly flicking to a page somewhere in the middle and reading on from there. Finally, as the three friends couldn't take anymore, Harry lifted his eyes from the page, a huge grin lighting his face.

"Leaena castle." He said. "It's at Leaena castle."

"What's Leaena castle?" Ron asked, leaning forward like the others in anticipation.

"It was in the tome of Întuneric." Harry hastily replied. "The Lycans received information that the Elixir was there around four hundred years ago. They searched for it for centuries, but couldn't even find another reference to the place. According to their source, it belonged to a witch named Leona. Leona Gryffindor."

"If the Lycans couldn't find any other reference to the castle, how are we supposed to track it down?" Ginny asked, worried.

"See the squiggles just here that look kind of like a pair of pliers, followed by a bearded bloke with a hat?" Harry asked, pointing to the page in front of him. "They're co-ordinates. We know exactly where it is."

Smiles slowly spread across Ron, Hermione and Ginny's faces. For a few moments, Harry couldn't move. He just sat there, staring in disbelief at his friends as they stared back at him. They had it. The one thing that Voldemort craved, that would ensure his rise to power and they knew where it was. The Elixir was his, his to do with whatever he wished, with all its power at his command. Shaking his head, Harry snapped himself out of his trance, forcefully reminding himself that the Elixir was to be destroyed and that he needed to tell the Council of what they had found. Adjusting his watch to call a meeting, Harry stood up, pausing only to tell Ginny, Ron and Hermione where he was going before striding towards the library's exit. Just as he was opening the door, however, someone else came barging in, knocking Harry backwards.

"Harry, we need to talk." Blaise said seriously, as his friend and boss regained his balance.

For a second, Harry looked at his spy, wanting nothing more than to rush out of Hogwarts and tell the Council what he had found. But he could see the seriousness and the fear in Blaise's eyes and so nodded, motioning for him, along with Ginny, Ron and Hermione to follow him as he led them to the room of requirement. As was now tradition for meetings with his commanders, Harry conjured five comfy chairs gathered around a fireplace as they walked into the DA headquarters. Blaise, however, remained standing and started to pace, wringing his hands. Harry had very rarely seen his spy show any emotion and certainly nothing like this, he instantly knew that something very big had happened. Very big and very bad. He waited patiently until Blaise regained some semblance of composure and, pale and gaunt, turned to face the five people gazing intently upon him.

"Voldemort has gone through the ritual of eternal damnation." He managed to say and Harry saw Hermione instantly sit bolt upright, a horrified expression on her face.

"I'm afraid you'll have to go into more detail." Harry said calmly, hoping to relieve some of the pressure Blaise seemed to be feeling.

"It was supposed to be a legend; a horror story told to scare children at the campfire side." Blaise explained.

"I'm increasingly aware that few of these wizarding legends seem to be legends at all." Harry said and Blaise nodded before continuing.

"No one has ever undergone this ritual Harry, even the legend states that it would most likely kill anyone who attempts it and there has never been any mention as to how it could be done. For a long time, Voldemort's soul has been corrupted, even ripped apart by the evils he has committed and the dark rituals he has undergone in the pursuit of ever greater power, but it has always been there. The ritual of eternal damnation is exactly that, the wizard must forfeit his soul and therefore his humanity and any form of afterlife for massive power and... and..."

"And immortality." Hermione finished for him, leaving a long and horrified silence in the wake of her words.

"That's impossible." Harry said. "Nothing and no one is immortal, everything can be destroyed, everything can be killed."

"You're right." Blaise replied. "The Lycans and Nosferatu also claim immortality but we've seen that they can be killed. The ritual of eternal damnation is a legend, so there's no way that we can know for certain the true extent of its effects, but we know some things for sure. Voldemort has been given yet another huge boost in magical power and conventional killing curses won't destroy him, they work by ripping the soul from the body."

Harry nodded, numb from what he had just been told.

"That isn't all." Blaise interrupted his thoughts. "I don't know how, but Voldemort has discovered how to break down the wards surrounding the Elixir a Lumina. He doesn't yet know where it is, but when he does, the Elixir is as good as his."


	15. Of Dumbledore and The fall of Hogwarts

For a few moments Harry sat perfectly still, processing the information that his spy had brought him and fighting against the dread a yet more powerful Voldemort inspired within him. Then, suddenly, he sprang to his feet as if coming to a realisation, making the others jump in shock.

"Well we're going to have to get through the wards guarding the Elixir before he finds where it is then aren't we?" He said. "Blaise I want you to do everything you can, short of getting yourself killed, to get me that information, even if it means you have to relinquish your role as a spy. There is nothing more important than this right now, scan the minds of the inner circle and see if they know anything, don't bother with Snape, he won't let on about anything but if Voldemort brings it up when he calls you next, ask him what needs to be done to get through those wards. If you think you're under suspicion, get out of there and if you can't, call me and I'll get you out."

Blaise nodded as his commanding officer finished his orders, before striding from the room, desperately wondering how to contact Lucius Malfoy without it seeming suspicious. As his friend and spy left the room, Harry turned to his other three commanders.

"I want you three to get back to research; we don't know how much time we have. Find out how to break down the ancient wards around Leaena castle, if Voldemort is this pleased to have that knowledge, I may not be able to deduce it using even the most powerful revealing charms. Use the restricted section as much as you like, ignore any attempt Pince makes to stop you; this is way above school rules.

"Do you know how many house points this is going to lose us Harry?" Hermione asked, only half joking.

"Yeah, well with a bit of luck, McGonagall will see it appropriate to award a few once I've found the Elixir a Lumina and defeated Voldemort. That's got to be worth at least one hundred." Harry replied with a smile. "I've got to get to the Council meeting, I'll see you when it's finished."

With that, a quick kiss on Ginny's lips and a smile aimed at his friends, Harry made his way to the door, only to be stopped by Ginny's voice.

"Harry?" She said quietly and Harry turned as he detected a trace amount of fear in the usually fearless Weasley. "The ritual of eternal damnation?"

"We'll deal with it when the time comes." Harry responded, forcing his lips into a reassuring smile that even he didn't believe. "Just remember what Dumbledore said; Nitwit, Blubber, Odment, Tweak. Those words got me through some pretty tough times."

Harry walked out of the room of requirement and magically opened the nearest window, before leaping outside. A rush of wind greeted Harry as he plummeted to earth but, just as his toes brushed the grass, his broom reached him and he leapt on. He flew with speed to the edge of the wards before jumping from his prized Firebolt and apparating away, secure in the knowledge that the broom would find its own way back to his dormitory. As he knew he would, Harry found the Marauders' cave empty; he had called the meeting for an hour's time to allow himself the opportunity to gather more information but, as recent events came to meet him all at once, he felt the need to talk to someone with experience in dealing with this sort of thing. Walking through the hallways of the cave, he came to a halt in front of a stretch of blank wall and waved his hand in front of it. Part of the wall slid away and revealed a brightly lit room, filled with expensive muggle technology, potions of all kinds and a single bed, occupied by an ancient yet powerful wizard. Albus Dumbledore.

Walking up to his former mentor, Harry grew unsure of himself. He had spoken to him through Leglimency before but it wasn't quite the same and the process always took a lot out of him; not a good idea as the final battle loomed ever nearer.

"Hello Professor." He spoke to the comatose figure as he breathed softly in his sleep.

Harry felt a bit silly talking to the headmaster like this, but, as he did so, he could have sworn that the heart rate monitor sped up just a little.

"It's Harry." He continued and this time he was sure of it.

The muggle machine started bleeping more quickly as Dumbledore's heart rate rose and the line of the line graph above his bed started to move upwards. At that moment, there was a whoosh sound from behind Harry and he turned to find Madame Pomfrey striding out of the fireplace.

"Mr. Potter!" She said, surprised to see him there. "What's going on here?"

"I was hoping you could tell me."Harry responded.

"Heart rate, blood pressure and cognitive activity all increasing." She breathed, as if saying it too loud would make it go away. "He's improving. I checked on the headmaster not an hour ago Mr. Potter and he showed no signs of improvement, what did you do?"

"I just spoke to him." Harry said, just as shocked himself.

"Well for heaven's sake continue." The nurse urged him.

"I need your help Professor." Harry said. "There have been further developments in the war and we need your expertise. Voldemort is getting ever closer to acquiring the Elixir a Lumina."

At this the monitors all showed yet another increase.

"Carry on!" Madame Pomfrey practically shouted at him in her eagerness.

"He has undergone another ritual, we can't afford to allow the Elixir to fall into his hands, if it does the war is lost. We wouldn't stand a chance."

"Heart rate and blood pressure have stabilised at the normal rate, cognitive activity is way up, he's nearly there Potter."

"We've tracked down the Elixir, but we don't know how to break the wards. Voldemort can break the wards but doesn't know where the potion is located. I'm planning on taking the Council to the location but the wards will be strong, stronger even than Hogwarts. Even together I don't know if we'll be able to break them without knowing exactly what we're up against."

Dumbledore's vitals did not go down at these words but neither did they improve any further and Madame Pomfrey's face fell slightly in disappointment. Out of instinct, however, Harry reached a hand over his teacher's chest and closed his eyes. Madame Pomfrey had to shield her eyes as a steady stream of powerful light magic shot from Harry's palm and entered Dumbledore's chest, making him shake ever so slightly. This continued for a full minute before the light faded away and Harry opened his eyes and, a little tired, looked down at the old man.

Harry was suddenly able to see eye movement behind the headmaster's lids and, slowly but surely, as he and Poppy Pomfrey both held their breaths, Albus Dumbledore's eyes fluttered open. The Order leader's gaze fell weakly upon Harry and Madame Pomfrey and Harry smiled at him.

"You overslept." He said and Dumbledore gave a small croak of a laugh.

This seemed enough to snap Madame Pomfrey out of her disbelief and the school nurse immediately started fussing over her boss, checking the potion levels and his vitals on the magical and muggle monitors.

"I feel well Poppy." Dumbledore assured her, his voice sounding a little raspy.

"I will decide when you're well Albus." The nurse replied strictly, but affectionately, before muttering to herself. "Vital signs all normal, magic relatively weak but present. Incredible, he's stable, just weak and fatigued."

Harry smiled at this news and conjured his headmaster a glass of water, which he drank gratefully.

"Madame Pomfrey, if he's well enough, I would like to speak to the headmaster in private." Harry spoke as the witch finished her checks.

"Certainly not Mr. Potter-" She began in reply, but she was interrupted by Dumbledore.

"This is a matter of some importance Harry?" He asked.

Harry nodded.

"I'm fine Poppy, I will provide Harry with whatever help I can from my bed. I can assure you that I will still be here when we are finished."

Poppy Pomfrey huffed her disapproval but didn't argue with the headmaster; giving him another once over before walking back to the fireplace and reluctantly flooing away.

"Did you hear what I was saying when we were waking you?" Harry asked.

"I heard." Dumbledore nodded. "Yet, alas, in regard to the Elixir a Lumina at least, I cannot help you. I must confess that I believed it to be a legend and know nothing of how to break the wards surrounding it. Though, I have to say that you seem to be doing rather well in my absence; that you managed to find the location of the Elixir is extraordinary. I am sure that you will find away to break through the wards at, out of curiosity, where is the Elixir?"

"Leaena castle." Harry replied, suspecting that Dumbledore would need no further explanation.

"Of Leona Gryffindor?" Dumbledore asked. "I have heard mention of the place just once, but I did suspect that, if it did exist, the Elixir a Lumina would have remained on property belonging to Merlin's descendants. As I say Harry, I'm sure that with the Council's help, even your ancestors' wards won't hold you off for long."

Harry nodded with a slight smile, but it didn't reach his eyes as he fought with himself over whether or not to divulge the next piece of information. He hadn't even told Ginny and, though he had forgiven Dumbledore for his actions in the previous year, trusting the old man with such a thing was asking a big leap of faith.

"Is there something else you wished to discuss with me Harry?" Dumbledore enquired kindly.

"They're getting stronger." The words burst from Harry's lips. "The whispers, the dark side of my mind, whatever you want to call it. Since we spoke last in your mind, they've become more frequent and more powerful. They're trying to take control, to tell me what to do and corrupt me and I can tell you, they've come damned close."

The headmaster nodded sympathetically and sighed, as if he had been expecting something like this.

"If my suspicions are correct Harry, when you underwent the ritual of the Rock of Initium, Slytherin's curse infected your magic as the elemental powers joined with your existing magical reservoir. As a result, as the reservoir expands and you become more powerful, so does the curse."

"Infected?" Harry whispered fearfully. "If my magic itself is infected, how can I be rid of the curse? I can't fight off the whispers forever."

"You can cure yourself of the curse by doing exactly what you have been doing." Dumbledore reassured him. "In time magic as powerful and as light as yours Harry should defeat the curse, but unfortunately, it will become ever more powerful until that moment comes. In the mean time Harry, you have to remember who you are and not concede to be what the curse wants you to be, you have to fight it with every fibre of your being and not give in, because if you allow them to take control, even for a second, that could be the end."

Harry nodded in understanding and when he spoke, his voice was soft, reminding the headmaster that the boy who lived was still just seventeen, no matter how mature he had become.

"I know." He said. "But it's so hard. They're always there, in the recesses of my mind, waiting for their moment, with their damned whispering, plotting for when the time comes. I'm exhausted Professor, I'm fighting against them constantly and when my mind slips for just a second, they scream at me to follow their will, their voices almost identical to that of my mind."

Albus Dumbledore's face softened at Harry's words.

"It is cruel of fate to unload such a burden upon you Harry, especially when you already have so much to bear. But I cannot overstress the importance of control, I know you know this. You will win eventually."

Harry nodded once more, relieved that even if he wouldn't be getting a moment of peace, he had talked to someone about it and they hadn't condemned him.

"You mentioned, while I was still struggling against the grip of unconsciousness, that Voldemort has undergone yet another ritual?"

"The ritual of eternal damnation." Harry confirmed and, just as with Blaise and Hermione, Dumbledore seemed to stiffen at these words, closing his eyes for a moment as he pondered the significance of this development.

"Are you aware-?"

"Hermione filled me in." Harry interrupted. "Yet another legend that's turned out to be true, Voldemort's getting quite good at uncovering those."

"The reality of this ritual is an unknown to me, but you must not underestimate the power now at Voldemort's command. Certain spells are also now obsolete as he is truly without a soul."

"So I've been told." Harry replied. "The fates are determined that this isn't going to be easy for me aren't they? Do you have any suggestions for spells I might use to finish him off?"

"Though I would no longer call him human Harry, Voldemort still has the body of a man." Dumbledore replied. "Like you, he will heal very quickly and effectively due to his incredible power, but if you destroy his brain or his heart he will die. Of course, Physical magic such as that used to destroy things tends to be easy to block, so a better course of action may be to destroy his magic."

Harry looked at the old man. "I thought magic couldn't be destroyed?" He spoke. "Believe it or not, I do sometimes listen to Hermione's lectures and she told me that it was against the fundamental laws of magical physics; even after death, one's magic is absorbed by the planet."

"Miss Granger's knowledge is, as ever, impeccable." Dumbledore replied with a small smile. "As there often is with these things, however, there is an exception. Ordinary magic cannot destroy ordinary magic, but light magic can overwhelm dark and vice versa. It has never happened before, simply because of the immense power needed to perform such an act, but the theory is solid and if enough pure light magic was to strike him, Voldemort's magical power would be destroyed."

"If that was to happen, would Voldemort simply become a muggle?" Harry asked.

"No. Perhaps once that may have been the case, but if Tom as gone through with the Ritual of eternal damnation, his magic is the only thing that's keeping him alive, though I'm reluctant to call his existence a life at all. Forsaking his soul will have removed many of the innate blocks mortality and humanity put on his power, but it also removed his life essence and without his magic, he will simply cease to be."

"So all I need to do is incapacitate the most powerful Dark wizard of all time and pump him full of enough pure light magic to overwhelm and destroy his pure dark magic, despite the fact that he is considerably more powerful than I am and so even if I poured every last bit of my magical reservoir into him, it would not be enough. Simple as that? What happens if I use all my magical power trying to destroy his but some survives within him?"

Dumbledore sighed and his eyes, as they met Harry's, were full of concern. "If just a little of Voldemort's magic was to remain, it would, in time, fully rejuvenate itself."

"And the option of destroying his brain or heart?"

"It would be extremely difficult, as you know; one's magic will protect its master in their hour of need. Tom has also proven himself to be quite adept at surviving without a physical form, there is nothing to say that he can't do it again."

Harry nodded. "I bet you're glad you're not the one who has to finish him off now." He quipped  
and Dumbledore chuckled slightly, before quickly becoming serious once more and fixing his gaze directly onto Harry's eyes. When he spoke, Harry could hear the sincerity in his voice.

"I believe in you Harry. I know that it may look bleak, but I have learned over the last seventeen years that the rules tend not to apply with you. The spirits of Merlin and Gryffindor, of your parents, linger within you and whether logic or the laws of magical physics allow it or not, I know that you won't rest until Voldemort is no more."

Harry smiled at his old mentor and, though his doubts had far from been erased, knowing that Dumbledore believed in him gave his confidence and his pride just a little boost. The headmaster's words were followed by a long and contemplative silence as the two men thought about both the future and the past. Harry could sense Dumbledore's mood shifting and, eventually, the powerful old wizard sighed and looked up at the young man he had watched grow from a boy into a powerful warrior.

"Harry, I'm so sorry."

Harry could hear the sincerity and remorse in the headmaster's voice and he didn't need to ask to what he was referring. Harry thought about it for a moment, thought back to the previous year, to the arguments he had had with the old man, to the secrets that had been kept from him. He had long ago decided that he had forgiven Dumbledore; he had not forgotten what had happened, but his old mentor had proven time and time again that he did care for him and by inducting him into the Council of the Phoenix, he had shown that was ready to accept Harry as an adult.

"For the first five years of my time at Hogwarts, I thought of you as a sort of omniscient being, an infallible, all powerful wizard, rather than a man who makes mistakes. That was wrong of me and, even though you did hurt me a lot last year and you certainly made a lot of mistakes, you made them for the right reasons. So I forgive you."

Dumbledore smiled softly. "Thank you Harry, though I dare say that I do not deserve it. I inducted you into the Council of the Phoenix at the start of the year and told you that I would not stop you from fully participating in this war and I will keep that promise, though I must say, I doubt I could stop you if I tried."

Harry laughed before allowing a comfortable silence to develop between the two of them as they both became lost in their own worlds.

"You know, Professor, we're really not so different." Harry spoke at last. "I have been thinking about the last year a lot and this realisation is one of the things that made it easier to forgive you. You see, we both throw ourselves absolutely into any struggle, risking life and limb in the pursuit of what is right. But, even as we do this, we strive to protect the ones we care about, even going so far as to hide information from them and pushing them away to try and keep them safe."

"That's very astute Harry and, I think, quite correct. But, you, it seems, have made more progress than I; the DA is testament to that."

Harry nodded. "Neither of us are so arrogant as to think that we can win this war by ourselves; I created the DA and you the Order of the Phoenix, but we still take on more than our share of the responsibility and reserve the most dangerous tasks for ourselves."

"You truly have grown up Harry," Dumbledore said softly, "there's so much of your parents in you, especially Lily and I am very proud of the man you have become."

Harry smiled and the room grew quiet once more, before Harry checked his watch and saw that the meeting was nearly upon them.

"Now, I can sense that you're still very tired and weak, so I'll call Madame Pomfrey back in and let her fuss over you for a bit. I assume that you want to take part in the Council meeting?" He said.

"I will observe, but I have no desire to take the leadership from Alastair and Minerva." Dumbledore responded. "And thank you Harry, for your help in bringing me back and for trusting me, though I have done little to earn such trust."

Harry smiled slightly at the old man and at that moment, his mind flashed to Aberforth, Hagrid and Elphias Doge, among others. Dumbledore still didn't know that they were dead. For a brief moment, Harry considered telling him but, as he looked upon his headmaster, he couldn't bring himself to do it; the man deserved a little peace in his recuperation. But, even as he came to this decision and walked to the fire to call upon Madame Pomfrey, Harry knew that Dumbledore would not miss his brother and friends' empty seats at the meeting.

Feeling better for his meeting with Dumbledore, even if the old warlock hadn't been able to provide him with any answers, Harry walked the small distance from the bedroom/hospital ward to the kitchen. Taking his usual seat at the table, Harry conjured a few crates of butterbeer, thinking that, in spite of what had happened, Dumbledore's awakening deserved a small celebration and waited for the Council to arrive so he could deliver the good news.

Eventually, one by one, the Council of the Phoenix started to appear, all asking Harry why he'd called the meeting and enquiring about the butterbeer, only to be told that he would make his announcements once everyone had arrived. As Bill Weasley took his seat, Harry rose from his and looked upon the expectant faces of his allies.

"There have been some very significant developments in the war over the last couple of hours, some good, and some bad." He began. "But I think it's best to start you off on a piece of good news and the reason that I saw fit to conjure up some butterbeer. I am pleased to announce that Albus Dumbledore is now awake."

Excited chatter broke out along the table and a few people let out cheers at the news, before Harry raised his hands to indicate that he had more to add.

"He woke up less than an hour ago and, though he is still very weak, he is quite capable of speaking and he will be joining the meeting in a few minutes, once Madam Pomfrey has fixed him up a bit."

At that moment, the door to the kitchen opened again and, helped by Madam Pomfrey, Albus Dumbledore walked into the room. His arrival was met with an excited clamour, subdued only slightly by the obvious weakness of the headmaster's condition. The council rose to their feet as one and offered their leader their congratulations and welcome backs as Remus and Thane helped him to his seat at the head of the table. As the chatter died down, Harry saw Dumbledore glance around the table and sadness crept upon his face as he spotted the two empty chairs, where his brother and friend had once sat.

"Thank you all for that wonderful welcome back." He spoke, meeting the eyes of each one of the members of the Council. "I attend this meeting only as a member of this Council, for now at least I am more than happy for Minerva and Alastair to remain as leaders. I have spoken with Harry a little since my awakening but perhaps you all would be so kind as to give me just a brief overview of what I have missed."

The members of the Council glanced at each other nervously, silently discussing who was to deliver the terrible news, before, with a sigh, Professor McGonagall began her explanation. Over the next half an hour, the Council filled Albus Dumbledore in on everything that had happened since he had slipped into his coma, though he knew a little already due to his leglimency conversation with Harry earlier in the year. He was, of course, saddened to hear the news of the deaths of his brother, Hagrid and Elphias Doge but, as Harry knew he would, Dumbledore took it in his stride and the Council went on to explain about the loss of Grimmauld place, their attack on the Death Eater base, the Nosferatu and Lycanthropes and everything else that had transpired since the battle of the Rock.

Eventually, the explanations came to an end and slowly the heads of the Council turned towards Harry, the caller of the meeting, and the youngest member stood. He took the Council through the various developments of the day, exciting them with the news that he knew where the Elixir was hidden, just to bring them down by informing them that only Voldemort knew how to break down the wards and telling them of the ritual of eternal damnation. Overall, however, the Council remained positive, seeing, as Harry did, that they now had the advantage in the race for the Elixir; Voldemort was yet to find its location and even if the Council couldn't break down the wards at first, knowing where it is was a big advantage.

"So, basically, the question is, what do we do with this information?" Harry asked, concluding his explanation.

"First and foremost, we keep it inside these four walls." Moody growled, glaring at everyone around the round the table as if daring them to contradict him. "We've seen that the Order is susceptible to enemy infiltration and if Voldemort gets hold of this information, the war is as good as lost."

"We can go one better than that." Harry said "We can keep the co-ordinates locked up in my head, when we go to Leaena castle, I'll create a port-key and take the council straight there."

Moody nodded his approval and Remus began to speak. "I agree and we need to get there as quickly as we can, Voldemort could discover the location of the Elixir at any moment and we need to make the most of our advantage. I say a taskforce of Ward-breakers is sent to the castle to assess the protective wards around it and what will be needed to break them down."

The Council seemed in agreement and, out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Dumbledore smile at the efficiency the elite commanders of his army were displaying. Harry was about to comment on who he thought should be in the taskforce when, suddenly, his expression changed. At first it was curious, as if he trying to work something out, but it quickly became one of utter shock and horror and he spun around to lock his gaze with Dumbledore's. The whole table immediately sensed the seriousness and alarm being felt by the two powerful wizards and each member of the Council stared anxiously at them as they continued to wordlessly work out if their fears could possibly have come to pass.

"What has happened Albus?" McGonagall broke the silence.

After a few more seconds, Harry gave a small nod and broke his gaze from Dumbledore's before speaking commandingly;

"Dobby!"

A few seconds passed and Harry started to worry for the usually prompt elf before, with a pop, a small figure appeared in the room and fell to the floor. Harry immediately jumped to his feet and ran over to his friend, kneeling to gain better accesses to the elf's battered and bloodied body. Dobby was barely clinging to consciousness and his usually immaculate, if slightly odd, clothes were torn, his body bruised, with a deep gash running the width of his stomach. Closing his eyes slightly, Harry took a second to gather his magic to his fingertips and, when he opened his eyes once more, they glowed a bright and brilliant green. Drawing his wand, Harry traced the gash on Dobby's stomach, healing it instantly, before waving his wand over the elf's small body and summoning a potion from the other room.

As Harry worked his magic, Dobby seemed to slowly become more lucid, if still very weak, and when Harry pressed the goblet to the elf's lips, he drank heavily from the pepper-up potion. After a few seconds, the potion took effect and Dobby jumped to his feet.

"Dobby, please tell me that-"

"It is as you fear Harry Potter sir." Dobby squeaked, interrupting Harry for the first time. "Hogwarts has been attacked."

Harry closed his eyes in sadness and the rest of the Council stared at the house elf in shock. Taking a deep breath and forcing his fears for his friends and for the castle to the back of his mind, Harry stood and turned to face the rest of the Council.

"How did you...?"

"The wards around Hogwarts are incredibly powerful; Dumbledore and I sensed the flux of magic when they were breached." Harry interrupted Remus' question. "But that's really not important right now, what's important is that Hogwarts needs to be saved and we need to act now. I suggest that we call upon all of the Order's fighters and storm the castle before the Death Eaters have time to take over it and secure their positions."

"No." Moody contradicted him. "I appreciate the need for speed, but it would be a deadly mistake to attack without scouting the defences in place; Voldemort knows that we'll be desperate to take back Hogwarts and there will be traps in place."

"The Council should go ahead first and assess the defences." Thane agreed. "The whole Order takes time to mobilise and we don't even know the size of the attack force; it may be that we can repel them on our own, at least long enough to fortify Hogwarts' wards."

"Professor?" Harry turned to Dumbledore and the headmaster simply nodded in agreement with the two Aurors, his face grave at the thought of Hogwarts under Voldemort's control. Harry sighed.

"OK, but it has to be now, let's go."

"I would like to accompany you." Dumbledore said and the Council turned to face him.

"I know you would," Harry replied, "but we all know that you're not in any position to do so Professor. I know how much it hurts to just sit and wait while others fight and I won't stop you if you insist on coming, but I would strongly advise against it."

Dumbledore looked at Harry thoughtfully before giving him a small smile, his eyes giving off a twinkle for the first time since he had sensed the wards being breached. "You're right, of course Harry. Good luck, all of you."

Harry nodded, before quickly walking out of the kitchen and into the living room of the Marauders' cave. As he went, he took out his DA galleon and called his soldiers to the relative safety of the room of requirement before turning on his heel and apparating away with the rest of the Council. Harry, Remus, Thane, Moody, Kingsley, McGonagall, Tonks, Hestia Jones, Madam Bones and Molly, Arthur and Bill Weasley all appeared into the cold spring evening in Hogsmeade, just outside the Hogwarts grounds. As soon as their feet hit terra firma, every one of them could sense the shift in the air. Hogwarts had been delved into pitch blackness, its usual aura of magic and mystery noticeably absent as, instead, it seemed to radiate with the darkness and evil now occupying its walls.

The cold bite of the wind was not completely natural and, as he felt any warm feelings he had begin to seep from his being, Harry looked upwards to find a terrifying sight. Dementors. Hundreds, if not thousands of the dark and vile creatures were circling the sky above them, spreading despair across Hogsmeade and the castle of Hogwarts. Knowing that a patronus would give their position away, Harry waved his wand over the council and conjured just a shimmering silver mist, which shielded them from the dementors' effects. That done, he started to walk forwards, leading the others right to the edge of the wards of Hogwarts.

Suddenly, Harry stopped, holding his arm up to command the rest of the Council to come to a halt behind him. Something wasn't right, that much was clear already; Hogwarts was pulsating with powerful Dark magical energy. But there was something more, hidden in the magical signature of the castle's wards and the Dark wizards witches and creatures within its walls. For almost a full minute, Harry stood almost perfectly still, a look of great concentration on his face as the Council behind him barely dared to breathe, staring intently at his expression.

It was then that Harry met with a horrific realisation. As his expression changed, he felt a flux in the power around him and quickly turned, extending his hand out in front of him and firing a powerful beam of pure light magic into the apparently vacant air around him. An ear-piercing hiss burst forth from where the light magic had struck, but before the Council had time to wonder what the hell it was, they found themselves flying backwards through the air as Harry swung his wand in a wide arc behind his back. With the Council now relatively safe, the young wizard pushed both hands forward and, with a rush of power, conjured a huge wall of blinding, translucent white light, which flung itself forwards into the night. Yet more agonised screeches filled the area and as he felt the power around him rescind, Harry apparated a hundred yards backwards, where he joined the rest of the Council as they picked themselves up off the ground.

"What the hell is going on?" Kingsley asked as he and his comrades pulled out their wands.

In response, Harry simply waved his hand across the air in front of him, conjuring millions of tiny pockets of light, which slowly fell to the floor, revealing as they went a sight that would have made many a grown man weep in terror.

"They've been breeding." Harry muttered, his blood running cold.

The grounds of Hogwarts were swarming with thousands upon thousands of Nosferatu. The powerful beasts of the night were glaring hungrily at the twelve members of the Council of the Phoenix, their lifeless grey eyes focussed intently upon 'the others', ignoring the dozen or so of their brethren already felled by Harry's wand. Though pushed back by Harry's powerful ethereal wall, the monsters had slowly stalked forward so that they were now just fifty yards away from the Council, who stood stock still, wands in hand as they considered their next move.

"What are they waiting for?" Bill whispered, as if not wanting to startle the creatures in front of him.

"They're not waiting," Remus replied softly, "they're savouring the moment, delaying the kill to enhance the pleasure."

At that moment, Harry felt yet another rush of magical power and looked up at the castle to see a spell firing down from one of the many windows. As it landed on the ground, the spell seemed to spread along the grass, engulfing the Council in the purple glow of what Harry recognised to be an anti-apparition ward.

"Or maybe they were waiting for that." Harry commented, watching as the Nosferatu started to surround them. "Everyone get into pairs and if at all possible stick together; one can attack while the other defends. Their skin is tough and so resistant to physical magic, but if you get a good slicing charm to the neck, they'll go down. Powerful vampire killing curses should render them unconscious at least, advanced vampire killing curses, for those of you who know them, should kill them. Remember, Nosferatu are incredibly quick so never drop your guard and use spells that make you harder to target, cover a wide area or slow them down."

The members of the Council listened carefully to Harry's words as they split into pairs and silently formed an outward-looking circle to defend themselves against the Nosferatu, who now covered all sides. 'There goes our retreat.' Harry thought, before turning to see who was to be with him in a pair.

"Looks like you're stuck with me Harry." Bill said from the other side of the group, his eyes never leaving the beasts in front of him.

Harry was about to respond and had just started to edge closer to the eldest Weasley child when, as one, the Nosferatu pounced. Hundreds upon hundreds of grey bodies sprung forward and Harry had to react quickly, thrusting his hands out in front of him and conjuring a powerful wind, which he flung at the charging beasts. The Nosferatu were picked up from the ground and thrown backwards like rag dolls and Harry turned, firing off a couple of advanced vampire killing curses as he did so and watching satisfied, as they found their targets.

The sheer number of their enemy quickly started to overwhelm the Council, which was soon split up as each member fought their own personal fight for survival. Harry was pleased to note, however, that, on the whole, the pairs had managed to stay together, even if he and Bill had been fighting side by side for about three seconds before being separated by a wall of grey. The Council's problems had only just begun, however, and, just as he was starting to repel the Nosferatu on his side, Harry felt an all too familiar chill descend over the battlefield. Hundreds of dementors had started to swoop down to the sky, unable to resist the feast of emotion present in the turmoil below.

Sensing his brothers and sisters in arms faltering at the all encompassing frost of the dementors' presence and fighting off the blood-curdling sound of his mother's dying scream, Harry tried to repel the beings of darkness flying down from above. It was in vain, however, as, every time he raised his wand to the sky, a fresh wave of Nosferatu sprang forward, forcing him to turn his attention back to them as the unnatural chill slowly started to drain his energy. Knowing that neither he nor the Council would be able to hold on much longer under these conditions, Harry closed his eyes and summoned forth his power, before kneeling to the floor and conjuring around him a shining dome of pure light magic. Protected from the hordes of blood-sucking monsters, for now at least, Harry opened his eyes and directed his wand to the sky. Focussing with all his might on Ginny and the love he felt for her every time she entered his thoughts, he felt his fingertips sizzle with magical power, before releasing it all with a cry of;

"_Expecto Patronum!_"

A huge and blindingly bright stag burst from Harry's wand at speed and galloped upwards into the night sky and towards the cloaked, weightless monsters. Soon reaching his targets, Prongs buried his antlers into the chests of the oncoming dementors and, as Harry pumped yet more power into the spell, repelled them away from the battlefield, leaving not one left where they had once filled the sky. As the dementors fled, Harry stood inside his protective dome of magic and looked outside, to find himself completely surrounded. Dozens of Nosferatu were stood ready just outside his pure light barrier, waiting for him to tire or make a mistake so that they could pounce and rip him limb from limb, the rest of the Council was nowhere to be seen.

Knowing that he needed to get back into the fight, Harry brushed his cloak aside and, from the scabbard strapped to his hip, drew the sword of Gryffindor, gifted to him by Dumbledore. Even the Nosferatu seemed to falter at the sight of the powerful and ancient magical weapon and Harry felt a tingle of power run the length of his arm as he held it in his grasp. Allowing himself just another brief moment to gather his power to his fingertips, Harry suddenly dropped his shield and, at once, thrust forwards with his wand and firing a huge beam of electric blue at the Nosferatu in front of him. The beasts were caught off guards and half the circle around Harry was thrown backwards with the force of the Extrudo curse. Harry knew that he still had a hell of a lot of work to do, however, and, as the Nosferatu at his rear sprung forward with incredible speed, he swung around, holding his sword out in front of him. The blade tore easily threw flesh and bone alike and, with an unearthly hiss, yet more of the beasts hit the ground, before turning to dust.

More and more of the creatures of the night advanced upon the young wizard and he was forced to go on the defensive; swinging his sword and firing multiple curses at the powerful magical creatures trying to drain his blood. He was just starting to make some headway and the numbers around him starting to dwindle when a piercing scream rang out above the noise of battle. Harry recognised the voice of Molly Weasley and, desperate to get to her, quickly sent out a pulse of pure light magic, repelling the remaining Nosferatu around him. With his path now clear, Harry directed his wand to the ground before him and, as a platform of earth started to rise, jumped upon it. Using his earth elemental ability, Harry made the platform fly upwards and above the crowds of the battlefield below. He quickly spotted Mrs. Weasley fighting furiously below, surrounded by Nosferatu and desperately struggling to fend them off. To his horror, as Harry watched, he saw one of the beasts creep up behind her and pounce at her back.

Jumping from the platform, Harry pointed his wand behind him and propelled himself downwards at speed. Time seemed to slow as Harry rushed through the air and the Nosferat flew towards Molly Weasley's unsuspecting back. As he neared the ground and the Nosferat was just feet from the woman who had always treated him like a son, Harry transformed into his Gryon form and swooped down, knocking the Nosferat to the ground as its claws scraped Mrs. Weasley's back. On top of the beast who had so nearly lost Molly Weasley of her life, Harry quickly sunk his teeth into the Nosferat's neck and ripped out its jugular, leaving it dead on the ground.

Transforming back into his human form, Harry pushed Mrs. Weasley to the floor and covered them both in a powerful pure light shield before whispering; "_Necus Lamia Maxima!_" Instead of a beam of light, however, a small black ball of magical energy appeared above Harry's hands. The young warrior closed his eyes and fed more and more energy into the spell, sensing it grow in size until it was as big as a football. At that moment, as Mrs. Weasley looked on in awe, Harry flung the ball of magic upwards and fortified the shield around them with every last inch of power he had. The advanced vampire killing curse exploded with incredible force, sending out a wave of magic in all directions and taking out all the Nosferatu surrounding them. Standing up, Harry negated the shield and summoned a stone from the ground, tapping it with his wand and watching as it glowed blue.

"Thank you Harry." Mrs. Weasley said; her voice sincere.

"Don't mention it." Harry smiled at her, before pressing the portkey into her hand and watching her disappear to the relative safety of a clearing away from the main body of fighting.

Looking around him, Harry saw the Nosferatu starting to gather once more and unsheathed his sword and wand.

"You just don't learn do you?" Harry spoke to the beasts.

Using his sword and wand in tandem, Harry made short work of the tweleve Nosferatu brave enough face him, slashing through them with relative ease and hitting one after another with the deadly advanced vampire killing curse. With the area around him now completely devoid of live Nosferatu, Harry turned to main focus of battle and, thrusting his wand out behind him, propelled himself forward with incredible speed. As he flew towards the beasts, he carefully took aim with his wand and cried; "_Permultus Necus Lamia Maxima!_"

Dozens of black bolts of magic fired from Harry's wand and buried themselves into the chests of the Nosferatu, instantly turning them to dust. Having effectively gained their attention, however, Harry found himself being charged upon by yet more of the dark creatures and had to quickly change from offensive to defensive. Unsheathing his sword once more, he began to wield it expertly and quickly cut through five Nosferatu who had advanced upon him, sending grey limbs to the floor as they hissed in pain. Harry mixed the killing curse with pure light and elemental magic and, once again, he felled beast after beast until few were left. As he battled furiously with those in front of him, Harry sensed two sneaking up at his rear and, swinging his wand round, conjured a long, silver spear, which he sent flying at the Nosferatu. It shot directly through the heart of the first creature and buried itself into the chest of the second, behind it, sending both crumpling to the floor.

With a brief respite from the action, Harry finally had chance to examine the battlefield around him. He saw that the main focus of the fighting was being conducted in the middle of the grounds, directly in front of him, but to his left and right there were many Nosferatu not engaged at all. Instead, they hung back, either guarding the castle, or waiting for their chance to attack; a couple glanced at Harry, but were naturally wary to approach him. The lack of allied life in these vicinities gave Harry an idea, however, and, once again, the young wizard closed his eyes and reached into the heart of his inner magical core. The air around Harry started to sizzle as he summoned the entirety of his power towards him and, as he allowed his elemental abilities to come to the front, the young wizard gave off a bright, white glow. For almost a minute he just stood there, his eyes closed, looking totally relaxed as he stood in the midst of chaos, before, suddenly, his eyes snapped open, glowing brightly, and he pointed his wand and sword to the sky. The boy who lived then slashed his arms downwards, pointing his wand and sword to the ground either side of him, where the unoccupied Nosferatu stood.

