Hey everyone,
Why am I not surprised? I was under the impression that last chapter was going to be the final one for a while and then the whole thing with the Demonstration and everything else – including the daily posts of the last few weeks – gives me a whole new boost in my need to keep going. I have various new things that I have planned and a few more characters that are going to get fleshed out in this chapter. Some good characters and some, not so good.
Be warned,

Venquine1990

Chapter 25
The Order And Death Eaters

21st of September 1995
Grimmauld Place, London
Albus' POV

I am very glad for many things right now. One is that the demonstration was held on Saturday as now the students have the entire weekend to get the excitement of the experience out of their system and the other is that I only have three members of staff in the Order. I know Hagrid is still out there somewhere, even if Olympe has recently returned to France, but I am quite sure that I can rely on Filius, Pomona and the others to keep the order while Minerva, Severus and I are away.
Yen Sid has also come along as he wants to hear what the Order thinks of him and his and because he wants to personally invite a select few of them to his plans for Monday. He met with me about this shortly after lunch and I feel truly delighted and intrigued to learn more about the man that is actually older than my oldest of friends, Nicholas Flamel. I happily agreed that Monday's classes could be cancelled for such an interesting tale.

And yet as I look around the dining room of Grimmauld Place, several emotions overtake me. Regret that I let Sirius stay in such a gloomy and truly dark atmosphere. Relief that others have liberated him of this and delivered him to a better location. And amusement as a lot of those in the Order, even those who have long since left Hogwarts, are acting and talking in the same excited way as the students have been doing all day since the Demonstration.
Especially young Nymphadora seems incapable of containing her extreme emotions as her hair is all the way down to her lower back and rainbow colored with various colors shifting places from time to time as she talks with Moody and Hestia Jones, the older woman giggling from time to time when she spots this happening. Yet while Nymphadora is aware of why the woman bursts into giggles every so often, she just ignores it in favor of continuing her conversation.

And apparently she has developed a sixth sense that allows her to sense it when someone is thinking of her and using her first name as she suddenly sends me an annoyed glare out of nowhere. I just chuckle and send her an amused grin in return. The young woman huffs and turns her focus back on her mentor and friend while I gaze across the rest of the room. And the sight of Severus, who seems a little more annoyed than usual, concerns me.
The man had been just as amazed and intrigued as the rest of the audience during the Demonstration, but at some point between then and now, his mind seemed to have come to a certain conclusion that made him more dour than usual and made him seem to dislike the whole event. I truly cannot phantom what this might be and so I decide to just go ahead and find out. I raise my voice a little and say: "Gather round, everyone. Take your seats so we may discuss today's event."

Instantly everyone heads for their seats and while only a few of them really have regular seats – like Severus who always sits on the side of either the head or tail end of the table and Minerva who always sits to my left – I cannot help but notice a strong similarity in the seating between now and the last few times we met. I can't help but find this little detail quite funny as there are more members of the Order present now than there were at the last two meetings.
Then Remus raises his hand and he says: "Before we start discussing the Demonstration, I got another report to discuss. Sirius contacted me earlier this evening. He has a few things he wants to let us know and all of them are really, very positive." And instantly the man has the attention of Minerva, young Tonks, Alastor, Molly, Arthur, William, Kingsley and myself. Even Severus seems both annoyed and intrigued, yet he luckily enough keeps his annoyance to a soft grunt.

"First off, he's taking some good steps towards making peace with James and Lily's death. He's not yet ready to come back and, say, face their graves, but he has taken another step forward in accepting that there was nothing he could have done to change the event or save them. I know he took the whole thing quite hard the last few years, both because of his bond with them and because he chose Pettigrew as replacement, but he told me he finally made peace with that decision."
"Thank goodness." Molly mutters softly and I share her sentiments. Then Remus starts to beam and he says: "What's more, he's fallen in love." Instantly everyone who was very intrigued shares the great shock that I feel. The man nods and says: "Yeah, I had a hard time believing it myself. Apparently he's fallen for a woman named Rachel, who is also Isa's mother.""But what about Harry?" Molly asks and the man smiles at her as he says:

