Chapter Thirty-Five:

Live at the Necropolis

"Okay," Harry said, scooping up a handful of snow and tossing it at his parents. James tossed one back. "He's pretty good," he said under his breath…

"Where'd you think you got it from?" James asked, hurling another one. "Your mother? Ow…why'd you elbow me, sweetheart?" he asked Lily. They then broke out into a tickling fight, which gave Harry and Sirius the opportunity to toss an enormous snowball at them. "HEY! Okay, you guys win." They laughed a bit, brushing the snow off of themselves.

"That was rather fun," Lily said, laughing a bit. "Er…well…I'm not sure what we can do until you go back to the world of the Living, Harry…but we really were glad you came to visit…"

Harry smiled back at his parents, and then the memory of somebody else's memory rose to the surface of his mind. 'I need to find out why he did it,' Harry thought to himself. "Er…Dad?"

"Yes?" James said, looking a bit eager to see what Harry had to say. "Something wrong?"

"You're not going to believe who's teaching me Potions," Harry said, trying to start the topic in that direction.

"Would it be Severus Snape, by any chance?" Lily asked, interrupting. Harry nodded.

"Ugh…" James said. "I already knew Snivellus was teaching up there, but I'm sorry there's no way for you to evade his nasty, greasy presence."

"I sneaked a glance into his Pensieve," Harry said, "and…er…viewed his worst memory…"

"Oh, really?" James asked. "Was I in it?" Harry nodded, and the smile broadened. "What was I doing? I want details, Harry…what'd I do to scar up that loser?"

"You humiliated him in front of all those people, remember?" Lily hissed. "Harry, I think your father needs to tell you why he liked picking on Snivellus…er…Severus so much."

"He was just the scummiest little twit you could possibly imagine," James said, "and ever since my first day at Hogwarts, he put his nose where it didn't belong…in my business. I set things straight, but he kept on countering it and trying to get the upper hand. After a while, he got on not only my nerves, but irritated the bloody mess out of my best friends. A little bit later, by the time school was becoming a bit more serious, Snivellus was the butt of most of our jokes."

"Still is, to an extent," Sirius added. "I mean, really—"

"Ah, yes…what a lovely day to be strolling about, knowing that your loved ones miss you, where people still have a pulse…" said a very grim-looking passerby. The fellow had very pale, and slightly transparent, skin with a faint hint of a gangrenous jade hue in it; pale yellow eyes which had bloodshot veins showing through; and a very sinewy face, as if there was very little muscle left on him…as if he were literally skin and bones. He was dressed in a sweatshirt and a pair of trousers, and carried a suitcase with him…his silver hair dangling about him…one of the few things that still looked alive. "Oh; Lily, James, Sirius…how's it going?"

"It's going just fine, Wolfe," James said, and dragged the walking corpse over toward the group. "Harry, this is someone I'd like you to meet. This is Wolfe Leir—"

"Professor Leir?!" Harry was astonished at what death had done to Leir; he looked nothing like the girl-magnet who had taught Manipulations until Parenein had him strangled to death…at first. Then Harry looked closer, and had to stop himself from throwing up; it was Leir, alright.

"Oh, hi Harry," Leir said. "Hold on…now I know you can't be dead yet!"

"I'm not," Harry said. "Sirius…er…well—"

"I brought him here," Sirius said. "Wolfe, you're looking a little on the skinny side. What's going on?" He pointed at Wolfe, and Harry gagged; he could smell the rotting flesh.

"Apparently, someone's trying to bring me back to life," stated Wolfe. "I bet it's Christine and Malachi; they were very sad at my funeral—"

"They're doing a rather crappy job, Wolfie," James said, elbowing Leir. "Tell them to hire a professional before you end up like that poor Skylarke guy."

"You mean Morty?" Sirius and Harry asked at the same time.

"Hold on," Harry said. "Sirius, you know Morty?"

"How could I not?" Sirius asked. "It's rather difficult to not know Morty and have gone to Hogwarts around the same time as him. The professors wouldn't shut up about him."

"Oh, yeah…the auburn kid with the glasses," James said. "For a Slytherin underclassman, he wasn't that bad…never gave Sirius, Remus, Peter and me any trouble." He turned to Sirius and said, "Wasn't he the one that helped Peter get out of the trash can?"