For some time, it seemed that nothing had happened, that Harry's magic had somehow failed but then, suddenly, the sky grew light and those looking upwards would have sworn that a second sun had appeared. The giant fireball shot to earth and Harry had to shield his eyes as it neared the battlefield. As they realised what was happening, the Nosferatu to Harry's right started to scramble, but, alas, too late; the fireball struck the ground with shuddering force and engulfed over a hundred of the powerful beasts, filling the night with their dying cries.

Even as this was happening, to Harry's left, another phenomenon had started to occur. While they had stared at the awe-inspiring sight of the fireball heading towards earth, small blocks of ice had started to fall upon the second group of Nosferatu. Starting off slowly, the showering became a pour and then a torrent as razor sharp bullets of ice rained down upon them; smashing into the ground. There was nothing the Nosferatu could do to fight it as one by one they fell; their skulls pierced by the ice-bullets and their brains destroyed, making them turn to dust. Soon, not a single Nosferat stood to either of Harry's side and the young wizards allowed himself a small, satisfied smile and a brief moment to regain his energy, before throwing himself into the battle once more.

Though many had fallen, many more Nosferatu still battled on, furiously charging and pouncing at the hopelessly outnumbered members of the Council of the Phoenix. Running into the midst of the battle, Harry was almost tackled to the ground by a particularly quick Nosferat, who had separated from the pack and pounced at him while his gaze was focused in front of him. His reflexes honed to perfection from years of quidditch and duelling, however, as Harry saw the blur of grey streaking towards him, he had unsheathed his sword and, in a single movement, whipped around and brought the sword slashing down onto the unsuspecting beast's neck. Entering the main area of battle, Harry took down yet more of the monsters as he expertly wielded his sword and pushed back the advancing beasts with deadly accurate advanced vampire killing curses. Soon, Harry found himself back to back with Mad-eye Moody who, Harry noticed, looked distinctly the worse for wear, his clothes torn and his arms and face scratched and bloodied.

"We need to retreat Potter!" Moody yelled as he and Harry continued to fight back the onslaught.

Harry nodded, wracking his brain for a way to get everyone out of danger before they started to pick up casualties. The obvious answer was a portkey, but it would need to be big enough for the whole Council to use and there would still be the not inconsiderable of getting all of the scattered Council members to it. Suddenly, Harry had an idea and fired off a powerful extrudo curse to give him the time and chance to manoeuvre. With the Nosferatu once clawing to reach him now picking themselves up a hundred yards away, Harry directed his wand to the floor and, with a shout of "Pulsum", propelled himself into the air.

Using his wind elemental abilities, Harry kept himself hovering around twenty feet above the battlefield and turned his wand to the forbidden forest on the other side of the Hogwarts' grounds. Carefully taking aim at one of the countless tall trees, he sliced his wand horizontally and was satisfied to see the tree fall to the ground, narrowly missing Hagrid's old hut. Levitating the fallen tree into the air, Harry then summoned it towards the battlefield and carefully placed it slightly out of the way of the action, by the great lake.

Just as he had placed the tree onto the ground, Harry felt a vice-like grip close around his ankle and attempt to pull him to the ground. As he had worked, the Nosferatu had grouped together and climbed up on one another, making a tower up towards the young wizard, until the beast on the very top had managed to reach up to him and grab him by the ankle. Resisting the Nosferat's pull, Harry slashed downwards with his sword and the uppermost beast of the night gave a shriek as its hand disconnected from its wrist. It did not feel the pain for long, however, as Harry directed his wand below him and fired a powerful beam of pure light magic directly downwards. The tower of Nosferatu was enveloped and the beasts of the night turned to dust, allowing Harry to lower himself to the ground.

Landing back on the floor, Harry thrust his hands out to either side of him and sent out a pulse of elemental fire, which engulfed the beasts attacking him on all sides, killing them instantly. Having bought himself a bit of time, he then pointed his wand to his own throat and muttered; "_Sonorous!_"

**"I am turning the fallen tree by the great lake into a portkey!"** Harry's voice boomed above the noise of battle.

Summoning a rock from the ground, Harry tapped it with his wand and portkeyed himself to the fallen tree. Landing next to the tree, Harry tapped the Sword of Gryffindor with his wand and set it on fire, before twirling it around and waiting for the Nosferatu who were now edging ever closer to the tree. The beasts all stopped fifty yards from where Harry stood, eyeing wearily him wearily as he guarded the tree; flaming sword in his right hand, wand in his left. For a few seconds, Harry and the Nosferatu stood staring at each other, each challenging the other to make the first move until, suddenly, a Nosferat pounced. Tapping his sword to the floor, Harry sent a streak of fire along the ground, which engulfed the beast and sent him crumpling to the floor. But the firsts Nosferat's actions acted as a signal for the others to attack and they moved forwards as one, dodging Harry's curses and advancing on the others with superhuman speed.

With his flaming sword and spells of all kinds, Harry fought back the attacking Nosferatu but still they came forward, with more and more arriving to replace the dead. Suddenly, as he found himself overwhelmed, Harry felt a powerful blow to the side of his head and he was sent tumbling to the ground. Thrusting his wand upwards, Harry managed to throw back the Nosferatu who had pounced in for the kill, but he was forced to roll away as more jumped in. Knowing that he wouldn't last long while lying on the ground, Harry summoned forth his elemental abilities and conjured up a powerful gust of wind, which blew him backwards, away from the Nosferatu and to his feet. The beasts started to charge at him at once, but Harry levitated a large stone from the ground and magically flung it into the crowd. As it flew through the air, Harry took careful aim at the stone once more and, placing as much power as he could muster into the spell, cried;

"_Confringo Maxima!_"

The stone exploded with earth shattering force and the Nosferatu were blown to pieces as they were engulfed in powerful, magical fire. With the area now clear, Harry had time to breathe and, looking into the battling crowd, he saw that the Council members had evidently heard his words and were slowly battling their way to the tree. Carefully aiming his wand, Harry lent his friends and allies a hand by taking out a number of Nosferatu, before quickly walking over to the fallen tree.

Tapping the large tree trunk, Harry muttered 'Portus'; putting a delay on the spell so that it would activate in thirty seconds' time. With this done, he then pointed his wand to the sky and drew a huge number twenty eight in flames, this soon turned to twenty seven as the numbers counted down to the port-key's activation. Finally, he pointed his wand at his own throat and, magically amplifying his voice, bellowed;

**"Everyone to the tree now! You have twenty five seconds until the portkey activates!" **  
The Council members all started to run to the trunk, blasting Nosferatu out the way as Harry helped them all to fend the beasts off. One by one, the members of the Council made it to the trunk and Harry's side, before helping him to fight off the Nosferatu for the others. Soon, only McGonagall, Madame Bones and Thane remained on the battlefield as they along with the those by the tree, battled their way through the crowd of grey bodies. The two witches quickly made it to the trunk, but Thane had found himself in an area thick with Nosferatu and continued to battle against them

As the flaming numbers in the sky above turned to single digits, Thane alone had not made it to the portkey, struggling with the Nosferatu who had now surrounded him. The Council sprang forward as one and desperately tried to help out their comrade; firing curses of all kinds at the grey-skinned beasts, all the while anxious that they might hit the Auror instead. With a wave of his wand, Harry conjured three large lions from thin air and immediately commanded them to go Thane's aid. The conjured creatures worked well, ripping into the flesh of the Nosferatu and eventually cleared a path for Thane to take. As Harry glanced up, he saw the flaming numbers change from three to two and his older friend thrust his wand behind him and propelled himself forward; flying along the ground towards the tree trunk.

Just as Thane flung himself at the trunk and placed his hand upon it, the portkey activated and the Council were yanked from reality and catapulted through limbo. When he sensed that they were nearing their destination, Harry magically shrunk the tree trunk, knowing that it would be too big to fit in the living room of the cave, and placed it in his pocket. Seconds later, they re-entered reality and crashed down onto the floor of the cave. Looking around him, Harry examined each Council member in turn, checking that they were alright. Thankfully, the light had suffered no losses and, though there were many bruises, scratches and gashes, miraculously, no one had been seriously injured and no one had been bitten. Picking himself up off the ground, Moody led the way into the kitchen, where Dumbledore was worriedly awaiting them. Harry made eye contact with the headmaster as he made his way to his regular seat and shook his head, silently telling his old mentor that Hogwarts had truly been taken and secured against re-invasion.

Everyone was silent as they took their seats around the kitchen table of the Marauders' cave. For all the dark events of its past, Hogwarts remained a bastion of light; somewhere safe and unconquerable that, through over a thousand years of history, had remained untainted by the corruption of Dark Wizards and perverted magic. Even Slytherin, once exiled, could not penetrate the castle's protections but, where his ancestor had failed, Lord Voldemort had succeeded and hundreds of students and teachers' lives were now at his whim. Harry felt empty inside as he thought of his friends; had they made it to the room of requirement? Even if they had, were they safe there? With a sickening dread, he remembered Malfoy and his Slytherin crew breaking in to the room at Umbridge's behest and he silently prayed that the founders' protections remained strong.

"We have to get it back." Remus muttered.

"Hogwarts is a place of light and education," Dumbledore spoke, even he looking deeply disturbed by the night's events, "and we will not allow the children within its walls to suffer. Alastair, a rapid response is needed, what do you suggest?"

Moody thought for a moment. "I don't think any of the castle's secret entrances are big enough for a whole taskforce to enter."

He looked to Harry and Remus who both shook their heads in confirmation.

"They're all narrow tunnels, only a couple of people would be able to fit through at a time and if we were spotted, we would be incredibly vulnerable."

Moody nodded. "So we need to put together an all out assault. Voldemort will be expecting a response so subtlety isn't an option, we'll gather together the full might of the Order and the Aurors and we'll hit them with everything we've got. Once inside, the troops will split off in different directions, each led by a Council member, and secure a part of the castle, taking out any Death Eater scum that gets in their way."

"The big problem, apart from the obvious, is our lack of information." Kingsley chipped in. "We really need to know where the strong and weak points of their defence are where Voldemort is."

"Dobby." Harry said, he had had this thought as he sat listening to his fellow Council memers' words. "The DA would gladly volunteer, but it's far too dangerous; they would be hopelessly outnumbered and would be quite easily found by Voldemort if they start wandering around; they're in the room of requirement at the moment. Dobby, however, is a different story. Voldemort wouldn't think to put up wards or protections against house elves; he wouldn't give them a second thought, so Dobby would be able to go undetected as he scouts the castle. I would bet all the gold in Gringotts that Dobby will be able to use his house elf apparition unhindered and, if he was invisible and had a silencing charm around him, no would ever know that he was there."

"Brilliant Potter, get the elf here now." Moody growled approvingly.

"Dobby!" Harry called for the second time that night.

The little house elf appeared less than a second later; standing up straight and saluting Harry, a terrified look in his eyes.

"Dobby, I know that you don't want to go back to Hogwarts right now, but we really need your help in taking back the castle." Harry began.

"Dobby will do it Harry Potter sir." Dobby interrupted determinedly and Harry smiled at his friend's bravery and tenaciousness.

"You may want to change your mind once I've told you what it is." Harry replied. "The Death Eaters will have already erected wards against human re-invasion of Hogwarts but we have reason to believe that house elves would be able to pass through them undetected. I hate to ask this of you Dobby, but if you could scout Hogwarts, searching for the weakest and strongest areas of their defences, your information would help us greatly in its recapture."

Dobby nodded, clearly scared, but still looking determined. "How is you wanting Dobby to this Harry Potter sir?" He asked.

"If you go to the room of requirement, you should find the DA gathered inside, if you explain to them what you're doing, someone will disillusion you and place a silencing charm upon you. Once that's done, you should be able to use your house elf apparition to look around Hogwarts and assess their positions, while remaining undetected."

"Dobby will do it Harry Potter sir. He will do his best to help Headmaster Dumbledore's Order to retake the castle. What is you wanting Dobby to look for?"

Harry smiled gratefully at his friend, knowing how much this scared him, how much it would scare anyone.

"We need to know where the most powerful Death Eaters are, where their numbers are concentrated, where possible weak areas are and where Voldemort is." Harry explained. "Now, if you get too close, Voldemort will sense your presence, so don't just apparate into the room he's in, in fact don't go in it at all. Listen to conversations and try to pick something up, if you can't then don't risk yourself anymore than necessary; just concentrate on your other tasks."

Dobby nodded again and glanced around the room, before preparing to apparate away.

"Dobby." Harry stopped him. "Thank you so much for doing this, know that we believe in you. Good luck."

"Good luck Dobby." Dumbledore added and the house elf smiled at the two men he considered his masters before disappearing with a small pop.

With Dobby gone, Moody took charge again as the Council started to organise their counter-attack.

"The first stage of the battle may well prove to be the hardest." The Head Auror said. "If we can't get past the Nosferatu quickly, Death Eaters will provide them with backup and we'll find ourselves massively outnumbered. If Voldemort also decides to make an appearance at this stage, the odds will be heavily stacked against us."

"Actually I think I might be able to help you out there." Harry said. "I recently re-established our alliance with the magical creatures of Hogwarts and-"

Harry stopped mid-sentence, unbridled terror spreading across his face as if he had just come to a horrific realisation, his gaze slowly moving down to the ring he had bought just before Christmas.

"What is it Harry?" Remus asked, immediately knowing that something was very wrong.

For a few seconds, Harry said nothing, seemingly frozen to the spot, his eyes unfocused and his expression still full of fear and pain.

"Ginny." He whispered, his voice desperate.

Before anyone had time to respond, Harry sprung into action, jumping from his seat and running towards the kitchen door, which obligingly exploded from its hinges. Racing out into the living room, Harry quickly reached the secret entrance to the Marauders' cave and spoke the password to open it. As soon as he had done so, a jet black owl swooped in and dropped something on the floor in front of them, before hastily flying away, as if sensing that this was not a safe place to be. Looking down at what the bird had dropped, Harry saw what seemed to be a snitch sized ball, but clear, almost like a remembrall without the swirling redness ever-present in Neville's.

Harry knew immediately who the delivery was from and so was reluctant to go anywhere near it, but as he sensed no dark magic or curses, he simply stood staring at it, waiting for something to happen. That it did and the rest of the Council jumped slightly as a hologramatic figure rose before them, many gasped in shock and fear as they looked upon a smiling Lord Voldemort. Staring at his mortal nemesis, Harry saw the changes brought about within him by the ritual of eternal damnation. Ancient symbols had carved themselves upon Tom Riddles already repulsive head and the Dark Lord seemed somehow less solid than he once had; as if he wasn't quite of this world. When he finally spoke, his voice had a deep, echoing quality to the usual hiss that made goosebumps spread over Harry's skin.

"Good evening Harry." Lord Voldemort spoke, a smile of pure evil on his snake-like lips.

"Voldemort if you-"

"Don't bother responding." The Dark Lord interrupted him. "This is merely a recording of my memory, one that I wanted very much to share with you. It is very pleasant to be back within my home and I don't want you to hasten your response, you see, I'm in very good company."

With that, the demonic wizard stood aside and, projected in front of them, the Council could see Dumbledore's office. Harry felt his heart falter and absolute terror wash over him as he stared into the headmaster's office and looked upon a small figure, suspended in the air, struggling against invisible binds. The view of the projection shifted and suddenly Harry saw a close up of her face, saw the fear and the loathing in her eyes, the determination that she would not break. Ginny. The view of the projection changed once more, this time to a wider angle and Harry could do nothing but watch as the Dark Lord approached his love and drew his wand. He stroked the wand across Ginny's face and seemed to smile directly at Harry, before directing his wand at the youngest Weasley and crying; "_Crucio!_"

Ginny bit down on her tongue at first but, unused to the supreme agony of the Cruciatus curse, quickly gave way to the pain and screamed at the top of her lungs. Harry started to shake as the sight before him stabbed excruciatingly at his heart, but he could do nothing but watch as his girlfriend writhed, screaming against the torture, tears streaking her cheeks. It only lasted a few seconds, though it seemed an eternity to Harry, and Voldemort eventually released the curse, allowing Ginny to slump forward and turning to face the Council.

"Such a delicate little thing Potter." The Dark Lord hissed. "How long do you think it will take before the torture rips the last shred of sanity from her mind? How long before she begs for the sweet release of death?"

With these final words, the Dark Lord Vanished


	16. Of The DA, Ginny and Reinvasion

For a few moments Harry sat perfectly still, processing the information that his spy had brought him and fighting against the dread a yet more powerful Voldemort inspired within him. Then, suddenly, he sprang to his feet as if coming to a realisation, making the others jump in shock.

"Well we're going to have to get through the wards guarding the Elixir before he finds where it is then aren't we?" He said. "Blaise I want you to do everything you can, short of getting yourself killed, to get me that information, even if it means you have to relinquish your role as a spy. There is nothing more important than this right now, scan the minds of the inner circle and see if they know anything, don't bother with Snape, he won't let on about anything but if Voldemort brings it up when he calls you next, ask him what needs to be done to get through those wards. If you think you're under suspicion, get out of there and if you can't, call me and I'll get you out."

Blaise nodded as his commanding officer finished his orders, before striding from the room, desperately wondering how to contact Lucius Malfoy without it seeming suspicious. As his friend and spy left the room, Harry turned to his other three commanders.

"I want you three to get back to research; we don't know how much time we have. Find out how to break down the ancient wards around Leaena castle, if Voldemort is this pleased to have that knowledge, I may not be able to deduce it using even the most powerful revealing charms. Use the restricted section as much as you like, ignore any attempt Pince makes to stop you; this is way above school rules.

"Do you know how many house points this is going to lose us Harry?" Hermione asked, only half joking.

"Yeah, well with a bit of luck, McGonagall will see it appropriate to award a few once I've found the Elixir a Lumina and defeated Voldemort. That's got to be worth at least one hundred." Harry replied with a smile. "I've got to get to the Council meeting, I'll see you when it's finished."

With that, a quick kiss on Ginny's lips and a smile aimed at his friends, Harry made his way to the door, only to be stopped by Ginny's voice.

"Harry?" She said quietly and Harry turned as he detected a trace amount of fear in the usually fearless Weasley. "The ritual of eternal damnation?"

"We'll deal with it when the time comes." Harry responded, forcing his lips into a reassuring smile that even he didn't believe. "Just remember what Dumbledore said; Nitwit, Blubber, Odment, Tweak. Those words got me through some pretty tough times."

Harry walked out of the room of requirement and magically opened the nearest window, before leaping outside. A rush of wind greeted Harry as he plummeted to earth but, just as his toes brushed the grass, his broom reached him and he leapt on. He flew with speed to the edge of the wards before jumping from his prized Firebolt and apparating away, secure in the knowledge that the broom would find its own way back to his dormitory. As he knew he would, Harry found the Marauders' cave empty; he had called the meeting for an hour's time to allow himself the opportunity to gather more information but, as recent events came to meet him all at once, he felt the need to talk to someone with experience in dealing with this sort of thing. Walking through the hallways of the cave, he came to a halt in front of a stretch of blank wall and waved his hand in front of it. Part of the wall slid away and revealed a brightly lit room, filled with expensive muggle technology, potions of all kinds and a single bed, occupied by an ancient yet powerful wizard. Albus Dumbledore.

Walking up to his former mentor, Harry grew unsure of himself. He had spoken to him through Leglimency before but it wasn't quite the same and the process always took a lot out of him; not a good idea as the final battle loomed ever nearer.

"Hello Professor." He spoke to the comatose figure as he breathed softly in his sleep.

Harry felt a bit silly talking to the headmaster like this, but, as he did so, he could have sworn that the heart rate monitor sped up just a little.

"It's Harry." He continued and this time he was sure of it.

The muggle machine started bleeping more quickly as Dumbledore's heart rate rose and the line of the line graph above his bed started to move upwards. At that moment, there was a _whoosh_ sound from behind Harry and he turned to find Madame Pomfrey striding out of the fireplace.

"Mr. Potter!" She said, surprised to see him there. "What's going on here?"

"I was hoping you could tell me."Harry responded.

"Heart rate, blood pressure and cognitive activity all increasing." She breathed, as if saying it too loud would make it go away. "He's improving. I checked on the headmaster not an hour ago Mr. Potter and he showed no signs of improvement, what did you do?"

"I just spoke to him." Harry said, just as shocked himself.

"Well for heaven's sake continue." The nurse urged him.

"I need your help Professor." Harry said. "There have been further developments in the war and we need your expertise. Voldemort is getting ever closer to acquiring the Elixir a Lumina."

At this the monitors all showed yet another increase.

"Carry on!" Madame Pomfrey practically shouted at him in her eagerness.

"He has undergone another ritual, we can't afford to allow the Elixir to fall into his hands, if it does the war is lost. We wouldn't stand a chance."

"Heart rate and blood pressure have stabilised at the normal rate, cognitive activity is way up, he's nearly there Potter."

"We've tracked down the Elixir, but we don't know how to break the wards. Voldemort can break the wards but doesn't know where the potion is located. I'm planning on taking the Council to the location but the wards will be strong, stronger even than Hogwarts. Even together I don't know if we'll be able to break them without knowing exactly what we're up against."

Dumbledore's vitals did not go down at these words but neither did they improve any further and Madame Pomfrey's face fell slightly in disappointment. Out of instinct, however, Harry reached a hand over his teacher's chest and closed his eyes. Madame Pomfrey had to shield her eyes as a steady stream of powerful light magic shot from Harry's palm and entered Dumbledore's chest, making him shake ever so slightly. This continued for a full minute before the light faded away and Harry opened his eyes and, a little tired, looked down at the old man.

Harry was suddenly able to see eye movement behind the headmaster's lids and, slowly but surely, as he and Poppy Pomfrey both held their breaths, Albus Dumbledore's eyes fluttered open. The Order leader's gaze fell weakly upon Harry and Madame Pomfrey and Harry smiled at him.

"You overslept." He said and Dumbledore gave a small croak of a laugh.

This seemed enough to snap Madame Pomfrey out of her disbelief and the school nurse immediately started fussing over her boss, checking the potion levels and his vitals on the magical and muggle monitors.

"I feel well Poppy." Dumbledore assured her, his voice sounding a little raspy.

"I will decide when you're well Albus." The nurse replied strictly, but affectionately, before muttering to herself. "Vital signs all normal, magic relatively weak but present. Incredible, he's stable, just weak and fatigued."

Harry smiled at this news and conjured his headmaster a glass of water, which he drank gratefully.

"Madame Pomfrey, if he's well enough, I would like to speak to the headmaster in private." Harry spoke as the witch finished her checks.

"Certainly not Mr. Potter-" She began in reply, but she was interrupted by Dumbledore.

"This is a matter of some importance Harry?" He asked.

Harry nodded.

"I'm fine Poppy, I will provide Harry with whatever help I can from my bed. I can assure you that I will still be here when we are finished."

Poppy Pomfrey huffed her disapproval but didn't argue with the headmaster; giving him another once over before walking back to the fireplace and reluctantly flooing away.

"Did you hear what I was saying when we were waking you?" Harry asked.

"I heard." Dumbledore nodded. "Yet, alas, in regard to the Elixir a Lumina at least, I cannot help you. I must confess that I believed it to be a legend and know nothing of how to break the wards surrounding it. Though, I have to say that you seem to be doing rather well in my absence; that you managed to find the location of the Elixir is extraordinary. I am sure that you will find away to break through the wards at, out of curiosity, where is the Elixir?"

"Leaena castle." Harry replied, suspecting that Dumbledore would need no further explanation.

"Of Leona Gryffindor?" Dumbledore asked. "I have heard mention of the place just once, but I did suspect that, if it did exist, the Elixir a Lumina would have remained on property belonging to Merlin's descendants. As I say Harry, I'm sure that with the Council's help, even your ancestors' wards won't hold you off for long."

Harry nodded with a slight smile, but it didn't reach his eyes as he fought with himself over whether or not to divulge the next piece of information. He hadn't even told Ginny and, though he had forgiven Dumbledore for his actions in the previous year, trusting the old man with such a thing was asking a big leap of faith.

"Is there something else you wished to discuss with me Harry?" Dumbledore enquired kindly.

"They're getting stronger." The words burst from Harry's lips. "The whispers, the dark side of my mind, whatever you want to call it. Since we spoke last in your mind, they've become more frequent and more powerful. They're trying to take control, to tell me what to do and corrupt me and I can tell you, they've come damned close."

The headmaster nodded sympathetically and sighed, as if he had been expecting something like this.

"If my suspicions are correct Harry, when you underwent the ritual of the Rock of Initium, Slytherin's curse infected your magic as the elemental powers joined with your existing magical reservoir. As a result, as the reservoir expands and you become more powerful, so does the curse."

"Infected?" Harry whispered fearfully. "If my magic itself is infected, how can I be rid of the curse? I can't fight off the whispers forever."

"You can cure yourself of the curse by doing exactly what you have been doing." Dumbledore reassured him. "In time magic as powerful and as light as yours Harry should defeat the curse, but unfortunately, it will become ever more powerful until that moment comes. In the mean time Harry, you have to remember who you are and not concede to be what the curse wants you to be, you have to fight it with every fibre of your being and not give in, because if you allow them to take control, even for a second, that could be the end."

Harry nodded in understanding and when he spoke, his voice was soft, reminding the headmaster that the boy who lived was still just seventeen, no matter how mature he had become.

"I know." He said. "But it's so hard. They're always there, in the recesses of my mind, waiting for their moment, with their damned whispering, plotting for when the time comes. I'm exhausted Professor, I'm fighting against them constantly and when my mind slips for just a second, they scream at me to follow their will, their voices almost identical to that of my mind."

Albus Dumbledore's face softened at Harry's words.

"It is cruel of fate to unload such a burden upon you Harry, especially when you already have so much to bear. But I cannot overstress the importance of control, I know you know this. You will win eventually."

Harry nodded once more, relieved that even if he wouldn't be getting a moment of peace, he had talked to someone about it and they hadn't condemned him.

"You mentioned, while I was still struggling against the grip of unconsciousness, that Voldemort has undergone yet another ritual?"

"The ritual of eternal damnation." Harry confirmed and, just as with Blaise and Hermione, Dumbledore seemed to stiffen at these words, closing his eyes for a moment as he pondered the significance of this development.

"Are you aware-?"

"Hermione filled me in." Harry interrupted. "Yet another legend that's turned out to be true, Voldemort's getting quite good at uncovering those."

"The reality of this ritual is an unknown to me, but you must not underestimate the power now at Voldemort's command. Certain spells are also now obsolete as he is truly without a soul."

"So I've been told." Harry replied. "The fates are determined that this isn't going to be easy for me aren't they? Do you have any suggestions for spells I might use to finish him off?"

"Though I would no longer call him human Harry, Voldemort still has the body of a man." Dumbledore replied. "Like you, he will heal very quickly and effectively due to his incredible power, but if you destroy his brain or his heart he will die. Of course, Physical magic such as that used to destroy things tends to be easy to block, so a better course of action may be to destroy his magic."

Harry looked at the old man. "I thought magic couldn't be destroyed?" He spoke. "Believe it or not, I do sometimes listen to Hermione's lectures and she told me that it was against the fundamental laws of magical physics; even after death, one's magic is absorbed by the planet."

"Miss Granger's knowledge is, as ever, impeccable." Dumbledore replied with a small smile. "As there often is with these things, however, there is an exception. Ordinary magic cannot destroy ordinary magic, but light magic can overwhelm dark and vice versa. It has never happened before, simply because of the immense power needed to perform such an act, but the theory is solid and if enough pure light magic was to strike him, Voldemort's magical power would be destroyed."

"If that was to happen, would Voldemort simply become a muggle?" Harry asked.

"No. Perhaps once that may have been the case, but if Tom as gone through with the Ritual of eternal damnation, his magic is the only thing that's keeping him alive, though I'm reluctant to call his existence a life at all. Forsaking his soul will have removed many of the innate blocks mortality and humanity put on his power, but it also removed his life essence and without his magic, he will simply cease to be."

"So all I need to do is incapacitate the most powerful Dark wizard of all time and pump him full of enough pure light magic to overwhelm and destroy his pure dark magic, despite the fact that he is considerably more powerful than I am and so even if I poured every last bit of my magical reservoir into him, it would not be enough. Simple as that? What happens if I use all my magical power trying to destroy his but some survives within him?"

Dumbledore sighed and his eyes, as they met Harry's, were full of concern. "If just a little of Voldemort's magic was to remain, it would, in time, fully rejuvenate itself."

"And the option of destroying his brain or heart?"

"It would be extremely difficult, as you know; one's magic will protect its master in their hour of need. Tom has also proven himself to be quite adept at surviving without a physical form, there is nothing to say that he can't do it again."

Harry nodded. "I bet you're glad you're not the one who has to finish him off now." He quipped

and Dumbledore chuckled slightly, before quickly becoming serious once more and fixing his gaze directly onto Harry's eyes. When he spoke, Harry could hear the sincerity in his voice.

"I believe in you Harry. I know that it may look bleak, but I have learned over the last seventeen years that the rules tend not to apply with you. The spirits of Merlin and Gryffindor, of your parents, linger within you and whether logic or the laws of magical physics allow it or not, I know that you won't rest until Voldemort is no more."

Harry smiled at his old mentor and, though his doubts had far from been erased, knowing that Dumbledore believed in him gave his confidence and his pride just a little boost. The headmaster's words were followed by a long and contemplative silence as the two men thought about both the future and the past. Harry could sense Dumbledore's mood shifting and, eventually, the powerful old wizard sighed and looked up at the young man he had watched grow from a boy into a powerful warrior.

"Harry, I'm so sorry."

Harry could hear the sincerity and remorse in the headmaster's voice and he didn't need to ask to what he was referring. Harry thought about it for a moment, thought back to the previous year, to the arguments he had had with the old man, to the secrets that had been kept from him. He had long ago decided that he had forgiven Dumbledore; he had not forgotten what had happened, but his old mentor had proven time and time again that he did care for him and by inducting him into the Council of the Phoenix, he had shown that was ready to accept Harry as an adult.

"For the first five years of my time at Hogwarts, I thought of you as a sort of omniscient being, an infallible, all powerful wizard, rather than a man who makes mistakes. That was wrong of me and, even though you did hurt me a lot last year and you certainly made a lot of mistakes, you made them for the right reasons. So I forgive you."

Dumbledore smiled softly. "Thank you Harry, though I dare say that I do not deserve it. I inducted you into the Council of the Phoenix at the start of the year and told you that I would not stop you from fully participating in this war and I will keep that promise, though I must say, I doubt I could stop you if I tried."

Harry laughed before allowing a comfortable silence to develop between the two of them as they both became lost in their own worlds.

"You know, Professor, we're really not so different." Harry spoke at last. "I have been thinking about the last year a lot and this realisation is one of the things that made it easier to forgive you. You see, we both throw ourselves absolutely into any struggle, risking life and limb in the pursuit of what is right. But, even as we do this, we strive to protect the ones we care about, even going so far as to hide information from them and pushing them away to try and keep them safe."

"That's very astute Harry and, I think, quite correct. But, you, it seems, have made more progress than I; the DA is testament to that."

Harry nodded. "Neither of us are so arrogant as to think that we can win this war by ourselves; I created the DA and you the Order of the Phoenix, but we still take on more than our share of the responsibility and reserve the most dangerous tasks for ourselves."

"You truly have grown up Harry," Dumbledore said softly, "there's so much of your parents in you, especially Lily and I am very proud of the man you have become."

Harry smiled and the room grew quiet once more, before Harry checked his watch and saw that the meeting was nearly upon them.

"Now, I can sense that you're still very tired and weak, so I'll call Madame Pomfrey back in and let her fuss over you for a bit. I assume that you want to take part in the Council meeting?" He said.

"I will observe, but I have no desire to take the leadership from Alastair and Minerva." Dumbledore responded. "And thank you Harry, for your help in bringing me back and for trusting me, though I have done little to earn such trust."

Harry smiled slightly at the old man and at that moment, his mind flashed to Aberforth, Hagrid and Elphias Doge, among others. Dumbledore still didn't know that they were dead. For a brief moment, Harry considered telling him but, as he looked upon his headmaster, he couldn't bring himself to do it; the man deserved a little peace in his recuperation. But, even as he came to this decision and walked to the fire to call upon Madame Pomfrey, Harry knew that Dumbledore would not miss his brother and friends' empty seats at the meeting.

Feeling better for his meeting with Dumbledore, even if the old warlock hadn't been able to provide him with any answers, Harry walked the small distance from the bedroom/hospital ward to the kitchen. Taking his usual seat at the table, Harry conjured a few crates of butterbeer, thinking that, in spite of what had happened, Dumbledore's awakening deserved a small celebration and waited for the Council to arrive so he could deliver the good news.

Eventually, one by one, the Council of the Phoenix started to appear, all asking Harry why he'd called the meeting and enquiring about the butterbeer, only to be told that he would make his announcements once everyone had arrived. As Bill Weasley took his seat, Harry rose from his and looked upon the expectant faces of his allies.

"There have been some very significant developments in the war over the last couple of hours, some good, and some bad." He began. "But I think it's best to start you off on a piece of good news and the reason that I saw fit to conjure up some butterbeer. I am pleased to announce that Albus Dumbledore is now awake."

Excited chatter broke out along the table and a few people let out cheers at the news, before Harry raised his hands to indicate that he had more to add.

"He woke up less than an hour ago and, though he is still very weak, he is quite capable of speaking and he will be joining the meeting in a few minutes, once Madam Pomfrey has fixed him up a bit."

At that moment, the door to the kitchen opened again and, helped by Madam Pomfrey, Albus Dumbledore walked into the room. His arrival was met with an excited clamour, subdued only slightly by the obvious weakness of the headmaster's condition. The council rose to their feet as one and offered their leader their congratulations and welcome backs as Remus and Thane helped him to his seat at the head of the table. As the chatter died down, Harry saw Dumbledore glance around the table and sadness crept upon his face as he spotted the two empty chairs, where his brother and friend had once sat.

"Thank you all for that wonderful welcome back." He spoke, meeting the eyes of each one of the members of the Council. "I attend this meeting only as a member of this Council, for now at least I am more than happy for Minerva and Alastair to remain as leaders. I have spoken with Harry a little since my awakening but perhaps you all would be so kind as to give me just a brief overview of what I have missed."

The members of the Council glanced at each other nervously, silently discussing who was to deliver the terrible news, before, with a sigh, Professor McGonagall began her explanation. Over the next half an hour, the Council filled Albus Dumbledore in on everything that had happened since he had slipped into his coma, though he knew a little already due to his leglimency conversation with Harry earlier in the year. He was, of course, saddened to hear the news of the deaths of his brother, Hagrid and Elphias Doge but, as Harry knew he would, Dumbledore took it in his stride and the Council went on to explain about the loss of Grimmauld place, their attack on the Death Eater base, the Nosferatu and Lycanthropes and everything else that had transpired since the battle of the Rock.

Eventually, the explanations came to an end and slowly the heads of the Council turned towards Harry, the caller of the meeting, and the youngest member stood. He took the Council through the various developments of the day, exciting them with the news that he knew where the Elixir was hidden, just to bring them down by informing them that only Voldemort knew how to break down the wards and telling them of the ritual of eternal damnation. Overall, however, the Council remained positive, seeing, as Harry did, that they now had the advantage in the race for the Elixir; Voldemort was yet to find its location and even if the Council couldn't break down the wards at first, knowing where it is was a big advantage.

"So, basically, the question is, what do we do with this information?" Harry asked, concluding his explanation.

"First and foremost, we keep it inside these four walls." Moody growled, glaring at everyone around the round the table as if daring them to contradict him. "We've seen that the Order is susceptible to enemy infiltration and if Voldemort gets hold of this information, the war is as good as lost."

"We can go one better than that." Harry said "We can keep the co-ordinates locked up in my head, when we go to Leaena castle, I'll create a port-key and take the council straight there."

Moody nodded his approval and Remus began to speak. "I agree and we need to get there as quickly as we can, Voldemort could discover the location of the Elixir at any moment and we need to make the most of our advantage. I say a taskforce of Ward-breakers is sent to the castle to assess the protective wards around it and what will be needed to break them down."

The Council seemed in agreement and, out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Dumbledore smile at the efficiency the elite commanders of his army were displaying. Harry was about to comment on who he thought should be in the taskforce when, suddenly, his expression changed. At first it was curious, as if he trying to work something out, but it quickly became one of utter shock and horror and he spun around to lock his gaze with Dumbledore's. The whole table immediately sensed the seriousness and alarm being felt by the two powerful wizards and each member of the Council stared anxiously at them as they continued to wordlessly work out if their fears could possibly have come to pass.

"What has happened Albus?" McGonagall broke the silence.

After a few more seconds, Harry gave a small nod and broke his gaze from Dumbledore's before speaking commandingly;

"Dobby!"

A few seconds passed and Harry started to worry for the usually prompt elf before, with a pop, a small figure appeared in the room and fell to the floor. Harry immediately jumped to his feet and ran over to his friend, kneeling to gain better accesses to the elf's battered and bloodied body. Dobby was barely clinging to consciousness and his usually immaculate, if slightly odd, clothes were torn, his body bruised, with a deep gash running the width of his stomach. Closing his eyes slightly, Harry took a second to gather his magic to his fingertips and, when he opened his eyes once more, they glowed a bright and brilliant green. Drawing his wand, Harry traced the gash on Dobby's stomach, healing it instantly, before waving his wand over the elf's small body and summoning a potion from the other room.

As Harry worked his magic, Dobby seemed to slowly become more lucid, if still very weak, and when Harry pressed the goblet to the elf's lips, he drank heavily from the pepper-up potion. After a few seconds, the potion took effect and Dobby jumped to his feet.

"Dobby, please tell me that-"

"It is as you fear Harry Potter sir." Dobby squeaked, interrupting Harry for the first time. "Hogwarts has been attacked."

Harry closed his eyes in sadness and the rest of the Council stared at the house elf in shock. Taking a deep breath and forcing his fears for his friends and for the castle to the back of his mind, Harry stood and turned to face the rest of the Council.

"How did you...?"

"The wards around Hogwarts are incredibly powerful; Dumbledore and I sensed the flux of magic when they were breached." Harry interrupted Remus' question. "But that's really not important right now, what's important is that Hogwarts needs to be saved and we need to act now. I suggest that we call upon all of the Order's fighters and storm the castle before the Death Eaters have time to take over it and secure their positions."

"No." Moody contradicted him. "I appreciate the need for speed, but it would be a deadly mistake to attack without scouting the defences in place; Voldemort knows that we'll be desperate to take back Hogwarts and there will be traps in place."

"The Council should go ahead first and assess the defences." Thane agreed. "The whole Order takes time to mobilise and we don't even know the size of the attack force; it may be that we can repel them on our own, at least long enough to fortify Hogwarts' wards."

"Professor?" Harry turned to Dumbledore and the headmaster simply nodded in agreement with the two Aurors, his face grave at the thought of Hogwarts under Voldemort's control. Harry sighed.

"OK, but it has to be now, let's go."

"I would like to accompany you." Dumbledore said and the Council turned to face him.

"I know you would," Harry replied, "but we all know that you're not in any position to do so Professor. I know how much it hurts to just sit and wait while others fight and I won't stop you if you insist on coming, but I would strongly advise against it."

Dumbledore looked at Harry thoughtfully before giving him a small smile, his eyes giving off a twinkle for the first time since he had sensed the wards being breached. "You're right, of course Harry. Good luck, all of you."

