"Have you seen this yet, Harry?" Neville called out to him as he sat down at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Neville shoved the Daily Prophet in front of Harry before turning back to his own food and grovelling it down with hunger. Harry glanced at the title accompanied by a picture of himself, both wands in hand, his black cloak flowing behind him, making him look like a conquering Roman general in the dawning light upon the beach of Raven Isle.
The main article was about everything that had happened last night, from the attack on Raven Isle, the appearance of Voldemort and Harry's fight with him, the disappearance of the dementors from Azkaban, and lastly, rumors of giants being smuggled into England. The papers had a lot to talk about this morning, and thankfully it didn't yet have the knowledge to start talking about the disappearance of Scrimgeour and the two younger aurors who went missing searching for said giants. Amelia was trying to keep that news as quiet as possible, hoping they would show up, but was growing with despair as time continued on.
Fleur sat down with Harry, her hand clenched in his, looking just as tired as him. She had stayed up the whole night with Professor McGonagall where they both had waited in the Headmistress' office for any news as to what was going on. "Oh." Fleur gasped as she read through the account of the massive battle that took place on the island from over Harry's shoulder. Harry hadn't given her much detail on what went on, and frankly, she didn't care too much to know, not wanting to know how close she was to losing Harry just a few hours ago.
Her grip on Harry's hand tightened as she read the account of Harry's quick fight with Voldemort and subsequently making the most feared dark wizard retreat from the island. "Did you really duel You-Know-Who Harry?" Katie asked, capturing the attention of just about everyone in the hall with her question. The silence in the hall was palpable and even some of the professors leaned forward from their chairs to listen to his response.
"I did." Harry replied simply as he turned his focus onto piling eggs and toast onto his plate. After the events of last night, his stomach was running on empty and he was eager to refill it. Excited murmurs and gasps echoed throughout the hall and with a quick glance up to the staff table, Harry could see many of them broke into their own smaller conversations to discuss the news. Sirius sat in a grim mood next to McGonagall and the two of them talked quietly with one another.
Fortunately, no one else had pressured Harry further for details, Fleur had done a good job of staring down anymore curious students. Harry sat in silence for the remainder of breakfast in order to readjust to not being in the chaos of battle. It had been his first major fight, and he had walked away without a scratch, but not everyone was so fortunate. If it wasn't for the quickness of Fawkes, who was now resting in Harry's dorm, he very well may not have made it through a single second of that fight. Fawkes was also never going to live the moment down.
The loud chimes in Hogwarts sounded throughout the entirety of the castle, signaling the start of class and Harry was thankful that today would simply be a transfiguration day. Headmistress McGonagall was still teaching the transfiguration classes this year, despite her higher up position, but there were rumors that someone would be helping out with the older students. This left Harry quite curious since he had yet to see any new faces at the castle, besides the rotating auror guard that had taken up residence.
He departed from Fleur with a quick kiss and climbed the steps to the second floor where the transfiguration class was this year and opened the doors with Neville right behind him. McGonagall was perched on her desk in her animagus form just as she was in Harry's first year, but just behind the teachers desk was Emmaline who sat on a pillow, her figure very clearly showing signs of being late into her pregnancy.
More students filed in behind Harry and together they all began to take their seats. Many of them gave Emmaline odd looks while glancing nervously at the cat that perched itself on the desk. No one was falling for the animagus trick anymore.
Neville nudged Harry in the side and jerked his head at the tabby cat with a wicked grin on his face. Many of those nearby who had caught Neville's subtle nudge gave Harry their own looks of encouragement. A small grin formed on Harry's face as his godfather's influence began to run through him.
Seeing that no real wrong could be done, Harry leaped from his desk, and in one fluid motion, turned into Haunt, crashing onto the professors desk, sending papers flying. The tabby cat leaped backwards, tumbling off the desk in a fright as McGonagall's cat senses had momentarily taken over. She turned back into her normal self gasping for the breath that left her while on the floor, and Emmy who sat next to where the Headmistress had fallen was doing everything in her power to not laugh. She calmly pet Haunt who laid down on the desk and gratefully accepted the attentions of Emmy.
"Mr. Potter, what did I say about abusing your animagus abilities!" Minerva demanded from her student. All she got in response was a short chuff before his attention was back to Emmy who continued to rub behind his ear, making his head lean to one side. The whole class laughed at the interaction playing out before them and even Minerva, despite knowing she should be mad, couldn't help but smile at what unfolded. She had a particular soft spot when it came to the green eyed Gryffindor, and the fact that he was a cat, albeit a much larger and scarier one, was something she was proud of.
