Disclaimer: The characters depicted herein belong to J.K. Rowling not me
A/N: Ok! Here is the new update that would've gone to Brewing Storm but as that has been merged into The Heir it's going here. I hope everyone is making the transition ok. Please note that I am still working on updating the chapter titles and numbers so that they all flow consistently but I am moving right now so that is going to take some time. For now just enjoy the update and please please review and let me know what you guys think! I love all of my readers and reviewers and many of you have a tendency to make me laugh which makes my day.
CHAPTER EIGHT: A VERY LARGE CAT
Harry sat in a chair in the corner of the Headmistress' office while everyone else argued over the day's events. The collapse of the wards protecting the spectators had raised many hairs. Thankfully, not many people were injured and those that were had been quickly patched up by Poppy. The parents that come to watch the event, mostly the parents of the students had been burned, were now in the office arguing with Minerva over the lack of safety measures being put into place while Minerva attempted to convince them that they had several precautions in place. The debate had been going on for the past four hours and neither side was making any headway whatsoever and Harry was beginning to get tired, not to mention annoyed. He hadn't even spoken during those four hours and the only reason he was there was because he was Lord of Hogwarts and had been involved the setting of the wards. Finally, when he had almost dozed off for the fifth time and when the parents again started complaining about the lack of safety at the school, Harry spoke up.
"Enough!" Harry snarled when the latest speaker had paused to take a breath. Everyone froze and turned to him, shocked that he was even there as several had forgotten his presence during the course of the argument. "This is going nowhere. Neither side will convince the other and both of you are missing one very crucial fact." Harry looked briefly to Severus, who gave a tiny nod as he knew where Harry was going with this. "The wards we had in place, for there were several, didn't just collapse, they were torn down. Someone deliberately pulled them down to achieve exactly this: doubt and distrust. We have all seen the signs and heard the whispers but most of you are ignoring them out of fear." Here Harry looked in particular at the parents. "The Death Eaters are moving and reorganizing. Just because you decide to ignore that fact does not make it cease to exist."
"Mister Potter," the Minister, Cornelius Fudge spoke up. "The collapse of the wards has nothing to do with any supposed Death Eater activity."
"Yes and it just so happens to be one massive coincidence that a group of Death Eaters terrorized the Quidditch World Cup and another Death Eater, who should be dead according to Ministry Records, disguised themselves as a highly accomplished ex-Auror so they could infiltrate the castle and try and force me to compete in the tournament." Harry said in a sarcastic tone and a dramatic roll of his eyes. "I suppose that it's an even bigger coincidence that someone tried to harm the students by tearing down wards that I personally helped set up."
"Well no wonder they failed!" One of the parents, one Harry didn't know the name of and didn't like at all, spoke up. "You let children run around playing at being adults when they should be in a classroom practicing kiddy spells."
"I can assure you, sir, that I do not play at anything," Harry said darkly as he struggled to remain in his seat. "As Lord of Hogwarts, I must approve and be involved with everything in this tournament in order to assure the safety of everyone that resides in my castle." He specifically claimed Hogwarts as his in order to remind everyone of his station in society while simultaneously stating that he and he alone wielded more power than anyone else in the room. It worked too. Several of the parents had blanched and even Fudge shifted nervously. "I assure you that that is not a task I take… lightly. If you still doubt me sir, I can always demonstrate just how skilled I am with warding something." It was subtle but Harry's threat was still heard and no one bothered to speak against him again.
"Do you at least know who might have torn down the wards?" Another parent dared to ask. This one was a mother and one of the more reasonable parents in the room. It took a second but Harry eventually remembered her name as Mrs. Fields.
"Not yet but it had to have been someone with an intimate knowledge of which wards were used and how they interacted with each other." Harry explained, bringing his voice back to a more neutral and conversational tone. "This of course implies that it is someone who helped to put them up, which at least narrows our list of people to look at. Unfortunately, since we have been cooped up here all day, we have not had a chance to question anybody."
"A valid point, Mr. Potter," Minerva said respectfully. "It is late and we should all take to our beds. I assure you all that when we find something out about who has done this, you will be informed immediately."
A couple of people grumbled but nobody dared to speak out with the volatile Lord in the room so they all dutifully either flooed home or otherwise left the office. Harry remained in his chair for several minutes, rubbing the bridge of his nose, an act reminiscent of Severus when he was annoyed with something. Harry remained like that and quiet as Fudge spoke a few words to Minerva before stepping into the fireplace and flooing back to the Ministry.
"Perhaps you could have spoken up sooner," Severus remarked when everyone else had left. "It would've saved us all hours of arguing."
Harry couldn't help but break out laughing at that. "Probably but as you saw people still have problems accepting the fact that I'm not just some idle student."
"True enough," Severus conceded with a small nod. "The question remains, however. Who tore down the wards?"
"I don't know," Harry said shaking his head, completely at a loss. "I've had the wards search the castle several times. Everyone in the castle is who they're supposed to be, which means it's someone we know and who isn't posing as someone else."
"That's not exactly a small list," Minerva spoke up from her place behind her desk. She looked weary and tired, just like they all were. "The entire staff was involved with erecting those wards, not to mention the judges and dragon tamers."
"I don't think anyone on the staff had anything to do with it." Harry mused as he rubbed his forehead. "Most of the teachers have been at Hogwarts for years and put the students above anyone else. Other countries never got involved with the Dark Lord and the backgrounds we did didn't reveal anything that might lead to involvement with the Death Eaters."