Harry nodded, before quickly walking out of the kitchen and into the living room of the Marauders' cave. As he went, he took out his DA galleon and called his soldiers to the relative safety of the room of requirement before turning on his heel and apparating away with the rest of the Council. Harry, Remus, Thane, Moody, Kingsley, McGonagall, Tonks, Hestia Jones, Madam Bones and Molly, Arthur and Bill Weasley all appeared into the cold spring evening in Hogsmeade, just outside the Hogwarts grounds. As soon as their feet hit terra firma, every one of them could sense the shift in the air. Hogwarts had been delved into pitch blackness, its usual aura of magic and mystery noticeably absent as, instead, it seemed to radiate with the darkness and evil now occupying its walls.

The cold bite of the wind was not completely natural and, as he felt any warm feelings he had begin to seep from his being, Harry looked upwards to find a terrifying sight. Dementors. Hundreds, if not thousands of the dark and vile creatures were circling the sky above them, spreading despair across Hogsmeade and the castle of Hogwarts. Knowing that a patronus would give their position away, Harry waved his wand over the council and conjured just a shimmering silver mist, which shielded them from the dementors' effects. That done, he started to walk forwards, leading the others right to the edge of the wards of Hogwarts.

Suddenly, Harry stopped, holding his arm up to command the rest of the Council to come to a halt behind him. Something wasn't right, that much was clear already; Hogwarts was pulsating with powerful Dark magical energy. But there was something more, hidden in the magical signature of the castle's wards and the Dark wizards witches and creatures within its walls. For almost a full minute, Harry stood almost perfectly still, a look of great concentration on his face as the Council behind him barely dared to breathe, staring intently at his expression.

It was then that Harry met with a horrific realisation. As his expression changed, he felt a flux in the power around him and quickly turned, extending his hand out in front of him and firing a powerful beam of pure light magic into the apparently vacant air around him. An ear-piercing hiss burst forth from where the light magic had struck, but before the Council had time to wonder what the hell it was, they found themselves flying backwards through the air as Harry swung his wand in a wide arc behind his back. With the Council now relatively safe, the young wizard pushed both hands forward and, with a rush of power, conjured a huge wall of blinding, translucent white light, which flung itself forwards into the night. Yet more agonised screeches filled the area and as he felt the power around him rescind, Harry apparated a hundred yards backwards, where he joined the rest of the Council as they picked themselves up off the ground.

"What the hell is going on?" Kingsley asked as he and his comrades pulled out their wands.

In response, Harry simply waved his hand across the air in front of him, conjuring millions of tiny pockets of light, which slowly fell to the floor, revealing as they went a sight that would have made many a grown man weep in terror.

"They've been breeding." Harry muttered, his blood running cold.

The grounds of Hogwarts were swarming with thousands upon thousands of Nosferatu. The powerful beasts of the night were glaring hungrily at the twelve members of the Council of the Phoenix, their lifeless grey eyes focussed intently upon 'the others', ignoring the dozen or so of their brethren already felled by Harry's wand. Though pushed back by Harry's powerful ethereal wall, the monsters had slowly stalked forward so that they were now just fifty yards away from the Council, who stood stock still, wands in hand as they considered their next move.

"What are they waiting for?" Bill whispered, as if not wanting to startle the creatures in front of him.

"They're not waiting," Remus replied softly, "they're savouring the moment, delaying the kill to enhance the pleasure."

At that moment, Harry felt yet another rush of magical power and looked up at the castle to see a spell firing down from one of the many windows. As it landed on the ground, the spell seemed to spread along the grass, engulfing the Council in the purple glow of what Harry recognised to be an anti-apparition ward.

"Or maybe they were waiting for that." Harry commented, watching as the Nosferatu started to surround them. "Everyone get into pairs and if at all possible stick together; one can attack while the other defends. Their skin is tough and so resistant to physical magic, but if you get a good slicing charm to the neck, they'll go down. Powerful vampire killing curses should render them unconscious at least, advanced vampire killing curses, for those of you who know them, should kill them. Remember, Nosferatu are incredibly quick so never drop your guard and use spells that make you harder to target, cover a wide area or slow them down."

The members of the Council listened carefully to Harry's words as they split into pairs and silently formed an outward-looking circle to defend themselves against the Nosferatu, who now covered all sides. 'There goes our retreat.' Harry thought, before turning to see who was to be with him in a pair.

"Looks like you're stuck with me Harry." Bill said from the other side of the group, his eyes never leaving the beasts in front of him.

Harry was about to respond and had just started to edge closer to the eldest Weasley child when, as one, the Nosferatu pounced. Hundreds upon hundreds of grey bodies sprung forward and Harry had to react quickly, thrusting his hands out in front of him and conjuring a powerful wind, which he flung at the charging beasts. The Nosferatu were picked up from the ground and thrown backwards like rag dolls and Harry turned, firing off a couple of advanced vampire killing curses as he did so and watching satisfied, as they found their targets.

The sheer number of their enemy quickly started to overwhelm the Council, which was soon split up as each member fought their own personal fight for survival. Harry was pleased to note, however, that, on the whole, the pairs had managed to stay together, even if he and Bill had been fighting side by side for about three seconds before being separated by a wall of grey. The Council's problems had only just begun, however, and, just as he was starting to repel the Nosferatu on his side, Harry felt an all too familiar chill descend over the battlefield. Hundreds of dementors had started to swoop down to the sky, unable to resist the feast of emotion present in the turmoil below.

Sensing his brothers and sisters in arms faltering at the all encompassing frost of the dementors' presence and fighting off the blood-curdling sound of his mother's dying scream, Harry tried to repel the beings of darkness flying down from above. It was in vain, however, as, every time he raised his wand to the sky, a fresh wave of Nosferatu sprang forward, forcing him to turn his attention back to them as the unnatural chill slowly started to drain his energy. Knowing that neither he nor the Council would be able to hold on much longer under these conditions, Harry closed his eyes and summoned forth his power, before kneeling to the floor and conjuring around him a shining dome of pure light magic. Protected from the hordes of blood-sucking monsters, for now at least, Harry opened his eyes and directed his wand to the sky. Focussing with all his might on Ginny and the love he felt for her every time she entered his thoughts, he felt his fingertips sizzle with magical power, before releasing it all with a cry of;

"_Expecto Patronum!_"

A huge and blindingly bright stag burst from Harry's wand at speed and galloped upwards into the night sky and towards the cloaked, weightless monsters. Soon reaching his targets, Prongs buried his antlers into the chests of the oncoming dementors and, as Harry pumped yet more power into the spell, repelled them away from the battlefield, leaving not one left where they had once filled the sky. As the dementors fled, Harry stood inside his protective dome of magic and looked outside, to find himself completely surrounded. Dozens of Nosferatu were stood ready just outside his pure light barrier, waiting for him to tire or make a mistake so that they could pounce and rip him limb from limb, the rest of the Council was nowhere to be seen.

Knowing that he needed to get back into the fight, Harry brushed his cloak aside and, from the scabbard strapped to his hip, drew the sword of Gryffindor, gifted to him by Dumbledore. Even the Nosferatu seemed to falter at the sight of the powerful and ancient magical weapon and Harry felt a tingle of power run the length of his arm as he held it in his grasp. Allowing himself just another brief moment to gather his power to his fingertips, Harry suddenly dropped his shield and, at once, thrust forwards with his wand and firing a huge beam of electric blue at the Nosferatu in front of him. The beasts were caught off guards and half the circle around Harry was thrown backwards with the force of the Extrudo curse. Harry knew that he still had a hell of a lot of work to do, however, and, as the Nosferatu at his rear sprung forward with incredible speed, he swung around, holding his sword out in front of him. The blade tore easily threw flesh and bone alike and, with an unearthly hiss, yet more of the beasts hit the ground, before turning to dust.

More and more of the creatures of the night advanced upon the young wizard and he was forced to go on the defensive; swinging his sword and firing multiple curses at the powerful magical creatures trying to drain his blood. He was just starting to make some headway and the numbers around him starting to dwindle when a piercing scream rang out above the noise of battle. Harry recognised the voice of Molly Weasley and, desperate to get to her, quickly sent out a pulse of pure light magic, repelling the remaining Nosferatu around him. With his path now clear, Harry directed his wand to the ground before him and, as a platform of earth started to rise, jumped upon it. Using his earth elemental ability, Harry made the platform fly upwards and above the crowds of the battlefield below. He quickly spotted Mrs. Weasley fighting furiously below, surrounded by Nosferatu and desperately struggling to fend them off. To his horror, as Harry watched, he saw one of the beasts creep up behind her and pounce at her back.

Jumping from the platform, Harry pointed his wand behind him and propelled himself downwards at speed. Time seemed to slow as Harry rushed through the air and the Nosferat flew towards Molly Weasley's unsuspecting back. As he neared the ground and the Nosferat was just feet from the woman who had always treated him like a son, Harry transformed into his Gryon form and swooped down, knocking the Nosferat to the ground as its claws scraped Mrs. Weasley's back. On top of the beast who had so nearly lost Molly Weasley of her life, Harry quickly sunk his teeth into the Nosferat's neck and ripped out its jugular, leaving it dead on the ground.

Transforming back into his human form, Harry pushed Mrs. Weasley to the floor and covered them both in a powerful pure light shield before whispering; "_Necus Lamia Maxima!_" Instead of a beam of light, however, a small black ball of magical energy appeared above Harry's hands. The young warrior closed his eyes and fed more and more energy into the spell, sensing it grow in size until it was as big as a football. At that moment, as Mrs. Weasley looked on in awe, Harry flung the ball of magic upwards and fortified the shield around them with every last inch of power he had. The advanced vampire killing curse exploded with incredible force, sending out a wave of magic in all directions and taking out all the Nosferatu surrounding them. Standing up, Harry negated the shield and summoned a stone from the ground, tapping it with his wand and watching as it glowed blue.

"Thank you Harry." Mrs. Weasley said; her voice sincere.

"Don't mention it." Harry smiled at her, before pressing the portkey into her hand and watching her disappear to the relative safety of a clearing away from the main body of fighting.

Looking around him, Harry saw the Nosferatu starting to gather once more and unsheathed his sword and wand.

"You just don't learn do you?" Harry spoke to the beasts.

Using his sword and wand in tandem, Harry made short work of the tweleve Nosferatu brave enough face him, slashing through them with relative ease and hitting one after another with the deadly advanced vampire killing curse. With the area around him now completely devoid of live Nosferatu, Harry turned to main focus of battle and, thrusting his wand out behind him, propelled himself forward with incredible speed. As he flew towards the beasts, he carefully took aim with his wand and cried; _"Permultus Necus Lamia Maxima!"_

Dozens of black bolts of magic fired from Harry's wand and buried themselves into the chests of the Nosferatu, instantly turning them to dust. Having effectively gained their attention, however, Harry found himself being charged upon by yet more of the dark creatures and had to quickly change from offensive to defensive. Unsheathing his sword once more, he began to wield it expertly and quickly cut through five Nosferatu who had advanced upon him, sending grey limbs to the floor as they hissed in pain. Harry mixed the killing curse with pure light and elemental magic and, once again, he felled beast after beast until few were left. As he battled furiously with those in front of him, Harry sensed two sneaking up at his rear and, swinging his wand round, conjured a long, silver spear, which he sent flying at the Nosferatu. It shot directly through the heart of the first creature and buried itself into the chest of the second, behind it, sending both crumpling to the floor.

With a brief respite from the action, Harry finally had chance to examine the battlefield around him. He saw that the main focus of the fighting was being conducted in the middle of the grounds, directly in front of him, but to his left and right there were many Nosferatu not engaged at all. Instead, they hung back, either guarding the castle, or waiting for their chance to attack; a couple glanced at Harry, but were naturally wary to approach him. The lack of allied life in these vicinities gave Harry an idea, however, and, once again, the young wizard closed his eyes and reached into the heart of his inner magical core. The air around Harry started to sizzle as he summoned the entirety of his power towards him and, as he allowed his elemental abilities to come to the front, the young wizard gave off a bright, white glow. For almost a minute he just stood there, his eyes closed, looking totally relaxed as he stood in the midst of chaos, before, suddenly, his eyes snapped open, glowing brightly, and he pointed his wand and sword to the sky. The boy who lived then slashed his arms downwards, pointing his wand and sword to the ground either side of him, where the unoccupied Nosferatu stood.

For some time, it seemed that nothing had happened, that Harry's magic had somehow failed but then, suddenly, the sky grew light and those looking upwards would have sworn that a second sun had appeared. The giant fireball shot to earth and Harry had to shield his eyes as it neared the battlefield. As they realised what was happening, the Nosferatu to Harry's right started to scramble, but, alas, too late; the fireball struck the ground with shuddering force and engulfed over a hundred of the powerful beasts, filling the night with their dying cries.

Even as this was happening, to Harry's left, another phenomenon had started to occur. While they had stared at the awe-inspiring sight of the fireball heading towards earth, small blocks of ice had started to fall upon the second group of Nosferatu. Starting off slowly, the showering became a pour and then a torrent as razor sharp bullets of ice rained down upon them; smashing into the ground. There was nothing the Nosferatu could do to fight it as one by one they fell; their skulls pierced by the ice-bullets and their brains destroyed, making them turn to dust. Soon, not a single Nosferat stood to either of Harry's side and the young wizards allowed himself a small, satisfied smile and a brief moment to regain his energy, before throwing himself into the battle once more.

Though many had fallen, many more Nosferatu still battled on, furiously charging and pouncing at the hopelessly outnumbered members of the Council of the Phoenix. Running into the midst of the battle, Harry was almost tackled to the ground by a particularly quick Nosferat, who had separated from the pack and pounced at him while his gaze was focused in front of him. His reflexes honed to perfection from years of quidditch and duelling, however, as Harry saw the blur of grey streaking towards him, he had unsheathed his sword and, in a single movement, whipped around and brought the sword slashing down onto the unsuspecting beast's neck. Entering the main area of battle, Harry took down yet more of the monsters as he expertly wielded his sword and pushed back the advancing beasts with deadly accurate advanced vampire killing curses. Soon, Harry found himself back to back with Mad-eye Moody who, Harry noticed, looked distinctly the worse for wear, his clothes torn and his arms and face scratched and bloodied.

"We need to retreat Potter!" Moody yelled as he and Harry continued to fight back the onslaught.

Harry nodded, wracking his brain for a way to get everyone out of danger before they started to pick up casualties. The obvious answer was a portkey, but it would need to be big enough for the whole Council to use and there would still be the not inconsiderable of getting all of the scattered Council members to it. Suddenly, Harry had an idea and fired off a powerful extrudo curse to give him the time and chance to manoeuvre. With the Nosferatu once clawing to reach him now picking themselves up a hundred yards away, Harry directed his wand to the floor and, with a shout of "_Pulsum_", propelled himself into the air.

Using his wind elemental abilities, Harry kept himself hovering around twenty feet above the battlefield and turned his wand to the forbidden forest on the other side of the Hogwarts' grounds. Carefully taking aim at one of the countless tall trees, he sliced his wand horizontally and was satisfied to see the tree fall to the ground, narrowly missing Hagrid's old hut. Levitating the fallen tree into the air, Harry then summoned it towards the battlefield and carefully placed it slightly out of the way of the action, by the great lake.

Just as he had placed the tree onto the ground, Harry felt a vice-like grip close around his ankle and attempt to pull him to the ground. As he had worked, the Nosferatu had grouped together and climbed up on one another, making a tower up towards the young wizard, until the beast on the very top had managed to reach up to him and grab him by the ankle. Resisting the Nosferat's pull, Harry slashed downwards with his sword and the uppermost beast of the night gave a shriek as its hand disconnected from its wrist. It did not feel the pain for long, however, as Harry directed his wand below him and fired a powerful beam of pure light magic directly downwards. The tower of Nosferatu was enveloped and the beasts of the night turned to dust, allowing Harry to lower himself to the ground.

Landing back on the floor, Harry thrust his hands out to either side of him and sent out a pulse of elemental fire, which engulfed the beasts attacking him on all sides, killing them instantly. Having bought himself a bit of time, he then pointed his wand to his own throat and muttered; "_Sonorous!_"

"**I am turning the fallen tree by the great lake into a portkey!"** Harry's voice boomed above the noise of battle.

Summoning a rock from the ground, Harry tapped it with his wand and portkeyed himself to the fallen tree. Landing next to the tree, Harry tapped the Sword of Gryffindor with his wand and set it on fire, before twirling it around and waiting for the Nosferatu who were now edging ever closer to the tree. The beasts all stopped fifty yards from where Harry stood, eyeing wearily him wearily as he guarded the tree; flaming sword in his right hand, wand in his left. For a few seconds, Harry and the Nosferatu stood staring at each other, each challenging the other to make the first move until, suddenly, a Nosferat pounced. Tapping his sword to the floor, Harry sent a streak of fire along the ground, which engulfed the beast and sent him crumpling to the floor. But the firsts Nosferat's actions acted as a signal for the others to attack and they moved forwards as one, dodging Harry's curses and advancing on the others with superhuman speed.

With his flaming sword and spells of all kinds, Harry fought back the attacking Nosferatu but still they came forward, with more and more arriving to replace the dead. Suddenly, as he found himself overwhelmed, Harry felt a powerful blow to the side of his head and he was sent tumbling to the ground. Thrusting his wand upwards, Harry managed to throw back the Nosferatu who had pounced in for the kill, but he was forced to roll away as more jumped in. Knowing that he wouldn't last long while lying on the ground, Harry summoned forth his elemental abilities and conjured up a powerful gust of wind, which blew him backwards, away from the Nosferatu and to his feet. The beasts started to charge at him at once, but Harry levitated a large stone from the ground and magically flung it into the crowd. As it flew through the air, Harry took careful aim at the stone once more and, placing as much power as he could muster into the spell, cried;

"_Confringo Maxima!_"

The stone exploded with earth shattering force and the Nosferatu were blown to pieces as they were engulfed in powerful, magical fire. With the area now clear, Harry had time to breathe and, looking into the battling crowd, he saw that the Council members had evidently heard his words and were slowly battling their way to the tree. Carefully aiming his wand, Harry lent his friends and allies a hand by taking out a number of Nosferatu, before quickly walking over to the fallen tree.

Tapping the large tree trunk, Harry muttered '_Portus_'; putting a delay on the spell so that it would activate in thirty seconds' time. With this done, he then pointed his wand to the sky and drew a huge number twenty eight in flames, this soon turned to twenty seven as the numbers counted down to the port-key's activation. Finally, he pointed his wand at his own throat and, magically amplifying his voice, bellowed;

"**Everyone to the tree now! You have twenty five seconds until the portkey activates!**"

The Council members all started to run to the trunk, blasting Nosferatu out the way as Harry helped them all to fend the beasts off. One by one, the members of the Council made it to the trunk and Harry's side, before helping him to fight off the Nosferatu for the others. Soon, only McGonagall, Madame Bones and Thane remained on the battlefield as they along with the those by the tree, battled their way through the crowd of grey bodies. The two witches quickly made it to the trunk, but Thane had found himself in an area thick with Nosferatu and continued to battle against them

As the flaming numbers in the sky above turned to single digits, Thane alone had not made it to the portkey, struggling with the Nosferatu who had now surrounded him. The Council sprang forward as one and desperately tried to help out their comrade; firing curses of all kinds at the grey-skinned beasts, all the while anxious that they might hit the Auror instead. With a wave of his wand, Harry conjured three large lions from thin air and immediately commanded them to go Thane's aid. The conjured creatures worked well, ripping into the flesh of the Nosferatu and eventually cleared a path for Thane to take. As Harry glanced up, he saw the flaming numbers change from three to two and his older friend thrust his wand behind him and propelled himself forward; flying along the ground towards the tree trunk.

Just as Thane flung himself at the trunk and placed his hand upon it, the portkey activated and the Council were yanked from reality and catapulted through limbo. When he sensed that they were nearing their destination, Harry magically shrunk the tree trunk, knowing that it would be too big to fit in the living room of the cave, and placed it in his pocket. Seconds later, they re-entered reality and crashed down onto the floor of the cave. Looking around him, Harry examined each Council member in turn, checking that they were alright. Thankfully, the light had suffered no losses and, though there were many bruises, scratches and gashes, miraculously, no one had been seriously injured and no one had been bitten. Picking himself up off the ground, Moody led the way into the kitchen, where Dumbledore was worriedly awaiting them. Harry made eye contact with the headmaster as he made his way to his regular seat and shook his head, silently telling his old mentor that Hogwarts had truly been taken and secured against re-invasion.

Everyone was silent as they took their seats around the kitchen table of the Marauders' cave. For all the dark events of its past, Hogwarts remained a bastion of light; somewhere safe and unconquerable that, through over a thousand years of history, had remained untainted by the corruption of Dark Wizards and perverted magic. Even Slytherin, once exiled, could not penetrate the castle's protections but, where his ancestor had failed, Lord Voldemort had succeeded and hundreds of students and teachers' lives were now at his whim. Harry felt empty inside as he thought of his friends; had they made it to the room of requirement? Even if they had, were they safe there? With a sickening dread, he remembered Malfoy and his Slytherin crew breaking in to the room and Umbridge's behest and he silently prayed that the founders' protections remained strong.

"We have to get it back." Remus muttered.

"Hogwarts is a place of light and education," Dumbledore spoke, even he looking deeply disturbed by the night's events, "and we will not allow the children within its walls to suffer. Alastair, a rapid response is needed, what do you suggest?"

Moody thought for a moment. "I don't think any of the castle's secret entrances are big enough for a whole taskforce to enter."

He looked to Harry and Remus who both shook their heads in confirmation.

"They're all narrow tunnels, only a couple of people would be able to fit through at a time and if we were spotted, we would be incredibly vulnerable."

Moody nodded. "So we need to put together an all out assault. Voldemort will be expecting a response so subtlety isn't an option, we'll gather together the full might of the Order and the Aurors and we'll hit them with everything we've got. Once inside, the troops will split off in different directions, each led by a Council member, and secure a part of the castle, taking out any Death Eater scum that gets in their way."

"The big problem, apart from the obvious, is our lack of information." Kingsley chipped in. "We really need to know where the strong and weak points of their defence are where Voldemort is."

"Dobby." Harry said, he had had this thought as he sat listening to his fellow Council memers' words. "The DA would gladly volunteer, but it's far too dangerous; they would be hopelessly outnumbered and would be quite easily found by Voldemort if they start wandering around; they're in the room of requirement at the moment. Dobby, however, is a different story. Voldemort wouldn't think to put up wards or protections against house elves; he wouldn't give them a second thought, so Dobby would be able to go undetected as he scouts the castle. I would bet all the gold in Gringotts that Dobby will be able to use his house elf apparition unhindered and, if he was invisible and had a silencing charm around him, no would ever know that he was there."

"Brilliant Potter, get the elf here now." Moody growled approvingly.

"Dobby!" Harry called for the second time that night.

The little house elf appeared less than a second later; standing up straight and saluting Harry, a terrified look in his eyes.

"Dobby, I know that you don't want to go back to Hogwarts right now, but we really need your help in taking back the castle." Harry began.

"Dobby will do it Harry Potter sir." Dobby interrupted determinedly and Harry smiled at his friend's bravery and tenaciousness.

"You may want to change your mind once I've told you what _it _is." Harry replied. "The Death Eaters will have already erected wards against human re-invasion of Hogwarts but we have reason to believe that house elves would be able to pass through them undetected. I hate to ask this of you Dobby, but if you could scout Hogwarts, searching for the weakest and strongest areas of their defences, your information would help us greatly in its recapture."

Dobby nodded, clearly scared, but still looking determined. "How is you wanting Dobby to this Harry Potter sir?" He asked.

"If you go to the room of requirement, you should find the DA gathered inside, if you explain to them what you're doing, someone will disillusion you and place a silencing charm upon you. Once that's done, you should be able to use your house elf apparition to look around Hogwarts and assess their positions, while remaining undetected."

"Dobby will do it Harry Potter sir. He will do his best to help Headmaster Dumbledore's Order to retake the castle. What is you wanting Dobby to look for?"

Harry smiled gratefully at his friend, knowing how much this scared him, how much it would scare anyone.

"We need to know where the most powerful Death Eaters are, where their numbers are concentrated, where possible weak areas are and where Voldemort is." Harry explained. "Now, if you get too close, Voldemort will sense your presence, so don't just apparate into the room he's in, in fact don't go in it at all. Listen to conversations and try to pick something up, if you can't then don't risk yourself anymore than necessary; just concentrate on your other tasks."

Dobby nodded again and glanced around the room, before preparing to apparate away.

"Dobby." Harry stopped him. "Thank you so much for doing this, know that we believe in you. Good luck."

"Good luck Dobby." Dumbledore added and the house elf smiled at the two men he considered his masters before disappearing with a small pop.

With Dobby gone, Moody took charge again as the Council started to organise their counter-attack.

"The first stage of the battle may well prove to be the hardest." The Head Auror said. "If we can't get past the Nosferatu quickly, Death Eaters will provide them with backup and we'll find ourselves massively outnumbered. If Voldemort also decides to make an appearance at this stage, the odds will be heavily stacked against us."

"Actually I think I might be able to help you out there." Harry said. "I recently re-established our alliance with the magical creatures of Hogwarts and-"

Harry stopped mid-sentence, unbridled terror spreading across his face as if he had just come to a horrific realisation, his gaze slowly moving down to the ring he had bought just before Christmas.

"What is it Harry?" Remus asked, immediately knowing that something was very wrong.

For a few seconds, Harry said nothing, seemingly frozen to the spot, his eyes unfocused and his expression still full of fear and pain.

"Ginny." He whispered, his voice desperate.

Before anyone had time to respond, Harry sprung into action, jumping from his seat and running towards the kitchen door, which obligingly exploded from its hinges. Racing out into the living room, Harry quickly reached the secret entrance to the Marauders' cave and spoke the password to open it. As soon as he had done so, a jet black owl swooped in and dropped something on the floor in front of them, before hastily flying away, as if sensing that this was not a safe place to be. Looking down at what the bird had dropped, Harry saw what seemed to be a snitch sized ball, but clear, almost like a remembrall without the swirling redness ever-present in Neville's.

Harry knew immediately who the delivery was from and so was reluctant to go anywhere near it, but as he sensed no dark magic or curses, he simply stood staring at it, waiting for something to happen. That it did and the rest of the Council jumped slightly as a hologramatic figure rose before them, many gasped in shock and fear as they looked upon a smiling Lord Voldemort. Staring at his mortal nemesis, Harry saw the changes brought about within him by the ritual of eternal damnation. Ancient symbols had carved themselves upon Tom Riddles already repulsive head and the Dark Lord seemed somehow less solid than he once had; as if he wasn't quite of this world. When he finally spoke, his voice had a deep, echoing quality to the usual hiss that made goosebumps spread over Harry's skin.

"Good evening Harry." Lord Voldemort spoke, a smile of pure evil on his snake-like lips.

"Voldemort if you-"

"Don't bother responding." The Dark Lord interrupted him. "This is merely a recording of my memory, one that I wanted very much to share with you. It is very pleasant to be back within my home and I don't want you to hasten your response, you see, I'm in very good company."

With that, the demonic wizard stood aside and, projected in front of them, the Council could see Dumbledore's office. Harry felt his heart falter and absolute terror wash over him as he stared into the headmaster's office and looked upon a small figure, suspended in the air, struggling against invisible binds. The view of the projection shifted and suddenly Harry saw a close up of her face, saw the fear and the loathing in her eyes, the determination that she would not break. Ginny. The view of the projection changed once more, this time to a wider angle and Harry could do nothing but watch as the Dark Lord approached his love and drew his wand. He stroked the wand across Ginny's face and seemed to smile directly at Harry, before directing his wand at the youngest Weasley and crying; "_Crucio!_"

Ginny bit down on her tongue at first but, unused to the supreme agony of the Cruciatus curse, quickly gave way to the pain and screamed at the top of her lungs. Harry started to shake as the sight before him stabbed excruciatingly at his heart, but he could do nothing but watch as his girlfriend writhed, screaming against the torture, tears streaking her cheeks. It only lasted a few seconds, though it seemed an eternity to Harry, and Voldemort eventually released the curse, allowing Ginny to slump forward and turning to face the Council.

"Such a delicate little thing Potter." The Dark Lord hissed. "How long do you think it will take before the torture rips the last shred of sanity from her mind? How long before she begs for the sweet release of death?"

With these final words, the Dark Lord Vanished.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Pain filled every fibre of her being; absolute and unremitting as it tore through her body, burning white hot in every nerve ending she possessed. At first, she fought desperately against the urge to scream, determined to remain strong, not to show the monster before her the agony he was causing. But it was no use and through the fog that torture had caused to descend on her mind, she felt her throat growing hoarse as she screamed at the top of her lungs. For what seemed like hours the cruciation continued until, mercifully, it ceased and Ginny felt herself slump forward against her invisible restraints, absolute exhaustion preventing her from raising her head. Her resolve, so iron-clad just minutes ago, was starting to waver as she still felt the after-effects of the Dark Lord's powerful Cruciatus curse and, as she sensed him approach, a shiver of revulsion and fear past through her body. 'No!' She thought. 'I have to remain strong.'

Lord Voldemort faltered slightly as the young witch before him slowly raised her head, her deep brown eyes full of determination as they met his gaze. But what had he expected from Potter's little sweetheart? Of course, he would choose a partner with the same damned Gryffindorish qualities as he. The Dark Lord smiled at the blood-traitor; whatever front she put up, he could smell her fear and it thrilled him to know he was causing it, he would have fun with this little one and then she would serve her purpose by bringing Potter to him.

"What do you want?" Ginny demanded, surprising herself with the strength in her tone.

"So many things Miss Weasley." Voldemort responded, his hissing voice ominously pleasant. "But, for now, I think I have time for a little fun. _Crucio!_"

Ginny started to writhe and scream once more as the torturous curse ripped mercilessly through her body. Her mind knew nothing but the agonising pain of the cruciatus curse and, feeling her body weakening, she prayed for the sweet release of unconsciousness. But it wasn't to be. Recognising the signs, Lord Voldemort swiftly released the curse from his plaything; he wouldn't allow her a nap just yet, there was still so much more fun to be had. Ginny slumped once more as the unforgivable was mercifully removed and for a minute she could do nothing as she tried to fight off the evil magic's after-effects. Eventually, however, she managed to raise her head to look upon the dark wizard who had caused her world and her family such pain and, though filled with agony, her expression was as defiant as ever.

"You won't succeed Tom Riddle." She managed, revelling in the anger that spread across Voldemort's face at her words. "A half-blood like you could never hope to defeat the heir of Merlin."

The Dark Lord snarled in unsuppressed rage as he lashed out and backhanded the young Weasley across the cheek, causing Ginny's head to snap to one side. Taking a deep breath, Voldemort seemed to forcibly calm himself and restrain the anger Ginny could see he still held; something he was not used to doing.

"You really must learn to bite your tongue Miss Weasley." Voldemort spoke. "I don't think you realise how merciful I am being. You are after all a very attractive girl and some of my Death Eaters have been very keen to become better acquainted with you. Up until now, I have held them back to keep you pure for Potter, but another outburst like that and my grip on their reigns may just slip. A sweet little thing like you could not possibly comprehend what some people are capable of, I would hate for you to learn in such a fashion."

Ginny felt a fresh wave of horror and revulsion sweep over her and couldn't help but shiver in fright as the Dark Lord's meaning sunk in.

Harry felt pain, fear and fury like he never had before and, as the Dark Lord disappeared, his magic seemed to come alive in sympathy to its master's circumstance. His body shaking with emotion over what he had just been forced to witness, Harry was only vaguely aware of the room starting to shake, objects falling off shelves and others smashing with the raw magical energy that crackled in the air.

"I'm going to kill him." Harry finally spoke, his voice strong and determined.

The young wizard started to walk towards the door but a hand pulled him back and he turned around to see Mad-eye Moody with a mixture of sympathy and determination in his eyes.

"Potter, you must think about what you're doing." Moody growled

"What I'm doing?" Harry shouted back, outraged. "What the hell do you think I'm doing? I'm going to get her!"

"Use your head!" Moody bellowed. "This is what Voldemort wants. It's a trap and you're walking right into it. We need to plan, to discuss our options."

"We don't have time for that." Harry replied impatiently, barely keeping his fury in check.

Moody simply drew his wand and walked over to the entrance of the cave, before turning around and pointing his wand at Harry, effectively blocking his way. It was t that moment that the whispers awakened. _'Kill him Harry!' _They screamed in his ear. _'He wants to keep you from your love. You are powerful enough to take the Dark Lord alone and you should destroy anyone who gets in your way.'_

The room started to shake even more ferociously than before and Harry was surrounded by an eerie glow as his eyes glared coldly at the old Auror blocking his path. Seeming to sense what was happening, Dumbledore walked quickly to Moody's side and grabbed Harry by the shoulders, forcing his eyes to meet his gaze.

"Remember who you are Harry." The headmaster pleaded. "We are all friends and we are here to help. Don't let them control you."

For a second, Harry seemed to be frozen to the spot as he battled for control against the darker side of his psyche. Eventually, the room stopped shaking, and the glow around the young wizard stopped glowing, though a fire still burned brightly behind his eyes.

"Ginny might not have much time." Harry said, his voice steady, though inside he felt his heart breaking over and over at the thought of the girl he loved in such pain. "We need to take action and we need to do it now. Before it's too late."

"Walking into a trap won't save her Harry." Dumbledore said strictly, though his eyes betrayed his pain and sympathy. "We need to think about this logically and rationally; the whole war effort and Ginny's life could well depend on it. We need to wait for Dobby's report and, from that, we will formulate a plan for Hogwarts' re-capture and Ginny's rescue."

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could they expect him to sit around in Order HQ while the girl he loved was tortured to insanity? Looking around the rest of the Council, desperate for support, he found only sympathetic gazes and pain and fear on the faces of the assembled Weasleys. Standing in that room, Harry could think of nothing but his girlfriend trapped with that monster and he his heart ached like never before as his mind fought against the thought of losing her, the thought of her in such pain. Defeated, Harry closed his eyes, desperately trying to stay in control, before walking out of the living room and to the room that was his when they stayed in the Marauders' cave.

Standing alone in his room, Harry began to shake once more. He felt Ginny's agony as if it was his own, amplified infinitely by the knowledge that his love was undergoing such torture. His mind painted the picture as clearly as if it was happening in front of him; the Dark Lord's face laughing mockingly as Ginny cried out in pain and, for the first time since he was a small boy, Harry felt a tear slide down his cheek. Helplessness overwhelmed him, unable to bear the thought of Ginny in such pain while he simply stood doing nothing in the Marauders' cave. The Cruciatus curse was excruciating and Harry couldn't bear to even imagine his girlfriend undergoing such a thing, she would not endure it for a second longer than she had to, Voldemort would have to climb over his cold, dead body to get to her.

It was at that moment his mood shifted. Had anyone been in the room, they would have sensed the very air around them change as it crackled with raw magical energy. Harry's expression became one of absolute determination and, as he opened his eyes, they glowed a brilliant emerald green. His duelling robes materialised magically upon him and he desperately wracked his mind for a solution, forcibly pushing his girlfriend's pain to the back of his mind and focusing on the task at hand. It was then that it struck him; he knew that the Council would not be persuaded and, even if they could be, an all out attack was out of the question. He needed to be subtle, to be quick and get Ginny out of Voldemort's clutches before his trap could be sprung. He needed to do this alone. With this thought and magical power still radiating off him, Harry spun on his heel and apparated away.

The wind howled loudly as it rushed through the mountains of the Scottish highlands, whipping Harry's hair about his face as the young wizard appeared in the outskirts of Hogsmeade. Only the darkness behind his determined eyes gave away the pain and rage he was feeling as he slowly strolled up to the edge of the ancient Hogwarts' wards. Sensing a magical signature to his right, Harry flung out his hand and blasted the invisible Nosferat into oblivion, before disguising himself to prevent any interruption to his plan. Nothing was going to stand in the way of his goal, not today.

Terrible, agonising pain set her nerves alight for what felt like the hundredth time that night. Ginny bit down hard on her tongue, not caring that she had drawn blood; she wouldn't scream again, she wouldn't give him that pleasure. But Lord Voldemort would not grant her the mercy of releasing the curse and added yet more power to it, increasing the youngest Weasley's already harrowing torture until she let out a dreadful cry.

"See how much easier it is to simply give in to my power?" The Dark Lord spoke as he finally negated the unforgiveable. "Why fight it young Weasley? Just let go. Drift off to the pain free nirvana of insanity. I assure you, such a fate would be a blessing for a blood traitor; it is only a matter of time before the country and the world bows to my command now Hogwarts has fallen."

"Hogwarts hasn't fallen." Ginny gasped out, her teeth clenched against the pain still wracking her body. "It has temporarily fallen into the hands of a lunatic, but the Order will take it back. Soon you'll be dead, Harry is coming and he's very upset with you."

"Oh I'm counting on Potter making an appearance." Voldemort replied with a smirk that made Ginny's blood run cold. "Both he and the rest of the Council of the Phoenix will spot the trap, but Potter won't care and he will come without their support; what Gryffindor would allow his girlfriend to remain in the hands of such a nasty man? Yet again, we see the inherent weakness of that pathetic, debilitating emotion called love; though he knows that he alone has the power to last but ten seconds against me, he would still gladly give up his life to try and save you and that is just what he will do."

"Harry is a better wizard than you'll ever be!" Ginny screamed at her tormentor. "He will defeat you and-"

"_Crucio!_"

The evil curse silenced Ginny as, already desperately weakened, she fought against it once more.

"When spoken to Miss Weasley. When spoken to." The Dark Lord spoke, a hint of amusement in his evil, snake-like hiss. "Potter will not defeat me, in fact, in less than an hour's time, he will be dead. You see, there are three ways into this office; he can come through the door, he can break through the window and exterior wall, and there is a little known secret entrance, connected to the kitchens. It would be rather poetic if Headmaster Dippet's gluttony aids in my glory, when his foolishness allowed my first purge of mudbloods at Hogwarts. Potter may well be able to get past the exterior wards around Hogwarts, but I have added my own wards to this office and I will feel even the slightest flux in their power. My Death Eaters are standing guard in the dozens at every entrance and I can sense Potter's presence when he is near, as he can mine. If and when he manages to break in here, he will be faced not only with sixty of my most powerful witches and wizards and dozens of Dementors and Nosferatu, but also with the new Lord Voldemort, made yet more powerful by the ritual of eternal damnation. When Harry Potter reaches this office, Ginny Weasley, he will be given a swift and painless death, a gift that will not be shared by everyone else you love."

The Council of the Phoenix was in uproar; the kitchen of the Marauders' cave filled with the sound of argument over Harry Potter's disappearance. Albus Dumbledore alone seemed unfazed by events, in fact the twinkle in his bright blue eyes had returned for the first time since Hogwarts had fallen to Lord Voldemort and he watched in silence as the elite of his army passionately fought over the latest turn of events.

"ENOUGH!" Alastair Moody boomed, silencing the room as it turned as one to the old Auror. Once he had everyone's attention, Moody slipped easily into war-mode, no trace of anxiousness or fear evident in his voice or is words. "The reason for Potter's disappearance is obvious, the question we need to answer is; what are we going to do about it? Do we follow him to Hogwarts to attempt to stop him before it is too late, do we join him in an assault, or do we allow him to complete his mission and return to us, before we launch a full re-invasion of the Council?"

"Potter doesn't stand a chance alone against You Know Who and the entire might of his army; we need to get him back." McGonagall spoke up before anyone else had the chance.

