Typing this chapter was a lot easier as compared to chapter 2 for chapter 3 was one of the earliest scenes (along with some other scenes) I thought off thus inspiration just flowed through smoothly, minimal writer's block (yeah!). The reason for a slight delay for this chapter was due to the fact that I had exams, a national exam, catching up on other fan fics and watching anime series (gundam seed destiny and initial D stage one). GSD pairings are my favorites – you know Kira X Lacus and Athurun X Cagali. And of course figuring how to get this chapter flow smoothly.

I have cut down on the dialogues which hopefully make it more pleasing to read.

Summary of this fic – HpCCS. The wizarding world has declared war against sorcerers, cleanly forgetting about the threat Voldermort and his Death Eater poses. Facing danger from both the wizards and Voldermort, how will the sorcerers deal with this sticky situation when the sorcerers detest the wizarding community as well?

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS or Harry Potter. I am just typing because there has been a serious lack of CCS cum HP fics recently.

There was a great uproar in Hogwarts the following week in courtesy of Peeves who apparently felt that he had to aggravate the already tensed situation. Once he found out that Tomoyo had slipped right under Umibridge's nose, he went gleeful. Before any one could stop him, he zoomed off bellowing lungs out.

"The intruder has escaped! Everyone run! Hogwarts is not safe any longer!"

The situation was like a pot on a huge fire, threatening to boil over any moment. With Peeve's untimely announcement, it literally exploded and went chaotic. Worried parents started flooding Hogwarts with owls demanding a logical explanation from Umbridge. Some paranoid ones came down personally to ensure their children's' safety. The incident was splashed onto the newspapers as Daily Prophet reporters started to camp outside the school. Students and teachers heightened their senses as they went on red alert.

To make matters worse, the detection system was reported to be tampered with, four days after Tomoyo's disappearance. This led to many questioning the vulnerability of Hogwart's defense.

Dumbledore, who seemed to be the only person who could calm the whole situation down, was rarely seen these days thus Umbridge had to handle it by herself. To add to her troubles, Peeves decided to leech himself onto Umbridge as he loyally followed the twins' request of giving her hell.

This situation was as bad as it could be.

Yet the Prince of Slytherin was unfazed by the commotion.

These days, Malfoy spent most of his time in the room of requirement, hidden away from public view. Although Slytherin prefects have an unspoken duty of standing by Umbridge at times like this, he had a duty that far outweighed the responsibility as a prefect.

He had to kill Dumbledore.

A grave task which the Dark Lord had ordered him to perform. A chance that was bestowed to Malfoy. An opportunity to prove to Voldermort that he was more capable than any other Death Eaters.

So far none of the Death Eaters have managed to snuff out the life of that old fool.

He shall be the first.

Malfoy snapped out of his thoughts as Peeves evil cackle rang loudly along the corridor. Leaning against the wall, Malfoy gazed at the ceiling. Spending most of his time alone in this room meant that he had plenty of time to brood about stuff other than plotting against Dumbledore.

Strangely, his thoughts always trailed back to his parents, especially his father.

His deceased father to be more exact.

Lucius death was puzzled Malfoy greatly. It was a year and a half since his father's death and Malfoy still had no concrete proof on how Lucius died. All Malfoy remember was the Dark Lord organizing a massive strike against muggles as he wanted to extend his control to muggle territory. There were many attacks against muggles in the past but none were this massive. All Death Eaters, including Malfoy's parents, were roped in. They were split into three teams, each group amounting to at least two hundred Death Eaters.

The attack was done in Asia, where the concentration of wizard was minimal. The operation had been a success, or at least that was what Malfoy had thought.

Less than an hour into "Operation – Muggle slaughter", urgent news was reported that a third of Death Eaters have been wiped out.

This report left even the Dark Lord in shock. Who would be so brazen to lay a finger on the Death Eaters?

Or rather, who had the ability to cripple Voldermort's attacking force?

Malfoy was positive that the Aurors were not responsible for wiping out the Death Eaters. Their attacks were pitiful and they already have great difficulty handling less than twenty Death Eaters.

Baffling as it was, the Dark Lord was forced to abort the attack as he assessed the damage. There was only a single survivor in that team and that happened to be Malfoy's mother.