"That doesn't mean they can't be newly recruited," Alastor Moody growled, he had been released from the hospital wing a few days prior to the first task.
"Unfortunately," Harry agreed with a sigh. His gaze drifted to Severus as he continued. "I guess we have no other choice but to wait and see if we can catch them before they do anything else." Severus got a sour look at the reference Harry made. They both knew what the 'anything else' was that Harry was referring too and they both knew the odds of this unknown threat being caught any time soon.
"I don't want you going anywhere alone." Severus said, his onyx eyes narrowed. "That includes Hogsmeade trips."
"Not really an issue," Harry said with a shrug. He was almost always surrounded by his friends. "Though to be honest I don't particularly want to risk them getting caught as well."
"I want you back in the dungeons as well but you are actually safer in your tower with your guard," Severus added, mostly to himself. "Do you still keep Orpheus with you?"
Harry nodded even as Minerva spoke up. "Would either of you care to explain just what it is that you're talking about?" She didn't sound particularly happy at being kept out of the loop and frankly Harry didn't blame her. He always hated it when people didn't tell him things as well.
"We believe the recent spike in Death Eater activity is because the Dark Lord is becoming active once more." Severus answered since Harry yawned and didn't seem particularly interested in answering. "We're not sure how but he is still out there and we have managed to discover that he is after Harry in order to regain full power."
"That's not entirely true," Harry interrupted with a slight wince at both his forgetfulness in informing Severus and the recollection of that foul book. "We do know how he has survived all these years or rather I do. I have not said anything because one thing or another has always interfered and I end up forgetting. The past two years have been rather hectic after all."
"Care to share?" Severus asked. Sharp annoyance pierced Harry's Occlumency shields but there was a grudging acceptance there as well. Harry had spoken the truth; the last two years had been very distracting.
"Nif," Harry called and the elf instantly popped into the bow. "Please retrieve the glass box." The elf quickly popped away without a word, understanding fully what box Harry was referring to, and returned seconds later with the glass box containing the destroyed diary. "This diary, the one the possessed Ginny Weasley in second year, is a very disgusting object called a Horcrux." Harry stood up and handed the container over to Severus. "Given that this one is destroyed and yet Voldemort is still a threat, it would stand to reason that there are others."
"I was unaware that this was what possessed Miss Weasley." Severus said as he eyed the offensive thing in complete distaste. Being a dabbler in the darker side of magic, he was quite aware of what a Horcrux was and it was quite obvious that he was unhappy about it as well. "And how did you discover what it was?"
"A very foul and disgusting book," Harry explained with a shudder and a hand on his queasy stomach. "One I will not share. Not to mention Kane recognized the magic and informed me what it was." He took a few minutes to quell both his stomach and the tide of memories of that hideous book. "The point is though, if we can find out how many of these things are and where they are hidden then we can rid ourselves of Riddle once and for all. It also proves that he is not quite as invulnerable as he would like everyone to believe."
"What exactly is a Horcrux?" Minerva questioned, never having heard of such a thing as she was a witch firmly planted on the side of the Light.
"It is an object a witch or wizard chooses to house a piece of their soul," Severus explained when Harry remained tightlipped because of his churning stomach. "I do not know much about them but I do know that murder must be performed in order to fracture the soul. However, from Harry's reactions, I would surmise that the precise details are a little more… vile."
"An understatement but accurate nonetheless," Harry said as he shook his head to rid himself of the memories of that book and its contents. "Unfortunately, for the time being all we can do is speculate. The objects could be anything, from a necklace to an ink bottle. Until we manage to obtain further information all we can do is sit back and let events play out and do our best to mitigate the damage done. Now, if you'll excuse me, it is late and I am tired. Unless you wish to keep that Severus, you may have Nif return it from where he got it."
"I will," Severus assured as he watched Harry walk out of the office, not wanting the object to remain in his possession for any length of time.
–Scene Break–
"My lord, please!" A man Harry recognized as Barty Crouch Jr. screamed as he writhed under the Cruciatus. Harry was standing in the middle of a dusty and sparsely furnished room with a fire place that had a roaring fire going. He didn't recognize the room but he did recognize the fact that he was having a vision and the clearest one he had ever experienced. He noticed the hooded man off to the side of the room but still was unable to make out any identifying features as only his hands were visible. Harry's biggest question right now though, was what, how, and why was Barty Jr. here? The last Harry had checked, the man was nothing more than a muggle, completely un-magical in every way due to the punishment the Goblet of Fire enacted upon him for trying to force Harry into the tournament. The man should also have been in prison since Fudge almost instantly had the man carted off.
"You failed me Crouch!" Voldemort hissed, sending revolting shivers down Harry's spine. "You failed to force Potter into the tournament."
"My lord, I swear I had no idea the Goblet would react the way it did." Crouch begged when Voldemort had ended his latest round of torture. "I did everything as planned. I cast a spell to make the Goblet think that there were supposed to be four schools and then I placed Potter's name under that school. There was no way he shouldn't have been chosen. I swear! I do not know what went wrong."
"If I may Milord," the hooded figured spoke respectfully with a bow to the chair in which sat Voldemort, though Harry couldn't actually see that. Frankly he had no inclination to move to see the apparently very short figured form Voldemort had taken. The only reason he thought the figure was short because he couldn't see a head or legs from his position. "I might know what went wrong." The second time the man spoke was when Harry noticed that something was wrong with his voice. It seemed… fractured if that were possible. It was rough, almost like gravel moving as someone stepped on it and there were unnatural pauses, like he had trouble speaking and had to force the words from his throat. Another oddity Harry noticed was that the man refrained from moving as much as possible.