"I would not advise such a course of action." Dumbledore chipped in, his voice still a little croaky even as it carried with it the usual air of knowledge and authority. "Harry knows what he is doing, he knows the risks. There is no doubt in my mind that, if necessary, he would fight all of us off before carrying out his plan regardless. We simply need to trust him, trust that we have taught him well and that he will come back to us safely."

McGonagall stared at the headmaster for a second, examining her old friend and superior carefully.

"You knew that he would go after her didn't you?" She eventually said.

"I suspected he might." Dumbledore replied calmly. "Harry wouldn't be the man I thought he was if he allowed his love to be tortured by a monster such as Tom Riddle. Logic does not play a part in such things, Harry is being led by his heart and our opinions on what he should and shouldn't do won't change that."

"Why didn't you stop him?" Remus asked, his tone more curious than accusatory, though he felt a stab of anxiety at the thought of his charge entering such danger.

"As I have said, I truly believe that Harry would have fought us all off if he felt it necessary and, in all honesty, I was not and am not certain that I wanted to prevent him from his mission. We all care deeply for both Harry and Ginny, but we must look past our personal feelings of protectiveness and realise that, alone, Harry might just be able to infiltrate Hogwarts and bring Ginny to safety much more efficiently than a slow and cumbersome army. Harry Potter is a great wizard and I have made the mistake of not completely trusting him before, I won't do so again."

Harry winced and closed his eyes as he felt Ginny being tortured once more, unable to bear the thought of the girl he loved going through such pain. His magic spiked and erupted around him in response to the tumultuous emotions running through its master; the love for Ginny and the unbridled loathing and anger he felt for her tormentor feeding the raw magical energy fizzling in the air around him as he began to glow with power. Forcefully pushing the incapacitating thoughts of Ginny in pain to the back of his mind, Harry focussed on the task at hand and, keeping his eyes closed, reached out with his magic to sense the wards that surrounded and protected the ancient castle of Hogwarts. For fifteen minutes, he stood perfectly still, looking to all the world to be as tranquil as a summer breeze, while inside he fought desperately against the clock as he identified all the wards surrounding his school before painstakingly tapping into them.

Eventually, Harry opened his still glowing emerald eyes and peered out at Hogwarts, towards the headmaster's office, where Ginny was being kept. Tearing his eyes from the grim spectacle of the magnificent castle bathed in darkness, Harry looked at the ring he had bought at Christmas, the ring that had told him that Ginny was in danger even before his magical instincts had picked it up. Reaching out to the magic connection the ring had to Ginny's necklace, Harry followed it across the grounds of the school and into the castle, before reaching the girl herself. Concentrating carefully as he attempted magic which, at such a distance, was nearly impossible, Harry pushed gently into the outer layer of his love's mind.

"Ginny." He whispered, praying that she could hear him. "Please, just hold on. I'm coming to get you."

Ginny couldn't help but look up as Harry's voice rang clearly in her mind and she felt a rush of relief and love for him before chastising herself for her selfishness. 'Get out of here Harry,' she thought, 'my life isn't worth giving up your own.' Coming back to reality, Ginny turned her gaze on Voldemort, who was now staring at her intently, the usual malevolence in his eyes joined by curiosity over what had provoked a reaction in the exhausted young witch before him. With a sudden, horrifying thought, Ginny tore her eyes from the Dark Lord and looked resolutely towards the opposite wall. She cursed Harry for trusting her and her own mind for reminding her of that small, but potentially catastrophic piece of information; she knew the location of the Elixir a Lumina.

Ginny's actions didn't go unnoticed by Lord Voldemort and, with a sweeping movement of his hand, the Dark wizard magically released her from her binds and flung her to one side, where she crashed into a brick wall. Ginny gasped in pain and tears sprung to the corners of her eyes as white spots appeared before her, her back screaming in pain as she was magically held in place against the wall. Voldemort walked purposefully towards the young witch and placed her in a full-body bind before fixing his gaze with hers. Slowly drawing his wand, the Dark Lord pointed it between Ginny's eyes and, as she hastily strengthened the barriers around her mind, whispered; "_Leglimens!_"

Voldemort's powerful mental assault struck Ginny's protective barriers with the force of a battering ram and, though she fought against him with all her might, eventually, the Dark Lord succeeded in penetrating her mind. As thoughts and memories passed before her eyes, Ginny pushed Leaena castle and its co-ordinates to the back of her mind and, ignoring the excruciating pain of Voldemort's forceful probing, focused on some of her more harmless memories. She could feel the Dark Lord getting more and more frustrated and the ferocity and agony of his attack increased as he searched fervently for the secret he was now sure the young witch held. Sensing him nearing the memory of those damned co-ordinates, Ginny put all of her power and energy into erecting more defences and trying to force Voldemort out of her mind. It was to no avail, however, and, with one last great effort, the Dark Lord powered through Ginny's occlumency and, with horror, the youngest Weasley saw Merlin's diary and the co-ordinates of Leaena castle appear before her.

Now magically connected to the Hogwarts wards, Harry was almost overwhelmed by the sheer power of them; the extraordinary abilities of the founders had combined to make the protection around the ancient castle almost impenetrable. Ignoring his magical senses, which were now screaming at him to get out, Harry tracked down and focused on the anti-apparition ward and, to his frustration, found that it was intricately connected to a number of others. Concentrating entirely on the wards, he slowly and carefully reached out with his own magic and started to separate them until, finally, the anti-apparition ward stood alone. That was the easy part, now for the difficult.

While the untwining of wards was more about skill and patience than power, though a certain amount of magical power was required, the destruction of a ward required brute strength. Harry would have to use his own magic to destroy that left in the anti-apparition ward by the founders all those centuries ago and that, to say the least, would be rather difficult. Taking in a deep breath, Harry summoned to him all of his power, slowly coaxing every last bit of magical energy to his fingertips, until he could feel his magic crackling around his hands. Then, he released it.

Pouring all of his magical power into the spell to negate the anti-apparition ward, Harry felt the ancient magic slowly weakening and starting to fade under the constant bombardment. Harry's magic duelled with that of the Hogwarts' founders and he was slowly starting to gain ground but, at the same time, he felt himself starting to weaken. Starting to feel magically drained, Harry felt his stomach drop as he realised that his magic wouldn't be enough to overwhelm the ward, not alone at least. Continuing to pour all of his power into the spell, Harry did the only thing he could think of and reached out to the one person who just might be able to help; Albus Dumbledore.

For a few seconds nothing happened, but then Harry felt a flux in his magical energy and knew that Dumbledore was lending him some of his. Adding the headmaster's vast reservoir of power to his own, Harry continued the fight with renewed vigour and determination, forcing all of their magic into disabling that one ward.

After what seemed like hours and just as he started to shake from the sheer effort of battling against the powerful magic, Harry felt the combined magical energy of himself and Dumbledore overwhelm that of the founders and, slowly but surely, the ancient wards weakened before crumbling before him. As soon as he sensed the wards fall, Harry withdrew from the magic of the castle and spun on his heel; flinging himself through limbo with just one thought on his mind. 'Stay strong Ginny. I'm on my way.'

Voldemort pulled out of Ginny's mind and stepped back, a look of absolute shock and triumph on his face as Ginny collapsed forwards in pain and exhaustion, a single, silent tear falling down her cheek. 'Harry, everyone I'm so sorry.' She thought, in utter despair that Voldemort now knew the location of the object that would make him unstoppable. The Elixir was as good as his.

For a moment, the Dark Lord could only stare at the young witch in front of him; it had never occurred to him that Potter might entrust such a secret to a little girl. That one little thought that he had pulled from the mind of an insignificant blood-traitor had suddenly made his conquest of Hogwarts almost insignificant, he now had the Elixir a Lumina. Turning away from Ginny, an evil smile spread across Voldemort's face and plans for the Elixir's recovery started whizzing through his mind.

"Avery," the Dark Lord began, looking to one of the dozens of cloaked figures spread around the room, "gather three quarters of my Death Eaters and bring me Severus Snape. Rookwood, you-"

Lord Voldemort suddenly stopped, a curious look on his face, as if he was thinking and reaching out to his surroundings, before it changed to one of shock and rage. The Dark Lord quickly whipped round, drawing his wand and directing it at Ginny before releasing a curse of such enormous power the whole room shook. Ginny's eyes widened in shock and fright as the pure black bolt careered towards her at speed and the faces of the people she loved flashed before her eyes as she realised that her life was coming to an end.

It was at that moment, however, that a body appeared out of thin air, landing in front of her. As soon as he felt his feet hit the ground, Harry raised his hands and poured every last bit of power he had into creating a huge and shining silver shield, which materialised in front of him and took the power of Voldemort's pure dark curse. Realising the nature of the attack, Harry quickly infused the shield with pure light magic and pushed and fought to keep the Dark Lord's curse at bay, even as the Death Eaters around him started to fire spells of their own. Quickly wearing down, Harry knew that he had to do something soon or else succumb to magical exhaustion and, very quickly after that, a rather serious case of death. Summoning to him all of his magical energy, Harry gathered it within his chest, compressing it and adding to it until he could restrain its power no longer and it was released in a pulse of pure light magic. Lord Voldemort and his forces were caught off guard by the sudden attack and the pulse sent them flying into the walls, screaming in pain as they were overwhelmed by the ethereal force. Harry saw none of this, however, because, as soon as he had released the wave of power, he had turned and grabbed hold of Ginny's hand, before spinning on the spot and disappearing from the office.

Harry and Ginny reappeared a moment later in the room of requirement and Ginny flung her arms around the boy who lived, before pressing her lips to his in a passionate kiss of pure relief and love, as the ground around them glowed purple and the anti-apparition wards were reinstalled. After a minute or so, they both pulled back and looked into each other's eyes and the members of the DA, unable to restrain themselves any longer, engulfed them in a huge group hug. As they reluctantly separated themselves Ginny suddenly remembered what had happened just moments before they had escaped Dumbledore's office and met Harry's gaze with sorrow and regret in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry Harry." She said. "I tried to fight him, I really did, but he was too strong; he forced his way into my mind and he found it. Voldemort knows the location of the Elixir a Lumina."

Harry's body stiffened for a moment as the information hit him like a ton of bricks, shattering any hopes he had that they could reach the Elixir without any blood being shed, but then his eyes softened and he smiled at the young witch in front of him.

"It's OK Ginny." He reassured her. "I doubt there is a single person on this planet who, after being tortured, could stand up to Voldemort's mental assault. I'm proud of you for holding on and fighting against him and the important thing is that you are safe."

Ginny smiled softly at him, but her heart was still heavy with guilt, knowing that her weakness had led the most powerful dark wizard to ever walk the earth to the object that could make him unstoppable.

"Harry." Blaise said, bringing Harry's attention to him.

The young spy stood with the sleeve of his robe rolled up, displaying to the DA the Dark Mark he had taken all those months ago, now a deep black in colour.

"We're being called to his side boss, it's time to take action."

Harry nodded before climbing up on to the ever-present stage at the back of the room of requirement. Looking out over the sea of faces, all staring up at him in nervousness and anticipation, he knew that there was nothing really left to say. The people before him, his soldiers, had fought bravely and well by his side and he trusted them with his life, just as they did him. He knew that the time had come for them to part. He needed to get to the Elixir a Lumina before Voldemort, but Hogwarts would remain under the Death Eaters' command and that wouldn't do, Hogwarts was a place of light and hope and that it must remain.

"I'm not going to stand up here and make a big speech." Harry began. "There's no need to. You all know what it at stake and the dangers involved in the tasks we must complete and you have stood up to the most trying and frightening of circumstances with your heads held high and fought until the end. There is no doubt in my mind that you will do so again and that you will make me and yourselves proud. I just wish that I could be there to fight beside you."

His last words were met with an outbreak of chatter and confused glances, silenced only when Harry raised his hands to bring their attention back to him.

"But I can't. As we speak, Voldemort is gathering his forces for an assault on Leaena castle; the location of the Elixir a Lumina and I must stop him before he reaches it, or we will find ourselves fighting against an almost unbeatable foe. This is of vital importance to the war effort, but then so id Hogwarts. This castle cannot be allowed to remain under the control of the Dark and that is why I need you to take it back. The Order of the Phoenix and I will take care of the Elixir and while we do so, the DA will plan and execute the recapture of Hogwarts from the Death Eaters. I will send some reinforcements from the order and instruct some of the beasts and beings we have recruited to remain here and help on you, but it will be mainly up to you. Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Blaise are in charge in my absence and I have every faith that you will take back Hogwarts. Good luck."

With that, Harry jumped down from the stage and made his way through the crowd as the members of the DA reached out to pat him on the back and give him reassuring words that Hogwarts was safe in their hands. Finally, he found himself in front of Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Blaise and for a moment he just stood before them, looking them each individually in the eyes to try and convey what he knew his words never could; how much he cared for them. After a minute of silence, he reached out his hand and shook Blaise's, before pulling his spy into a one armed clinch, before releasing him and engulfing Ron in a brotherly hug. After whispering a few words to the friend he had always seen as a brother, Harry moved on to Hermione, muttering comforting sentiments in her ear as he noticed unshed tears in her eyes. Finally, he came to Ginny. He placed a soft but loving kiss on her lips before wrapping his arms around her.

"Ginny..." He began, searching desperately for the right words. "...I love you. Always remember that."

"I love you too." Ginny whispered. "I'll see you again before the night is through."

Harry nodded, ignoring the lingering doubts in his mind as just enjoyed the feeling of holding her in his arms. Eventually, reluctantly, he let her go and gave her and all of the DA a smile, before turning and walking to the door. Stepping out of the room of requirement, Harry stopped and leaned against the now blank wall, filled with anguish at leaving the people he cared about. It took every ounce of self-control he had not to run back into that room and hold Ginny in his arms and never let go because he knew that there was every chance that he would never see her again, he couldn't explain it but in his heart, he knew that the outcome of the war would be decided this night. One way or another.

Summoning all of his determination, Harry turned his focus back to the task at hand and, without a glance backwards, walked away from the wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the barmy and rounded a corner. Right into the path of a Death Eater patrol. The dark cloaked man froze as he spotted the boy who lived and for a second both stood completely still, until the Death Eaters met Harry's gaze. Big mistake. As soon as he found the man's eyes, Harry pushed into his mind, breaking through his mental barriers with ease.

"There is no one but you in this corridor." Harry said as he forced the thought into the Dark Wizard's brain. "You will turn around and continue your patrol."

Withdrawing from the man's mind, Harry watched with a satisfied smile as the Death Eater turned and walked back the way he came, never glancing back at the wizard behind him. If the patrol hadn't returned, the Death Eaters would have grown suspicious and the DA may well have had to act before they were ready, Harry couldn't let that happen. Knowing that his slip in concentration could have cost him and his soldiers dearly, he waved his hand over his body and disillusioned and silenced himself and suppressed his magical signature and scent before moving on through the corridors on the seventh floor of Hogwarts. When breaking through the Hogwarts wards, Harry had found that the windows had been sealed shut and alarmed, he would prefer that Voldemort didn't find out about his whereabouts so it would have to be long way out.

Harry had to smile to himself as he moved with ease, undetected down the staircases and through the corridors of the enchanted castle, his four disguising charms keeping the Death Eater patrols completely oblivious to his presence. It was just before he reached the ground floor that he sense Lord Voldemort leave the building and, painfully aware that he was running out of time, picked up the pace until he reached the locked doors of the entrance hall. Around twenty of the Dark Lord's most trusted and powerful Death Eaters and a dozen each of trolls, giants and quintaped stood in the entrance hall, their attention and, in the Death Eaters' case wands, focussed on the main door.

Fortunately, Harry had experience in this particular are and, with a quick wave of his wand over himself, Harry simply walked through still closed door and out in to the Hogwarts grounds. Carefully avoiding the invisible Nosferatu still patrolling the grounds, Harry made his way over to the forbidden forest, settling himself in a clearing just beyond the outer layer of trees. Once there, he sent of several different magical signals, first up to the mountains and then into the forest itself, instructing the various beasts and beings he had recruited to the war effort to either wait for orders from Hogwarts or make their way towards Hogsmeade and await the arrival of the Order of the phoenix. With this done, Harry emerged from the forest and continued to make his way undetected through the grounds and towards the edge of the wards. As soon as sensed that he had passed the castle's anti-apparition wards, he turned on his heel and disappeared from sight, apparating away from Hogsmeade and to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.

**A/N: I just want to assure everyone that Elixir a Lumina is still work in progress. I haven't updated for some time for various reasons (to be honest, mostly just procrastination), but the next chapter is under way and should be up soon. If you want to follow what I'm doing in the world of HP fanfiction, ask me any questions or cyber-stalk me then you can find me on twitter prongs_potterHP (/prongs_potterHP). Prongs_potter, by the way, is the penname I use elsewhere.**


	17. Of Nundu, Griffins and the Great Battle

**A/N: No, your eyes do not deceive you; Dr. Sheep has indeed uploaded a new chapter. I have various excuses for why it took so long, including broken laptops, trips abroad, exams and being very busy, but in truth I just lacked the inspiration to write and struggled to get words on to the screen. But, I'm back now so read on and please review to tell me what you think.**

**I read a lot of fanfiction myself and know that if there's a long gap between the uploading of chapters, it's very easy to forget what's happened, so I've decided to include a brief re-cap of some key points. If you haven't had to wait for this chapter because you're reading it in the future, you can just ignore it and also how did the whole climate change thing work out? How did England do in the world cup? Actually on second thought, don't tell me, I want it to be a surprise.**

**Previously on Harry Potter and the Elixir a Lumina:**

**Voldemort has been searching for an Elixir, created by Morgana, that would restore the powers of the Nosferatu and/or Lycanthrope race, which were stripped from them by Merlin after they had been gained by powerful dark magic. If the potion was to be drunk be a human, that person would be granted control over the species that also drank it and would gain the powers of that race (including those that were taken by Merlin). Recently, Voldemort, who has taken control of Hogwarts, though the DA is hidden in the Room of Requirement, discovered the location of the Elixir a Lumina from Ginny's mind and is leading his army, including the Nosferatu, with whom he has allied, to capture the Elixir. Harry has just left Hogwarts after rescuing Ginny and is going to warn the Council of the Phoenix (the governing body and leaders of the Order) and their allies the Lycanthropes about what is happening.**

**Other plot points: After going through a ritual to grant him control over the four elements, using a broken and cursed Rock of Intitium, Harry has been hearing ever more powerful voices in his mind, telling him to give in to the darker side of his psyche. Dumbledore has only just awakened from a coma, which he has been in for almost a year and is still weak. The Order of the Phoenix was previously betrayed by Council member, Auror and friend of Thane Harding's Jude Kardos. Snape has been taken by Voldemort as an apprentice, having also betrayed the Order. Harry is plotting something mysterious. The Lycans plan to betray Harry after capturing the Elixir. The Order plan to betray the Lycans after capturing the Elixir, by destroying it.**

Knowing that time was of the essence, Harry flung himself through limbo and away from Hogsmeade, appearing in the living room of the Marauder's cave less than a second later. As soon as he landed, he sprinted to the kitchen, flinging the door open and sprinting inside to find the Council still gathered. Flashing the Weasleys a reassuring smile, he quickly marched to the front of the room.

"I'm pleased to tell you all that, with Professor Dumbledore's help, I managed to break into Hogwarts and rescue Ginny from Voldemort. She's safe, as is the rest of the DA, for the moment, holed up in the Room of Requirement." The Council looked relieved and a few started to speak, before Harry quickly cut them off. "However, Voldemort has a strong hold on Hogwarts and it is well defended and, even more significantly, he has in the last half an hour, learned the location of the Elixir a Lumina. He and his army are currently gathering and preparing to go to Leaena castle."

The Council burst out in anxious chatter once more but, as Harry took his seat, Moody interrupted them with a bellowed;

"ENOUGH! We don't have time sit around and gossip, we need a plan and first thing's first. Potter," Harry met Moody's eyes, "you disobeyed a direct order from a superior. That is not how we do things in the Aurors; there must be a chain of command and it must be obeyed, the fact that you succeeded does not take away from that fact."

Harry tried to look sheepish, but couldn't find it within himself to regret, even a little, the actions he had taken. They had delivered Ginny to safety. The old Auror paused for a moment, staring the younger wizard down as he allowed his message to sink in, before starting to speak again.

"However, I know why you did it. It has become clear to me Potter that you are not a follower, you're a leader and we all know that, even though this fight belongs to all of us, it is primarily yours. So, I am handing over the leadership of this one, for the battle for the Elixir a Lumina, you will take command."

Moody sat down and the Council turned as one to a shocked Harry, who quickly shook himself to his senses and stood up.

"Clearly the Order and therefore the Council needs to split for this operation; the majority will come with me to Leaena castle but it's imperative that Hogwarts is retaken and, without back up, the DA are horribly outnumbered. Professor McGonagall, as acting headmistress the safety of Hogwarts is your responsibility, so you will lead that team. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, with your two youngest children there, I'm assuming that you too will want to be involved in that side of that operation?"

The elder Weasleys nodded their agreement.

"I'm quite happy to allow that, but at the same time, you must bear in mind that Ron and Ginny are both DA commanders and two of the best fighters the light has. As much as I hate it, they will be involved in heavy fighting and commanding others in the battle; you can't keep them out of this fight and to try to do so would hinder their efforts and undermine their authority, so I must ask you to support them."

Molly and Arthur Weasley reluctantly agreed with Harry's assertions, but one look at the matriarch's face made him glad that he had said something.

"Hestia, you will also go to Hogwarts and, under Professor McGonagall's command, the four of you will lead seventy five of the Order's primary fighters into battle. As you know, I have recently reopened relations with the magical creatures of and around Hogwarts and while the larger and less controllable creatures will be no use to you in the confines of the castle, that's not true of all of them. The centaurs will want to aid in the protection of Hogwarts and that suits our needs well, the unicorns, similarly, are well-suited to this kind of operation, so you will take command of them."

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the master DA galleon, flicking it to McGonagall, who caught it.

"This is my DA coin," Harry began once more. "To use it, you simply tap your wand to the edge and think about the message you want to appear upon it, then tap the tails side and think 'DA'. Once you're in position and ready to attack, send a message to the DA of that effect, they will respond in kind once they're in position, before setting off a distraction that'll take the Death Eaters' attention away from the entrance hall. Once that has happened, you will lead the Order, centaurs and unicorns right through the front door and, as I believe Shakespeare once put it, kick some ass. The DA will be fighting in prearranged groups of three, so you are to do the same, though that's not to say that the Order and DA must fight separate battles. On that note, I must insist that the soldiers of the DA are treated by the Order as equals and that my commanders are afforded the same status as members of the Council; that is Ginny, Ron, Hermione and my good friend and erstwhile spy Blaise Zabini."

The members of the Council shared looks at this, but those assigned to the Hogwarts operation nodded their acceptance.

"It seems you had all this already planned out Harry," Remus commented.

Harry smiled. "What do you think we've been training for all this time Moony? The DA was designed to defend Hogwarts, as well as teach its soldiers how to fight; we've had this plan in place for some time now. The rest of the Council will of course journey to Leaena castle to seize the Elixir a Lumina, along with the rest of the Order and the beasts and beings we have on side. If there are any wards remaining when we arrive, they will be dealt with by the regular Council ward breaking team; me, Bill, Remus, Thane and Kingsley before, as with the others, the Order will divide into threes and remain in those groups, as far as possible, for the duration of the battle. I, of course, will search out and engage Voldemort and lead the search for the Elixir itself. Before all this, however, Remus and I will spread the good news to our wolfish friends before we all meet at the outskirts of the Forbidden forest in Hogsmeade where the Order and the beasts and beings will be divided into the two groups. Any questions?"

The Council thought for a moment before Tonks spoke up.

"Do we know what sort of numbers we'll be facing?"

"There's no new information on that so the latest reports and estimates still stand as far as we know," Harry replied. "Just before I arrived in the Headmaster's office and just after Voldemort discovered the location of the Elixir, Ginny heard him order Avery to gather three-quarters of his Death Eaters, so we can safely assume that's how many are travelling to Leaena castle. As far as the other magical creatures under his command, we have no further information."

Harry looked around the table for any further questions but there didn't seem to be any and he was about to dismiss the meeting when Dumbledore met his eyes.

"You know Harry that I wish to be there with you all but my magic, I fear, is still very weak and highly unstable, so as to be dangerous to those around me in a battle situation. I will, therefore, remain here, pacing the carpet no doubt, awaiting your return or any calls for my assistance."

"I think that's for the best Professor," Harry agreed, knowing that, if he was able, nothing would prevent the Headmaster from defending his students and his school.

"If there is nothing else then this meeting is dismissed. Remus and I will travel to Nottingham and the Lycan HQ, while everyone else goes to Hogsmeade to gather the Order and magical creatures and await our return."

With that, the members of the Council rose from their seats, their faces each set in determination, though with no small amount of trepidation in their eyes. The Weasleys, Thane and Tonks each patted Harry on the back as they strode from the room, Molly Weasley embracing him in a brief but powerful hug, and soon only he, Remus and Dumbledore remained in the kitchen of the Marauders' cave.

"Ready Harry?" His guardian asked.

"Do you mind sending a patronus to let the Lycans know of our impending arrival?" Harry replied. "I'll be out in a minute."

Remus agreed before walking out the room and leaving Harry and Dumbledore alone.

"Professor?" Harry began, allowing himself a few seconds away from the madness before the battle began.

"I think we are beyond titles now Harry, please, call me Albus." Dumbledore replied.

Harry smiled. "Albus, I just wanted to say thank you. I know what I did wasn't the most logical of ideas, but you backed me up anyway, even against what was likely your better judgement and even when it led you to magical exhaustion. You trusted me and that means a lot, so thank you."

"As I have said before Harry, I made the mistake of not trusting you once before and I have always sought to rectify my mistakes. Your success tonight has only proved that my trust is well placed. For as long as I've known you, Harry, you have always strived to do the right thing and I know that, though the challenges awaiting you are greater than any that should be forced on a man, you will match them and continue to make me proud."

"Thank you."

Remus pushed open the door and popped his head inside.

"I've sent the patronus Harry, the Lycans will be waiting for us." He spoke.

"Well then, let's not keep them waiting any longer then." Harry replied. "This is the big one, wish us luck Albus."

With that and a quick salute to his headmaster, Harry followed Remus out the room.

"Good luck my boy." Albus Dumbledore whispered.

"So how are you feeling?" Remus asked a few minutes later as he and Harry were walking towards the Lycan base.

"I'm trying not to at the moment." Harry admitted with a smile. "If I allow myself to fully appreciate the gravity of the situation and the consequences of failure, I might just suddenly decide that a long holiday in the deepest reaches of the Brazilian rainforest is what I need right now."

Remus laughed. "That might be the normal reaction, but you my young friend are not normal. We both know that you're never happy unless you're chasing danger and pushing the limits."

"I wouldn't say never." Harry countered. "There was a night about a week ago that I was very happy. Ginny and I were alone for once and-"

"Whoa! There are some things that I don't need to know Harry and your sex life is near the top of the list."

"Spoken like a man who isn't getting any Moony. Tonks proving difficult to keep up with?"

"You know, I recently discovered a nifty little castration curse, would you like me to demonstrate it for you?" Remus asked. "I think it would be quite amusing to watch you hurling curses at Voldemort, sounding like you've become addicted to helium."

"I'm afraid the demonstration will have to wait." Harry replied, looking a little relieved as they reached the guarded door of the Lycanthrope HQ. "Serious faces on Remus, it's time to talk to our allies."

The guards at the door snarled at them as they approached, but stepped aside to allow them entry to the derelict farmhouse that served as the Lycan HQ. They were met, as before, by the Lycanthrope known as Noapte a crea, though frankly Harry found him indistinguishable from the rest of the court apart from the larger King and Queen, and they were led through the large building to the impressive door, through which the Lycan court lay. Like last time, Noapte a crea left them there alone and they waited impatiently for a couple of minutes before they were beckoned inside by a deep, gravelly;

"**Enter.**"

Walking into the room, Harry and Remus both bowed before the King and Queen, waiting to be told they could rise before meeting the King's gaze.

"The Elixir has been found," Harry said simply.

The court broke out in loud, disbelieving chattering and exclamations and the royal family themselves looked stunned, staring at Harry and Remus in shocked silence before eventually coming to their senses.

"**Enough**" The King bellowed, effectively silencing his court before turning back to the humans. "**We will not tolerate untruths about this humans; are you sure that your information is sound.**"

"I read it in the diary of Merlin himself." Harry replied. "There is, however, one problem; we aren't the only ones who know. About an hour ago, Voldemort discovered the location and, as we speak, is leading his forces, including the Nosferatu, to seize the potion. If we want the Elixir, we'll have to battle for it."

"**Then battle we shall.**" The beast snarled. "**This news pleases me humans. I shall gather the Lycanthrope forces at once and the Elixir a Lumina will be ours.**"

Harry nodded, before quickly conjuring before him hundred of blocks of wood, stacked high against a wall. Waving his wand again, the blocks glowed blue and Harry turned back to the court.

"Once your soldiers are assembled, each grab hold of a piece of wood and it will transport you to Hogsmeade where the rest of the forces of light will be assembled. But be quick about it Your Majesty, the Nosferatu won't wait for us."

"**Worry not human, the Lycanthropes will not allow the most hated ones to have the potion of light; my forces will soon be ready. Now, if there is nothing else, leave and we shall meet up once more in the village of Hogsmeade.**"

Harry and Remus bowed again before backing out of the court and making their way back through the Lycan HQ to the main door. As Harry was walking out the door, he felt an arm pull him back with incredible strength and turned to see that one of the guards at the door had grabbed hold of him. Growling and salivating, looking like the monster he was, the beast bent down low and spoke to Harry in a deep, gravelly voice.

"For the Elixir a Lumina, we will fight to the death but know this human; betray us and we will drain the blood from the neck of your beloved."

Harry smiled calmly at the monster before him but, as their eyes locked, the beast shivered at the cold, powerful loathing in the wizard's brilliant green eyes.

"I appreciate your concern, but know this Lycanthrope; if you threaten my beloved again, it will not be her blood that is drained. Yours will flow freely from what remains of your broken body. I hope I make myself perfectly clear." Harry replied; his voice steady and terrifyingly matter of fact.

With that, the Lycan released Harry's arm as it suddenly became too hot to touch and Harry smiled coldly at him before walking away. Catching up with his guardian, he gave him a look that said 'don't ask', before they both apparated away.

The two wizards touched down in Hogsmeade a split second later and were met with an awe inspiring sight. The Order, it seemed, had already gathered and all of its soldiers were stood decked in their navy blue battle robes, wands in hand as they prepared for war. Mixed among them were the magical beasts and beings who had allied themselves with Harry and the Order; dragons, goblins, giants, trolls, graphorns, unicorns, thestrals, hippogriffs and centaurs combined to make an awesome spectacle.

Harry nodded at the leaders of each of the creatures represented, before falling into stilted conversation with Remus as he and the others anxiously awaited the Lycans' arrival. Though it seemed like much longer, about twenty minutes after Harry and Remus had arrived, a thousand Lycanthropes materialised on the main street of the wizarding village, causing quite a few Order members and goblins to back away.

"**We are here Potter.**" The King spoke, saying Harry's name for the first time. "**Let us waste no further time.**"

Harry nodded. "I'm just going to say a few words to everybody," He replied, before conjuring a small stage for himself and creating a loud BANG with his wand to gain everyone's attention.

"This is it ladies and gentlemen," Harry began as he looked out over the thousands of men, women, beasts and beings under his command, "the battle not only for the Elixir, but for the war and the lives of every single man, woman and child on this planet. The fate of our world will be decided on this night and it rests in our hands; hardship, exertion and death await us, but so does glory and salvation. We stand here tonight to make a stand; to say to the forces of darkness that we will not allow ourselves to be conquered by fear and oppression, but we will fight for what is rightfully ours. We stand as brothers and sisters in arms, prepared to lay down our lives for what we know to be a righteous cause and it is this that separates us from the Death Eaters and it is this that will ensure our victory. This night will be remembered for the rest of time as the night that all of you before me triumphed, that the darkness was vanquished and that the world was set free. The Elixir a Lumina awaits, victory awaits, freedom awaits, let's go and get them."

With that, Harry turned his wand to dozens of tree trunks that, in his absence, had been cut down from the Forbidden forest. With a small wave, the trunks glowed blue and, as they were seized by the witches, wizards and magical creatures gathered in Hogsmeade, they all disappeared to face their destiny.

As Harry walked out of the Room of Requirement, Ginny closed her eyes, forcefully pushing out of her mind the idea that she may never see her love again. After a moment to regain her composure, she opened her eyes and turned to the rest of the DA.

"Let's get to work."

As the strategy master of the group, Ron took the lead and immediately called upon the Room of Requirement to provide him with a large, rectangular table, around which the rest of the DA could sit. With everyone seated, Ron stood at the head of the table and began his spiel.

"OK, the time for worrying about loved ones, for thinking about the Elixir a Lumina or schoolwork or whatever is over, Operation Hogwarts Defence has begun. As you know, we are in scenario D-3; trapped inside an occupied Hogwarts, with Harry out of action in regard to this operation, we've all been told the battle procedure for this scenario, but I'll run through it again. Harry will have given his DA galleon to a member of the Council of the Phoenix; this member will gather together a force of Order soldiers and magical creatures and come to our aid in taking back Hogwarts. When this force is ready to attack, we will be contacted on our galleons, we will then get into position and send them a message on Blaise's galleon before setting off a distraction to bring the attention of the Death Eater guards away from the main entrance. We will then engage the enemy while the Order breaks through the door and does the same. During the battle, everyone is to remain in their groups of three as far as possible; if you lose a member, the remaining two should join on to another group. The usual command structure applies, but think of members of the Council of the Phoenix as additional commanders, the rest of the Order soldiers are equal to DA privates, though only the commanders have the authority to give them orders. The object of the battle is to capture, kill or incapacitate all the Death Eaters and Dark creatures in Hogwarts and reclaim the castle; the enemy forces are concentrated in the entrance hall and in the main halls of each floor. We will begin the battle on the ground floor, with Teams 4 and 6 covering the two stairways, with help from Teams H4 and H6. We will then work our way upwards, clearing the hallways as we go, after the ground floor is clear."

"What are Teams H4 and H6?" Someone asked and Hermione had to hit Ron to stop him from glaring at the girl who hadn't remembered every detail of his master plan.

"H-designated teams are House elves," Ron answered. "While we're waiting for the signal from the Order, Sergeant Dobby, leader of the DA's House elf corps, will be giving the House elves their final briefing, just as I am to you. The elves will apparate, or whatever it is they do, up here when they've finished and the entire army will proceed, invisible, down to the ground floor. As far as spells go, use your entire arsenal on the Death Eaters; if you think it's more dangerous to incapacitate or capture them, you have permission from the Minister of Magic to use lethal force, though the Unforgivables are still illegal to anyone outside the Aurors and the Council of the Phoenix. Nosferatu and other Dark creatures are to be killed on sight, remember; Advanced vampire killing curses if you can do them, normal vampire killing curses if you can't for the Nosferatu, don't try anything that you've never done before or struggle to do in the heat of battle. If you hit one with a normal vampire killing curse, follow it up with more curses to remove its head, otherwise you can't be sure it's dead. That's about everything for now, if you have any questions, ask your Sergeant or a Commander."

His speech finished, Ron took a seat next to Hermione and the room burst out in nervous conversation as the young witches and wizards contemplated the battle before them. About ten minutes after Ron had finished his outline of the plan, the House elves arrived, led by Dobby and roughly matching the students in number, making a force of about eighty. The elves seemed as nervous as the humans and most forgot their nervousness about being in the same room with and equal to witches and wizards.

It was about an hour after the House elves arrived that a sudden silence descended on the Room of Requirement and, as one, the DA pulled their galleons from their pockets. The message read; 'We are in position'.

"This is it everybody," Ginny spoke, not having to raise her voice to be heard in the silent room. "When it comes to making speeches, I'm no Harry, so I'll just say this; we all know the plan, we all know the risks and we all know why we're doing this. Now let's take back Hogwarts!"

This last declaration was met with a roar of approval and, within a couple of minutes, every witch, wizard and elf in the room was invisible, silenced and de-scented; ready for battle. Led by Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Blaise, the DA slowly made their way out of the Room of Requirement and slowly started to make their way through the halls of Hogwarts. They slipped by the Death Eater Harry had seen with no problems and together they managed to make their way down from the seventh floor to the Entrance hall without being detected.

From there, the young soldiers walked into a corridor off the main hall and stopped. Though invisible to others, the members of the DA could see each other and every eye was on Blaise as he pulled out his galleon and sent a message to the Order of the Phoenix; 'We are ready.' Blaise looked up at Ginny and gave her the thumbs up as everyone held their breath and looked to the youngest Weasley. With a small smile, she pointed her wand down the corridor and silently cast an exploding curse.

The castle of Hogwarts was rocked as an almighty 'BANG' rang out through the ground floor. Death Eaters came running from all directions and were about to converge on the corridor when, with another huge BANG, the door to the Entrance hall exploded inwards and in poured the Order of the Phoenix. The Death Eaters turned as one to the source of the noise and that was the signal for the battle to begin as the DA jumped forward with a collective shout of "_Stupefy!_"

As soon as his feet touched the ground, Harry raised a shining and powerful silver shield, aware as he did, of the rest of his army appearing behind him and doing much the same thing. The young warrior scanned around himself and reached out with his magical senses but found no immediate threat. They were in a large, flat, grassy field, still seemingly in Great Britain but with few discernable features to map out the area; in fact, as far as the eye could see only one building disturbed the green splendour of fields and trees. About four hundred yards in front of the foremost soldiers and three hundred to their left, stood a large, ancient and beautiful castle. Leaena castle.

Harry did not have time to admire the elegant design, however, knowing as he did that Voldemort and his forces were nearby. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and reached out with his magical senses once more and he was rewarded after about a minute when he sensed a disturbance just around half a mile in front of them. There was some sort of conflict going on, with powerful magic at work and, as he concentrated harder, Harry realised what was happening.

"Voldemort's bringing down the last of the wards about half a mile away," he spoke into the silent field. "There's no point in us trying to intervene at this stage; we would never be able to identify the wards in time to bring them down ourselves or fight to protect them. Keep your guard and your shields up and we'll make our way forward."

The few witches and wizards who hadn't already raised shields did so now and, as one, the Order of the Phoenix and its magical allies started to walk towards its enemy. As they moved, Harry felt the wards slowly peeling away and he spotted figures in the distance. Suddenly he stopped, holding his hand up to halt the soldiers behind him.

"That's it. The wards are down," he whispered, "the battle starts now."

Peering into the distance, he saw a mass of swirling, writhing black shapes on the horizon; the approaching darkness, the gathering storm. Closing his eyes and drawing a lungful of the cold, damp air, Harry forced down the rising sense of dread that threatened to overwhelm him as he fought off the feeling of déjà vu; there could be no half measures tonight, no split prizes. It was kill or be killed. This was the night that the war came to an end and it was this truth that the two armies dwelled upon as they stared each other down, not one witch or wizard moving a muscle.

Then Voldemort smiled, well the nearest he could manage and, with a swish of his cloak, apparated behind his Death Eaters before giving his order.

"Destroy them."

