A/N. Harry Potter and cannon characters are not mine. I couldn't afford them if they were being sold on e-bay or the drive-in flea market 'cause I am not making any money on this. Just playing in the powers that be's sandbox.

While the Yule Ball was being enjoyed at Hogwarts, Voldemort was eagerly awaiting the news from Bella that she had been successful. He thought that she of all his Death Eaters actually had a chance of carrying out the mission. He didn't think that Draco would succeed with his but he should prove enough of a diversion to allow Bella to kill Dumbledore.

'With Dumbledore gone, the Order will fall apart and Harry will have lost his last great champion,' thought Tom as sat alone in his chamber. 'He will be despondent and weaker than ever. Just the way I want him.' Riddle was sure that this plan would work. He refused to contemplate failure. Not again. This would work.

As the time came, he fed power through Bella's dark mark. This should enable her to finish that muggle loving fool. He could feel her tap into his power, but wait it didn't feel like the Avada Kedavra. What was the bitch doing? A binding curse, no!

"Finish him!" Voldemort screamed out loud and mentally. He felt his most trusted gather the power for the killing curse and then everything froze. Then his power snapped back to him hard enough to knock him out of his chair. He felt nothing from Bella; he touched his wand to his own dark mark to call her. But she did not come. That meant only one thing, she was dead. That is the only thing that would prevent her from coming to her beloved master when summoned. Dumbledore had defeated her. How had the old fool been able to overcome the combined power of the two of them? How had Dumbledore become that powerful? Was that how he had been defeated since his return last summer? Dumbledore was as powerful as Merlin. Harry Potter just moved to second on the most dangerous list.

At Hogwarts…

In the aftermath of the battle, Dumbledore made sure that the younger students had not seen the grisly bits of the fray. Thank goodness Minerva had gotten them all out quickly. All that they knew that had happened was a fight. He was sorry that the DA and Light Warriors had to have seen it but he realized that it was their choice. He had realized a lot this evening.

One thing was that his time was coming. And fast! The simple fact that Bella had been able to get that close to him and over power him that quickly, was the telling one. He would have to make sure that he had everything in place for that eventual occurrence. The old man had hoped that he would last to see the end of this war, but now he was not sure he was going to be able to pull that one out of his hat. He sat down a bench along the side of the Great Hall and watched the others mopping up.

Charles, Ed and Sirius were helping the Aurors get the shackled prisoners ready for transport. The Aurors moved with efficiency to remove the prisoners and Bella's body. There were only four adults that were with Bella. They would be going to the new wizard prison that Moody had been developing until their official interrogation. The Slytherin students however were not going there, at least not yet. They would be held here until it could be determined to what extent they had been working with the Death Eaters. The fact that these students had had no qualms about harming their fellow students disheartened him. He looked around to the students that had stepped up to defend their friends and their school.

The Weasley Twins were guarding the Slytherin Students sitting on the floor. All had their wands taken from them and each of the malcontents was bound with rope. Angelina and Katie were helping them. Ginny was sitting with Neville, talking quietly as he cleaned his sword. Albus made a note to himself to talk with Mr. Longbottom before the evening was over. The Creevey brothers had avoided Minerva's roundup of the young ones and had actually been a help during the battle. The two brothers had learned much from their time with the older students in the DA. They were standing at attention behind Harry. Hermione and Harry were standing guard over himself the Headmaster realized. That made him smile.

Kingsley walked up and sat down beside him.

"Headmaster, are you alright?" the deep voice of the Auror asked, neither man looking at each other, simply surveying the activity going on around them.

"I believe so. I am wondering how Bella was able to get past the wards. The others had an invitation, did she?"

"Yes, she killed the secretary of education and took hers. She favored Madame McVoy enough that no glamour charm was needed; the wards would have detected that. Theatrical makeup was all that she used. The invitation was used to get through the wards. Bill Weasley delivered them himself this afternoon to the ministry personal that were invited. She had to have found out from the moles that she could get through with one. They of course had their own invitations. They were from the Department of Education."

"Well, the best laid plans. Theirs had been in place probably soon after the ball was announced if not before. We thought that updating the security would be enough. It wasn't. If our people had been one less bit alert to what was going on, there would have been a massacre here tonight. I did not realize that you had planned on attending." Albus turned to the Auror sitting beside him.

"Madame Bones felt that several of us should be here. Bill had enough invitations to get my top people in along with myself. She was worried that this might offer an unbearable temptation for Voldemort. I am sorry to say she was right. Next time, we will have to make the invitations more secure. At least we have been given the opportunity to learn. Albus, there is one other thing I need to speak with you about." Kingsley lowered his voice to a soft rumble that did not carry beyond the two men sitting on the bench.

"Did you know that Harry Potter is an animagus?"

"Ah, you have seen his form? Kingsley do you realize that he learned to do the transformation in just a few short days?" The Auror's face showed the complete surprise he feeling at hearing this information.