"Speak," Voldemort hissed, omitting the figures name, much to Harry's chagrin. He wanted to know who the man was because it might give him a few leads to hunt down.
"The man may have failed because Potter is the owner of Hogwarts. No school official is allowed to participate in the tournament." No new information there. Harry already knew that, though he supposed it was something to know that his enemy knew but honestly it wasn't that important. Ever since second year the papers had been rampant with the information.
"And you did not mention this before because…" Voldemort said dangerously and fingering his wand threateningly.
"I did not know until I did research into the matter when we discovered the failure," the man explained with only the slightest hint of fear in his fractured and damaged voice. "I also went to another old colleague who is close to the tournament. He tried to run but a well placed Imperius has him well within our power." Harry's ears perked up at that. This was valuable information, now if they would only mention the name. "As I understand it he managed to cause the wards of the first task to collapse, sowing doubt of the other's capabilities in protecting the students. I have told him to do nothing more until he receives instructions from us."
"Such initiative my slippery friend," Voldemort laughed menacingly. Harry could hear a slight note of displeasure to the Dark Lord's voice but he was apparently satisfied that they now had another mole, one who was close enough to the tournament like they wanted. "Perhaps the situation can still be salvaged." Voldemort snapped off a spell and Crouch Jr. went limp and docile, evidence of the Imperius curse.
Harry woke with a start and with a slightly disappointed sigh. That vision, as uncomfortable as it had been, was one of the most informative to date. Well, more like the most straightforward one. Little information had actually been gained but still. It was something. He had a few more clues of where to look for this new mole, though not much. The person was apparently a former Death Eater and one who did not want to join up again at that.
Harry's first thought had actually been Severus but he just as quickly tossed the idea. Severus was not only an accomplished Occlumens and therefore could have resisted an Imperius, especially if the caster was not near to continuously enforce it, but the man wouldn't have tried to run. Rather, he would have tried to gain whatever information he could from the situation and then either provided the illusion that he would willingly assist his old allegiances or try and capture whoever had approached him. There was also the factor that if either had occurred, he would have kept Harry informed. Harry felt the man's emotions for him and there was no way he would allow Harry to be blindsided like that.
This left very few people left to consider and only one when Harry considered the information that the mole was a former Death Eater who was close to the tournament. Harry quickly got out of bed and got dressed. The sun was rising and breakfast would begin in a few hours and Harry was thankful that it was the weekend, three days after the first task. It allowed him to spend most of the day discussing things with Severus. Once he was dressed appropriately, Harry quickly left his room, turning into Shadow as he went so he could move faster. He moved on silent paws out of his tower and into the secret passage that connected with the emergency tunnels that honeycombed the castle. Within mere minutes, Harry was human again and knocking on Severus' private chambers.
"Harry?" Severus said in mild surprise when he opened his door to find the teen standing there, looking calm but showing small signs of anxiety. Like the flexing of his fingers, as if he were wishing his wand was in his hand. "What's wrong?"
"I had a dream last night," Harry said quietly, wondering why the man hadn't invited him in yet. Usually, Severus gestured Harry into his quarters straight away when he realized that it was Harry who had come to visit. "I managed to glean a few pieces of information."
"I see," Severus said in understanding, remembering the dreams Harry had that led them to performing the blood rituals during the summer. The man hesitated a moment longer, something Harry did not miss in the slightest, before he stepped aside and allowed Harry to enter the privacy of his rooms.
Harry stepped into the room and promptly froze in his tracks, even with his mouth halfway open as he had been about to continue speaking. There, at Severus' table where he usually ate breakfast, was none other than Remus Lupin, who was looking curiously disheveled. Harry's lips twitched madly but he managed to maintain a straight face as he resumed walking and took the empty seat. His eyes danced with knowing amusement as he looked between Remus and Severus and he was forced to hide a smile behind his hand as he scratched his cheek. He noticed several telling signs on both of his teachers: ruffled hair, small blushes, and even a bruising bite mark on Remus' neck that was quickly concealed by the wolf's collar.
"What was your dream about?" Severus asked leadingly, not missing Harry's amusement but not comfortable with commenting on it, though he did level a small glare at the teen.
Harry quickly turned his attention towards the serious matter and laid out the dream in precise detail, even detailing what the cloaked figure sounded like and how he acted. He ended with, "The only person I can really think of that would fit the parameters I overheard is Igor Karkaroff. He's a former Death Eater, he's been rather skittish ever since he got here and I can see him trying to run from his former comrades, he's close to the tournament, and he was involved with setting up the wards that collapsed during the first task."
"Hmmm," Severus hummed in thought as he processed the troublesome news. "Yes he would fit. He turned over several inner circle members so he wouldn't be too keen on getting involved with the recent activity. He's also the only other ex-Death Eater in the castle that I can think of aside from myself. Unfortunately, even if he is the culprit, we can do nothing about it at this juncture. The Imperius is nearly impossible to detect, especially if someone is particularly apt at casting it, and we have nothing more to go on but hearsay and speculation. There is also the factor that he is the Headmaster of one of Europe's prominent schools."
