I own neither Harry Potter or Warcraft, they might be fun places to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.

Chapter 9: Shatter

Life in the Gryffindor common room was lively that night. Everyone wanted to meet the two new students, and for their part the new students were proving to be rather friendly. They seemed to be normal siblings, though the brother was proving to be a little more protective than might be expected. When Ginny Weasley mentioned how she could relate to overprotective brothers, Dali had said she didn't begrudge Senas protecting her. In a small voice that was still clear she said that they'd lost the rest of their siblings and both missed them dearly. Thankfully, the room at large had the good sense, for once, to change the topic at that point.

After coming up to the new people and introducing themselves with handshakes, Harry, Hermione and Ron retreated to a table in a corner of the common room and threw up privacy barriers. As they worked on their various homework, Harry pulled out the Marauder's Map and looked at the other common rooms. Ron raised an eyebrow at the dot labeled "Aurogos" but it was close enough to the given name he didn't worry about it. He did look up the Gryffindor common room, and saw the true names of the others but just found it a little odd they didn't have last names on the map. In any case, the names they were going by were easier to say and a little less strange, so it didn't really bother him any. They took turns watching the map that evening, Harry refused to say what he was looking for, just that he was worried.

A few glances at the Hufflepuff common room showed 'Ralion' walking around from dot to dot, presumably doing the same thing the new Gryffindors were doing, shaking hands and introducing themselves. Things in Slytherin looked much more tense, and he saw that Harry was often looking towards it. Ron had no desire to be in the new guy's shoes just then, it looked like he was standing in front of Malfoy while the rest of the room sat around and listened to him speak for a rather long time. At one point Daphne came up for a moment, and Ron was briefly distracted by thoughts of of her figure before the Malfoy dot moved towards the new guy, both dots quivered as if they might have been dodging spells, and then Malfoy's dot stopped moving.

Soon after, the Snape dot that had been just outside stormed in, circled Malfoy and stamped towards the new guy. He wasn't sure what happened after that, but Snape was knocked back by something and then left the room soon after. So did the new guy, but he was moving slowly, like he was injured. His dot wavered a little and got harder to read as it moved through the corridors and they lost it. Looking over, he could see his best mate was tense, like he would be if a friend was in danger. Harry must have thought the new guy would be okay, otherwise he would probably be out looking for him, friend or not. Inside the privacy barriers the three didn't hear the banging at the door, but they did notice the students shifting with a little panic and moved where they could hear. That's when they saw Aurogon being helped inside by a prefect and Dali rushing over to him. She caused no few whispers when she held glowing hands to his face (exclamations of "Wandless magic!" rang through the room) as she checked him.

Harry got close enough to hear what was being said over the crowd as Dali shouted in a loud tone. "I need to get him laying down, his nose isn't clotting. Sen, get the trunk out." With hands that fumbled just a little, Senas pulled a trunk from his pocket and tapped it with his wand to bring it up to full size. Inside, the whole house got a view of a ladder going down into what now looked to be a small apartment, complete with several beds, small dining area and food storage, and a full bathroom. Dali jumped down, landing in a crouch and quickly moved to a cabinet that turned out to contain a number of potion vials. Senas supervised an upper year floating the still bleeding teen onto one of the beds, though his perception of space was a bit off due to the expansion charm.

When Harry stepped up, clearly worried, Senas tried to calm him with a hand gesture and told the room at large: "He'll be fine, Dali's healed a lot worse. We just need to be careful, because of the place we all grew up, some potions have their effects skewed. A healing potion might kill us, and other ingredients that would harm you can help us. We only have a small stash with us though." He waited while Dali gave Aurogon a small crimson vial before pressing glowing hand to the front of his face for several moments. When she stopped soon after and checked his vitals everyone held their breath until the motherly red-head gave a smile to the group and started coming up the stairs.