"He's very ecstatic about this. And with good reason as Isa is apparently one of his closest friends. He and Kairi are both from the Garden and Harry grew to consider them like his honorary siblings before he came back here. When Sirius told him that he considers making Rachel the future Lady Black once he's healed, Harry hugged him with amazing vigor and yelled in excitement." Molly's grin slowly grows as Remus talks and Arthur jokes:
"So today Harry got himself a father and grandfather and sometime in the future he's going to get a mother and brother added to that too. Good for him, he deserves it." And while the majority of those around me nod in agreement with the man, Severus purposely makes his snort be loudly heard across the room. Everyone turns to the man and he snarls: "I highly resent that. Considering what we saw today, I really don't think Potter deserves anything, at all."

I had already expected this and yet the man's lack of acceptance of Harry's potential happiness truly astounds me. "I'm sorry, did we see the same brilliant, amazing and utterly incredible Demonstration of power, skill and talent or did I travel to an alternate universe or something?" Dedalus asks, his voice high to prove that he actually feels insulted over Severus' words. The dour man sends him a ferocious glare, yet Dedalus just stares him down, his stare daring the man to reply.
"Severus, would you please explain to us what you mean?" I gently inquire as I know that Severus can clamp shut if he wants to win a stare down and the man snorts yet again before he snarls: "I've said it time and time again for the past four years. Potter is nothing but an insolent, arrogant, self-centered, selfish, irresponsible, irredeemable toe rag who believes the world owes him something and who expects us to worship him and bow at his feet.
I just always believed that that disgusting character of his came from his no-good lousy excuse of a father, but now I've been proven wrong. These people are obviously capable of things we mere mortals can only dream of, yet they refuse to lend a single hand and let us die trying to fight a war they would win without even getting off of their lazy asses. They are throwing us for the dogs and I'm the only one who's seeing it, as usual."

Silence reigns through the kitchen once again and after a few minutes of all of us watching Severus in astonished disbelief someone speaks up. "Wow! You're delusional." I turn to the voice and notice that it's young Emmeline Vance, who has actually opted not to wear her usual green shawl. "Delusional?" Severus snarls at her insulted and the woman, who is a few years younger, yet looks a few years older than him, nods and says:
"Yeah, you're so blind-sided by your negative emotions, you've become short-sighted and completely forgot several facts that have already been stated a few times before. I even heard Potter say it himself today before the Demonstration when I passed his seat while I was looking for my own. Those GA's didn't have their powers until the last few years. They were basically Muggles before Potter left. So there's no way their abilities gave him his so-called arrogance."
Severus glares at her furiously, but then Kingsley speaks up: "And besides, you're being as unfair as usual. Instead of waiting until the meeting had started or until you had a chance to meet with Master Yen Sid and question him about his motives and reasons, you came to your own conclusions and are now trying to convince us of them. But sorry, Fudge has been trying that for months now and he's failed in it and so have you, at least with me."

And of course Severus' anger seems to rise even more as he spots several others nod in agreement with the calm and wise Auror. "You are all just a –!""Stop!" A powerful voice that even makes me feel like I am back to being a First Year who got caught breaking the rules for the first time speaks up and Severus freezes in the same way Harry did back during Yen Sid's first DADA class. And the man himself stands up afterwards.
He had been seated halfway down the table and had been mingling with quite a few of the other Order members before we took our seats. But while I felt amazed at how easily he had made himself part of the group, I now feel amazed at how calm, yet powerful the man looks as he stares at Severus. The man snaps his fingers and states: "Diemus Natalis." And the text 28-09-1295 appears above the man's head. And even he seems startled at this.
"Dear me, it would appear that I skipped a few birthdays. I could have sworn I was nearing my 689th birthday, not my 700th. I suppose that just comes with the times." And because I caught myself a good three times in the last decade, I can definitely get where the man might be coming from, yet I still feel most amazed at the written evidence of his incredible age. The date disappears and the man turns back to Severus as he says:

"Regardless, I am too old to have to deal with your petty behavior and your need to always be right, even if it comes at the cost of others. I have studied you this past year, Severus Snape, and I can safely say that you are your own worst enemy. I will not deny that a small part of me wanted to become your colleague to help you get past this, but you are slowly but surely making me wonder if I should really bother with answering this urge.
And before you start to accuse anyone of spying on you or me of reading your mind or even worse of other Order members of betraying you, allow me to clear something up for you. One's past never belongs to just them. When one thinks back on the past and on an event where they met another, that past then belongs to that person and the one they met. Every meeting creates a past that belongs to two or more people.