She was in a ghastly state. Her blonde hair was dyed red as blood soaked her hair. She was in a much paler shade than before and her sunken eyes reflected shock and fear. Medics were trying to savage what seemed to be the mangled remains of her left limbs as she lay lifelessly like a corpse in a pool of blood.

It was only when Malfoy came into view that the widow sprang back to life as she clung onto her son, sobbing and wailing loudly.

"I saw your father… dying in front of my eyes! HE DISINTEGRATED! THERE WAS NONE OF HIM LEFT! None of him left…"

It was too much for her to bear and she suffered a severe mental breakdown. Till today which was a year and a half later, his mother was still suffering from her shock.

It was a frightening experience really, for his mother once a proud woman was reduced to such a pathetic state.

Other than the fact that nearly three hundred Death Eaters were killed / disintegrated (according to Malfoy's mother) overnight, no other questions could be answered. That widow just could not remember anything else.Moreover, there were no corpses at the scene.

A recomb of the scene revealed a couple of entrails that were rotting by the roadside pavement. Those internal organs raised suspicion that the Death Eaters exploded. Yet the lack of evidence added little credibility to their theory. Further more, there should more than just a couple of entrails if the Death Eaters were slain by implosion.

Plus the claim that the Death Eaters disintegrated made the case even more bizarre.

There was definitely a missing piece to this entire puzzle and eighteen months on, the link was still missing.

But Malfoy had more pressing issues to deal with thus hunting for the missing link can wait. Right now, pleasing the Dark Lord was top on his priority list and he was not going to blow his chance away.

Dumbledore sighed inwardly as many pairs of eyes were staring incredulously at him. Things always have to be this difficult.

For the past few weeks, he had been on an urgent mission to find out the two sorcerers that Eriol had mentioned. Information on sorcerers was shrouded in secrecy and it was not easy to find out anything. However, there were a couple of wizards that took great interest in sorcerers thus having researched them thoroughly (using past records of Clow Reed and other references) in secret. By cooperating with them, his hard work managed to bear fruit after a few weeks.

Miss Kinomoto, Japan

Mr Li, China

That was basically what Dumbledore could find- their names and the country and probably the exact location they were residing at.

The rest of the information was virtually impossible to obtain or was non-existent.

Personal trips to both countries revealed that there were many Kinomotos and Lis in each country respectively. Though Dumbledore would bet that Mr Li belonged to the famous Li Clan in China, there were no prominent Kinomoto clans in Japan for him to place his bets on.

In short, he could not locate Miss Kinomoto.

But this does not mean that all hope was lost. He still had ways to contact them.

Therefore he proceeded to stage two of his plans – to convince the members of the order to form an alliance with the sorcerers.

And it was not going too well.

Everyone felt that Dumbledore was fringing onto the borders of insanity. The third eye that Mad Eye Moody had was spinning wildly on his forehead. Snape even had the guts to remark that Dumbledore was finally losing his marbles. The members, especially the more volatile ones, strongly opposed it.

This was expected as news of Lupin's confrontation with Eriol spreaded like a wildfire among the members.

Speaking of Lupin, he was one of those who strongly protested against the alliance. Dumbledore could not blame him. Lupin's impression of the sorcerers was not very pleasant. After all, he almost got his brains fried by the flaming stallion.

Eriol just had to cause trouble.

Dumbledore stopped grumbling as he focused the matter at hand. The members did not realize the seriousness of the situation. Therefore it was in times like this when democracy should be ignored. Whether he liked it or not, Dumbledore was forced to use his authority.

"Silence!"

The room turned as silent as a graveyard.

After regaining his composure, Dumbledore continued, "I know that all of you are concerned about this matter. However, we do not have much choice as we need the power of those sorcerers to tide over this."

Professor McGonagall was pretty surprised. It was not everyday that Dumbledore's temper flared. The number of times that he raised his voice could be counted with one hand. The fact that Dumbledore had gotten angry emphasized the importance of the alliance.

She had always trusted Dumbledore no matter how bizarre his plans seemed to be. This time was no exception.

"I agree with Professor Dumbledore." Professor McGonagall spoke up as all attention was focused on her.