As Senas gave her a hand out of the trunk, she addressed the room that was obviously waiting for her to speak. "He'll be fine with a good night's sleep. Did someone go looking for Professor McGonagall yet? Good, he needs to speak with her. He said he was attacked, but didn't say who yet. He's a bit shaken up right now, but said something about a tussle with Draco, does anyone know who that is?" There was a rather large amount of positive replies so she continued. "Apparently after they resolved their little spat, someone else came in and this happened. I want him to rest until the Professor gets here, but you should all know that this wasn't a physical or direct magical assault, someone attacked his mind. He also wanted me to tell you that all the girls, especially in this house, should get checked for mental effects." The sound level in the room rose sharply until she had to shout to be heard. "I don't know any spells that tell you if your mind has been altered, do any of you?"

In hindsight, it was almost funny the way the entire house above the first years turned to look at Hermione Granger at that point. She blushed at the attention before she spoke. "Umm, I may have seen it in a book recently..." When Harry nodded after she glanced to him, both knowing which book, she became more sure. "Um, I'll be right back down with it, just a moment." She had been pouring over the book Sirius sent them since it had been so helpful with establishing their mental defenses, and inside was a spell that would be useful now.

Only a few moments after she left, she returned carrying a large tome. Ron, along with everyone else saw the title was "Defense of the Mind," and when someone asked why she even had a book like that, she replied: "I recently found out what someone who's studied the mind arts can do to people that haven't learned to defend themselves. It's still a little terrifying even now that I can defend myself a little. Okay, here, this is the chapter that has the spell I was looking for. It's not real easy, so anyone who does this practice a few times at a wall or something first. Who's first?" And just like that, people started getting checked. Harry gazed at the page for a moment before he drew the wand in the air until he was confident he had it right.

Several students came up negative, until Lavender Brown came up glowing a light shade of pink. Hermione took a careful look at the page for a moment. Looking into the scared eyes of her dorm-mate, she tried and mostly failed to sound reassuring. "Love potion, but not a terribly strong one, either something to make you flirt with somebody or the first stage of a slow method of binding you as a, well, sex slave. Parvati and I will keep an eye on you if you want, and I'll brew the general purging potion as soon as I can get the ingredients. I heard its a really awful experience to take it, but its better than..." Lavender broke into tears at that point, Hermione patting her on the shoulder before looking at Parvati. The Indian teen gave her friend a hug then briefly stepped back and nodded to Hermione. She came up turquoise.

Grimacing, Hermione turned back to the book for a moment before sharing her findings. "Obliviation. I think that shade means it was about an hour, maybe two at the most. I hate to ask, but did you ever spend any time alone with Professor Lockheart?" When Parvati said no, but her best friend said yes, Hermione grimaced. "During the end of our second year while I was petrified, Harry found out Professor Lockheart was a fraud who was really only good with the obliviation charm. Um, you might want to talk to a healer you trust if you want to find out more."

Here, Dali spoke up. "I'd add that if you've seen a healer that knows or should have known that a Professor like that was in this school and didn't at least check you with this spell or one like it, that you find a different one. A Professor doing this to students would be a major embarrassment, and I think you all know how people like to shut those up. Please be careful who you see. I'm a pretty good healer, but I'm not well-practiced with the mind. I certainly wasn't expecting this when I came to this country. Is anyone else ready to cast the spell? Stand near the book please."

As the night wore on, several muggleborn students were found to have obliviations, but in the Fifth year students there were a number of loyalty compulsions. Eventually someone suggested that Hermione get checked, and a lot of people jumped when she almost snarled that she didn't need a mind healer. The Weasley twins, who had come up positive for a trust-me potion, shared a look and asked Harry if they could check him, and got the same response with a little more snarl. When they looked at Ron, and he said the same thing, in almost the exact same tones, rage began to flame in their hearts. They genuinely liked Hermione, Prefect or not, Harry was almost family, and Ron was their little brother! With a shared look, two wands tagged three teens.

Hermione came up black with a hint of very dark green, Harry came up in a rainbow, and Ron glowed white and green. With hands shaking in rage, Fred handed his brother the book and both looked at the descriptions of the spell readouts. With a voice shaking in emotion, George looked up at Hermione. "I'm sorry, but you've been obliviated, more than once and the color indicates that it was something very important. I have no idea what the black means, it isn't listed. Harry," and here he choked a little. "you've got almost one of everything. Obliviation more than once, a medium love potion, a trust-me potion, compulsions, behavior modification, maybe something to do with your magic, and the last just says 'Soul Magic.' Ron, you've got Obliviations same as Harry, either a bunch of times or something really important, and you've been hit really hard with a trust-me."

