Harry's Enemies List

by BeepKeeper

At the end of Harry's third year, he becomes Lord Black when Sirius is kissed by dementor at Hogwarts. Dobby helps Harry escape Dumbledore's control and Gringotts helps. The new Lord Black grows up that summer and the Fourth Year is very different. Slash but Harry's 14 - nothing is going to happen. He confounds Snape, Fudge and the portrait of Lady Black. HEA ending.

10. Chapter 10

This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy.

Slash. While the character of Harry Potter is gay in this story, he's fourteen and that's too young to be involved in an adult relationship. He doesn't seem to think much of the adults around him in any case.

In this chapter, Harry shows the soul containers to the fake 'Alistair Moody', and Barty leaves Hogwarts to warn the Dark Lord. When the other schools arrive for the tournament, Fleur Delacour creates problems. There are unexpected developments in the plans to capture the Dark Lord, and Harry must battle multiple incarnations of Lord Voldemort. Consenting adults are discovered having sex though no one is traumatized or scarred for life. A major character dies in this chapter.

Printed Word in letters and newspapers.

{Parsel tongue conversation}

Chapter 10 Portrait of a Dark Lord

Waiting Impatiently for All Hallows Eve

In the second week of October, with All Hallows Eve approaching quickly, Harry was content with school work and spending time with his friends, but he remained aware of milestones passing before the beginning of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

First, the Board of Governors overruled the headmaster and re-instated the entire Quidditch season for the Hogwarts students. Gryffindor lost Harry as a seeker, but Ginny Weasley made the team as seeker and she was determined to make her mark. Fred and George worked tirelessly with their sister to create plays the beaters and seeker could run to confuse the other teams.

Second, Professor Weasley proved to be an excellent teacher in potions class and he worked with all the students regardless of their house affiliation – McGonagall was convinced there would be several seventh years who would garner notice by potion masters for additional training after graduation if the students continued their progress under 'Professor Curse-breaker' as all the students called him.

Third, everyone noticed that Headmaster Dumbledore regained his mental faculties. The loss of his office as Grand Warlock, the lawsuit by Harry Potter-Black, the disappearance of Severus Snape, and the headlines where Snape named Dumbledore as 'another dark lord' were things he justified in his own mind and attempted to dismiss as unimportant.

The Deputy Headmistress ran the school and the Board of Governors was pleased with her efforts as they wrote different drafts of the letter terminating Albus Dumbledore as Headmaster of Hogwarts at the end of the school year.

Dumbledore ignored the signs that the governors wanted him gone – 'Moody' assured him that Minerva could not run the school and that the goblins would come to heel once the Dark Lord appeared.

'And the Ministry...they will fall all over each other begging me to return to the Grand Warlock's throne when they see that Voldemort has returned,' he reasoned in his own mind.

Dumbledore strolled through the halls, heading for the Great Hall for lunch. He made the effort to be seen by all the students and staff – next week the other schools arrived and he wanted everyone to remember who was headmaster of Hogwarts School of Magic.

It was in the hallway on the seventh floor that Professor Weasley came upon Harry walking alone so he stopped him to talk.

"Lord Potter-Black, what are you planning?" Bill asked. "I can almost see the wheels spinning in your head and in Kreature and Dobby's head."

"There are plans in place that must be seen to their conclusion," Harry replied quoting goblin strategy texts.

Bill frowned and threw out a counter argument. "No plan survives encounter with the enemy!"

"I forget that you know the goblins better than I do." Harry took a deep breath while Bill waited, but then said, "I can't tell you."

The curse-breaker wanted to grab the teenager and shake him but Bill Weasley simply asked, "Will you promise to call me if you need help? Have Kreature, Dobby or Winky come get me any time, any place."

"I promise," Harry said. "Thank you, Professor Curse-Breaker."

Baiting the Trap

In the Chamber of Secrets, Dobby created a comfortable room with large, plush chairs, and fireplace with a colourful rug in front of it. Opposite the door stood a wooden table where the soul containers would be displayed when retrieved from the vault under Gringotts. Along the wall opposite the door stood a sideboard covered by dishes of food and baby bottles filled with sheep's milk and snake venom under stasis charms. There were two full bottles of fire whiskey and tumblers for any adults.

"How can snake venom and sheep's milk keep the homunculus alive?" asked Harry.

"It be's darkest magics Lord Black," explained Kreature. "Sheep's milk is dark magic by itself and when added to snake venom, it makes strongest magic."

Harry frowned, not certain if his elf was serious or joking with him. For the moment, he took the elf at his word and turned his attention to the room, created from the rock surrounding the Chamber of Secrets by Winky, Dobby and Kreature. The door to the room was carved from the rock of the walls and balanced perfectly on internal hinges to close easily. Once closed, locks fell into place sealing the room from the outside.

"How does we gets the Dark Lord to come here?" asked Kreature.

Dobby answered, "If Dark Lord knows his soul pieces be here, he come fast as hungry snakes."

"How do I get the message to him?" asked Harry, looking over the room.

"Winky knows youse should use Dark Lord's spy," the smallest elf said without the teenager or two other elves paying attention.

"Can we call him through the pieces of his soul?" Harry wondered aloud before he asked Dobby for a stick. When the elf popped in with a stick, Harry used it to whack one of the soul containers. This caused the pieces of the Dark Lord's soul to howl for almost thirty seconds while Harry and the elves covered their ears.

"Well, that won't work," Harry said.

"Whats did youse say, Lord Black?" asked Kreature, rubbing his ears as if they were painful.

"I said, 'that would not work'," replied Harry speaking louder.

"Whats, Lord Black?" asked Kreature, his face concentrating as if trying to hear Harry's words.

Now almost shouting, Harry said, "That won't work!"

Then he noticed the grin on Dobby's face and joined them in laughing at Kreature's prank.

Winky pulled on Harry's pant leg and insisted, "Lord Potters-Blacks can use Bartys Crouch who plays as Madeyes Moodys."

Ignoring the smallest elf, Harry, Kreature and Dobby began discussing various ideas again before Winky grew angry and threw them all into chairs with her magic and stood before them, her hands on her hips.

"Lord Potters-Blacks and stupid elves be listening to Winky. Use Dark Lord's spy!" she insisted and pointed upwards toward the castle far above them. "Up theres be Barty Crouch, Jr. in polyjuice pants playing to be Alistairs Moodys. Winky takes care of Barty Couch for many, many years and Winky knows that Barty loves Dark Lord! Thinks Dark Lord farts are perfume!"

The smallest elf was angry as she explained, "If'en Lord Potters-Black shows Bartys the soul pieces, he goes to dark master and brings him here! Winky knows that bad man!"

Then realizing what she had done, Winky covered her mouth with both hands and began to cry, fearful that Lord Harry Potter-Black would give her clothes, but the wizard did the most remarkable thing; he laughed before he knelt and hugged her.

"You are the 'bestest' elf in the entire world Winky and I am lucky to have you as my elf. Will you allow me to name you 'Winky Potter-Black'?"

When she could speak again, Winky said, "Oh no, Lord Harry Potters-Blacks. Winky be's Winky Potters-Blacks."

Harry grinned. "Of course, you are Winky."

It took another day of preparations. Dobby and Kreature guarded the soul containers in the trap while Winky added gold and treasures from Potter Manor to complete the enticing room. With everything in the trap ready, his elves disillusioned and positioned to protect him, Harry waited until the end of the DADA class that afternoon. While the other students fled from 'Alistair Moody', Harry Potter casually approached the peg-legged professor.

"What do you want Potter?" the fake 'Moody' asked.

"Professor, I need your advice."

Sniffing and glancing at the teenaged lord, the professor asked, "About spells for the Tri-Wizard Tournament?"

Shaking his head emphatically, Harry said, "I am not stupid enough to enter the tournament. I am three years too young and need to spend my time studying."

"A young lord such as yourself wants fame, doesn't he?" Moody asked.

The teenager merely sniffed and replied, "I have enough fame, professor. Thank you just the same for the notion."

"Then what can I do for you?" asked 'Moody' already bored with the conversation. Until the goblet was lit, he couldn't place Potter's name into the contest with a compulsion and confundo charm to make the goblet include Potter's name during the ceremony on Halloween.

"When my godfather was kissed last spring, I became Lord Black. Since then the goblins have proven to be very helpful with information and teams of curse-breakers."

"Is that where you met that red-headed devil in the potions lab?" Barty 'Moody' Crouch chose to ignore the eldest Weasley son–the man thought like a goblin rather than a pure-blood wizard.

"Yes. Chief Ragnock has been very helpful and now I understand my problems with the Dark Lord and the old man who calls himself the 'Light Lord' but who is really as dark as he-who-must-not-be-named."

Now 'Moody' turned his full attention to the teenager. "What are you talking about boy?"

"I am referring to Dumbledore and Voldemort. I am interested in reaching an accord with both to be left alone. If they wish to kill each other, I will not interfere if they allow me to remain out of the battle."

"You would consider negotiations with the Dark Lord? How could you trust him?"

"First, I would restore his sanity. Then I would give him a great treasure to leave me alone," Harry lied. Years of dealing with his muggle relatives and then manipulative wizards had taught the teenager to spin tales convincingly.

"Restore his sanity? How would you restore..."

Harry looked 'Moody' directly in the eye and explained, "The Dark Lord split his soul too many times making soul containers. He is insane but I can restore his sanity with a spell from the goblins that combines the pieces of his soul once again. The goblins believe I could reason with him and reach an accord if his sanity was restored."

'Moody' stared open mouthed but remembered the role he is supposed to play. "Why are you telling me this? Don't you think I will run and tell Dumbledore?"

"You are a brilliant strategist and can assist me. I need your advice on how to reach out to Dumbledore from a position of strength as well as to the Dark Lord."

"What position of strength do you have? You are just a boy with a couple titles in his name – you have no idea who or what you are dealing with here."

Harry grinned. "After this past summer's events, I 'own' Dumbledore. The goblin courts have sealed his vaults that are full of my gold and have placed liens against his homes and properties for stealing from my vaults for ten years. Unless he deals with me, he will be penniless when the board of governors and the ministry force him into retirement at the end of the school year."

"Forced retirement, eh?" The DADA professor seemed lost in thought for a long moment before he asked, "And what is your position of strength with the Dark Lord?"

"I have collected his soul containers."

Barty Crouch Jr. struggled to remain in character – this child claimed to hold the sacred soul containers of the Dark Lord. He maintained control of his temper and took a swig from his flask.

"No doubt they are safely locked away in Gringotts?"

"Oh no, they are here at Hogwarts," Harry said. "I know the Dark Lord can't go to Gringotts so I want to bring him here to Hogwarts."

"Show me!" demanded 'Moody'.