And even without that, I did not need to meet anyone to learn about you, Severus Snape. I only needed to look for books describing the famous Lily Potter. And as we all know, in between 1981 and 1984 everyone and their mother attempted to write history books on both young Lily and other members of the Potter family, just to be able to say that they tasted the Potter fame as it was known back then. And you and I both know, Severus Snape, that you yourself contributed to those books.
You are referenced as a source in at least three History books that were written back then and each of these authors have a written oath added to their text where they declare that both parties were willing to discuss this topic by their own free will. So by reading these books and studying these texts, I didn't just learn about Lily Potter, but about you as well, through your own words. So I advise you not to accuse others of sharing your secrets, when you did so yourself."

Severus is obviously gritting his teeth in his need to retort and his inability to do so. The two stare at each other for a few more minutes and then Yen Sid turns away. And instantly his whole demeanor changes and he gains a pleasant smile on his face. "Well then, now that we've heard the opinion of one of my colleagues, why don't we go down the line and hear out my other one? Minerva, what did you think of today's event?"
The woman has a large grin on her face and says: "While I can understand where my colleague comes from, as we do all want a swift and safe end to this upcoming war, I personally think quite different than him about what I saw today and what it could mean for our world. Like yourself, I understand that the future of our world doesn't just depend on us winning this war; it depends on the students as well. And for them to have role models like your GA's is something I deeply appreciate."

"Though I got to admit, Snape did make me curious. Other than your need to see the future secure through giving those lads and lasses a proper education and increasing their sense of safety while inside the school, why aren't you using your powers to help us win this fight? I can't imagine someone with your age and experience to only have one reason for that decision." Alastor then speaks up and I notice a fair few around the table nodding in agreement.
Yen Sid, however, doesn't seem offended as his smile is genuine. "You are certainly correct, Alastor, though please understand that, while it may not be our only reason, it is still our main reason. As for our other reasons, I will begin with the harshest of them. We simply don't feel like fighting your battles for you. Yes, we could end Voldemort if we want to, several of our spells could stop him in his tracks and make him an easy target.
But I believe that, just because magic might make things easier, it doesn't mean you should always rely on it to do so. Plus, while our Demonstration was meant as a warning to Voldemort, it was not meant to make any of you believe our magic to be superior to yours. As you may or may not have noticed, all of my students needed at least half a dozen ethers to replenish their magic throughout the Demonstration run time."

Alastor nods and says: "I did notice them swallowing those blue squares from time to time, yes. I wondered about that. So you're saying that your magic has a limit?" Yen Sid nods and says: "Consider our form of magic to be in percentages. Most spells like Fire, Blizzard and Thunder only take up, say, 1 of 10%. Meaning we can cast ten spells before our magic needs to replenish. However, stronger spells like Time and Gravity take up between 3% and 5%. And the Cure spell drains all 10%.""That sounds like quite the safety hazard."
Kingsley mutters, but Yen Sid shakes his head and says: "I'd like to remind you all of Terra, Aqua and Ventus and their part of the Demonstration. Aqua was the one of the three of them who used the Healing spell the most. And every time she did, Terra would take a defensive position and she would strike and slash at him. This too replenishes our magical energy levels and allows us to regain our ability to cast faster.
Also Aqua is the Spell-Master of the three of them so her magical reserves replenish quicker than Ventus or Terra's. Of all three of them, Terra's replenishes the slowest, but his strength and durability evens that out." A lot of those around me nod and the Master sends a warm, encouraging smile throughout the room as he says: "And the same can be said for all of you – or most of you as I don't really know all of you well enough to properly make that assessment."

