"This is bothering me a little," Gohan said.

"It is completely normal," Dende replied. "With the amount of raw magical power Harry has it is necessary that we do this slowly. This is why we are doing it like this. If we hurry then it won't be good for Harry and for us all for that matter."

"And dad?" he asked.

"Goku will return once Harry's stabilized in his new normal state," Dende said.

"And…And what about everyone down there?" Gohan asked.

"I have been keeping close tabs on her," Dende said after a pause. "She's on hold for right now."

"On hold?" Gohan asked.

"Your friends convinced her to stay put until you both return back down," Dende replied. "That was all they could do. They are no match for her, Gohan. Only you two can defeat her."

"And even that will be a matter of doubt," Gohan said. Dende sighed. He knew that was true. Even Dende had felt her power. It was mind boggling. The fact that other Z warriors except for Piccolo couldn't enter the magical world also put the odds against them. Speaking of which Piccolo was also on the Lookout dwelled in his meditation. His experience with the dementors hadn't gone well and he intended to not feel as weak as he did before. So a sorting of his memories was what he could do best in that regards. Other than that he could be of no more help, perhaps a little lend in support but that's it.

"Let's hope things don't turn south by the time we return back," Gohan said.

Dende looked at Harry hoping for the same.

00000

"How is she?" Hermione asked.

"Holding…somehow," Daphne replied. "Even with this many people it is not enough for her to be even as close to normal as before. Dumbledore crippled her to the very limit. That her presence still is there is a greater feat than anything I have ever seen of someone in her state."

"She is strong," Neville said.

"Everyone is accounted for," McGonagall said entering the classroom where Neville, Hermione and Daphne were at the moment.

"How many?" Neville asked.

"A couple thousand," she replied. "We are still on a count but I assume not more than two."

"Two thousand?" Hermione asked, aghast at the mere number.

"She did clean them all," Daphne said.

"Even…Even if we somehow manage to defeat her…the…the ones who survive this…there won't be much left," McGonagall said, her voice quivering.

Neither of the three had seen her in that state before. For them and for everyone McGonagall was this fierce, fair strong woman who was impossible to be shaken emotionally. To see her vulnerable really would make anyone understand the dire situation they were in. Fortunately there was no one except for them there to see her in that state, otherwise it would be bad.

"How…How's the castle?" McGonagall asked after a minute's pause.

"Holding herself," Neville replied. "It will take some time for her to draw from the magic of the people inside the castle to gain some power for the wards though. How long, we don't know." She nodded.

"What do we do in the meantime?" she asked.

"We wait," Daphne said.

00000

Chi Chi sat in her room, staring at her mother's portrait holding her as a baby. Her eyes were wet as she thought about her son and the unwanted responsibility that was put on his shoulder just because he was her son. "Was it worth it, mother?" she said looking at her mother's portrait of. The Ox Queen, mother of Chi Chi was witch in her maternal family line before Gohan. Before her was her grandmother and before her was her great grandfather. All from the line of the guardian of Hogwarts himself.

"Why was he chosen?" she said again. "He's just a little boy!" she said as she broke down in tears. "Of all people why him?"

The empty house echoed her cries and sniffs as the wind outside Mount Paozou turned cold. Birds started flying towards their nests and animals ran towards shelter taking cover as clouds soon hovered over the beautiful land of Mount Paozou. She looked outside the window, her tears starting to fall again. She knew Gohan was currently on the Lookout training for his confrontation with her. She stood up as she saw a wave in the wind patterns. She wiped her tears and walked out the door, standing beside the tangerine tree, her hands curled into tight fists as she appeared in front of her.

"You look well," Tenille said.

"You stay the hell away from my son!" Chi Chi snarled angrily as she felt the effects of the dementors above her. Of course the clouds above the mountain weren't clouds. They were the horde of dementors. Suddenly a crying noise came and both turned to see Icarus coming towards them. The purple dragon landed between Chi Chi and Tenille, its tail around Chi Chi in a defense position as it growled at Tenille. She smiled, Tenille as she looked at the dragon.