"I think so," Sirius said. "The thing that comes to my mind when I hear the name 'Morty Skylarke', is when the Death Eaters held that Raid the same night Voldemort murdered you two, and tried to kill Harry."

"We weren't alone?" Lily asked. "The Skylarkes died that night too?"

"That's what happened," Sirius said. "It was in the Daily Prophet the next day, a double header." He looked at his watch, and sighed. "Er…Harry…I think it's about time for you to be heading back to the world of the living."

Harry felt a sickening sensation in his stomach, and a fatigued feeling in his head…as if he were about to pass out. With that, he fell into unconsciousness, but brushed up against Sirius in the process.

Hours later, Harry woke up in his own bed, and felt something warm in the bed with him. He looked under the covers, and—sure enough—there was a large black dog, snoozing.

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"I don't know how I did it, Darius!" Harry said. "It just…happened. I was awake one minute, and then I drift off, and when I wake up, he's alive and well."

"Well, I didn't do it," Darius said, looking confused, "and Sargon's fit only to aid…he'd never try to perform a Resurrection, even if it was me." Suddenly, a grin spread across his feminine face. "Oh, I know! You must be a Sleepwalking Necromancer!"

"What?" Harry repeated. "Sleepwalking Necromancer… what is that?"

"You must have Resurrected this friend of yours in your sleep," Darius said, "because I haven't shown you—or anyone else this year, for that matter…save Cassandra—how to Resurrect the Dead. I mean, sure, there are a few decent Necromancers in this school, but none of them—except Morty, because I think he was the best student I ever had—would even consider Resurrecting somebody like Sirius Black."

"You wouldn't?"

"Well," Darius said, "he was into the Slayer stuff for a while, and stabbed me with a wooden stake. Am I supposed to feel all warm and fuzzy toward someone like that? If you answer that with a yes," he said jokingly, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to smack some sense into you."

"Could you show me how to bring back the Dead?" Harry asked. "Darius, I'd really like to know."

"No," Darius said. "I'll tell you when I feel you're ready for it…but you're not ready for that sort of responsibility."

"I've got the responsibility of the entire Wizarding World resting on my shoulders," Harry said, a bit annoyed with Darius's reasoning. "I think I can handle a little Necromancy without any trouble, thank you very much."

"Oh, I beg to differ," Darius said. "You don't know what garbage you could let out of there if you're not careful…sure, you can bring back the Dead, but there are several complications that can happen. You can botch it, and accidentally ruin the person you were trying to return to you, return them but forget to stop and revert the decomposition, and sometimes…" Darius shivered in fear, "other beings come out."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, and then skeptically added, "evil spirits?"

"YES!" Darius said, looking horrified. "An amateur could unleash pandemonium on the living if he's not careful, which is why I am afraid to tell you how to bring people back to life. There are…things…that could really destroy everything good in this world. This is some of the stuff I encountered early on in my career…at one time, I accidentally wiped out an entire civilization. I'm sure you've heard of Atlantis and what happened there…it was a total disaster."

"I can imagine," Harry said. "The entire civilization sunk to the bottom of the ocean—"

"And what happened on the Mary Celeste…" Darius said, burying his face in his hands.

"You did that?" Harry asked, shocked.

"No," Darius said, "but I put an end to the loser who did. Even the Dark Lord knew better than to toy with the Dead without gradually learning the way to do things. I taught him, by the way…he was a very bright student, very fascinated with my class…like you."

"Let's get back to Sirius, shall we?" requested Harry. "Do you know how I did that?"

"You either performed the Resurrection Incantation, used a Necromantic tool of the trade—which you wouldn't have access to unless I supplied you with it—or dragged him accidentally into the world of the Living when you returned from your Near-Death Experience," Darius said, and grinned. "Congratulations, Harry. I never had a Near-Death Experience, except when my maker bit me, drained me, and transformed me into the man I am today. Do you know what having a Near-Death Experience means?"

"That I almost died, I guess," Harry took a stab at it, hoping his Hawkbane Session would end soon so he could get back to Sirius before somebody noticed an alleged serial killer in his bed.

