Standard Disclaimer:

Alyx looked up from the file that Bob had just handed her and she eyed him suspiciously. "What's this?"

"Chapter 12 of Mutant Storm," Bob answered smugly. "I finished the story and now it's your turn to work your mojo on it."

Alyx stared at him and her jaw fell to the floor.

Bob blinked and reached to see if she had a pulse. "Oh dear, I was afraid of this. The shock of seeing another chapter in this story has stunned her."

He dashed into a corner and rolled out a large cart. Pulling two paddles from the machine on the cart he quickly scanned the reference card then he set the machine on the "SUPER GODZILLA KILLING VOLTAGE" setting.

"Clear!" he yelled, then placed the paddles over her ears.

There was a blinding flash of light and Alyx's eyes popped out of her head for a second, then snapped back in.

"What the hell are you doing?" she shouted at him.

Bob grinned. "I'm reviving you. You went catatonic on me."

Alyx reached up to wipe at her forehead and frowned at the ash in her hand. Glancing at a mirror she saw most of her hair had burned away.

"I'm going to kill you!" she snarled, pulling out a portable power drill.

Bob gulped loudly and turned to run. "We don't own Harry Potter!" he shouted.


Mutant Storm

Chapter 12

Changing Sides

Blackmoor Castle...

"Wiz!"

Harry turned around and looked back towards the castle. Logan hustled out, while Jean and Scott turned and waited.

Logan skidded to a halt and grinned at him. "Here ya go, Wiz. Four pieces of precut and stained wood, just like the photos. All you have to do now is work your mojo on them."

Harry grinned and grabbed the bundle Logan offered, then knelt and put the bundle into his gym bag.

"Do I want to know?" asked Jean worriedly.

Harry looked up from zipping the bag closed. "Logan made up four identical pieces of wood for that portal that Malfoy is building. I'll charm these pieces to register as magical, and replace the original pieces with the fakes. Hermione thinks that assembling the cabinet with the wrong parts will cause the portal to fail."

Scott grinned and Logan nodded.

"Fail? Fail how?", asked Jean.

Harry frowned.

"We're not entirely sure. Hermione thinks there's a remote chance that they might arrive missing some organs, or perhaps explode. She says the equations aren't very clear. I think she wants to believe that someone will step into the portal in Knockturn and just not go anywhere."

Harry was glad that his shields prevented his Mum from knowing he was hoping for the explosion theory to be right.

Jean nodded thoughtfully. "All right, it makes more sense than that motion sensing laser beam that Logan wanted to use."

"Hey! I liked that idea. Zap, zap, zap! No more Death Eaters in the castle," Logan replied.

Harry grinned. "I liked that idea, too. But powering a high power laser like that would be too hard to do in the castle."

Logan shrugged. "So get one eye here to bunk in the room when the cabinet's done. He doesn't require batteries."

Scott turned a chuckle into a cough when his wife glared at him.

Jean scowled at the three men who were grinning at each other. "Men or boys, they love their toys. Come on, Harry, we need to get back up to Scotland."

Harry shot Logan a final grin and walked away from the two X-Men.

Logan looked at Scott. "Hey, it was a good idea."

Headmaster's office, Hogwarts...

Dumbledore frowned. From his window he still could see the cloud of smoke hovering over Hogsmeade. He had been called to the town to help evacuate the students after one of the buildings on the edge of town mysteriously exploded. Exploded, he mused. Vaporized would be a better way of describing it. There was little left of the building, except splinters and a ten foot deep crater.

The building was a suspected Death Eater safe house, but his Order had never been able to prove it one way or another. Now it was gone and the method of its destruction puzzled him. He hadn't been able to detect any residual magic and most of the explosive spells left a trace that were easily detectable.

The Aurors didn't allow him to examine the wreckage in detail, so he couldn't do anything but guess as to the cause. One thing was patently clear however, the building was not empty at the time of its destruction.

He personally watched the Aurors remove two bodies from the wreckage. One of his informants in the DMLE told him more than a dozen bodies had been removed from the wreckage. As near as anyone could tell, all of them were Death Eaters, or at least all of the right arms recovered from the wreckage had a dark mark on them.

A sound caught his attention and he watched with interest as Harry maneuvered his aircraft into a landing position. He was about to turn away when he noticed that Harry had a passenger. He had left the school by himself and now he was returning with someone. Who? he wondered.

Standing, he rushed to the exit, hoping to catch Harry and his passenger at the entrance to the castle. He had a suspicion that made him vaguely ill. What if Harry had been involved in killing so many Death Eaters? Charles and his group were having far too much influence on the boy and he couldn't see a way of breaking their hold on him.

Using several secret passages he was able to intercept Harry at the entrance. He was surprised to see his passenger was his mother, Jean. He frowned, seeing that her garb was significantly changed from what she wore when she had left the castle this morning. She had left the castle dressed in wizarding robes and was returning in muggle jeans and a blouse.

"Harry? Jean? A moment, if you please," he said to the pair.

Harry glanced at Jean, then he lowered a gym bag to the ground. Jean wasn't happy about the contents since it contained his X-Man uniform and equipment. Xavier had mollified her somewhat by stating that Harry was a probationary member only and until he had finished his training, he would remain probationary. It was a fiction, of course, but everyone played along.

"I wasn't aware that you had left the castle to go south today, Professor," Dumbledore said. "I could have sworn I saw you and Miss Weasley walking into Hogsmeade."

Jean smiled thinly. "Yes, I was supposed to keep an eye on the students. However, after the explosion, Harry came up to the town and picked me up. There were a few matters that I needed to take care of back in Blackmoor, and since most of the students were scurrying back to the school on the Auror's orders, I saw no need to stick around."

Dumbledore carefully schooled his features into a neutral expression and reinforced his occlumency shields. Her tale didn't ring true, but he didn't want her knowing he didn't believe her. He nodded and smiled slightly. "Did you perhaps see the explosion?"

Jean shook her head. "No, sir. I was looking in the other direction when it happened. I heard a great deal of shouting and then the explosion. When I turned around, all I could see with a rising plume of smoke and debris."

Harry watched their conversation with interest. He could feel the Headmaster's disbelief right through his occlumency shields.

"Was anyone hurt?" Harry asked, jumping into the conversation.

Dumbledore turned to Harry. "I have heard of several deaths and injuries, but nothing official has been released."

Harry nodded with a grim expression, then he turned to Jean. "If you don't need me any further, Mum, I might as well go up to my dorm. Since I'm back early I'd like to be able to spend the time with my friends."

Jean met Harry's eyes and they held a silent conversation, which lasted a few seconds. "He doesn't believe you," Harry thought.

"Let him believe what he will. He has no proof. I'm more concerned by his tendency to jump to conclusions without any solid evidence."

Harry gave her the equivalent of a mental shrug. "He's done that before. Sirius was a prime example of it."

"We need to be more careful. I think he's going to be watching us more than ever before."

"We'll be careful," he replied silently.

Jean nodded. "Fine. Put your new clothes away and say hello to Ginny for me."

Harry grinned and picked up his bag. With a slight nod to Dumbledore, he turned and walked away.

Jean turned back to Dumbledore. "Was there anything else, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore shook his head, tremendously frustrated. The war was slipping out from his control and the wrong kinds of people were dying!

Blackmoor Castle...

Charles Xavier leaned back in his chair and massaged one of his legs. While the location was ideal for his X-Men, the English weather, and in particular the channel weather, wasn't the easiest on his legs. His leg throbbed uncomfortably and he grimaced with the pain. He had ordered that the base be established first. As a result, some of the creature comforts had been left out in favor of radar installations, mainframe computers and aircraft hangars. Among those comforts was a hot tub that would have gone a long way towards helping with his aches.

"Professor Charles? Are you well, sir?"

In surprise, he turned to face the speaker. Normally people couldn't sneak up on him, but then this was no ordinary person either. The house elf looked at him with concern in his eyes. Charles wasn't used to being unable to read someone, but elves were a blank slate to him and Jean both.

"Ah, Maxwell. I'm fine, I'm just feeling a little sore. My legs don't like the weather much, I'm afraid."

Maxwell nodded. With Dobby following Harry, Harry had arranged to hire a few more disgraced elves. Maxwell was the oldest working in the castle and probably the best spoken elf of the lot. When Dobby brought him to Harry, he had been dying of starvation, thanks to being thrown out of his old family. Harry allowed him to bond to the household and gave him a uniform, as well as a wage that made him one of the highest paid elves in the world.

Harry would have been surprised to discover that all of the elves he had hired were secretly placing their wages back into the house fund. Dobby and Winky knew, but they felt that all of the elves were better off than they had been and Harry really wouldn't mind.

"Would a hot bath help the Professor?"

"A hot soak would help, yes. A whirlpool bath or a hot tub would be even better," Charles replied.

"Maxwell knows about hot tubs. I will have yours ready in a little while," replied the elf, then he popped away.

Charles blinked and stared in surprise at the now empty spot.

"Addicting, aren't they?" Scott asked. He leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed. He had been watching his mentor deal with the little elf in amusement. It wasn't often that the Professor found himself in uncharted waters and unsure how to react. But the elves provided just that situation.

"What do you mean?"

Scott gestured to the empty spot where Maxwell had been. "The elves. They are so eager to please. Harry tells me they'll work themselves to death if you aren't careful what you ask for."

Scott moved into the room and took a chair. "According to Harry, Maxwell worked for a family as a head elf until their daughter got pregnant. Apparently, the baby was conceived out of wedlock and the family blamed Maxwell for not supervising the girl so she wouldn't end up in that situation. He was beaten and let go."

Xavier shook his head in dismay. It was another aspect of the Wizarding world that he found repugnant.

"So did you finally talk to Harry about his plans?" Scott asked, changing the topic.

"I did and probably would still be talking to him about it had we not had that problem with Jean. Overall, I don't see any flaw in his plan, but one thing puzzles me. How can he be arranging all this, while still attending school?"

Scott looked vaguely embarrassed. "Ah, that would be my fault, I'm afraid. I mentioned to him that your law firm handled all sorts of things besides his adoption. He took that to mean that a lawyer could do a lot more than just represent him in court. Thanks to the Goblins, he hired a law firm with offices in both worlds and had them buy the rights to some potions. Outside of that, he's still got a lot of things to do. Most of his plans still exist just on paper."

