Chapter Seven

Harry lumbered out of the forest and reached for Hagrid's hut. His pants were a bit torn, his ribs ached with pain and he felt worse than ever. He had woken up within an hour but had already detected several changes to himself that scared him… He had conjured a mirror when he awoke, a small handheld one that girls carry in their handbags.

Harry looked at himself and gasped in shock. His hair was purple, when it had been black before, now it was a deep purple almost like blood, and his eyes had turned… silver. Completely silver. There was no pupils whatsoever. It freaked him out. His teeth were rotting and some had fallen out already, and his skin was shriveling up. He knew he had to get medical attention and fast. He had to get Dumbledore but every step was torture and making it to Hagrid's hut was the hardest thing he had ever done.

He opened the wooden door to the shack, and suddenly felt a racking set of coughs assault him. He coughed up blood, and spat on the stone cold floor. The blood was not red, not healthy red at least. It was pink and very light. He was dying, Harry realized.

I don't want to die. Not… now.

He went to the little fireplace and reached over the fireplace to the shelf where there were a bunch of pots. He pushed them all to the floor. Most of them fell on the floor and cracked open, spilling powder. Clumsily he grabbed a handful of white floo powder and threw it in to the roaring fireplace. "Albus Dumbledore's Office," He croaked out and collapsed on the floor.

Albus came into the green fire, "What happened? Harry?"

"There's," He couldn't countinue, because he started coughing painful coughs. "NECROMANCER!" He finally yelled out and he felt his throat clench and tighten like someone was choking him. He was in utter pain, his gut brought waves of pain to him and he couldn't feel his legs anymore. Black spots assaulted his vision. Breathe, he thought. Breathe!

He took in a deep raking breath, and whispered into Dumbledore's concerned and very worried face, "Hagrid's hut. Come, now."

"I'll be there right away," Dumbledore said. The head disappeared. Harry gasped once, he couldn't breathe now. His windpipe was almost clenched shut. Frantically he tried to take the medallion off, knowing that was the cause of his pain but he couldn't and when he touched the medallion his skin hissed and burned. The medallion itself burnt into his chest.

He had to cut the chain. Reaching toward his wand he brought it down in an arc, and a sharp knife shot out of his wand. He used his wand as a handle and tried cutting the silver chain.

The knife hissed and vanished. There was a foul stench in the room now. Harry could smell it faintly and feel the sulpheric stench in his nose. His breathing was clearing up a bit, he discovered.

"You're going to be alright," Dumbledore said. Harry turned around, the old man was there in all his glory. Power washing from him and into Harry, filling him with hope and joy. Fawkes popped into the hut as well and squawked when he saw Harry. 'I TOLD YOU NOT TO LET ANYONE KNOW THAT YOU WERE NOT FROM THIS UNIVERSE. ESPECIALLY NOT WALGARUS!"

Harry winced at Fawkes mental shout. Dumbledore seemed not to hear.

Harry thought back at Fawkes: He stole it out of my mine. It wasn't my fault.

Fawkes: NO MATTER, WE NEED TO KILL WALGARUS NOW, AND FAST BEFORE HE TELLS THE ORDER OF THE SKULLS.

Harry: What's that?

Fawkes: THE NECROMANTIC ORDER, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT NOW. I WILL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING LATER. COME TO THE ROOM OF REQUIREMENT WHEN YOU CAN.

Harry got a mental image of the seventh floor and a wall. He was pacing in front of the wall three times and there was a little bubble on top of his head like in comic books that said, in spiderly writing, "FAWKES FAWKES FAWKES FAWKES" That was what he was supposed to think of.

Then his vision blackened and he fell into a deep sleep that Dumbledore cast. His last feeling was of Fawkes, crying on the medallion.

The medallion hissed and melted. Fawkes picked it in his talon and flung it into the fireplace.

Dumbledore looked curiously at Fawkes but said nothing as he cast healing charms over Harry. "Hagrid and the others are still out there in the forest." He said to himself. "Fawkes, will you take me to them?"

Fawkes nodded and crooned loudly, filling the room with phoenix song. Then he grabbed Dumbledore's robes and fire popped them to Hagrid and the Patil twins, and Fang who was covering in fright in front of Walgarus.

"Necromancer!" Dumbledore hissed, his blue eyes blazing furiously. "Begone!"

Walgarus sneered in Dumbledore's direction. "Why if it isn't the white wizard of Hogwarts. Do you feel up to dueling the necromancer of Albania, young man?"

Dumbledore steeled himself and brandished his wand. "I do." He said.

"That's what the boy said too, and look at him now, just a shriveled skeleton!" Walgarus said and laughed.

Then Fawkes flew around their heads and sang the phoenix song. Walgarus clutched his ears and cowered in pain. "MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP! OH GOD THIS PAIN-" Walgarus faded away, doing his own form of apparition.

"Good work, Fawkes." Dumbledore said in relief. "Come lets get us all back to Hogwarts. The wards will protect us there in case Walgarus comes back."

They all firepopped to the hospital wing. "Madame Pomfrey," Dumbledore said, "Please see to these three. I need to get one Harry Potter here as well."

"Good god, Albus, look!" The nurse matron said and pointed at Fang.

Fang was dead. There was a spike in his head, deep inside and came through on the other side. Yet, Fang moved. It saw all of them warily, and then howled and launched itself at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore blasted the dog away with a wave his wand, and unleashed white fire onto the dog, which destroyed the unnatural creature.

"Hagrid will not be pleased." Dumbledore said grimly. "Madame, we are being attacked by a necromancer. Hogwarts is not safe." Then he went out the door.