"That may be, but we can at least keep an eye on the man," Remus interjected after taking a sip of his tea. "Make sure he doesn't tamper with anything else."
"Agreed," Harry said with a nod. "I've already set the wards to monitoring his actions but I don't think it will matter much."
"Why?" Remus asked in confusion. His gaze shifted from Harry to Severus when the other man spoke instead of Harry.
"Because the Dark Lord is anything but unintelligent," he said with a grimace. "After Crouch's failure and then the collapse of the wards during the task he will undoubtedly suspect that at least a few people are suspicious about a mole. He will not risk jeopardizing his chances of getting Harry into his clutches and will have Karkaroff, if it is him, sit back and wait until the time is right. Our only advantage right now is we know the full extent of his plan's and have already taken precautions against it."
"There are a few other advantages as well," Harry said, fingering his necklace, his emergency portkey that would work anytime, anywhere, and transport him back to Hogwarts. "What I really want to know though, is who that hooded figure is? From what I understand, any devout fanatics of Riddle's are locked tight in Azkaban, aside from Crouch, who isn't that much of a threat anymore."
"He is probably a new recruit and likely one who is practiced in the Dark Arts." Severus said, though he didn't sound very sure of himself. In fact, to Harry it sounded like he was trying to convince himself that it was a new recruit. Harry wasn't sure what to make of that but he let it go. For now.
"Mmmmm," a murmured hiss from under Harry's collar indicated that Orpheus had finally woken, which was surprising given that they had been talking for almost an hour. "Do I smell sausages?" Naturally, Harry's response was to burst out laughing. It never failed. If ever there were Hogwarts' sausages around and Orpheus had just woken, the first thing out of his mouth was that very question or something similar to it. When his laughing fit had subsided, Harry explained his mirth and introduced Orpheus to Remus as the two had yet to actually meet.
–Scene Break–
The next few weeks passed peaceably for everyone at Hogwarts. The student's attention span was growing shorter and shorter as the holidays approached and the teachers didn't even bother to try and hold it during the last few days. Not even Severus tried, seeing the futility in it all. They all just assigned menial work to keep the students busy and just let the classes go by. Actually, the only teachers who managed to teach their students anything during the week before Christmas break were the Martial Arts, Dueling, and Fencing classes. Being physically demanding classes that were semi fast paced, they held the students attention perfectly.
When classes finally did end, the students all began yammering about the Yule Ball that was approaching. It was a traditional part of the tournament and everyone was both excited and nervous. Harry was torn between interested and scared. He knew whom he would ask if he wanted to go but he wasn't sure if he did want to go. He had never been one for large social gatherings, always preferring to hide in the shadows like he usually did. Sure there were meals in the Great Hall but few people actually paid him any attention, barring the first and second years of course but once people had gotten used to the thought of him as a Slytherin and then owner of Hogwarts, the stares and whispered had died down. There were scattered incidences of the next two years, Black and then the Goblet, that caused more gossip but aside from that, people actually didn't pay him that much attention.
A dance on the other hand, was entirely different. It was specifically designed for socialization and enjoyment, two things that Harry really didn't excel at. He had his small group of friends and he was perfectly content to leave it at that. There was also the factor that Harry's idea of fun didn't involve dancing, which he had NO clue how to do. His idea of fun included brewing, reading a good book, and hanging out with his friends. Nowhere on that list did it state that he enjoyed fumbling around on a dance floor and making a fool of himself.
Harry picked his head up and cocked his ears when he heard the spiral staircase start moving, indicating that someone was coming up to his tower. Unconcerned, Harry laid his head back down on his furry paws and went back to staring into the flames of the fire he was laying in front of. Only those he trusted were allowed in his tower and the guardians wouldn't allow anyone past unless they had cleared it with him first. A few seconds ticked by before his tower door opened and Harry caught Draco's scent. His tail twitched happily but he didn't bother getting up from his comfortable position on the floor in front of the fire.
"Harry?" Draco asked when he saw the black panther laying on the rug. Harry flicked his tail in response and glanced at the blond, still rather absorbed in his thoughts. "Something wrong?" Harry shook his head in a very animalistic manner. He honestly had no real reason to being in his animagus form aside from the added warmth it provided and the relief from his empathy, which had been gaining in strength like it usually did when the full moon approached. "Full moon?" Draco asked, voicing Harry's thoughts as he sat down on the floor next to the panther, who purred and laid his head on the blonds' thigh. Draco knew how Harry's magic increased in strength as the moon approached its peak and as a result his empathy tended to grow too strong to be constrained by his Occlumency shields.
The two of them sat like that for some time in companionable silence. Draco started stroking Harry's fur, causing the animagus to start purring louder. Harry's muscles turned to butter and his thoughts melted away under Draco's petting and his eyes became lidded. He had even started to drift off into a light doze but became more alert when Draco stopped. Harry looked up to see some slight apprehension to the silver eyes of his boyfriend. It was then that Harry realized that the two of them had been together for almost a full year. So much had been going on that it hadn't felt like a year and he had completely forgotten about their upcoming anniversary.
"Harry," Draco started and Harry smelled nervousness rolling off the blond. "I understand you aren't the biggest social bug but I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Yule Ball with me."
Harry purred as he transformed and pulled Draco close, feeling inexplicably happy. "You realize I couldn't dance to save my life."
"I'll take that as a yes," Draco said with a smile as he leaned in to kiss Harry, who practically melted into those addictive lips. "As for the dancing," he continued as he pulled away and dragged Harry to his feet. "That can be easily rectified."