"So all he has at the moment is the rights to some potions?"

Scott nodded. "That's it. He has plans, which he's been working out with Jean when he can. Right now, he's more focused on the school, but he wants to be able to see this potion business of his up and running after he finishes."

"Hogwarts?"

Scott grinned and shook his head. "Hardly. He's hoping he can get into one of the technical universities in America. In fact, he'd rather go work for Xavier Aerospace Industries than run a potions company. He hasn't said anything, but I think he's hoping one of his friends might be talked into managing it for him."

Xavier smiled and shook his head. "It's good to hear that. Now I won't have to worry about Jean killing me in my sleep for turning her oldest son into an X-Man."

Scott grinned at the "oldest son" comment. He and Jean had been trying for a child, but she hadn't caught yet. He didn't mind. They'd just have to keep trying, which was just fine by him.

Hogwarts Kitchen...

The kitchen was bustling with activity. It was staffed by over thirty house elves and one painting, which acted as a supervisor, as well as deciding the menu.

When Dobby appeared in the kitchen, none of the other elves took notice of his appearance. He didn't work officially in the castle anymore, but he was part of the Potter household and was tasked with caring for Professor Summers and her husband when he was there. He also made sure that Harry had a few of his favorite dishes sent up to the Gryffindor table every day.

So it came as no surprise when Dobby appeared and started to prepare a large batch of tarts for Harry. While he was setting up his work space and grabbing ingredients, he also took the opportunity to pour a small vial of liquid into a bottle belonging to Professor Snape.

He looked around for a moment, then placed the bottle back on the shelf. Snape received a drink of Schnapps every evening. He had tried to entice the other staff members, but no one developed a liking for the stuff. Dobby knew this and knew that only Snape would drink from this bottle.

Ginny had asked Dobby to put the mixture into Snape's drink. He knew she only wanted to help his Harry Potter, so he eagerly agreed.

With a small grin, he closed the cabinet and turned to the task of making sure some Treacle Tart was available for Harry's dessert.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...

Harry opened the door to the common room and entered. He was surprised to see Ginny sitting alone at a table. Normally, when they weren't together or with their friends, she studied with her year mates.

He slid into a chair next to her and stared in shock at what she had before her. Somehow, she had managed to recreate the keyboard to his computer, only it appeared to be made entirely of a black marble-like material. Floating above the keyboard were a group of glowing letters.

She glanced over at him and blushed.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

She looked down and said, "Practicing."

"Practicing? Practicing what? Typing?"

She nodded again. "It's important to you. You've learned to do it."

He smiled wryly, "Yeah, badly and with only a few fingers, but I get by. I think you're confusing things. Look, Gin, if you want to learn how to type and use a computer, that's fine by me. I'll even show you how to use one. But don't do it because I do it, do it because you genuinely want to know."

She looked at her homemade keyboard and then back up at him again. "So, it's not important then?"

He leaned back in his chair and stretched his long legs out under the table. "No, what's important is that you aren't rejecting new ideas just because they come from a non-wizard source. There are a lot of great things you can learn from the muggles and a lot of equally terrible things.

"Muggle, wizard or mutant are all the same with good and bad aspects."

Ginny sat silently for a moment, then she nodded to herself. "Well, I still want to learn this. Hermione explained that you couldn't really tie your fingers into knots using one of these, but it sure seems like it when you start moving your fingers really fast. Besides, even I can see that you can produce an essay a lot faster with your machine than I can with a quill and parchment."

Harry grinned and pulled his computer out of his bag and lifted the lid. She grinned and moved a little closer to watch. He had been adding little animations to his desktop to amuse her. He thought it was funny that she could watch an animated kitten run around his screen all day chasing his cursor.

She grinned seeing the animation of a man pushing a lawn mower, then she turned back to her own work after pushing her homemade keyboard away.

Harry worked quietly next to her for nearly an hour before stopping to watch her again. She was bent over her Arithmancy homework. Every so often she'd scribble something on a piece of parchment then carefully check her calculation before rewriting it on her formal homework.

"Gin?"

"Mmmm?"

"What do you want from life?" he asked intently.

She looked at him in surprise, then she carefully put down her quill. "You're serious?"

He nodded.

She leaned back in her chair and pushed several stray strands of hair out of her eyes. "What do you want to hear, Harry? The fairy tale? Or the more realistic answer? I won't lie to you, but I will tell you that you might not like what you hear."

Harry nodded. "I wouldn't expect anything less from you than the truth. Tell me whatever you feel comfortable with."

She eyed him for a moment, then clasped her hands together. "You and your Mum have opened my eyes to a whole world out there that, until recently, I didn't even know existed. Hermione talks of a career and maybe someday finding a husband and having a family. Her outlook and plans are almost as alien to me as what you and your Mum have shown us."

She paused and took a deep breath, then she looked at him, her eyes hinted with a glint of defiance. "I wasn't raised like that. I was raised to believe in having a family and a husband. There was never any mention of a career, except perhaps as a mother. No career could have ever been as important as my husband or my children. That's what I was taught, and that's what I believed, until recently."

Harry looked at her with interest. "What changed?"

She pondered his question for a while. "Several things. You helped, of course. But I think that, more than anyone else, your Mum showed me that it was possible to have a family and a career. She seems like a very loving person. She loves Mister Summers - anyone can see that - and she loves you as if you were her own blood born child. Also, she's shown us clippings from magazines showing women with large families and careers. I look at them and think, 'I can do that'. There are so many things a muggle girl can do and be. Hermione knew that and tried to explain it to me but I didn't realize it until this year."

Harry smiled and reached over to touch her hand. She gripped his hand firmly and returned his smile. "That didn't sound like it was something I wouldn't like, Ginny. I think it's a great idea. Why were you concerned?"

She smiled and cupped his cheek with one hand. "Because, Mr. Potter, I don't want to scare you off by talking about finding my prince charming and planning on spending my life with him."

His mood instantly sobered. "You're serious?" he asked softly.

She matched his mood and nodded. "You keep telling me about your being an Empath and that you can sense my emotions. You must know how I feel about you. I also know that you don't feel that way about me. I don't need your ability to see that. I hope someday that will change. In the meantime, you make a fairly acceptable boyfriend."

He blinked and noted her grin and he slowly grinned back. "I'm sorry if..."

"Harry, stop right now," she said, then she leaned closer. "I like being your girlfriend and that's all that we need for now."

He nodded and grinned sheepishly at her. He could feel her emotions and knew exactly how she felt. It bothered him a little that he was still so unsure of his feelings for her and she was so certain. He cared about her a great deal, but wasn't sure what it meant.

"What's wrong, Harry?" she asked, looking at him with concern. His expression had turned sour and she couldn't help but wonder if he was having doubts about their relationship.

He ran a hand through his hair nervously then looked at her. "It's all so confusing," he muttered mostly to himself.

"What's confusing?"

He leaned back and looked at the ceiling. "I do know how you feel. I can feel it and it affects me deeply. What's confusing is simple. What I feel from you is one thing. But I can't use empathy on myself. What do I feel? Is it love or something else?"

He looked down and clasped his hands together tightly. "I just don't know how to describe it. I know you're important to me, very important. But what does it mean?"

He sighed heavily and looked at her. "Pretty silly eh?"

She smiled and shook her head at him. "Not silly at all. We're in no rush, so there's plenty of time for you to sort out your feelings."

She packed up her homework and slid her keyboard into her book bag, then stood. "I will give you one thing to consider," she said softly. "Would chocolate taste any different if you didn't know it's name?"

She smiled impishly at his expression and walked off.

He watched her for a moment longer and couldn't help it when his eyes were drawn to her swaying hips. Damn, now my girlfriend is channeling Professor X, he thought. What does that mean? Chocolate would still taste wonderful no matter what you called it.

He sucked in a deep breath as it hit him, then he started to laugh.

Hogwarts, start of the Christmas Holiday...

Albus Dumbledore watched from his office window and frowned heavily. From his high vantage point he could see Harry Potter helping his adopted mother into the rear seat of his airplane. They were heading to Blackmoor Castle, somewhere off the coast of southern England.

Potter was becoming increasingly independent and now, thanks to Minerva, most of his friends were unreadable to him. No matter what he tried, Potter refused to listen to reason when it came to fighting the Death Eaters. It was utterly frustrating. Since the start of the school year, the number of Death Eater deaths had outpaced the civilian casualties by two to one.

He had introduced legislation to the Wizengamot, which would have made it illegal for anyone to kill, even in self defense, but the law was shot down when it failed to get support from the Ministry or key members of the Wizengamot.

Dumbledore wasn't exactly a purist like the pure bloods that flocked to Voldemort's banner. No, he believed that the muggle born and half bloods were necessary in order to strengthen the weakening pure blood lines. Unfortunately, that meant that he wanted to preserve those lines, even at the cost of 'rehabilitating' known Death Eaters.

His scowl deepened as Harry's craft lifted vertically, then shot away at high speed. He has rejected all that we stand for, he mused. I must find a way of getting Harry to see that killing the Death Eaters is wrong. They can be turned around, if only they are shown the error of their ways.

He stood and pulled the shade down to cover the window. Once he looked out that window with fondness. From the heights of his office he could survey his domain with satisfaction. But that satisfaction had turned sour. Now all that window did was show him how fast the most important wizard of this generation could leave his world.

One of the portraits coughed softly and he immediately sat back down in his chair and faced the door.

"Minerva," said the portrait softly.

"Come in, Minerva," Dumbledore called.

The door opened and Minerva McGonagall entered the room. She sat primly in the hard wood chair he kept around for her, and for interviewing unruly students. Once he had replaced it with a comfortable ottoman and she had transfigured it back into the wooden chair.

He motioned to the tea service that she should help herself, but she shook her head, declining his offer.

"All of the students away then?"

"Yes, finally. With only two left in Gryffindor, it's going to be rather quiet for the next ten days," she replied.

He nodded and smiled gently. "I had thought there would be more staying over, but even Harry Potter went with his Aunt."

Minerva frowned. "Albus," she scolded. "You know she's adopted him. Calling her anything other than his mother will only serve to anger them both."

He waved her admonishment off. "I know and I don't call her that where either of them can hear. But Lily will always be his mother, as far as I am concerned."