"But…"

"Dumbledore plans have always turned out fine, so I don't see why I should disagree."

"Minerva…"

"My decision is final. I have always trusted Dumbledore's. This time is no exception." Professor McGonagall stated firmly

Silence reigned as the other members of the order mused silently, having an internal debate.

"I will second that." Tonks spoke up as her hair turned into a faint pink, "I have pledged loyalty to the Order and that means following Dumbledore orders." She looked at her boyfriend and her glare doubled in intensity.

You better not protest.

Lupin flinched under her gaze.

The room was awfully large, with large stone lions guarding the entrance. A red carpet covered the well-polished floor as calligraphy was hung on marbled walls. Dragons were painted in gold on maroon pillars that stretched to the ceiling. A picture of a particularly large dragon encircling the family's crest was crafted onto the wall.

"Have this faxed to them by tomorrow."

Unfazed by the majestic size of the dragon, a young lad proceeded to settle the rest of the paperwork. After all, he had been working in this room for nearly two years now. It had been habitual for him to just plop by the desk from nine to five. Not that he hated his job, but to continue this routine for another forty to fifty years could get a little dull and drab at times. Still, this was his duty ever since he took over leadership one and a half years ago.

"It shall be done Mr Li."

Say this job does have it perks other than the unchanging window view. However, being a workaholic, he simply did not have time to enjoy those perks.

Li Xiao Lang, the current eighteen year old who was in charge of the Li Corporation and Clan, was adding the finishing touches to the contract. He handed the contract to his right hand man/secretary.

"Is there anything else?" Xiao Lang enquired as he leaned back onto his armchair.

"Yes there is Mr Li." Wang went through his file as he continued, "There were two attacks in the south the previous week. Damage was minimal and no injuries were reported. Re-enforcement arrived promptly."

Xiao Lang's narrowed his eyes as he remarked darkly, "They have been getter bolder. Their activities have increased recently."

Wang respectfully handled two letters to Xiao Lang, "Two more wizards have attempted to communicate with you, Sir."

Xiao Lang scanned through the letter.

As usual, trying to start an alliance with us.

"Ignore all letters from them." Xiao Lang told Wang before dismissing him. Wang bowed deeply and left the room.

Xiao Lang took one last look at those letters before igniting them.

What right do they have to approach us?

He stared disgustedly at the pile of ashes in his hand as anger started to build up within him.

They had no right to begin with.

It took much persuasion before the rest of the members grudgingly agreed to Dumbledore's plan. Snape in particular, looked as if he swallowed a piece of lemon.

"How are we supposed to meet up with these sorcerers if we do not know their exact location?" Tonks asked.

Dumbledore stared thoughtfully at the ceiling before replying, "I could not obtain much from these contacts of mine. It seems that they know the exact location of one of the sorcerer but they are starting to doubt the credibility of the information as the letters they tried to send did not have any reply."

"Or they just refuse to reply." A member muttered.

Dumbledore chuckled before continuing, "There is another way to contact at least one of them though, and that is through summoning."

"Isn't that forbidden?"

"It is a forgotten skill, not forbidden Snape."

Professor McGonagall looked concerned, "Summoning requires a sacred ground that possesses magic strong enough to attract the sorcerer but I am afraid there may be a lack of sacred grounds for the ritual…"

Dumbledore wagged his finger and pointed west, "You are forgetting about the forbidden forest Minerva! There is enough wild magic within it to summon a sorcerer."

The members started to talk among themselves before Tonks asked, "Then when shall we proceed with the summoning?"

Dumbledore stared thoughtfully at the ceiling for a moment, " In two days. We shall reach the sacred site before midnight for the students should be asleep by then. Moreover, the concentration of wild magic will be at its peak at midnight."

The members nodded in agreement.

"Sleep well and prepare for the herculean task ahead of us." Dumbledore declared.

We will need it.

"They are leaving on Thursday night?" Ron exclaimed.

"Shut it Ron! This is the Order's top secret information!" Harry yelled at Ron with a loud whisper.