"Days, not years? What kind of cat is he anyway? I have never seen a lion that looks like that. I grew up in Africa, hunted lions for my manhood ceremony, so I know he is not an African lion. Not an Asian one either. Much too big." Kingsley waited patiently to see how much the old man would tell him.

"He is a cave lion. A very ancient animal that has been extinct for centuries. Professor Stormchaser's theory is that the cave lion was the only predator that was strong and ancient enough to overcome something that Harry had been carrying around with him since that Halloween night. What I am going to tell you is something that you must keep to yourself. It can go no further. If Voldemort finds out how much we know, we will lose a much needed advantage." Albus searched the face of the man beside him. And knew that Shack would keep his secrets.

"I swear by my magic that I will never reveal what you tell me tonight until you give me leave to do so." Kingsley said this very formally because it was an oath. This was serious.

"On that Halloween night when James and Lily died, Voldemort had gone to kill Harry. Because of a prophecy that told of a child that would be born that could defeat him. He did not hear the entire prophecy. That is why he had been trying to remove it from the Hall of Prophecy. That is why you have been plagued with break-ins. It doesn't matter whether he gets it or not. He has already set the events into motion. It could have been Neville Longbottom or Harry Potter. They both met the terms of the vision. He chose Harry. So he went to kill a 15 month old child to prevent that child from growing up to be his destroyer. Never realizing that he was marking the weapon that would destroy him. He also went with the intention of using Harry's murder to make a Horcrux." At this, the usually stolid Auror blanched.

"A Horcrux? Dumbledore that is Matokeo ya Utafutaji kwa (evil magic)…I don't even have the correct word your language for this! And to use the murder of a child, this creature is more evil than I had even imagined." Shacklebolt's dark skin was ashen looking. "How will we get it out of the child?"

"My dear friend, that task has been accomplished. Harry is completely free of the Horcrux. It was a learning experience for me too! I had never seen magic like that. Professor Stormchaser used an ancient Native American spell to remove it but Harry almost died. It was a near thing. But Harry needs all of the advantages that we can give him for him to do what the fates seemed to have made his burden. Harry along with several of his friends and classmates has been receiving a combination of muggle and wizard combat training from several masters of the art. The animagus training is only one of the many things that young man has mastered since the Tri Wizard Tournament. He along with the others have worked hard. Tell me, do you see the need to report him for being an unregistered animagus?" Albus looked at the man beside with a slight smile on his face for the first time in the last hour.

"Report what? I didn't see a thing and neither did anyone else. I suppose that Mr. Longbottom has been training right along with Harry?"

"Oh, yes! I think out of all of our young warriors, he has come the longest distance. I need to go and speak with him unless you need anything else right now my friend. If you have any more questions, please feel free to contact me. Let Madame Bones know as much as you feel is necessary, but she has seen the lion. I am not sure she knows who it was but, it along with others saved her life. She has not perused the identity of the creature so I don't think she wants to know. Let us not burden her with it at this moment."

"I agree. If she wanted to know, she would have searched to the ends of the earth the find out who it was. We will not worry her at this time with that information." Now Kingsley was smiling too. "I have reports to file and I will keep in touch Dumbledore. Try to get some rest tonight. You did everything that could have been done to prevent this from happening." The tall man stood and laid his large hand on the Headmaster's shoulder momentarily before he turned and walked away.

Dumbledore slowly rose and walked over to where Neville and Ginny were sitting. Harry and his small group followed at a distance. Neville had finished cleaning his sword and was simply holding it with his hands resting on his knees. Ginny looked up and whispered in Neville's ear. He sat up straight and started to stand in respect for the Headmaster but the old man motioned for him to stay seated. The Headmaster sat down beside the two teens.

"Neville, I must thank you for saving my life tonight. If it had not been for your quick action, I fear I would have started on the next great adventure a bit before I had planned to. Thank you so much." Albus searched the young man's face. "How are you handling this? When you are ready to talk about it, please feel free to come to me or someone else if you prefer. You did what needed to be done. "

"Sir, I…I thought that when she was gone, it would feel…well, it would feel good. But it doesn't, it was…there was no thinking about it. I knew who she was when she threw off the cloak she was wearing. I was moving before I even thought about it. I didn't even stop to consider what I was going to do. I knew she was going to kill you, and I couldn't let that happen. I just couldn't let that happen. It was like the time I killed a snake in the garden that was about to bite my Grandmother. I just cut its head off. I didn't even stop to think about it. This was the same thing, wasn't it?" Neville looked up with wounded eyes at his Headmaster, the man whom he had saved tonight from one of the most evil witches on the planet.

"Yes, Neville it was the same thing. You did what you had to do to save a life. You are not a murderer. You are a warrior and this is war. She was your first but unfortunately she won't be your last. Hopefully, you will not have to do this very many more times, but alas, none of us can see the future. Hold tight to your friends and do not cut yourself off from them. You will need them and they will need you. This has been your trial by fire, one that all of you," he looked at the young people around him, "will have to go through. In some ways I wish I could spare all of you this but it will make each of you stronger. Remember to talk to someone when you feel you need to. It will help." He turned back to Neville," Do not let is fester in your heart, you are too good of a man for that to happen to." As the Headmaster stood, he laid a comforting hand on Neville's shoulder and squeezed it. He nodded to the others and went over to Joshua.

