Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its characters and settings are the exclusive property of JK Rowling, Scholastic books and Warner Bros. Films. I get nothing for the stories I write using these characters and settings. All I get and I love when I get them is reviews from my readers. This story is a collaboration with Darkshaddowedrose. Betaed by alix33.

Yet Again

Chapter 4

Harry looked out the door of the small manor he had Marguerite buy in the Cotswolds of England. He had enjoyed getting the girls away from the court and he had help from Marguerite to find another elf Donnie. Between the two elves the manor quickly became a very comfortable place. After he had a week to rest from putting up heavy wards, and a fidelus, and all the work and errands associated with making a home, Harry called the girls together and using the Elder wand did the ritual that allowed him to overpower and break the binding spell that was the foundation of the thrall enslavement spell. As the last binds on the last girl fell, Harry collapsed into a heap on the floor.

Sinead and Siobhan felt awestruck because for the first time in a couple of years their mental reach extended beyond their twin. The only person they had ever heard of breaking the thrall spell was the leader of the resistance and rumor had it he was hard-pressed to break more than two in a day. Harry had just broken it for seven people. The girls quickly worked together to tuck Harry into his bed.

Harry slept for three days. When he awoke he gathered himself together and made a list. He headed to London, but before he left he donned what he dubbed his Kit Walker disguise: a potion to darken his skin, amber contacts, and potions to cause his locks to revert to their natural black and lengthen till he could ponytail it. In London he sought out the shadier side of things by asking questions about getting a custom wand. Paying out silver when he deemed the information worthwhile. Eventually his hunt led him to a wand maker, to his surprise the wand maker was Ollivander. Harry asked, "Do you make custom wands?"

"All I do is custom wands anymore, damn empire tries to control everything. You pay me, I make your wands. I don't report and neither do you. If you want for a bottle of firewhiskey thrown in I probably won't even remember your wand."

"I want seven wands and I'll make it a case."

"Seven? But no questions. It will take two weeks."

"I'm surprised a wand maker with your skills doesn't have a job within the empire. I'd also like permission for a minor obliviate. I'll make it worth your while."

"How worth my while?"

"The price of three wands."

"The price of three wands and you supply my room and board while I make them."

"Done."

Harry discovered as he did his shopping that books teaching magic were considered contraband, and was highly amused to find that books like Standard Book of Spells Grade 1 were treated as Dark Arts books were in his home universe. He finished his shopping and collected Ollivander

he called Marguerite and had her share the secret of the manor. Then side along apparated Ollivander through the heavy wards. At the manor the seven girls greeted him and were surprised when he introduced Ollivander by name.

The girls weren't the only ones surprised. Ollivander was shocked because he hadn't gone by his name for a long time longer than the young wizard had been alive. His name was on a wanted list in the empire and he hadn't gone by it for more than thirty years. But after having felt the wards and judging by the secrecy the young man had about this home he figured he didn't have much to worry about. After an elf helped him to settle in a room, he got to work making wands. He was surprised that he was actually making wands for the girls. When he got to Siobhan and Sinead's wands it was obvious the three knew each other, Harry noticed but said nothing not wishing to pressure the girls. He had other leads to find the resistance that he would follow up on first.

It took three months, but Harry finally made a contact. A month later he helped the resistance hit one of the empire's staging grounds for creating thralls in the British Isles. The place where the spells were actually placed on the citizens second class. He took great joy in shattering the wards that protected it. The target had been picked because the empire had recently caught several cells and the resistance members who had been caught would know who the empire's spy was. While the head of the cell he worked with debriefed the captured resistance members, Harry bound the oversight witch and her helpers' magic. Carefully made the release word in parseltongue figuring no one who could undo it would. His fellow resistance members said, "Shouldn't we just kill them?"

Harry smiled benignly, "Which is more just, merely depriving them of their lives or depriving them of that which they has deprived others of? Depriving them of that which makes them superior. I know no one will be able to release them from what I've done, now if we obliviate their knowledge of our faces we're in the clear without blood on our hands. We destroy this place and it's done."