"Only if you swear you will not tell Dumbledore!"

'Moody' drew his wand and said, "I swear on my magic that I will never tell Albus Dumbledore about the Dark Lord's soul containers being in Hogwarts."

'Moody' Visits the Chamber of Secrets

Standing in the girl's loo with Harry Potter was surreal for Barty Crouch, Jr. His disguise as 'Alistair Moody' was good for another hour without a swig of poly juice but he had refilled his flask just to be safe. He had run to reach the girl's loo on the third floor and running with a peg leg was a painful experience – his left knee would never the same again when this task was completed.

He slid to the floor to catch his breath but then realized that Potter was explaining something important so Barty turned his attention to the boy once again.

"Only someone who speaks parseltongue can open the Chamber of Secrets. Tom Riddle was here in the forties but I don't think he has returned since he became Voldemort."

"Where is the door?"

"Here," Harry indicated the sink.

{With my presssence, I command you to open.} Harry hissed and the sink collapsed, revealing the dark passageway to the chamber. {Cussshion our fall.}

"That's a hole in the ground Potter,"

"Then wait here..." Harry said as he leaped into the hole. Barty heard the boy laughing all the way to the bottom so he climbed into the hole and let go, sliding what felt like an hour until he hit the bottom.

Clambering back onto his good leg and the peg leg, 'Moody' watched as magical lights appeared all around and the faint light of the opening vanished above them.

"How do we get out Potter?" Barty asked harshly. "I can feel that apparition won't work and there's some barrier against port keys."

The boy nodded slowly. "I have taken precautions – the only way to leave the Chamber of Secrets is with my parseltongue commands Professor Moody. So, don't get any ideas about helping yourself to the treasure I have found down here."

"There's treasure too?"

"Of course, there's a great treasure! Come and see; I intend to include it in the offer to the Dark Lord."

They walked quickly along the walkway the elves had repaired to the centre of the chamber where the statue of Salazar Slytherin stood.

"Where is this treasure, Potter?"

"Over here, professor. I found this room after the goblins left with the carcass of the basilisk. There was a door that only a parseltongue can open."

Harry approached the room his elves had carved into the rock and hissed, {Open the door.}

The door opened as commanded; it was heavy stone but perfectly balanced and would be easy to push closed Barty noticed as he stepped into the room and froze. There were open trunks overflowing with jewels and gold coins, and statues of jade and gold. A throne stood waiting for a king and on top of a table were the soul containers of the Dark Lord – a diary, a locket, a cup, a diadem, a ring, and a ball of amber. Each soul container pulsed with a dark glow that spoke to Barty, promising power and gold.

"Don't listen to them," Harry said firmly. "They lie. If you took one in your hands, it would consume your magic and call for its master...the Dark Lord."

"How... How did you gather the soul containers?"

"Four of them were held by members of the Black family and the goblins found one of them," Harry explained. "The diary was in Lucius Malfoy's hands and I stole it when I became head of the Black family. He doesn't even know it is gone."

"The locket was in the Black home in London. A Death Eater named Rosier left it there during a dinner party. The cup was in Bellatrix LeStrange's vault which came back to me when she died this summer. Very sad."

'Moody' stood perfectly still – he could hear the whispers from the different pieces of the Dark Lord's soul and he forced his attention back to Potter as the boy explained, "The diadem was here at Hogwarts – anyone could have walked in and picked it up."

"The amber?" the DADA professor asked pointing the glowing chunk of crystalized tree sap.

"That's the most amazing soul container. When the dark lord tried to kill me thirteen years ago, the charms my mother created to protect me captured that piece of his soul. It is my favourite piece to whack..."

Choking, Barty managed to ask, "And the ring?"

"A goblin team from Gringotts retrieved it from a shack near the manor where Tom Riddle is hiding now."

"You know where the Dark Lord is?" asked 'Moody', the fear and concern evident in his voice.

"Yes, and if I come to an agreement with Chief Ragnock on the price, he will send a team of goblins and curse-breakers into the manor and retrieve the homunculus for me. Then I will have his complete soul and the Dark Lord must negotiate a peace treaty with me."

Barty noticed the bottle of fire whiskey on the bar and motioned toward it.

"Help yourself," Harry replied. "My house elves think of everything." He pointed toward a cold box. "They have prepared the Dark Lord's formula of snake venom and sheep's milk taken during the new moon."

"How do you know all these things?"

"The goblins are very good at what they do. Once I agree on the price, Ragnock will deliver the Dark Lord to me as promised."

"What is the price the goblins ask for the capture of the Dark Lord?"

"They want half of the proceeds from the remainder of the basilisk auctions..."

Whistling at the audacity of the creatures to demand a king's ransom, 'Moody' asked, "Will you meet their terms?"

Harry frowned and then sighed as only a teenager could manage. "I will agree the morning after All Hallows Eve and I shall have the Dark Lord here before Guy Fawkes Day."

"And Dumbledore?" asked 'Moody'.

"What about Dumbledore? He refuses to see the reality of the power of the dark lord," Harry said dismissively.

Barty was deep in thought for a moment before he said, "I think we should get back, Lord Black."

"Now I am Lord Black?" the boy asked sarcastically as only a teen could.

"I am impressed with the planning and organization," Barty said honestly. "I shall have to think on this for a day or two."

"Certainly, Professor, but I need your advice before I continue my plans."

Once they returned to the outer chamber, Harry produced two shrunken brooms and he offered one to 'Moody'. The professor took it and after unshrinking it, climbed on to follow Potter up through the inky darkness until he heard Potter hiss in the language of snakes and the light of the girl's loo beckoned.

'Moody' Vanishes

The next morning, Harry was late when he entered the Great Hall for breakfast; he immediately noticed that Professor Moody was missing from the head table. He stepped back into the hallway and walked to a hidden corner where he called Dobby.

"Has Professor Moody left the castle?"

"No Mr. Lord Harry Potter-Black. He is still in his prison-trunk."

"Has the 'other' Professor Moody left Hogwarts?"

Winky appeared beside Dobby and she frowned at the Potter Head Elf. "Dobby is confused this morning, Lord Harry Potters-Blacks. Last nights, Barty Crouch, Jr. went back to the girlses loo and tried to get the sinks to open by playing yours voice from his memories pensive. He tries ten times with it very loud inside loo, making Mad Myrtle very mads. She jumps through him three times to makes him drops and breaks the pensive so he must quits. He concentrates but can't wizard pop into secret chambers or ports'n key neither."

Harry stood up and set his mouth. "Kreature!"

The Black House elf appeared and bowed. "Lord Black summons Kreature."

"It is time to make the offer to the real Moody. He must accept my offer of rescue and acknowledge the life debt before I will order his release. If he delays and his captor returns, I believe he will be killed."

Kreature nodded. "Fake professor has fleds to his bad Dark Lord?"

"Yes. I will give you a letter to take to Moody before dinner."

All three elves popped away and Harry stepped out from under the staircase to find Bill Weasley watching him.

"The voices of your house elves are very distinct."

"Good morning Professor Weasley," Harry said formally. "How are you today?"

"I am concerned, Lord Potter-Black. The Deputy Headmistress asked me to check on Professor Moody this morning. Apparently, he did not attend a mandatory meeting with the Board of Governors last night and has disappeared from the castle."

"Disappeared or left?" asked Harry.

"Left? Has another professor done a runner?"

Harry managed to look surprised when he asked, "How would that look for Headmaster Dumbledore if another trusted friend and professor ran away?"

"I am certain the Governors and the Ministry would send more inspectors to Hogwarts."

"This can only be good for the students!" Harry insisted. "Moody was a terrible instructor..."

"Don't you mean 'is a terrible instructor'?"

Harry's eyes grew huge realizing what he had said.

"Harry, what have you done to Alistair Moody?" Bill asked stepping close to the teenager who smiled and met his gaze calmly.

Now Harry offered an oath. "I will swear on my magic that I have not sent Moody from the castle nor do I mean him any harm."

"Just like a goblin!" Bill swore. "I insist on knowing the particulars after supper. Dumbledore will panic and that will not be good if we don't have solid information by then."

Harry nodded his head, "I am certain you will hear the whole story at supper."

Freeing Alistair Moody

Kreature appeared in the trunk where Alistair Moody had been held prisoner since early in July. He was reading a book on great wizards of the past century when the devious elf appeared.

"Has Mad-eyes thought on the offer from my master? The answer must be today!"

Sighing, the ex-Auror nodded. "I will acknowledge the life debt to your master once I know what it entails. Then you set free me. What is it he wants?"

"This letter tells Mad-eyes his fate," the elf muttered as he handed over a letter. The Black Family crest sealed the sheet of paper and Moody's hand shook but immediately upon opening the letter, Moody began laughing while the house elf simply sat silent and waiting.

Alistair Moody

I, Lord Harry Potter-Black-Slytherin, offer you this simple task to resolve your life debt to me. When my elf frees you, he will pop you outside the doors of the Great Hall where supper will be in progress. Open the door and tell everyone what has happened to you – you have been imprisoned by a Death Eater who has been impersonating you since before 1 September.

You must denounce Albus Dumbledore as senile for failing to notice the fake Moody for two months. You must insist on summoning the DMLE to investigate your incarceration and you must ask 'Where is the imposter?'

At no time will you mention my name, my elves or anything to do with me and our past encounters. You will treat me as any other student and you will not follow Dumbledore's directives involving me, my friends, my houses, or my vaults.

Your 'friend' left you to rot in the trunk. He sent Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin to ambush me at Gringotts in late August. She challenged me to an honour duel while Lupin attacked me from behind twice. I ended their lives that day – I would prefer to not kill you but will if you require it.

When you have vented your spleen against the headmaster, you are free to leave or remain as DADA instructor.

"Well played, Potter," Moody admitted aloud. He turned to Kreature and said, "Elf, I accept your master's offer and I will faithfully fulfil the life debt as he has dictated. I would have done it without the life debt but that's neither here or there. Give him my compliments."

"Be youse ready Alistair Moody? Lord Black gives back youse life."

"I am ready," Alistair replied as Kreature snapped his fingers.

Two potions later, Moody quickly regained his strength as Kreature popped them outside of the Great Hall. With a nod from Moody, the elf pushed the door open enough for the retired Auror to step through and begin shouting.

"Albus Bloody Names Dumbledore! How dare you leave me in a trunk for three months! How could you allow a Death Eater to impersonate me here at Hogwarts? Has he injured the students?"

He staggered further into the Great Hall and continued shouting at the headmaster, "You're senile! We were friends for fifty years and you couldn't notice that someone was impersonating me!"

Madam Pomfrey was out of her chair and down by Moody's side when he sank down to sit at the Ravenclaw table beside a beautiful young girl with white-blond hair who gave him her glass of pumpkin juice.