A few people snicker and the Master continues: "You all have strengths and weaknesses and you are diverse in strength and skill enough that you can create teams in such a way the weaknesses of one are evened out by the strengths of another. Not to mention that your world's magic is much more diverse and that you have spells in your arsenal that my students and I can only dream of. I know that young Roxas is just dying to get a wand so he can learn the Patronus charm."
The man's tone is warm like a cup of hot coco and I can almost feel as if his words strike me deep within my heart and bolster the positive emotions within me. As if his voice warms me from the inside and gives my confidence and assurance in my team and myself a renewed boost. Yet again I gain a new level of understanding as to why this man is so well-respected by his students and my own respect for him grows another notch.

"Now onto something else. Who here noticed my subtlety?" The Master suddenly asks and Remus smirks along with Arthur as the both of them raise their hands. "Arthur?""You gave Fudge the means through which he will finally convince himself that Voldemort is back." The words startle me and I quickly think back to today's events; to all that was said by the Master.
And then it hits me. "You gave Fudge Voldemort's true name." I mutter and the Master says: "I am well aware that Voldemort would love to go through great lengths to keep his birth identity a secret, but like he has been using Fudge's denial to his favor, I decided to use his need of secrecy to my own. Not to mention I did a little something else." Again my mind runs over the conversation that was held between the Minister and the Master, but I come up blank this time.

"Percy. Because of what you said about his behavior towards Harry, what Harry did for Ginny and because that diary was mentioned, you triggered Fudge's curiosity. He is going to question Percy, if he hasn't already, and the answers Percy will give him will convince him. It will be indisputable evidence." Remus is this time the one to explain and my eyes widen as I realize that the man might be in the right.
But then another thought strikes me as I realize something else about the Demonstration. While Lucius might not have joined Fudge when the man decided to go sit close to Harry, he did seat himself within hearing range of the Minister. And while I remember that Miss Lewis and Mister Jennings were going to visit Fudge earlier today, I can't help but wonder: "What could Lucius be up to?" And I hope that, whatever it is won't be detrimental to Fudge's future.

The master then stands up and says: "Well, I will leave the rest of the meeting to all of you. It truly was a pleasure to meet so many of you and to learn that Wizarding England is in so many capable hands. I would like to extend another invitation to a few of you to return to Hogwarts this Monday. I plan to tell the school of my backstory then." Everyone smiles at this and the Master runs his eyes across the table before he asks:
"Molly, Arthur and William, would you like to come? And could one of you try and see if your brother Charles might be able to take a day off at the Dragon Reserve?" The three nod and William happily says: "I'll see what I can get done. I'll contact him right after the meeting." The master nods and then asks: "Miss Tonks, Mister Shacklebolt and Remus, would you like to come as well? Sirius will be there as well and he would love to see you three again."
And I already know that the man doesn't even need to ask, though I also notice that Severus' rage has increased now that he knows this. A small part of me wonders if the man might refuse to leave his chambers on Monday and another part suddenly fears him reporting this to Lucius if he were to get the chance. I instantly decide to ensure that he won't get this chance and to ask Minerva to aid me in this later on, after the meeting.

"Finally Miss Vance, Mister Diggle and Mister Fletcher, why won't you join us as well? Two of you were of the old crowd and you, Mister Fletcher, have caught the interest of one of my own. They'd like to learn of your craft while I tell my tale." Mundungus had, strangely enough, fidgeted nervously when he was mentioned, but he perked up when hearing about the student. In the end he and the other two happily nod their acceptance.
"Wonderful. Now seeing that there will be a few members of the ICW, the Minister and several of my friends from other worlds. If we then add the people I just invited and the students and staff. I'm afraid that I really can't invite more. I do believe I am already stretching the extension magic of the Great Hall beyond what was asked of it last year with the Tournament. My apologies to everyone else." And while a few do look disappointed, most of those around me are understanding. Master Yen Sid nods at us all and then takes his leave.