"Get back to your seat Mr. Potter before I take points." Minerva said, trying her best to keep her stern and unforgiving attitude prominent among the students. Haunt let out another chuff before hopping down from the desk and turning back to Harry who calmly took his seat like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Many of the students continued to laugh and since this wasn't a class with a single Slytherin in it, none of them glared daggers at him.
"Good." Minerva continued once the laughter had died down enough for her to speak. "As many of you have already guessed, we will be having a new professor come in to teach the older years while I continue with the younger years. Please treat Mrs. Black with the same respect you do me, or I assure you, a number of people in this castle will not be too pleased." Everyone understood the threat Minerva left hanging out in the open, and none would dare disrespect the new Mrs. Black. Sirius' punishments were already legendary in the castle, but nothing compared to the possible wrath that could occur at the hands of Harry Potter.
"Harry, if you will follow me for a moment." Minerva finished her opening speech. Harry nodded and stood from his seat and followed the Headmistress out of the classroom. He briefly caught Emmy begin to take attendance of the class and ignored the odd looks given to him by many of his classmates. It was remarkable how peoples perceptions of you could change with a simple picture and story. Before today he had been looked upon as a great teacher and very skilled in dueling and powerful to boot, but now, he was a god amongst his classmates and many of the citizens of this country. That one picture left a mark upon all of them, and it was clear to Harry that they expected him to forever live up to that picture. He hoped to never let them down.
The door shut behind them and Harry followed Minerva a few paces away until she turned abruptly and began to speak. "I just wanted to tell you the results of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle's expulsion trials." When Harry didn't say anything in response, she continued. "All three were expelled from the school for misconduct and illegal activity. Amelia however couldn't place any criminal charges on them and they were all released back to their parents custody."
"Nothing? Not even their wands snapped?" Harry asked, slight frustration edging into his voice. He had been hoping for more than just expulsion, after all, they had tried to rape a friend and her sister, who had already undergone many horrific events.
"Sadly, having a students wand snapped when expelled only applies to those of muggle blood." Minerva replied with a slight bitterness in her voice. It was clear she was equally displeased with Amelia's ability to do anything.
"Figures." Harry grunted.
"It's a flawed system." Harry raised his eyebrows at that and Minerva chuckled softly. "A very flawed system." She added.
"So the junior Death Eaters will now learn full time from their parents and become full Death Eaters?" Minerva could only shrug in response. "It's better than them staying in the school I guess." Harry was about to reply but then began to feel an intense burning pain above his right breast and knew immediately what it meant.
Minerva caught his sudden change of expression and grew worried, "What is it?"
Harry only shook his head, "I'm not sure." Without a second thought, he drew his wand and placed it on the tattoo of Haunt, then vanished in a swirl of black mist, leaving Minerva staring at the spot her student once was.
–
Amelia paced back and forth in her office, biting her fingernails as she did so. With every second passing, she grew more and more worried for her colleagues and friends. Already, she had sent out a small party to search for Scrimgeour and the two aurors he had taken with them, but they reported back with no new knowledge of them.
Now, she had received a floo call from Mrs. Scrimgeour looking for her husband and had to tell her the hard truth, and shortly after, a fiancee of one of the younger aurors. This day was spiraling out of control for her and she would do anything to go back in time and keep herself from ordering Scrimgeour on that hunt for giants. It was becoming more clear that they had been captured, or worse killed.
Her office door opened and for a brief moment, her heart fluttered with hope, but it was quickly extinguished as she saw her assistant standing in the doorway. "The press have gotten word of the story, they want a statement."
Amelia sighed heavily and sank into a nearby chair. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, still not having gotten a wink of sleep since last night. A yawn escaped her lips before she could respond. "I'll give them a statement in a moment, give me a second." The assistant nodded his head and shut the door, once again leaving Amelia in the silence of her office.
Seconds turned into minutes as she rested in the chair before eventually she willed herself to stand up and face the music. Just as she was about to open the door of her office and feed herself to the wolves, she got a sudden idea.
Turning back towards her floo, she threw in some powder and muttered the name Avelia Dorma. She only kept her face pressed into the floo as to not actually travel, instead to just talk with whoever was on the other side.
Her eyes settled on a large white marble entrance room with old armored knights on either side of the walls. Unlike Hogwarts, these armored knights actually moved and adjusted their heavy weapons in their grips as they stood guard. Above them were paintings that moved around restlessly from frame to frame, but all had stopped upon seeing the fireplace light up green and Amelia's head stick through.