"Oh, sure," Darius said, laughing. "State the obvious, why don't you? Besides that, having an encounter like that and coming out unscathed shows you have the potential to become a truly powerful Necromancer…like me. Have you given what I do as a job any thought of possibility?"

"Not really," Harry answered truthfully, "but it did run across my mind a couple of times. Your class is one of the more interesting ones, and I think it's not a Dark Art like people say."

"Thanks for defending it," Darius said. "Creepy, it might be, but Dark? No…not unless you abuse it…and that goes for any form of magic. Could you bring Sirius in here this evening so I can inspect him and clear up any little problems that might have arose when he returned? In the first few days of coming back to life, complications can be mended…Marullus didn't find me until a whole month had passed by, and it was too late by that point."

"Who's Marullus?" asked Harry.

Darius looked at his Dark Mark, and rolled down his sleeve, sounding rather nervous, "Oh, nobody, Harry…Marullus was…er…just this other vampire I knew from a few years ago..."

"He was another Death Eater, wasn't he?" Harry asked.

"I hate to talk about the subject," Darius said icily. "Harry, bad stuff happened to me while I was in there, and I'd love to keep those corners of my mind in the dark. I told you to keep my past a secret, didn't I? How come Turpin came up to me and asked, 'Is it true, Professor Ahsimal? Were you really a Death Eater two years ago?'" He looked much more darkly at Harry. "Why'd you spill it, eh? I asked you to keep it under wraps…I even warned you not to…" Harry was backing up, but when he got to the door, he discovered it was locked. "Does Granger know? Does Weasley?"

"Not unless you told them," Harry said truthfully. "I told nobody."

"That's a cock-and-bull story right there," Darius said, baring his teeth and coming closer. "Oh, that door's got a spell on it where only I can open it. Try any trick in the book, Harry…it won't open until we get this settled once and for all. If I find out that you were the one who sold my secret to the public, I swear by my existence I'll bite you and feed on you…just like I promised."

"But I didn't do that!" Harry spat back. "You told your other Afterlight students, remember? You told Cassandra and Blaise—"

"Cassandra would never spill something like that because she's a Nemesarist like me," Darius said, "and Blaise…er…" he calmed down a bit around Harry and let out a very weak laugh. "Oh, sorry, Harry…I guess it was Blaise. He's a motor-mouth and doesn't know how to keep a bloody secret. Speaking of bloody…our little Session's dismissed. Just remember to come back with Sirius before the day is over so I can help your dear friend."

"That cut it short rather quickly," Harry said, looking at Darius, still not sure what to think of him. One part of him still saw parts of the cold-blooded (or rather no-blooded) Death Eater that had been there as recently as two years ago, but the other saw the reforming Necromancer and devoted Nemesarist…which was a more appealing thought to keep about somebody who had helped Harry out of many a sticky situation this year. "Why?"

"Oh, you know," Darius said, smiling to show off his fangs.

"Well, Happy Hunting, Darius," Harry said, walking out the door, which Darius opened.

After leaving Turret Thirteen, Harry noticed Sargon had gone in. However, he didn't stop to have any conversation with the other vampire; Darius was more interesting anyway. The halls were still practically deserted, since it was about four in the morning, and sunrise would not reach the sky for another couple of hours. He went back into the Gryffindor Tower, and back into the Boys' Dormitory, and then beside his bed, to find Sirius was still under the covers. He decided that since everyone else was asleep, it would be alright to go ahead and wake up Sirius, just to let him know what happened. "Sirius," he whispered, shaking the man. "Sirius…"

"Mmm?" Sirius mumbled. "That was a nice…hold on…what am I doing at Hogwarts?"

"Welcome back," Harry said. "You're—"

"You brought me back from the Necropolis?" Sirius asked, looking quite astounded. "Harry, I didn't know Ahsimal had shown you how to do something like that."

"He didn't; it was by accident," Harry said, "but a good accident."

"So…you don't know how I came to be here?" Sirius looked just a little unsure about that. "Um…Harry…Ahsimal's still here, isn't he?"

"Yes, but—"

"I think I might need to see him before the day's over, just in case I end up like Skylarke. You wouldn't like that, now would you? I mean, I could end up looking pretty nasty," Sirius said. "Saw Wolfe, didn't you? Look at what happened to him!"