"Thank you, Miss..."

"Lovegood, Luna Lovegood," the girl replied. "Tell me your story sir. Are you well?"

"I want the DMLE here now! Where are the Aurors? Someone call Amelia Bones and tell her to floo her pretty little... floo over here pronto!"

Dumbledore and the rest of faculty descended from the head table to gather around Moody though several teachers had to stop and deal with hysterical children. The prefects left their seats to help other students while Harry, Neville, George, Fred, Ginny, Susan, Hannah and Cedric were moving with the prefects to calm Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students. The grin on Harry's face was too obvious to Bill Weasley who was busy with Ravenclaw and Slytherin students while listening to Dumbledore attempt to placate Moody.

"Alistair, allow Pomfrey to take you to the infirmary. We can talk there without the distraction..."

"Where you can push me into another trunk and hope everyone forgets you had a Death Eater here? I am not going to be silent!"

"Albus, did we have another Death Eater here?" asked McGonagall. "What were you thinking?"

"If you haven't noticed, I am distracted! There are lawsuits, lost positions in the Wizegamot and the threat of Voldemort's return!" Dumbledore shouted at his deputy.

Even more students began crying now, with several firsties saying they wanted their Mum and Da.

Dumbledore under Fire

Summoned by McGonagall, the DMLE arrived at Hogwarts in full force and Director Bones was determined that at least one squad of Aurors would remain at the castle for the rest of the year. Despite everything the headmaster said about 'safest place', the facts didn't match his claims. At one point, Susan explained to her aunt how the imposter Moody had hurt many children in the DADA class but the headmaster had dismissed the concerns of the prefects and other teachers.

"It was only after Professor Flitwick defeated him in a duel that the professor's DADA classes became bearable," Susan explained as her aunt stared daggers at Dumbledore.

The next morning, the Daily Prophet headlines were eye-popping and left Dumbledore hiding in his office again.

Death Eater in Disguise at Hogwarts!

Children Hurt by Fake DADA Instructor!

Headmaster Did Not Know Friend Replaced!

Is Dumbledore In His Right Mind?

Time to Replace Albus Dumbledore!

Bill waited until the noise generated by the arrival of the Daily Prophet abated in the Great Hall to approach Harry. The young lord was sitting with a group of firsties and telling them how to perform the Wingardium Leviosa charm.

"You have to keep your wand flicking upwards for the charm to pick up the feather. It'll make Professor Flitwick ever so happy if you master this spell quickly!"

"Lord Potter-Black, do you have a moment?"

"Certainly, Professor Curse-breaker," Harry replied and grinned.

When they were away from the other students, Harry asked, "Kept my promise, didn't I?"

"Yes, but..."

"My name has not been linked to the real 'Alistair Moody's' appearance or freedom. Moody claims Dumbledore is senile."

"Harry, wait please!" Bill insisted. "This is a dangerous game you are playing with Death Eaters and the headmaster!"

"Remember professor, my whole life has been a dangerous game for the headmaster, the Ministry of Magic, the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord. This past summer, I changed the rules of the game. Now they are running around at my direction and will continue until I finish the game!"

Bill stepped close enough to whisper into Harry's ear. "Be careful! Remember to call me if you–when you need help."

"Thank you, Bill," Harry said honestly. "My elves know to come to you if I get into trouble."

Once Harry had hurried off to class, Filius Flitwick approached Bill Weasley.

"Lord Potter-Black is setting up the dominos for a spectacular fall," the diminutive charms professor told the potions professor. He caught the curse-breaker's eye and asked, "Are you his goblin guard?"

"When an elf comes for me..."

"Send for me as well," Filius said. "I enjoy a good fight as well as a duel."

Bill nodded not knowing that Winky was listening and adding Filius to her list. She would bring goblins, wizards, and dragons if necessary to help her friend, Lord Harry Potters-Blacks.

Barty Crouch, Jr. Tells Tales to the Dark Lord

In the forest outside Little Haggleton, a wizard apparated into the clearing and proceeded to cast detection spells looking for signs of goblins. He found none and cast another set of spells looking for wizards and residue of magic. In a stand of brush, among the ruins of a shack, he found the fading signs of goblin, wizard and parseltongue magics.

He walked away from the ruins and made his way carefully to the Riddle Manor, the run-down grand house of the small village.

Wormtail sighed quietly. The Dark Lord was taking his afternoon nap and the damn snake was out hunting brownies, rabbits, or squirrels. His days were filled with dirty nappies, bottles of potions and rocking chairs.

The 'baby charm' the Dark Lord had cast on himself was very weak but Peter Pettigrew knew to pretend he found caring for the baby-sized homunculus to be his favourite pastime. Voldemort's crucio didn't paralyze and cripple but it did sting and the snake was always hungry. The noise at the door drew him with wand at his side.

"Hello, the house!" called a man's voice and Peter watched from the shadows as the tall man stepped into the foyer to cast a luminous spell.

"Barty Crouch! What are you doing here?" Peter asked.

"I must speak with our lord," Barty said. "There's not a moment to waste."

"You will have to wait until he wakes from his nap and has his bottle," the rat-faced man replied. "The Dark Lord is testy if you wake him too early. Or if you wake him too late... he's testy all the time. And if he casts the crucio curse, remember to fall down and act as if it hurts. He's not very strong yet but has a vile temper. If he thinks you are disrespectful, he'll cry all night long."

"Now come with me to sit here until after the snake gets back. If she finds you anywhere else in the house, she'll bite you and as you die an agonizing death, she'll eat you."

Barty froze when the snake slithered into the house through the front door. She was black with a few red bands around her neck and as thick as his thigh and over twenty feet long. There were two large bulges in her middle that he assumed were her prey. The snake came close enough to smell Barty over, crawled over his lap and then she wrapped around Peter and carried him to the ground; but then she released him and slithered away.

"She'll sleep for three days and then be ready to milk again for the Dark Lord's potion."

"Does she like you?" Barty asked. "The hug was..."

"The Dark Lord says she measures me for her gullet. Someday she hopes to eat me."

"And..."

"Our Lord protects me so I am devoted in my service," Peter explained with a dead voice.

From another room, they heard the call of the Dark Lord waking from his nap.

"Peter! Get in here rat-man. I need a clean nappy! And I am hungry!"

"Coming Lord! Coming!"

Barty followed slowly, not interested in viewing the changing of the nappy or the wipes.

"Lord, you have an unexpected visitor," Peter told the infant sized dark lord as he changed the soiled nappy.

"Who dares to come in my presence?" demanded the squeaky voice.

Peter smiled at the infant lord. "It is Barty Crouch."

"Show me!" shouted the Dark Lord.

Peter held the dark lord carefully in his arms as Barty bowed.

"Crucio! What are you doing here Barry! Crucio!"

The Dark Lord's curse tingled but didn't really hurt and only when Peter made a face did Barty remember to fall to the ground to thrash and scream.

After the Dark Lord had his bottle and burped, he called Barty before him to explain his presence.

"I sent you to Hogwarts with a task to complete Barry..."

"Barty..." Peter corrected the Dark Lord.

The baby pointed at his supporter and shouted, "Crucio!"

Peter sighed and dropped to the floor to thrash about and scream while Barty stared in wonder.

"Barry, tell me why you have returned? I am slowly gaining strength but it will be next June before I perform the ritual to attain my body again."

"There has been a development that I had to bring to your attention Lord," Barty explained.

The Dark Lord yawned, "Hurry then. It will be time for a nap soon."

"The boy – Harry Potter – has collected your soul containers..."

"Crucio!" screamed the Dark Lord and this time Barty didn't have to fake his screams. The curse only lasted a few seconds but the Death Eater shivered for a full five minutes after the Dark Lord stopped the spell.

"Tell me everything!" the baby demanded in a high-pitched whine that made Barty's ears hurt.

"Last June, the idiot minister had a dementor give Sirius Black the kiss. That made Harry Potter the new Lord Black and the boy listened to the goblins. Potter demolished Dumbledore's power and sued the old man in the Goblin Courts for stealing from his vaults."

Barty hesitated before he continued saying, "The Black family has died off and the soul anchors you trusted them with have been collected by the boy. He even paid the goblins to retrieve a ring from a shack near here."

"My ring! They have my ring?"

"There's more my lord."

Barty waited as the Dark Lord was breathing heavily, working through a temper tantrum before the infant waved with a tiny hand for the Death Eater to continue.

"The goblins know of this place. They are negotiating with Potter for the price to come and take you captive. The boy plans to meet their price the morning after Sanhaim to set the goblin plan in motion."

"All Hallows Eve then. I shall retrieve my soul containers and deal with Potter once and for all!" the Dark Lord declared. "Barry, begin working on a plan to enter the castle during the feast that evening and make our way to the Chamber of Secrets."

"Yes, my lord," Barty said as he bowed and exited the room. The Dark Lord needed his nappy changed again.

Arrival of Other Schools

At breakfast in the Great Hall, the students were mingling and waking up when the headmaster stood at his throne at the head table to make an announcement.

"This afternoon, just after lunch we expect our guests to arrive. A contingent of students and faculty from the Durmstrang Institute for Magical Learning and from the Académie de Magie Beauxbâtons will arrive to spend the rest of the year with us. Everyone will remain at Hogwarts through Yule and Spring Break to offer companionship and entertainment for our guests."

"What do you mean?" asked an indignant Ravenclaw seventh year. "My sister is getting married at Yule and I'm not missing the wedding."

"I have to be home at Yule," a Hufflepuff sixth year said. "My father is having surgery at St. Mungo's."

The number of students with objections to remaining at the castle through the holidays only grew as the minutes passed and the headmaster's frustration grew also.

McGonagall rescued the situation by volunteering to meet with the entire student body to find the ones who needed to return home for Yule. "I am certain there'll be enough students to remain over the holiday to entertain our guests. Besides, the students from Beauxbâtons and Durmstrang may have plans to return home for Yule and New Year's. We do not begin the winter quarter until 4 January."

"The Tri-Wizard Tournament is about building bridges with other schools; about young wizards and witches from other countries meeting and becoming friends," Dumbledore argued.

"Oh dear," Pomfrey said. "I must schedule the sex education classes for this week then and teach the boys and girls the contraception spell."

"Now, now, Pomfrey, I am certain the children are too young to worry about that..." Dumbledore said though the other faculty members exchanged glances remembering the quick marriage of a seventh-year couple last year when they discovered they were pregnant.

During lunch, some of the students still worried about Yule but the prefects and older students assured them that Professor McGonagall would not let anyone be stranded at Hogwarts who wanted to go home for the holiday.

Professor Dumbledore seemed to be in his element, grandfatherly smiles for everyone with meaningless platitudes and a complete absence of his warnings of the return of the Dark Lord. He held court over his last remaining kingdom and rejoiced in the accolades he would hear shortly from the two additional schools.