At the same time
At Malfoy Manor
Lucius Malfoy's POV

"Let's get this over with." I snap after the last few stragglers have finally come in and sat down. To my disgusted annoyance, Walden Macnair glares at me and snarls: "What are you even doing here, Malfoy?" I glare at him and snap: "This is my house, Macnair. I demand to be respected while you reside here and during our meetings." The bastard snorts and says: "I mean, why are you here and not with Fudge doing damage control?
You saw what happened! That no good freak just about announced our Lord's return for all the world, including the ICW, to hear. And he –.""Oh, will you be quiet! Fudge is a moron. Did it really not occur to you that, in less than a day's time, both his Secretary and his Assistant have proven themselves to be completely useless to his cause? I'm here, because Fudge refused my invitation. He said he feels the need to do damage control.
I don't like it anymore than any of you, but that fool was adamant that, for the time being, he can't be seen with anyone who, as he called it, has a reputation that is not 100% acceptable to all. I did, of course, wish him luck with finding such a person and I feel confident that he will soon come to me to let me help him find such a person. In fact, I already thought of a way to use this turn of events to our advantage." Those around me look intrigued and I smirk.

"I am in contact with a few foreign dignitaries from countries that have the same ideals as you and I. They will pretend to be celebrities in their countries for abiding to all of the masses of their respective countries and drop subtle hints of Pureblood supremacy from time to time. This will entice Fudge to our cause and slowly but surely we will indoctrinate him. Then, when I deem him ready, he will meet our Lord. And if all goes according to plan, our Lord will have the Minister serving him. If not, elections are only a few months away."
Smirks and grins of delight are all around the table and Rowle grins: "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you did it again, Malfoy. You managed to talk and plan your way out of a well-deserved punishment for your foolish mistakes once again." I glare at the blonde and snarl: "Mistakes? What mistakes? How was I even supposed to stop that skeleton from doing what he did without blowing my cover? Explain yourself, Rowle!"
The man rolls his eyes and says: "I don't mean you not stopping that old, tall and dead; I meant you making the mistake of giving the Dark Lord's diary to that blood-traitor Weasley girl.""Speaking of, how is it that Bones hasn't arrested you for that yet?" A newbie Death Eater who sits near the furthest end of the table suddenly asks. Naturally he is instantly glared at by everyone else. "Silence, rodent. You don't speak in these meetings. They are meant for your education only, not your input."

Francis Crabbe snarls at the newbie, who reels back and whimpers in fright of the burly man's tone. I send the squirming brat one last stare of disapproval and say: "Regardless of the brat speaking out of turn, I do believe I should explain this one. It's really quite simple. There are at least three of us amongst Bones' ranks, 5 who have the qualities to join our ranks and another 7 who sympathize with our cause. I spoke with one of the middle group.
I paid him a bit of a confession fee and gave my testimony. As the wizarding world knows, I was under the Imperius curse during the Dark Lord's reign. He entrusted the diary to me while I was suffering like that. And every time I came near it after I was released upon his defeat, it felt like it wanted to continue where our Lord went on. I feared its powers and the hold it could have on me. One day, I was sick of being scared and got angry instead.
I took it with me on my trip to take Draco shopping for his school things and intended to see it destroyed in either Knockturn Alley or somewhere else. Except that I ran into Arthur Weasley before I could do this and the Weasley-Malfoy feud merged with my fear and anger. Next thing I know, Draco has his things and I am back home. I realized that I was no longer in possession of the wretched thing and believed I had slammed it into Weasley during my confrontation with him.

I didn't realize I had left it with the – the girl – until the end of the year when I confronted Dumbledore about going against the Board's will and found out about the girl's kidnapping and her rescue. When I found out that the diary had been destroyed in the process of the girl being saved, I felt like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders and decided to just leave the whole thing where it belonged, in the past."
Everyone around me stares at me at the end of my explanation and Armand Goyle grunts: "You are so lucky you chose the right Auror. No one in their right mind would believe that cock and bull story." I smirk at one of my oldest companions – as Death Eaters don't have friends – and say: "Money, Armand. Money always makes everything true." And because I have been using the same method to convince Fudge this whole time, those around me laugh hard.