"You might want to keep it down, Sirius," Harry said, looking a bit nervous. "I would hate for somebody to report you on your way back to the living world."

"Yeah, I'd hate that too," Sirius said. "I think I'll track down Ahsimal and get him to help me get back to my good old self." He shifted back into a dog and walked through the Common Room, and proceeded down the staircase. Harry, however, went back to sleep.

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Six hours later, Harry awoke at ten o' clock, already done with his one weekend duty. Just as promised, Beastie had left the paper on his bed. Making sure nobody was looking at him, Harry put it into his bookbag. "Hi," said the only person left in the room besides Harry. Harry looked around, but couldn't find anybody. "Your Invisibility Cloak works wonders…I have a lot of good memories about this cloak…"

"Oh," Harry said, rolling his eyes, knowing it was Wormtail, "hi."

"I couldn't help but notice Sirius came back," Wormtail said, handing over the Invisibility Cloak. "Er…could you keep my whereabouts secret until he's not trying to kill me?"

Harry sighed in exasperation and said, "Sure. Why not?" in a very unpleasant way.

"Oh, thank you!" Wormtail whispered happily and hugged Harry, who shoved him away. "Er…I…fixed your crystal ball," he said, trying to get a smile out of Harry; no such luck. He pulled it out of a bag and handed it over. "My Auntie said a Soul-Sucking Charm had been put on it. I knew how to fix that, so I did." Harry took one look at that crystal ball, and dropped it in surprise. "Something wrong?"

"There was a face staring back at me!" Harry shouted. "Who is that?"

"How should I know?" Wormtail asked. "I never took Divination or Clairvoyancy."

Harry picked up the crystal ball again, and gazed into it. The face was still staring back at him, grinning. As soon as he figured out who it was, he wanted to vomit. "Voldemort—"

"He can't see you," Wormtail said. "I got Auntie to tweak it…you can see him, but he can't see you on the other end…it's like a Muggle spy-camera. While I was scurrying about the castle, tweaking the mousetraps for a snack, I couldn't help but notice how Adonis Ebonyste was messing with some of the bricks in the walls to spy on nobody but Cassandra Snape whenever she passes by. I think it's horrid how he snoops on her—she hasn't done anything wrong—but I'm a little too scared to go up and confront him…or Sirius."

"How'd you get it to focus on Voldemort?" asked Harry.

"I might not be the smartest man alive, but I know how to do a few off-the-wall things," Wormtail admitted. "Snooping and finding new ways to snoop has always been a skill of mine."

"I can imagine," Harry said, looking through the crystal ball, now vanquished of the Soul-Sucker. "So…Morty won't be falling asleep in class because he's losing his soul anymore?"

"If he falls asleep in class again, it just means he's tired," Wormtail said. "His soul's fine. Mine, on the other hand…I'm trying to save it…"

"Best of luck," Harry said. "Have you apologized to my parents yet…or can you even do that?"

"I've prayed they'd forgive me…and I wrote them once. Your mother forgave me," Wormtail said nervously. "Well, I haven't eaten since yesterday morning, so I'm heading off to the kitchen to see what people left under the table from breakfast." He shifted back into a rat, and scurried out.

Harry walked out of the Gryffindor Tower after that, and met up with Ron and Hermione downstairs, right outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. "What a nice Saturday, eh?" he asked. Neither one replied. "Is something wrong?" Hermione looked very graven, and Ron was extremely pale. "What?"

"There's been another attack from the gorgonix," Hermione said, forcing the words out of her mouth. "It was…somebody we know…very well…"

"A student?" McGonagall asked, coming into the conversation. "I see quite a number of people over here…what's going on?"

"It was the gorgonix, Professor!" Neville shouted.

Several students from other Houses had come to see what all the ruckus was about. Snape, Darius, Sprout, and Flitwick elbowed their ways through the crowd to see what had happened, and who the victim was. "It can't be…she showed so much promise as a permanent teacher!" Sprout yelped in surprise.

"It wasn't a student?" McGonagall asked, walking up to the other three Heads of Houses and the Head of the Hawkbane Society. "Who was it?"