"Everyone! Attention everyone!" he called from his throne. "After dessert, we will gather on the lawn in front of the school where the Beauxbâtons contingent should be arriving.

Fortunately, it was a sunny afternoon and thirty minutes into the wait for the French students to arrive, Professor Weasley noticed that more than a few of the students had wandered back inside to use the loo and a few Ravenclaw students managed to slip away to the library.

Suddenly, there was a disturbance in the Black Lake – water bubbling up and the overflowing from the lake to the surrounding woods and flooding the lawns. The students hurried inside as the waters deepened to allow a ship that had emerged from the depths of the lake to sail up to the steps of the castle. The waters quickly receded and the boat settled onto the lawn but remained upright with fins extended to support the hull.

A gangplank fell onto the steps and fourteen young men and women in heavy furs marched down the steps with one older woman.

"We welcome the representatives of the Beauxbâtons Academy of Magic to Hogwarts," Dumbledore said.

The short but imposing woman, frowned and replied in perfect English, "I am Ursula Heralded, headmistress of the Durmstrang Academy with my seventh-year students for the Tri-Wizard Tournament. We are not the idiots from Beauxbâtons! Now, where are our rooms?"

"Rooms?" asked Dumbledore. "I thought you were to stay on board your ship this year?"

"Stay on a ship through a Scottish winter when there is a sturdy castle nearby? Are you daft old man?"

McGonagall stepped forward, "Headmistress Heralded, welcome to Hogwarts. If you and your students will come this way, we can get you settled in your rooms. The prefects will escort you and your students to the dormitory that has been set up for you."

As the students filed inside, talking with the visitors, and sharing stories already, Dumbledore fussed at his deputy.

"Why did you not tell me that you had prepared a dormitory for the Beauxbâtons contingent?"

"I wrote you three notes about the request from Durmstrang to house the students inside the castle. The Beauxbâtons students will be housed inside their transport."

"Why was I not told this?"

"Albus, you were the one who told me!" Minerva said, sadly shaking her head.

Veela Who?

There was no one outside when the Beauxbâtons carriage arrived, pulled by giant winged horses. After landing, there was no one to lead the students and their headmistress inside as Hagrid was busy creating stables for fifty giant horses and worrying how he would have enough hay and beer to feed them during the winter. No one had mentioned feeding fifty horses to him...

Professor Bill Weasley was headed for the Great Hall when he found his way blocked by an unhappy giantess in a smart outfit. Behind her were approximately thirty girls, all dressed in identical school outfits.

"Where is Dumblesdore?" she demanded. "I am Madam Pommefrits and we were told to expect a proper welcome, but that is too much for the British I see..."

Bill managed a half bow that the giantess ignored.

"There was a large man to handle the horses but no one to greet me properly." She stared at Bill for a moment and then grabbed him, pulling him to her face. "I suppose you will do as a greeter."

The giantess offered first one cheek and then the other for Bill to kiss before she lowered him to the floor again.

"Now, where is Dumblesdore?"

"Ditty!" Bill called and the Hogwarts elf popped into the room though he hid behind the professor when he saw the giantess.

"Ditty, I need you to go to Headmaster Dumbledore and tell him that the contingent from Beauxbâtons has arrived and Headmistress Pommefrits wishes to speak to him," Bill instructed the elf who nodded vigorously before popping away.

"Such lovely creatures, house elves," the giantess replied. "They are especially tasty when grilled with peppers and a red wine marinade."

Bill's eyes widened and the giantess laughed–a sound that reverberated through the castle and brought curious students to the Great Hall. A huge chair was conjured at the head table for the giantess and she sat eating biscuits and drinking tea as though she'd not eaten in a week. The house elves who served her were pleased at her appetite but grew concerned there would not be enough biscuits at afternoon tea for the rest of the school. While the Hogwarts students began to assemble again, the girls from Beauxbâtons mingled with the students from Hogwarts and Durmstrang, though one young woman stood out, attracting, and capturing the attention of many of the boys in the room.

Interested in the noise, Harry made his way back toward the Great Hall with Fred, George, and Neville. When they entered the hall, Harry noticed all the boys headed toward the beautiful, young, blond woman who appeared to be holding court. She beckoned Fred and George closer, inspecting their robes, their hair and their eyes. She ignored Neville who was content to stand on the periphery of the circle of admirers.

"I see you noticed the veela but failed to be drawn into her allure," a voice said beside Harry. He turned to find Luna at his side, a frown on her face.

"What is a 'veela'?" he asked.

Pointing toward the beautiful young woman, Luna said, "The veela are magical creatures in the form of a beautiful woman who exerts her allure – pheromones, scent, and smile – to charm men into being their slaves. Remember Helen of Troy?"

"There is an allure that strong?" Harry asked. "Why am I not..."

Luna rolled her eyes, punched Harry's arm and asked, "Really? You're going to ask that question?"

Blushing, Harry agreed he would not attempt to argue with Luna. "I don't like seeing anyone enthralled and losing their ability to choose."

"I don't like seeing Fred and George in her claws either. I hope George will be mine," Luna explained. "He can ground my sight..."

She glanced at Harry who continued to frown at the veela. "You must learn to accept fate's decisions and be happy. You should laugh more Lord Snake."

Caught off guard by his friend's comment, Harry blinked and suddenly knew how to handle the veela's allure. He raised his wand and carefully caught a touch of her pheromones floating on the air. Then he changed it with a little push and charm for giggling. The first boy to giggle at the veela was Neville Longbottom. As Harry's charm changed her allure throughout the room, it affected the other boys and men.

Harry's friend snickered, turned away and tried to stop. Other boys were now snickering at the beautiful girl and she frowned for a moment before enhancing her allure – which only made her audience begin to laugh aloud rather than to just snicker and giggle. Many of the students wandered away now, their laughter freeing them from her allure. Rather than lose her entire enthralled audience, the veela latched onto Fred with one hand while she reached for George with her other.

"My guard..." she was muttering as Harry stepped forward. Noticing Harry, she smiled at the handsome, young man and asked, "Have you come to admire me?"

"Why are you trying to enchant them?" he asked.

"It is what veela do... Ah... a poof'er... you are not caught by my allure yet. It takes longer for a poof'er to fall under my power but I will convert you to love me," the beautiful woman said. Harry glanced at George and Fred both of whom were distressed after being under the allure for so long.

"I suggest that you stop," Harry said calmly. "Visitors are expected to behave and not cast enchantments such as this..."

"I am veela. You will do my bidding," she replied. "Now, come closer so I may touch you."

Glancing at Fred and George she said, "These two will be delicious."

Snarling, Harry stepped closer still and grabbed the veela's hand, freeing George. He placed it on his chest and let all his family magic flow into her hand. The veela screamed and fell back, both hands releasing Fred and Harry. She shrank in size and transformed into a small feathered creature on two legs with wings that scuttled across the floor to hide behind her classmates.

Luna led Fred and George to the Gryffindor table and called a house elf to bring them tea. Harry made certain all the other boys were released from the allure before he joined them.

"I don't know what happened..." said George.

"It was most unusual..." said Fred.

"One of the Beauxbâtons students is a veela and she was trying to establish her control over the boys with her allure."

Fred looked at Harry and asked, "How did you escape?"

"Apparently, the allure doesn't work on 'poof'ers'."

"Who used that word?" asked Bill Weasley who returned to the Great Hall after retrieving a potion the Beauxbâtons headmistress needed.

"The veela from Beauxbâtons used her allure to enthral the young men of Hogwarts," Luna explained. "When Harry asked her to stop, she was insulted that he was immune and so she called him that pejorative."

"She called you that?" the professor asked and Harry nodded.

Bill shook his head. "Her name is Fleur Delacour and I am certain she didn't know who you were. I know her father, Henri Delacour, sent letters to Gringotts suggesting that you invest in his potions business and with hopes for discounted prices on the basilisk components."

"And when I didn't respond..." Harry looked very insulted for a moment. "He sent his daughter to enchant me into giving them cheaper prices?"

"The potential for profits with discounts on the basilisk potion ingredients are too great a temptation. Mr. Delacour will come to Hogwarts at some point. I image Miss Delacour will attempt to apologise and try to seduce you."

"I'm fourteen!" Harry exclaimed.

"You are an emancipated lord. The laws protecting minors don't apply to you any longer – or protect you in this case. Remember..."

"Yes, I remember."

Fred teased, "Harry, throw her our way. George and I won't pass up..."

Luna slapped the Weasley twin's face and walked away with tears in her eyes.

"Idiot!" George muttered as he ran after Luna.

"What did I do?" Fred asked in wonder. Bill sat down to explain his stupidity while Harry merely sat back and enjoyed the moment of quiet. He listened with half an ear to Bill – the man was a concerned brother and cared for his family.

It became clear to Harry Potter-Black within two days of the arrival of the Beauxbâtons students that the veela was attracted to Bill Weasley and he returned her interest. Because both wizard and witch were legally adults in Magical Britain, Bill's courtship of Fleur proceeded quite rapidly from flowers and walks in the halls after dinner, to a surprise one afternoon for a group of fourth year students.

The students were on the seventh floor when a door suddenly appeared in the wall near a tapestry of dancing trolls. The door flew open and a half-naked Bill Weasley came out of the room, pulling on his robes as he ran, late for his seventh-year potions class. Through the open door, the students all saw the naked form of Fleur Delacour standing beside a rumpled bed. Her pout at being deserted by her lover was noticed by the girls while the boys stared at other things.

Sanhaim

Lord Harry Potter-Black was nervous and it showed. He snapped at Neville who was gathering the courage to ask Hannah Abbot to sit with him at the feast in the Great Hall this evening. He dressed carelessly it seemed in muggle jeans and trainers under regular school robes without his family crests and he had four wands hidden on his person, three port keys and twelve unbreakable potion bottles secreted in pockets of his robes.

In the last week, Kreature and Dobby repeatedly popped into Hogwarts with new Black and Potter elves who would take up positions in the halls this evening to guide all students away from the secret passages into the castle. The elves were nervous but knew their tasks.

When the potions class ended, Bill called out, "Lord Potter-Black remain!"

When Harry stood before his desk, Bill looked the teenager in the eye and asked, "What are you planning? What is happening today?"

"Why do you think today is any different than yesterday?"

"You are dressed for battle underneath those robes. That is a basilisk-hide battle suit under a regular school robe as well as basilisk-hide boots."

"There might be a set in your closet if you go look," Harry said glancing at the floor.

"Thank you. Should I dress for battle?"

"I hope so," Harry said looking up with a fire in his eyes that made Bill sit back in his chair. "Tonight, I shall imprison the dark lord."