"Hello Amelia. What can I do for you?" Daren appeared in the hallway wearing only a black robe. From the wetness of his hair, it was apparent he had just taken a shower to rub away the grime of battle.
"I need your help again." Amelia said shortly. She was tired and growing irritable with every second in her sleep deprived state.
Daren let out a small chuckle, oblivious to Amelia's tired state, "You seem to be in need of a lot of help, Madame."
"Three of my aurors are missing. They were last seen in southern England and I was hoping you could send someone to track them down." She continued, ignoring Daren's joke.
Daren's smile quickly faded when he heard the request. "Of course. Who are we looking for?"
Amelia quickly told him of the aurors and the last known location of them. His eyebrows were raised when he heard she had sent them looking for the giants. Both knew it was not the greatest idea to send just three looking for such aggressive people, especially ones untrained in the art of tracking. Daren immediately had his suspicions that they were already dead, but didn't voice them. He simply responded with an okay and left Amelia to return to her duties.
She brushed the soot off her face when she reappeared from the floo, and after a quick glance over a mirror, she opened her door to her office. Immediately she was bombarded by questions and constant flashes of lights from cameras as they all clamored to get a statement on what was going on.
–
"Stop squirming." Marie hissed frustratedly as she wrapped a bandage around her husbands arm. He let out a hiss when her cool touch brushed his pale skin.
"Stop causing more pain." Voldemort responded, giving his wife a cold look, one that would normally frighten even his most brave followers, but to her, it was the look of an adorable puppy. Despite his changed look, he was still handsome to her, and truthfully, she was never really attracted to him because of his handsome looks and charms of his youth, but from his power and desire to change the world.
She wanted the same and had found an equal, kindred spirit in Tom. He was a...difficult, yet easy man to love. He was ambitious and charismatic, a man that could inspire thousands to follow him and even die for him. How could you not fall in love for such a man?
His ways were harsh and maybe even barbaric at times, but they proved effective, and if some had to suffer for the bettering of the world, then it was just in her eyes. The Greater Good he preached to her, and she had fallen in love with the ideal just as much as she had fallen in love with the preacher.
She was just a young half-blood, cast aside from the magical world after her schooling in Beauxbatons. It was impossible for her to find a job anywhere in Europe due to the bigotry of those that deemed themselves of pure blood and automatically superior because of this. She was also scorned by her muggle father after her mother, a witch, died during childbirth. Cast aside at a young age and sent to an orphanage on the Isle of Corsica, she lived a dreadful and fearful life, scared of the kids that always called her a freak.
She was then visited by a young woman who promised a world full of happiness and magic, but quickly found it to be just as dark and angry as the world she thought she left behind. All that changed however when a handsome young man walked into her muggle Roma tourist shop some forty years ago.
What ensued was a whirlwind romance, something she thought only existed in sappy romance novels that left her breathless, and in her case, the whirlwind never ceased, only changed directions. They were quickly married, and since neither had family to speak of, the ordeal was kept quiet. Together they planned their life and goals of the future. They were the best of partners, where he was powerful, she was cunning, where he was idealistic, she was pragmatic. Tom had insisted she stay away from England until the time was right, but upon hearing of his death at the hands of a young boy, she hurried to England to seek him out, only to find a mere ghost of the man she had loved. But for her, that ghost was enough and it had been her that kept the vision of the Greater Good alive and well until his resurrection.
"The boy has proven quite the foe." Marie said with a grin. She liked to tease her husband when possible, especially when it came to affecting his ego. It was something she had made great effort to reduce over the years, but it was difficult to kill altogether. He took great pride in the fear he instilled in people, and his ego only grew upon seeing the fear his very name inflicted even after his death.
"The boy has many surprises, none shall get to me again." Tom responded with a hiss. He didn't take too kindly his defeat being rubbed in his face, but he would never lash out at her. She had full control over him, and she knew it, yet she never abused her power and it only made him respect her more. He may lack empathy and not understand something as complex as love, but he understood respect, and there was no one he held higher.
"Overall though, it was a success yes?" She asked after conjuring an ice pack and placing it onto his wounded arm. Again he hissed as the cold connected with his pale scaly skin.
He nodded, "Bellatrix was freed, among others. We now know that more countries are allying against us as well."
"That means we will have to act quickly. If they truly get into this war and send their full forces against us..." She trailed off, leaving the implication out in the open.