"Esmeralda Von Dorian," said Flitwick, "our American guest."

"Oh dear," Snape said. "There's no way to Resurrect her, either." When McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout looked at him in a strange way, he turned to Darius. "Darius, explain the situation."

"She's already been Resurrected three times," Darius said sadly, "and for vampires, that's the limit. Any other times will be of no use and will always come up as a failure." He bit his lip and said, "I'm on my last lifeline, personally. Once I go this time, I'm gone forever, just like Esmeralda."

"An immortal soul is traded for pseudo-immortal existence in this world, Darius?" Sprout asked. "That's horrible!"

"We still have an immortal soul," Darius said, "but it's damned to stay in the Death Realm after a few Resurrections take place. Poor Esmeralda used up all her lifelines during the Undead Rights Movement. Was this all of the attacks?"

"No," said Hermione, coming to the front. "It got Blaise Zabini as well." Harry looked, and—sure enough—Blaise was on the floor, bleeding, and definitely dead. "And…Seamus."

"The death toll keeps rising," said Lethe, coming onto the scene, and looking as white as a sheet. "Let's close the school, for the sake of the people who go here. It isn't safe to stay…we need to get out while we still can!"

"No," Dr. Hemlock said coldly. "We've almost found out who our gorgonix is…if we were to close the school, we wouldn't be able to ever capture it. Besides, only one vampire died there…the students may be Resurrected by Darius—"

"I'm out of my proper materials," Darius stated. "I won't be able to Resurrect anyone for two weeks." But as he saw Blaise down there, a tear or two rolled down his face. "What a pity it couldn't see what a great wizard Zabini was sure to become."

"Darius, please," Snape said, "you're making a scene in front of the students—"

"Not as much as Juno over there," Darius pointed out. "I liked Blaise…he was a wonderful student, and he never was interested in the Slayer's Renaissance propaganda against vampires. He had such a promising future…and here it is, swiped away from him with the claws of a lunatic."

Cassandra finally came down as well, reading a book called 'I Jinx, Therefore I Am'. "Er…what's going on here? I haven't seen everybody crowding around like this since the Fenrir girls—" she stopped when she saw the bodies. "Finnigan and my second cousin, eh? Well, Esmeralda lived a long life, and Finnigan was good in life; I'm sure he'll be treated nicely in the Death Realm. Was that all?"

"No," said Snape. "Your little friend Zabini died too." Cassandra's face sunk, and she looked as if somebody had just slapped her; there was hurt, and there was shock. "Hold on, what are you doing?" Cassandra was scraping up Blaise's remains and carrying him as if he weren't heavy at all. "He's dead."

"I've got enough knowledge to Resurrect him on my own," Cassandra said, her face sallow from the tears. "I've got the supplies too!" With that, she ran off with Blaise's body. "Tonight, he shall be back to the fun-loving guy Rhianna and I befriended ages ago!"

"I hope that was some sort of fit of denial," Snape said, folding his arms. Darius, however, looked horrified, and chased after Cassandra. "Something wrong?"

"SHE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO SAFEGUARD A RESURRECTION!" Darius shouted, running as fast as he could. "CASSANDRA! WAIT!!!"

Harry knew he probably wouldn't be able to see Cassandra until evening, but he hoped everything went well for her Resurrection.

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The afternoon was rather grim, but everyone tried their best to not think about all the horror of the late morning. Harry couldn't find Cassandra anywhere, nor Blaise's remains, but Seamus's mother had come to collect his body…and Sargon said he'd handle Esmeralda's corpse and get it back to New England.

At dinner, Harry noticed Rhianna was sitting by herself, looking at a photo tearily. He decided he'd sit at the Slytherin table and see what was going on. "Are you going to be alright?" Harry asked, concerned.

"He was my best friend…" Rhianna said in a very hurt voice. "I mean, he'd never hurt anyone…and he tried his best to be there for people whenever they needed him…such a great guy…why couldn't that damn gorgonix attack someone like Malfoy instead of taking a saint like Blaise?" She looked down at the photo again and began to cry. "I feel horrible. He asked me if I'd go out with him this morning, and I laughed at him and said I wouldn't…" Without any warning, Harry's shoulder became a mop for Rhianna's tears. Several people were staring, but Harry really didn't care; his friend was in serious pain over her loss. "Have you seen Cassandra anywhere?"