"HERE?" Bill exclaimed, his normal calm demeanour vanishing.

"No," Harry replied. "In the Chamber of Secrets."

Lighting the Goblet of Fire

The Great Hall was filled with the students, faculty, ministry officials, reporters, and students from the two visiting schools. Harry noticed the presence of many more adults than normal in the crowd – the DMLE must have sent half of the Auras to provide security. There were no goblins present and house elves were all invisible as the wizards and witches celebrated Sanhaim or All Hallows Eve.

Bill had changed into his new basilisk battle suit under a sturdy work robe. Filius noted the curse-breaker's outfit and turned to observe Harry's clothing. The charms professor called an elf to pop him back to his rooms where he quickly changed into his battle suit – he wore dragon hide battle clothes and boots. Then the same elf popped him back into the Great Hall where he sought out Bill Weasley to remind the curse-breaker to take 'Professor Charming' with him into any fight.

Dumbledore paid no attention to his faculty though Minerva noticed the strange outfits worn by Professor Weasley and Professor Flitwick. The headmaster was speaking with each of the ministry officials and every Auror he could find in the crowd. He kissed the Headmistress of Durmstrang who was affronted and he refused to kiss the giantess headmistress of Beauxbâtons who was equally affronted.

Harry was glad to not be the centre of attention for once and enjoyed talking with a few friends though he kept his eye peeled for his house elves. He found himself with Luna, Fred, and George at the Gryffindor table, where the twins were drinking pumpkin juice while Luna drank tea.

"Did you like the article in the Daily Prophet on Mr. Moody's decision to remain at Hogwarts and provide extra tuition for the seventh years to pass their exams at the end of the year?" Luna asked.

"Professor Moody is certainly trying very hard to prove that he isn't the same as the imposter," Fred added while George was leaning close to Luna.

"I believe Moody will be the best DADA teacher we have ever had. And if we can get the headmaster to change the name of the class, I think that'll break the curse and he can return next year," Harry agreed.

"Excuse me Lord Potter, I must speak with you," said a middle-aged, well-dressed man with a French accent.

"Do I know you sir?" asked Harry, gripping his wand and not shaking the man's hand when it was offered. "I am with friends at the moment."

"I am Henri Delacour and I have important business to discuss with you. The goblins at Gringotts have not passed along my business letters regarding..."

"Ah, but I have heard of you, Monsieur Delacour," Harry replied. "You are welcome to contact my account manager, Highblade, to discuss business and to bid on the..."

"I offered you a percentage of my business and now I offer the hand of my eldest daughter!"

Harry stood and stared into the man's eyes, "I must direct you to my business managers at Gringotts, monsieur. It has been my good fortune to have excellent advisors and you must make your business proposal to them. Now, if you wish to purchase a part of the basilisk, the next auction is on 12 November, I believe."

"And my daughter? I offer her hand in marriage for access…"

"Mademoiselle Delacour is very free with her veela allure and she has found admirers here at Hogwarts but I am not one of them," Harry said, his voice growing cold.

"So, Fleur is correct, you are a poof!" the man said with disgust in his voice. "You are not worthy to hold your title!"

Luna tightened her hold on Fred and George to keep them from blasting the man as Harry took the measure of the Frenchman.

"I do not know you and we have never met before tonight. Yet, you seek me out because I did not choose to do 'business' with you. In front of my friends and classmates you offer to 'exchange' your daughter for access to potion ingredients. I have politely declined your offer and then you insult me with a term from the gutter – one your daughter knows and throws around as well."

Harry frowned and continued, "Did you know I despise that word? And I despise any wizard who stoops so low as to use it."

The French wizard puffed up but did not apologize and Harry said, "You have no honour Monsieur Delacour. Shall we meet at Gringotts on 12 November at 2:00PM? The auction begins at 3:00PM and we'll have this matter settled before then."

Henri Delacour had walked into the Great Hall at Hogwarts determined to obtain the agreement of this boy with the giant basilisk to provide his firm with potion ingredients. Once Fleur had him under her allure, she could force him to sign over all rights to the beast and future auction proceeds. If she kept the boy, Henri would train him to work in the business, otherwise he would be expendable.

Now, Henri had talked himself into a duel, an honour duel. He noticed how small the teenager was and smiled, imaging all the wealth from the Potter vaults; "Lord Potter, I accept your challenge to an honour duel on 12 November at Gringotts."

"Chief Ragnock is not going to like this Harry," George said. "You said he was upset he was after you killed that Auror and her werewolf in that last duel at Gringotts..."

"Brother, you forget, this time it will be one-on-one," Fred said. "I doubt Monsieur Delacour will last three minutes."

Suddenly, Henri Delacour was not as confident.

Finally, a ministry official signalled the Aurors to wheel the Goblet of Fire into the Great Hall and place in the centre of the room. Amos Diggory as the Minister for Magic was charged with igniting the goblet so with elaborate ceremony, he approached the goblet, tapped the side three times, and then used his wand to cast the spell to light the fire.

The goblet did produce a credible light show as flames burned through several different colours before they settled into a cold looking dark blue.

"Every student interested in being a contestant may now insert their name written on a slip of paper," Dumbledore explained.

"Who brought parchment or quills?" asked Cedric Diggory.

Arrival of Dark Lord

In Hogsmeade, the streets were deserted when the strange party apparated into the outskirts of the magical town. There were two men walking toward Honey Dukes which was closed for the evening. The tall man carried a sack on his back that wiggled occasionally and the shorter man carried an ugly baby that was asleep with a pacifier in its mouth. No one stopped them or even looked at them twice. When they were outside of the sweets shop, the tall man brandished his wand and unlocked the door's locking and alarm charms.

The two men stepped inside and quickly made their way to the entrance to the secret tunnel to Hogwarts Castle. Once the secret passage was open, the tall man knelt and opened the bag. A long black snake slithered out of the bag and the man removed the shrinking charm that returned the creature to its normal twenty-foot length and thigh thickness. It hissed aloud and the infant shape hissed back.

{The air smellssss foul in this tunnel!}

{It issss only a mile long. We will be right behind you to open the passssssage into the casssstle.}

{I am hungry. I sssshall eat the rat man tonight!}

{Onccce I have my sssoul containersss and regain my form, you may dine on rat. Not before!}

The snake grumbled but slithered out of sight into the black hole. The two men, the shorter one still carrying the infant followed and the secret doorway at Honey Dukes closed.

In the Great Hall, Dumbledore approached Harry Potter from behind with Henri Delacour in tow. When ready, he used his sternest voice while interrupting Harry's conversation with Draco Malfoy of all people.

"Mr. Potter, I insist on speaking to you now! Why have you insulted one of our guests? And what is this nonsense about a duel? I thought you had learned that duelling doesn't resolve any problems."

On edge, Harry frowned but spoke to Draco before turning around. "Cousin, I apologize for the interruption. May I get back to you on the assignment?"

"Certainly, Harry. We have until the beginning of Yule to complete the assignment," the Slytherin student replied before stepping back but remaining close enough to hear the conversation.

"Mr. Dumbledore, I was unaware that personal matters for Lords of the Wizegamot were your concern," Harry said turning to the headmaster and ignoring the Frenchman.

"Mr. Potter, you are 14 and my student..."

"I am an emancipated lord. Certainly, you remember when I took all those seats away from your voting bloc, and when I sued you for stealing my gold and destroying my family estate?"

Ignoring the boy's comments, Dumbledore plunged ahead, "Nuisances! Nuisances! I will not allow you to create problems for one of our distinguished guests. Mr. Delacour owns one of the largest potion enterprises in the whole of Europe. His lovely daughter is one of the students from Beauxbâtons attending the tournament."

"I fear you are not fully informed Mr. Dumbledore," Harry said.

"You will respect my position Mr. Potter," Dumbledore interrupted the teenager.

Moving to stand beside Harry, Luna Lovegood jumped into the conversation, "Lord Potter-Black, would you give me an interview for Magic Match?"

"I am unfamiliar with that publication Miss Lovegood," Harry replied.

"It is the premier magazine among magical folk in France. I will include Monsieur Delacour's offer of a daughter in exchange for potion ingredients from the basilisk, his threats, insults, and now his attempt to have the elderly headmaster interfere in private family business."

"I'll gladly give you an interview," Harry said.

"Miss Lovegood, how do you have contacts with Magic Match?" asked Dumbledore.

"Headmaster, I am a correspondent for the Daily Prophet, Magic Match, and papers in Germany and Italy. The Americans are picking up my articles this fall as well – you made me famous with my articles about the Death Eater masquerading as the DADA professor."

"You are only 13! You cannot write anything..."

Luna smiled innocently. "I always have my quotes perfect, Headmaster. And you cannot censor my private correspondence without the Grand Witch of the Wizegamot hearing about it."

Henri Delacour was confused. Dumbledore had made promises of access to the boy, the chance for Fleur to use her allure to captivate him, and promises of fame with the marriage of his daughter to the boy-who-lived at the end of the tournament. The teenage boy was Lord Black as well as Lord Potter, and he was not in awe of Albus Dumbledore.

Noticing the Frenchman's nervousness, Harry graciously gave the man a way out, "Monsieur Delacour, if you will go to Gringotts and speak with Chief Ragnock, I am certain he can name a 'price' that will keep my honour intact and allow you to live. Otherwise we shall meet on 12 November."

"Now if you will excuse me, my cousin and I are planning an essay on the effects of pine needles boiled with dragon scales in the creation of the pepper-up potion," Harry said to dismiss both the headmaster and the Frenchman.

Selecting Tournament Champions

In the scramble to produce parchment and quills, Dumbledore scolded Minerva for not lighting the goblet the night before to allow students more time to make the decision to submit their names for the contest.

"How is this cock-up my doing?" she asked heatedly. "Is it my fault that you forgot to light the cauldron yesterday? That you failed to mention to anyone that we needed parchment and quills?"

Bill Weasley asked, "Shouldn't the 17-year-olds use a blood quill? I mean this is a contract and we wouldn't want anyone entered against their will."

"Nonsense Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said dismissing his concern. "No one is going to be entered against their will."

"Will you guarantee that fact, Headmaster Dumbledore?" asked Filius. "In the last four years we have seen many unusual events at Hogwarts.

During the next thirty minutes, students from the three schools who were over seventeen years of age and who were interested in participating in the contest wrote their names on strips of parchment and dropped them into the goblet. Dumbledore was pleased that many of the seventh-year Hogwarts students participated and that only a few from Durmstrang and Beauxbâtons chose to enter.

The statue of the witch with the hunchback slid to one side on a deserted hallway on the fifth floor. The long black snake slithered from the opening and into the shadows. Her long tongue flickered in and out as she sought the presence of any wizard, witch, or elf. A ghost floated by but it didn't see her cold-blooded shape in the darkness of the hallway.