With that said, Fred cast at their little sister. She glowed a light red and green. "Ginny, obliviations and a possession with some lingering effects." With an apologetic expression on his face, George handed Fred the book and cast the spell at both the new arrivals. Their result was identical, crimson with yellow surrounding it. "You both read as an active possession, but the yellow indicates a positive effect of some kind, mind telling us?"

As she tended to be a better speaker, Dali spoke for both siblings. "The yellow is an outside influence that actively suppresses the possession and protects us from it. Please, please don't let this become common knowledge as it is dangerous for us, but we're under the effect of an old Oath Ritual. I don't know how they're viewed in this land, but back home, they'd been forgotten centuries ago, and it was very lucky that we found someone familiar with it when it was needed." Looking around at the various students, she tried to impart the seriousness of the situation to them. "Some similar rituals can be very dark, but this one's name translates best as 'A Vassal's Oath to a Loyal Lord.' It requires trust, but with some luck," She looked Harry right in the eye and she said the next sentence before moving her gaze. "one can find a man who's presence is a balm to the soul, and keeps you safe from dark things."

To give just a hint of deception, she looked down at the trunk on the ground. "I haven't found any faults with my Lord yet, in fact in him I see greatness nearly ready to bloom forth. You don't understand. Think of it like this: Everyone serves something. People serve the Ministry, those at the top serve their own ambitions, children obey their parents. I and my brother are blessed in that the one we serve is bound to us as we are to him. I looked over the old scroll the oath was in after we'd already sworn it, and there was the story of it's creation. The scroll itself is a magical artifact that's repaired itself recently.

"To make a long story much shorter: The creator was a powerful magical that left his home to make a difference in the world and found a land where different peoples fought endlessly. He created this oath to bring them together under a leader who could not betray them. In time, he founded a kingdom, and his people loved him for his fairness and humility. He eventually died, and the people spread out to the four winds, determined to bring all the world together in peace. The scroll was created by one of the magical's daughters, it's signed a few years before the war she likely died in." It was truly a shame the War of the Ancients had destroyed all other mention of the Highbourne who created the oath. The physical location of the kingdom was now somewhere under the ocean east of the Plaugelands, the land did not survive the Sundering. Later, after digging through several archives, Dali would find that all mentions of the mage's line ended in the War of the Ancients, and the author of the scroll in the battle where Neltharion turned on the other Aspects. All of his children refused to let others suffer, refused to let evil triumph without a fight. It seemed none of them survived their stand.

At that point, Ginny asked her a question that was going through a lot of heads. "So you're a slave? What does that have to do with the story about that ancient king then?"

"I much prefer life as a slave to a good man to freedom as monster. And the history was important because for some magics and magical items, the who and why of their crafting forever shape their uses. Think of it like an echo: If you put your heart and soul into something, that shapes it. If a man forges a magical sword to kill someone he's jealous of, the blade will tend towards dark deeds. If a different man forges a magical sword to protect his loved ones, the blade will remain a just weapon unless it is tarnished. In both cases the smith leaves a little of himself behind, but I would only let my brother use one of them. Does that make sense?"

Dali smiled when she saw understanding on their faces. "We might as well check everyone in the House for mental effects. Sen, please shrink the trunk and keep it near you until morning okay? I'm going to watch over Aurogon for the night, it seems like we're not getting McGonagall after all. I guess the staff have more important matters to worry about than a student being assaulted." With that, she slipped over to Misses Patil and Brown and waved over Ginny. She spoke in a whisper for a moment. "I think I can get a mind-healer into the castle, if we can keep her hidden from the staff. You three she can help easily, but the others..." Here she motioned to the 'golden' trio of friends still looking a bit shell-shocked. "Well, that is much less easy to sort out. She'll do all she can, but she can't be seen. You'll know why if you see her. Chin up girls! We'll get your minds clean and then everyone else." Glad to see determination bloom on their faces, she gave them a soft smile and then returned to the trunk, using the ladder this time.