"Gohan's pet," she said. "I was wondering I would be seeing your other son. Where is he?"

"None of your concern," Chi Chi said in a low but dangerous voice. She took a step back when Tenille took a step towards her. Chi Chi's back came in contact with the tangerine tree. "Leave my son alone," she said.

"You know very well that I can't do that," she replied. "Although it would be a curious thing to see how he will react to the news of you becoming a victim of mine."

The color on Chi Chi's face drained as Tenille moved her hand towards her face but then stopped. A huge shockwave shook the entire mountain as Chi Chi opened her eyes in surprise, the golden glow reflecting off of her face. The first thing she saw was those golden spiked hairs. Then followed the look she had seen before.

"Ve…Vegeta?" Chi Chi whispered in surprise.

Vegeta was currently floating mid-air, his super saiyan form in effect as his right hand – formed into a punch – was being held by Tenille with her left hand without any effort. Her eyes were still on Chi Chi as she smiled. "The saiyan prince," she said as Vegeta grunted in pure anger. "I was wondering when I will be meeting you."

"So you are the one I heard Piccolo talking about," he said. "Huh, I would like to see why he considers you such a threat."

"You sure will," she said as she tapped him on his back and he immediately lost his super saiyan form and fell on the ground. Brood came out of his mouth as he groaned in pain. "Ouch," she said as she stepped on her, hitting his head hard on the ground slightly cracking his skull. Blood trickled down his forehead as Vegeta grunted in pain. A cry of war as he pushed himself off the ground, grabbing her leg and throwing her as far as he could.

Chi Chi couldn't believe he was able to do that but then she returned, gracefully landing on the ground, not even a scratch on her as Vegeta looked on in pure horror. It didn't take long for Chi Chi to realize that Tenille was giving him a glimpse of her power by making him sense it. Chi Chi knew that because she, too, was sensing it from her. Living with Goku and his friends she, too, had learnt a little about power sensing and whatever she felt from Tenille made her nauseas. She hunched over the tree, emptying her stomach.

"So, how did you like the glimpse?" Tenille said looking at Vegeta. Vegeta didn't reply as his legs started to shake and he fell on his knees. How was he so stupid thinking he would beat her? The look of horror was plainly visible on his face as she started to float upwards. "I will let you witness the moment when I suck out the life from the guardian. Make sure you be there when that happens. I will make sure you can enter through the barrier that divides the magical and the mundane world."

Chi Chi saw as she flew away after that. She somehow walked towards Vegeta, trying to make him stand but he pushed her away. She didn't fell but it definitely hurt her sentiments. She knew Vegeta was a proud man and this defeat had only made him feel embarrassed. "You cannot take her on," she said slowly as Icarus came and sat beside her protectively. She moved her hand over his head lovingly as he looked from her to Vegeta. "No one but the guardian can stand facing her."

"What...is she?" he said as he stood up. Blood was still coming from his mouth. Something had definitely been damaged inside his body as he could feel it.

"A monster of history," she replied. "And an enemy of my family."

00000

Hermione joined Neville on the ledge of the astronomy tower. This was the highest place of the castle. She tried to not look down as she sat beside him. "Isn't it beautiful?" he said.

"What is?" Hermione said.

"This…the vast green land, the fresh cold breeze…everything that is in front of us?" Neville said.

Hermione looked ahead towards the forbidden forest. Even that thing looked beautiful at the moment. She, however, did not miss the mass of black cloud slowly coming towards them. It had been since the day they had struck a bargain with Tenille to give them some time. That thing in front of them was the stopwatch, reminding them that time was running out.

"I wonder what Harry and Gohan are doing," he said.

"So do I," she replied. "Where is Daphne?"

"In the runes room," Neville said. "She is tweaking the construct of the wards in hopes that Hogwarts will somehow absorb more from the people living inside her."