She nodded reluctantly. Lily had become a close friend once she graduated and Minerva missed her very much. Dumbledore's point was valid, in her mind.

"So are you staying, Minerva?" he asked.

"Only for a few days, then I'm going home. Filius has agreed to keep an eye on my two lions."

He nodded and reached for his cup of tea on his desk.

"Are you still tutoring Harry's friends in Occlumency?" he asked. This was a sour point between them. When he first learned of her actions he had tried to stop her and she had refused.

"No. In fact, they have reached an adequate level. I understand Miss Granger, Miss Weasley and Miss Lovegood have been helping some of the other students learn the art, since they have benefited from the enhanced memory that comes from it."

He hid a wince. He had heard that others were learning about Occlumency, but had dismissed it as a unfounded rumor since he had heard it from Snape. Harry's friends had become blank slates to him, with the sole exception of Ron Weasley, and what he knew wasn't of much use. Ron's actions of the past summer had placed him far from the tight group that Harry considered close friends. And even Ronald Weasley was becoming adept at occluding his mind.

"Are you sure it's wise to allow them to instruct the other students?" he asked neutrally.

Her lips twitched upwards for a moment as if trying to hide her grin. "Sure? I can't see any harm in it. It's a purely defensive art, totally wandless and the benefits to the students in enhancing their memory retention make me wonder why we don't add it to our current offerings."

Dumbledore's expression turned sour. It wasn't like he could refute her comment with a "Because then I can't read their thoughts." He shuffled a few papers on his desk for a moment to calm his thoughts then he turned back to Minerva.

"I'd like you to try to encourage Harry to stay at Grimmauld Place this coming summer. While being adopted has been beneficial to the lad, I worry that he's losing touch with his wizarding roots."

Minerva frowned at him. "Albus, you know he won't do that. If you try to lock him up in that house, he will break free and never return to Britain again. As for his wizarding roots, the boy isn't just a wizard. You left him with those muggles, so he never developed any roots in this world. He has a right to discover what it means to be what he is, in his own time and in his own way. Most of those so called roots you worry about consider Mr. Potter to be a dark creature that needs to be controlled like a wild animal. So no, I won't attempt to convince him to stay at Grimmauld this summer. He's already spoken to me about plans that include a camping trip to the American Rocky Mountains with his father. He's very excited about it. He mentioned something called kayaking that sounded unusual, a bit dangerous, and quite possibly a great deal of fun."

Dumbledore sighed heavily. Why did everyone find it necessary to fight him these days? "Minerva, if he doesn't, we could lose him!"

Minerva stood and gave him a look filled with disgust. "You really don't care about Mr. Potter, do you? You only care about how he fits into your grand plan. Let me tell you something, Albus Dumbledore, the only way we will lose Mr. Potter is if you continue to push him to leave!"

She whirled and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind her. Dumbledore flinched hard when the door slammed shut and he heaved another great sigh. It was difficult when you were the only person who understood or cared the vision he had of the wizarding world and it's future.

Snape's Office, Hogwarts...

The door opened and Snape looked up from his desk and scowled at the student.

"I sent for you over an hour ago, Mr. Malfoy," he said sharply.

"I know, sir, but I couldn't leave the Great Hall without arousing suspicion. I had to wait until the meal was over."

Grudgingly, Snape nodded and motioned for him to sit.

"The master has sent me instructions to pass along. He is not pleased with your progress and demands that the cabinet be completed no later than January first. Except for meals and to sleep, you will make it your priority to finish that project or I have been commanded to personally deliver you to the master's chamber so that he can express his displeasure in person."

"But, sir!"

"No more excuses, Malfoy," Snape said sharply. "This isn't a late homework assignment we're talking about. You know what will happen to you if you fail to do your duty. Or perhaps the master's curse wasn't enough of a reminder? Shall I reapply it?"

"No, no, that won't be necessary!" Malfoy exclaimed. "I'll spend the entire holiday working on it, if necessary."

"Excellent," Snape replied. "I'll inform the staff that you're busy on a potions related project and taking your meals in the kitchens when you can break away. You may leave now, Mr. Malfoy."

Malfoy nodded and exited the room as quickly as he felt he could get away with.

Arrogant wanker, thought Snape as he watched the boy leave his office. He's like his father; boastful and arrogant and not a lick of sense in him. For all of Potter's arrogance, at least he has a little of Lily's talent to back him up.

Blackmoor Castle, Boxing Day...

The days leading up to Christmas had been a difficult time for him. He and Jean had managed to fully heal the rift formed by the news about Snape and his actions in warning his friends. Also, with Xavier's help, they had managed improve the very limited form of telepathy Harry was capable of. He could hold a conversation with Jean or Xavier, if they maintained eye contact, and in case of an emergency he could mentally call for help, if they were in range.

Reluctantly, Xavier admitted that was about the best they would be able to do with his abilities. In fact, the conversation more relied on the strength of the telepath than any strength of Harry's. Harry had been disappointed with the results. He had been hoping it would develop into something like a super form of legilimency, but that wasn't going to happen.

One bright spot was that he had worked with Xavier and Cerebro to identify more emotions with his empathy.

As for Christmas day, it had been emotionally exhausting and exhilarating for Harry. For the first time in his life, he had spent Christmas with his family. It wasn't the fact that he received presents, either. After all, he had gotten presents from his friends for Christmas before. What made this different was the fact that he was with his family, and that included more than just Jean and Scott. It included his extended family of the X-Men.

Jean was surprised and elated with his gift of the custom jewelry made from the dragon scale. Harry had been extremely pleased when he received the package from the Goblins. The pieces were beautiful and exactly what he had hoped for.

Now Harry paced nervously in the main foyer, waiting for the arrival of his friends and their families. He had staggered their arrival times so that the large number wouldn't overwhelm the castle elves, and he wanted some time to deal with Hermione and her family first. Of all of the people arriving today, the Grangers were perhaps the only ones that would know of the X-Men from muggle news sources, and even then, most of the time the muggles never spoke of the group of mutants, but identified individuals.

Neville and Luna would arrive a half hour after the Grangers, then the Weasleys would be arrive in force a half hour later. To everyone's surprise, he had included Ron in the invitation.

Their relationship had changed considerably and Harry could call him a friend again. Neville had neatly slipped into the slot of his best mate, along with Hermione. Ron was just one of his friends these days, trusted mostly because Luna was helping him keep his foot out of his mouth and his head on straight – or as straight as possible, Luna being who she was.

Professor Xavier had taken the precaution of ensuring that some parts of the castle were inaccessible by either muggle or wizard, but for the most part the entire castle was open to their guests. There were some things that they just couldn't hide very well. The large rotating radar dish atop the northern tower and, of course, the Blackbird and two jump jets sitting in the courtyard, for example. Excavations on the underground aircraft hangar had only recently started.

Scott's ability to vaporize solid rock meant that the X-Men didn't need to bring in a construction company to carve out space for the underground hangars.

Harry looked up when he heard a whooshing sound from the arriving portkeys and he smiled. "Welcome to Blackmoor Castle," he said in a deep voice, then he laughed and shook his head. "You know something like that should be accompanied with a wolf howling in the distance or something equally creepy."

Hermione's father laughed softly and looked around at the large hall decorated with suits of armor and paintings. It would have looked so very medieval, except for the ultra modern multi-line phone sitting on a small table near the staircase and an alarm control box mounted on one wall.

Mrs. Granger stepped forward with Hermione on her heels. "Harry, my mum, Melony Granger and my father Rupert."

Harry smiled in welcome. "Please leave your luggage here. One of the staff elves will see that it's taken up to your rooms."

Hermione scowled and Harry held up a hand. "Before you SPEW, Hermione, sit down this evening with Maxwell, our chief elf, and talk to him about elves and their magic. Maxwell, like all of the elves we have here, were unbonded when we hired them on. They've bonded to the household, not to any individual, and each knows that they can leave any time they want. They all get salaries and time off, but they are still constrained by the terms of their magical bond."

"What are we missing?" asked Rupert in concern. Most of what Harry had said had gone over his head and that was an uncomfortable feeling for the man.

Harry smiled at Hermione, who stood undecided for a long moment before nodding reluctantly to him. With her agreement he turned back to her family. "Your daughter has a powerful social conscience, sir, and she rightly champions some unpopular causes. The plight of the common house elf is one such cause. Over the centuries, their need to be bonded to a wizarding family has resulted in a form of institutionalized slavery. Without a bond, they weaken gradually and die."

He glanced back to Hermione and smiled to show he meant her no insult. "Your daughter would seek to free those elves, but hadn't considered the consequences of such an act. My home here is large, and as such, we have four elves in my employ working on the upkeep of the castle. I have invited Hermione to talk with our chief elf about the plight of his people. Perhaps with new information she can see a way to help them without killing them."

"Hermione," Melony Granger said in disappointment. "What have we told you about investigating things thoroughly?"

Hermione looked down and Harry jumped in to help his friend. "To be honest, Mrs. Granger, Hermione saw a grave injustice and wanted to correct it. I'm sure she'll be doing exactly that. Now, if you'll follow me, I'll take you to the main hall where you can meet my parents and the rest of the people living in the castle."

Harry started to lead then towards a large wooden door when he paused, remembering why he originally wanted the Grangers to arrive first. "I hope you folks don't have any problems with mutants, as you're about to meet a bunch of them."

Rupert chuckled lightly and shook his head.

Melony smiled at Harry. "Our daughter is a bona fide, broom riding witch. If we don't have a problem with that, why should we have a problem with mutants?"

He returned her grin, then glanced at Hermione. "Well, she doesn't ride a broom very well."

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed in dismay.

He held up both hands. "Sorry! But you know it's true."

Rupert sighed. "That's my fault, I'm afraid. I don't do too well with heights and I think Hermione got it from me."

Harry nodded and turned to open the door, leading them into the room. Behind him followed two rather curious dentists and one slightly put out witch. She hated to be reminded that her broom flying skills weren't up to par.

Hours later, Harry sighed and leaned back on the couch. Ginny was curled up next to him, snuggling, but not enough to raise the ire of Molly. They were in one of the larger family rooms. This one contained a single huge fireplace that Maxwell had built a roaring fire in. Around the room, people were scattered, holding all sorts of conversations.