Tapping his wand to a rune on the exterior of the trunk, Senas quickly placed the entire thing into a pocket in his robe's inner lining. As it turns out, the skills of a Marauder are both varied and useful, and Sirius had been a little bored during the wand making. So, he worked on the trunks instead of watching a tree grow. (Granted, it was growing faster than a tree had any right to, and growing in interesting ways, but it still wasn't terribly exciting.) By now, most people had been checked, finding a slew of obliviations and a disturbing number of compulsions. Senas cleared his throat to draw attention. "I know I'm new, but I have to ask for help tonight. Is there anyone skilled with a wand willing to stand guard with me for the night? I think I'm sleeping in the fifth year dorm." With that, people started drifting to sleep, a series of alarm spells set on the common room entrance and both stairways. Harry Potter, Ron, Fred and George Weasley, and their friend Lee Jordan all climbed into the room, and they kept watch in turns. Neville kept them company late into the night as well.

Eventually, the student sent to fetch McGonagall returned, the Professor never did answer her door. The seventh year Prefect was surprised to find three wands, including one that very much looked like a dagger in his face before he reached the stairs. However, in light of the circumstances, he trudged off to sleep without complaints.

Finding a bit of time during the night, Harry used his mirror to call Sirius. His godfather was incensed, furious at the Headmaster. He was also deeply concerned when Harry reported that he was upset that his friends were affected, but no matter how he thought about it, wasn't concerned at all about what had been done to him. In the end, Sirius just gave the best advice he could.

"Harry, I wish we could just call the Aurors. But so many of them have been Hogwarts students that if Albus has done to them what he has to you, it would get ugly and we'd lose. I'll tip off some journalists, try to bring as much attention to this as I can. Remus would tell you not to lose your temper, to stay calm. Bugger that! Stay angry, don't be stupid if you can help it but let your emotions go. If there's a battle tomorrow, be angry! If you can't be angry for yourself, be angry for your friends, for everyone that's suffered under the Headmaster!

"Albus betrayed you, he betrayed the trust of your friends, he betrayed the wishes of your parents to see you happy and healthy. Harry, I… I know what a home life like yours feels like, before Dorea and Charlus took me in I had the same. Harry, no matter what happens tomorrow, know that I'll be behind you. I won't ask you to stay safe, but stay alive and trust your friends."

With that, Harry went to get what sleep he could thanks to another Dreamless Sleep potion. Sirius, back in the family home he'd always hated started to make what plans he could to support his godson. And if that included illegal, international portkeys to Black Island for Harry, his friends, and his dragons? Well a back-up plan never hurt.

Somehow, everyone got the minimum of sleep they needed to function the next day, though getting out of bed the next morning was something of a chore. An amusing exchange took place as Dali attempted to make use of the dorm's shower and bathroom. Seamus had attempted to block her entry until she let loose with an impressive growl and he backed up, intimidated. Dali countered his objections by saying that she was a healer, and if there was anything in there she hadn't seen already someone really needed a healer. She also let him know that it was far too early for amorous thoughts when the boy sputtered that she was a pervert. After she had left the room Senas turned to those still climbing out of bed. "We really need to get the trunk's bathroom working. Oh, and sorry about that, my sister has never been a morning person."

Soon after, Aurogon climbed up the ladder, looking much better, in spite of the blood stains all over him. He asked permission to use their dorm's showers and received it along with the warning who was currently in there. "Ah, well I can wait a bit then. She is not a morning person at all." Several of the teens quirked eyebrows at that, the growl had certainly raised alarm already, as well as made them all hesitate to disturb her.

Aurogon went around the room for a few moments and properly introduced himself. When he reached Neville the boy chose a formal and greetings on behalf of House Longbottom. Aurogon offered a formal greeting in return. "I offer you my greetings on behalf of a Legacy whose name must remain secret, until the time is right." He had figured that at least one of the boys would spread rumors of anything he said here, and it was probably better to keep the Headmaster guessing. When the dragons had found out who had likely put the compulsions on their Lord and who had most definitely allowed that parasite alone to feed on him, a cold anger began to build. So they started to plan, and they found they wanted to show the world the truth of the man.