"Old man," Joshua began, "I thought you were on your way to gah luh la tee (heaven). It surprised me that Neville was able to get to you the fastest. I suppose he had a bit more reason to hurry. How is he doing?"

"Right now he is in shock. When it wears off, hopefully he will be able to come to terms with this evening's event." Albus looked across the Great Hall; Neville's friends were gathered around him, acting like, well teenagers. For a moment, Albus thought this was inappropriate, but he noticed that Neville was interacting with the group, shyly but not withdrawn. His friends knew what he needed. He also noticed that Ginny Weasley had not released the death grip she had on Neville's arm. They would help him to overcome the grief for what he had had to do.

"You realize how she was able to overpower you don't you?" Joshua looked hard at his friend.

"I am getting to old for this?" Albus honestly didn't know.

"No you old fool, he was using that two way feed on that damn dark mark again. So basically you were facing Voldemort and LeStrange together. You realize that don't you?"

"No I did not realize it. I thought that maybe I was getting to old and weak. Did you sense him? "

"Oh yes, he poured all of the power he could into that mark. That binding curse however saved your life. If she had not taken the time to do that, Neville would not have made it in time. There is a bright side to all of this however. I count that he is down four of the Death Eaters that he freed. I will not assume that Lucius Malfoy is dead until I see a body, so maybe five or six of his inner circle left. The LeStrange brothers, Mulciber, Jugson and McNair are bad enough but with the loss of Madame LeStrange, Riddle will be much weaker that he has been in months. We have to find his bolt hole. Wherever it is, it is a good one. Maybe it is time to talk to Rookwood again."

"I am relieved that age has not debilitated me to the point that I had thought. You know my friend, that there is a good chance that neither of us is going to see this to the end, don't you?" Albus looked at the man sitting beside him.

"I knew that when I left my mountains of North Carolina. Very few return from the Warrior's Path. That has been the way of the warriors of my clan for generations. I however will not go down without a fight. And I will take as many of the usonvi galvquodi adanv do (evil souls) with me as I possibly can. How about you?" Joshua looked slyly at the Headmaster.

"I fully believe that the time for diplomacy and peace talks are at an end. I had hoped it would not get to this point again but here we are. Do you and Charles have everything you need for the young ones' training? Good. Madame Bones has the 'Swat Teams', yes teams, in place. She is a force to be reckoned with. I am very glad that she is on our side. Fudge does still not want to publicly commit to the fact that Riddle has returned. It will cost him the Minister of Magic position before this is over. I hope that is all that is costs him. Are you ready to interrogate the Slytherin students?" Dumbledore asked.

"After you my friend", and the two wizards along with the remaining Aurors removed the bound students from the Great Hall. Amelia Bones strode into the Great Hall and followed the group to a smaller room for the questioning of the students being held in custody.

Harry looked at his warriors, so proud of how they had stepped up and stood tall. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I didn't get a bit of that food. Will you join me?"

In London…

Cornelius Fudge had read Madam Bones' latest report on the increased Death Eater activity through twice. There seemed to be more and more every day. The attacks were not large scale, but intense. A rape here, a muggle attack in another village on the same night and now he had just received word that an attack had occurred at Hogwarts! There would be no stopping that news from being tomorrow's headline in the Daily Prophet. Thank the powers that none of the children had been injured.

The Minister was waiting for Madame Bones to report from Hogwarts. She had flooed there as soon as word had come. He could not believe that Bellatrix LeStrange was dead. That would be the only good take on this evening's event.

There was a thump in the outer office.

"Micheals? Micheals?" Fudge called to the Auror that was on bodyguard duty tonight. Madam Bones had tried to leave more than one on duty, but he had sent the others home as soon as she had left. Her department had racked up too much overtime lately. Now however, he was beginning to regret being worried about overtime.

Fudge stood with his wand in his hand, facing the office door. It burst open and the LeStrange Brothers stepped through.

"Oh crap!" were the Minister of Magic's last words as the double green light flew across the office and hit him in the chest. The two brothers stepped over the Minister's body and flooed out. At least they had accomplished part of their mission. Both of their targets were eliminated.

The prophecy however was still firmly in place. It had knocked Rabastan flat on his back. Twice. Rookwood had been right; the Lestrange brothers could not remove it. One of the people directly connected with it would have to come and retrieve it. The Dark Lord would not be happy about that but the Minister's death would cause quite a stir in the wizarding world, spreading terror as Voldemort had intended. That might keep their master from killing them on the spot. Maybe.

Fudge's undersecretary would not be missed by anyone however. She had made far too many enemies, the Dark Lord being the worst. Her years of destroying creatures she saw as dark had severely depleted Voldemort's allies. So much for house arrest, though she had screamed so deliciously.