After several minutes debate the others agreed. The report of the attack's aftermath slowly made its way up the chain of resistance cells. Over the next year Harry participated in several attacks. He had worked himself into a position of planning and overseeing the attacks for all cells in a two hundred kilometer radius. He also taught the girls every defensive charm he knew and with Tamara's help most of them had gotten a solid grasp of healing spells and the girls without previous training were around a midway through third year education. Furthermore Kit Walker had come to the attention of the head of the resistance.

Tom Marvolo Riddle, aka Thomas Potter by his close associates, sat in his fideliused cottage in Godric's Hollow Wales for the first time in fifteen months. He had inherited the cottage from his adoptive mother, Callista Potter. Callista had inherited the seven room cottage from her family the Potters, one of the Ancient and Noble Houses that could trace themselves further back than the founding. That Godric Gryffindor's second son had married the last of the Potter line, a daughter, and taken the name to give it new life had not hurt. Thomas always smiled when he thought of the proud history of his adoptive family.

Callista, named for her ancestress, had been a squib, rather than hiding her away or even quietly seeing to it she died in an accident as was fairly common in the magical world, the Potters had sent Callista to the best muggle schools and eventually the newly founded College of Nursing. She had been at the orphanage where Thomas had been placed as a baby doing health checks on the day he did his first accidental magic. While not a witch herself she recognized it for what it was and promptly made arrangements to adopt Thomas. Calling upon her father to aid her in getting custody since courts were reluctant to allow single women to adopt children even if they were over thirty and well established in their career. But with her father and brother Charlus' help Thomas got a loving home where he was understood and encouraged. After the adoption was finalized, Thomas and his mum had moved to a property closer to her family so he would have ready access to proper male role models (one of the conditions of the adoption). His mother became a traveling nurse in their district in Wales. Thomas while adopted in the Muggle system wasn't blood adopted magically since his mum didn't have magic. The Potters had helped him to trace his birth family once they learned all of his birth name. The things he found out about his birth parents made him even more grateful to his mum.

At Hogwarts, he attended under his birth name at his grandfather's urging. He hadn't understood until later why, but his grandfather had seen the way the wind was blowing throughout Europe's magical community and had tried to protect him. His had been the longest sort on record but in the end his blood from his birth mother and his drive to make his mum proud had tipped him into Slytherin where he made a name for himself as a courageous, smart, hard-working, highly principled person who never looked at house or blood but always at actions. He was head-boy his seventh year and one of the most popular students in the history of Hogwarts. Many of his fellow students believed he would one day be Minister of Magic.

Hogwarts, he had such fond memories of the place. The Hogwarts wards had sealed themselves following the death of its last Headmaster Armando Dippet. Many said it was because of the ethics and practices of the Empire. Hogwarts wouldn't allow its knowledge to be taken and misused the way the Empire misused its magical knowledge. In proof they pointed at the way texts that had been taken from Hogwarts originally mysteriously vanished overnight. Thomas agreed with this viewpoint, because it was the first time in history the fail-safes put in place by the founders noted in the Potter family journals of Godric's son came into play.

In the years after Hogwarts closed, Thomas lost his grandparents, his uncle, aunt, and young cousin and last and most devastating of all his mother to the Empire. He still searched for James and he held most of the Potter heirlooms including the family cloak in trust for the day he found and freed his cousin.

Thomas knew there was a rather hefty price on his head. His tendency to use guerrilla strike and run tactics, his constant efforts to remove the Empire's control over the second and third class citizens in the Empire, and the spell and potion creation he did just about guaranteed he was the number one target of the Empire. So much so that the rulers frustrated at their lack of ability to corner him, had brought in a special person just to hunt him down. Some nights he found it hard to sleep wondering where that hunter was.