Draco began moving Harry through the basic waltz, something every pureblood child is taught from an early age. Harry was startled at first but his surprise turned into shock as he easily moved through the steps at Draco's lead. His feet seemed to move without any direction from him. He flowed with Draco, easily sliding through the steps and hardly stumbling. The more they danced, the less mistakes Harry made and Draco moved them into more complicated steps.
"You're a natural," Draco breathed as they ended their dance.
"Helps to have a good instructor," Harry panted as his heart raced in his chest. The dance had truly been enthralling and one of the more exhilarating experiences he'd ever had. Draco merely chuckled at the compliment and pulled them down to the couch where they sat enjoying each other's presence until the sun had sunk to the horizon and they both wandered off to their perspective beds for sleep.
A little over a week later on Christmas night, Harry stood in the doorway of a room in his tower wearing elegant black dress robes, complete with a black under shirt and black tie. It was at the very base of the tower, well beneath the dungeons and the emergency tunnels that honeycombed the castle. Harry had discovered the room the summer before third year during one of his nightly wanderings when he couldn't sleep after killing Lucius. It truly was a sight to behold but at the time he discovered it, he had merely passed it over, completely unconcerned with the contents. Now, however, Harry stared at the sparkling wonders in fascination.
Hundreds of objects were laid out before him. Earrings, necklaces, crowns, rings, and hundreds of others were scattered throughout the room and all of them were obviously family heirlooms. Godric's sword was displayed on a shelf and sparkled in the light. There was a necklace that looked like two intertwining snakes that gripped an emerald in both their mouths. A pair of earrings looked like ravens with sapphire eyes. The most curious object to Harry was the solid gold badger that sat on one of the shelves. It was obviously a likeness of Edana and that tickled Harry's curiosity as to where the wayward familiar was. She was the only one that had yet to approach Harry and he hadn't even seen her lurking around. As far as Harry could tell, the badger had completely ignored the call that the founders had sent out during his first year to alert them that their heir had been chosen.
Shaking his head to clear his wandering thoughts, Harry went over to one of the shelves and picked up a silver circlet that had caught his eye. As his fingers made contact, the simple looking and slightly feminine headdress shifted and morphed until it was more masculine. Given that he could feel magic radiating from everything in the room, Harry wasn't entirely surprised by the shift. The thin strands of silver became thicker and the whole thing expanded slightly to compensate for his larger head. The strands shifted enough to depict the lunar cycle, with the full moon in the center where Harry's forehead would be. It didn't become gaudy, to which Harry was thankful for, but it did become more prominent.
He went over to a mirror that was in the room and placed the circlet on his head. The band shifted again to sit more firmly on his head so it wouldn't slide around. It also shifted so that the half moon on the waning side was centered on his head. Harry cocked an eyebrow at that but didn't really think it significant. Weird and interesting, yes, but not overly important… at least not yet since he didn't know the full extent of the circlet's magical properties. That being said, even without magic the circlet managed to make Harry's wild hair, which usually stood up everywhere, look calm and more manageable. It still stood up in the strangest of places but with the band around his head, his hair looked more like a flowing black river rather than a rat's nest.
Satisfied, Harry went over to a different piece of jewelry and picked it up before leaving the room. He left his tower all together and quickly made his way down to the Great Hall where the Yule Ball was going to start in less than twenty minutes. He managed to reach the hall just as Draco was coming up from the dungeons. The blond was wearing dark blue robes that brought out his silver eyes and made him look like a moving pillar of water that rose from the depths of the ocean. Harry smiled when he saw Draco and made his way over to his boyfriend.
"I see the Slytherin Prince has robes to match his station," Harry teased with a smirk as he kept his gift concealed in the folds of his dress robes while extending his other hand to Draco.
Draco sniffed in mock disdain as he took Harry's hand and walked next to him into the Great Hall. "I'm a pureblood Potter. No pureblood is without a set of dress robes."
"Yet he appears to be lacking the appropriate jewelry," Harry said with a chuckle as he sat down at the Head Table next to Severus who sat next to Minerva. At such an event it was normal for the owner to sit with the staff and champions.
"Please," Draco drawled in a bored tone that only served to make Harry smirk. "I have plenty of adornments. I simply felt no inclination to bother sorting through it all to find something to match my outfit."
"So you wouldn't be interested in this little bauble then?" Harry questioned casually as he allowed his gift to dangle from his fingers. It was a gorgeous silver necklace chain with dragon dangling from it. The majestic creature was crafted to look as if it were standing on a level plain. It stood tall and proud, looking every bit a regal king and in its mighty claw was a large pearl that was the size of Draco's knuckle. "I guess I'll just leave it in my pocket then."
"Don't you dare!" Draco said as he reached out to grip Harry's arm to prevent him from stowing the necklace away. "Where did you get this?"
"Just a family heirloom," Harry explained quietly as he slipped the silver chain over Draco's head. "And a belated gift for our anniversary."
"Harry…" Draco said, unable to think of a response due to his shock. Harry, who had so little to give despite his social status, wealth, and fame, had just given him a priceless heirloom from one of the founders. Draco honestly had no idea what to say to that but was prevented from having to say anything as the doors opened to the Great Hall and they all stood to greet the champions who entered with their dates.