Pandemonium broke loose. As one, the Death Eaters responded to their master's command with a flurry of dark spells, raining them down upon the Order, which scattered across the field as each group of three ducked, rolled, dived, conjured and disapparated to avoid the deadly attack. Harry infused his shield with pure light magic and he and his army started to move forward as the Death Eaters and dark creatures did the same; two sides charging at each other, crying war chants like the muggle armies of old. The Lycans quickly engaged their age old enemy and the Dragons took off into the sky, battling with members of their own species on the other side of the war.

Harry was about to start firing off curses when he felt a familiar and sickening feeling grip his heart; his mother's dying screams rang out in his ears and the blood in his veins turned ice cold. The Dementors had arrived.

"Kingsley, cover me!" Harry shouted and the Senior Auror, along with his two man team, jumped in front of Harry as he turned his wand to the sky.

Summoning up the happiest memories he could remember and concentrating the power of those emotions into his magic, Harry cried;

"_Expecto Patronum!_"

A huge and blindingly bright ethereal stag burst from Harry's wand, before galloping up into the sky. By this stage, hundreds of Dementors were swarming the night sky but they stood no chance as the powerful patronus soon reached them and started tearing them to shreds. Confident that Prongs would do his job, Harry turned away from the vile creatures in the air and, with a quick 'thanks' to Kingsley and his men, started to engage in combat on the ground.

Rushing into battle, he thrust his arms forward and launched a powerful gust of wind at the two dozen or so Death Eaters before him, knocking them to the ground and following up with a barrage of Killing curses to finish them off. Most were felled, but around ten remained and rolled to their feet, only to find the earth around them rising up and wrapping itself around their bodies, before collapsing inwards and crushing them to death. More witches and wizards immediately rushed forward to take the place of their comrades and Harry was faced with a rush of Killing curses. Slicing his wand downwards, he conjured an apparition shield and, after the curses had passed through it, opened a second rip behind the group of Death Eaters, dropping more of them. A couple of the deadly green beams found their way through and raced towards him once more, but Harry conjured a second apparition shield and opened up a rip either side of him. The human killing curses slowed the two sneaky Nosferatu considerably and Harry finished them off by firing advanced vampire killing curses out of his wand and open palm. The three remaining Death Eaters had attempted to attack while he was distracted, but the young warrior summoned to him the body of one of the Nosferatu to take the curses and banished towards them, before hitting it with a powerful exploding curse.

Glancing around the field, Harry spotted a large crowd of Death Eaters and Nosferatu about a hundred yards to the east and smiled as a plan formed in his mind. Taking a moment to summon his magic towards him, he made himself invisible and silent before masking his scent and apparating away. Landing in the heart of the group, Harry crouched down to make himself small and slowly forced his magic into a glowing ball of pure light magic, constrained tightly only by his own sheer force of will. Gradually he fed more magic into the sphere until it pulsed with power and, just as the witches and wizards around him turned to look what was making the hairs on the back of their necks stand up, it exploded outwards with massive force. All the Death Eaters and Nosferatu within thirty yards of the blast were thrown into the air and landed bodily on the ground, never to rise again.

The area around Harry was cleared by the blast but he didn't have time to relax as he had rather effectively drawn attention to himself. Seemingly from nowhere, a Nosferatu appeared before him and pounced almost before he had time to react, Harry was quick, however, and hit the beast with an Extrudo curse before following up with a cry of "_Necus Lamia Maxima!_" Sensing an attack coming from behind, he then dropped to one knee, feeling a killing curse pass over his head as he did so, and spun on the ground before lashing out with his arm. The Death Eater never stood a chance as a spear of solid ice popped into being and was banished towards him, piercing his heart and instantly ending his life.

Pulling himself back up to his feet, Harry felt a powerful wave of magical energy pass over him and turned to see Lord Voldemort reaching up to the heavens. The Dark Lord seemed to be chanting a long incantation, protected by an honour guard of Death Eaters and Nosferatu, and the air around him was rippling with power. Something was coming, everyone could sense it, and that something was incredibly powerful.

Harry could only watch in utter disbelief as six giant, leopard-like creatures appeared around the Dark Lord, seemingly under his command. The Boy who lived felt his heart drop, for he recognised exactly what these beasts were; they were widely considered to be the deadliest animals on the face of the planet, with breath capable of spreading disease and hides almost completely repellent of magic. They were Nundu. Snapping into reaction, he put his wand to his throat and, amplifying his voice, ordered his soldiers to conjure a bubble-head charm around their heads, before doing so himself and redirecting his wand and free hand as quickly as he could to conjure the protective bubbles on to his non-human allies.

Even as the rest of the Order joined in the effort to protect the magical beasts and beings fighting beside them, Harry knew that they couldn't possibly perform the charm on everyone in time. But then he realised that he didn't have to. Taking a moment to pause, he looked up to find Voldemort and his Death Eaters utterly unprotected and realised that the Nundu must have somehow been ordered not to use their most feared ability. Harry passed around the message and the frantic conjuring petered out as those around him turned to the young wizard for direction. But he didn't have the answers. Even without their killer breath, Nundu were absolutely deadly and the forces of light were already outnumbered.

It was at that moment, that a dozen unearthly _SHRIEKS_ screamed out across the battlefield and Harry was stunned once more as, from high up amongst the castle's parapets, twenty Griffins swooped down and started attacking the powerful magical beasts. Harry knew that the beastly guardians were no match for the Nundu but, with their superior numbers and fierce protective instincts, they may just be able to take out a few, or at least buy the Order some time. Redirecting his focus, he caught sight of a group of Death Eaters still distracted by the awesome spectacle before them and, taking advantage of their distraction, Harry made short work of ending their lives.

Harry was about to rejoin the fray and throw himself back into the heart of the battle, when he sensed an attack from above. Diving to the floor and rolling skilfully out the way, he felt the heat of magical flames as they burned the ground where he had previously stood. Looking up, the young wizard spotted the familiar and not altogether welcome sight of a Hungarian Horntail as it swooped across the sky, before diving towards the ground and unleashing another blast of conflagration. Apparating away, Harry landed away from the dragon's focus and directed his wand into the air before firing a torrent of curses and spells at the beast. Its movements were too quick and unpredictable for him to hit, however, as the dragon presented a distant target and Harry was forced to go on the defensive once more as it met his gaze and breathed another blast of fire.

Taking off at a run, Harry smoothly transformed into a Gryon and leapt into the air, spreading his wings and taking flight while skilfully avoiding the Horntail's magical flame. Flying above the Dragon, he turned back into his human form and, supporting himself on a gust of wind, fired a powerful exploding curse. The Horntail was too quick, however and, seeming to sense the approaching spell, swerved to avoid it before flying up to Harry with a powerful thrust of its wings. Just as it was about to reach the young wizard, however, it was hit by a hurricane-like wind and blown off track. Making good use of the time this bought him, Harry reached out with his elemental powers until he could feel the magical flame within the Dragon. As the Horntail turned, Harry seized control of its fire and, flicking his wrist, the Dragon was suddenly consumed by its own powerful flame, its charred remains falling to the ground.

The first wave of stunners took out a good number of the Death Eaters who had come to investigate the noise and these were followed up by binding charms, to prevent the fallen being awoken by their comrades. The element of surprise, however, was gone and, though the teams on the stairways were doing their job well, the explosions had brought every Death Eater and Nosferat on the ground floor into action. As the Order and their allied magical creatures continued to pour into the room, the soldiers of darkness split into two groups to tackle the separate threats and, within seconds, everyone was engaged in combat.

Noticing that a large group of Death Eaters was heading his way, Ron directed two teams of three to circle behind the enemy as his and Hermione's teams engaged them from the front, capturing the unsuspecting dark wizards in a pincer movement. The DA then started to throw spell after spell at their older opponents, many casting silently, while others bellowed the powerful curses with such ferocity as to send a shiver down the spines of the battle-hardened men and women. Ron tumbled a few with a well place 'Motus Humo,' following the spell with four quick-fired and powerful slashing curses and swallowing the bile that rose up his throat at the terrible screeches of pain that told him he'd found his mark.

The Death Eaters in the group attacking him were starting to thin out and Ron allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction as one-on-one duels started to develop and Harry's training started to show results. The DA commander knew he had no time for distractions, however, and was proved right seconds later when he was forced to duck under a pure dark curse, before responding with a cry of "_Deflagratio Maxima!_"

A large jet of fire poured from the red head's wand but splashed harmlessly against the Death Eater's hastily erected, but evidently powerful, shield. Aware that he was duelling against an experienced and talented fighter, Ron didn't let up fire; silently firing a 'condolesco curse' and following it up with a cry of "_Confringo!_" The Death Eater dodged the first attack and raised an advanced protego to deflect the second. The curse exploded on impact, however, and, though the shield took much of the damage, the Death Eater was thrown to the ground, his mask dislodging in the process as he was revealed to be Avery.

Ron continued to fire curse after curse as Avery fell, but the inner circle Death Eater rolled out of the way and quickly up to his feet, where he took aim in a crouching position. Ron was about to re-engage the man, but was distracted by a panicked cry of "DUCK" from his left and turned, only to watch in horror as a sickly green curse sped towards him, knowing he was too late to avoid it. At the very last second, however, a suit of armour, which had sprang to life beside him, courtesy of Hermione's wand, took the blow to the chest and proceeded to chase down the offending Death Eater.

The exchange had lasted but a few seconds, but the distraction proved costly for Ron, who just had time to see an electric blue light in his peripheral vision, before he was blasted off his feet and across the floor. Scrambling to his feet, the DA commander saw a streak of grey heading towards him but hit his mark with an advanced vampire killing curse, careful as he did so to drop to one knee to avoid the Killing curse coming at him courtesy of Avery. He then summoned a shield from a suit of armour to block the follow up attack, before banishing it towards his enemy at speed.

Unwilling to waste the advantage this distraction provided, Ron redirected his wand upwards and, as the shield was vanished by his adversary, sliced through the metal that connected a chandelier to the ceiling. Avery was forced to roll away from the falling light, but, at that moment, the floor in front of him was hit by a 'Motus Humo' and, by the time he had found his feet, Ron had sent an arrow flying at him. The missile pierced his shoulder and Avery just had time to scream in pain, before he was struck by an entrails exploding curse, ending his life.

Caught up in the heat of battle, Ron had not even considered what curses he was using but, as his opponent collapsed in a bloody heap, the full weight of what he had done struck him like a speeding train. He had killed. The youngest Weasley male allowed himself a few moments to dwell on this fact before the noise of battle brought him back to his senses. He had to do it, there was no other way and he wouldn't stand there moping about his lost innocence, while his friends died around him. He needed to find his team and get back into the action.

"_Expecto Patronum!_"

Ron turned to see Ginny's horse patronus gallop past him where it entered into battle with the newly gathered Dementors to his left. His sister had felt the presence of the detestable creatures before him; her mind assaulted by images of Tom Riddle before she forced them out and replaced them with happier thoughts to fuel her magical guardian. As the ethereal beast dealt with the Dementors, Ginny sensed a new danger coming towards her at some speed and whipped around, bringing her wand to bear on the Nosferat just as it pounced and striking it down with an advanced vampire killing curse.

Seeing two Death Eaters firing off pot shots as they hid behind a half collapsed wall, Ginny stealthily led her team towards them, before vanishing the rubble protecting the vile people. The Death Eaters looked up in surprise, but they were stunned and bound and their wands were snapped before they could offer any resistance. Finding herself a little away from the heart of the battle, Ginny had a moment to assess the conflict and quickly spotted Blaise and his team struggling against eight Death Eaters, the other two DA members sporting injuries as the commander bore the brunt of the attack. The team had taken to defensive spells only and was constantly summoning rubble, suits of armour and anything else they could to deflect the more deadly spells.

Leaping to the former spy's aid, Ginny and her team immediately stunned and bound two Death Eaters while their backs were turned, with a third just managing to block the attack. The Dark witches and wizards started to counter-attack, but Ginny directed her wand to the wall beside them and hit it with a powerful explosion curse. While dust and brick poured down upon her enemies, Ginny quickly conjured a large German shepherd and set it upon them, before shouting "_Extrudo! Lethargus! Condolesco!"_

Two out of three curses found their mark and one Death Eater was flung headfirst into a wall, while another fell into a deep coma. The condolesco curse was blocked by an 'Aegis Ultimus' shield and the Dark witch returned fire with a killing curse at a member of Ginny's team. The youngest Weasley reacted quickly, however, and ordered her conjured dog to take the deadly spell, before shouting "_Intransitus!"_

The remaining Death Eaters, along with Blaise's team, screamed in pain and pushed their hands against their ears as a piercing, all encompassing white noise filled the corridor. Ginny, meanwhile had conjured bubbles onto the heads of her team and, making good use of the distraction Harry had taught her, quickly stunned the Death Eaters, before nullifying the Dark hex. Walking up to Blaise and the two boys with him, sprawled on the ground in the aftermath of her distraction, Ginny pulled her fellow commander up and performed a rudimentary healing charm on the ears of him and his team.

"No need to thank me." She quipped, ignoring the Slytherin death glare and twin anxious looks being directed at her.

"Yeah thanks." Blaise replied, not entirely sincerely as a light ringing remained in his ears. "I'll remember that move, next time you need help."

"I needed a distraction, I made a distraction." Ginny said simply. "If you look closely, you'll notice that they are on the floor, while you are still standing."

"I appreciate the aid." Blaise responded as he regained his composure. "But I would prefer if next time you find a distraction that doesn't half deafen me."

With that, Blaise stalked away, leading his team towards a pocket of action, where Ginny could see Hermione leading an assault.

It was over a year since Hermione had been convinced by Harry of the legitimacy of using Dark magic against Death Eaters, but the brightest witch of her age still couldn't quite bring herself to use those spells. Instead, she relied on more standard duelling hexes and curses, but, combined with her prodigious knowledge of charms and transfiguration and her inventive use of both, she had become an impressive fighter in her own right. She proved as much as she made two confunded Death Eaters, their dark robes transfigured into school uniforms fight each other, as she and her team took out the remaining two dark witches in the group. That done, it was a simple matter of stunning and binding the victorious, but still thoroughly confused, of the first two Death Eaters.

At that moment, Hermione's attention was diverted elsewhere as a voice, amplified with the sonorous charm, called out "Teams 4 and 6 need urgent back up!" Hermione shouted to three Order soldiers, telling them and their teams to guard her back, before directing her team and one other to go to the assistance of those guarding the stairways.

Knowing the three Order teams had the ground behind them covered, Hermione focused all of her attention on the stairway she had led her team to help protect. Fifteen Death Eaters were making good use of the high ground and were raining curses down upon the witches, wizards and house elves of teams 4 and H4 as they defiantly stood up to the barrage. The DA teams concentrated, as they had been told to do, on simply blocking the stairway and defending themselves against attack, taking pot-shots when they could. They were quickly becoming overwhelmed by sheer numbers, however, and Seamus had been right to call in backup.

The reinforcements meant that the DA could launch more counter attacks and four Death Eaters fell to their wands, but it became clear that the remaining eleven were experienced fighters and maintained a constant bombardment of attack. Suddenly, Hermione was struck with an idea and ducked back under the cover the DA had conjured and summoned to get to work. Searching her mind for the most distracting thing possible to a Death Eater, Hermione couldn't help but grin as she conjured an intricate image of one Harry Potter to the right of the attacking witches and wizards.

As she had hoped, one of the Death Eaters spotted 'Harry' and, with a cry of fear, the whole group starting firing curses at the illusion. With the dark witches and wizards well distracted, Hermione conjured a heavy net and banished it towards her enemies, wrapping it around the eleven of them as it reached its destination. The DA commander then summoned the net to her, sending the Death Eaters tumbling down the stairs and into the path of a dozen stunners. By the time they got to the bottom of the stairway, not one Death Eater was conscious and it was a simple matter of strengthening the binds on them and snapping their wands.

With the immediate danger cleared, Hermione led her team to the second stairway and assisted teams 6, 9 and H6 in their efforts there. The added DA members turned the numerical advantage in the favour of the light and they made quick work of defeating the remaining Death Eaters. With the stairways secure for now, Hermione turned back to the Death Eaters and Dark creatures on the ground floor and, in a rare moment of peace, her thoughts drifted briefly to Harry and the battle for the Elixir a Lumina.

As another Death Eater fell to his wand, Harry found himself with a couple of seconds to analyse the battle and started scanning the horizon in search of Tom Riddle. He smiled wryly when he saw the Dark Lord towards the rear of the action, behind his army of enslaved people and creatures, but his expression grew grim as he recognised the complex motion of Voldemort's wand. Confirming Harry's fears, the area around the castle itself glowed purple as the anti-apparition ward was laid and Voldemort quickly started to make his way over to the ancient building, dispatching Death Eaters and Dark creatures en mass to dispose of anyone who stood in their way.

Averting his gaze to his right, Harry saw Thane and Remus leading their teams and around five others in dealing with a large group of Death Eaters and, quickly triumphing and searching for their next target of attack. Harry caught Remus' eye and called them all over, before doing the same with the King of the Lycans, who led the entire court to him.

"Voldemort's making a move on the castle." Harry said. "We need to stop him before he secures the Elixir. There's an anti-apparition ward around the castle so we'll have to go in by foot, stick together and deal with any threats swiftly, there isn't time to waste. Let's go."

With that, Harry turned just in time to see Voldemort approach the entrance of Leaena castle. The Dark Lord paused for a second before flinging his arms out in an aggressive gesture, battering down the doors with a powerful pulse of pure magic. He directed around thirty Death Eaters, along with a good number of Nosferatu and Dementors inside and was about to follow himself when he seemed to sense something and whirled round to meet Harry's gaze. The two wizards stared at each other for a second before the Dark Lord turned away and called on a Death Eater, issuing his instructions before walking into the castle.

As Harry started to lead the Order and Lycans forward, the Death Eater started shouting to his comrades and Nosferatu allies. Before the young wizard's eyes, over fifty witches and wizards and twice that number of Nosferatu gathered to stand guard before the castle, their eyes glued firmly to Harry and his team.

"It looks like, just this once, not everything is going to plan Remus." Harry said. "This isn't going to be easy as we might have hoped."

Remus smiled. "Where would the fun be without a bit of a challenge?"

"I like a challenge," Harry replied, "but does it have to be hundreds of Death Eaters and deadly creatures every time? A little variety hurts nobody."

Remus nodded in agreement and the faces of the Order soldiers grew serious as Harry led them towards the Death Eaters and Nosferatu. It was unclear who exactly it was who threw the first spell, but as soon as it had left the caster's wand, all hell broke loose. Harry erected a huge, silver shield to protect his team from the curses of the Death Eaters as the Nosferatu sprung forward with speed. With a cry of "_Permultus Necus Lamia Maxima!_" Harry unleashed a torrent of advanced Vampire Killing curses to decrease the numbers, but soon the beasts were too close and he was forced to change tactics. Drawing the sword of Gryffindor, he infused it with pure light magic and, using it in tandem with his wand, started to bring down the vampiric monsters in great numbers. All the while, he never stayed still, diving and rolling and propelling himself all over the field to make himself a harder target to hit as he called upon his power over the four elements to aid him in his fight. Powerful winds blew the Nosferatu from their intended course, while they were pummelled by fire, water and earth, groups of them burning or falling prey to missiles of ice and earth.

Soon, the Nosferatu numbers had dwindled to a level that could be handled by the Lycans and a few Order soldiers, so Harry turned his attention to the Death Eaters. Those witches and wizards who met his gaze were taken aback by the ferocity in his eyes and a dull ache appeared in their stomachs as they began to suspect they wouldn't make it out of this confrontation alive. Charging forward, Harry stowed away his sword and instead relied solely on his wand and his wandless magic. Curse after curse was fired by the young wizard, as deadly creatures appeared out of nowhere and started to rip the Death Eaters to pieces.

However, with a pang of dread, Harry realised that there were too many of them. Reinforcements had bolstered enemy numbers and were tying down any Order members or Lycans that might come to his aid. He was vastly outnumbered and surrounded and had to call upon every trick he'd learned and every bit of magical power he possessed simply to stay alive, as he raised shield after shield, diving and rolling all over the place and repelling the Death Eaters away whenever he could. Propelling himself into the air, he managed to take out a good number, but made himself an easy target and his shoulder screamed in pain as he was struck by a condolesco curse, Lowering himself down through a sea of conjured smoke, Harry felt his anger spike at the intense pain in his arm and he started firing curses with renewed rapidity and power. Explosions of pure light magic were set off around him and the air grew thick with the smell of charred flesh. With a silver shield before him at all times and an apparition shield always at the tip of his wand, Harry cut through the masses of witches and wizards with Deadly force, utilising every bit of defensive magic he had learned in the last two years.

The dark voices of his mind, awakened by the cursed Rock of Initium, screamed at him to tear his enemies apart and Harry threw aside his inhibitions, seizing the rush of adrenaline and magic and utilising it as more and more Death Eaters were felled by his wand. Not one of those Death Eaters would ever rise again; they were far past stunners now, this battle would decide the fate of the planet and he would be damned if the Dark side was to emerge with the prize. Harry was playing to win, even if his soul was forfeit. The Death Eaters in his area of battle, the live ones anyway, were beginning to fall in numbers and others seemed to be, understandably, unwilling to take their place.

As a result, Harry found himself with clear land ahead of him and, with a glance back to make sure his comrades were still with him, strode purposefully forwards towards Leaena castle. The ancient building was almost within touching distance, when an ear-splitting '_SCREECH'_ filled the air and Harry turned just in time to see two Griffins drop to the ground dead, their slaughterer stood above them in the shape of a huge and savage looking Nundu. The beast seemed to sense their stares and whipped its head around to Harry and his team, its eyes immediately locking on to the emerald green of the young warrior.

Harry sensed what was about to happen just a split second before it did. His eyes widened and, flinging his body round, he conjured a powerful gust of wind to blow back the Order members and Lycans who had accompanied him to the castle. By this time, however, the Nundu was moving at incredible speed, its magically enhanced muscles carrying its massive weight as if it was nothing at all as it streaked towards its prey. With no time for elegance, Harry flung his arms behind him as a black blur entered his vision, and propelled himself out of the way, landing painfully on his shoulder before he rolled back to his feet.

With the voices of the dark side of his psyche still roaring in his ears, Harry let fire with everything he had, releasing spell after spell at the creature and mixing in some powerful elemental magic. The Nundu was too fast, however, avoiding most of the curses he and the Order shot at it, while those that did hit seemed only to make it angrier. The dark beast pounced once again and Harry was forced to propel himself away, realising as he landed that a plan was needed.

Suddenly, an idea came almost fully formed into Harry's mind and, as the monster turned to chase down, his friends and allies, knew that he couldn't waste the distraction. Calling upon his elemental abilities, Harry conjured a powerful gust of wind once again and hoisted himself around fifty feet into the air, where he came to rest and closed his eyes. Knowing that, though time was of the essence, all of his power would be required for this task, Harry took a moment and reached out to his inner core, before drawing every last bit of bit of his magical energy to his fingertips and opening his eyes.

The Order members on the ground felt the hairs on the back of their necks stand on end as a wave of palpable magical power rushed over them. Had they had time to look up, they would have gazed in awe as Harry was surrounded by a blinding white aura, his striking green eyes glowing with power. They did not have such a luxury, however, as the Nundu was moving quicker than a human eye could track it and all involved were rolling and diving all over the place just to avoid becoming a tasty meal.

The gigantic magical beast was closing in on Thane when, suddenly, the ground around it detached itself from the earth and shot into the sky. The Nundu skidded to a halt upon its hundred square feet platform of land in confusion, and this was all the time Harry needed. A veritable typhoon of water engulfed the creature, before immediately freezing, creating a rock solid cocoon and trapping the Nundu inside. Harry knew that this would not last forever, however, as the beast started to thrash around in an attempt to free itself, cracking off large chunks of ice as it did so. Allowing himself, only a second to regain his focus and take aim, the young warrior flung his wand out before him and released a beam of pure light magic more powerful than anything the Order had ever seen before. The dark creature howled in pain as the bolt of light hit, its thrashing increasing and breaking through the ice as it was slowly overcome. Harry held his focus, however, and eventually the Nundu's howls fell silent and its death throes ceased as the pure light magic extinguished it life.

Exhausted, Harry slowly lowered himself back to the ground, wobbling on his feet slightly as he touched down on terra firma. The Order members, led by Remus and Thane, rushed over to offer their thanks and congratulations, but Harry only smiled and nodded in acknowledgment as he allowed himself a few moments to regain his breath and let his magic return to full power. Once he felt ready to continue, he straightened up and quickly swept his gaze over the battlefield around him before walking the short distance to Leaena castle.

The doors, which Harry had seen Voldemort destroy to gain access to the castle, had repaired themselves in the time that had since elapsed. His first thought was to blast them in once more, but without making any effort, he could feel the powerful protection magic upon them and decided to follow his gut instinct. Reaching out, he grasped the golden lion head of a handle, feeling a rush of power as he held it in his hand, and gave it a turn. The door opened without so much as a creak to tell of its thousand year existence and, his face set in determination, Harry led the Order and the Lycans inside.

**A/N: Well there you have it, I hope you liked it and whether you did or not, please review to tell me what you think. I know I haven't responded to reviews yet and that's because I didn't know how to do so, but I've figured it out now and will reply if you are kind enough to grace me with your thoughts/opinions/suggestions/completely unrelated but undeniably funny ramblings. Hopefully the next chapter won't take nearly as long; it's currently called 'Of Riddles, Monsters and The search for the Elixir, but this may change as I'm thinking about restructuring the chapters a little bit. **

**If you want to keep a close eye on me, I'm on twitter Prongs_potterHP and will post messages about my progress in writing, ideas I might have and occasionally story suggestions. My brother is now on and has posted a very funny and random story called 'Remus Lupin: Master of the Robot', which is on my Favourite Stories.**


	18. Of Elixir and the end of the beginning

As they walked into the ancient castle, their senses on high alert, Harry and his allies were immediately hit by an astonishing sight. The smell of death and charred flesh hung heavy in the air and in the grand entrance hall before them there lay the destroyed corpses of three massive Dragons and at least thirty Griffins. Scanning the room, Harry saw no signs of living creatures and his magical senses confirmed this so, swallowing the bile rising in his throat, he pushed on, leading his troops to the single door that stood at the end of the hall. Pausing for a second to ready himself for action, he flung the door open and quickly strode inside.

As soon as the door was open, Harry was met by a deafening _SCREEEEEEECH_ as dozens of Griffins let loose their distinctive battle cry and charged the room's invaders. Drawing his sword and infusing it with magic, Harry expertly cut down the first of the Beasts to meet him, before blasting the second across the room. The voices of his dark sub-conscious bellowed their orders in his ear and, again, he embraced them, making good use of the shot of adrenalin and magic they provided by thrusting out his hand and flinging a thousand razor-sharp ice-bullets at the attacking beasts. The elemental projectiles pierced even the resistant hides of the magical monsters and sent a good number of them crashing to the ground as Harry beheaded another with the sword of Gryffindor.

The Lycans fought savagely and, though Harry saw one go down under a hail of teeth and claws, his brethren around him carried on as if nothing had happened. The Order too fought well and, with Harry using his sword and powerful magic in tandem to great effect, the number of Griffins quickly dwindled and the remainder disappeared in a huge fire ball of Mr. Potter's creation. With the room clear, the Harry led the Order soldiers and the Lycans across the room to the door on the other side.

Once again, Harry stopped and signalled that everyone should be ready, before opening the door. This time, however, there was no apparent threat. The chamber beyond was significantly smaller than the last and stood completely empty, with not even a corpse to show Voldemort's trail. Rather worryingly, Harry noted, there also wasn't a door at the other end and the only way in and out seemed to be the way from which they came. Walking into the centre of the room to investigate, he was suddenly halted when a voice cried out;

"Harry, wait!"

Whipping round, the young wizard dropped into a duelling stance, his wand ready to strike down anyone or anything that might be foolish enough to challenge him. But he found nothing. Neither man nor monster, bar those he had led inside, stood within the room and Harry was starting to question Remus' sanity before the older man reached out a hand before him. A pulse spread across a wall of nothingness from where the werewolf's hand had stopped, like a stone dropping into a pool and, as he allowed his magic to expand outwards, Harry sensed the magical signature of a powerful force-field between him and his comrades.

He was about to start bringing the barrier down when his heart suddenly dropped; an all too familiar feeling was spreading through Harry's veins as his blood turned ice cold and his breath turned to fog before his eyes. Bolstering his mental shields, he turned around, but to his shock, found not a Dementor, but a grey mist slowly seeping through the walls. As the fog grew thick around him the effects increased tenfold, as if a thousand Dementors were feeding on his soul and the young warrior was filled with an all encompassing hopelessness and despair. Pushing the depression away with all his might, Harry focused on the happiest memory he could recall and, with power in his voice, cried;

"_Expecto Patronum!_"

An ethereal stag burst from Harry's wand and galloped around the room, but he realised, with panic in his heart, that the patronus was not having an effect. Prongs cantered uselessly around the chamber, with nothing to pierce with its razor sharp antlers and Lily Potter's dying screams began to ring in her son's ears. With a flash of green light, they disappeared, as the room around him faded from view, only to be replaced by the image of his Godfather, the man he had known for so little time but whom he had loved like a father, his back arching gracefully as he slowly fell through the veil of death, never to emerge again.

Again and again Harry Potter's worst and darkest memories played before his eyes, as clearly as the day they had occurred and, as any semblance of happiness or hope disappeared from the young wizard's heart, his legs gave way and he collapsed, shivering, to his knees. After what seemed like hours of the mental torture, the scene changed and the room he had entered not ten minutes ago reappeared before him. The fog of despair started to lift as, before his very eyes, there materialised his parents, who then walked towards him. But as they got closer, Harry noticed a disgusted look plastered upon his mother and father's faces.

"You are such a disappointment Harry!" His Mum screamed, revulsion in her tone. "You are nothing but a murderer, no better than Voldemort!"

Harry felt his breath hitch and his heart shudder and turned to his father, with his last shred of hope.

"I have no son." James Potter said simply.

The Potters retreated but at that moment, Ginny appeared beside them and looked upon Harry with the same look as his parents. For an eternity, the Boy Who Lived could only watch as a procession of those he loved most emerged from the mist to tell him what a disappointment he was, to reel off a list of his flaws and to look down on him as if he was less than scum. Mr and Mrs Weasley, Remus, Sirius, Thane, Ron, Hermione, the twins and Hagrid all spat insults at him with revulsion in their eyes, repealing any love they might once have had for him, while all the while, Harry's worst memories played in his ears and his heart was filled with nothing but hopelessness and grief. Lying on the floor, shivering against the cold, he tried to drift away but, try as he might, he couldn't block out the voices of his parents and Sirius blaming him for their deaths, he couldn't block out Ginny saying that she had never loved him and he couldn't block out the others as they told him to give in; that he could never defeat Voldemort and that he had become corrupted by evil.

After what seemed like years, as the last glint of light faded from behind Harry's usually brilliant emerald eyes, the crowd of his loved ones parted and into the mist walked a medieval knight.

"Harry Potter," the knight began in a booming voice, "I come before you to offer you a choice. There are three doors behind me, three routes which you may decide to take. The first, to your left, will lead you to your death, where you will be reunited with your loved ones in the hereafter. The door to your right will transport you safely home, wherever it is you feel most safe. To get through the final door, the one in the middle, you would have to duel me and beyond it lay hardship and suffering and, eventually, the Elixir a Lumina. Which path will you take?"

With dead eyes and a heart still heavy with darkness and despair, Harry looked to his left, to the door that would release him from his torture and his responsibility; the door that would reunited him with his parents and Sirius in the next great adventure. He was about to tell the knight his decision when he heard a sound break through the deafening fog of depression that filled his mind as the Dementor-effect still hung heavy in the air. With great effort, the young wizard turned his head to see Remus, Thane and the Order stood screaming at him through the force-field, which had apparently blocked the mist. Concentrating hard, Harry managed to make out a few words and realised what his friends were trying to tell him. They wanted him to push on and, with this little bit of reinforcement, he felt the voices in his mind stir and awaken once more. They too wanted him to choose the middle door, to destroy the knight stood in his way and go on to capture the power of the Elixir a Lumina.

"I choose the middle door," Harry croaked out. "I choose the Elixir a Lumina."

"Very well," the knight responded.

At the ancient soldier's words, the thick mist disappeared from around Harry, taking with it the illusions of his loved ones and the freezing temperature. With the Dementor-effect gone, the young wizard was able to push away the lingering depression and focus on his determination and his ultimate goal.

"We duel with swords and swords alone," the knight spoke up once more, drawing a broadsword from the scabbard attached to his suit of armour. "The punishment for using magic will be most severe."

Harry merely nodded before drawing his open weapon, his hands tingling with the power of the legendary sword of Gryffindor. With not another word, the knight aggressively lunged forward, swinging his heavy weapon with skill and precision as Harry was immediately forced on to the defensive. Silently thanking Thane with all his heart, he parried the first few blows and ducked under a third before launching an attack of his own. For some time this continued, the adversaries evenly matched as they spun and whirled around each other in a deadly dance, occasionally hitting the other with a glancing blow but never gaining any real advantage.

Harry grew steadily more aggressive in style as he grew frustrated with the stalemate and as the whispers roared at him to kill the knight that stood in the way of his glory. But every move he made seemed to be anticipated and every strike was blocked dodged or parried by the armoured man. Soon, Harry's frustration got the better of him and the voices of the dark side of his psyche screamed; '_Use your magic! Destroy him!_' Harry more than willingly complied, thrusting out his hand and releasing a powerful blasting curse, which struck the knight in the chest and blew him to smithereens.

For a second, Harry paused, anticipating some sort of retaliation for his breach of the rules, but there seemed to be none; the path to the middle door was now clear. He was just taking his first step forward, however, when there was a flash of light before him and in his way, there appeared two knights, identical to the first and both clutching swords. Harry just had time to feel his heart drop before the soldiers simultaneously sprung forward in a well choreographed attack and he was forced to defend desperately, fighting for his life.

The battle recommenced, but this time Harry was out-skilled, almost overwhelmed by the threat posed by the two knights. He was forced to remain almost entirely on the defensive, giving everything he had to simply stay alive as he blocked, dodged and rolled around the room. Every now and then he was caught by one of the blades and felt his skin tear as it was sliced by steel, but he didn't allow himself to falter at the pain as he knew to do so would be a deadly mistake.

For quite some time Harry fought and he felt himself starting to tire, as the knights attacked him just as vigorously as they had to begin with. He knew he had to do something fast. Moving all the time, he looked out for an opening and, when he found it, he threw in all his chips. Kicking out, Harry caught one of the knights in the shin to give himself a couple of seconds, before turning quickly and striking at the second knight with all his strength. His attack was blocked but the force of it sent the knight stumbling backwards, allowing Harry to turn back to the first knight to block his blade. After catching the blow on his sword, he grabbed the hilt of the knight's weapon and used it as a pivot to swing him around, right in to the path of the second knight, who struck him in the neck with a deadly blow.

With one enemy down, Harry was able to attack some more and, with renewed vigour, allowed the voices of his mind to spur him on. Using everything Thane had taught him, the young wizard fought like he had never fought before, ignoring his pain as he came at the knight with attack after attack. It was not long before the soldier was overwhelmed and, pushing his sword upwards, Harry then thrust his blade right through the knight's chest. The armoured man stumbled slightly before falling to the ground and, like his comrade before him, disappearing into nothingness.

As soon as the second knight was felled, the force-field holding the Order and the Lycans back faded away and Remus and Thane sprung forward to envelop Harry in a hug. Harry smiled and, after he was released, allowed himself a moment to regain his breath and his composure, quickly healing his more serious injuries before, with a nod to his brothers and sisters in arms, opened the door and walked through to the next room.

This room was not empty. The moment Harry walked inside, he and his allies were set upon by a veritable army of Acromantula. The giant spiders ran towards them at speed and Harry was forced to conjure a huge wind to blow them back and stop himself and the Order from being overwhelmed, at the same time shouting at the men, women and beasts under his command to aim for the creatures' underbellies. The Lycans pounced forward and began to rip into the beasts with their teeth and claws as the soldiers of the Order of the Phoenix shot off their chosen spells. Harry's curse of choice was the killing curse and, as the voices constantly whispered their encouragement, the young man smiled and shot off deadly green bolts of light like machine-gun fire, leaving a trail of Acromantula bodies piled high as he steadily made his way across the room.

The spiders seemed to see that Harry was their deadliest enemy and started to attack him en masse, grouping together to pounce as they hoped to overwhelm him. Switching tactics, Harry almost lazily released a huge stream of fire to envelop the attacking beasts, which screeched in pain as they were burned alive. The Order and the Lycans soon made it across the room and to the door on the other side. Harry noticed a knowing smile pass between the King and Queen of the Lycans while the majority of the Order avoided his eyes. With a small frown, but his eyes still shining with power and determination, the heir of Merlin opened the door and proceeded on through the castle.

Finding themselves in a wide corridor, many of the Order's soldiers retched and quickly averted their gaze from the disembowelled corpses of five giants, which lay between them and a grand staircase. Reaching out with his magic, Harry sensed no live beasts or beings in the room and gave his allies a quick nod before striding forward, vanishing one of the bodies to clear the way and leading his troops up the stairs. The staircase led to a corridor, which opened up into a huge, grand hall, finely decorated with ancient art and furnishings of gold. None of this was noticed by the army of light, however, as they stared in shock and terror at the sight before them.

In the magically expanded hall there stood a dozen massive Nundu, panting their disease-carrying breath as their evil eyes stared fixedly at the witches, wizards and Lycans that dared enter their domain. Above them, twice as many Hungarian horntails swooped through the air grunting in rage and releasing occasional bursts of flames as they too looked upon the uninvited guests. Finally, there stood a further five giants, which stood guard over the ornate, oak door at the other end of the hall.

Looking upon this, Harry laughed, muttering; "Very clever". Thane and Remus both turned to look at him incredulously, as if questioning whether he'd finally lost it, as their eyes too were filled with hopelessness and fear.

"Don't worry boys and girls," Harry spoke up. "I'll take care of this one."

As the Boy Who Lived twirled his wand in a complex motion and muttered a long incantation under his breath, the Order of the Phoenix and their Lycan allies could only watch in amazement as the Nundu and Dragons that filled the room disappeared before their eyes.

"I have to give it to my ancestors," Harry began, "that was a pretty impressive illusion charm, but I like it better this way, don't you?"

"Much better," Thane breathed, still in shock. "The Nundu and Dragon look is so last year."

Harry smiled and strode forwards to meet the five giants, stood growling at him as they raised clubs protectively and blocked the door.

"I don't suppose you'll let us pass if we ask nicely?" Harry asked, smiling at the giants.

In answer, one of them lunged forward in attack, only to be flung back and disarmed before it moved so much as a yard.

"That's what I thought," Harry spoke once more.

The giants didn't survive much longer. As his comrades vanished the corpses of the huge beasts, Harry paused for a second and closed his eyes in concentration as he reached out with his magical senses. After a couple of minutes, in which the rest of the Order and the Lycans looked on in apprehension, Harry opened his eyes and smiled slightly.

"We're close," He said. "Very close. We just need to get past yet more Griffins and some Sphinxes in the next room and we're there."

There was a small groan from the Order soldiers but Harry smirked. He allowed himself another moment to draw the entirety of his vast magical reservoir to his fingertips, relishing the prospect of another fight as power started to pour off him and his eyes started to glow, his mind finally at peace as he fully embraced the whispers and he heeded their call to kill.