From the secret passage climbed the tall man and then the shorter man with the infant shape in his arms.

"Where do we go now?" Pettigrew asked anxiously. "We must hurry."

"Down two flights of stairs and into the girl's loo on the third floor," replied Barty. The snake slithered forward and rose to speak to the infant.

{I hatess sstairsss! They sscratch my belly,} the snake complained in a hiss.

{Try being carried by the rat man through a tunnel! Now ssshut up and follow Barry to the loo. There'll be a tunnel for you to slide through to the chamber,} replied the Dark Lord.

He turned his head toward Barty and Peter to give them orders, "My familiar will follow; Barry, lead the way to the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets."

In the Chamber of Secrets

In the girl's loo on the third floor, the snake crawled under the stalls and Peter held the homunculus carefully as he hissed, {Open!}

Barty was surprised that the Dark Lord's command in parseltongue was much shorter than Potter's had been, but the sink split apart and the dark hole appeared once again.

{Another stinking hole?} the snake complained. {I want to go back to Africa where it issss warm!}

{Husssh and climb down to the Chamber of Sssecretsss!}

The snake hissed but did slide into the hole and began her descent, soon discovering there were no ledges or slopes, just an open fall. She landed on a heap of bones and shattered thirty-seven of her ribs. Painfully slithering out of the way, she cursed the little speaker and planned to eat him as soon as possible.

Now the large man landed in a heap but he quickly moved out of the way, limping on one leg because the ankle of the other leg was broken.

It was the rat-man who floated down, carefully cradling the homunculus in his arms, the light of the distant opening in the sink disappearing as it closed and the magical lights igniting along the path into the chamber.

"Barry, where are my soul containers?"

"This way Lord," Barty replied as he limped toward the room that Potter had shown him as lights brightened to show the way into the depths of the Chamber of Secrets.

Winky Potters-Blacks watched from her perch high in the roof of the chamber, torches lighting as the two men walked toward the room with the soul containers. The black snake made her shiver – house elves feared large snakes more than werewolves. Throw meat at werewolves and they stopped to eat while snakes continued the chase.

When the entire party had entered the room, she popped out to get Dobby, Kreature and Lords Harry Potters-Blacks to imprison the Dark Lord.

Harry was anxious; he'd been on edge all week with preparation and worry for this evening. Now the appointed evening had arrived and the only excitement was the scramble to provide parchment and quills.

'Why would anyone want to be a politician or Dark Lord and have to plan these things over and over?' he wondered.

The headmaster was speaking again, making a joke about the flames in the goblet burning through any names entered by mistake and Harry shuddered to think how he would feel if someone entered his name in the contest.

"Now it is time!" called Dumbledore. With great fanfare, he cast a spell upon the Goblet of Fire, the bright flames grew taller and a cloud of paper slips flew up inside the flames, many of them burning away. Two students had written Dumbledore's name on their slips of papers, others had written George and Fred Weasley's names – the twins were not popular with students outside of Gryffindor because their tricks were often painful and the remedies were time consuming.

Finally, only three slips of paper remained and they floated through the air to the headmaster's hands. He plucked the first slip from the air in front of him.

"The champion for Durmstrang is Victor Krum!" announced Dumbledore to wild applause. All the pure-blood and half-blood students knew this renowned Quidditch player and many had already approached him for autographs. Harry watched as the tall, young man stood up and approached the podium. Fred and George had been excited to have their hero at Hogwarts for the entire year, now they would see how he performed in the tournament.

"The champion for Beauxbâtons is Fleur Delacour," announced Dumbledore as he caught the second slip of paper. There was polite applause from her schoolmates, and loud applause from the boys and young men of the other two schools along with whistles and shouts. When Fleur noticed Harry's frown, she immediately turned off the allure and the Great Hall settled down.

Now Dumbledore reached for the third slip of paper and seemed almost disappointed to announce, "The third champion in the tournament, from Hogwarts, will be Cedric Diggory."

Harry joined all the Hogwarts students in applauding their champion as the goblet of fire extinguished itself. The goblet had made its choices for champions and would not re-ignite until the night of the third task. Bill Weasley was applauding with the faculty and students when he saw Harry bend down to speak to Dobby, the teen nodded his head, and then the two popped out of the room.

In the chamber filled with treasure, the infant-sized Dark Lord was ecstatic to find his soul containers all whole and singing to him. Then he noticed that the diary was not singing as the other pieces of his soul did – there was merely an echo from the diary.

"Pettigrew, take me to the diary. Let me touch it!"

Barty Crouch, Jr. was in agony from his broken ankle and when he tried to cast a healing spell on it, the Dark Lord threw a crucio at him. "Barry, your pain is nothing compared to the pain I live with every day. Learn to enjoy it!"

The snake curled up under the table with the soul containers, listening to their promises... One of the soul containers promised to relieve the pain of her broken ribs and to grant vengeance against the rat-man. She moved slowly to the edge of the table and painfully climbed up, her head rising above the table, the amber ball pulsing with promises.

Peter Pettigrew held the Dark Lord on the table as the infant-sized Dark Lord grasped the ruined diary and cried. "Half of me! My youth is lost! Gone!"

Pettigrew noticed the Diadem glowing before him, promising power, no more nappies, no snake – just the two of them with power and followers!

Barty held himself up by leaning on the table, watching the snake with one eye, and Pettigrew and the homunculus with the other. His ankle hurt! A headache began drumming in his head and some sweet voice promised relief – the locket called to him. Relief from the pain and power!

The homunculus felt the movement of three of his soul containers behind him at the same moment that Peter let him go and he fell to the floor. He landed on his bottom, began to cry, and did not notice the flashes of his own magic occurring around him.

The snake swallowed the ball of amber and slid away to rest. Peter placed the diadem on his head and froze in place as magic seized him. Barty stepped back before he placed the locket around his head and then blacked out.

{I have been sssstupid,} thought the Dark Lord as he rose from the floor. He noted his long, black body and two scaly arms before he caught his reflection in a mirror – snake head on a man's torso, jaws and fangs, red eyes – Dark Lord Snake! He cast about for a wand and felt one call to him from the rat-man's cloak. He reached for it just as the man with the diadem on his head woke up, snarled, and threw a cutting spell at the snake man trying to take his wand.

{Ssssstop!} called a third voice, the tall man with the locket around his neck.

{I am Lord Voldemort!} Dark Lord Pettigrew declared in parseltongue.

{You are a rat and I sssshall dine on you!} Dark Lord Snake argued.

{I am the strongesssst!} Dark Lord Barty declared, able to use his own wand very effectively as he threw Pettigrew and Snake into the wall, knocking the remaining soul containers about and setting Dark Lord Homunculus into a screaming fit!

{You're going to die firssst!} Dark Lord Pettigrew yelled, scrambling to his feet, and running from the room with the original Dark Lord's wand. Snake and Barty chased after the smaller man. Dark Lord Homunculus remained behind, forgotten and in tears.

Encounter with the Enemy

Dobby popped Harry into the chamber and Kreature appeared beside them, their spells ready to imprison the Dark Lord and his followers in a portrait. Harry didn't freeze when he felt the explosions of three of the soul containers; he moved forward with his house elves to investigate.

Before Dobby could pop to the door to close it, Peter Pettigrew wearing the Diadem surprized them by running out of the room followed by Barty Crouch, Jr. and a creature that was half snake and half man. Concentrating on their magical battle, the three escapees did not notice Harry and his house elves. Barty cast a powerful cutting curse at Pettigrew who managed to deflect the spell and followed it with an attack that left Barty blinded for the moment. Unfortunately for Dark Lord Pettigrew, this left him open to the Dark Lord Snake's attack from the side. Knocking Pettigrew over, the snake quickly wrapped the rat-man in his coils.

{Releasssse me!} Dark Lord Pettigrew ordered.

{No! I am the Dark Lord! Not you, you pitiful excusssse of a wizard!} Dark Lord Snake hissed before he took the wand and threw Pettigrew away.

{Bugger! They're all ssspeaking parssseltongue!} swore a new voice that Dark Lord Snake turned to face. The creatured sneered as the teenaged wizard shook his head and said, {Damn, Tom, you are ugly!}

{Harry Potter, at lasssst I face you. Free after 12 years attached to your ssscar, I can kill you!}

Without a command, Kreature and Dobby launched attacks against Dark Lord Snake while Harry exchanged spell fire with the snake wizard. The boy's magic was much stronger and more varied than Dark Lord Snake expected. The snake wizard's new body was fast and agile but it was large and more spells landed than he had expected! And they hurt!

In the quick exchange of spells, Harry learned his opponent's strengths and weaknesses. There was not a great deal of power in his opponent's spells but the snake was resistant to magic like a giant.

Dark Lord Pettigrew attempted wandless magic but the rat's magical core was very weak and Pettigrew only succeeded in drawing Harry's attention – the teenage wizard threw a bombard at the dark lord, throwing him across the chamber of secrets and into the stone wall where his skull was crushed. This death fulfilled the prophecy as Harry Potter vanquished the Dark Lord while continued his battle with the snake-wizard.

Dark Lord Snake cursed – his magic was unpredictable in this shape. The snake was magical but it did not possess a magical core to tap for power. However, a blast from Dark Lord Barty threw Kreature back against the wall of the Chamber of Secrets and Dobby created a shield around them as two Dark Lords circled Harry Potter and his house elves.

{Took you long enough to recover!} Dark Lord Snake hissed.

{Be glad I came to your asssissstance,} Dark Lord Barty replied. {The boy killed Pettigrew and isss getting the bessst of you!}

Seeking help for her Lord Harry Potters-Blacks, Winky popped into the Great Hall and grabbed Professor Charms. She spotted Professor Weasley across the room beside Professor Kitty and the house elf flew through the air holding Filius in one hand shouting for everyone to hear, "Mr. Lords Harry Potters-Blacks battles the Dark Lords Voldesmart in the Chambers of Secrets! He needs your help now!"

When the elf reached Professor Weasley, he reached for the house elf. Holding onto both wizards, Winky popped out of the Great Hall as the government dignitaries, students, and faculty all reacted to the elf's loud declaration that Harry Potter was battling the 'dark lord' underneath the school.

Professor Charms Battles the Dark Lord

Dark Lord Barty's spells slowly demolished Dobby's shield and the elf moaned in fear as Harry Potter battled the Dark Lord Snake with bludgeoning spells and cutting curses. The snake tried the killing curse twice, but each time he failed to produce the green magic that would strike down any opponent. Barty noticed and decide to let the snake and boy wear each other out before he killed them both.