–Scene Break–
The Yule Ball passed without incident. The students and faculty of all three schools enjoyed themselves. Severus, while he was more relaxed than he usually was, refrained from allowing anyone to witness anything less than his usual scowl. Towards the end of the ball though, when there were few people left in the hall, Remus finally managed to drag the surly and stiff Potions Master out onto the dance floor, much to Draco's and Harry's amusement.
After the ball, classes resumed and the days began to blur into weeks. It wasn't long the second task was approaching and the school was once again on the edge of anticipation and excitement. February 24th arrived fairly quickly and everyone had gathered at the lake where the second task was set to take place. The spectators all gathered in the stands to watch. Many looked apprehensive, remembering the catastrophe that was the first task, and were ready to move at a moment's notice should anything happen again.
Harry wasn't expecting anything though. His dream after the first task had said that Voldemort was planning on remaining quiet for a while. However, that didn't mean he wasn't tense. Dreams aside, Harry could very easily be wrong and since he didn't have any dream visions between the first task and now, there could be something planned that he wasn't aware of. Severus, who was standing next to Harry behind the judges' stand, was as tense as Harry. They both expected something to go wrong, which is why they had the blood wards that protected the castle on high alert, watching everything and waiting to leap into action should they be needed. Harry could feel his holy and phoenix feather wand tense in its holster as well; ready to slip into his hand at the slightest twitch of Harry's hand.
Thus, it was with no small amount of surprise and relief when the champions came back out of the water. Fleur had failed the task, Cedric had returned first with his hostage, and Krum came in second with Hermione, whom he had taken to the Yule Ball. Once the champions had received their marks, a host of merpeople came out of the lake with Fleur's little sister, much to the French girl's relief. Harry didn't relax until everyone had returned to the castle. Then, and only then, did Harry sooth the castle wards into relaxing from their tense state, though he still had them watching for any suspicious activities.
The next four months passed in suspicious silence that did nothing to ease the tension from those in the know. Harry, Hermione, Draco, and Neville (and Luna whenever she decided to pop up) spent countless hours speculating over what could possibly be done to prevent the Dark Lord from getting his hands on Harry. None of them could come up with anything that hadn't already been done. Even Severus couldn't think of anything. The wards never reported any suspicious activity from Karkaroff. He never came into contact with any hooded or suspicious figures while on the grounds and Harry couldn't track him when he went into Hogsmeade without arousing suspicion.
So, it was a very tense quartet that sat together in the Quidditch stands overlooking the giant maze that had been grown there for the final task on June 24th. The sun was halfway below the horizon and the champions had been in the maze for over an hour. While watching the task progress, Harry kept an eye on Karkaroff out of the corner of his eye as well as through the wards. As far as Harry could tell, the man was doing nothing out of the ordinary. His eyes rarely left the maze, which wasn't entirely odd considering he was a judge. Harry's eyes drifted to Severus, who was patrolling the edges of the maze with a few other staff members. He noticed that the man was watching Karkaroff as much as he was watching the champions. Not surprising really but it did comfort Harry slightly to know that others were watching out for him.
Harry twitched minutely when a girl's terrified screech pierced the night air. He looked towards the maze to see Fleur become overwhelmed by one of Hagrid's pets that Hogwarts' students had been helping to raise all year; a Blast-Ended Skrewt. Harry truly felt for the girl. Those things were horrid creatures and Harry still had a few scars from dealing with those things. He was just glad that the menaces weren't naturally bread and had only been bred by Hagrid specifically for the tournament.
Just as one of the teachers on patrol came to the girl's aid, Cedric Diggory managed to grab the cup and the hedge maze vanished along with the creatures that had been commissioned for the task. Everyone stood up and started cheering, though the other two schools were a little less enthusiastic. Harry stood with the rest of the Hogwarts' students and cheered right along with them. Everyone started flooding the Quidditch pitch and when they got close enough, the Hufflepuff house lifted Cedric onto their shoulders. The sixth year turned bright red but he was very obviously happy. Ludo Bagman was talking in an amplified voice, announcing their champion, but no one paid him any mind as it was quite obvious who had won.
Harry lingered on the edge of the crowd with Severus and the others, honestly seeing no need to join in the celebration. He was still very tense. The lack of action of his enemies had him on edge. He didn't like it when they were quiet when he knew that they had something planned. He kept his eyes glued to Karkaroff as much as possible in the shifting mass of people, waiting for him to do something. He never did though, as far as Harry could tell. Even the wards didn't register anything.
Finally, after probably ten minutes, the excitable crowd of students began making their way back towards the castle. Hufflepuff still supported Cedric on their shoulders and there would no doubt be a celebration in the common room long into the night. The other students would likely be celebrating too and Harry thought he might join the Slytherin's once he was certain everything was safe and secure. Before he could contemplate that line of thought any further, Harry noticed Krum approaching. Figuring that the famous seeker wanted to talk with his girlfriend, Harry moved to walk around, as did the others while Hermione lingered since she also assumed Krum wanted to speak with her.
Harry instantly recognized his mistake. Just as he was passing Krum, the seeker wrapped his fingers around Harry's wrist. Harry had just managed to draw his wand and was in the process of putting the wards on lockdown when he felt the familiar pull of a portkey. Harry tried to fight the pull of the portkey but didn't have the magical strength to push the device off. When they landed though, Harry reacted immediately. He blasted Krum away with a stunner. Unfortunately, that was all he could do as seconds later he was hit with a spell that flung him into something and bound him there. His head had cracked against whatever he had been bound to and he ended up dazed and nearly unconscious.