Flinging the doors open, Harry was met by the screeching battle cry of the Griffin as the powerful beasts started to run and swoop towards them. The young warrior didn't miss a beat and immediately threw himself into the action. With a sweep of his wand, he conjured a lion and multiplied it by ten, before setting the beasts on to the Griffins as a distraction. As he was working, one Griffin had snuck up upon him and Harry didn't sense the attack until the very last minute. Forced to act quickly, he transformed into his Gryon form and rolled with the blow as the Griffin pounced on him, before the flinging the beasts off him and taking to the air.

Turning back into his human self, Harry supported himself on a gust of wind and released a shockwave of magic to repel the Griffins flying towards him. Having bought himself a little time, the young wizard then released a torrent of curses and hexes to destroy the creatures swarming all around him, mixing killing curses with elemental magic and hitting anything closing in on him with an Extrudo curse. As the room started to clear, Harry lowered himself to the ground and sent a powerful exploding hex forwards to clear the way to the door, blowing up half a dozen of the beasts before continuing forward as he and his allies finished the rest of them off.

Walking up to the door, Harry felt a tingle in his scar to tell him that Voldemort was nearby and raised his wand to kill the four sphinxes guarding the entrance to the chamber containing the Elixir a Lumina. However, something stopped him, a whim, which briefly overpowered the blood-lust that had taken hold of him and he faltered. His eyes met individually with those of each sphinx before, as one, the human-lion hybrid creatures bowed and stepped aside, to allow him free access to the door. Feeling the weight of destiny on his shoulders, Harry took a deep breath in and turned to his comrades.

"This is it." He said, before, with a flick of his hand, he opened the doors and strode inside.

The chamber that met Harry and his troops was bigger than any room they had ever seen and was completely unfurnished and undecorated, with nothing but stone walls, floor and ceiling all around, except for one, small area of wall where the Dark Lord Voldemort stood staring at writing too far away for Harry to read. For a thousand years this room had stood completely empty, but now there stood within it a dark army; scores of Death Eaters, Nosferatu and Dementors, gathered in fighting stances, ready to engage the army of light that had just entered the room.

"You still stand behind your slaves Tom?" Harry cried out as Voldemort finally turned to look at them. "Even with the Ritual of Eternal damnation, are you still too afraid to engage me alone?"

Lord Voldemort simply smiled a cold, evil smile, looking other worldly with the effects of his latest ritual, with markings carved on to his bald, pale head and a visible aura of black magical power.

"Allow Potter through." He commanded, his snake-like hiss having an echo to it that somehow made it even more sinister.

The Dark Lord's servants parted to allow Harry a clear path to their master, which the young wizard took, walking slowly but purposefully through the masses and towards his nemesis. As he passed the last Death Eater, the army closed ranks once more, separating Harry from his troops as his gaze bore into that of Voldemort.

"Potter is to be left to me, but as for the others; destroy them."

At this command, the Death Eaters, Dementors and Nosferatu all sprang into action, engaging their foes in mortal combat. But Harry took no notice of the ferocious battle behind him, his eyes still staring into Voldemort's as magical power crackled at his fingertips and the voices of his mind roared in his ear.

"Only one of us is going to leave this room," Harry spoke.

It was a statement of fact and Voldemort inclined his head slightly to show his agreement before, as one, both wizards raised their wand in a formal salute and bowed. The air around them was heavy with magic as it radiated palpably from the two powerful wizards and everything around them seemed to fade away as their focus remained on each other and they both dropped into duelling stances. Then, almost quicker than the human eye could follow, Lord Voldemort whipped forward, striking out with his wand with a cry of; "_Avada Kedavra!_"

Harry quickly spun out the way of the Killing curse and immediately returned fire with an exploding curse sent at the Dark Lord's feet. The ground blew apart, sending shrapnel flying but Voldemort remained unscathed and, as Harry fired a flurry of spells towards his nemesis, he conjured an apparition shield to swallow them all. On alert as the tear in space-time closed, Harry's eyes widened as several rips opened around him and he was bombarded from all sides by his own curses, followed immediately by a powerful jet of fire.

Diving to the ground, Harry quickly rolled out the way of his own spells, but sensed that he was being strafed by the Dark Lord's powerful elemental flame. Rolling to his feet, he conjured a huge tsunami of water, which engulfed the fire about to consume him before rushing towards Lord Voldemort. As it drew close, however, the water parted and flowed around the Dark wizard before disappearing entirely and he blocked with apparent ease, the pure light magic sent courtesy of Harry's wand before taking to the skies with a rush of wind.

From there, Riddle conjured a baseball-sized globe of pure Dark magic, which he sent flying towards his enemy at speed. Recognising the magic, Harry conjured a large silver shield, which he reinforced with pure light magic and ducked behind as the black ball of light exploded outwards with fearsome power. The pure dark magic rushed over Harry, but the young wizard remained standing and was about to counter when he felt the first stirrings of coldness within his veins.

Looking upwards, Harry's jaw dropped in shock as Voldemort, eyes glowing blood red, conjured a dozen Dementors around him and, seemingly unaffected by their presence, sent them flying at Harry. Recovering quickly from his surprise, the young wizard searched his mind for the happiest memory he had and forced the power of that positive thought into an ethereal guardian with a cry of "_Expecto Patronum!_" While he did this, he continued to move, never staying in one place for more than a second lest he be hit by an attack from his enemy above.

Surprisingly, though, this never came and as Harry's patronus dispersed the Dementors, he looked up to find Voldemort's gaze not on him, but straight up. Floating eerily, the Dark Lord had his arms stretched towards the heavens and was chanting a long, Latin incantation, his snake-like hiss echoing throughout the chamber. Harry was about to make the most of his apparent distraction, when Voldemort suddenly brought his arms down and, with one last bellowed incantation, Killing curses started to rain down from the sky.

Harry immediately threw himself to the ground, desperately rolling, jumping and diving to avoid the deadly bolts of green magic as his magical senses guided him. Soon, however, the downpour became too much and the young warrior, while still dodging the curses, conjured up as much of his power as he could and slashed his wand above his head with a shout of;

"_Scissum Intermundia!_"

A huge apparition shield appeared above Harry's head and started to swallow the deadly green beams. He knew that he wouldn't be able to hold it for long, however, and that he needed to distract the Dark Lord for long enough to launch a counter-attack. With the dark whispers of his mind still feeding his magic, Harry reached out to the elements and conjured a huge gust of wind, which he slammed into Voldemort, in the hope of blasting him into the nearest wall.

The Dark Lord managed to stop himself before he hit the stone wall, but was distracted long enough to bring his chanting to an end and Harry allowed the rip to heal with relief as the Killing curses stopped raining down and Lord Voldemort lowered himself to the ground. As soon as Riddle's feet had found terra firma, Harry opened the second rip before him and immediately bombarded the Dark wizard with a torrent of his own curses. Voldemort was ready, however, and quickly raised a silver shield to deflect the Killing curses away.

Harry made good use of the distraction and, as Voldemort defended himself against his own spells, conjured a perfect illusion of himself where he stood. At the same time, he performed a disillusionment charm and dropped, invisible, to the ground before taking aim with his wand. As the Dark Lord turned upon the fake Harry and fired a powerful jet of fire, the real deal conjured a sword behind his enemy's back before summoning it towards him. For just a second, Harry thought his plan had worked, but at the last moment, with a small gesture of his hand, Voldemort conjured an apparition shield behind himself, which immediately swallowed the sword and Harry was forced to roll out of the way as the second rip appeared directly above him and the blade buried itself into the ground.

The younger wizard quickly sprung to his feet, but was immediately forced to go on the defensive as he was set upon by a massive tempest of fire. Taking control of the flame, Harry gathered it together and shot the fireball at Voldemort, who vanished it with a flick of his wrist. Thrusting his wand forward, Voldemort then released a large pulse of pure dark magic, which sped towards Harry, who, forced to act quickly, surrounded himself with pure light magic and allowed it to pass through him.

The Boy who lived was unhurt by the attack but was immediately hit by a powerful gust of wind, which threw him off his feet and into the air. Harry was caught off balance and, as he struggled to right himself in the air, sensed yet another bombardment of dark curses heading his way. Reaching out a hand, he propelled himself away from the deadly magic, but was glanced by a stray curse, which opened a large gash on his arm and sent him spinning to the ground. Ignoring the pain, he just managed to get his feet underneath him and landed upright, his gaze finding that of Voldemort once again.

Harry realised that the distance between them was playing right into the Dark Lord's hands. Riddle held the superior power, but Harry was quick and skilled in avoiding attacks and so, coming to a decision, the younger wizard heightened his magic senses before conjuring a thick, black smokescreen, which enveloped the room. Harry then propelled himself forward, dodging out the way as he sensed Voldemort blindly firing curses at him, but never slowing down as he got ever closer to the Dark Lord. As he felt himself nearing his nemesis, Harry unsheathed the sword of Gryffindor and infused it with magic before swinging it gracefully towards the Dark Lord's neck. At that moment, however, the smoke cleared and steel met steel as Harry's sword was blocked by Voldemort's conjured blade, infused with pure dark magic.

Riddle made good use of Harry's surprise and immediately pushed onto the offensive, reigning down blows while Harry blocked, parried and dodged, as he attempted to regain his footing. Voldemort showed astonishing speed and agility as the two duelled and Harry felt sure that the Ritual of Eternal damnation had played a part in that. The two seemed to be quite evenly matched and neither managed to sustain any sort of advantage as every attack was dodged or blocked, the two wizards twirling elegantly around each other.

Voldemort was not, however, averse to fighting dirty and, as Harry went on the offensive, the Dark Lord crumbled the ground before the younger wizard, causing him to lose balance and stumble. Voldemort pressed the advantage but Harry used the momentum and threw himself forward before rolling back up to his feet and spinning around to continue the duel. Riddle continued to attempt to distract his opponent, sending out curses with his left palm and using the elements to gain the upper hand while Harry tried to do the same. The younger wizard was holding his own and had twice come close to removing the Dark Lord's head when he sensed a sudden rush of magic around his feet. Elemental flames started to rise from the ground and, though Harry attempted to subdue them while focusing his concentration on his blade, he was overpowered and he felt his left leg burn. He was forced to turn his attention to the fire and dowse it with water before it consumed him completely and this allowed Voldemort the chance to slash forward his sword, catching Harry in the shoulder and opening a wound.

Harry cried out in shock but forced down the pain and managed to block the Dark Lord's follow up attack before, fuelled by anger and pain, he reached out to the elements and caused the earth beneath Voldemort's feet to shake violently. Batting Riddle's blade to the side, Harry then jutted out Gryffindor's sword, catching his nemesis on the cheek and drawing blood. The younger wizard quickly brought his sword back to deliver a deadly blow but Voldemort, snarling with rage, unleashed a powerful shockwave of pure dark magic and blasted him away.

Harry landed hard on his back but jumped immediately back to his feet, only to see Voldemort's sword flying his way. His abilities as seeker coming in handy, he deftly caught the blade in his left hand before flinging both it and his own sword back at Voldemort, using magic to make them fly at speed. Riddle dodged them both but Harry had prepared for this eventuality and the weapons curled back around and homed in on their target, flying like bullets towards the Dark Lord's back. Just as they were about to reach him, however, Voldemort raised a wall of earth from the ground and the swords found themselves buried deep inside.

As his enemy defended himself, Harry unleashed a powerful exploding curse, before turning his wand to the side. While Voldemort conjured a shield, Harry summoned a large rock from the floor of the castle and flung it into the curses path. The two collided and the explosion that resulted rocked the chamber, ferociously blasting Lord Voldemort backwards through the air.

Harry was about to push forward when he felt magic fill the air and suddenly dozens of tigers appeared on the ground, while the upper reaches of the room were filled with dragons. Reaching out with his magical senses, Harry found, as he had suspected, most of the creatures to be an illusion and quickly negated the effect. Even with this done, however, he still found himself faced with three circling tigers and, as he was about to strike them down, sensed a Killing curse heading his way. Reaching his arms forward, Harry made use of a spell of his own creation and, tearing his arms apart, split the Killing curse in two before sending each of the pieces to end the life of a tiger. The final jungle cat started to pounce, but as it did, the sword of Gryffindor dislodged itself from the wall of earth and was sent flying at the beast, taking off its head as Harry turned to Voldemort and fired a stream of pure light magic.

Voldemort was ready for him, however, and the attack was met with a continuous jet of pure dark magic. Unwilling to find himself in that kind of battle again, Harry ducked out the way, only to find himself tumbling to the floor as thick vines sprung up from the ground and wrapped themselves round his legs. Harry quickly cut away the plants and rolled to his feet, avoiding as he did a spear of ice that had been sent his way, but this brought him right into the path of another spell and the young wizard was unable to dodge the Cruciatus curse.

Agony tore violently through every cell of Harry's body as he fought desperately against the torture, to keep moving so as to avoid the curses that were doubtlessly heading his way. But it was not enough. The unspeakable pain of the unforgivable curse had caused the young wizard to falter and he was struck in the chest with a blasting curse, which sent him flying away from the Dark Lord. He landed on the ground some distance away, the end of the Cruciatus curse leaving no relief from pain as he felt bones break in his back and a gaping wound open up on his torso.

Knowing that to give in to the pain even for a second would mean forfeiting his life, Harry fought against it. Conjuring up as much power as he could muster, he forced his magic to heal the worst of his injuries and leave him able to continue the fight. The young wizard's wounds miraculously started to heal but, even as they did, the ground around him shook violently and, just as Harry felt his energy starting to return, the floor beneath him opened up. The ground swallowed him completely and he felt it closing in on him, crushing him to death.

With as much power as he could, Harry blasted out the ground above him and propelled himself upwards to escape the earth. Landing on his feet, he then reached down to the floor and broke away a huge missile of rock before aggressively flinging it at his nemesis. Voldemort caught the rock when it was a couple of feet away from him, however, and threw back at Harry, following it up with an onslaught of Killing curses.

The younger wizard magically cleaved the rock in two allowing the pieces to fall either side of him, before conjuring a shining silver shield to block the bolts of deadly green light. But, even as he maintained the constant assault of Killing curses, Voldemort reached up with his left hand and once again did the impossible, he conjured Dementors. Ten of the vile beasts swooped Harry's way and he was forced to take evasive action from the spells as he fought off the soul-sucking demons. Dodging and rolling out the way, Harry conjured a patronus to quickly see off the Dementors, before turning to face Voldemort once more.

The Dark Lord continued with his barrage of dark curses but Harry made no move to regain his shield. Instead, he kept dodging out the way, picking up speed as he did so until he was running towards Voldemort. Bringing his wand to bear as he broke out into a sprint, Harry returned fire with his own torrent of powerful curses and the Dark Lord too chose to dodge away from the spell rather than raise his own protection. Soon, the two wizards were running full pelt at each other, each unleashing an onslaught of curses and hexes while dodging those of the other.

Harry noticed Voldemort's feet leave the ground, even as he kept running and the Dark Lord started to gain the advantage of height as he supported himself on pockets of air. The younger wizard followed course and ran into the air, not even faltering as he got ever closer to his nemesis, the whispers of his mind fuelling him as he unleashed his anger upon Voldemort. Soon, they were so close that seeing the curses before they reached him was becoming difficult, avoiding them even more so, but rather than raising a shield, Harry reached out his palm behind him and propelled himself forward. As he did so, he unleashed a powerful wave of raw magic and, as the two wizards clashed, they were exploded violently away from each other.

Both men managed to catch themselves in the air and Harry was about to launch into yet another offensive when the ground below him began to shake yet again. As he looked down, lava exploded upwards towards him and the young warrior was forced to fire a powerful jet of water and wind to force it away. As he did so, Harry saw in his peripheral vision that a huge fist of ice was heading his way and he just managed to turn in time to release a wave of pure heat to melt the projectile.

Voldemort did not let up his attack, however, and had closed the gap between the two of them in Harry's distraction. Even as the fist of ice was melted, the extrudo curse was heading his way and he didn't react in time to block the lightening fast spell. Harry was knocked out of the air and sent plummeting to the ground, only just managing to slow himself down before he struck the unforgiving earth. Quickly rolling out the way, Harry sensed a Killing curse strike the floor where a second ago he had lay but didn't dwell on it as he rolled to his feet.

As Harry Potter regained his footing, however, he was met by a terrifying sight. A dozen black balls of pure dark magic hung in the air all around him, fizzing with power as they prepared to explode outwards with deadly force. Desperately flinging his arms forwards, Harry propelled himself backwards so that all the globes were in front of him before gathering all his power to his fingertips and releasing it in a wall of pure light magic.

The ethereal protection of his wall protected Harry from much of the blast's destructive power as the balls exploded with earth-shattering power, but he was sent flying backwards from the shockwave. His ears rang with the force of the explosion as he flew through the air, battered and bruised, he was unable to react in time to slow himself down. Landing hard, he somehow managed to conjure up the energy to roll up to his feet but was immediately met by a powerful disembowelment curse.

Weary with injury and fatigue, Harry only just managed to raise a shield in time and, though it blocked the curse, it was smashed to pieces with the pure power of the magic. He was about to raise another defence when suddenly he felt a massive gust of wind pick up below and he was unable to stop himself being flung high into the air. Knowing that he was in immediate, mortal danger, the young wizard desperately twisted in the sky, whipping his body round to bring his wand to bear once more, but it was no use. Voldemort had immediately followed his curse with a powerful stream of pure dark magic and Harry's hastily conjured protection stood no chance.

A scream ripped itself from Harry's throat as he was flung into the far wall and a pain like no other filled every fibre of his being. The evil magic, made strong by the Ritual of Eternal Damnation, tore at Harry's magical core and tortured his body and soul. For an eternity it continued; a never ending stream of destruction and pain, striking the young warrior in the chest and pinning him to the wall as he could offer no resistance. And then it ended. For a brief half-second, Harry felt the agony abate and relief washed over him, before a sickly green light shone through his eye-lids and he knew no more.

Harry Potter fell twenty feet to the ground, where his body slumped lifelessly against the wall, his eyes open but unseeing. As he lay broken on the ground, his heart gave one final, weak shudder before lying still. He didn't hear Lord Voldemort's cry of triumph, or the shocked and heartbroken gasps of Remus and Thane, to him these things no longer existed; he was nothing and there existed nothing but darkness.

But then there was something; a small stirring of consciousness. Harry no longer felt any pain or worry, there was no responsibility, no Voldemort and, as he opened his eyes, he saw nothing but blackness. There was no ceiling, no walls or floor, but that didn't matter because he didn't seem to have a body either. He was having difficulty recalling anything about his life, even his own name, and only very vague senses presented themselves, not that Harry minded, in fact he was perfectly content to float, disembodied in the darkness, unfeeling and unknowing.

But then everything changed again. A speck of light appeared before him and Harry looked upon it with mild interest as he continued to float in the nothingness. The light was growing and, if Harry had had eyes, they would have widened as it suddenly flew at him, expanding until it encompassed him entirely. And as the world went from one extreme to another; from the darkness to the light, the young wizard was hit by a rush of memories, of feelings and emotions as his life played out in fast-forward before his eyes. Suddenly he remembered everything and he was filled with panic.

He had not returned to the land of the living however. Though he now seemed to have a body, the fact that it wasn't screaming at him in protest at the sufferings it had endured was enough to tell him that. Rather, the light seemed to have transported him to a massive room, with no doors or decor of any kind, nothing but white.

"Whoever designed the after-life clearly wasn't a fan of colour," Harry muttered and was shocked to hear a deep chuckle from behind him.

Whipping around, Harry's jaw dropped as, for the second time that night, he found himself face to face with his Mum and Dad. The Boy Who Lived automatically winced in anticipation of the verbal attack he was sure would come, but quickly he noticed something. His parents weren't staring at him in revulsion, in fact they were beaming at him, both sets of eyes shining with unshed tears of pride. This wasn't a trick.

"Mum? Dad?" Harry whispered, not believing they could actually be stood in front of him, while desperately wishing it was so.

"Sirius wanted to come," James spoke, his wife seemingly too emotional to say anything, "but only we were allowed."

Harry nodded slightly, slowly reaching out a hand until it came to rest on his Father's, very solid, face. James Potter smiled once more, looking, to his credit, only slightly uncomfortable about the situation. It seemed, however, that Lily could hold herself back no longer and she flung herself on to her only son, whom she had last seen aged just one year old, and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. Harry faltered slightly in shock, but quickly recovered and, finally fulfilling a childhood dream, hugged his Mum. James soon joined in and for some time the three of them just stood in each others' arms, until Harry finally extricated himself and looked upon his parents; his shining eyes hungrily taking in every detail of them as if wanting to remember every little detail of this moment.

"Where are we?" He finally asked. "Because frankly, if this is heaven, they've really exaggerated how nice it is in the brochure."

James and Lily laughed and this time, it was Lily who responded.

"You aren't dead Harry, not quite. Your heart was stopped by the Killing curse but your soul still resides within your body. Right now you are between places, neither in one world nor the other. Though your blood and mine now runs in Voldemort's veins, the protection I gave you as a baby remained strong enough that, combined with your own incredible healing powers, you weren't killed straight away. Just this once, Harry, the fates are giving you a second, no make that third, chance."

The truth dawned on the youngest Potter and he smiled wryly.

"I have to go back don't I?"

"No." His Father replied. "You don't have to, but you will. You will because that's who you are son, the earth must not fall into Voldemort's hands and I know that, as long as you survive, you will not stop until he is wiped off the planet. You can't imagine how proud we are of you and how much we love you."

Lily nodded. "I love you more than anything. And I know I'm not the only one," she added teasingly. "I think there's another reason for you to go back. I like her."

Harry smiled at that, but it slid from his face as he saw his parents' expression grow serious and James Potter started to speak.

"We've been watching over you Harry and we know what our shadows said to you, after emerging from Merlin's tablet. Our message remains the same. You have suffered far too much in your short life and have coped incredibly, but a darkness lingers in your soul. The side-effect of the ritual you underwent with the Rock of Initium; the whispers, are growing ever stronger. You must fight them son or they will consume you and they will change who you are."

"Don't fight with hate in your heart Harry," Lily said. "You have so much love and it is that more than anything else that makes you strong. Push aside the whispers, fight for love and you will achieve anything you set out to do."

James and Lily then looked and each other and suddenly a tinge of sadness tainted their smiles.

"We have to go," James spoke. "Just remember what we told you and always remember that we love you."

Harry was about to call out for them to wait, when James and Lily Potter faded from sight and he was left alone in the empty white room. It was then that the room started to change. The wall before him disappeared and the path forward became what seemed to be an endless expanse of bright, white light. As he turned around, the young wizard found that the wall behind him had, in turn, been replaced by endless darkness, making his choice clear. Closing his eyes for a second and heaving a deep sigh as he muttered about his own stupid nobility, Harry Potter leapt back into the darkness.

There was no lingering in the blackness this time, no disembodied contentment; Harry was flung through the space between worlds at gut-wrenching speed before, with a jolt, he felt his soul rejoin his body. And there it was. The pain and exhaustion that told him that he had indeed re-entered the land of the living. No time had passed at all and Voldemort's triumphant cry was just dying on his serpentine lips as Harry, with a smile, felt his heart start pumping once more.

The organ delivered life-giving blood to his veins and the blood, in turn, brought his magic to his fingertips. He felt the full extent of his power crackling just beneath the surface and with it, there awakened the whispers once more. The voices roared their instructions in his ear, but this time Harry fought, he fought with a new and powerful determination and mentally dragged the whispers to the very back of his mind, locking them away as he followed his parents advice and instead focused on everything he loved. He focused on his love for Ginny, for Ron and Hermione, for his parents and Sirius and Remus and Thane, for the Weasleys and Hagrid and a warm feeling spread throughout his being. His mind seemed to clear and the pain faded away to be replaced by nothing but resolve to defeat Voldemort once and for all, not for power or glory, but for them; for the ones he loved.

Opening his eyes as they glowed brightly with magical energy, Harry pushed his hands down on to the ground and hoisted himself up to his feet. Power radiated off the young man as he stood and focused his gaze on his nemesis and his nemesis alone. Voldemort had momentarily turned away and it was a strangled cry of joy from Remus that caused the Dark Lord to turn around, his eyes widening in shock, and perhaps a little fear, before narrowing in hatred.

"You really aren't very good at this killing me thing are you Tom?" Harry spoke. "That's two Killing curses you've hit me with now and yet I still seem to be alive. You must be losing your touch."

Voldemort roared in rage and whipped his wand forward, firing off a powerful blasting curse. Harry waited until the last second before slashing his wand upwards to meet the curse, releasing, as he did so, a burst of pure magic to bat the spell away and into the ceiling. The younger wizard then returned fire with a Killing curse and an extrudo, but both were wide and Riddle ignored them as he wielded his wand in a complex motion.

A huge basilisk of elemental flame appeared before him and immediately struck out at Harry. The curses the young warrior had sent at Voldemort, however, had started to curl around, homing in on the Dark wizard and forcing him to raise a shield as Harry conjured a massive Phoenix of elemental water to do battle with the snake. Harry then turned his attention back to Voldemort and, using the Dark Lord's distraction, summoned up all of his magic and conjured a dozen balls of pure light magic, which he sent flying at Voldemort.

Riddle acted quickly, however, and wrapped the ethereal globes in pure dark magic, which muted their effects as they exploded outwards. Voldemort immediately seized the offensive and shot out Killing curses like machine-gun fire, forcing Harry to roll out of the way of the deadly bolts of death. The Dark Lord was ready for this, however, and the ground below Harry crumbled, sending him tumbling and landing on his back.

Rolling to his feet, Harry looked up to see his nemesis reaching up to the heavens once again. There was no long incantation this time, however, and the young wizard just had time to wonder what Voldemort was up to when there was a great **BANG** from above and a giant, flaming rock crashed through the ceiling and shot his way. Reacting with impressive speed, Harry reached out his hands to slow the meteor and brought it to a halt just a few feet from his face before freezing it and flinging it back towards Voldemort.

The Dark Lord blasted the rock to pieces but, as he did so, Harry took a page from his book and forced thick vines to rise from the ground and wrap themselves around his enemy's legs, tripping him up. As Riddle landed on his back, Harry conjured a huge wall of rock above him and released it to the pull of gravity, sending it plummeting to the prone Dark wizard. Voldemort reacted quickly, however and raised his arms to catch the rock before jumping to his feet and manoeuvring the wall to block the incoming Killing curses. The Dark Lord then thrust his wand forward and sent the wall flying towards Harry at speed.

The young wizard blasted the earth to pieces but, as he did so, found a massive stream of pure Dark magic heading his way. He was about to roll to the side when something stopped him; a powerful voice, different and greater than the whispers of his mind screamed out for him to return fire. Harry heeded its call and, with as much power as he could muster, flung out a torrent of pure light magic to meet the Dark Lord's attack.

The two opposing forces met in the middle and Voldemort immediately started to gain ground. His power, boosted by the Ritual of Eternal Damnation, was too much even for Harry and the Dark magic pushed against the Light, forcing its way towards the young warrior with irresistible power. Harry was reaching deep into his inner magical core and scraping together every last bit of his magic to push back against the Dark Lord but he was losing hope as the gap between him and the deadly Dark magic become smaller by the second.

As he stood, about to die, Harry's thoughts turned to his parents and their message to him from beyond the grave. He thought about his friends and loved ones and everyone who would suffer a most terrible fate if he allowed Voldemort to win but most of all he thought of Ginny and his love for her. Harry closed his eyes to force the last of his power into the pure Light magic and, as he focused on those he loved most, he felt a warm glow within him and a raw determination took hold of his very soul. He couldn't allow them to face a world with Voldemort in command. They would not face the torture and pain that the Dark Lord's reign would inevitably bring; he was the one with the power to defeat Tom Riddle and he would damn well rid the universe of his cursed existence.

Harry felt a new power within him and seized it with all his might before throwing it into his magic. The pure Dark magic halted mere inches from Harry's face and started, slowly, to give way to the blinding whiteness of the pure Light. The young warrior focused all the love he had for his friends and girlfriend into that spell and, with a Herculean will of effort, forced the Dark magic back, steadily gaining ground as he poured more and more power into his attack. Utterly exhausted and fighting beyond his capabilities, Harry retained consciousness through pure strength of will alone, his determination to save his loved ones from his fate feeding his magic until, finally, the Pure Light magic struck the Dark Lord in chest.

An unearthly scream ripped itself from Voldemort's throat but Harry didn't let up; he couldn't, not until he was certain Tom Riddle was no more. With the power granted to him by the Rock of Initium, Harry conjured a giant tempest of fire, water, wind and earth and flung it at Lord Voldemort, mixing it with the Pure Light magic. For an age, he pummelled his nemesis with magical power, dropping onto one knee in exhaustion as black spots appeared before his eyes.

Even half unconscious and supported only on one knee, Harry kept up the onslaught, sheer will-power alone preventing him from collapsing entirely and succumbing to magical exhaustion. But eventually, he could give no more. The elemental storm ceased and Harry fell forward on to the ground, panting heavily, but somehow retaining his grip on consciousness as his eyes drooped closed and he awaited the retaliation. It never came.

Not daring to believe, hardly daring to hope and with a massive effort, Harry raised his head and looked towards where Lord Voldemort should be standing. There was something lying on the ground, but exactly what was impossible to tell. He reached out with his magical senses but felt nothing. Dragging himself to his feet, Harry stumbled over to the pile of whatever it was and what he saw took his breath away. Flat upon the ground there laid a blackened mess; a charred and burned mass of flesh and bone that, to Harry, was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. The remains of Tom Marvolo Riddle; Lord Voldemort.

For a good thirty seconds, Harry was too stunned to know what to do, his mind failing to comprehend what his eyes were telling him. And then he laughed. It was not a laugh of joy, but of hysteria and of relief; it was over, he had done it and what was more, he had survived to tell the tale. Voldemort would never hurt anyone again. Galvanised by his triumph, Harry felt his exhaustion leave him in a rush of adrenalin and his magic jumped to his aid in providing what he wanted.

"**It's done!" **Harry's magically enhanced voice boomed out into the hall.

A few heads turned his way but the majority remained focused on their own individual battles to survive. That is until Harry made his next statement.

"**Voldemort is dead!"**

All around the room, heads now turned to Harry and a few Death Eaters gave cries of shock and horror at the sight of Harry stood victoriously over the corpse of their fallen master. These mixed in with whoops of joy and the Order of the Phoenix seemed to take heart from the triumph, throwing themselves yet harder into battle and taking down more than a few Death Eaters immediately as the Dark witches and wizards stood stunned at what had transpired.

Harry saw that the battle was turning the light's way and knew that, with his help, the army of darkness would not last much longer. Too exhausted to throw himself around all over the place as was his usual style, he kept his distance, throwing out powerful curses and spells at any Death Eater unfortunate enough to wander into his crosshairs. An idea forming in his mind, Harry had to grin at the irony as he conjured a large snake, before multiplying it by twenty and hissing at his new minions, commanding the serpents to wrap themselves around the legs and arms of the Death Eaters to bind them.

As the conjured snakes slithered away, Harry turned his attention to the Nosferatu, a few of whom were now targeting him; not the smartest of ideas. Twirling his wand expertly, Harry sent out advanced vampire killing curses with impressive speed, mixing them in with Extrudo curses to blast away any that might get too close. Soon the Death Eater and Nosferatu numbers were dwindling and the army of light pushed its numerical advantage, not letting up in the slightest the ferocity of their battling until the last Death Eater was stunned and bound, his wand snapped. The Lycan King growled his disapproval at Remus' mercy for the man, but the werewolf merely smiled back and, as one, the soldiers of the Order of the Phoenix let loose a cry of joy.

Harry knew that their job was far from over, but for a moment he allowed himself to be swept up in celebration as happiness and relief spread through the ranks. Cheers went up and hugs were exchanged as words of congratulation were passed around, with Harry getting more than his fair share. Soon, however, fatigue kicked in and Harry slid down a wall and on to the floor, and within seconds, they too fatigued, the rest of the room quietened and for a few minutes, the Boy Who Lived enjoyed some moments of peace.

Exhausted, battered and bruised, many having collapsed to the ground, the Lycans and Order of the Phoenix turned their gaze as one to Harry, who gave a tired smile and a nod of understanding. Resisting the urge to simply ignore them all and lie down on his comfy bit of floor for a week-long nap, the Boy Who Lived pushed himself up and walked over to the far end of the room, aware as he did so that the others were following him. Approaching the final puzzle, the one on which Voldemort had seemingly been stuck when he entered the room, Harry had to smile at what he saw.

It appeared to everyone stood looking at it to be a series of meaningless shapes and squiggles, everyone that is except one man. Harry immediately recognised it as the language Merlin had created, the one that had been carved upon his tablet and written in his diary; the language that only his descendents could understand.

_Son of Merlin, the potion of light is within your reach. Its power is great but terrible and unsuitable to be wielded by mere man, but it is my suspicion that the time will come when its existence endangers the safety of this earth. I leave it to my descendents to know if and when that time comes and rid the world of this potion's evil once and for all. Deposit on to me a sample of your blood and the Elixir a Lumina shall be revealed._

Harry felt the whispers stirring once more as he drew his wand and placed it against his cheek, where he could feel the sting of an open gash. Ignoring the pain, he gathered some blood and used his wand to paint it upon the wall. Before his eyes, the blood sank into the stone and, after a moment's peace, the room started to violently shake. A blinding white glow emanated from the wall and Harry was forced to cover his eyes. And then there was stillness. The glow faded away and, sensing a familiar magic, the young wizard turned and smiled when he saw that his allies had frozen in time. The section of wall covered in engravings faded away and an alcove was revealed; a small hollow in the stone, carrying a medium-sized crystal goblet, unusual only in its simplicity, which belied the great power contained within. With a wave of his wand, Harry vanished the magical force-field, which preserved the integrity of the glass and the potion and slowly reached forward to take hold of the Elixir a Lumina.

The second Harry's fingers found the cool glass of the goblet, he sensed time kick-start around him and the soldiers of the Order of the Phoenix and the Lycan court all released sounds of amazement and awe. Picking up the glass, Harry turned around to face those he had fought alongside in this great battle. He looked into the eyes of the King and then back down to the potion. The dark voices of his mind pushed back against Harry's mental defences, finally breaking through and hissing at him to drink from the cup. They whispered promises of great power and glory and made him want both. They filled his psyche until he couldn't tell their voices from that of his conscious, screaming at him to take drink; to fight back against the world that had treated him so badly and seize the power that was rightfully his.

The Lycan Queen saw the indecision in the young wizard's eyes and decided to give him a push.

"Drink Harry Potter. Take us under your command and gain for yourself the great power of our species and that of the most hated ones," she whispered, lacing her voice with a unique magic to convince him. "It is your birthright. You could do so much with the power resting in your hands; no one could stop you."

Harry met the Lycanthrope's gaze and gave a small smile. He raised the glass up to his face and, his eyes seeking Remus and Thane; vanished it with a silent spell. A furious _**ROAR**_ met Harry's ears, the second the Elixir disappeared, but to him it was just a sideshow, second to what was going on within his own mind. The voices shouted angrily at him; screaming about what he could have had, but Harry didn't care, he had resisted them and not just by pushing them away. He had simply overpowered their will and he knew that they held no sway in his mind any longer and he grinned and as he felt them fade away into nothingness, leaving his mind, for the first time in almost a year, entirely his own domain.

The Lycans, however, quickly brought his attention back to earth as they dropped down, ready to pounce. The Order soldiers were immediately at Harry's back, their wands drawn protectively, ready to fight to death against their former allies.

"**You betrayed us!"** The King snarled furiously and Harry merely nodded, feeling no guilt as he knew without doubt that the evil creatures had planned to betray him. **"We lived up to our end of the bargain and you have not delivered the Elixir a Lumina, your sentence for this betrayal, human, is death."**

"I don't want to fight you," Harry said simply. "I do not like you and I do not trust you. The world would undoubtedly be a better place without your kind in it. But you have fought by my side and that, to me, is important. You are free to leave this place, to live on, but if you choose to fight me, then know that I _will_ kill you. You have seen what I am capable of and if you make yourselves our enemy, I will lead my army of men, women, beasts and beings and eradicate your kind."

The Lycan king's anger grew further at Harry's words, but the monster could see the truth in them. With one last desperate _**ROAR**_, he rose from his fighting stance and fixed Harry with his stare.

"**This is not over Harry Potter. You have made yourself an enemy of the Lycanthrope nation and we have very long memories. One day, you will be brought to justice and you will die in my jaws. The Elixir a Lumina may be gone, but now that it is, it is possible to create a new one. The Lycanthropes will rise once more and the power that could have been yours, will be your downfall."**

With these final words, the King turned and stalked away, leading his court to collect the rest of their soldiers from the battlefield outside. Once they had gone, Remus turned worriedly to Harry.

"He's right," the werewolf said. "Now that the Elixir has been destroyed, there is nothing stopping another one being created, especially if they have another thousand years to work on it."

Harry smiled and reached out with his magical senses to confirm that the Lycans were gone.

"Who said the Elixir is destroyed?"

Remus' eyes widened, along with the rest of the Order soldiers.

"Where is it?" One of them asked.

"I didn't have a ridiculously over-protected ancient castle on hand, but it's safe for now. Don't worry, I'll make sure no one ever finds it again. Now, I know old Voldy's kicked the bucket, but this is no time to be stood around gossiping like old women. I don't know about you lot, but killing history's most powerful Dark Lord has gotten me in the mood to do some more fighting. What do you think Thane, feel like defeating the rest of the forces of darkness outside Leaena castle then going on to liberate Hogwarts?"

The Auror considered for a moment. "I suppose I don't have anything else planned right now, but once we've done I'm going to need one hell of a stiff drink and you, Potter, are getting the first round in."


	19. Of Snape and the beginning of the end

**A/N: And so we come to the penultimate chapter of this story and this series; the second wizarding war comes to an end and not everyone will make it out of the Battle of Hogwarts alive. Read on and please leave a review to tell me what you think.**

George Taylor reclined back in his chair, desperately trying to stave off the boredom threatening to overwhelm his mind and keep his concentration keenly focused on the man who lay contained before him. He had never claimed to be any sort of fighter but Taylor couldn't help but feel slightly bitter that he had been left with babysitting duty as his friends risked life and limb in battle; the bitterness, after all, was much more comfortable than the all-consuming fear and dread over the mortal danger his loved ones were in. Shaking his head to clear the self pity and thoughts of the Elixir a Lumina, his expression grew puzzled as the sound of footsteps reached his ears and George cautiously drew his wand as he climbed to his feet.

Fear gripped at his heart and he immediately regretted his wishes to enter battle as he aimed his wand at the door; he was no soldier, he was a middle-aged, Hogsmeade shopkeeper with children and a grandchild on the way, he had no business entering deadly combat. George readied himself as the door opened, only to breathe a sigh of relief and lower his wand at the sight of a stunningly beautiful and familiar face and the reassuring blue uniform of the Order of the Phoenix.

"Thank Merlin, it's you," Taylor said, smiling good naturedly as he settled himself back into his chair, his heartbeat slowing to normal speed. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

The young witch merely smiled in response before raising her wand and whispering two deadly words.

"_Avada Kedavra!_"

The green bolt of light struck George Taylor squarely in the chest and sent him flying backwards out of his chair and sliding lifelessly down the wall, his eyes vacant and unblinking and an expression of shock now etched permanently on his face. The murderer turned to the other person in the room, who was now stood up in his cell, his expression one of mild surprise as he looked upon his new best friend.