"She still hasn't improved?" she asked. Neville shook his head.

"Dumbledore really did a number on her and with her wards being shattered by Tenille four days ago made her only weaker. It's just the shield formed by us three that is currently protecting the castle and I wonder how long it will hold when the attack happens."

"Have confidence in yourself, Neville," Hermione said. "You are a powerful wizard."

"Everyone has a limit, Hermione," he said. "Individually, none of our magic is as strong as Hogwarts so whatever we poured into that shield…it is still weaker than Hogwarts' own wards and if that shattered then this will, too."

"Hers was weakened by Dumbledore and that is why it shattered," she said. "I am sure if her wards were as powerful as on the day they were first created Tenille wouldn't have been able to break it down."

"She would have." They both turned to see it was Daphne. Luna was with her as they joined the two on the ledge.

"Can't you be optimistic once?" Hermione asked.

"Being optimistic means being hopeful," Daphne said, "and hope is a lie."

"A lie that gives people confidence," Hermione said in a tired voice.

"And if that hope doesn't turn out to be true then it breaks people harder than anything," she replied. "I know I don't sound motivating but I am just stating the truth. People need the truth to act accordingly. How many do you think will stay back when she comes to attack us?"

"You can't blame them if they don't want to fight," Neville said.

"They need to know that if they don't fight then they will die," Daphne said. "It's only a matter of time how soon they realize it."

"You cannot selfishly think that they will fight," Hermione said.

"And tricking them to come here guaranteeing safety was so much a saint's work, right?" Daphne said. "Don't forget that we did that so that Hogwarts' wards would be strengthened."

"Speaking of, is there an improvement in that regard?" Neville asked trying to change the topic.

"She's still trying," Luna said. "But even now there doesn't seem to be any visible improvement. She's still too weak. I talked with the founders and all they could say was we have patience."

"We're on a clock," Daphne said. "Four days have passed since we begged her for some time. Even if Hogwarts manage to start absorbing from everyone's magic how much do you think she can manage in these three days in her condition?"

All four of them knew that fact couldn't be denied. "What if we give her some of our magic?" Hermione asked.

"As tempting as that sounds Hogwarts is not in total control of herself right now," Luna said. "I talked with the founders on this matter and the reason why Hogwarts is taking time absorbing magic from everyone inside the castle is because she's being really careful."

"She's like a hungry lion," Hermione muttered.

"What was that?" Neville asked.

"A hungry lion," she said again. "Being deprived of her true magic Hogwarts longs for her powers but if she doesn't stay in control while absorbing it from others she might as well kill everyone inside the castle while trying to absorb their magic. This is why it is taking so much time for her to absorb magic from us all. If we three willingly give her our magic then she might not have control on her absorbing powers and that could kill us."

"So what do we do?" Neville asked.

"We have three days," Daphne said. "We figure it out in that time because if she shows up before Harry and Gohan then we're all done for."

00000

"Alright, now stand carefully," Dende said as he stepped aside, letting go of Harry's hands. Gohan stood attentive behind Harry to catch or contain him if he went berserk again. He couldn't believe the amount of raw magic he was feeling from inside of Harry. Since Harry was still new to this he didn't have control over curbing or controlling his powers so Gohan could feel it all and he was surprised that it was very close to the extent of a super saiyan. There was no denying that Harry needed to learn how to control this power or else he will just implode. He looked at Dende and saw the Namekian looked tired.

"You alright?" Gohan asked looking at Dende.

"I am fine, Gohan," he replied.

"You don't look fine," Gohan said. "You've been healing Harry since last month inside the time dimension every time he injures himself from his own powers. You need to rest too. When was the last time you slept?"

"I didn't," Dende said. Being a Namekian he could go on without sleep for months but Name also had a constant presence of sunlight which wasn't the case on earth. The absence of sunlight during night time made Dende a bit sluggish and tired. He had discussed this with Piccolo who had taught him how to overcome this but he was still new to that and hadn't grasped much control over it.