Pomfrey immediately flooed McGonnagall who alerted the school.

"What's going on, Poppy?" Minerva said.

"Dumbledore says we are under attack," Pomfrey said histerically.

Minerva's face turned white. "Voldemort?" She hissed.

Pomfrey flinched. "Not that, a necromancer."

McGonnagall cried out in alarm, "What? Near Hogwarts? Impossible. I'll inform Severus." Then she was gone.

---

Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and they firepopped back into the medical ward. "See to it that Mr. Potter is alright." Dumbledore said. "I must inform the ministry."

He raced back to his own office and flooed Fudge, the acting minister when Dumbledore wasn't around. In truth Dumbledore had complete control over the ministry, because he was the minister of magic, Supreme Mugwump, Head of Wizengamot, Headmaster of Hogwarts, and had a host of other titles as well, including the one he considered the most important: Champion of the Aurors. With this title he could command the aurors in any way he pleased.

"Albus," Fudge said nervously. "What's happening?"

"Put me through to the Magical Law Enforcement Department, Cornelius. Hurry!" Dumbledore said.

"Right away," Fudge said. He looked relieved. Dumbledore made a mental note to check up on Fudge's doings but now wasn't the time. He had a necromancer to hunt.

"Minister," Amelia Bones said. "Is there anything wrong?"

"Hogwarts is under attack by a necromancer. Assemble all available aurors. We are going to hunt in the Forbidden Forest."

"All?" Madam Bones asked incredulously. "All? As in… we have over a thousand aurors on call, Albus. All of them?"

"All of them." Dumbledore said firmly. "Bring them all down to Hogwarts."

"Okay…" Bones said, unsure and hesitant.

"If you don't follow my orders, Bones, you will be out of your job. I am declaring this a state of emergency. Send this information to the Daily Prophet too." Dumbledore said. "A necromancer is very serious business. I can only imagine what he wants at Hogwarts."

"What does he want?" Bones asked, curious.

"He wants the children, Amelia." Dumbledore said grimly. "For necromancers to live, they need to feed on the life forces of magical children. NOW GET TO WORK, BONES. ASSEMBLE THE AURORS NOW!"

Of course, that was a half lie. If Necromancers, like Voldemort, had a horcrux or two, then they didn't need magical children to feed themselves.

However, necromancers didn't make horcruxes. It was not as if they were disgusted with that kind of magic, in truth that was just a parlor trick, but it was more that their powers would be reduced with every horcrux they make.

---

Back in the forbidden forest, the centaurs were assembled for war. They were firmly under control of Walgarus, who surveyed them with a critical eye. "Its fine, you beasts will do for a distraction." He said.

The centaurs did nothing, they were enchanted, their eyes red with bloodlust. Walgarus sneered at them, considering them little more than beasts like dogs. Then he pressed the skull on his staff to the ground. The staff was windy and crooked and looked… unnatural.

When the skull hit the ground, a dark black whirlpool formed and figures began to rise. They were more necromancers, the entire order of the skull was here. They fed on children every once in a thousand years. Well no, they attacked a school and had a feast every thousand years. Usually they found magical children one by one, when they were little more than babies, usually.

Today was the day for a feast, and the school… the most secure school in the world… Hogwarts.

Fourteen Necromancers rose, their robes completely black, signifying themselves to be of the highest of the order.

"Excellent work, Walgarus," One of them said. He had a gold crown on his head. He was the leader. He had sharp black eyes, a falcon like nose and thin blood red lips. When he spoke he bared his sharp yellow fangs. "After tonight, you will be one of us."

Walgarus bowed. "Thank you my lord."

"And then…" His eyes seemed to blaze. "We will find Lord Voldemort and take back the powers and secrets he stole from us."

"But first, Hogwarts, right?" Walgarus said.

"Yes, Hogwarts first," the man said.

-----

Back in the original universe that Harry came from, Voldemort walked up on the cobblestone path that lead to the mansion There was no other death eater on the island. The attack at the ministry had been disasterous. The order of the phoenix hadn't even come to the rescue. They didn't need to because the aurors dealt with the death eaters already.

Voldemort sighed. Things were wrong and there was no sign of his number one death eater, Harry Potter. That was because, he thought with some shock, Harry had made a worm hole and had accidently entered another universe. What a disaster.

But he would have to get Harry back. He had spent over 19 years on the boy, training him, and that had caused numerous delays in his plans. He would need to get Harry back, he was too valuable to lose.

He went up to his office. He decided he would spend the day slowly deciphering the tablet. He opened the old wooden door. It creaked as it opened. The office was quite large and very empty. There was a desk in the corner by the window that overlooked the ocean. On it there usually was lots and lots of parchments and to keep the sheets from flying, the tablet was usually on it.

Voldemort stopped.

There was nothing on the desk, only an old piece of parchment, and a rock making it hold still.

Where was the tablet? And all his research? He had completed about half the translations already.

WHERE WAS HIS TABLET?

He strode angrily to his desk and grabbed the note, dreading what he saw.

The note said:

I took the liberty of relieving you of this burden… The tablet of the universe should not be in your hands. Dumbledore agrees.

By the way, I am quitting being a death eater. It was fun… but now I am on bigger and better things, mainly Hogwarts.

Thanks,

Yours truly,

Severus Snape.

"NO!" Voldemort roared with rage, "THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"

Then when the knowledge of what had happened sank in, Voldemort vowed to himself:

"I am going to burn Hogwarts to the ground!"