Harry was pleased to note that no one seemed to have a problem with his family being mutants. He was also pleased to see every one of the women in the room wearing his presents. He had the dragon scale turned into heirloom jewelry, with Jean getting the largest pieces. She wore a necklace, bracelet and a pair of earrings that were charmed to provide shielding against many minor hexes. He also gave earrings to Hermione, Luna and Ginny. Ginny also received a smaller version of the same necklace as Jean. When he explained that they were made from True Silver, Molly nearly fainted. Even Hermione looked shocked when it was explained to her.

"Dad seems to be enjoying himself," Ginny said softly. She sipped a cup of hot chocolate and leaned a little closer to Harry as she looked around the room.

Harry glanced over at Arthur, who seemed engrossed in a conversation with Scott, and smiled. "He's probably asking about flying and what holds up airplanes. I tried to explain it to him, but I don't think he believed me."

He looked back at Ginny, who was idly fingering her new necklace.

She spotted his look and blushed. "I'm sorry, it's just that no one except my parents has ever given me anything like this before."

He grinned back at her expression. "I wanted to do something special, and since I was making some pieces for my Mum, I had the others made up as well. You look very pretty wearing them."

Ginny snuggled a little closer and Harry tightened his grip on her, while his hand idly played with her hair. She smiled and closed her eyes, relaxing in the comfortable atmosphere provided by being surrounded by friends and family.

Across the room, Jean, Melony and Molly sat talking softly about their children. Molly looked over at her youngest and frowned slightly before turning back to Jean.

Jean looked at her curiously.

"If it had been any other boy, I'd be breaking them apart. But Harry's been a part of Ginny's life since she was old enough to read."

Jean expression dimmed. "She's not..."

Molly held up a hand and shook her head. "No, she learned first hand that Harry and the Boy-Who-Lived are two different people," she said softly, then she leaned back on her chair and eyed the young couple again. "When Harry rescued her from Slytherin's Chamber in her first year, she learned the difference. All during that summer she worried about the Harry she saw, a boy who was exhausted and still bleeding from his wounds."

She turned her gaze away from the pair and turned back to Jean and Melony. "That was a terrible summer for us. She had nightmares constantly and she lost a lot of weight. I watched my twelve year old daughter suddenly look at the world with old, pained, haunted eyes and I was helpless to prevent it. That summer she packed up her Harry Potter doll and all the books and put them in the attic. When I asked her about them, she said they were a fantasy, nothing more than make-believe. She said the Boy-Who-Lived was a myth, that the real Harry Potter was far better than any myth."

Molly sighed and shook her head. "After that, she wanted to know about Harry, how he was doing, if he was all right. It was one of the few times I could see echoes of the old Ginny in her eyes. Two children went down into that chamber and I'm sad to say they never really came back out."

"Hermione explained what happened in her second year," Melony murmured. "We were appalled to discover she spent the better part of two months in the infirmary. There was so much she didn't tell us until she came home last year with a scar running from her shoulder to nearly her hip. She couldn't hide that."

Melony's frown deepened. "I was shocked that the school never informed us of any of this. And I'm not surprised that Ginny didn't get any help after her first year. It seems to me that the school has a very cavalier attitude towards the children, especially if they come from muggle families."

Molly looked shocked at Hermione's mother. She could never imagine showing such disrespect towards a venerated institution like Hogwarts or its Headmaster.

"Molly," Jean interjected, trying to avoid an argument, "in a muggle school, they are required by law to inform the parents whenever a child is injured. In Ginny's case, most schools would have offered to pay for her to receive professional help in coping with the aftermath of her ordeal."

Molly's expression rapidly changed before settling into quiet astonishment. "I'm sorry. At first I thought you were putting down our ways , but now I can see it's a matter of what's different between our two worlds. Injuries are fairly common place when teaching magic and are usually quickly treated."

"Yes, but even you will admit a two month stay in the infirmary is hardly a normal happenstance," Melony countered. "Or, for that matter, what happened to both Harry and Ginny during her first year."

Jean coughed lightly and both women turned to her. "As an employee of the school, I find myself in an unusual situation because I can see both sides of the position. My son has spent considerable time in the infirmary and no one ever attempted to inform his guardians. Granted, the Dursleys would not have cared if he were injured or even dying. However, the simple fact is that there are no rules governing this. The school seems to think that while the children are housed at the castle, they have absolute control over their lives.

"I would put it that the Board of Governors should be approached and asked that they create a rule stating that any stay in the infirmary that is expected to last more than two nights, should be cause to alert the parents of the child. The board needs to be reminded that, while they are teaching our children, we are paying for that service and they are still our children."

Jean paused and took a deep breath. "As for Ginny, she has recovered rather well, if you want my opinion. She was surrounded by a loving family and that probably helped her recovery."

Mention of Molly's youngest caused the three of them to glance over towards the young couple. Harry sat, holding a book with one hand, his other hand idly stroking Ginny's hair. She seemed to be dozing against his chest.

He looked up and smiled at the three women before returning to his book.

Molly smiled back and turned again to Jean and Melony. "I see that my daughter isn't the only one to find someone special."

Melony eyed Hermione, who sat on a couch not far away. She held Neville's hand in her own and was busy trying to explain something that was playing on the television to Neville. Neville seemed engrossed with the Grinch. He kept glancing at Hermione, then back to the TV, as if pulled to it.

Melony smiled at the sight. "That's probably the greatest magic Hogwarts has performed on Hermione. Before Hogwarts, she was a loner, buried in her books. I never thought she'd develop any friends. And then we started hearing about Harry. My husband was convinced that she'd end up dating him."

Jean smiled and shook her head. "I don't think that would have happened. He loves her, but as a sibling, and I think she feels the same way about him."

Melony turned her attention back to Jean. "And this boy, Neville?"

Jean chuckled. "Neville is a powerful wizard, but he lacks confidence in himself. Hermione helps give him that. In turn, she gets insight into the wizarding world. They feel strongly for each other, but are still struggling to get to the point of expressing those feelings. Neville won't do anything to hurt her. In some ways, he's nearly as powerful as Harry, but he's what we call a gentle soul."

The next morning Harry walked down to the dinning room feeling a bit confused. Last night he had crawled into bed late and there had been three jets in the castle courtyard. This morning there were only two jump jets. Someone had gone off somewhere in the Blackbird while he slept.

"Morning," he mumbled sleepily.

Several heads turned to greet him and Ginny waved him over to a free seat by her.

He took the seat, then looked across the table at Jean. "Who left on the Blackbird?"

"Your Father and Logan got a summons this morning from Gringotts. They took Arthur with them. They contacted the Headmaster, who will meet them there. In a routine audit of a vault the bank was moving, they discovered one of the items the Headmaster was searching for," Jean replied.

Harry leaned back and smiled. With the diary, ring and locket gone, and now this new Horcrux, only two remained. He knew exactly which vault she was talking about, too. Gringotts had informed him only a week earlier that they would be moving Bellatrix's vault contents back into the Black vault.

Technically, they should have moved her vault into the LeStrange vaults, but since the LeStrange's were supporting Voldemort, Gringotts decided to use a loophole in their accounting systems to send the contents back to her original family, rather than the one she married into.

Bellatrix was dead and had no living heirs, therefore her dowry vault was being returned to the Black Family.

"Jean, please don't tell them about such matters," Molly said sternly. "They're only children."

Harry's expression darkened and his temper flared. For a brief moment he lost control.

"Children aren't left in abusive homes and then told they have to fight your dark lord or die in the attempt," Harry said icily. He stood and walked from the room, his back stiff.

Ginny turned to glare at his mother. "What's it going to take for you to see we're not children?" she hissed. "We haven't been children since you sent us to that stupid school."

Ginny stood and bolted from the room, hoping to find Harry, while everyone sat astounded by the sudden turn of events.

Ron sighed and rubbed at his temples tiredly. "Mum, you went to Hogwarts, how many times during your stay there was your life in danger?"

Molly turned to look at Ron in astonishment. "Never! The school is safe."

"Safe?" exclaimed Ron. "Your own daughter spent most of her first year possessed. Harry fought You-Know-Who twice in his first year, a third time to save Ginny's life, then he fought dementors and dragons. How can you possibly call that safe?"

Luna placed a hand on Ron's arm and he glanced at her. She shook her head slightly and he seemed to deflate a little. Standing he looked at his mother. "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I can tell you now, we're not children. We may not be full adults, but we're not children either. And those two?" he said with a gesture towards the door. "Those two have dealt with more horror than any adult should have to. Ginny isn't a child, no matter what you may think, and neither is Harry. I've watched them these past few months. Alone, they're tense and watchful. Only when they're together do they relax."

Ron offered a hand to Luna, who smiled brightly at him. She was rather pleased with the progress that he was making of late.

Ron and Luna walked slowly from the room, leaving Molly gaping at her youngest son and his girlfriend.

"I don't mean to pry, Molly, but they are right," Rupert Granger said softly. He reached out and gently cupped the cheek of his daughter, who smiled at him. "As much as I'd like to protect her and keep her as my little girl, all children grow up. My Hermione will always be my little girl, but she's becoming a fine young woman."

He looked back to Molly and released his hold on Hermione "I think the hardest thing for a parent to do is to accept that your baby has grown up. And it's even worse in times like these."

Molly looked at him with interest. "What do you mean Rupert?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but your world is starting a war. It's well known that war usually involves the younger generation, more than it does ours. In our World War II, eighteen year-old kids were put in the army and sent out to fight. You might say that is an adult age, but is it really? Just how different is an eighteen year old from a sixteen year old?"

He paused and fiddled with his cup for a moment. "Hermione has told us about the role that Harry seems to have in this war. If she were ten years old, I would pack us all up and head for New Zealand. But she isn't, and neither is Harry. How do you expect Harry to win this war for you if you refuse to give him the information he needs in order to fight?"

Molly's expression changed rapidly for a moment, then she sighed unhappily. "It's hard letting them go."

"I've only been a parent for a short time, but I think letting them go must be the hardest thing," Jean offered. She was pleased that this hadn't resulted in a major fight with Molly. The woman really had a kind heart, but she truly didn't want her babies growing up.

In another part of the castle, Ginny managed to catch up with Harry just as he was about to enter a very large room. The door closed behind them and Harry turned when he spotted Ginny.