Lex Luthor had completely disappeared, and according to Thomas' spies at court that made not only Thomas uneasy but Their Supreme Arseholes were also nervous. Thomas tried to ignore it and get on with the business of interfering with the Empire's control. Sometimes as he looked at his mum's picture, he wondered if he'd actually see the end of the Empire or if it was a pipe dream. He had spent forty years fighting the empire. Aside from a two year love affair with an American witch twenty some years ago he had been and was mostly alone. It felt as if he could spend his whole life fighting, and have nothing meaningful to show for it not even someone who loved him. He gave himself a mental kick, Merlin, he sounded maudlin.

"Thomas?"

"Yes, Lily?"

"The leaders here in the isles want to call a meeting. Millie gave a prophecy. Apparently it happened at a section meeting and Hyrum thinks he knows who it's about. He thinks you should meet him."

Thomas looked at Lily Evans, she was a muggleborn witch. She had excelled in school but when her family was arrested for sedition because her father taught local children history she had been made into a second class citizen despite being top of her class. Unfortunately for the Empire Lily had been bright enough that she had read not just her year's texts but all the texts for all the years including texts used for masteries of arithmancy, charms, and potions. Lily had an eidetic memory. She also had a grudge that wouldn't quit against the empire. Which meant if he was number one on the Empire's list, Lily had probably worked her way to number two.

He'd broken her out of a thrall encampment two years ago and freed her of the binding. Once he broke the thrall spell controlling her powers and provided her a wand, she became his best soldier and a trusted second in command. She even knew all of his spies. She had created entire arrays of specialized attack spells and potions. She was also the only other person he had met capable of brewing the golem potion. She had managed to learn the phrase in parseltongue and imbue it with the right amount of magic that made the potion bind instead of explode.

Although only in her early forties, she easily passed for someone older. She had once been a beautiful woman but eight forced pregnancies and unkind masters had marked her. Her once auburn hair was a mix of faded red and white and she had a scar that ran from her forehead to her chin on the left side of her face. Her left eye once a bright emerald was now clouded, if she'd ever had laugh lines they had long ago faded, instead lines furrowed her brow and her mouth was downturned. She was fitter than one would expect a woman who had borne eight children to be. Her personality though, was where you could really see the marks of her years. She hated to be touched in anyway and was reclusive, preferring not to be away from someplace she considered safe. Thomas had hidden her here at Godric's Hollow because it was a safe place from which she could work and also because it was close to the graveyard. In the graveyard was a crypt belonging to the Potter family. That crypt was a fidelius protected drop point; one of six throughout the Empire where resistance leaders came for the potion that made the golems possible.

"Is Hyrum due for potion anytime soon?"

"Yeah, his group has been real active lately. Rumor has it you're no longer the only wizard who can break the thrall spell."

Tom raised an eyebrow. To break the thrall spell one had have knowledge of the spell, something that had taken his network of spies seven years to learn. Not to mention, you had to be a grand sorcerer level wizard. With only one or two of those born a generation at most worldwide, he wondered where this one had come from. As well as wondering where he had acquired the knowledge.

"His group and two others have taken out three interment camps and one thrall making facility with help from a few other cells. That's how he met this other person."

"Did you find out Millie's prophecy?"

"Ware the Dragon of Justice, the Master of Death comes, Seekers of the Hallows fall, Harbinger of Death and Justice come. Son of snake and lion come nestle at his feet. Not to worship but to learn, a new age is born, Sacred knowledge born again, the new world is born."

"Obscure. Why does Hyrum think he knows who it's about."

"Apparently, this new member of his is really powerful. He's the one that can break the thrall spell."

"Interesting."

"Also apparently this guy is a completely kick-arse fighter, but has a sense of justice that doesn't quit. Instead of killing the workers at the thrall factory, he bound the workers' magic and wiped their memories of the resistance fighters."

"Sense of justice indeed." Thomas wondered where this new fighter learned such things they hadn't been taught in forty years.