"We will strike hard and fast. What worries me though is this." He held up the front page of the Daily Prophet for Marie to skim through. She moved around and sat in a chair that was placed just beside Riddle's throne, holding the prophet in her slender hands.
"I thought you only persuaded fifteen giants?" She asked after reading the report that twenty had been smuggled into the country.
"I did." Voldemort muttered. If he had only fifteen, that meant someone had taken the effort to smuggle another five into the country, and only one man would do such a thing. Now the reports of Snape being seen in the giant colonies made sense, and that it was Dumbledore who was seeking their support.
"Dumbledore?" Marie quickly came to the same conclusion as her husband. Voldemort only responded with a simple nod and faded into deep thought.
–
"You sure they were here?" Reaper asked as they crept through a wheat field on the outskirts of a small southern English village. It sat near towering cliffs and a small dense forest lay just on the other side of the field. A cold breeze whistled through the field and did much to keep the two Ghosts on edge.
"Yes I'm sure. All the evidence points to them disappearing around here." Demon replied in an irritable tone. He had reason to be irritated as well since that was now the twelfth time Reaper had asked him that very question.
"Just askin'." Reaper replied quickly, sensing the irritation coming from his partner. They had been sent by Specter to investigate the missing aurors and finish their mission if they did indeed prove to be dead. For the last five hours they had been nonstop apparating to different villages alongside the southern coast of England tracking them down, and luckily they weren't too far behind the tracks.
Together they pushed their way through the wheat fields and silenced their communication between each other. Both were on the lookout for potential threats as they were hunting giants, giants that had possibly killed already.
The wheat field gave way to an old, small forest that blocked out the afternoon sun. They moved into the shade and both pulled their wands. Reaper felt the hair on the back of his neck begin to stand up as he came into contact with magic, "You sense that?" He asked in a hushed tone.
Demon nodded his head, "Someones put up some very powerful wards here." He answered back in a whisper. They moved through the forest as silently as possible, avoiding sticks and leaves whenever possible.
The both of them searched for the edge of the ward line and eventually Demon hit what he was looking for. He waved his wand in front of him and illuminated a piece of the ward, a silver translucent dome beginning to form in front of him. He motioned for Reaper to move towards him and without any other communication, Demon began to go to work on the wards while Reaper turned to stand guard.
It took Demon three minutes to break through the wards that guarded whatever lay in the forest. Reaper seeing that his teammate had broken through the wards, took up position behind a tree as to remain out of sight just in case a patrol of enemies found them spying. Demon moved through the small hole in the wards he had created for himself and crept into a nearby bush.
He used his wand to pry a few stray branches away from his eyes so that he could better see everything before him. His eyes widened upon seeing the great camp lay before him, the Vikings moving in and out of large tents, fires stretching far and wide with very tall humans huddled around them, talking boisterously and munching on large sums of meat and bread. Women moved through the camp in little clothing and would often be grabbed by men who shoved them into tents, but where Demon thought they would scream, he simply heard laughter and groans of satisfaction.
These barbarians before him were just as Olaf had described, great giants of men and women surely descended from gods of old. He could see why they had been feared warriors for ages and for the first time in his life, he felt despair for his cause, for in that moment, his eyes rested on the five giants that stood double the size of the large vikings, wielding great spiked clubs and they too wore armor of some kind. Amongst the five giants was a silver bearded man wearing a matching cloak that obscured any other feature, but one had only to have seen Dumbledore once to know it was indeed him shrouded in that cloak.
Reaper stood behind the tree keeping a watchful eye on Demons back to make sure no one could sneak up on them. Whatever they were dealing with here required them to be on full edge and they weren't going to take any chances with their lives. All was quiet in the forest and an eery feeling fell over him, as if he was being watched by some fell creature that only wished harm upon him.
In a second, all of the birds and other critters of the forest quieted and only the sound of his own heartbeat could be heard. Reaper began to feel sweat beat down upon his brow as an uneasiness spread through him. Just as he was about to call Demon back to him, a loud cry rang through the trees, awakening the birds who scattered from the branches high above with loud answering cries of their own.
Reaper poked his head out from behind the tree and saw a great man bearing a large two handed ax high above his head, screaming a loud war cry, and his crystal blue eyes set upon Demons back. Reaper stepped from behind the tree and caught the viking by surprise, pulling two slim long knives that were strapped to his lower back, and used them to great affect, placing one in the gut of the viking and the other through the jaw.