"Still, there is one thing about all this that confuses me. How come Dumbledore didn't come after your ass at the end of that year? Surely he knew you were responsible for it all?" Macnair asks and while I am slowly growing to hate this bloody interrogation and the lack of respect shown to me in my own home, I decide to take advantage of the question. "Simple, Dumbledore and Fudge are one and the same; both are fools.
Dumbledore is just a sentimental one, who believed it would cause that Weasley brat unnecessary hardships if he asked her to relive the event for the sake of seeing me punished. Or he probably feared that I would be able to turn the whole thing on its head and use it to make that family look worse than they themselves already are. Either way, his ridiculous sense of care for that pack of blood-traitors stilled his hand, simple as that."

"In other words, he hasn't changed from his Stun-only tactics from back in the last war. The Dark Lord really has nothing to fear from him, does he?" A Death Eater halfway down the table snickers, but then Macnair says: "As long as he doesn't go after Hogwarts, he won't." I glare at the man and Francis sneers: "Don't tell me you're afraid of those freaks." Macnair glares at him this time and says: "No, I just don't want another Halloween to occur, thank you."
And as much as I hate it, the man has a solid point there. Yet Francis leans back in his seat and says: "The Dark Lord is smart, Macnair. He learned from his mistakes. Or did you forget that he is currently researching the missing intel he had that led him to seeking out the Potters last time around? He is not taking anything for granted; not Potter and not anyone else. And besides, we still have the upper hand.""You sound so sure of yourself, Crabbe. Pray tell, what is this upper hand?"
Macnair snarls, sneering at the last two words, yet Crabbe just keeps smirking. And unlike with his son, the smirk holds genuine malice and a sense of intelligence that unfortunately skipped a generation with his offspring. Because of this, I feel a strong sense of doubt and hesitation as he says: "We have a plethora of spies. The majority of us have kids at that school and unlike Lucius', most of them are wall-flowers that everyone ignores.

They'll be able to provide us with all the information we need to take those fiend down and then the road to Hogwarts will be open for our Lord. Ha, I'm even willing to bet 300 0000 Galleons that one of our kids might be able to separate Potter from those freaks and deliver him to the Dark Lord, maybe even by Halloween if not Christmas." At this a lot of those around the table want to start yelling and screaming their desire to take him up on the bet, when something happens.
A sense unlike anything I have ever felt before overcomes me and it seems to affect both the room around me and my own person at the same time. And even those around me seem greatly affected by this sensation. I gasp and pant as suddenly it feels like everything within me has been removed and replaced with a vast sense of nothing, like the starry nights I stare out into from time to time when the English sky is entirely clear of clouds.

"Wh-wh-what – what is going on?" A Junior Death Eater, who got his Mark only three days ago and is therefore one rank above the brat that spoke up earlier, squeaks. A voice I have only heard once before, but that I have grown to hate ever since, speaks up. "I warned you, Blondie. I warned you to keep the kids out of your little conflict. They are innocent and deserve to make their own futures. You will not tempt, threaten or otherwise try to convince them of something they don't want or should not want to do."
And the same handicapped moron, who had the gall to force me to start using great-grandfather's cane just to keep up my appearances, steps out of the shadows just like he did two weeks ago. He again has that monstrosity of a weapon of his on his shoulder, yet then I suddenly notice that there is something different about him. And when I realize what it is, my rage leaves me and a sense of horrifying fear replaces it instead.
The man may have stepped out of the shadows, yet the darkness hasn't left him; it seems to cling and float around his form, wisps licking at his whole form at various spots and then vanishing into nothing. And what's worse is that the man seems completely unaffected by this and even seems to draw power from it, if the look of endless power in his one good eye is any indication. And only then I notice something that is even crazier.