While Snape's attack had been expected, the drake had truly done nothing to compel the man to violence. The Professor clearly had a few screws loose if his response to a simple altercation between two teens involving no serious injuries was a mental invasion. Among dragons scuffles were common, especially between adolescent males. So long as there were no serious injuries and the two were able to work together afterward no one cared.

Now, there was a sense of nervousness as the group prepared to head down. Dali had switched rooms to finish preparing for her day, time spent with the female Night Elf in their hunting group proved useful for dealing with her hair. Some of the techniques also got the attention of Hermione's roommates, and their interest ate up a little more time until she promised to share hair techniques with the rest of the dorm that evening. In the end, in a move of solidarity, the house decided to head down together. The revelation of the mental effects washed away the tensions of the last few months; they were Gryffindors, and they would stand or fall together!

Many of the housemates were both worried and angry for those who had mental effects pop up, especially Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Even more so when the three of them admitted to not being worried about what had been done to them, even though they thought they should be. Aurogon had slipped away after a shower and borrowing a clean robe, saying he had a few things to do and wanted to make a dramatic entrance. It was interesting to watch him fade from view in the common room before the door opened and closed. Little did the Lions know they weren't the only House that was rather nervous that morning.

The night previous, Ralion had been enjoying the new group he was a part of. They were friendly, and when he explained he wasn't used to crowds he was given space, enforced by the Prefects. After a friendly conversation about the merits of Quidditch, during which Ral had admitted to never having seen a game, but looking forward to it when the season started, the speak-stone in his pocket pulsed three times, indicating an incoming call he should take in public. The teen with purple eyes surprised those he was talking to when his expression became solemn and he quickly removed a small stone from his pocket and pulsed some magic into it. That done, he set it on the table and started speaking into it. "Ral here, everyone okay?" His expression and tone he bore bringing the rest of the room to silence.

On the other end, Senas was speaking somewhat softly from Gryffindor's common room. "Aurogon was attacked. I don't know who did it yet, Dali's working on him. Are you safe? He should have been in his common room, he just walked into ours covered in blood."

Feeling nervous in spite of himself, Ral answered back. "I'm in the common room, and I'm safe as far as I know." He did look around the room a few times as he spoke however.

"Stay there until morning, you're probably safest among the other students. But be alert: Aurogon should have been safe in his common room too, not to mention we both know he's no slouch in a fight. We'll see you in the morning, if things go really bad be ready to leave quickly. Safest place in Britain my ass! Wait, Dali's coming up, I'm going to leave this on for a bit."

From there, the Hufflepuffs listened to the entire event, until the sound cut out after the other house decided to head to bed. They had been quietly listening and turning shades of pale and green, as fears began to run rampant. After Lockheart had been mentioned, one of the boys had remarked that most of the girls here had stayed after class with him at least once. Sadly most of the girls had no memories of those events at all. In the end it was Ralion that called for order when the room had broken out in hysterics. "Everyone calm down! There's nothing we can do tonight, we should get some sleep and talk to the Gryffindors tomorrow. Does anyone know why Gryffindor's prefect couldn't get in touch with McGonagall?" At that, he started to hear story after story of how useless the staff was in times of crisis.

"Okay, that isn't what I wanted to hear just now. Well, this is supposed to be the house of the loyal, right?" When he got a mediocre response he asked again and got a much stronger response. "Then let's act like it! We should head to the Great Hall together tomorrow and stay alert until we know what's really going on. Everyone keep an eye on your friends, if we can't count on the Professors we can damn well count on each other! Am I right?" And like that, a group that had been terrified moments before was reassured. And if they doubled up in the dorms that night and set some alarms on the doors, well no one could blame them.