"Can you believe her?" Ginny exclaimed.

He sighed and looked down. He was ashamed of his own reaction to Molly's comments. "I let my temper run away again," he murmured, then he looked up at her. "She's frightened, Ginny. She's scared that the war will take away her children. I'm sure she'll come around eventually."

Ginny looked thoughtful. "Are you sure that's all it is?"

He nodded. "I could feel her fear when my Mum talked about where my Dad and Logan went off to. She didn't feel that way last night when we were in the sitting room together. It was just a sudden spike of fear this morning."

Ginny shrugged helplessly. "I'm not sure how to help her without letting her treat us like babies."

Harry leaned against a wall and nodded. "You could do that, but you would only be hurting yourself in the process. Mind you, I'm not saying that you need to hold open war with your Mum, but she needs to see that you're growing up."

She smiled back at him. "How'd you get so smart?"

"Smart? Hardly. I screwed up big time this morning. I let my own anger control me again," Harry replied unhappily.

"I'm glad you recognize that fact, Harry," said a voice.

Harry spun on a heel to see Professor Xavier hovering into the room. He paused and tapped a few keys on the arm rest of his hover chair. The room shimmered and changed into a replica of his office back in the New York manor.

"Blimey! How?" exclaimed Ginny.

Xavier chuckled and motioned for the two youths to take a seat, while he moved around to the other side of his desk.

"I don't understand all of it, Ginny, but this is a muggle form of the Room of Requirement. It uses technology to do what we do with magic," Harry murmured. He had taken a seat on a couch and Ginny joined him, all the while looking around in wonder.

Xavier smiled at her reaction. "This room is used for many purposes by my people, Miss Weasley. Harry had his first flying lesson in a room just like this one, and learned to defend himself.

"As for this morning, I can tell that Harry recognizes that he handled himself badly back there. You're both young, not quite children, but not yet adults either.

"Unlike other young adults of your age, you both hold tremendous power, and that means you need to think carefully before acting. Harry got angry, and while his reasons for getting angry were questionable, he did do the smart thing by removing himself from the situation, rather than fighting with your mother. In time, he will learn that patience and dialog are the best means to solving a minor dispute like we saw this morning."

Harry nodded. He knew he had been overreacting.

"I'm surprised that your school doesn't take more care to teach responsibility and caution," Xavier in closing.

"They never have, sir," Ginny said softly. Her gaze dropped and she twiddled with her fingers in her lap. "After my first year, everyone knew I had been responsible for setting Slytherin's monster on the school, but no one told them I wasn't in control of myself."

Harry reached for her hand and she gave him a grateful glance. "I think that's one of the reasons why I'm not ready to discount the muggle world so easily. So many condemned me for something I had no control over and the people who were in charge did nothing to convince them otherwise."

Xavier smiled at the young girl. It was pretty easy to see Jean's influence on her as she talked introspectively about herself and her beliefs.

Gringotts, Diagon Alley, London...

Scott and Logan stood on the platform and looked at the open vault door. Nearby stood Bill and Arthur Weasley and Albus Dumbledore, who Scott had asked to meet them at Gringotts.

"As you can see, Mr. Summers, we were auditing this vault prior to moving the contents to Lord Potter's vault when we stumbled upon the cup."

Scott nodded and looked at the cup, which was sitting in the now empty vault. Harry had informed Jean and Scott a few days earlier that Gringotts was return the vault contents to the Blacks. It hadn't been a lot of money, only a few thousand galleons, but there were a number of items in the vault that needed to be inventories and checked.

The few remaining LeStranges were trying to ignore Bellatrix entirely. Although not actively supporting Voldemort by accepting the mark, they were blood purist bigots of the worst sort. Rumor had it that they were involved in laundering money for Voldemort and therefore needed to maintain a certain level of respectability, but no one had brought proof of their actions forward.

"What do you think, One Eye?" asked Logan. "The last time you zapped one of these things, we blew a hole in that squiditch pitch ten feet deep."

"Do you know what it is?" pressed Griphook. Gringotts had identified the object as dangerously cursed with soul magic and they were interested in knowing what they could learn from the wizards about the object.

"Yes we do," Scott replied tensely. "It's..."

"A secret," Dumbledore said, interrupting him.

Scott and Logan both shot the older man a sour look.

"A horcrux," Scott said, pointedly ignoring Dumbledore's look of astonishment. The old man had never had anyone defy him like this!

Griphook frowned and his ears flattened against his head. "I see. Considering who owned this vault, might I assume it belongs to the current Dark Lord?"

Dumbledore gave Scott a pointed look and said nothing. Scott shrugged off his look and turned to the goblin. "It is quite likely, Griphook. And as Lord Potter's guardian..."

"That is enough!" Dumbledore said in a loud voice. "Griphook, I apologize, but my companions don't know what they are talking about."

Scott turned to Dumbledore and bristled. "Headmaster, we asked you to be here as a courtesy. However, I think it's time you leave. This is a matter for Lord Potter to deal with as the Head of the Black Family. As I'm his representative, your presence is no longer needed."

Dumbledore blinked in surprise and stared at Scott. Unlike so many other muggles, he couldn't see the man's eyes, so his passive legilimency was useless against him.

Arthur blinked and stared at Scott in shock, while Bill Weasley hid a small grin behind a cough.

Bill had been present during the revelations about Harry this summer and was convinced that Dumbledore was getting too old to lead this fight.

Dumbledore looked at Scott, his expression switching from astonishment to anger. "Surely, Mr. Summers, you can see the need to keep this information quiet?"

"What I see, sir, is that the Goblins have asked for our help and in so doing, have done us a tremendous service. To keep them in the dark about what they found would be an injustice and might possibly endanger them," Scott retorted. "Finally, I will remind you that this is a family matter. I asked for your presence so you could advise us, not order us about. We are not part of your Order."

Dumbledore sighed and once again cursed the day the mutants had taken Harry Potter from his home in Surrey.

Scott rubbed his face tiredly. "Look, Professor, if you want people to work with you, you have to be willing to trust them with enough information to do their jobs. Didn't you learn that in your dealings with Harry last year?"

Albus looked down at the floor, his face burning. He inwardly seethed over how this entire situation was getting out of control. His first impulse was to reach for his wand, but he knew Scott would destroy his precious wand before he could get a spell off.

"Griphook, now that you know what the cup is, what will Gringotts do?" Logan asked.

Griphook glanced at the cup still sitting on the vault floor. "I think we will record the signature of this cup and then do a vault by vault audit to see if there are other such items within our vaults. Mrs. LeStrange violated the terms of her account by placing that object here. Every account holder must inform Gringotts when they place a dangerously cursed object within our vaults."

He then turned to Scott. "Mr. Summers, I'm afraid we'll have to levy a small fine against the LeStrange account."

"Against LeStrange's account?" Scott asked. He wanted to be sure they weren't about to fine Harry for something he didn't do.

Griphook nodded and gave him a feral grin. "She was Mrs. LeStrange when the object was placed in the vault. Until she married, this vault contained only her dowry money and nothing else. So yes, I'm afraid we'll have to assess their main family accounts in penalty. Violating this particular clause also results in their main account being locked for five years. "

Logan whistled, then grinned. "I like it. Cut 'em off from their money. Just how much of a penalty will you be assessing on them?"

Everyone knew that the goblin was playing games with words, but it didn't bother most of them that the bank would penalize the LeStrange family. The only one among them who seemed disturbed by the news was Dumbledore, but he realized any protest he made would be ignored.

Griphook shrugged. "That's not up to me to decide. It could be as low as half of the vault contents or as high as eighty percent. The board of directors will make that decision."

"And the cup?" asked Scott. He couldn't hide the grin he was wearing.

"I'll have Mr. Weasley seal the cup in a protective shield, then we'll transport it down to the blast furnace where we smelt the metals for our coins."

"Cool deal. Another one down," muttered Logan. "Time for a brewski!"

Scott shot him a disgusted glance, then turned back to Griphook. "If you find any difficulties in destroying the object, please let me know via Harry and we'll help Gringotts destroy it."

Griphook raised one hairy eyebrow at what he considered to be a mere muggle. "You, sir?"

Logan chuckled and tossed an American quarter into the vault. "Zap it, Laser Brain."

Scott's hand flew up to the visor and there was a flash of light. The quarter vaporized before it hit the floor of the vault.

Griphook blinked and his grin grew positively feral. "Impressive," he said softly.

"Yeah, he's great at parties. He can cook just about anything, or anyone, in under a minute," Logan said, then turned to Scott. "You owe me."

"For a quarter?"

Logan's expression turned stubborn.

Scott looked pained. "Fine. I'll see it's put in your next paycheck."

Griphook looked between the two men who he was coming to enjoy. These humans weren't nearly as stuffy as the wizards. And considering what Scott had shown him, he was very interested in knowing what abilities Logan was hiding.

"If we have any problems, we will contact you, Mr. Summers," Griphook said.

Scott nodded his head. "Then I guess we're done here. I'd like to get back to the castle in time for diner."

Scott paused and turned to Dumbledore. "Professor, I'm sorry if I ran roughshod over you, but the Goblins have been very helpful to us. You might want to consider that keeping so much information so secret can have disastrous consequences."

"Yeah, what happens if you bite it?" Logan asked. "After all, you're not exactly a spring chicken. Harry says you're over six hundred years old, which I find hard to believe. You don't look much over three hundred to me."

Dumbledore stared at the rough speaking man in amazement. Bill Weasley broke out in laughter and even Arthur was having difficulty hiding his smile.

Scott grinned to himself. He knew exactly what Logan was doing. With a little gentle teasing, he had managed to move them beyond what could have been a very difficult scene. For all his rough and tumble exterior, Logan was a very intelligent man who knew how to handle most people.

Blackmoor Castle, The English Channel...

Harry led his friends down into the heart of the installation below the castle. This section wasn't off limits to the visitors, but they had been asked not to venture down there unless accompanied by someone from the X-Men.

Other areas, like the area containing the radar dish, were off limits to everyone for obvious reasons.

It had been an interesting couple days. The original plan had been for a three day visit, but had been extended until school restarted. Harry and Molly had apologized to each other for their comments and she reluctantly acknowledged that her daughter was growing up. It wasn't easy for her and her fear was still there, but Harry understood.