When Dark Lord Barty heard the distinctive pop of another house elf behind him, he turned to slash the irritating creature only to find the damn potions professor and the half-goblin launching attacks. Professor Weasley was muttering charms and spells, casting as fast as his wand could flick forward. Professor Flitwick smiled and shuffled his feet, his wand casting and the first spells already cutting through Barty's robes.

"I battled you before you creature! This time I will show you how a true wizard fights!" Barty yelled, overwhelming the Dark Lord's soul for a moment.

"Fight? You don't know how to 'fight' tall man but you will learn how to fall!" declared Filius.

Harry felt his confidence sour! Professor Flitwick and Bill came to join the fight! Winky dropped the wizards behind the tall Dark Lord and she landed beside Harry Potter-Black, ready to attack the snake whenever it focused on her wizard.

"Professor Curses-breaker and Professor Charms will keep Dark Lord Bartys busy," Winky said sourly. "And I's will fight with you Lord Harry Potters-Blacks."

Harry's mind cleared and he set to work, determined to kill Dark Lord Snake. He cast a powerful bombard spell that threw the snake to the ground – it rolled over and when it rose again, the right arm hung broken and useless but the wand was in its left hand.

Dark Lord Barty narrowed his eyes as the attack by the two professors drove him back against a wall. He dove for the floor and rolled to the right to hide behind a column but that proved a mistake as two separate charms fell on him from opposite directions, one breaking his left hand and the other pounding his right kidney.

"No surrender!" Filius shouted as he charged the column with Bill behind him. Casting spells toward both opponents, Dark Lord Barty ran away.

Sacrifice

Dark Lord Snake slithered toward Harry Potter who stood in front of a wall, wands in each hand and his family magics flashing around him. Winky popped in with sharp knives that she buried and left in the snake's length but the snake dripped blood and hissed, {Pinprickssss will not ssssave you now Harry Pottersssss!}

{The death of a thoussssand cutssss will leave you just assss dead, Tommy.}

{Don't call me that! I am Lord Voldemort!}

{There are too many Dark Lordsss running loossse! One lessss improvesss the world!} hissed Harry.

The snake slithered to the left and paused, noticing that Potter would not leave the safety of the wall. The snake lifted his upper torso, the broken right arm hanging limp at his side, his wand in his left hand. Hissing his hatred for the boy, Dark Lord Snake rushed forward with the speed of a snake hunting its prey, his jaws open to grab the boy and poison him with a bite.

Breathing hard, Harry prepared to cast bombard and cutting curses at the monster.

"Snaky Lord will not hurts my Harry Potters!" shouted Dobby as he threw himself into the open jaws of Dark Lord Snake; the fangs piercing the house elf's body and the jaws snapping shut around the body of the house elf. In the moment that Dobby's body felt the first poison from the bite, he sacrificed his life to save his friend and lord. He threw all his magic into transfiguring himself into marble, and his body became a missile of hard stone that broke the fangs and jaw of the snake.

"No!" shouted Harry as he cast with both wands and sent the Dark Lord Snake slamming against the far wall of the chamber, breaking his back. The snake convulsed as the pain of its broken jaw blinded it and the torso lay broken on the floor while the tail thrashed back and forth.

Winky was there in an instant, her kitchen cleaver in her hand as she hacked into the neck of the snake, separating Dark Lord Snake's head from his torso.

"Winky chops snaky dark lord into bits! Kills Dobby and thinks Winky not cuts him up! Winky buries him under piles of dragon dung in Gringotts where he rots!" the little house elf screamed.

Harry turned toward the second battle while Winky dismembered Dark Lord Snake. Kreature lay in a heap and Dark Lord Pettigrew did not move, while Professor Flitwick and Professor Weasley dashed forward, chasing Dark Lord Barty. When the dark lord ran from behind the pillar, Harry prepared to cast cutting and blasting spells but remembered this dark lord's ability to dodge those attacks.

Then he thought of his joy when he saw Winky appeared with Professor Flitwick and Bill, the joy he'd felt when he'd met Sirius just that one time, the joy in lessons with Lady Black who loved him as a grandson...

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry shouted as the bright light of the spell emerged from both wands, merged to form a giant basilisk that charged toward Dark Lord Barty, knocking him back, surrounding and suffocating him. To power the patronus spell, Harry remembered the hope of speaking to his mother's portrait someday soon; his friends who laughed with him; what he hoped for the future.

Dark Lord Barty broke away from the sparkling basilisk and fled toward the treasure room where Dark Lord Homunculus lay crying on the floor. The basilisk patronus chased the fleeing man while the wizard cast a spell toward Harry that threw him backwards just as Barty disappeared inside the room.

The basilisk patronus vanished as Harry called, "Winky! With my presence, I command you to close the door!"

The little house elf popped instantly from the carcass of the dead Dark Lord Snake and slammed her magic against the heavy door. From inside the room, they heard voices of Dark Lord Barty and Dark Lord Homunculus.

"Get me out of here!" cried Dark Lord Homunculus.

"Shut up! I am trying to think!" shouted Dark Lord Barty as the door closed and the locks fell into place.

Kreature sat up and looked around the chamber, as Harry came to him and hugged him to refill his magical core. "Please Kreature, cast the portrait spell..."

"As youse wish Lord Blacks," the house elf said before he snapped his fingers and fell asleep again.

Filius staggered over to Dark Lord Pettigrew and made certain the wizard was dead and the spirit of the Dark Lord that possessed him was gone. Harry hugged Kreature again to fill up his core yet again. Bill stepped close to check on Harry and caught him as he slid to the floor, and then slid to the floor himself.

"What do we do now?" Dark Lord Homunculus screamed at Dark Lord Barty. "We're trapped! We can't apparate or make a port key!"

"Will you be quiet and let me think?" Dark Lord Barty asked. He glanced at the three remaining soul containers – if he absorbed them, he might gain some power but he would have to assimilate three more personalities – the memories of Barty Crouch, Jr. were still fighting against the memories of Tom Riddle in his head now.

"I'm hungry!" whined the small figure and Dark Lord Barty looked around. He 'remembered' there were bottles prepared for the smallest dark lord and found one. He stuck the nipple into the lipless mouth of the Homunculus – he was an ugly baby – and the thing began to suck the formula down.

Now Dark Lord Barty also remembered there was fire whisky available in the room and found the bottle, poured some into a tumbler, and sat down before the fire to drink while the Dark Lord Homunculus finished his bottle.

Aftermath

For a moment, no one moved in the Chamber of Secrets and then Filius Flitwick saw a light appear on a blank canvas in a large picture frame hanging on the wall. He drew his wand when he saw the figure of his opponent appearing on the canvas – Dark Lord Barty had a tumbler of fire whiskey in one hand and the Dark Lord Homunculus in the other as the infant sized Dark Lord fed from a bottle.

He could see the lips of Dark Lord Barty move but he could not hear the words the man said. With each second the details of the picture grew more distinct – the fireplace, the chair, the sideboard with the remaining soul containers. And most interesting, the movements of the wizard and homunculus slowed with each passing second.

Bill searched Harry's robes for any potion bottles he carried and after he found them, handed one to Filius, helped Harry to drink one and then drank one himself before laying on the floor of the Chamber of Secrets to rest. When the pepper up potion had refreshed him somewhat, Harry nodded to the sleeping potions professor and then staggered over to Winky. She still stood at the door, her hands ready to cast spells if the imprisoned Dark Lords attempted to escape.

"Thank you, Winky Potters-Blacks," Harry said as he knelt and hugged her to refill her magical core. Then he moved very so slowly to the marble statue of Dobby Potter Head Elf. There were fangs embedded in his stone stomach and thigh where the Dark Lord Snake had bitten and shattered its fangs and jaw but Dobby's arms were crossed over his chest and the elf had a smile on his face.

Harry knelt beside the statue, placed both hands on Dobby, and found his tears streaming down his face at the loss of his friend. Winky came to sit beside her Lord Harry Potters-Blacks and cried, touching Dobby's head with one hand and touching Harry's back with the other. Slowly awakening, Kreature looked around the room – the half-goblin stood before the canvas as the portrait was painted, the curse-breaker had not yet roused, and the elf saw Lord Black and Winky sitting with their backs to him as they mourned.

The Black family elf needed to be with his lord and family so he stumbled across the floor to lay one hand on Dobby's legs and the other on Lord Black's back. As the minutes passed, other Potter and Black elves appeared as the family magics called to them. Each elf moved forward to touch the statue of the brave house elf and then to touch Winky, Kreature and Lord Potter-Black.

Filius stepped over to Harry and his elves, blood on his hand, "Send someone for help; I think Professor Weasley needs a healer."

"Gringotts," Harry said. "Kreature..."

The Black family elf was not able to stand for long so he focused on a young elf, "Nod goes to Gringotts and speaks to Ragnock. Tells him Lord Black be needs healers in the basilisk's chamber. The goblin port key anchor still be's here."

The elf popped away and under Kreature's direction, the other house elves conjured a chair large enough to hold Harry, Winky and Kreature as they continued to touch the statue of Dobby that now lay on a bier made of marble.

Filius was provided with a padded chair that was the perfect size and tea with a calming potion. His feet still moved in the dance he had used when he fought a dark lord and made the wizard run away. Awakening, Bill sat up and studied the chamber's occupants quietly.

There were several large pops as Ragnock's goblin guards appeared, each one armed for battle, followed by goblin magic wielders before the Chief of the Gringotts goblin tribe could port key into the chamber.

Kreature snapped his fingers to hide the new portrait as Ragnock hurried over with healers. The goblin healers quickly cast spells on Lord Potter-Black and both of his elves. A team of them saw to Bill Weasley's injuries as well as Filius Flitwick's cuts and bruises.

When Harry would not speak, Ragnock approached the seated half-goblin who began to rise from his chair before the chief of his tribe motioned for him to remain seated. Conjuring a chair, the goblin chief sat and took a cup of tea before he began asking questions.

Harry finally noticed that the healers were speaking quietly with Winky and hugging her as she cried quietly.

"Are you alright Winky? Why are the healers...?"

One of the matron healers smiled, "Winky is well Lord Potter-Black. Her magic is stronger than ever because she is pregnant with a little elfling."

"Winky..."

She nodded with tears in her eyes, "Yeses Lords Harry Potters-Blacks. 'DJ' is Dobby's elfling."

"You already named the baby?"

"DJ knows he is Dobby's elfling. He be 'Dobby Junior' so everyone remembers his sire."

Leaving the statue of Dobby, Harry stumbled toward Bill, Ragnock and Filius when a goblin healer stopped him and levitated the young lord into a bed.

"Bill and Filius?" he asked with a weak voice.

"The half-wizard has three cracked ribs and bruising. He has been given the appropriate potions and will awake in the morning in shape for another battle. The curse-breaker has two broken ribs and a bruised lung. He will awake and require another day of rest before you fight more dark wizards, Lord Potter-Black," the healer explained.