As the group headed up for the night, Ral stopped the prefect he'd had the most contact with. "Miss Abbott, I hate to ask this of someone I barely know, but would you be willing to hide something for me until morning? I have a trunk that's larger on the inside, and I'd prefer not to be somewhere easily found in case I'm supposed to be next." Under the circumstances, the girl easily agreed and Ralion found himself hidden away inside a shrunken trunk. He decided to never tell the girl there was a charm on the inside that let one see outside when it closed; as she had shrunken it before checking no one was watching and slipped it into her bra. Her dorm was more than willing to throw a pillow and a few blankets down despite Ral saying he didn't need them.

When morning came, their entire House moved as one to the dining hall. They were the first ones there, but no one was eating anything yet, they just nervously milled around their table. Ralion was among them, wearing a glamour that made him look like a student that had graduated several years ago.

Lucius Malfoy was not a happy man as he stormed through the halls of Hogwarts towards the common room of his old House. Receiving a message well before dawn that his son was dead and his presence was requested at the school was not a way any parent ever wanted to wake up. That Dumbledore was blaming Draco's death on a young man who had been a student for less than twelve hours was not sitting well either.

In the common room decorated with green and silver, the Headmaster had shown in Lucius Malfoy, explaining the death as the result of a dangerous duel by a new student they were still trying to find. Albus had even told Lucius he was sorry for the man's loss before he left, saying the search for the student was still ongoing. Lucius was nearly apoplectic with rage as he circled what he was told was the frozen corpse of his only son. He had quickly stormed into the dorms for the seventh years and demanded to know what had happened. He actually had to use magic on the students to wake them. When they all started talking at once he shouted, almost screamed for them to talk one at a time.

The story came out: his son attempting to force the new student in line, the new student defending himself and telling them all that Draco would be fine in the morning if no one took the opportunity to off his son. The mental duel with Snape where the new student seemed to falter, blood leaking from his nose before he pushed back and defeated the older man. The new student leaving the room after Snape left to find a healer, and pleading with the students to keep an eye on Draco so one took the opportunity to settle a score or kill his son. The Headmaster entering and being told Draco would be fine when the spell wore off. The students had told him that those present, most of the fifth years and up had tried to prevent the Headmaster from casting spells at the ice, but even many against one had not proven up to dueling Dumbledore. They told him that when they last saw him, Draco could clearly both see and hear outside the ice.

Storming back down the stairs, a desperate hope in his heart he raced to his son and looked at his eyes. But the eyes didn't follow him, and he wouldn't respond. It was then that a student in Slytherin robes and blue hair strode into the room with purpose and walked to the ice. Seeing Lucius, but likely not recognizing him the teen, appearing angry demanded information from him. "Where are the students that were keeping watch over him? I told them someone could alter the spell if he wasn't watched!"

"They proved less adept at dueling than the headmaster. Did you cast this spell? What is its purpose?!"

"In my experience? To keep unruly apprentices in line. I even saw it used to break up a fight that was getting too rough, the magical I trained under just froze them both and left them to stare at each other until sunset. Move aside, something doesn't seem right here." Suddenly, he twitched to the hallway. "Damn, I thought I'd have more time. Look out." With that, the young man pulled a scythe, of all things, out of nowhere and gestured to the door. An enormous trail of frost snaked across the floor and when it reached the entrance, the door became encrusted in thick ice. Lucius was a bit surprised when the teen then seemed to charge his weapon with magic of some kind before throwing it, the blade embedding into the thick ice. He understood the purpose soon after as the ice glowed and seemed to reinforce itself. Then the boy began looking at the form of his son, with bright blue glowing eyes.

Lucius was about to demand answers when the teen held up two glowing hands and began running them along the ice. "Damn that fool! How hard is it to say "Well I'm not familiar with this spell, maybe I shouldn't touch it!" He's layered stasis charms on top of mine but there's nothing to sustain the boy when mine runs out!"

As someone who had seen a lot of magic performed in his life, seeing the teen move glowing hands around while cursing showed him the seriousness of the situation and that time was not on their side. "That is my son, tell me how I can help."

Not even sparing him a glance, the teen barked out: "Keep that door sealed, the old fool will be trying to get back in here and stop me, there's an alert ward tied into the magic so he knows I'm here. Snape wants me gone and I doubt he cares about the means. The old fool's magic is so sharp and precise, dammit! I can't pick at it and get them off in time. Time for Plan B!"