"No," Harry said. "She ran off with Blaise's body and I noticed Darius was chasing—"

"He doesn't understand friendship very well," Rhianna said. "I mean, he's lived a long time; I think whatever humanity he used to have died off ages ago. The very concept of friends doesn't seem to register in his mind anymore…except with Snape, Fallowin, Skylarke, and Fenrir…and Cassandra. He doesn't understand how Cassandra and I felt about Blaise. To us, he was what Ron is to you." She looked up at Harry and stared into his eyes with a very frightening look. "How would you feel if earlier, Ron had admitted to something serious, and you laughed it off…and then he ended up being the next victim?" The photo was clutched to her chest. "I never thought I'd cry again…"

"It's okay to cry," said Neville, sitting down as well. "I just lost one of my best friends too."

Harry walked off to let Neville and Rhianna talk things over, and sat back down with Hermione and Ron. "That was horrible," he said. "I can only imagine what Rhianna's going through."

"Did I hear her call Blaise a saint?" Hermione asked. When Harry nodded, she sighed. "Sure, he was nice, but he was far from being saint-like…"

"I'm sure a lot of people at the school are going to be upset over his death," Ron said. "I've already noticed a lot of the Third and Fourth Years putting flowers and other trinkets where Hermione found the body. Some sort of shrine, I guess, to honor him." He looked down at the ground. "Poor chap…I never saw him do anything bad, and I never heard him sass a professor, either."

Hermione, however, looked very shaken. "You don't understand, Ron…I saw more than just Blaise's corpse. He was still alive when I found him, and the gorgonix was still there." Harry and Ron went silent at that, too stunned to even breathe for a moment. "I couldn't get a good look at it at first, because it was dark in the hall and it moved so fast, but it looked like a man with long, wavy hair…and its glasses reflected the light." Her eyes watered as she said, "and then it ran off…but I caught a glimpse of its face as it left. Harry, I hate to tell you this, since you're friends with Skylarke, but I'm absolutely positive HE is the gorgonix…I saw its face, and it was DEFINITELY Skylarke." Ron had begun to breathe again, but Harry was hyperventilating. "And Blaise…he was dying, but he was still alive when I left to go get help. When we came back…he was dead…I'd left him to die all alone…" She wept uncontrollably after that and ran off from the table.

"Harry," Darius said in a very soft, poisonous voice. "Have you seen Cassandra anywhere?"

"No, sir," answered Harry.

"What about you, Weasley? Seen her?"

"Not since she ran off with Blaise's body, sir."

"Drat," Darius said, stomping off. He was wearing a bell bandolier, and a black robe. "Come, Sargon…you and I have a witch hunt to complete." Sargon followed behind silently, looking very wraithlike…and he carried a crucifix in his left hand, clenched tightly.

"That didn't sound good," Ron said. "Do you think we need to track down Cassandra before they do?"

"Yes," Harry said. "Ron, I've got the Cloak with me, in case we need it, and I think I know where they might be heading."

"Where?"

"Where do you think a Necromancer would try to Resurrect a dead person?" Harry asked Ron.

"A cemetery?" Ron guessed, and then he paused.

"St. Clytemnestra's," Harry and Ron said at the same time through pure coincidence, and rushed out of the Great Hall, hoping nobody noticed. No such luck; Malfoy stopped them in the hall, Crabbe and Goyle at his sides. "Out of the way, Malfoy," snapped Ron. "Harry and I have a job to do."

"So do I," Malfoy sneered. "I'm making sure the both of you stay on school grounds unless you have a professor accompany you to wherever-you-were-going."

"But, Malfoy, this is important. We're being serious—"

"So am I," Malfoy said, laughing. "You know, I think Zabini got what was inevitably coming to him. He had some very bad blood in him. And Finnigan, oh, don't even get me started—"

"It's not wise to speak of the Dead in such a way," said Lethe, coming out of the Great Hall. "You'll bring bad luck upon yourself."

"Sorry, Professor," Malfoy said sweetly. "It just sort of slipped."