"'Ello Jude." The murderer spoke. "Surprised to see me?"

"Somewhat," Kardos replied, "though I had no doubts that the Dark Lord had more spies in the Order. What is our mission?"

The gorgeous young woman didn't answer straight away, instead initiating the emergency fail safes Potter had put on the cell before leaving for battle, and freeing her comrade from his prison.

"Ze battle 'as begun," she finally said as Kardos stepped out the cell. "Ze Dark Lord 'as taken ze bulk of 'is forces to secure ze Elixir a Lumina, but we are to journey to 'Ogwarts, to 'elp ensure it isn't retaken by Potter's band of merry schoolboys and girls."

Kardos smiled. "Well then Miss Delacour, what are we waiting for?"

At the ancient castle of Hogwarts, the DA and their reinforcements continued to battle for control against the forces of Lord Voldemort but found themselves in an increasingly perilous situation. Though the DA was well trained and well organised, its soldiers were completely outnumbered and more often than not, the teams of three fought with their backs against the wall, desperately pushing themselves beyond their capabilities just to survive. With some degree of private training from Harry, combined with their own talents, the DA commanders led their troops ferociously, taking down Death Eater after Death Eater to try and swing the momentum in their favour.

Hermione Granger turned away from the four Death Eaters she and her team had just skilfully incapacitated as she heard a scream of pain and she found herself looking upon a terrible sight. Lucius Malfoy stood beside two other Death Eaters, his wand focused on the broken form of Seamus Finnegan, whose right arm was almost completely severed and whose tear and blood-stained face looked up at the elder Malfoy with something akin to begging, asking him to end his life. Malfoy complied.

Hermione shouted out in horror, attracting Lucius' attention and he was immediately forced on the defensive as she launched a volley of nasty curses his way as her team engaged the other dark wizards. In her rage, the smartest witch of her age had made a mistake; she had attacked the powerful inner circle Death Eater directly by firing a barrage of curses and hexes, but this was not playing to her strengths and, with some clever spell-work, Lucius managed to turn things around, so that Hermione was forced on the defensive.

Allowing herself to regroup as she hid behind her conjured shield, Hermione quickly started to form a plan, chastising herself for rushing in so foolishly at the start of the duel. She was about to put her scheme into operation when a wave of white-hot flame descended upon her from above, courtesy of Malfoy's wand. Hermione just managed to roll out of the way and avoid being roasted alive but the fire tailed her like a guided missile and she was forced to raise a thick wall of water to dissipate the deadly combustion.

A cluster of curses were aimed through the steam but Hermione had moved and, capitalising on the confusion the smokescreen created, disillusioned herself, before dropping down into a crouch and aiming her wand above Lucius' head. Using some neat conjuration, she magicked ten small, yellow birds into existence as the Death Eater peppered the corridor with curses, before, with a flick of her wand, she commanded her avian creations to attack. The birds dived ferociously at Malfoy, pecking unyieldingly at him while he desperately tried to fend them off as he maintained his shield.

Hermione did not let up. To add to the confusion, she started levitating all sorts of debris and detritus and flinging them at Malfoy from the side, knocking him bodily around the corridor. As chaos reigned, the young witch sprung forward and unleashed a powerful flurry of nasty curses at the human scum that was her adversary. Her spells crashed through the distracted Malfoy's shield, every one of them landing on target and, as he fell limply to the floor, Hermione knew she had just taken a life.

It was as Hermione Granger pondered upon this fact that her best female friend was engaged in a battle of her own. Ginny did not have the luxury of fighting a Death Eater one on one, instead, she and her team were occupied in a sort of guerrilla warfare. Dodging, ducking and hiding throughout the classrooms and corridors of Hogwarts, they defended themselves against any attacks that came their way and launched surprise assaults whenever they could. Eventually, however, Ginny found that she and her two partners had been forced into a dead end, chased by half a dozen Death Eaters, who were about to round the corner.

Thinking quickly, Ginny tried her best to harness her inner Hermione, pushing her finger to her lips to beg silence before waving her wand in a complex set of movements and muttering incantations under her breath. She worked as quickly as she could, aware that time was not her ally and, just as the dark witches and wizards flung themselves hungrily round the bend in the corridor, an illusion of a wall sprung up between them and their victims. The Death Eaters looked round in confusion, speaking the counter to the disillusionment charm and looking to each other for answers before seemingly deciding that they had taken a wrong turn.

As their adversaries turned away, Ginny leapt into action. Conjuring a long, horizontal beam of wood, she banished it at her foes at about knee height. The beam did its job and the Death Eaters were dramatically upended, falling in a heap on the floor. Before they even hit the ground, Ginny and her team started spraying stunners at them and, within a couple of seconds, they all lay unconscious at their feet. It was then a simple matter of binding the fallen and snapping their wands.

Ron Weasley had just led his team in dispatching another group of Death Eaters when an all-too-familiar flash of white-blonde hair caught his eye. Ron quickly fired a tripping jinx, which hit home and sent Draco Malfoy sprawling to the ground as his Death Eater partner turned and started to return fire. The DA commander directed his team to take the bulky dark wizard, while he alone confronted his old school rival, who dragged himself back up to his feet with fury in his eyes.

"You are going to regret that Weasel." Draco sneered as he dropped into a duelling stance and levelled his wand at Ron.

"I've come a long way since last year's duelling tournament Malfoy," Ron smirked in reply. "The Death Eaters must really be scraping the barrel if they recruited you."

Malfoy didn't respond but whipped his wand forward with a bellowed; "_Crucio!_"

Ron ducked the unforgivable and quickly raised a silver shield as it was followed up by a stream of illegal and painful curses. The young Gryffindor continued to move around to present a difficult target and, in a slight lull in Malfoy's attack, banished his shield towards him. Draco vanished the shield with a flick of his wand but, in the distraction, Ron had shot some ropes from his wand and entangled them around Malfoy's ankles before pulling hard. The young Death Eater started to fall but sliced through the ropes and managed to turn the trip into a roll, quickly coming back up to his feet and releasing an onslaught of spells once more.

Rolling to one side to avoid the curses and enable himself to counter, Ron fired a powerful gust of wind, which blew Malfoy off his feet and sent him tumbling backwards. He managed to evade Ron's follow-up stunner, but the red-head didn't waste the advantage. As Draco pulled himself back up to his feet, his adversary started shooting rapid-fire curses and hexes of all kinds with impressive ferocity and speed.

Forced back onto the defensive, Malfoy was compelled to raise a silver shield and was limited to firing off occasional counters as Ron pushed the offensive. The youngest male Weasley's attack was relentless, focusing years of bitterness and anger at the Slytherin Prince into his curses and utilising everything he had learnt in the DA. It was in vain, however, as Draco's shield held strong and the junior Death Eater was able to evade his enemy's attacks, infuriating the DA commander, who was starting to tire.

Recalling a crafty little manoeuvre he and Harry had come up with some weeks before, Ron slipped a strong sticking charm through Draco's defences, designed as they were, to deal with offensive magic and hit him on the arm. He then ducked beneath Malfoy's counter offensive before propelling himself forwards and, at point blank range, banishing the Slytherin towards the nearest wall. Malfoy had managed to slow himself down and so the impact was minimal but, as he tried to pull away, he found himself unable to escape the wall's grasp. Confused and starting to panic, he looked up at his hand to find it stuck fast to Hogwarts' ancient stone and, despite his best efforts, was unable to pry himself free.

Ron disarmed his old nemesis with a casual flick of his wand, allowing the Malfoy heir's weapon to fall uselessly to the ground as he aimed at Draco's heart and strode forward to close the gap between them. Malfoy faltered somewhat at the evil glint in Ron's eye but quickly managed to regain his arrogant demeanour.

"What are you going to do Weasley?" He smirked. "Kill me?"

"I'm not going to kill you Malfoy, but I've been waiting seven years to do this."

Ron reeled back his fist and, with all his might, punched Malfoy in the face, landing it right on his jaw and sending him falling to the floor, unconscious, his arm raised above him at an odd angle. The youngest Weasley boy then stunned his old school rival to make sure of his incapacitation before reaching down and grabbing his wand from the floor. He snapped the stick of wood in two before surreptitiously glancing around him and, seeing no one from the DA, giving Draco a swift kick to the stomach.

As Ron Weasley lived out a long-standing dream, Blaise was leading his team in battle against six Death Eaters, his back up against the wall as he personally fought three. His original plan had been to surprise the dark witches and wizards and trap them in a pincer movement, but that had only served to separate him from his team as the Death Eaters fought off their initial attack and split up to battle the DA troops. Blaise was driven backwards and forced, for the most part, to remain on the defensive as he fended off a blitz of curses from his opponents, constantly moving and keeping up a shield to ensure he stayed alive.

Deciding that he needed to end the duel before he made a mistake, the former spy conjured a silver shield and pointed his wand, hidden by the shield, at the ground as he continued to back away. Using a trick he'd picked up from Harry, he sprayed a constant stream of petroleum onto the ground while maintaining his shield, continuing this pattern until the Death Eaters finally stepped upon trail the of flammable liquid. As soon as they their feet splashed into the petrol, Blaise flicked his wand, silently releasing a single flame at the ground before reinforcing his shield as he sat back and watched the fireworks.

The petrol-fuelled flames made for an impressive blaze, which quickly spread across the floor before wrapping itself around the Death Eaters and starting to consume them. They screamed out in shock and agony as their skin started to melt away and Blaise quickly put them out of their misery by firing off three stunners before dousing the magical flames.

As the broken, burnt bodies of his enemies flopped uselessly to the floor, Blaise sensed another presence behind him and whipped round, bringing his wand to bear. The moment he clasped eyes on the man, however, he reeled backwards in shock; horror and recognition painted upon his face as he automatically lowered his wand in submission. Not ten yards away from the DA commander, there stood his own father, decked in the black garb of the Death Eater, a gentle smile below his steely grey eyes as he looked upon his son.

"You have become quite the warrior Blaise," the elder Zabini spoke after a moment's silence. "Your talent and power is a great credit to the Zabini name, I am very proud of you."

Blaise's heart swelled at his father's praise, rarely given as it was, but he quickly curtailed his emotions and maintained his cold, Slytherin demeanour.

"I'm surprised to see you here father, I was not aware you had joined the Death Eaters."

"I thought it right for me to do my part in the Dark Lord's noble quest. I wanted to join my son in placing those inferior to us in their rightful place, but now I see that I have underestimated you. I never imagined that you had deceived the Dark Lord and were working for the mudbloods and blood traitors."

"Noble quest or not," Blaise began in response, "I think it uncouth for a Zabini to prostrate himself in servitude before a madman."

Matthias Zabini smirked slightly and nodded his approval.

"It is a great relief to me Blaise that you haven't turned blood traitor," he said. "You are right of course, the Zabini name is noble and pure and servitude is unbefitting of our status. With the Dark Lord's aid, however, our family can be elevated yet further; once the world is under his command, he will greatly reward those who have served him faithfully. His inner circle will become leaders, not followers, and you and I could rule together. All you need to do is come back to us and claim your rightful place."

Blaise's mind faltered at his father's words; much of his life had been spent trying to please the man and gain his approval. Just a few short months ago, he would have jumped at the chance to earn his father's love and stand with him as an equal but, he realised as he surreptitiously brought his wand to the front once more, he had changed. He had never really bought into the ideals of his family and school house and his time in the DA had further opened his eyes; he had met good and decent muggle-borns and fought by their side for a true cause. He was not a little boy anymore and he would not betray those he had come to consider friends for a man who had never shown him an ounce of love.

"You are wrong father," he spoke, dragging up his eyes to meet Matthias Zabini's gaze. "I have turned blood traitor and I refuse to sell out my friends and beliefs for you."

Zabini's eyes narrowed and hardened and a dark look descended upon his face as he levelled his wand at his son's heart.

"If that is truly what you believe, you leave me no choice. _Avada Kedavra!_"

The killing curse sped towards Blaise's chest but the younger Zabini was prepared and flung himself to the side, landing in a roll before coming up to his feet. Another curse was quickly heading his way but he ducked underneath it and pointed his wand behind him, propelling himself forward and past his father. Turning on the spot, he then aimed at Matthias' back and silently shot out an extrudo curse before he could turn, flinging him down the charms corridor.

Zabini Sr. quickly jumped to his feet but he was met by a flurry of borderline dark curses, which escaped his son's wand at startling speed and forced him onto the back foot. Blaise maintained an impressive rate of fire to prevent his father's counter-attack, occasionally turning his wand to the floor or the walls in the hope of tripping him up or else distracting him from his shielding. The elder Zabini was experienced, however, and managed, while always on the back foot, to avoid his son's attacks. He allowed himself to be driven back until he reached a bend in the corridor, which he flung himself round to give him time to recuperate and escape the ongoing torrent of Blaise's spells.

The former spy took this opportunity to quickly form a plan and tapped his wand upon his head, feeling magic trickle down his body like a cracked egg as he was disillusioned, before creeping towards the corner. He found his father on high alert, crouched dangerously in a duelling stance with his wand unknowingly levelled straight at Blaise as he snuck towards him. Blaise was just about to deliver the finishing blow when a floorboard creaked beneath his feet and his father suddenly leapt into action, jumping to one side and rapidly firing off curses in all directions.

The younger Zabini was forced to raise a shield to block the loose curses, catching Matthias' eye and immediately drawing more fire to his position. Blaise slowly manoeuvred out the line of fire but was reluctant to attack and give away his greatest advantage, while his father continued to throw himself around the corridor so as to provide a difficult target. It was this running, ducking and rolling that inspired in Blaise an idea, however, and the DA commander directed his wand to the floor, muttering a charm before watching in satisfaction as a slippery liquid appeared upon the ground.

As planned, Matthias Zabini quickly lost his footing and went tumbling to the floor, his spells slamming into the ceiling as a shocked expression lit up his face. The moment he had seen this happen, Blaise sprung into action, forsaking invisibility for quickness and firing a powerful _expalliarmus_ at his father, who lay spread-eagled upon the ground. The elder Zabini's wand went flying from his hand and clattered to the floor some way down the corridor and the man himself felt a magical tug at his neck before he was lifted by the power of the strangulation curse.

"_Blaise...please._" Matthias croaked out, grappling at the invisible force at his neck. "_I'm...your...father_."

At these words, Blaise hesitated briefly before releasing the curse and allowing his father to drop to the ground. Matthias looked hopeful as he glanced up, gasping, at his son, but found eyes full of nothing but hate.

"You ceased to be my father a long time ago," Blaise whispered coldly. "All my life you have treated me with nothing but cold indifference, showing me no love or care, while punishing me harshly for the slightest infraction, for the smallest deviation from true pureblood behaviour. And now, when I take a stand for my beliefs, you try to kill me. You have been corrupted by evil and your own loathsome actions Matthias and now you must pay the price for them."

"You don't have what it takes to finish me Blaise," Matthias responded cruelly. "You're weak and pathetic and you always have been, no matter how much I've tried to beat it out of you. I think you're right, I am not your father at all; no son of mine could have turned out to be such a disappointment and nothing would surprise me about your whore of a mother. She will pay dearly for what she has turned you into with her incessant babying and so will you; the Dark Lord will triumph and you will not survive his revenge."

"You may be right," Blaise replied, steel in his voice, "but you won't be here to see it. Goodbye father. _Avada Kedavra!_"

The jet of green light struck a shocked Matthias Zabini straight in the heart, stealing away his life in an instant before his son collapsed to the floor, leaning back against the wall with his head in his hands. Taking a few deep, steadying breaths, the young wizard forced himself to look upon his father's corpse and, for a brief moment, allowed crippling, conflicting emotions to tug furiously at his heart before he shut them all out. He still had a battle to fight and his father's death would distract him from it no longer.

As the excitement of his own personal battle faded, the noises of war reached Blaise's ears from not so far away and, as he stood, he cautiously started to head in that direction. Rounding a nearby corner, he stifled a gasp and quickly ducked out of sight as he saw none other than Severus Snape cleaving through talented light warriors as if they were nothing but a mild annoyance. Even while the young commander watched, his old head of house single-handedly slaughtered half a dozen magical creatures and three Order soldiers before turning his attention to a couple of nearby DA members. With a lurch of his heart, Blaise recognised his own lost team, almost shaking in fear as they bravely brought their wands to bear, ready to fight.

Snape smirked as he caught sight of the determined look on the teenagers' faces, before giving his wand a couple of small flicks and releasing two powerful bolts of deadly green light. Hurling himself round the corner, Blaise conjured a silver shield before desperately flinging it into the path of the spells, rebounding the killing curses back at their caster. Snape quickly ducked out of the way to avoid his own spells before calmly turning to face his old student.

"Run!" Blaise shouted at his two comrades and they immediately followed his order as he sent a few distracting curses in Snape's direction.

The former potions professor batted Blaise's spells away like flies and looked upon him with an expression of mild surprise.

"That was a very foolish mistake to make Zabini; with their help, your slim chances of survival may have very slightly improved."

"I'm not afraid of you Snape, I have stood before the Dark Lord himself and deceived him and I have killed my own father in battle, I don't need the help of my friends to kill you."

"It was undoubtedly Potter's machinations that enabled you to infiltrate the Death Eaters' inner circle," Snape began, "and while your deception was quite impressive, Potter has clearly also poisoned your disposition. Your actions have become reckless and rather _Gryffindor_ of late; as a spy you may have survived this war, but you cannot hope to best me in a duel."

"There are worse thing to be than Gryffindor," Blaise replied. "I have faith that Harry will defeat Voldemort tonight and even if you kill me, you don't stand a chance against him."

"We shall see," Snape replied conversationally.

The Death Eater's demeanour suddenly changed, whereas it had been relaxed and confident, he now sprung forward like a snake, thrusting out his wand and releasing a powerful blast of pure dark magic. Blaise immediately rolled out the way and quickly returned fire, releasing a torrent of stunners like machine gun fire in the hope of catching Snape off guard. Voldemort's apprentice was not fazed, however, and slashed his wand downwards to create an apparition shield with a cry of;

"_Scissum Intermundia!_"

The rip in space-time swallowed Blaise's curses before a second tear opened up behind him and spat them back out, forcing him to conjure a silver shield to block his own curses. As he did so, the ground at his feet crumbled and he was sent tumbling to the floor, forced to quickly roll up to avoid a burst of deadly-looking magic. Back on his feet, Blaise flung his shield towards Snape, following it up with an exploding curse powerful enough to rock entire floor. Snape was quick, however, and contained the explosion before transfiguring the shield into a dozen daggers and sending them flying at his adversary.

Blaise hurriedly banished the daggers but was forced to roll out of the way as a powerful jet of fire strafed across the hall, singeing his robes as he wasn't quite quick enough to get out the way. The floor crumbled once again as he rolled and the young wizard was sent tumbling to the ground, his wand clattering out his hand as an electric blue beam shot his way. Blaise didn't react in time and was flung painfully into the stone castle wall, ribs cracking and black dots appearing before his eyes as he crumpled to the floor. With great effort, the DA commander fought through the pain and the daze and stumbled to his feet to search for his wand but immediately felt conjured ropes spring from the ground and bind him.

Slowly walking towards his captive, Severus Snape smiled slightly as Blaise struggled to lift his head and meet his opponent's gaze. With relish, the old professor strolled right up to his former student before flicking his wand and maliciously whispering; "_Crucio!_"

Pain like no other flared up in Blaise's nerves, exploding out of every cell as liquid fire filled his veins. A tortured scream ripped itself from his throat and he knew nothing but pain, his body going into spasm as it unconsciously struggled against the absolute agony possessing it. For mere moments this lasted, but it seemed to Blaise a lifetime before, mercifully, the spell was lifted.

"It seems you have lost Zabini" Snape spoke, levelling his wand at Blaise's chest. "I admit myself disappointed, you had potential under the guidance of the Dark Lord, but you chose to throw it away in a foolish attempt to save the mudbloods and now you will die. _Extrudo!_"

The curse struck Blaise in his beaten chest with the force of a sledge hammer and hurled him off his feet, ripping him from the grasp of his binds and sending him flying straight through the sixth floor window. The young wizard barely had time to register the pain of a thousand pieces of glass lacerating his skin before terror gripped his heart as he felt gravity take hold and start to pull him to the ground, for he knew with absolute certainty that he was about to die.

As the Battle at Hogwarts grew fierce, back at the Marauders' old hideaway, Albus Dumbledore became increasingly anxious, his keen magical senses practically screaming at him that his students were in need of his assistance and that his beloved school was in grave danger. The old warlock knew that his powers were far from whole following his recent awakening and his magical aid of young Harry in breaching the Hogwarts wards, but he was getting better. Even as he wore out the carpet in the cave's living room, he could feel his energy returning to him and he knew that he could stand aside no longer; he had vowed long ago that he would always strive to protect the innocent from the forces of darkness and he knew that he was needed at Hogwarts.

Coming to a decision, Dumbledore drew his wand and, conjuring upon himself the battle robes of the Order of the Phoenix, turned on his heel and apparated away. The ancient wizard appeared on the outskirts of the castle wards and, sensing powerful magic fizzing in the air, immediately began to march towards the battle. The grounds were largely empty and Albus easily deflected the few curses aimed at him from afar as he headed towards the bulk of the conflict. Nearing the entrance hall doors, however, the headmaster's head jerked upwards as a window exploded outwards above him and a body flew out and started plummeting to the ground. Acting quickly, he directed his wand at the falling young man and, with a rush of magic, just managed to prevent him from slamming into the unforgiving turf.

Blaise Zabini gasped in shock as he felt strong magic seize hold of him and immediately begin to slow his fall, before depositing his battered body gently on the moist Hogwarts grass. Relief flooded through the young wizard as he realised that, somehow, miraculously, he was still alive. He fought off the alluring pull of unconsciousness and forced his eyes open as he felt his rescuer crouch down beside him and found himself looking into the sparkling blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore.

"Thank you," Blaise managed to whisper.

"It is I who should be thanking you Mr. Zabini," Dumbledore responded. "You have made the right choice and I know how difficult it must have been for you to do so. Now, I shall transport you to Order headquarters so you can receive proper treatment."

"Wait!" Blaise croaked as the Dumbledore drew his wand. "Snape is in the Charms tower Headmaster, you need to stop him. He's too powerful for any of us to handle."

Dumbledore nodded, his eyes darkening slightly and his wrinkled face taking on a look of pure determination as he banished Blaise to safety. Glancing briefly up to the now destroyed window and seeing the telltale flashes of magical combat, he turned away and strode inside.

The Headmaster knew that his expertise was required in the charms corridor on the sixth floor and so wasted little time as he strode purposefully through the halls of his school. Few dark witches or wizards dared to embroil themselves in a duel with Albus Dumbledore, a man they had long feared, and the old warlock quickly and efficiently dispatched those who did, forsaking his usual, elaborate duelling style for speed.

As he ascended the staircase up to the fourth floor, however, he found the battle growing heavier and was forced to slay a Nosferat before deflecting a wave of dark curses harmlessly into the ceiling. Dumbledore then turned his wand to the suits of armour lining the walls, animating them and forcing them to chase the Death Eaters heading his way, distracting them long enough to allow him to point to the floor and cause it to shake violently, sending the dark witches and wizards tumbling to the ground. The old professor then summoned a powerful wind to bring his adversaries towards him before stunning and binding them and snapping their wands. With the hall now clear, he calmly but quickly marched upstairs once more to where he was most needed.

As he emerged into the charms corridor on the sixth floor, Dumbledore found Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley each leading a team of two in battle against their former potions master. The DA soldiers, especially the commanders, were clearly powerful and very well trained and the headmaster mentally tipped his hat to Harry Potter as he watched his students furiously trade curses with one of the most powerful dark wizards on the planet. Snape was being forced on the defensive by the relentless onslaught and had his work cut out protecting himself against Hermione's inventive spell casting and Ginny's impressive itinerary of hexes, skilfully backed up by four young wizards.

The students were yet to be successful in penetrating the shields and defences of the Dark Lord's apprentice, however, and Severus was getting far too close for Dumbledore's liking with his few, but powerful, counter-attacks. Though clearly tired, the traitor was uninjured while his adversaries each sported a series of scrapes, bruises and cuts that, while not serious, were nonetheless painful. It was as Snape launched a volley of Killing curses at Hermione that Dumbledore stepped forward, throwing out a silver shield to protect the young muggle-born and making his presence known. Spell-fire slowed to a halt almost immediately and Severus Snape's cold, black eyes locked with Dumbledore's in shock, fear and, disturbingly, anticipation as the headmaster placed himself between his students and his former employee.

"You have all done magnificently," Albus turned to the DA troops. "Your courage and skills are truly astounding, but I will take over from here."

Ginny moved to say something but Dumbledore held up his hand. "No arguments Miss Weasley, Severus is my responsibility and you and your comrades are needed elsewhere."

Ginny nodded before reluctantly following the others in walking away as the headmaster turned to face Snape once more, a powerful aura emanating around him as anger settled in his electric blue eyes.

"I am very disappointed in you Severus," Dumbledore spoke in a calm but frosty voice. "You had so much potential and yet you threw it all away, even when I gave you a second chance. I believed you to be a good man despite your sour demeanour and past choices; regrettably, it seems that I was wrong."

"The Dark Lord is too powerful to be defeated Dumbledore, it would be foolish and fatal to resist him," Snape replied, fingering his wand. "You should have realised by now that my place is on my side and my side alone; I will serve the Dark Lord faithfully and I will be greatly rewarded for it. It was unfortunate that Potter forced me to choose and declare my allegiance but at this stage it matters not; there is no stopping it Dumbledore, this time the dark will triumph."

"For as long as there breathes but a single good person, the light shall never truly be defeated Severus. I believe that Harry will defeat your master and that Hogwarts will be reclaimed but even if I am wrong, even if Voldemort is to succeed and gains the Elixir a Lumina, if Hogwarts falls and I am killed, there is still hope, there is always hope. Tyrants fear those they oppress Severus because they know that eventually one will rise up and bring about their defeat. You cannot win."

"Quite the speech Dumbledore, but you forget; I know of the prophecy," Snape sneered. "Potter is 'the one with the power to defeat the Dark Lord' and, powerful as the brat is, it will not be enough. And while the Dark Lord kills 'the boy who lived' and gains the Elixir a Lumina, it is I who will succeed where a millennium's worth of Dark wizards have failed; in taking control of Hogwarts."

"Not while I still have air in my lungs," Dumbledore declared.

"But of course not," Snape replied. "_Avada Kedavra!_"

Dumbledore quickly raised a silver shield to repel the curse, before waving his wand in a complex fashion and morphing his gleaming protection into the shape of an elegant eagle. The silver bird immediately took flight, guided by the headmaster's wand and swooping to protect its master from Snape's attacks, which bounced harmlessly off its body. The transfigured creature then turned on the traitor himself, flying straight for him before grabbing at his robes with its powerful talons and hoisting him up into the air.

Severus snarled in rage at the indignity as he was lifted high above the ground and quickly turned his wand upwards to banish the bird into nothingness. The Dark Lord's apprentice then propelled himself to one side to avoid the powerful array of curses heading his way, before going into freefall. Just as he was about to strike the ground, Snape slowed himself with a conjured gust of wind and landed gently in a crouch.

Dumbledore had made good use of his former employee's distraction, however, and as soon had his feet found terra firma, the old potions professor found himself looking at a veritable tidal wave of fast flowing water, heading his way. Snape brandished his wand and, just as the water neared him, managed to freeze it before levitating the vast block of ice and, with effort, hurling it Dumbledore's way.

The ancient mage released a powerful typhoon of flame to do elemental battle with his enemy's ice, eventually succeeding in reducing it to steam. Through the smokescreen that this created, however, Snape unleashed a torrent of curses and Dumbledore was forced to raise a shield once more, almost pushed back by the immense power the Death Eater was wielding. Dark spells of all kinds slammed into the headmaster's silver shield, searching for a weakness or the smallest gap to slip through and end his life and the old wizard failed to notice as a _motus humo_ was aimed downwards, striking the floor and crumbling the ground beneath his feet.

For just a second Dumbledore stumbled backwards, desperately trying to maintain his balance, but this was enough for his shield to drop an inch and allow a slicing curse to cut into his arm. He shouted out in pain but was careful not to allow the wound to distract him any further, lest it cost him his life, and managed to stay on his feet and keep his shield in place to protect him from Snape's relentless barrage. Albus Dumbledore knew that he couldn't remain on the defensive forever, if he was to stand any chance of surviving this duel, he needed to regain the offensive and that meant escaping the constant rush of fatal spells.

Maintaining his shield, Dumbledore started to propel himself around the corridor, moving hither and thither until Snape had trouble keeping up with him. As he did this, the headmaster waved his wand and conjured around him a dozen perfect replicas of himself, they too moving quickly across the hallway to confuse the treacherous Death Eater. For a moment, Snape searched for clues as to which was the true Albus Dumbledore but, as returning fire started to reach him, he quickly changed tactic.

Waving his wand in a wide arc, Severus released thirteen deadly green bolts of light, one for each Dumbledore, and sent them flying across the hall, forcing the real Dumbledore to raise a shield, giving away his position as he was too distracted to have his illusions do the same. Snape immediately continued his onslaught of spells, but rather than maintaining his shield, Dumbledore banished it and raised a wall of solid stone from the floor of Hogwarts.

The sturdy wall took the power of Snape's curses and, before there was time for it to be brought down or bypassed, Dumbledore once again transfigured his protection into an offensive weapon. This time it became a huge fist of stone, which immediately launched itself at the former potions professor, wrapping around him and holding him tight. The old warlock didn't let up fire and followed this with a barrage of his own curses, which raced towards Snape at speed.

The spells neared their target but, at the last second, the fist twisted itself out of shape, reforming into a great snake, which uncoiled from around its master before swallowing the curses heading his way. The serpent was no more and Dumbledore used the distraction to conjure a massive pile of large rocks, before sending them Snape's way. The rocks missed the traitor, but that was not their intended goal. Instead, they circled around and started to spin at immense speed around the Death Eater's head, disorientating him and forcing him to blast them away one by one as they attacked him individually. In his distraction, Snape almost fell foul to a tripping hex, but was just able to block it in time. It was, however, a reminder that he needed to escape this situation fast and he gathered up all his power before releasing a shockwave of pure magical energy.

The rocks around him were blasted to smithereens and Dumbledore was forced back a few feet with sheer power of the magical pulse, raising a shield as he almost lost his footing, to protect himself from any counter. It did not come, however, as Snape instead directed his wand at the three largest pieces of rock, before skilfully transfiguring each bit into a towering wolf. The trio of lupine monstrosities immediately turned upon Dumbledore, their mouths foaming and their haunches raised as they launched themselves upon him.

The headmaster magically caught the wolves in mid-air and threw them against a wall before following up with blasting curses to end their artificial lives. He then quickly turned to back to his new enemy, only to find a constant stream of pure dark magic speeding his way. He immediately raised another shining silver shield, this team infusing it with powerful, pure light magic before the endless black light struck home and the battle of wills began. But even as he blocked the assault, he felt the dark magic starting to overpower his own energy, pushing relentlessly towards him with unstoppable force. Albus Dumbledore was suddenly filled with a terrible dread, for he knew that he wasn't sufficiently healed, that his old friend had advanced too much, that he was starting to weaken. He knew that he was about to die.

Weary and exhausted, yet filled with jubilation, Harry Potter led his friends and allies in the Order of the Phoenix out of Leaena castle and onto the surrounding battlegrounds. Sweeping his gaze across the land, the young wizard was heartened again to see the battle turning their way; the Nosferatu had fled and the Nundu lay defeated on the ground; their deaths the combined effort of hundreds of powerful beasts, beings, witches and wizards. The Death Eaters and dark creatures still fought on but were now outnumbered and lacking the direction of their master and some were starting to surrender, while many had fallen already. One look towards Thane and Remus confirmed his plans and Harry turned to the Order soldiers who had fought beside him within the ancient manor.

"I can't thank you all enough for fighting so bravely by my side," he said, "but it is time for us to part. Thane, Remus and I will journey to Hogwarts while the rest of you continue the battle here; the tide is turning and the battle is almost won, it's your job to ensure that it is with as few casualties as possible. When the dark forces are defeated, bring the Order and its allies to Hogwarts to take back the castle. Good luck."

With that, Harry, Remus and Thane turned and quickly jogged to the edge of Voldemort's anti-apparition wards, which still hung over the castle, before apparating to Hogwarts.

As soon as his feet found grass, Harry was striding towards the castle, thoughts of Ginny, Ron and Hermione in danger dominating his mind now that the Elixir a Lumina was secure. He couldn't lose them; he wouldn't be able to stand it. Remus and Thane seemed to share their younger friend's concern and determinedly drew their wands as they marched into battle once more.

Harry's presence was met by those who saw him with a mixture of shock, joy, relief and fear and some of the Death Eaters screamed out upon laying eyes on him. To those, the implications of his presence were quite clear; Lord Voldemort was no more, and some immediately turned to flee as the powerful young wizard scanned the field of battle for the best place to begin his fight. As Harry jumped into the furore with Remus hot on his heels, Thane Harding had eyes for only one man, for stood within the Hogwarts entrance hall was the wizard who had betrayed the Order, had betrayed the light and had betrayed him; Jude Kardos.

Thane's eyes narrowed, his stare that of a predator as he watched his old friend throwing curses at schoolchildren and fighting beside monsters. Taking aim at the traitor, he released a powerful _condolesco_ curse and started to run towards his foe, firing debilitating curses his way as he did so. As predicted, Kardos sensed the danger and was forced on the defensive; he turned away from the DA soldiers and ducked the first attack before raising a gleaming silver shield to absorb the magical battering.

Thane threw everything he had at him but quickly realised he had made a mistake; Jude had always been something of an expert at shields and, in training, had always been happy to remain on the defensive while waiting for his opponent to make a mistake. A change of tactic was needed but, at the same time, Thane didn't want to surrender the momentum he had built, he needed a plan and, as he thought back over everything he knew about his former friend's duelling style, one was quickly starting to form.

Kardos had been a good Auror and a very good fighter, but he liked to keep things simple and straight forward; he didn't like to think on his feet and adapt his style in the middle of a duel, so creativity was the answer. He had started to return fire with pot shots whenever his defence allowed, so Thane quickly propelled himself to one side, both to change his angle of attack and maintain the offensive. He then started to put his plan into effect and bellowed at Jude the incantation of the _smelting curse_. Kardos banished his silver shield and replaced it with an advanced protego to stop his defences from being melted but, though the curse was blocked, it had done its job and Thane had to stop a smile spreading across his lips.

The Auror commander continued throwing curses and hexes at his old friend but kept them relatively low level so as not to tempt him to re-raise a silver shield. Amidst the multitude of spells, he then surreptitiously flicked his wand to one side, conjuring a loud BANG to his left and effectively distracting his opponent. Kardos was a professional and his shield was strong so he was not vulnerable and the distraction was minimal, but it was all that Thane needed. He used the half-second it bought him to mutter a crafty charm that conjured thick, black smoke around the caster.

Thane knew the Auror training inside out and was confident Kardos would stick to it in the heat of battle so, as the thick smoke billowed outwards and obscured the traitor's vision, his former Commander ducked down to avoid the blind spray of curses that inevitably sprung from his adversary's wand. Of course, Thane was just as helpless blind as Kardos was but it wasn't his intention to directly attack. Instead, he quickly flourished his wand in a complex pattern, conjuring a large, rough boulder before him as Kardos cleared the smoke. The second, his eyes found his enemy, Thane banished the huge rock towards him before following it up with a torrent of curses. The boulder flew at the traitor with speed and, though he managed to slow it somewhat, he wasn't quick enough to bring it to a halt and the massive weight struck home.

Kardos stumbled from the impact and, just for a second, his shield faltered. In duelling, however, it is milliseconds and centimetres that are the difference between life and death and the flickering of the traitor's shield allowed two spells to pass through from Thane's onslaught. A powerful cutting curse raked across Kardos' chest, opening a deep gash before, less than a second later, he was struck by the electric blue beam of the _extrudo_ curse, which launched him off his feet. Flesh and bone met unyielding rock as Kardos was pummelled into a wall, smacking his head on the stone before collapsing like a rag doll to the floor.

Thane immediately summoned his former friend's wand and snapped it in two before binding him tightly with conjured restraints. However, Kardos made no move to get free and after a few seconds, Commander Harding felt a sinking feeling develop in the pit of his stomach as he walked forward and knelt beside his adversary. Blood was seeping from the man's head and, as Thane pressed his fingers to his neck, no pulse met his touch; Jude Kardos was dead. The Auror Commander released a sigh as he closed his eyes, not quite knowing how he felt; relieved or devastated. Probably a little of both.

With great effort, Thane pushed past his emotions, burying them for now to be dealt with at another time as he opened his eyes and rose to his feet. The corridor he found himself in was empty and much of the battle seemed to have moved upstairs, so that is where he headed, taking the steps two at a time as he pushed himself onwards, wanting to throw himself immediately back into battle. At one point, Thane saw Harry battling almost a dozen enemies alone and almost went to his young friend's aid before pulling up; if there was a single person in this castle that didn't need his help, it was Harry and he was needed elsewhere.

Harry Potter had found himself in an increasingly and irritatingly familiar position; that is surrounded by ten Death Eaters, battling furiously for his life and against magical exhaustion. In a brief lull in his enemies' attacks, he summoned a little more power and released a shockwave of magical energy, blasting the Death Eaters backwards and scattering them around the room. A few of them immediately fell to powerful stunners and the rest were destined for a similar fate as he defended against a blitz of dark curses. Harry conjured four apparition shields around him, allowing the curses to enter one before immediately shooting out another, taking out fellow Death Eaters as Harry himself remained protected. This left just three standing and he quickly took out two with a blasting curse, leaving a solitary dark wizard. Harry just had time to see the growing fear on the Death Eater's face before the young recruit was tapped on the shoulder and spun around to find himself eye to eye with a suit of armour. The armour knocked him out with a single head butt.

The young warrior was now alone in the corridor, the Death Eaters who had been battling around him having taken their leave as they saw their comrades decimated. The brief moment's pause gave Harry time to search for where he was most needed in battle and, as a powerful wave of magical energy filled his senses, he started to make his way upwards, quickly disposing of anyone who got in his way. Rising up through the floors of the ancient castle, he noted with barely suppressed despair that the number of live fighters was decreasing as he rose, to be replaced by rigid, lifeless bodies from both sides. The air around him started to crack with magical power and Harry knew he was getting close as a sulphuric stench reached his nostrils from the sparks of energy being given off.

Breaking into a run as he sensed that he was needed, the young wizard flung himself around the corner just as the sounds of battle faded away and discovered a sight that chilled the very blood in his veins. On the other side of the corridor before him stood Severus Snape, the Dark Lord's apprentice, his wand levelled at the bowed and beaten form of Albus Dumbledore who had fallen to his knees. Both sets of eyes snapped to him as he came into view and a malicious smirk spread across the thin lips of the old Potions professor as he silently released a bolt of green light to end the headmaster's life.

Harry stood rooted to the spot, knowing that he was too late to save his old mentor but unable to take his eyes off him. As the ancient Warlock had laid his gaze on his student, his bright blue eyes had sparkled once more and a look of relief had spread across his face as he realised the meaning of his presence. One of the greatest wizards of his generation died with a smile on his face, knowing that Lord Voldemort was no more and trusting the safety of his school to his favourite student.