With that, Lucius saw the teen held out his right hand, and then the Scythe ripped itself free and flew into his hand. The weapon glowed bright blue and sung with magic before the teen swung it at the ice. Lucius was pleased that the angle wouldn't damage his son if he broke through. A horrible screeching noise broke out then, like two rough metal blades fighting for dominance. "The door!" And Lucius turned and saw that the door was nearly broken through. Trying to pick out the most obscure magics he could to keep it closed, he could only spare glances at the now very sweaty teen.

"That damned old fool is reinforcing the charms through the door! What possible reason could he have for that? But if he thinks I'm so weak..." And to Lucius's surprise, here the teen's voice began to grow deeper and a little raspy. "he knows nothing about me!" With a final push, the scythe broke whatever it was pushing against, and the teen dismissed it, collapsing against the ice, covered in sweat. Lucius looked at his son and saw his eyes moving around the room in panic and his heart rejoiced in his chest. Sadly that inattention allowed the Headmaster to come charging into the room with his wand spewing ropes at the collapsed teen, shocked when a translucent dome whipped up around him as he lay catching his breath.

Looking to his oft-opponent, he spoke thunderously. "Lucius, that is the individual that killed your son! Help me take him into custody quickly."

Lucius wasted no time moving between the Headmaster and the student. "Stand down Albus. You foolishness almost cost me my son!"

"So the boy has you under his control? Very well, I will take you both into custody in that case."

Much of the tension was broken when the student on the floor started to laugh. "Old Fool. Any moment now I'll be proven right. Just wait and watch a moment." Soon after, the ice began to shift and crack. Deciding to not let pettiness over rule the goodwill he was building, the teen barked out a command. "Shields!" Not having any reason to ignore such a suggestion at that point, both men obeyed just as the ice exploded outwards. Draco could be heard taking a deep breath followed by coughing. In the background, Lucius could hear the other teen advising his son to take shallow breaths until his lungs felt right. Lucius was nearly ready to drop and hug his son, but the headmaster was still there with his wand trained on him.

"It would seem, Headmaster, that my son is not dead at all. Please leave us in peace and give us a moment."

"Lucius, we need to get your son to the Infirmary immediately! Dark magic like that can have devastating effects!"

Again, the young man started to laugh. "Dark magic you idiot? I'm not the one nearly killed Draco. This was a simple waking stasis charm until you turned it into a death trap. In fact, though it would have cost me my sleep, I was going to stay here all night and watch over the boy. My furniture spells need a bit of work anyway: my last attempt proved I don't have 'comfort' down yet. That was until I suffered a mental attack by a member of your staff. Why on earth do you have a man wallowing in that much hate around students? Are you completely senile or do you simply want the students to suffer?"

Dumbledore's response was predictable if one had served on the staff for any amount of time. "Professor Snape has my full trust. And you will give him your respect."

"So, a man tries to bludgeon his way into my mind and you expect me to respect him? I'm sorry old fool, but he only got past my outer defenses. I still know up is up and down is down. Any further attempts to get into my mind will either prove lethal or I will fight a duel and kill the perpetrator. Now, are you going to attack the three of us or are you going to let Draco warm up?"

And at that point, Lucius saw that there were indeed three wands pointed at the Headmaster, though he made a note to ask at some point about the new student's wand. It was certainly striking if nothing else. There was pride in his heart as he saw the wand in his son's shake a little but remain trained on the Headmaster. When Albus saw that they would not listen to him, he simply said: "We will continue this discussion later." And stormed out of the room. Lucius was impressed with the new student as well, he was apparently running on fumes because he sagged against the stone for a moment when the Headmaster left.

After a moment's rest though, he stood and offered a hand to Draco. "I apologize Draco. That spell isn't exactly a barrel of fun, but its something I've been in for a lot longer than the ten hours you were. Trust me when I say that a shower, starting cool and slowly getting as hot as you can stand is what you need to get moving again. Your joints will also be stiff for a while unless you let my friend use the magic she practiced on me to help you out. Consider it an apology for the Headmaster nearly killing you." Draco did take his hand and stood, just a little shaky on his legs. When Lucius stepped forward, the blue haired teen stepped back a little but hung around. "Do you mind if I follow you to the showers? I seem to have built up a little sweat this morning. I expect another confrontation with the Headmaster, so I'd prefer to be at my best."