"You should," Gohan said. "I can take care of Harry."

"You can't heal him and neither can the senzu beans," Dende said. "Fortunately he's gaining some control over himself so it won't be long."

Gohan sighed. He knew he couldn't talk Dende out of it once Dende had decided to do something so he let go but he did keep a kept eye on him. "Hurry up, dad," Gohan muttered to himself as he looked at Harry and felt his power subside down a little. He didn't know how many of these sessions would require for Harry to gain control over his powers but it was important. He only hoped things didn't go bad on earth while he and Harry were here.

00000

"I still don't know where he is," Flitwick said.

"Is everything done?" Pomona asked as she came and stood beside them.

"It is," McGonagall said. "All the rooms inside the castle have been enlarged to accommodate as many people as necessary and the elves are working overtime to make sure everyone is fed. We're still waiting on Dumbledore who clearly hasn't shown up yet. I wonder where he is."

"Perhaps he's taking a note of the situation from the outside," Pomona said. "Trust him. He will show up when we need him. Right now our duty is for this castle and everyone who's in it."

"Can we really have those children bear the entire responsibility of the situation?" McGonagall asked. "They're kids!"

"They are heirs of the founders, Minerva," Flitwick said.

"You know actually what is going on, right?" Pomona asked. "If you would tell us we could be of more help in this situation. We have no idea what is going on. All we know is that someone out there has taken over everything and we're probably the last ones alive and that someone will be here any day now. What in the name of Merlin is going on?"

Flitwick sighed as he conjured a chair and sat in it. "We goblins, like I said before, have been around since before the first man ever came into existence. Amongst those first men was Merlin, the first ever magical who ever existed. Being a wizard he grasped such deep knowledge of magic that he went on to live for ages until he saw his body betraying him. To keep himself company he created a being…a girl… he taught her everything he knew before leaving everything for her as he said goodbyes to the world of magic. it was during this time that he also got his first students – Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Godric Gryffindor. It was also during that time that he fell in love with a muggle woman and together they had a child – a girl.

"With time Merlin came to know that Tenille, the girl he had created had turned to the dark side. Her soul was rotting and so he sent his four disciples, the founders of Hogwarts to stop her. Needless to say they were beaten very badly and so he had to go and stop her himself. He came to know that she felt betrayed when he had a child of his own. He tried to make her understand but she wouldn't listen. She attacked him but he managed to get out. On returning back home he realized she had gotten too his wife. He feared for his daughter but realized Salazar had taken her away before Tenille could get to her."

"What happened?" McGonagall asked.

"She got to them…she got to them all but she let Merlin live long enough to see everyone whom he held dear die," Flitwick said. Godric died trying to save his daughter. He failed so he buried her under this castle. Rowena and Helga were long dead. Salazar was eventually killed off and at the end only Merlin and her remained. He sacrificed himself to destroy her. She was gone. His daughter's name…was Hogwarts."

Both McGonagall and Pomona had shocked expressions on their faces. This was nothing how the history books had said. It. There was no mention of this Tenille or the threat that she had brought. Also there was nothing said about Merlin having a daughter. "Why…Why wasn't it made public?" Pomona asked.

"Because Merlin didn't want to," Flitwick said. "He had a friend…a muggle friend whom he trusted more than anyone during his last years of life. They made a pact that the other will protect their most precious belonging. In Merlin's case it was this castle. Nothing is known about that man but what is known in the goblin community is that man was the first guardian of this castle. Accepting Merlin's wish he made it upon himself and his coming generation for it to be a responsibility and duty to protect this castle but there was more to this guardian."

"What…What do you mean?" McGonagall asked.

"When they arrive, you will know," Flitwick said, looking outside the corridor towards the night sky. It would all end tomorrow. The week had passed and she will come. She will come for them…for him and for everything living.

00000

A/N: Thanks for reading…

Story's coming to an end…at max two-three chapters and then we're done…