It also helped when he explained how his present to Ginny would protect her. She still felt the gifts were too extravagant and expensive, but there wasn't much she could do about it.

For her part, while she continued to wear the necklace and earrings, Ginny kept the necklace tucked inside her shirt most of the time. She also refrained from grabbing Harry and thanking him the way she wanted to. For that, she decided to wait until they returned to Hogwarts.

Today, Harry was following up on an idea that he had. With his friends following along, he went in search of Professor Xavier.

"Harry, what's this?" Hermione asked.

He paused and turned to look. She was pointing to an open crate that contained a spherical object that pulsated softly. He frowned and scratched his head.

"I'm not sure," he murmured. "Its not among the memories that Professor Xavier or my Mum shared with me. Nor is it anything I've read about since. I've picked up a lot since the summer, but there's a lot I still don't know."

"That is a broadband energy accumulator," said a voice. "Its reacting to your magic. Normally, it's supercooled before its powered up, but with so many magic users nearby, it's running all by itself. Quite fascinating, really."

Harry grinned and looked up. His friends all gasped seeing Hank McCoy clinging to the ceiling, looking down at them.

"Guys, meet Doctor Hank McCoy, otherwise known as Beast. He's probably the smartest man you'll ever meet," Harry said softly.

Hank flipped and dropped to the floor, landing on his feet. He stood nearly as tall as Hagrid, and nearly as wide, covered from head to toe with soft blue fur. All of Harry's friends, except for Luna and Ginny, took an involuntary step backwards.

"Harry," Luna said with a frown. "Are you sure he isn't a rare tropical yeti? They're supposed to be blue."

Hank grinned. "I assure you, Miss Lovegood, I am not a tropical yeti. While my fur might be the same color, I am too large. As you know, a tropical yeti barely stands six feet in height."

Luna blinked, then a smiled slowly. "I like him, Harry. But blue? It's a bad color. The energy flows are all wrong for someone named Hank. Can we make him blond? I prefer that color myself."

Ginny laughed and turned away, while everyone started to chuckle.

"Blond? That does have possibilities. I will consider it, Miss Lovegood," Hank said seriously, then he turned to Harry. "Charles sent me to find you. He knows you wanted to see him. He's in the Cerebro chamber, running some tests on the new machine."

"Thanks, Hank."

With a flip, Hank was bouncing off the walls and ceiling of the corridor. Within seconds, he was out of sight.

Neville shook his head. "Someday, Harry, you'll surprise me and introduce us to a normal friend."

Harry turned and gave him a funny look.

"What?" Neville asked worriedly.

"Nev, you use a stick to work magic. Four and a half billion people in this world would call that pretty weird."

"Don't mind him, Harry," Hermione said. "He's still in a bit of shock from meeting Storm this morning."

Harry smirked at Neville, who was blushing heavily.

He had joined Harry for his morning workout after running around the island several times. They were in the exercise room when Storm came in and decided to help them. When Neville made a comment an hour later about needing a shower, she gave him one, right there in the exercise room, complete with thunder and lightening.

Storm wasn't normally one for pranks, but after experiencing one of the twins Canary Creams she felt a little payback on the wizards was called for. Needless to say, Neville was still a little freaked out by the impromptu indoor thunder storm.

Harry shook his head and chuckled again before leading his friends through a door into the Cerebro Chamber. Unlike the one in New York, this version had an improved design, including a more normal looking room, rather than the huge spherical chamber below the mansion.

Xavier lifted the helmet from his head and placed it on its holder, then he turned to face his company.

"You wanted to see me, Harry?"

"I've been thinking about something, Professor, and you're the only person I know who can solve this."

"Oh?"

"You found me using Cerebro, by locating the mutant energies I was releasing," Harry said slowly, as if he were thinking hard before putting his thoughts into words. "And Hank tells me that this new version has been adjusted to detect magic as well?"

Xavier gestured to the consoles around him. "Yes, but it's not as simple as just detecting magic. I can search for a particular individual using Cerebro."

Hermione stepped forward, her brow knotted in confusion. "How is that possible?"

Xavier smiled at the girl. He liked her ordered approach, even if he found her thinking to be a little limiting. He appreciated the fact that Harry held the girl in high regard and valued her opinion.

"Despite what Albus tries to teach, each of you are constantly generating energy. It's detectable and measurable. This new Cerebro has been designed to pick up that energy and use it. Think of each person as if they were their own little radio station. Each transmits their energy at a slightly different frequency. It's a unique emission, much like a fingerprint."

Harry groaned and rubbed his face. "Professor," he said with a sigh then he turned to his friends. "Remember in Flitwick's class, when he talked about curse traces?"

"I haven't taken that class yet, nor has Luna, but I remember you talking about them," Ginny said. "It's a way of figuring out what kind of curse has been placed on an object. Each curse is supposed to leave an echo of the casting that you can detect?"

Harry nodded. "Right. Well, what the Professor means is that each of us has a unique trace and he can detect that."

Everyone nodded and Harry grinned apologetically to Xavier, who smiled back at him.

Hermione nodded knowingly. She had understood Xavier's explanation, but she also knew that he had lost the others. They had come a long way in learning about muggle life, but this was still beyond them. She was honest enough to admit that a lot of it was beyond her understanding, as well.

"Professor, if you can use Cerebro to track magical people, can you track a Horcrux?" Harry asked softly. Behind him, his friends sucked in a collective breath. Despite Dumbledore wishing to keep them secret, he had told his friends about them.

Xavier looked up at Harry with interest. He had not expected that particular question. "Interesting. The Horcrux is partially sentient and certainly emits magic. On the other hand, I've not seen one myself, so I don't know it's signature."

"Could you figure it out if we linked? I've handled several of the things."

"Could you use Harry's connection to Voldemort to sense it?" blurted Hermione.

Harry and Xavier turned to her and she blushed.

"It is an interesting idea, my dear, but I don't think we need do anything so extreme. Harry's connection turned out to be a by product of the curse used on him so many years ago. His shields severed that link permanently. I daresay, he would rather we do not attempt to reestablish it. The only thing that link is capable of doing these days is causing some pain when Harry and Voldemort are close together."

Harry nodded fervently.

Ginny stepped forward. "I was in close contact with one for more than nine months. If anyone can give you what you need, I probably can."

Harry turned to her. "You don't have to do this," he said quietly. He knew exactly how much this would cost her emotionally if Xavier linked with her to examine her memories of the event. That she was willing to relive that painful time touched him deeply.

She looked up at him. "I do. The quicker we get that monster out of our lives, the quicker we can live our lives. If Professor Xavier can do this, I'll gladly help."

Harry nodded and reached out to take her hand in his. He was extremely proud of her and her offer. She didn't understand that during a link, she would relive the memory and the emotions. If he could prevent her from experiencing that pain again, he would.

Xavier smiled at the pair then turned his attention to Harry. "Let's try Harry first. Then, if necessary, we can try with Miss Weasley."

Harry and Xavier turned to stare at each other and they fell silent.

"I know I was wrong this summer about Mutants and what I said about Harry, but is it all right to say it's really creepy when they do that?" asked Ron quietly.

"I don't know, Ron," replied Luna, "I find Harry's family fascinating. They have so many talents and abilities, but even more importantly, the love they have for each other is obvious."

Hermione motioned the others towards a set of chairs in a corner and they all moved over to sit down. "It was the one thing I was really worried about when we learned that he had gone to New York. I was afraid he'd find himself among people who didn't care. Now I can't help but wonder if even with our help, we're slowly losing him to another world."

Neville placed an arm comfortingly around her shoulders and she gave him a grateful look.

"My family isn't taking me away from you guys," Harry said, startling his friends. No one had noticed him approaching. "As great as magic is, what my family has shown me is that there is a bigger world out there. Wizards try to pretend it doesn't exist, or that they're better than everyone else. I think you all know better by now. Muggle, mutant or wizard, it doesn't matter. There are good and bad in all worlds. I think it's going to be our mission to find the best of all worlds and mix them together into something uniquely... human."

He looked around at the thoughtful expressions on his friend's faces. While his family had opened his eyes to a greater world, he was opening theirs.

Hermione had received her magic-safe computer after Christmas and she was deep into her books, trying to learn enough to make a program to help with her Arithmancy.

All of them had discovered things about muggle life that attracted them. Even the purest of them, Neville Longbottom, had discovered that the muggles had whole sciences dedicated to growing plants.

Even Ron couldn't help but be drawn into the muggle world a little. Harry had purchased an small electronic chess game for him and, with Hank's help, fixed it so he could run it anywhere.

Harry had been torn between ignoring Ron this year or not, but finally decided on buying the cheap electronic toy. Ron would never assume the role of best friend again, but he had worked very hard to overcome his own prejudices. And that was something Harry could appreciate.

Harry wrapped an arm around Ginny's waist and pulled her close. "I think that beyond dealing with Voldemort or Dumbledore, our real mission is to unite the worlds. Professor Xavier told me about this Greek guy who said if he had a big enough lever, he could move the world. I think that with the right group of friends and family, we could change the world, making it better for everyone."

"So, you're not going to ask us to give up magic?" asked Ron worriedly.

Harry shook his head, then he kissed the top of Ginny head. She smiled and looked up at him. "You can't change what you are, Ron. Just like I can't change the fact that I'm a wizard and a mutant," he replied. "I would never ask you to be something you're not. There's nothing wrong with being a witch, or a wizard or a mutant or even normal. It's the values of our worlds that are the problem. All I will ever ask is that you approach new things with an open mind."

Ron and Neville both looked relieved. The others seemed to be more interested in what Harry was saying about finding the best of all worlds.

Harry paused to look at his friend, then he continued. "Professor Xavier likes to remind me that we're all human. And if we're all human, then the division between our groups isn't because we're different, it's because our cultures put that division there. I think we need to break that down to make something unique, a new culture that is just human."

"Now this is what I truly like to see! Young adults who are actually talking seriously about their futures," said a voice.

Harry turned to see Xavier had joined them.

The Professor turned to Hermione and smiled. "I can assure you, Miss Granger, it was never our intent to take Harry away from the wizarding world. But once we'd brought him to New York he couldn't help but be exposed to a number of unique elements. Harry still thinks of you as the sister he never had and I daresay nothing will change that.