Harry had begged Dumbledore to allow the trio to tag along when Harry overheard the conversation about the summoning between Lupin and Sirius just a while ago. Harry leeched onto the headmaster for hours, claiming that the trio had every right to participate in the Order's activities as they were rightful members themselves. Dumbledore, who was bent on berating those two idiots for discussing Order secrets in public, had reluctantly agreed to bring the trio along.

So the ever thrilled Harry rushed back to tell the great news to his pals.

Ron was terribly excited and started to plan their "trip". Hermoine on the other hand was shocked.

"Why does Dumbledore want to form an alliance with the sorcerers? They are dangerous!" Hermoine whispered.

"Who knows? Maybe he wants to harness their power to…"

He is off and going.

"Ron, quit your lame reasoning." Hermoine lectured. "By the way, we are not supposed to discuss this in public. Someone might overhear us and we will be in deep trouble!"

"Fine! Let's return to the common room where we can discuss about this properly." Ron countered.

With that, the trio rushed left the dark corridor and ran towards Gryffindor common room. Unknown to them, Flich too left the corridor as he stepped out of the shadows and ran towards Umbridge's office.

"This is so creepy."

Harry had to agree with Ron. The forbidden forest was the last place he would like to be at night. Not that the forest was pleasant during the day, but it was down right scary during the night.

The variety of trees has morphed into a homozygous breed, processing identical traits of being gloomy, intimidating and astoundingly tall. The silence was deafening as the members of the order trudged warily into the thick mass of undergrowth.

Not to mention that it was unbelievably dark and moon beams were the only source of light. They had to rely on their other enhanced senses to move about, or in reality tripping over their feet. It was really pitch black and all Harry could make out was the outline of the person in front of him (Ron) and nearby vegetation. Dumbledore gave strict orders not to conjure up any flame or light to avoid unwanted attention.

He was regretting his decision to tag along.

And it did not help that the forbidden forest had a life of its own. Dangerous creatures with deranged minds lived in this forest, hiding from wizards' view. God knows what type of bloodthirsty creatures that were desperate for human flesh. Shadowed by darkness, they were probably staring at them behind the camouflage of thick and dense vegetation right now. Thoughts strayed towards a certain group of spiders that nearly ended his life a couple of years back. Harry paled considerably at that thought. Furthermore, vegetation seemed to have a mind of their own. Trees like the Whipping Willow would be abundant in the forest and with wild magic currently running at its peak, Harry was not surprised if any tree were to use his head as a ball.

He was a confirmed nutcase. Why must he always find ways to shorten his lifespan?

I call that foolish courage.

A trait pretty evident in many Gryffindors.

At least it is a clear night, not some dark overcast sky that is threatening to rain shit loads on us.

As the group went deeper into the forest, Harry found the terrain pretty uneven and the vegetation getting a lot denser. Harry found this terribly irritating. Without light illuminating the dirt track, Harry had to rely on trial and error; for which Harry could find himself plunging down suddenly or that the gradient was to step for him to climb and had to be hoisted up by someone. Worst still, thorns stubbornly clung onto his cloak as it was determined to leave more than ripped cloaks. Scowling, Harry wrenched his cloak off the offending thorns which left a large gapping hole. He could feel the cuts those thorns left behind.

Harry cursed silently. There was nothing more troublesome than this.

A loud cry distracted Harry from his musing and he found himself cursing even more.

"Trust that Weasley to always land into trouble." Snape spat.

With whatever illumination the moonlight offered, Harry saw that Ron was currently suspended upside down in mid air. Ron thrashed about wildly, yelling for anyone to save him. There was a mass of confusion as the teachers made a frantic attempt to save the red head. Wands were drawn out and spells were casted in a bid to free that Weasley. Amongst all those burst of fire, Harry could finally identify what was suspending his best friend in mid air.

An enormous vine as thick as an elephant's trunk coiled Ron's ankle and lifted him up. The vines then started to wrap round Ron's body, much to everyone's dismay. Apparently some nearby carnivore tree decided that Ron would do as supper and proceeded to kill its prey, which was to strangle Ron, before sucking the nutrients out.

Ron, who realized that he was on the verge of death, started screeching like a banshee.

"BLOODY HELL! GET THIS THING OFF ME!"

Unfortunately, attempts by the teachers to free Ron were fruitless.