"Chief Ragnock is going to be very angry with me."

"Worry about that tomorrow. I have three potions here for you Lord Potter-Black," the healer said as she handed him the first one to drink.

"Why do potions from Gringotts taste better than the ones here at Hogwarts?" he asked without anyone answering him. Ragnock looked concerned as he approached Harry's bed with Filius at his side.

"Tomorrow, Chief Ragnock," the healer said before the goblin could begin to question the teenage lord. Harry's eyelids were heavy and he fell asleep.

In the Great Hall, there were screams of panic.

"There's nothing to be afraid of!" Dumbledore insisted. "This is a prank for Halloween by the Weasley twins or Harry Potter! One that I shall punish severely!"

"Where did the professors go?" asked Amelia Bones. Her niece was trying to comfort the terrified firsties while Professor Sprout and Professor McGonagall sealed the doors to the chamber with every spell they knew. The Beauxbâtons headmistress placed herself in front of the doors, certain that no spells would harm her.

Minister Diggory was organizing a floo schedule in the one room off the Great Hall with a working floo. "Cedric, go through first and bring back all the floo powder you can find in my office," he told his son.

"I won't run away!" insisted the teenager.

"I know. You must be the one to go through first – no one else but me is authorized to start up the emergency floo in my office. There are three boxes of floo powder in the bottom left drawer of my desk. Bring it back and we can get everyone into the Ministry in just over an hour!"

"Yes Father."

Dark Lord's Portrait

It was the smell of breakfast; bacon, toast, eggs, and tea that pulled Harry Potter-Black from sleep. He moved suddenly, searching for his wand that came readily to his hand from the holder on his wrist.

"Hold Potter-Black! Hold!" called the familiar voice of Filius Flitwick. "You are among friends."

Harry looked around to find Bill, goblins and house elves surrounding him. He smiled as Ragnock walked over with a stern look on his face.

"Thank you," Harry said first to forestall the lecture.

"I plan two days of analysis on the weaknesses and stupidity of your plan! I may even lock you inside the Potter vault until your seventeenth birthday."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Harry replied as Kreature brought him a cup of tea. "Can you imagine what Grandmother is going to say?"

Winky popped into the chamber beside Harry. "Lady Blacks has plenty to says already Mr. Lord Harry Potters-Blacks. Winky learns new curses that will scare all house elves in Britain this morning. Much worse than cleaning waxes from ears!"

"How are you feeling this morning?" Bill asked Harry. "You slept the longest."

"I feel good..." he answered with honest surprise; Harry was only moderately sore and stiff following yesterday's battle. To appease his appetite, he sat at the table and ate a tremendous breakfast with Bill and Filius under the watchful eye of Winky.

"Where did Kreature go?" Harry asked at one point.

"Kreature goes to Lady Black. She wishes to hear story of battle again. She has all Black family portraits lined up in her landings to hears story of her grandson's battle with twos dark lords!" explained the smallest house elf as she made certain her wizard and his friends were well fed.

"Two dark lords in one evening!" Ragnock yelled before walking about the chamber for a few minutes silently. Then he pounded on the table, ranting about stupidity in wizards and the carelessness of teenagers!

"And what will we do about the dark lord imprisoned in that room?" yelled Ragnock. "He's in there with all his soul containers! He could absorb them all and blast a hole through..."

"I believe Lord Potter-Black used an old, magic spell to confine the soul of the dark lord," Filius interrupted the goblin chief as Ragnock frowned while Harry stared at his tea cup.

"What magic spell?" asked Ragnock as he sat back thinking.

"It is from the Black Family library," Harry explained. "Chief Ragnock and Professor Weasley are covered by Gringotts magic that won't allow them to divulge a client's secrets. Professor Flitwick, you must take an oath to not tell anyone."

"I will gladly take any oath you require Lord Potter-Black. The mystery is too great not to know... even if I can never tell anyone."

With coaching from Ragnock and Bill, Harry provided a suitable oath.

"I, Filius Flitwick, Charms Professor for Hogwarts School of Wizardry, swear upon my magic and life that I will keep Lord Harry Potter-Black's secrets from wizards, witches, creatures, ministry officials and flunkies, headmasters and goblins until Lord Potter-Black gives me his unfettered permission to speak or write about such matters. So, mote it be."

With the oath out of the way, Filius made the argument to tell everyone about the captured Dark Lords. "If you've captured the Dark Lord, we must make certain he cannot escape and we have to tell others."

"No," Ragnock said. "If Lord Potter-Black has captured the Dark Lord, we must honour his accomplishment. We can advise him and coach him but we cannot dictate to him."

"I know Gringotts can handle security for the prison," Harry said.

"Please tell us why the Dark Lord cannot escape from that room," asked Bill.

Harry called Kreature. The Black family elf appeared and bowed. "Lord Black, youse Grandmother sends her greetings and six stinging hexes for youse behind. She be's proud and scareds at same time."

"Thank you Kreature. Tell her I am sorry for frightening her. Now, where is the portrait of the Dark Lord?"

"I hides it when the goblinses start poppings in last night," Kreature replied.

"Show it to Professor Flitwick, Professor Weasley and Chief Ragnock now please."

Kreature frowned as though he wanted to argue with Lord Black but then nodded and snapped his fingers once. A large picture frame appeared on the wall beside the door to the room where the Dark Lords had taken refuge from the battle. On the canvas was a detailed painting of that room's interior with the fireplace and the table where the soul containers had been displayed. The items were scattered on the floor now and did not glow with the dark presence of the Dark Lord's soul any longer. In the throne before the fireplace sat Dark Lord Barty with a tumbler of fire whisky in one hand and Dark Lord Homunculus in the other. The infant-sized dark lord nursed from a bottle.

"This is a prison cell that the Dark Lords cannot escape," Harry told them. "I don't know what happened that made three of the soul containers possess the others that we fought last night – they must have picked them up. But the homunculus is the original spirit of the Dark Lord. The man is Barty Crouch, Jr. who supposedly died in Azkaban several years ago."

"Who is the man that we have the body for?" asked Ragnock.

"That is Peter Pettigrew, who also supposedly died years ago," Harry answered. "And the snake man must have been made from the Dark Lord's familiar. She was possessed by the piece of the Dark Lord's soul that had been attached to my scar. He spoke of knowing me for 12 years..."

"And this spell that captured the Dark Lord and his soul containers, where did you get it?" asked Filius.

"This past summer, my grandmother explained the spell to me. It is the spell her husband used to capture her in the picture frame at Grimmauld Place. Lady Black cannot be released except by destroying the picture frame or her magic being extinguished. She thinks she will remain for two hundred years and then pass over."

Looking at the portrait of the Dark Lords, Filius asked, "Will they become animated?"

"I do not know," Harry admitted. "I am hopeful they will sleep forever."

"They must be stored somewhere isolated and far from magical people!" Filius insisted.

Ragnock grinned. "For now, it can be stored in the Slytherin vault at the bottom of Gringotts. Eventually we shall send it to the Gringotts storage facility in Norway."

"What is this facility?" Harry asked.

"It is a long-term storage facility that is isolated, rarely visited and then only by well-armed groups of goblin warriors and magic wielders."

After hearing Ragnock's explanation, Harry agreed to allow the painting to be moved to Gringotts and then to Norway when possible. "It needs to remain here in the Chamber for at least a week. It takes that long for the magic to settle and the figures to fall asleep."

The other magical folk sitting at the table realized this meant the boy had used the spell before to capture other enemies. Filius smiled, pleased with his immediate realization of the wizard that Harry had removed from Hogwarts while Ragnock planned a long lecture for Harry about revealing too much information. Bill shivered for a moment considering the power this teenager already wielded.

Then Ragnock spoke of how every goblin in Gringotts was dancing this morning knowing of the accomplishments Harry Potter-Black, Curse-breaker Weasley, and Filius Flitwick.

"Lord Potter-Black, what tale do we tell the headmaster and the others?" asked Filius.

"It is obvious Professor Flitwick," answered Ragnock. "You tell Whiskers things that are true. For instance, Harry's elves were protecting the Chamber of Secrets from incursion by the Dark Lord. Two manifestations of the Dark Lord appeared in the chamber on Sanhaim and the elves sent for Lord Potter-Black. One elf came for you and Weasley to help with the battle and together, the three of you killed two Dark Lords."

"We do have two corpses," Harry agreed.

Bill nodded, "The truth is best – that way you don't have to remember what you told the Minister or whoever is here."

"And the truth supports the headmaster's claims that the dark lord was going to return," added Filius. "He did return – twice in a single night and you killed him twice."

Ragnock filled them in on the previous night's events in Hogwarts after they left for the fight in the Chamber of Secrets.

"I understand there was panic in Hogwarts after Winky made her announcement in the Great Hall. Headmaster Dumbledore wanted to act as though it was a Halloween prank, but Minister Diggory took control and arranged for everyone to floo through to the ministry. The Aurors spent the evening conjuring beds for the students in the atrium. I think the only beings left behind were the giantess from Beauxbâtons and Hagrid who could not fit through the floo."

"She is quite large," Harry commented, "but I thought Hagrid could fit."

"He was a gentleman and remained behind to keep her company I image," Filius explained with a grin.

"Where is the statue of Dobby?" Harry asked after breakfast when he was dressed in his dirty battle robes again.

"I asked Kreature to take it to Lady Black for safe keeping," Ragnock answered. "Several of my goblin magic wielders were very interested in examining the fangs and the marble for traces of the magic Dobby used to transform himself and your elf, Winky, was worried they would take him away."

"Thank you." Harry found the sacrifice by his friend made his heart ache in an unfamiliar way. He'd mourned for Sirius – or at least for the idea of family that was lost when Sirius died. Now with the death of Dobby, Harry felt an empty hole in his heart that he feared would never be healed.

The two corpses remained under stasis charms; the tables, chairs and beds were all banished leaving the chamber bare of any evidence that a battle had occurred here the previous evening. Kreature and Winky waited with Harry, Bill and Filius at the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets as the last goblins left via port key.

"How do we get out of here?" asked Bill Weasley.

Harry smiled and said, "Allow me."

He turned toward the dark tunnel that lead to the girl's loo in Hogwarts and hissed, {A large elevator please, with lights.}

There was a swirling of magic as the ancient magic drew the idea of what was involved in the request from Harry's mind and created the elevator. Kreature opened the cage and levitated the corpses of the two dead Dark Lords inside while Winky remained behind to complete the 'clean-up' and watch the portrait. Filius and Bill stepped inside and the potions professor placed his hand on Harry's arm as the young lord left the sight of his latest battle... the first that cost him the life of a friend.