"In bringing you all here, he has helped each of you see something of value that you would not have seen had you stayed strictly in your world."

"Professor," Harry said embarrassingly, "did you find it?"

Xavier nodded. "I did, indeed, although I am not familiar with the location."

Hermione's expression grew intent. "Where is it?"

Xavier stabbed a button on his chair and a monitor lit up against one wall. It displayed a map with a location clearly marked. Hermione looked at the location and murmured. "It's near Hampton, but it doesn't ring a bell to me."

"It could be anything, Hermione. Most of the older families, even those who don't have a lot of wealth, still ward their homes and make them unplottable. Even Longbottom Hall is unplottable."

"So's the Burrow," Ron offered softly. "Dumbledore did it this past summer."

"Professor," Harry said, turning away from the monitor. "Do you know what it is?"

"That's what I was hoping you'd ask. It's a small dagger. I can't get a very good image of it because of all the magic surrounding it. I'll have to speak to Hank about modifying the imaging systems. The image seemed to be blurred badly, as if there was a local disturbance affecting it," Xavier replied. "Can you summon it?"

Harry locked his gaze with Xavier and he could feel the man passing the image of a short dagger to him. It was no more than eight inches long and seemed to have a jeweled grip, but the details were too vague.

Finally, Harry looked away and sighed. "There isn't enough detail," he said dejectedly.

"No matter, we'll do it the old fashioned way. Be dressed and out in the courtyard at nine tonight," Xavier said, then he turned back to Cerebro's main console to begin another set of tests. The machine was fully functional, but he was still exploring the aspects of magical detection. Harry's idea for finding the horcruxes made him wonder what else he could find.

"Did he mean all of us?" asked Ron in a hushed tone.

Harry shook his head and looked at his friends with a slight smile. "No, just me. I have... advantages that we've already used to find one Horcrux. I just hope Mum won't go bloody nuts about this."

"Why would she?" asked Hermione.

Harry ran a hand through his hair and looked embarrassed. "Well, you see, Professor Xavier runs a group like Dumbledore's Order and she didn't want me to be a part of it. My training isn't complete but with my magic and my talent, I can compensate for that.

"And unlike the Order, the X-Men get results."

The Dinning Hall, Blackmoor Castle...

Harry peeked into the hall and was pleased to find his quarry sitting at the table having a cup of tea.

"Mrs. Weasley, may I speak with you?" he asked.

Ginny was off with Hermione and Luna. Storm had offered to show the three girls the gym set available in the danger room.

"Oh, hello dear. Of course you can. Would you like a cup of tea?"

He moved to take a seat across from Molly. Before he could finish sitting down, Dobby appeared, placing a cup of cocoa in front of him and a plate of biscuits.

"He takes very good care of you," Molly said softly.

Harry smiled. "He does, but he's more than just an elf to me, he's a friend."

Molly smiled in reply. "So what did you want to talk about, dear?"

He played with his cup nervously and Molly eyed him wondering what was causing him to be so nervous.

"I know the last few days have been difficult for you, Mrs. Weasley. Coming here and facing the reality of Hogwarts, as well as the war, couldn't have been easy."

"It has been surprising, I'll admit," she replied.

He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. "You know, before I met my mum, I always thought that my real mum would be like you. I mean, I hoped she wouldn't be like Aunt Petunia. And then I met you, and Mrs. Granger and my mum and you're all different, yet the same."

Molly looked at him, a bit confused. She liked Mrs. Granger, but couldn't see how she was like the woman.

"You want what's best for your children. So do my mum and Mrs. Granger," Harry added.

Understanding, she nodded.

"I'm curious, Mrs. Weasley. Now that you know what kind of life I lived before, and what's been really happening in Hogwarts, do you still believe that the Headmaster is the one to lead this war?"

Molly frowned. She had begun to doubt Dumbledore, especially in light of the last few days. "Harry, dear, surely you can't be suggesting that you lead things?"

Harry chuckled and shook his head. "I know my role in this war, Mrs. Weasley. But I'm no leader. Professor Xavier, or my dad, or even Mr. Weasley would be better off leading things."

He took a sip of his cocoa and looked down at his hands playing with the mug. "For the past few months, I've been fighting against everyone. I didn't want to stay here. I didn't want to fight Voldemort. Especially for a world that thinks I'm one step away from being a dark lord myself."

He stood and walked over to stand near the large window overlooking the English Channel. "Do you know what stopped me from leaving?" he asked, turning to face her.

She shook her head, entranced by his openness.

"Ginny, and Hermione, and Neville, and Luna, and Ron and even you, Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley. I kept thinking, 'What will happen to them if I run off?' 'What will happen to my friends and the people I care about?'"

He returned to the table and sat back down. "I think that's the biggest difference between Dumbledore and I. I care about what happens to people. Dumbledore uses people."

She nodded slowly. "Sooner or later, you're going to ask people to pick who they will follow, won't you?"

"I don't want that to happen, Mrs. Weasley, but even you see that things can't continue the way they're going. The Headmaster has put the entire school in danger with his policy of giving second chances to people who don't deserve them."

"Yes. Ron and Ginny have both explained what's happening at school. It took your mother and Professor Xavier several hours to talk me out of sending Albus a howler."

Harry smiled at that. He would have loved to see Dumbledore on the receiving end of a Molly Weasley crafted howler.

"And I was surprised you forgave Ron, but thank you," she added. "I know that being the youngest boy hasn't been easy for him. But he's grown these past months. Your forgiveness had to be a part of that."

Harry nodded, accepting the gratitude.

He stood and looked down at her. "I can't promise I'll win when I fight him, Mrs. Weasley, but I will promise you that I will do everything I can to make sure we come out of this alive."

With that, he turned and walked from the room, leaving Molly stunned by his words. Albus had never come close to making a similar statement.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there before another voice broke the silence. "He is an interesting young man."

She blinked and looked over at Professor Xavier. The man held a position of authority among the mutants that at first glance seemed much like Albus Dumbledore and his Order. She now knew that impression was wrong. Xavier exceeded Dumbledore in many ways.

Charles moved his chair into the room and came to a stop next to the table. "He is an interesting young man on many levels. He would deny being a leader, and yet his friends would follow him without question. And that simple fact frightens him more than anything Voldemort can do."

"He is a young man, isn't he?" she asked, then she seemed to deflate in her chair. "I wanted so much for my children to be children, but they can't be. Not anymore." She looked up at Xavier. "Are you sure that confronting Albus about the marked children is the wrong thing to do?"

Xavier nodded grimly. "I know how much it bothers you. It bothers us all a great deal. That young man has come to mean a lot to my X-Men, and to me, and he's opened our eyes to a host of new possibilities and friends. For now, we need to bide our time and wait for the Headmaster to make a mistake that he can't coverup.

"Rest assured, Molly, your own children are actively working to make sure all the children at Hogwarts are safe, and they aren't alone in this."

Molly stood and her expression grew determined. "No, they aren't alone. If the Headmaster isn't willing to protect our future, then we will."

She nodded to Xavier and strode from the room with a determination she hadn't had earlier.

Xavier shook his head. Harry didn't want to be a leader, but the fact was, people were rallying around him anyway. The Weasleys used to be one of Dumbledore's most vocal supporters, but that had now changed.

Blackmoor Castle, later that evening...

Harry had just finished buckling his belt when a knock came at the door. He slid the communicator into its slot and looked at the door. Scott had spoken with him earlier, telling him what his planned role in tonight's trip would be. He wasn't too happy about it, but he couldn't argue with the logic behind the decision.

"It's open," he called.

The door opened and Ginny, Hermione and Neville walked into the room.

Ginny took one look at the black leather uniform and sucked in a sharp breath. The leather vest covered just his torso. Underneath that, he wore a tight shirt that was specially made for the X-Men.

Hermione arched an eyebrow questioningly at him and he glanced down at his uniform.

"It's what the X-Men wear when they go out on a mission. It's warmer and lighter than it looks and more protective," he said in defense. "Besides, Hermione, if you didn't know about the wizarding world, you'd think Dumbledore was running around in a house dress."

She sighed, but nodded in agreement. Wizarding fashion was something she wasn't too keen on. The basic robes were all right, in her opinion, but they couldn't beat jeans and a t-shirt for comfort.

"I think it looks great," Ginny said softly. Her hands twitched as if she had a urge to run her hands over his body.

He blushed at the rush of emotions from her that affected him deeply. He wasn't ready to say he was in love with her, but he knew without a doubt that he didn't want his feelings for her to go away.

Hermione and Neville grinned at her reaction.

"Are you sure this is safe, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"Sure? Hermione, I don't know a single thing associated with Death Eaters that's safe. Will I be safe? Probably. I'm going along as the pilot of the Blackbird and in case they need my talents. I expect I'll spend most of my time sitting in the plane."

Hermione looked relieved to hear that. She knew that Harry was destined to fight this war, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

"He won't be leaving the plane if I have anything to say about it," said a voice.

Harry blanched and looked at Jean, who was dressed in a similar fashion. She stood in the doorway, eying them.

"Mum," he said in a typical teenage whine.

Jean entered the room and approached her son. "Harry, you're not fully trained yet. You've come a long way, but you still have a lot of training to do. Piloting the plane is one thing - everyone agrees you have an uncanny knack for it - but leave the fighting to us."

"And if you run into magic you can't handle?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Then we'll come get you and you can tell us about it. Honestly, Harry, if there are any Death Eaters in this location and they recognize you, we could end up in a major battle, or worse, word could get out that you took active part in a fight and the ministry might decided to step in."

Harry expression turned stubborn. He knew his place was in the plane, but he also knew this was his war. Everyone kept saying so and he wished they'd just let him fight it.

"Professor Summers?"

"Yes, Ginny?"

"May I?"

Jean stared at the girl for a moment, then nodded. She had an idea of what Ginny had planned and thought it might work, although the parent in her wanted to object to it strenuously.

"Go right ahead," Jean finally replied somewhat reluctantly.

Ginny slid forward and wrapped both arms around Harry's neck, pulling him down to her level, then she kissed him passionately. It was unlike any kiss they had ever shared and both felt it right down to their bones. The spark that had been slowly smoldering between them flared to life, burning hot and strong.

"If you want more kisses like that, you'll listen to your mum," Ginny whispered in Harry's ear, then she hugged him tightly. "Be safe and come back to us."