"We have to do something! Ron is going to get killed!" Harry shouted.

A huge burst of flames startled everyone as a nearby tree began to burn. Emitting high pitched squeals, the vines released its hold of Ron as it began to go crazy. Ron landed unceremoniously onto the ground as he scampered away hurriedly.

"Attacks directing to the vines will not be of any use. You have to get rid of the root of the problem."

All eyes fell onto Dumbledore as he continued solemnly, "This commotion had given our position away and we are even more vulnerable to attacks than before. We have to increase our pace."

Picking up speed, the group forced their way through the dense vegetation, desperate to get to their destination fast. They were tredding on dangerous grounds now and now that they were exposed, the forest creatures could easily attack them.

Luckily for them, they managed to reach the clearing without any unexpected attacks.

The clearing was much different from the rest of the forest. It was on a flat ground and a single tree stood next a pond which reflected the clear night sky. In other words, it was beautiful.

"There is little time left. We have to start preparations immediately." Dumbledore led the group of adults to prepare the ritual leaving the trio on their own.

"Are you alright?" A very concerned Hermoine asked Ron.

"Man, I thought I was about to die back then. That bloody vine was squeezing me so tightly, I thought my bones were going to be crushed!"

"You screeched like a girl back then." Harry piped.

"Hey! You will do the same if you were on the verge of death!"

Laughing, Harry surveyed the clearing once more. Beautiful as it was, there was something that Harry could not figure out.

"Hermoine, do you notice something different about that tree as compared to the others?"

"It is sacred Harry. It has to be special." Ron replied.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious." Harry mentally rolled his eyes. " I mean don't you realize that it is of a different breed? I have never seen this type of tree in the school grounds before."

"Now that you mention it… I think I have seen it in one of the books for muggle studies. It can be found in Asia, especially Japan. It is called…"

"Awww, Mionee forgot something important! Definitely losing her touch."

The argument was short lived as preparations were complete.

A weird, intricate sign was on the ground. Its complex patterns seemed to surround the tree and went towards the pond.

Dumbledore checked the time. It was midnight. They had to start the ritual. Positioning themselves , all of them (the trio excluded) readied their wands. Tension in the air was rising as they waited in anticipation.

It is time.

Dumbledore stepped up and raised his wand, an action mimicked by the rest.

"One, two, three!"

Without warning, silvery threads burst out from every wand and penetrated the tree. It started to glow faintly and the pond began to have the ripple effect.

Harry began to take note of his surroundings and was greatly alarmed to notice drastic changes. For one, the clear night sky was overcast immediately and it began to show signs of an impending storm. Strong, chilly winds caused trees to thrash about violently, too violently. Harry shuddered. The sudden change was straining his mental health.

Heavy rain began to fall as the winds picked up speed. The pond began to swirl rapidly as the tree glowed even brighter. The flowers of that sacred tree turned into full bloom instantly. Harry freaked out. Flowers never bloom overnight. It was like someone accelerated the tree's growth by several months.

The tree gave out its final burst of blinding light causing all to shield their eyes.

It was then they realized everything was calm once more. No more strong winds and heavy rains. Other than the still glowing tree, every thing returned back to normal.

Warning bells clashed against each other as the group detected a foreign presence. There was a cloaked figure standing on the surface of the pond. The aura radiating from the figure was in alarming amounts.

Harry seized this opportunity to analyze the figure. He/She was wearing this red cloak with strange patterns, which looked like a phoenix. The figure's facial features were hidden from view yet he could feel that figure's eyes boring into his soul.

It was unnerving him.

The rest of the group must have felt it as well for they raised their wands once more in self defense. Dumbledore on the other hand greeted the stranger with a smile. Stepping forward, he gave a deep bow.

"We are extremely honored for you to grace us with your presence, Miss Kinomoto."

Please Review! It makes me more motivated. Typing is tiring work. Typing with a writer's block is a chore.

My next update could vary from one to three months for the next chapter is going to kill my brain cells. Yup Sakura's appearance is going to create a lot of stress on me as many will be eager to see Sakura after such a long time and I don't really like to type major chapters.

Oh well, will try to make chapter 4 as good as possible.

Ja Ne!