Desperate and knowing he was in danger, Harry valiantly fought to regain his bearings. He was aided when a flash of fire startled him into opening his eyes. He was still very light headed and dizzy but he could at least get a feel for his surroundings. He saw several headstones indicating he was in a graveyard, which wasn't comforting in the slightest. A few feet in front of him was a giant cauldron sat over a fire and was just in time to witness the hooded figure from his dreams drop a disfigured body into the roiling liquid. Still very much dazed, Harry only just managed to figure out that the disfigured thing was likely a temporary body for Voldemort. He watched as the figure summoned a bone from a nearby grave and dropped it into the fire as well. Then Crouch Jr. came up and hesitantly, but quickly, sliced off his right hand.
A little disturbed, Harry tired to fight through the haze that was clouding his mind so he could think. But he couldn't. Something was off. He felt delirious and rather drunk, though he had never indulged in alcohol before. It was getting worse too. Bound and still rather dazed, Harry could only watch as the hooded figure approached him with the same knife Crouch had used to sever his hand. He could only watch as the man bent down and dug the blade into his skin only to freeze in shock. There was a long gash in Harry's forearm but there was no blood. Not one single drop could be seen flowing in Harry's veins. Oh, there were veins and you could even see the layers of Harry's muscles but not one spec of blood could be found.
"Sorry," Harry laughed in his delirious state. "But you won't be getting any blood from me. It's all gone somewhere where you can't reach it."
"Fool!" The man rasped in his broken voice. "What have you done?" The man backhanded Harry when all he did was laugh. As he did so, his hood fell back to reveal a scarred but very recognizable face.
"Why Lucius," Harry giggled deliriously. Were he even the least bit coherent and not feeling completely drunk he would have been stunned, shocked beyond any speech at all to see the man he thought he had killed, alive and walking around. As it was, he could only laugh. "Is that fear I hear? Dost thou shiver at the thought of failing thy demented master?" Harry wasn't entirely certain why he had started speaking in old English but he frankly didn't care. Besides, it sounded funny to him.
"Crucio!" Lucius barked, thrusting a wand at Harry.
Harry felt the curse, yet didn't feel it at the same time. He felt detached from the pain but at the same time was aware that the pain from the curse was greatly reduced somehow. Instead of all consuming and blinding pain throughout his entire body, it was more like having a bad and really large sunburn all over his body. As a result, Harry merely stopped laughing but easily ignored the pain, much to the surprise of Lucius. Actually, the pain helped to clear Harry's head a little and he madly tried to start thinking but the curse ended too soon and he became swallowed by the giddy delirium that had consumed his brain for some reason. It was once again lightened when Lucius stabbed his knife into Harry's left thigh just to make sure that he couldn't get any blood at all. The pain was great, as it pierced his thigh bone, but it was lessened by the drunken feeling he was experiencing.
"If I cannot have yours," Lucius snarled as best he could with his damaged vocal cords. "I will use another's."
The blond man walked over to Krum, who was still unconscious from Harry's stunner. He dug his blade into the seeker's arm and came up with blood in a vial he had in his other hand. Lucius quickly walked back over to the cauldron and completed the ritual. Harry tried to remain coherent throughout it all, knowing he needed to be aware, but the strength of whatever had come over him was immeasurable and he couldn't fight. He watched in giddy disgust as the enormous cauldron began emitting great sparks in every direction. It was so blinding and bright that it blotted everything else out. Hardly aware of what was going on; Harry watched as the sparks suddenly extinguished themselves and massive amounts of steam spewed forth from the cauldron and enveloped everything until all he could see was the white smoke. As it began to dissipate, a tall figure could be seen standing in the middle of the cauldron.
–Scene Break–
The minute Harry vanished from sight the castle and wards grumbled in agitation at having their lord abducted and being unable to do anything about it. Severus barely noticed as he bolted towards the castle and cornered Karkaroff against the wall outside the Great Hall.
"Severus! What're you-" Karkaroff started to demand but was cut off as Severus slammed him into the wall.
"Where did you send him?" Severus demanded icily, ignoring the gathering crowd.
"I haven't the faintest idea of-" this time it wasn't Severus who had cut the man off but the castle. A stone soldier jumped off his stand against the wall and slid a rather sharply edged ax under the man's chin and pressed it against his throat.
"I suggest you answer the question Igor," Severus purred dangerously, shoving aside his surprise at the unexpected display of intelligence on the castle's part. "The castle might not let you live otherwise."
"I… didn't…" Karkaroff seemed to be struggling with what he was saying. Severus figured he was trying to fight the Imperius he was under. "Have choice… Portkey… Hangleton… Graveyard."
Severus growled and whirled away. He didn't have the faintest idea where this Hangleton graveyard was but that wasn't going to slow him down. He started to make his way down to the dungeons to check on the glass container they had set up but stopped when his arm flared. It seared with the force of a white hot brand. Severus sucked in his breath and clutched his arm. Forcing the pain into the back of his mind, Severus dashed from the castle walls, not even bothering with his Death Eater garb.
–Scene Break–
"Let us see how many dare to return," Voldemort hissed as he took the tip of his wand from the mark on Lucius' arm.
"Considering most are in prison," Harry mocked with a laugh. His delirium was beginning to shift into something else, something greater. "I wouldn't count on much fanfare."