"As for your little question as to the whereabouts of Potter and Weasley unaccompanied, I'll let you know I was planning on chaperoning these two on our way to Hogsmeade. We have a missing student, Malfoy, and these two are going to help me catch up with Miss Cassandra Snape, hopefully before the girl ends up hurting herself or others."

"Oh, okay," Malfoy said, grinning at Lethe. "Have fun, Professor. May I come along too?"

"No," Lethe said icily, grabbing Harry and Ron each by a wrist and dragging them on with a rather firm grip. Once out of Malfoy's sight, Quirrell's voice came out of Lethe's mouth. "And I mean it; I'm accompanying you two out there. You're not going out there by yourselves at this hour."

"Why not?" Ron asked, glaring at Lethe, who shifted back into Quirrell as soon as his feet landed on the soil outside the castle.

"I know what's out there," Quirrell said coldly, "since it almost killed me two days ago. Neither one of you would stand a chance against it."

"Not like you care, Professor," Ron said. "You tried to kill Harry, so why save his skin now?"

"I switched sides, genius," Quirrell snapped. "Now, let's run for it before I get caught. I don't want to see anything bad happen to the Snape girl; five years ago, she was perhaps one of my friendliest students, and she's still the same child deep down…and I'll be damned if I let a dangerous man like Ahsimal get away with Slaying her!"

"You're not coming to help us," Harry theorized. "You're coming along to help Cassandra?"

"That's right," Quirrell said, still dragging Ron and Harry along. "Pick up the pace, you two, unless you WANT to see your little friend with a big wooden stick stuck in her chest cavity!" He then let go of the wrists, and rushed ahead at a speed Harry couldn't believe.

It was impossible to catch up with Quirrell, because he was running so quickly. 'This is a nightmare,' Harry thought, gasping for air as he ran after his Alchemy teacher. "Ron, are you keeping up?"

"Yes," Ron said, panting. "Are we almost there?"

"I can see the cemetery!" Harry said, looking ahead. However, Quirrell was nowhere in sight; he'd run a bit too swiftly for Ron and Harry to keep track. "Ron, it's not that much further—" he stopped in mid-sentence; he had tripped on a rock, and—in turn—Ron tripped on him. Both of them tumbled clumsily down the hill, and rolled into the cemetery, knocking down Quirrell in the process. "Sorry, Professor," said Harry.

"Don't worry about me," Quirrell said, brushing himself off after he got back on his two feet. "I'm more concerned about Snape." With that, he was off again, running toward a glowing green light. "She's in that direction."

"Are you SURE that's what that light is?" Ron inquired. "That looks like the Dark Mark to me."

"It's the wrong shade of green…the Dark Mark is an emerald color…this is more of a cadaverous green, like worm-eaten flesh," Quirrell said. "Amateur Necromancers cast glows like that when they try to Resurrect the Dead. It means that they're doing it without knowing how to Filter who comes out."

"What are you saying exactly?" asked Ron.

Quirrell didn't answer; he just swiftly ran over to where the glow was coming from, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "YOU'RE NOT A PROFESSIONAL!" Harry and Ron rushed up as well, feeling that whatever-it-was down there, in case it wasn't Cassandra, would finish off Quirrell first, giving them time to escape if need be. "You're not doing your friend any justice by going through with this."

"How would you know?" Cassandra snarled, the green light glowing at a very dangerous-looking level…it wasn't the body of Blaise casting that light, but Cassandra's eyes. "I've been studying Necromancy for the past SIX YEARS, Quirrell! I THINK I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!" Her face looked freakishly sunken, and she looked much older in that light…that light seemed to be controlling her.

"Your arrogant behavior isn't going to do Zabini any good," Sargon said exasperatedly, coming out of the shadows with Darius. "Put down your wand, and let the Dead stay Dead…that family was never meant to have a Resurrection take place. They're BAD blood."

"No," Cassandra said, raising her wand up high. "THIS IS MY FRIEND, AND I'M GOING TO BRING HIM BACK!" She pointed at Darius and said, "YOU WEREN'T GOING TO DO IT, SO YOU LEFT ME NO OTHER CHOICE, DARIUS!"