Lucius gave a regal nod of his head and they stumbled to the fifth year dorms, where the other students lay sleeping in their clothes, on top of both sheets and blankets. Lucius saw the strange teen shake his head and walk down to the furthest shower, flicking his hands at the floor as he went. Lucius raised an eyebrow when another wall of ice flashed into being in the aisle, protecting the last stall.

When he was young, Draco's mother bathed him, so it was odd for both of them as he helped his very stiff son into the shower. Pausing a moment before starting the water, Lucius spoke to his son without looking at him. "You came very close to death just now Draco. I am pleased you still breathe." He let out a low chuckle. "Next time, allow someone else the honor of testing the newcomer."

There really wasn't anything else for Draco to say beyond: "Yes Father, thank you Father." (It was, in retrospect, good advice.) The warm feeling in the boy's bones wasn't just from the increasingly hot water. And letting the water warm slowly turned out to be good advice. Lucius left his son for a moment to spell the rest of his dorm awake, and Draco heard him tell them to get the rest of the House up and ready to move. He heard the groans and curses. It pleased him that they had faced the Headmaster for him, though it seemed the old man had reminded House Slytherin why he was the only man the Dark Lord was hesitant to fight openly.

Groaning a bit as the warm water chased away the cold in his flesh and soothed his muscles, he admitted to himself, if only in his head, that his actions of the last night had been foolish. One did not carry a weapon like that and not know how to use it, after all. After recalling how very sharp that blade looked, he also recalled how the other teen had twitched towards it, before pulling his hand back and encasing him in ice. That was a conscious decision not to kill me. Hell, I'll worry about all that later, this water feels too good to think about anything else.

While Draco warmed himself up slowly, Albus Dumbledore paced inside his office, the only witnesses the portraits and Fawkes. The man was disturbed, something that had happened just now had caused him distress. Fawkes had hope that this was what the Greater Being had promised him, that Albus would finally find himself again. Instead, the man began to argue with himself.

"I was wrong… That ice, was it really just an unknown stasis spell? Was I wrong? Draco seemed all right, if a trite cold. No… I can't have been wrong. But… Then Draco must have been dead, until the boy brought him back. Resurrection? Impossible! If I can't do that, the greatest Light wizard of the age, then no one can. It must be Necromancy! Oh Merlin, those four students Minerva let into the school, they must all be powerful dark wizards! I'll have to excise them by any means necessary!" Then, the man's voice darkened. "And all they've poisoned with their words must die as well."

Albus seemed to struggle there, his voice faltering. "It… is for… the Greater Good." He repeated it again, more sure than before. On the third repetition, the words came smoothly, but the inflections were different. Fawkes had known Albus a very long time, and what spoke with his flesh just then wasn't the Albus he knew, wasn't his tone, wasn't the look in his eyes, wasn't the cruel smile on his face. Fawkes knew that this was the moment Albus finally lost the battle he learned he was fighting far too late. No longer was his old friend a constraint on the weapon, no longer Albus curbing the worst desires of the Elder Wand.

With a cruel smile to the creature that had long attempted to oppose it, now rendered helpless, something that wasn't Albus called for an elf to gather the Heads of House. With one last chuckle before schooling his features into a convincing imitation of Albus Dumbledore, the thing spoke one last time. "No more kid gloves with the staff. After all, Death is for the Greater Good."

AN: Reviews are greatly appreciated, they motivate me to continue writing! It takes a bit of work to get a big chapter out each week. I'm hoping to hit 100 reviews across all platforms soon!

I'd like to thank hkurtz2013 at for helping me edit, a fresh pair of eyes turned out to be pretty helpful.

The Elder Wand is not a nice enchanted object at all. I have a new take on its history for this crossover, it will be interesting to see if anyone can figure it out.

Next chapter sees Lucius Malfoy standing next to a powder keg with matches in his pocket.