Voldemort hissed a sickening laugh as he approached Harry and towered over him. "You are very brave for one in your position. Tell me," the Dark Lord crouched down to eye level with Harry. "How does it feel to know you are the one to return me to full power?" To Voldemort's complete surprise, Harry began to laugh. He laughed loud and hard. It was rich with mockery and superiority.
"There isn't a drop of my blood in that hideous mockery you call a body," Harry grinned a bloody grin in triumph. Now that the threat of his blood being stolen had passed, Harry's blood had returned to his body. His arm, mouth, and leg were all bleeding rivulets of blood. "You failed Tom. Just like you failed thirteen years ago, just like you failed to retrieve the stone, and just like you failed to suck the life out of Ginny Weasley. You. Failed." Now that the fog was shifting in his mind Harry could think a little clearer, which meant he could speak a little more coherently, but something was still off. His body felt strange and tense.
Harry felt a Legilimency probe try to force its way in to his mind and he pulled his shields tighter, blocking the intrusion. Unlike previous times though, Voldemort wasn't giving up that easily. He started digging ruthlessly into Harry's mind even as Harry fought him. Thinking quickly, Harry started working from behind his mental barriers. Following the patterns he had learned three summers ago, Harry began weaving a complex combination of Legilimency and Occlumency. He took all of his memories of his life with the Dursley's and forged them into his new construct. He left out how he had run away and instead fashioned an entirely different scenario of Hagrid havening to come pick him up when his relatives tried to keep Harry from receiving his letter. Since it was public knowledge, Harry placed in his memory of being sorted into Slytherin but after that, nothing was real. He wove lies of how he his years at Hogwarts had progressed, even going so far as to altering his memory of how he had bested Dumbledore in a duel during second year. Lastly, he included how he, in a bout of complete paranoia, had performed a dark blood ritual to keep his blood from being stolen and how Lucius had used Krum's blood instead.
When that was finished, Harry made a show of shattering his Occlumency shields before he thrust the construct to the forefront of his mind and retreated deep beneath the false mind where he couldn't be found. He felt Voldemort's sickening presence tear through the false mind with brutal cruelty. Harry likely would have been in agony had his mind been the one to be torn through. As it was, he was safely hidden away where none could find him, though for show he orchestrated his body into whining painfully. When Voldemort finally came upon the memories of what had transpired in the graveyard, he grew furious and lashed out, physically and mentally. Several of the false mind's memories were ripped to shreds as the Dark Lord withdrew and cast a Cruciatus on both Lucius and Crouch Jr.
"Tell me Tom," Harry mocked with malicious laughter as several hooded figures appeared out of the darkness and approached the scene before them. "How does it feel to be a complete failure?" Harry knew that emphasizing the man's failure would work him up and therefore wasn't surprised when Voldemort turned and cast the pain curse on Harry. What did surprise him though was the fact that he felt nothing from the curse, not even the slightest twitch.
"Perhaps," Harry laughed as he felt his body shifting and changing of its own volition. "You should have spent more time with strategy and less time with dramatic flair." That was when Harry noticed it and he finally understood, partly at least, what was happening.
There, rising into the sky was a big, round, and completely full moon. He laughed even as his body morphed. His bones began shifting and cracking. His muscles rippled, tore, and grew. His skin began to tear and shed, leaving behind tufts of pitch black fur. Harry felt it as his entire body grew longer and thicker. The ropes that had been binding him to the headstone stretched taught as they tried to keep him bound but it was not to be. The sound produced when the thick ropes snapped echoed throughout the graveyard. Even the headstone Harry was bound too couldn't take the pressure anymore and crumbled to dust, causing Harry to fall backwards. Harry's face pulled and stretched as he laughed insanely. His clothes were ripped to shreds, leaving his fur covered body bare for the whole world to see.
"You will find no victory here Tom," Harry said in a deep rumbling voice that sounded more ancient than Kane's. He pulled himself up to his feet as the changes finally stopped and now towered over the gathered Death Eaters, standing at no less than ten feet. "Death awaits you as it does all things. It has been around since the beginning of time. It will have you as it does everything else." Harry felt like his mouth was being used by someone else but he hardly cared. He was still stunned at the turn of events and still rather drunk with the influx of power he felt from the full moon. He couldn't help but smirk at the stunned and terrified faces of everyone gathered.
"I have conquered death!" Voldemort roared in fear. Terrified but over confident in his own superiority, Voldemort let fly a killing curse.
Harry barely reacted as he drew forth the shadows of the night and created a sword that absorbed the sickly green light of the curse. "None can conquer the endless void." To emphasize his point, Harry shifted his lethal blade and gave a quick slash, bisecting the giant snake that had attempted to lunge at him. The blade went from nose to tail, disintegrating the snake as it went. "You will suffer. Konnen doulè a ou te lakòz."
The spell Harry incanted as he pointed his blade at Voldemort wasn't widely known. It was actually probably only known to its creator, a Haitian wizard who had lost his wife and children and the rest of his family to a wizard with a grudge. Mad with grief, the wizard sought out the murderer and cast a spell on him that forced him to feel every ounce of pain the man had ever caused to other people. Voldemort had conjured a silver shield, thinking to block a spell and/or the sword but Harry's spell couldn't be seen. It burrowed straight into the Dark Lord's mind and laid it raw to all the suffering souls he had tortured and killed and the pain their families had felt at the loss. Unable to take the pain of thousands of people, Voldemort self-destructed and his body exploded in flames, sending a shockwave through the entire graveyard.