To Thomas' surprise Lily actually smiled, "Yeah, couldn't happen to a nicer bunch. We're running out of places to put the thralls that have been freed from the camps but not yet from the spells, not to mention places to school the children. Olivander is having difficulties getting core materials and wand wood. It doesn't help the Empire has upped the bounty on him too; six months ago he lost half his stock because someone tried to collect."

"It is times like these, when I wish,we hadn't lost contact with those outside the Empire. I can—we can only do so much."

"Black is back from court he has a ton of data for you and he says, "He wants to spend a month or so reminding himself why putting up with the court nonsense is necessary.""

"He's getting burned out?"

"That's the way I interpret his last message."

"At least we still have three others at court to observe. Message Sirius he gets his wish. I'm leery of Hyrum's recruit. He's saying and doing the right things, but I don't put it past him to be Lex Luthor in disguise. I want someone with me who has seen Luthor when I meet this recruit. Anything else or can I get some shut eye?"

"That's it for the urgent stuff."

"Thanks Lily, I don't know what I would do without you."

"Die of overwork probably."

"Har-Har"

"How did stuff go overseas?"

"I got the new cells in India set,.The ones in the Pyrenees had actually managed to get rid of all the Empire Enforcers. Now it's a matter of keeping them gone and restructuring to meet the needs of the people there."

"Will they be able to?"

"I have no idea. I hope so. Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever see an end to the Empire."

"Get some rest, you're too tired, and it's making you melancholy."

Tom couldn't help it he grinned. "Yes, mother," he told the younger woman.

She slapped at his shoulder but left for the potions lab in the basement.

Tamara had joined Harry in working with the resistance, as well as Siobhan and Sinead. She proved very good at working through a golem. Harry worked hard at trying to get a golem to work but seemed unable to link successfully. As result he was frequently the on-site commander during an attack, the relay of the golems made it hard for an overall view of the target and the fact the mundane resistance member needed a magical to ferry them to and from the site via portkey meant at least one magical member of an attack had to be there. Harry played with the arithmancy equations of the spells used for the golems and came to the conclusion that he was too powerful and he didn't have the finesse to make it work. That was the biggest drawback to his powers he had found. Some of the most advanced spells meant to be worked by less powerful witches and wizards wouldn't work for him, because his powers were more apt to try and increase the power used in attempting to make things work rather than finesse its way through.

Harry found himself acting as a teacher for the second time in his life. The DA had been driven mostly by Hermione and focusing on the practical, but here he found himself teaching both theory and the practical of magic of all kinds from the basics and to the advanced and to his surprise he enjoyed it. His students were a mix, some were children of resistance members, who spent most of their lives hidden so the empire couldn't take them from their families, and some were thralls recently freed. Harry's girls had started joining him for these classes as tutors for the newer students. He spent roughly half his time teaching and the rest was evenly divided between life's little necessities like sleep and food, looking at planned attacks and figuring out their weaknesses and how to counter those weaknesses, and participating in the attacks on the empire.

While Harry was actively working with the resistance, he noticed a few things: these people didn't really have a grasp of what all they were fighting, and most of them only had a cursory knowledge of what they were fighting for. Harry counted it as a mark of how long most of them had been fighting and the effectiveness of the Empire's methods. He wondered if Tom had plans for what the world would look like when the Empire was defeated. He wondered if Tom knew about him being up against the effects of the Elixir of Life. After all, the Philosopher's Stone might not be as widely known of here.

Harry also was certain Grindelwald had made a horcrux. The man had given him that not all there vibe that he associated with the Toms of his past, and he wasn't talking mentally though that applied too. Dumbledore was all there but Harry was willing to bet Grindlewald had hedged his bets. Harry's biggest question was what would Grindelwald have used. To figure that out, Harry needed resources he no longer had. It had taken the months away from court for Harry to define the disquiet he had felt around the man and why. Needless to say he really wanted to meet the man responsible for the resistance soon, as something in his gut told him they didn't have long before things went the rest of the way to hell in a handbasket.