Back during the Demonstration, the man had been using both of those crazy weapons that resemble a mix between a bow and a Muggle firearms, but this time he only has one in his left hand, while in his right he holds the same sword-shaped weapon I saw most of those freaks use today. And just like the man's own eye, there is a bright blue set into the guard of the blade. And it too is glowing brightly with the same power as the strength visible in the man's eye.
All in all, somehow, the man's very aura, his weapons, the way he holds them and his stance emit a sense of power and strength that, even without the malice that usually comes off of the Dark Lord, who is the only person I ever thought I would fear, make me fear this man on a level higher than I have feared the Dark Lord my whole life. And with horrifying shock, I realize that this sensation of mine is caused by him as well.

"How – how – how are you – how are you –?" My fear grows even worse as I look at the table and realize that the others have also given into the fear that they must be feeling. Macnair is looking as if he's hardly cohesive anymore, Francis and Armand look to have gone into shock, the newbies have all fainted and several of those who only joined the Dark Lord at the end of the last war are all either whimpering, crying or silently begging for something underneath their breath.
It's Rowle who tries to sound strong while he whimpers and stutters and the man standing on the other side of the room spares him only one glance before he tells the room at large: "I control space. And consider this your last warning. We may not actively help the Order fight you lot, but we are not going to give you lot the chance to repeat the events of the last war.
You're not going to get any chances of overwhelming the Order or suddenly striking them where they least suspect it. We will not fight alongside them, but we will aid them. For the sake of firelight and the other students. We will do everything we can to ensure that when they graduate, they have a future to look forward to, not a gravesite." To my amazement Macnair actually manages to regain himself somewhat and he tries to sneer at the man through his fear.

"Not willing to take us on here and now, are you? You wimp." But his words seem to have no effect on the man, who simply swings his arm. And suddenly, to my shocked confusion, lines of light appear in front of each of us. I study them all and then notice that the man himself has one as well. A moment later, I notice that the line has numbers above it and a second later, I recognize the numbers as the years that are still to come.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!" Rowle screams and the man answers with a voice that sounds just as vast, deep, dark and even ominous a the universe I have, since hearing Draco's report two weeks ago, realized our world is part of: "Your lifelines. At least your lifelines if you chose to heed my warning." "And if we don't?" Fenrir Greyback speaks up for the first time, his voice actually not holding a hint of fear or awe.
The man swings his blade again and my fear reaches a new height as I notice that the dark blue color on the line that I guessed indicated the years I have left to live shortens down from 2026 to 1995. "Trust me, I killed before. There is plenty of darkness in my heart, lads. But I have had years to come to terms with that and I will have years to do so again. If you lot don't heed my warning you won't." The man states, no room for argument sounding through his voice.

"LIKE HELL! YOU DIE NOW, YOU FREAK! AVADA KEDAVRA!" Rowle screams, but just as the sickly green light is about to hit the man, he suddenly disappears, wisps of the same black power that licked at him before getting left behind. "WHAT! WHAT HAPPENED! WHERE DID HE GO? DID I HIT HIM?" Rowle asks, yet my focus isn't on him, but on the man, who has appeared right behind him the same way he vanished.
"As if." He says and the next minute Rowle falls down as the man had his gun-like weapon pressed against the back of Rowle's neck and it's obvious he fired some kind of shot. The man stares down at Rowle for a moment and then at the rest of us. His eyes roam over all of us and he ends with me. And in his eyes I can clearly read his silent warning. "Heed my warning." And the next moment, the man is gone, his form having disappeared the same way it did before.

Wow, that happened.
And no, Rowle is not dead. Braig whispered the Thunder spell under his breath as he shot the man. I don't know why I didn't let Braig kill him, probably because he didn't want to give Lucius reason to make Fudge arrest him, but one thing is for sure. The Death Eaters have been properly warned. Now only time will tells who of them will take the warning and who won't. Personally, I do think I will have Lucius heed the warning, but he won't switch sides.
So next chapter we are going back to the Garden and I promise that it will be a lot more Light based. It is going to cover Harry and Sirius and if you lot know me, you know I love nothing more than to let those to have all of the fun. Also, Merlin is going to bring over a few of Sora's friends to help Harry learn some basic Keyblade magic spells. And all I can say about these particular friends who are going to be called upon is
Quack-quack,

Venquine1990