The vikings cry suddenly ceased and was replaced by a gurgling sound as he choked on blood and steel. Reaper pulled his knives from the man and swiftly moved to the back of him, placing both of his weapons across the vikings throat and slitting it, sending a spray of red into the forest green.
Demon heard the cry suddenly silenced behind him and watched as everyone in the camp abruptly turned towards him as if they could all see him disguised inside the bush. He looked behind him to see the viking slump to the ground and stain the forest floor in red with Reaper just behind him. "Time to go!" Demon called to his friend. Without a moments hesitation, the both of them vanished on the spot in a wisp of black smoke as several arrows passed through the smoke and hit nothing.
–
Harry appeared in the entrance hall of Ghost castle. The sun had already set upon the high cliffs and the towering white walls were illuminated by the stars and full moon. Great silver armored knights patrolled the grounds and great halls as Harry briskly walked through. He pushed open the large wooden doors of the war room and came upon the rest of the Ghosts, all shrouded in their cloaks and masks. Reaper and Demon had made it back from their trip in southern England only an hour prior and reported the news to Amelia. Aurors had been sent to the site and surrounded the forest, but all traces of giants and vikings were gone. Justice was not in the cards today for the Director of Magical Law Enforcement.
Resting upon the table before them all was the chest that held Olaf's horcrux, the actual blade sitting on top of the closed chest, glowing a faint blue. The great stained glass windows that decorated the halls glowed in the light of the full moon and where the pictures had once depicted great battles between man and beast, now showed allegiances of all kinds of Earths animals working in unison for a better world. Written into the window were the words, 'One always suffers for the People'. Those words were illuminated onto the sword and chest and the Ghosts around it didn't bother to look up upon Harry's entrance.
"Seek what you have found." Specter said ominously once Harry took his seat in the War Room. The others had done the same once Harry had sat at the far end of the table, Specter on the opposite side. Harry wore his mask as well, and where it once had been dark green, was now emblazoned with the depiction of a gold dragon on his right cheek, a silver tiger upon his left cheek, and lastly, upon his forehead were blue Angel wings that pulsed in a blue light, forever signifying his tie to Fleur and her kind.
"And may your findings bring comfort." Answered the Ghosts in hollow unison. All of them kept their eyes on the sword and it answered by glowing an even brighter shade of blue.
"The body we have." Continued Specter in a hard voice.
"Is one you may take." The Ghosts continued to chant. Harry sat back in his seat as he was not told of what was being done tonight, but in his watchings, it was easy to see what was happening. The horcrux further glowed blue to the point it was turning a brilliantly shade of white that pierced the darkness of the war room. Harry had to shield his eyes as the Ghosts continued to chant and the sword grew brighter with every word.
"Fear no darkness and walk with the light once more." All of the Ghosts said in unison. A small shockwave echoed from the sword upon those words and Harry was once again forced to cover his eyes as a blinding flash of light took hold of the room. Several of the Ghosts were rocked back in their seats from the force of the shockwave.
The flash of white quickly died down and Harry was allowed to lay eyes upon the sword which had began to emit a dull yellow light, and without warning, it burst into flames making Angel and Shadow jump back from their seats in fright.
The fire dissolved the steel sword, handle and all, and only left ashes in its place on top of the chest which was left unharmed. "Err, what happened?" Harry asked after several minutes of silence and intense staring at the chest.
"That-I-He was supposed to be resurrected." Specter sputtered out in disbelief. His face was full of confusion and shock as to what had taken place before him.
"Are we sure we got the spell right?" Shadow asked, looking over to his friend and leader.
Banshee replied by setting a large and clearly old tome onto the desk, "We did, I'm sure of it." She began to turn the pages at a frantic pace until she suddenly stopped and began to reread. "We did. I'm not sure what went wrong." She looked up at the rest of the Ghosts with a lost look on her face.
Specter sighed and began to stand up when a sudden boom echoed just outside the war room. All of a sudden, one of the gleaming silver knights that guarded the castle was thrown through the doors and slammed into the table, shattering into different bits of armor pieces revealing that no one actually was alive underneath the armor.
In strode a man around seven feet tall with young features and had a large braided golden beard with thick long blonde hair. He was completely naked and seemingly unaware of that fact as he walked into the room with a confidence that surpassed even Voldemort's. His blue eyes however were what drew notice with the Ghosts as they all recognized them at once.
"You have held your end of the bargain, I shall hold mine." Olaf said in a deep and gravely voice.