"I had GOOD reason, too," Darius spat. "Zabini's one of the ones who shouldn't be brought back, no matter how nice he was." He tapped his foot impatiently. "You're beginning to make me mad, child…quit this foolishness right now."

"Blaise deserves to live!" Cassandra snarled back. "Go away!"

"You leave me no other choice," Sargon said coldly as he pulled out the crucifix. Cassandra didn't stare at it, like he expected, however. "Hold on…why aren't you—"

"I KNOW BETTER!" Cassandra snapped, and she twitched her wand furiously. "Cadavera Rejuvenus!" she shouted angrily. "CADAVERA REJUVENUS!" Suddenly, the ground began to shake around Blaise, and large clumps of dirt flew up in the air, as well as a glowing green mist. Cassandra loomed over the body, as if she were protecting it. Quirrell, Darius, and Sargon looked horrified at what had just happened, while Ron and Harry weren't quite sure what was going on.

"Stop it while you still can!" Darius yowled. "You're doing something VERY dangerous—"

"It's too late for any interception," Quirrell said, looking about with a pale face, his left eye twitching. "Zabini's going to get a second chance."

Harry looked directly at Cassandra (although it was a bit hard to do so with all the flying soil and rocks, and since it was becoming a little dark outside) and noticed Blaise was moving.

"CADAVERA REJUVENUS!" Cassandra shouted, raising her wand above her head. A bright green spark issued out of her wand, and the color returned to Blaise's face…and the wounds healed.

"She's not doing bad at all," Quirrell whispered to Ron and Harry. "I don't see what everyone was so worried abou—oh SHIT!" He pointed to what was going on, but it was useless; Harry and Ron were already looking…a crack in the earth had appeared, and transparent monstrosities were seeping out, each one worse than the previous.

"Now look what you've done!" Darius shouted. "Cassandra, this was very irresponsible of you…you just unleashed the Unseelie Court into Hogsmeade. THEY WERE NEVER MEANT TO LEAVE SCOTLAND!"

"What are they?" Cassandra asked, suddenly sounding very passive, as if she were about to pass out.

"The Unseelie Court," Quirrell said nervously, "is a swarm of evil spirits and fairies that kidnap the living, and force their captives into doing their bidding for one night." He looked again at Cassandra and said, "They also sometimes come out for the night during an Unfiltered Resurrection, like the one you just did."

"Unfiltered?" Cassandra sounded confused. "Darius, you never told me I had to Filter a Resurrection for it to work."

"It can work Unfiltered too," Darius said, "but it is much more dangerous. Something horrible could have happened to your friend, but he came out alright."

"And nobody got hurt," Cassandra said drowsily. She started walking off, and Blaise followed.

"I think I know who the gorgonix is," he whispered to Cassandra. "I think it's Skylarke—"

"Impossible," Cassandra said flatly. "He—"

"I saw my killer," Blaise said anxiously, "and I think anyone would know the face of his own killer." He looked at Cassandra and laughed. "What happened to you? You look like you raised Hell out of the earth!"

"She pretty much did," Sargon said icily as he walked off with Darius. "We're leaving before the Unseelie Court decides to take a pair of vampires for their nightly fun."

"Good idea," Cassandra said. "I think it would be best if we headed off too." She began to walk off, and Blaise easily caught up with her.

Ron and Harry left as well, but then heard a very piercing scream. "THEY GOT ME!" they heard Quirrell shout angrily.

"Drat," Ron said, rolling his eyes as Quirrell passed by overhead, being dragged off by those wicked-looking fairies and monstrosities. "We can't go back to Hogwarts without him…unless we want to be doing chores for Filch for a whole month."

"I guess that means we've got to follow him, eh?" Harry said, sighing. "Let's go save him."

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Hello everyone! Happy Christmas!!! Here's another chapter in the continuing saga of the Nemesarists!!! There will be lots more action from here on out. And yes, Sirius is really back!!!

Take care everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful and prosperous holiday, and for those of you who believe, remember the reason for the season...it's Christ's birth that we celebrate!! Please remember to review! I enjoy reading what you think about the story, and I'm a bit disappointed at the lack of reviews! I know you guys are reading the story, so please, please...drop me a line or two and let me know if you liked it or not!!!

Professor Mortimer Skylarke