She reluctantly released him and stepped back. Harry stood transfixed, his eyes watching her every move. Finally, he nodded and looked over to Jean, who smiled weakly at the couple.

"All right, I'm ready."

Harry's friends watched Jean and Harry leave the room and Ginny gave a little shiver.

"They'll be fine," Neville said confidently.

Ginny and Hermione could only nod and hope that he was right.

Thirty minutes later, Harry found himself at thirty thousand feet, heading north west. He was the main pilot for the trip, with Scott once again acting as check pilot. He had flown the craft several times over the holiday break and spent a good deal of time in the Danger room flight simulator. Scott told him he was well on his way to being fully qualified to fly the large aircraft, and despite his assurances, Jean was convinced he was already planning on buying one for himself.

"How do you want to do this?" asked Logan.

"We have two options, hard and fast, or quiet and stealthy," Scott offered.

On board were Scott, Logan, Jean, Storm, Beast and Harry.

"Can I offer a suggestion?" Harry asked.

"If you're going to suggest you..."

"I'm not," He said quickly, interrupting Jean. She stared at him for a moment longer, then nodded.

"Wizards aren't comfortable with things that are unusual. Stealth they understand. A low level pass at supersonic speeds, followed by a frontal assault will totally disorient them."

Logan grinned and lit the end of his cigar.

Jean shot him a sour look. No matter how much she tried to get him to quit, he wouldn't listen to her. It didn't help that his ability fixed any damage the cigar might cause as soon as it caused it. "I like it," he said, "but a supersonic pass would put us thirty miles away from them before we could even land."

Harry grinned back at his friend. "Perhaps, but I read about a flight maneuver that should work. I don't think the Blackbird has been tested like this, but the specs imply she can handle it."

Scott and Logan shared a look for a moment. Both men knew that Harry had been practicing extensively on the simulator and had been making the craft perform maneuvers that neither of them thought the craft had been capable of. They also knew the flight simulation would not allow the craft to perform maneuvers it couldn't.

"Hard and fast it is, then," Scott said after a moments consideration.

"Harry nodded and put the aircraft into a gentle slope. "All right, I'm going to make a low level stealth pass so I can see what kind of magic wards are in place. Then we'll move out about 60 miles or so and come in at high speed."

Logan nodded and he activated some controls on his console. "I'll bring up the infrared cameras. That should give us a body count, at least. Put us in hover about 300 yards from the building and I'll run some scans."

Harry nodded and concentrated on his heads up display. "Less than four minutes from arrival," he said softly, then he eased back on the throttles, slowing the Blackbird.

Three minutes later he switched the aircraft to a full hover. "GPS says we're 320 yards from our target," he announced.

He released the controls, letting the autopilot control of their hover and turned in his seat to watch Logan. Everyone was watching as he scanned the building in the distance.

Satisfied that Logan had the technological scans under control, he opened himself to his mage sight and looked at the building.

It wasn't a typical pure blood manor house, but it was much larger than a typical family home.

"I've got no EM emissions from the house. If there is any technology in play it's well shielded," Logan said from his console.

"That makes sense. I see three main wards on the house, and something is glowing brightly on the top floor, third room from the right. It reminds me of how the locket looked," Harry added. "There's another object that's glowing more dimly on the ground floor."

"Four people and at least one animal on the ground floor. No one on the upper levels," Logan added.

Harry looked up in surprise. "An animal? Where?"

"I think it's an animal, but it's cold, only slightly warmer than room temperature. It's moving around the kitchen, I think." Logan said, then he looked at Harry. "Why?"

Harry tore his gaze away from the building and turned to Scott. "What if it's Nagini? It's possible she's what's causing that dim glow on the ground floor. As the newest of the horcruxes, she'd have the weakest soul fragment."

"What are you asking, Harry?" Scott replied.

"I want to hover closer, maybe closing the distance would allow me to see if it's her. Or maybe Mum can pick out that information from the people there."

"There's a lot of maybes in that statement," commented Logan with a bit of a growl.

"Wait, he has a point. Would hovering closer tip them to our presence?" asked Scott.

Jean sat silently for a moment, then she closed her eyes and reached out to the house in the distance. Her brow furrowed and after a moment longer she shook her head. "We have to close the distance. We're too far away for me to pick up anything useful."

Scott nodded, then looked at Beast and Logan, who also nodded. Satisfied he turned to Harry. "Take us closer."

Harry grinned and turned back to his console. "Engaging full noise suppression systems," he said calmly.

The craft shuddered slightly as the system went to full power. Then he did something unusual; he pitched the nose of the craft upwards sharply.

"Harry, what are you doing?" exclaimed Scott. This wasn't the established procedure for making a stealth approach.

Harry made a cutting motion with his hand and Scott fell silent.

He worriedly scanned the controls while Harry put the aircraft into a steep climb. At nearly four hundred feet, he chopped the power back to the barest minimum and brought the craft level.

"I'll be," muttered Logan. "He's slipped us in on top of the house and we're barely making a sound. I didn't know the Blackbird could do this."

"Mum, if you're going to do this, now would be the time. I can't turn this over to the Autopilot or we'll increase power and noise," Harry muttered. His hands were firmly on the wheel and his eyes constantly roved over his panels.

"Jean," Scott prompted.

"Hang on," she replied tensely.

For several tense minutes, Scott glanced worriedly between his silent wife and his sweating son. The low thrust from the engines put the aircraft into a very unstable position. He knew a serious downdraft could knock them out of the sky.

Finally, Jean opened her eyes and nodded to Scott who turned to Harry. "She's got it. Get us out of here."

Harry nodded in relief and silently slipped the large aircraft away from the building. When they were 300 yards away he increased power to the engines and cut back on the noise suppression. The Blackbird shot forward and upwards. When they reached 5000 feet Harry leveled out and engaged the autopilot, then programmed it to maintain a simple racetrack pattern, holding their position relatively close to the building.

Harry turned to face Jean and wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Nagini is in the building, but we just missed Pettigrew, who left about an hour ago. Apparently, Voldemort instructed Pettigrew to care for the snake. The four men are just your typical Death Eaters, although they are terrified of the snake."

"Damn. Pettigrew would have been a nice addition," Harry said with disappointment.

"Getting the last two Horcruxes is good enough for now, young Harry. I daresay Voldemort will hold Mr. Pettigrew personally responsible for the loss of his snake. I imagine his chastisement will be most unfortunate," Hank said from his specially modified seat.

Harry grinned. If Hank was right, Pettigrew would soon be facing his parents and Sirius personally. Voldemort did not take failure well.

"Well, we have the snake, a dagger and a couple wizzies. I say we go with the original plan and take them all down hard," Logan offered from his station. Every so often he'd glance at his console, making sure the stealth systems were operational.

"So wise so young, they say do never live long. Let us be about our business," rumbled Hank in agreement, then he cracked his knuckles. It made a surprisingly loud popping sound in the confines of the plane.

Scott looked at Jean, who nodded to him. Grinning he turned to Harry. "Let's make some noise."

Harry chuckled and turned back to his console. "Everyone strap in. This is going to get bumpy. That includes you Logan."

Logan glanced at Harry, then grumbled while he put on his hated seat belt.

Harry grabbed the wheel, disengaging the autopilot and put the craft on a gentle climb away from his target. He watched carefully as his heads up display ticked off the miles until he was 59 miles from the building. Banking the Blackbird, he started to descend, at the same time he pushed the throttles to the firewall. The Blackbird shot forward rapidly and everyone was pressed into the back of their seats. The plane vibrated when it crossed the sound barrier. They still had 30 miles to go and Harry continued to accelerate.

"Ten miles," Scott called a few second later. He wasn't sure exactly what Harry had in mind. At this speed, they'd be at least 20 miles away before they could even think of switching to hover mode.

"Hang on," Harry called. He focused on his display and watched the distance rapidly dwindle down. Suddenly, he pulled hard on the wheel and the Blackbird pitched up. At the same time he chopped power to all the engines. They were in a ballistic climb and Harry had cut off the engines! Had he left them running, they wouldn't bleed off the speed fast enough for them to come back and land before the Death Eaters recovered.

The silence, after the heavy thrum of the engines running at full power, was deafening.

"Harry!" shouted Scott.

"Don't worry, I'm on it," came the calm reply. He watched as the speed quickly bled off. The Blackbird continued to climb, but she was rapidly slowing. At 15,000 feet he pitched the nose over and brought the plane into a gentle curving glide. "Commencing engine restart."

"Scott?" asked Jean in alarm. She was a competent pilot in her own right, but Harry was performing procedures she had never done, even in simulation.

Scott's hands itched to take control, but his practiced eye told him he couldn't do anything different than what Harry was already doing.

The engines flared and sputtered. Harry swore and repeated the restart procedure again. With a roar both engines came back online and Harry dove the craft towards the ground, cutting back the power as they descended.

"Landing, get ready," Harry called out. Everyone fumbled with their seat belts.

In less than a minute, they were flaring out to a hover in front of the building barely 200 feet away. Harry lowered the plane down, it's rear ramp already descending.

"Go, go, go!" Scott shouted, bolting for the ramp. Everyone tumbled from their seats, running after him.

Harry watched them leave, then he closed the ramp and lifted off again. Unless they called him down, he would orbit the building at a safe 1000 foot altitude. He didn't like this part, but those were his instructions and he would follow them.

He flipped a switch on his communications console, allowing him to listen and communicate with his family below. Then he brought up the Infrared scanner on a video monitor.

On the ground Scott paused in surprise when he saw the extensive damage to the building. Harry had passed over it at less than twenty feet and for a brief moment, hit the building with the full power exhaust from the jet engines. The roof smoked ominously, with a few spots flaring into flame. Every window was broken and the front of the house looked as if it had been sand blasted.

The low altitude pass had picked up a considerable amount of debris in the pressure wave and it hit the building like a localized hurricane.

"Damn! I got to admit it, the Wiz has got style. The building's a wreck and we haven't even entered it," Logan said with a touch of awe.

"Come, my friends, let us do our jobs and get those horcruxes," Hank murmured.

"Right," Scott replied. "Jean, give us warning of anyone approaching. Logan you're in the lead with me."

At a trot, they cautiously approached the building.