As Dumbledore's body collapsed to the ground, Snape turned to Harry, new power shining in his black, soulless eyes. The room chilled as Harry met his stare with ice-cold fury, the magic pumping through his veins sparking to life as the man he considered a Grandfather was murdered before his eyes.

"Your struggle is in vain Snape," Harry spoke, his voice carrying with it a deadly edge. "Your master is dead."

To his surprise, Snape's smirk grew.

"Then I, as his appointed apprentice, shall replace him Potter. In truth, you have done me an act of kindness in releasing me from his bonds, for you see, though the Dark Lord's magical power was great, he lacked the Slytherin finesse necessary to gain true power. The terror we, as Death Eaters, inspire is vast but subtlety is required to truly control the mindless sheep that make up the wizarding populace. I shall begin by destroying their last remaining hope; their precious _Boy Who Lived_."

Snape reeled back his wand to attack, but Harry was quicker and thrust his hands forward, releasing a blast of pure light magic so powerful the castle shook upon its foundations and windows throughout the building burst in their frames. Snape's eyes widened but his reactions were fast and he propelled himself to the other end of the corridor and away from the attack. The Death Eater then launched a volley of Killing curses Harry's way, which escaped his wand at amazing speed.

The younger wizard raised a shield and blocked the spells with relative ease, but Snape had taken this time to conjure a thick wall across the corridor, stretching from floor to ceiling, which took the power of the killing curses. Harry whipped his wand forward and blasted the brick and mortar to smithereens, but just as he did so, Snape's wand-work was complete and total darkness descended upon the corridor, blinding everyone but the caster. The dark spell was a new one to Harry and the DA leader had no time to ponder a counter as he sensed a series of powerful curses heading his way.

Harry dived away from the spells and rolled neatly up to his feet, focusing entirely on his magical senses and expanding them to aid in his fight while he desperately wracked his brains for a way to overpower the spell. Even the most powerful variation of _lumos_ had failed to yield results and Harry's attention was quickly diverted elsewhere again as a barrage of killing curses, even they invisible, strafed across the corridor, forcing Harry to raise a silver shield to deflect them away. Ducked behind his conjured protection, an idea struck Harry and, as he propelled himself away from Snape's latest attack, he focused on the bracketed, medieval torches hanging upon the Hogwarts walls. Flicking his wrist, he summoned forth his elemental powers and conjured powerful flames within the torches, overpowering the dark magic of Snape's charm and bringing the world back into focus.

Blinking as his eyes readjusted to the welcome flood of light, Harry conjured an apparition shield, which swallowed Snape's condolesco curse and fired it back at him from one side. The old potions professor dodged his own curse but was forced to propel himself out the way as Harry unleashed a barrage of powerful curses his way, raising the hairs on his arms as they missed him by inches. Keeping up the constant onslaught and forcing his old enemy to dance to his tune, Harry decided to end this as quickly as he could and summoned forth a powerful wind to levitate himself up from the ground.

His robes billowing impressively around him, Harry ceased firing his curses and instead turned his attention to the ground, reaching out with his power over the earth and shaking it violently, sending the Dark Lord's apprentice sprawling to the ground. Lowering himself back to the floor, Harry didn't pause for a second before conjuring a giant fist of ice, which he fired at his old teacher like a battering ram. Snape had managed to climb up to his feet once more but knew that he wouldn't be able to avoid the missile in time and he certainly couldn't overpower Harry's elemental magic.

Levelling his wand at the fist of ice, Severus gathered up as much power as he could muster and cried; "_Confringo!"_ The explosion curse hit home and the ice was blasted into a million pieces. Unfortunately for the head Death Eater, however, it was at almost point blank range and he was sent flying backwards with the force of the explosion, shards of ice cutting into his skin as he was hurled through the air before landing in a heap on the floor. Battered and bruised, Snape forced himself back up to his feet, only to find for the second time that day, his enemy had conjured multiple illusions of himself and he stood staring at around twenty identical Harry Potters.

Keen to exploit the lull in his enemy's offensive, Snape decided on the same tactic he had used with Dumbledore and swept his wand across himself, releasing a score of deadly green bolts of light. The killing curse sped towards each of the Harrys but the young man himself had surpassed Dumbledore's power some time ago and conjured before himself and each of his illusions a silver shield to deflect all of Snape's curses back at him. The Harrys then released a torrent of spells, both real and illusionary, forcing Snape to raise a shield and throw himself about the corridor, unaware which of the beams of light might end his life. The Death Eater managed to avoid the real curses but, upon rolling to his feet, found himself looking at a corridor filled with deadly creatures, again unaware which were real and which were fake. The lions, tigers, snakes, wolves and birds all pounced at him and Snape threw himself backwards in alarm, sending out another explosion curse to destroy the flesh and blood and find the illusions.

Harry had not wasted his enemy's distraction and, as the flash of the explosion cleared, the electric blue bolt of the extrudo curse struck Snape's shield, crashing through it and sending the Death Eater tumbling to the ground once more. The young warrior advanced to end the duel, but at that moment the sound of voices reached his ears and around the corner at Snape's end of the corridor, there walked two DA soldiers. Harry's eyes widened as Colin Creevey and Joseph Fletcher took in the scene before them in shock and a small smile grew on Snape's lips. Harry instantly knew what his adversary had planned but, though he moved to attack, he knew that he would be too late and he was proved right as Severus propelled himself behind his old students and levelled his wand at their backs, disarming them with ease.

"I would think very carefully before you make your next move Potter," Snape barked as Harry aimed his wand above his soldiers' heads. "Do you trust your abilities enough to know that you can kill me before I have the time to end the lives of those under your command? Are you so willing to gamble their lives on your speed?"

Harry didn't move and his old professor's smirk grew. "That's what I thought," he said. "If you want them to live, throw down your wand and raise your hands."

Harry reluctantly complied, knowing that the chances of him hitting Snape before he struck down his comrades were slim, he tossed his wand to the ground and raised his arms.

"Now turn away," Snape commanded and Harry obliged once more, turning to face the opposite wall.

The young warrior was not stupid enough to think that Snape would allows his men to leave, however, and a plan was formulating in his mind. As he gave his friends a reassuring smile before turning away, he reached out with his magical senses, finding Snape's exact position before, with a burst of wandless magic, conjuring a powerful wind and sending all three wizards flying. Summoning a large book that had lain before him, he caught the bound volume and whipped around, flinging it towards his allies. As the book travelled through the air, he took aim with his hand and muttered the incantation to the portus charm, transforming it into a portkey.

Snape had recovered quickly and, with a snarl of rage, bellowed the disembowelment curse, levelling his wand at the students who lay a few feet before him. Harry's aim was true, however, and, touching his friend with his other hand, Colin Creevey reached up and plucked the portkey from the air, transporting the two DA soldiers away from the duel. Snape's deadly curse shot straight through where the schoolboys had been and continued onwards towards Harry, but the young wizard summoned his wand from the ground and struck the curse, hitting it back at its caster.

Snape dived out of the way of his own curse, rolling from its path and back up to his feet, only to be confronted with a huge tempest of fire, which filled the entire corridor as it twisted towards him. Summing a shield from a nearby suit of armour, Snape just managed to portkey away before the flames consumed him, landing behind Harry, who quickly turned to face his enemy. As soon as he landed, Snape fired a killing curse but Harry deflected it with ease before gathering his magic to his fingertips and releasing a massively powerful beam of pure light magic.

The ethereal beam shot at the Death Eater at speed and, unable to avoid it, Snape was forced to raise a silver shield, infusing it with pure dark magic. The two soon collided and, almost immediately, Harry's superior power paid off, overwhelming Snape's defence and shattering his shield before blasting him the length of the corridor. He landed hard, bones cracking and his body screaming in pain from the pure light magic as Harry calmly walked his way. He tried desperately to get up and eventually, as Harry came within feet of him, he managed to stagger to his feet. The Death Eater brought his wand around to fire a curse, but Harry moved forward and thrust out his left arm, physically blocking Snape's arm and causing the curse to shoot into the wall. The younger wizard then grabbed his enemy's hand and twisted, breaking his wrist.

Snape's wand went spinning from his grasp and Harry whipped his own across himself to slam the traitor into a wall. There was a loud _crack_ and blood started to seep through the Death Eater's hair as he collapsed to the ground before dazedly struggling towards his wand, only to be halted by Harry. Strolling over to his fallen adversary, he casually destroyed his old teacher's wand with a flick of his wrist before magically bringing him to his knees before him. Snape seemed to lose all of his energy as he realised he had been defeated and, after a long moment of silence, dragged his head up to meet the brilliant green eyes of his conqueror.

"You have bested me Potter," he sneered, "I am at your mercy. Now is the time you show your true colours; I am too powerful to be contained indefinitely and previous experience has taught you that I never leave any trace of my crimes, but do you have it in you to kill me in cold blood even though the war has been won?"

Harry knew that he spoke the truth; Sirius had proved that Azkaban was not inescapable and Snape was far more powerful. It was unlikely to even come to that though, with the Wizengamot still infested by Voldemort's dark touch and his old Professor's meticulous covering of his crimes, a conviction was unlikely, just as it was at the start of the year.

"Make your decision Potter. To take a life in cold blood leaves a mark on one's soul, but allow me the opportunity and I will destroy everyone you love."

Harry's mind immediately took him back twelve months to the Battle for the Rock and Bellatrix's fatal taunting. He felt a smile tug at his lips for he knew that Snape would never come near his loved ones again; though it tore him apart to do so, he had planned out this eventuality and he would see it through. Straightening his arm, the young warrior pointed his wand between the traitor's eyes and, with a deep breath, released a burst of magic, sending Snape tumbling backwards before his jet black eyes grew dull.

For a long moment nobody moved but then, Severus Snape's head rose to meet his enemy's gaze as his hands tugged at newly conjured magical restraints.

"Severus Snape, I am arresting you on suspicion of mass murder and Death Eater affiliation. You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. You're right Snape, the war is over and I'm not going to corrupt my soul for the likes of you. Once they are back under ministry control, the Dementors can have you."

With these words, Harry summoned up all of his power and shot out a stunner at point blank range. Snape was slammed into a wall once again and immediately fell into unconsciousness, guaranteed not to awaken until Harry himself decided to wake him. As an added precaution, Harry then tightly bound and gagged him before leaving to re-enter the battle.

Jogging through the corridors of Hogwarts and down the stairs to the main bulk of the action as his magical energy quickly replenished itself, Harry was heartened to see the battle greatly turning in their favour. Back up was arriving in droves from Leaena castle, minus the Lycans of course, and the reinforcements gave the light the numerical advantage. Death Eaters and dark creatures were falling left, right and centre, as Voldemort's defeat and the greater numbers galvanised the men, women, beasts and beings under Harry's command.

The DA leader's eyes naturally sought out Ginny, Ron and Hermione and he was relieved to find them more than holding their own and not in need of his aid. Jumping back into the action, Harry quickly took out a few more Death Eaters with simple stunners that cleaved through their shields as if they weren't there. Ducking and raising shields to avoid the multitude of curses suddenly heading his way, he then whipped up a powerful wind, spinning it like a tempest before wrapping it around the Death Eaters nearby and dumping them in a pile before him. He then fired a mass of stunners into the pile and bound his victims before snapping their wands.

With disorder and dissention quickly spreading through the scattered Death Eater ranks, many of them began to surrender or else attempt to flee. Harry was happy to oblige the cowards who chose to give themselves up and quickly stunned and bound them before locking the Entrance Hall doors to trap the others inside. Most of the remainder gave up without a fight and, with one final push, the Order of the Phoenix, DA and their allies finally released a cry of joy as their final enemies surrendered and the battle was won.

Shouting, whooping and hugging quickly filled the room but Harry knew there was still essential work to be done before the party began. Suppressing with difficulty the desire to run and hug his friends and girlfriend, he retook control of the DA and sent out his soldiers, along with certain Order members to round up all the live but unconscious Death Eaters and bring them to him. This they did as Harry and the rest quickly swept the castle to search for any survivors trying to hide within, in the end finding no one.

Once the Prisoners of War were gathered, Harry and a team of Council members banished them to ministry holding cells, making quick work of the job until only one remained; Snape. Though he knew that his stunner, magical restraints and bindings were sure to hold the traitor, Harry was not willing to risk the consequences if he was wrong. So, with a quick explanation to his troops, he levitated his prisoner before him and set off across the Hogwarts ground before apparating to the Ministry of Magic.

Ignoring the exclamations of shock by the few occupants of the bowels of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Harry took Snape to the Ministry's most secure cells and dumped him inside before slamming the door. The young wizard then started his work, adding layer upon layer of powerful constraining wards on the cell to ensure Severus Snape remained captive, this time leaving no failsafe in case of emergency; if Harry was killed or incapacitated, Snape would just have to slowly rot in his cell.

His job done, Harry returned to the castle to find an atmosphere of restrained joy; the elation of victory was tainted by the tragic loss of life, but most seemed determined to save their grief for another day. Walking into the Entrance Hall, Harry was met by clapping and much back slapping before he felt a slight weight slam into him and wrap her arms round his torso. He hugged Ginny back for all he was worth, letting his love for her and unbridled relief at her safety almost consume him as a large grin took over his face. Pulling away after a long moment, their lips met in a passionate kiss that said much more than Harry could with mere words.

As the couple pulled apart, they were surrounded by friends and loved ones, all offering up their relief and happiness that they had survived. Harry knew that there was still much to be done; that he was yet to discover all the names of the dead, that the scheme he had been planning all year was still yet to be enacted and that the ministry and wizarding Britain needed healing, but for now he decided to just relax and enjoy the party.

**A/N: Well there you have it, the final proper chapter of the story, with only the epilogue still to come. I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading, chapter 20 shouldn't take me too long to write and I'll post it as soon as I can.**


	20. Epilogue

"How's Bill doing?" Remus asked.

Just over two months had passed since the final battles at Hogwarts and Leaena castle and he and Harry sat eating lunch at the table in their kitchen, discussing as ever the lingering effects of the short but bloody civil war that had torn the wizarding world asunder. Fleur's betrayal had turned the eldest Weasley son's world upon its head when she was unmasked after being defeated at Hogwarts. Bill was still suffering from a broken heart as his love sat, along with so many others, in the ministry holding cells, awaiting trial.

"He's okay," Harry replied. "The Weasleys are nothing if not supportive and loving, the family have rallied round him to help him recover. It came as quite a shock though, Ginny says they'd become very close over the past couple of years, they'd even talked about marriage."

"Getting in closer with the Weasleys would certainly have been a smart move for a spy. We knew there were still leaks in the order, but it always comes as a shock when the culprit is revealed. You knew Fleur too, didn't you?"

"Not really," Harry said. "We were in the triwizard tournament together and met a couple of times in working for the Order or at the Burrow, but I never really knew her well, I guess this shows that none of us really knew her well. Bill never met her family apart from her sister but the Aurors haven't uncovered any connection with the Dark Arts in her past and she isn't talking. Maybe her trial will turn up something."

"The trials seem to be going well," Remus commented. "We're getting more guilty verdicts than not and there's been no hint of corruption, even for the likes of Lucius Malfoy. For the first time since I've been alive, the ministry seems genuinely just, more than a little of that is your doing."

Harry shook his head. "The ministry isn't clear of corruption Remus, at least not yet, it'll take a lot longer to rid it of centuries of bigotry, corruption and dirty dealing. The Wizengamot, however, is clean and that's the most important thing. Ever since Snape's first trial I've known who among the Lords and Ladies were in the Death Eaters' pockets and it didn't take a huge amount of effort to find evidence to support that, especially now those silenced by fear and intimidation have been liberated by Voldemort's death. With the justice system working as it should, we're at least on track to eradicating the darker elements of the ministry and dragging the wizarding world into the modern day. Amelia Bones assures me that werewolf rights will be top of the agenda once the courts aren't tied up with Death Eater trials."

Remus smiled and an easy silence fell for awhile as the two wizards tucked into their meals with fervour.

"And how are you recovering from the war?" Remus asked as he started to clear the plates.

"I'm now sure that the whispers have gone for good," Harry responded, heading towards the living room with a butterbeer in his hand. "I haven't heard any voices since my confrontation with the Lycans. It'll take awhile to get used to not having thousands of people and beasts actively trying to kill me but apart from that I'm fine, getting better at least."

"Has there been any news about our lupine friends?" Remus asked, joining Harry in collapsing down on to a chair, butterbeer in hand.

"They've gone back into hiding to lick their wounds, literally and figuratively, as have the Nosferatu for that matter. They'll reappear someday I'm sure and I think it's fair to say I've been struck from the Christmas card list but both species lost huge numbers during the war and neither has the capacity to be much danger to wizards, especially with the population so militarised. For now, at least, they're back to killing each other in the dead of night."

"The giants have also retreated, those that weren't killed have left the country and the reports say that the Dementors are firmly back under ministry control, though I won't be turning my back on them any time soon."

"What have the Dementors ever done to make you mistrust them Remus?" Thane Harding asked as he walked through the door. "I mean, sure they joined Voldemort and tried to kill us all but that was almost nine weeks ago, don't you think it's time to move on?"

"You're right, how narrow-minded of me," Remus responded with a smile. "It's good to see you Thane, can I get you a drink?"

"Actually I can't," Thane replied, his face suddenly taking on a more sombre expression. "I just came here to tell you that my father has died; liver disease according to the healers. I know you didn't know him but it would mean a lot to me if the two of you came to the funeral on Friday."

"We'll be there," Harry said. "I'm sorry for your loss Thane, are you OK?"

The Auror shrugged. "I'm alright. You know as much as anybody how much I hated the guy, any grief I feel is for how things could have been, rather than any sense of loss. I'd love to stay but I need to get back to the office; if I have to hear one more Death Eater begging for mercy or raving about 'the Dark Lord's return', I'm going to go crazy. Snape's trial can't come soon enough, when their rallying point disappears, maybe we'll have a little peace. "

With these words Thane walked from the room, leaving a contemplative silence behind him as the others considered what they'd just been told. It seemed odd to Harry that death was still amongst them in the peace following the storm of war and he didn't quite know how to feel about Thane's Dad's passing from the world. Whatever Thane had said, it was clear that his father's death had had a profound effect on him and Harry had lost enough people he loved to sympathise.

The next Friday found Harry and Remus, each decked in dress robes of black, apparating into a small clearing in the midst of a small wood. Just visible through the trees was the small country church that was their destination and the two men started to head that way. As they walked, Harry's mind started to drift back a few days to a holding cell in the ministry of magic.

"_You have made a big mistake Potter," Snape said as Harry closed the door of his cell, leaving the two of them alone. "As ever your Gryffindor stupidity has prevented you from doing what was necessary; you had the perfect opportunity to be rid of me and the rest of your short life will be spent regretting not taking it."_

"_Is that so?" Harry asked neutrally._

"_It is. I am a very careful man Potter, there is nothing to link me to any crime but witnesses and, in a world of glamour charms and polyjuice potions, witnesses mean nothing. I may have been captured in Death Eater robes, but my work as a spy is well known and the Order's heinous treachery in turning on me was proved in the highest court of the land. It is only a matter of time before I am free Potter and then I will take up my rightful place."_

"_Thanks for the warning Snape but I'm confident that the jury will return the right verdict. I'm here to inform you that your trial has been scheduled for tomorrow at eleven am, I'll be here to escort you at half ten."_

_With those simple words, Harry walked out the door._

Entering the small, simply-decorated church, Harry spotted Thane sitting alone on the front row of seats, his eyes fixated on the wooden coffin, which lay on a raised platform before him. The rest of the church was empty but for a balding, middle-aged vicar, who welcomed them as they walked inside and ushered them to the front. Thane greeted his two friends, shaking each of them by the hand before they all sat down and waited for the funeral to begin.

"Are you expecting anyone else?" Remus asked.

Thane shook his head. "His wife left him a couple of years ago. I don't know the details but it's not difficult to connect the dots; he was abusive to his first wife and he has shown himself that old habits die hard. He wasn't the sort to make friends."

"Your mother?" Harry enquired.

"I wouldn't put her through this; she suffered for him enough while he was alive. I thought about not coming myself but I think somebody should be here to show that he made some impact on the world, besides, I paid for the bloody funeral."

About fifteen minutes passed in whispered conversation before the reverend seemed to realise that no one else was coming and made his way to the pulpit to deliver his sermon. Remus patted Thane comfortingly on the back as the man started to speak.

"We are here today to commemorate the life of Robert Harding..."

The vicar's words started to fade into the background as again Harry started to reminiscence, his mind this time taking him to two days prior and the trial of Severus Snape.

_Harry kept his eyes forward as he led Snape by the arm into Courtroom one, his gaze determinedly away from Snape's boastful expression and the flashing bulbs of the cameras wielded by the baying media. Depositing Snape in the defendant's chair, he bound him in place before taking his seat in the gallery. With the Wizengamot cleansed of corruption it had been decided that Harry would be of best use acting as a witness rather than on the jury and he sat down between Ginny and Hermione._

"_What do you think the chances are of a guilty verdict?" Hermione asked in a whisper._

"_We'll get a conviction." Harry responded and his tone was so absolute it left no room for argument._

_As head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Rufus Scrimgeour served as the judge and Harry watched intently as proceedings got under way. Various witnesses were called proclaiming either Snape's guilt or, in far fewer cases, his innocence with the trial going much the same as it had on the previous occasion. Harry knew that it was none of this that was going to swing the verdict, however, that was still to come, just as he had planned it throughout the previous months._

"_I now call to the stand Savio Tornincasa," the barrister for the prosecution said and Harry smiled grimly; it was beginning._

"_You have stated a wish to testify under veritaserum Mr Tornincasa, is that correct?"_

"_It is," replied the witness._

_The truth serum was promptly administered and, as Savio Tornincasa's face grew expressionless, the questioning began._

"_Mr. Tornincasa, can you please describe for the court the events surrounding your wife's death?" The prosecutor asked._

"_We were shopping in Diagon Alley when the Death Eaters attacked. They laid down anti-apparition wards and we couldn't escape, so we fled to a side-alley. We reached the edge of the ward but, just as we were about to apparate away, a Death Eater fired a killing curse, killing Medea. I had no choice but to disapparate and flee the scene."_

"_Did you recognise the Death Eater who fired the curse?" The barrister asked._

"_Yes," Savio replied. "It was Severus Snape."_

"_And can you point out Mr. Snape in this courtroom?"_

_Tornincasa nodded and did as asked. Snape's expression grew shocked as the witness pointed him out and Harry watched in satisfaction as cross-examination failed to find any holes in Savio's story. Part one of his plan was complete._

_Next, the court-ordered healer was called to the stand to provide his evidence on the body of the deceased and, when prompted, began to speak._

"_As was recorded at the time of her death, Medea Tornincasa was killed by a single killing curse. Upon Mr. Snape's capture, I was provided with his wand and given the opportunity to examine his magical signature and I can confirm without doubt that the magical signature matches that found upon the body of Mrs. Tornincasa. As no other magical signature was present and the signature was strongest at the point of impact, this is quite conclusive proof that Mr. Snape fired the spell."_

_A couple of questions were asked of the healer but little more information learned, he was clearly of the opinion that Snape had fired the curse that killed Medea Tornincasa. Glances were exchanged in the gallery; the trial was going their way._

_With the physical evidence over, a shocked and shaken Snape was called up to the stand to give his testimony and the barrister for the prosecution stood to question him._

"_Mr. Snape, do you consent to being questioned under veriaserum?"_

_It was a perfunctory question, one answered in the negative by every Death Eater who had gone on trial but Harry had a suspicion that this time would be different, in fact he was counting on it. Snape gave an arrogant smirk and drew himself up in his chair before answering in a clear voice._

"_I do."_

_The audience gasped in shock, with but two people in the entire court not surprised by this latest turn of events. It took a moment for Scrimgeour to recover, but when he did, he ordered, as was now standard practice, three random Aurors to retrieve the veritaserum._

_The Aurors left the court and returned a minute later with a small vial of clear potion. One of the men stepped forward and administered the serum to a willing Snape, who allowed the drops to land on his tongue as he stared boastfully at his young enemy. Harry stared at Snape intently, focused on nothing but his objective; he knew that the next few moments would make or break the entire thing, would decide the outcome of the trial. Snape face went blank and his voice when he spoke was a dull monotone. The prosecution, as planned, went straight for the crux of the matter; they should only need one question._

"_Did you, without legal excuse, kill Medea Tornincasa?"_

_There was a moment's pause and the entire court held its breath before Snape opened his mouth to answer._

"_I did."_

_There was an uproar from the spectators before Scrimgeour restored order. The prosecution asked no further questions and, though the defence was allowed the opportunity to cross-examine, the baffled barrister could think of nothing to ask against such a damning admission. Snape's face blanched and contorted in shock as the potion wore off moments later._

"_It's not true!" Snape exclaimed. "The potion has been tampered with, these are lies!"_

"_That is enough Mr. Snape," The judge silenced the protest. "The closing statements will now be delivered."_

_This was done swiftly and with the evidence presented, the jury was dismissed to a side room to consider the verdict and Harry and the others left the court to nervously discuss the proceedings and impatiently wait for their return. The jury didn't take long to decide. Less than an half an hour after they had left the court, they returned, their faces stoic and determined to a man as all but the foreman sat._

"_Has the jury reached a verdict?" The judge asked._

"_We have," the foreman replied. "On the charges of murder and Death Eater affiliation, we find the defendant guilty."_

"_I didn't kill her!"Snape shouted, straining at his binds._

"_The verdict has been given," Scrimgeour said, banging down his gavel to call for order. "Severus Snape, due to the dreadful nature of your crimes, your high status in the Death Eater ranks and your great danger to the public, I am compelled to visit upon you the harshest sentence allowed for your crimes. You will receive the Dementor's kiss."_

"...and so we say farewell to Robert Harding in the knowledge that he is in the loving arms of the Lord."

Dreary organ music started to play as the vicar's speech came to an end and Thane stood to thank the holy man for his time, before being left alone by the coffin as the reverend retreated to his office. As Harry and Remus stood to join him, he released a short, mirthless laugh, shaking his head in disbelief as he stared down at his father's lifeless form.

"See the gold watch on my father's wrist?" He asked in response to their questioning eyes. "It was a seventeenth birthday present I got from my Grandma, it went missing around the time I saw him last."

"Do you want it back?" Remus asked after a moment of shocked silence.

"No," Thane replied with sadness in his eyes. "Let him keep it. Look around you Remus," he gestured to the empty church, "what else does he have?"

Thane collapsed down onto the hard wooden bench, burying his head in his hands as Remus and Harry sat beside him. A heavy silence fell and hung for some time before Thane sat up once more.

"What a bastard, eh?" He asked, a sardonic smile on his lips. "His own son's coming of age present. Since I found out about his death, I've spent quite a bit of time trying to come up with one redeeming feature he had and, so far I'm struggling. It makes you wonder if a man can truly be evil."

"Well one name springs immediately to mind," Remus chipped in. "I didn't know your Dad, Thane, so for him I make no comment, but Voldemort at least was pure evil."

"I don't know about that," Harry said, surprising even himself. "I mean, there's no doubt that he became truly evil, that by the time he opened the Chamber of Secrets, he was far less than human, but don't you think the infant Tom Riddle had hopes and dreams? Riddle himself spoke of our similarities, about the fact that we're both orphans, is it possible that as a child, he didn't dream of his Mummy and Daddy coming and taking him away? I suppose in a way, Voldemort's first victim was that little boy."

As they all pondered that point, Harry's mind drifted back to the question he had been asking himself over and over since the previous day. Had he done the right thing? Was there really no other way? Or had he joined the ranks of Voldemort and Robert Harding by doing something truly evil? His brain wrestled with these questions, his emotions in such turmoil that he wasn't even aware of a new presence in the room before her arms snaked around his shoulders from behind and her lips pressed gently against his ear.

"You did the right thing Harry," Ginny whispered. "If you'd done any different, you'd have needlessly put the world at risk and you don't have it in you to do such a thing just because it was the easier decision to make."

_Deep in the bowels of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Harry Potter walked the long journey through the mazy halls of the ministry's cell block, coming to a halt before a large set of doors, guarded by four Aurors, all of whom snapped to attention at the sight of him._

"_Has the motion passed Lord Potter?" One of the guards asked, snapping off a salute as did so._

"_It has," Harry replied, resisting the temptation to roll his eyes at the man's exuberance. "One of you please fetch three Dementors while the others show me to the cell, I would like a private word with the prisoner before it is done."_

"_Of course sir," the leader replied before directing one of his men away and leading Harry through the doors and into a long, narrow corridor._

_The three Aurors and Harry reached a single cell door, practically smothered in security wards of the Boy Who Lived's own creation before, as one, the trio of soldiers waved their wands in a complex pattern until a recess appeared in the door in the shape of a hand. Harry placed his palm within and, as his magical signature was recognised, the door slid open. The younger wizard thanked the Aurors and sent them away before stepping inside._

_The small, dank cell within contained just a bunk, toilet and rickety metal table, with two seats around it, the small amount of light was produced by magic and luxuries such as a blanket, mattress, toilet seat and daylight were noticeably absent. Sat quietly upon one of the chairs was Severus Snape, his eyes gazing at the door with an expression that spoke of extreme boredom and yet fear over what was to come next. For a full minute, the two wizards just stared at each other, each assessing the other until Snape broke the silence._

"_I didn't do it Potter," He finally spoke, his voice defeated and desperate. "As ridiculous as that may sound to you, I swear on my life and my magic that I didn't kill her."_

_Harry didn't answer at first, instead checking that the guards had retreated back up the corridor before silently layering the room with powerful privacy wards and turning slowly to face his long-time foe._

"_I know."_

_Snape's eyebrows flew up to his hairline at these words and the smallest hint of hope sprung to life in his soulless black eyes._

"_Then you must get me off. No matter your feelings for me, it is your duty to seek that justice be done."_

_Again, Harry allowed the Death Eater's words to be followed by tense silence as he sat down in the seat opposite Snape._

"_And that is exactly what I'm doing," He finally replied and terrible realisation dawned upon the old Slytherin._

"_You did this. You framed me for murder."_

_Harry simply nodded, no trace of satisfaction on his face and the smidge of regret for circumstance rather than actions taken._

"_Medea Tornincasa was killed by Death Eaters, in fact as far as I know, she may even have been killed by you, but of course there would be no way to legitimately prove it if she had been. It was a random attack, she and her husband were in Diagon Alley when the Death Eaters arrived and she was killed almost immediately by a masked wizard while trying to flee down a side alley. Her husband managed to escape."_

"_Her husband testified under veristaserum that he saw me fire the curse," Snape pointed out, confused._

"_And that is exactly how he remembers it. When this plan first struck, I found an article, which made mention of Medea, describing her attack in quite a bit of detail, including the fact that her husband was the only witness. There was also a quote from said husband about how his wife was always compelled to do what is right, no matter how difficult and the need to bring the Death Eaters to justice whatever it takes."_

"_You contacted the husband," It was a statement of fact but Harry answered anyway._

"_I did. I sent a letter to Savio Tornincasa with a brief outline of my plan, charmed of course so that only he could read it, I couldn't risk being exposed if he didn't agree with my reasoning. Luckily, he did agree and I sent a more detailed plan before going over to meet him. With his permission, I obliviated him; replacing his true memory of his wife's murder with one that was ever so slightly altered; one where he saw the face of her murderer."_

_Surprise flitted across the old professor's face before he concealed it behind a well-practiced mask of ambivalence and contempt._

"_I wouldn't have thought your mental powers up to such a thing Potter, the man must have been exceedingly weak-minded. Your deception doesn't account for the physical evidence, however."_

_Harry ignored the jibe and continued his explanation. "While at the Tornincasa residence, I travelled to where Medea was buried and wiped her of magical signatures before transplanting yours on to the scene. It was a spell I came up with myself, there were traces of your magic in your office so it was a simple matter of containing it and placing it upon Medea's body, naturally I knew she would have to be exhumed when you were accused of her murder."_

"_And we come to the most puzzling of all; my confession."_

"_I took the gamble that, when you realised you were being falsely accused, you would waive your right to testify without veritaserum, to prove beyond doubt that you didn't commit the murder. I'm sure you realise by now that the potion you took wasn't veritaserum, it was in fact inadfectus, the empty-mind potion. I made its potency such that it lasted as long as veritaserum and, during that time, your mind was completely blank, open to my manipulations; you said what I wanted you to say, the wandless leglimency was the easy bit."_

"_And how exactly did you manage to switch this potion for the veritserum?" Snape asked. "Apart from anything else, inadfectus has a distinct taste."_

"_That was tricky, after the debacle at your last trial, I myself ensured that at least two independent experts always check the veritaserum before it's administered and my potioneering isn't good enough to fool them. So, while you were unconscious, I dulled your sense of taste and smell and, from my position in the gallery, performed a silent, wandless, motionless switching charm on the veritaserum, replacing it with the potion, which I had made previously. It took quite a bit of effort to bypass the security charms on the goblet without so much as moving but I put in a lot of practice and made sure to learn the exact nature of the charms before I attempted it."_

_For a long moment, Snape sat in silence, his despair-laden mind working over the information he had just been given and rebelling at the idea that it was Harry Potter who had lain down such a nefarious and intricate scheme._

"_Well I now know your methods Potter, but one thing still puzzles me," he said at last. "Why go through such trouble? You had me on my knees and at wand-point in the midst of battle, you would not have been condemned for taking my life."_

"_It's true that I wanted you dead, no, I needed you dead," Harry replied before pausing, "but I didn't want to kill you. When I first came up with this plan, I couldn't have known that we would eventually duel, but your rising power and status meant that you couldn't be allowed to walk away from a crooked trial once more. I needed to ensure that you were dealt with when captured and I also thought that the conviction of the Dark Lord's apprentice would have been a major morale boost for the country and a major blow for the Death Eaters. On the night of battle, however, my decision became much more personal. My sparing your life that day was not an act of kindness to you, but one of selfishness. I didn't want to kill you, to damage my soul any further for the likes of you, and after months of bloodlust imposed by the Rock of Initium, I liked that about myself. Besides, the country needed to see their justice system working; we need to rebuild faith in the ministry as we turn it into something to justify that faith."_

"_Well this has been a very interesting tale Potter, one that I will be sure to bring up at my re-trial."_

_Harry smiled slightly, but again it held no joy and as he started to reply, he stood from his seat and walked over to the cell door._

"_Actually Snape, that's part of the reason I'm here. This isn't simply a personal visit but a professional duty as a Lord of the Wizengamot. You see a State of Emergency is still in effect and as the Wizengamot is so busy with Death Eater trials, certain emergency rules have been activated. Your request for a re-trial has been denied and your sentence is to be carried out without delay."_

_At these words, a madness descended upon Severus Snape's features and he leapt to his feet, thrusting out his hands in Harry's direction and willing his magic to come to his aid. The result, however, was but a spark at his fingertips, which petered out into nothingness without effect._

"_The magic-suppressing shackles are a good idea aren't they?" Harry said, not even flinching at his old professor's desperate display. "The idea and design were Hermione's, but the execution was mine. I spent hours pouring magic into them to ensure that your impressive wandless capabilities would be muted even in the adrenalin rush of approaching death."_

_Harry opened the door as Snape slumped back, defeated, into his chair, but as he went to leave, he paused and looked back._

"_I'm sorry it has come to this Snape, I truly am," he said, neither expecting nor getting a response before he walked out of the cell and slammed the door behind him._

_As he walked down the corridor, his heart heavy and his melancholy set to the echoing beat of his own footsteps, Harry saw the three Dementors. The evil creatures seemed to shy away, almost as if they were frightened of him, but as he fixed them with a gaze and gave them a nod, they glided obligingly towards the cell to perform their heinous duty. As Severus Snape's dying screams filled the hall, Harry didn't look back._

After the funeral, Thane, Harry, Remus and Ginny travelled, as planned, to the Three Broomsticks, where they met up with Ron, Hermione, Tonks and a dozen other witches and wizards from the Order and the DA. The butterbeer flowed and, for awhile at least, their woes were forgotten as they all spent time with friends. Laughter filled the old pub as Harry was mocked for his yet further increased fame and the former soldiers simply chatted and had a good time. They were now well into the school holidays and without the threat of war, almost all the graduating students were taking a well-earned break before pursuing their chosen careers. For once, talk of the future was not tinged with fear and death but hope and excitement as they spoke freely about their plans.

As the conversation lulled, Harry reached into his robe pocket and wrapped his hand around an ancient crystal goblet. Pulling out the Elixir a Lumina, he placed it upon the table, silencing the crowd as they gazed upon it within something akin to awe.

"What are you going to do with it?" Ginny asked after a moment's quiet.

"I've spent quite a bit of time over the last few weeks layering it with as many protection and preservation spells as possible. Over time a skilled and powerful witch or wizard might be able to break into it, but the goblet could float into the centre of the sun and the Elixir a Lumina wouldn't be destroyed," Harry answered. "It would take years and massive effort for me to set up anything like Leaena castle but I think I've got something better."

Drawing his wand, Harry closed his eyes for a second and, when they opened again, they shone with power. He then aimed beside the table and slashed his wand down, conjuring an apparition shield, which rippled with magical energy. Plucking the Elixir a Lumina from the table, he hesitated for just a moment before throwing it into the rip in the fabric of space and allowing the apparition shield to heal. Some of the assembled witches and wizards moved to speak, but Hermione raised her hand as she saw the look of concentration on Harry's face and the crowd watched with bated breath until the young wizard seemed to come back to reality with a smile of satisfaction on his face.

"Where did you send it?" Remus asked curiously.

In response, Harry simply picked up his drink and stood, beckoning for the others to follow him as he walked towards the door. Striding out the Three Broomsticks, he walked for a small way before coming to a halt, his friends stopping behind him.

"Hogwarts?" Ron asked with a trace of incredulity.

"I don't think so," Harry responded with a smile. "I think we had enough of that with the Philosopher's Stone. Look up."

As one, the gathering turned their eyes to the star-strewn sky and realisation dawned that among the sparkling lights of the heavens sat an ancient and powerful potion.

"Even I'm not exactly sure where exactly the Elixir is," Harry said, "but somehow I don't think any future Dark Lords are going to get their astronaut's licence anyway."

Again, a contemplative silence descended upon the group and Harry's gaze wandered of its own volition to the newest addition to Britain's only fully wizarding village. It was a large and beautiful monument; a memorial to the glorious dead. It sat just beyond the boundary of the Hogwarts grounds and consisted of two crossed wands of polished black granite, reaching high into the sky, with the names of the fallen carved in silver in the podium beneath. Harry walked over towards it and stood gazing down at the podium, his eyes as ever naturally seeking out certain names. James and Lily Potter, Sirius Black, Neville Longbottom, Rubeus Hagrid, Alastor Moody, Filius Flitwick, Seamus Finnegan and Albus Dumbledore. His heart ached each time he read those names, but today he didn't allow depression to cloud his mind, instead he turned back to the crowd, to his friends and those he considered family, who had gathered around him once again. Raising his glass, he said;

"To fallen friends."

The others raised their drinks and echoed back;

"To fallen friends."

**A/N: Well that's it; after four years I've finally finished writing my first series of novels. Thank you very much for reading and I hope you enjoyed them, I had a lot of fun writing them both. At some stage I'll go over the start of Birth of a Legend and smooth out the writing and my next project will be to continue 'Fifteen Months', the first chapter of which is already up and which follows James Potter and the Marauders in the last fifteen months of his life after Harry's birth. In the mean time please review to tell me what you think. I've been Dr. Sheep, thank you and good night.**


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