London

Wizarding Britain woke up to some grim news headlines:

"Azkaban reduced to rubble

Barnabas Cuffe

In a press note issued by the Ministry yesterday, it has been stated that the Island fortress which was the only maximum security incarceration facility in Wizarding Britain has been razed down to rubble in a death-eater attack last evening.

The ministry also said that about 20 wizards and witches, most of whom were branded death eaters were rescued by the terrorist otherwise known as Voldemort. There were no other casualties among the prison guards as a result of the attack. It is also reported that the Dementors have defected. They have changed their allegiance to Voldemort.

The only real loss is that the building of the former prison was reduced to rubble. As such, it will be of no use to us anymore, meaning that there will be more executions. The Ministry will also have to find someplace else to keep its prisoners.

As for the former inmates of the prison, the ministry reported that most of them had already been transported to other countries. A few who were serving lighter sentences had their sentences commuted. They were given the option of paying a fine and being released instead of serving the balance of their sentences.

It seems that the war is going to heat up from now with the most dangerous of Voldemort's death eaters at large again. (To see a list of escapees, see P. 10)

Here I would like to remind our readers that these escaped death eaters are part of what was called his inner circle during the last war. With them being at large again, this writer is concerned for the safety and security of Wizarding Britain.

General Longbottom was quoted as saying, "It would seem that the loss of our maximum security prison is a major blow but the facility was aging and dangerous anyway. We will rebuild a new, better, stronger, safer facility. The dementors will be dealt with appropriately for their defection. The escaped prisoners will face our Aurors. There can be no doubt how that will end.

While the war is afoot, we will promptly execute every death eater who deserves it after we have tried them. I am determined to fill them with fear of the might of the ministry".

This was the news in the Daily Prophet this morning with a picture of the ruins with the dark mark hovering over it. It had sent people into frenzy all over wizarding Britain. The office of General Longbottom was receiving letters by the dozen every hour from ordinary wizards and witches to seek reassurance from him that everything was fine. Frank had been so inundated by these requests that he had to put a mail ward on himself and Green Hues. Consequently all the mail sent to the General was being routed to an empty room in the bowels of the Ministry of magic. There a few of the staff were going through it, vetting it.

Office of General Longbottom

"I could not resist taking a shot at him. I knew I could be killed but I threw a silver knife at him. Then I turned tail and ran. I transformed as soon as I was out of their sight. Later when I was spying on them in my animagus form, I saw that my knife had found Triton Selwyn's chest. he died almost immediately", reported Bartley Higgins.

In the office of the Minister of Magic, the General was sitting with the Chief of DMLE and the Head Auror. They were in conference about the incident at Azkaban. They had the Auror reporting in person to them who had killed Triton Selwyn in the fortress.

"You did a commendable job, Bartley. I am promoting you to work under Sirius Black to be in-charge of the training of the Trainee Aurors.", said Frank, "and I do not want you refusing my offer either. I want the boys to know you, respect your authority. There may be times when you yourself may have to lead the charge. The days of looming in the shadows are over for you, my friend."

With that Bartley walked out of the office. Frank turned to Alastor, "Alastor, report."

Alastor adopted a professional stance as he did when reporting to his senior officer, "Voldemort used standard Auror grade port-keys to reach the Island fortress. They were issued in the name of Madam Edgecombe. Robards went to personally investigate her and he found that she was under the Imperious curse when she tried to kill him with her bare hands. He sustained a few injuries while trying to subdue her. Right now, she is undergoing treatment at St. Mungo's where the healers are trying to cure her. So far, she has injured two healers. They regretfully had to give a Draught of Living Death to her while they worked on her. It would be safe to assume that she will be out of commission for many months".

Frank nodded, "Were you able to trace the path of the portkeys?"

Moody shook his head, "We could not. He had Madam Edgecombe take four port-keys but he used only one. He used his own port-keys to take his followers away. We tried to trace its path but it was untraceable."

Frank shrugged, "What have we lost in addition to the fortress?"

Moody thought for sometime before he answered, "I suppose, the Dementors. They deserted when the fortress was attacked. But, I don't really know that they were ever on our side. That's all."

Based on our latest intelligence, he has 30 Giants, about 200 Dementors, about 150 wizards and roughly 300 werewolves. That is a formidable force for us to face."

Frank said wryly, "If the war were to be decided by numbers alone, we will need more wands on our side. Monsieur Delacour had promised me some help. Dumbledore tried to get help from the War Wizard Contingent of the ICW but they refused, saying it is a revolt or civil war, not an invading force or international incident like the Grindelwald war".

Alastor asked him, "What about the lad's friends? Won't they participate in the war?"

Frank shook his head, "No, Alastor. They never fight open wars unless it is imperative for them. The only way they would participate is if Mr. Harsh Vardhan asked them to."

Moody said grimly, "then let's hope that Voldemort does not get anymore followers or that we receive unexpected help from different quarters."

Hogwarts

The students were looking at the grid of photos on the front page of the Daily Prophet. Each one was a photo of one of the death eaters that had been broken out of Azkaban with their name and a page reference where one could find an account of their crimes and convictions.

Most of them were considered to be as bad as Voldemort himself. Harry knew that the paper was not far from wrong. The ones who were rounded up after Voldemort's fall had continued to wreck havoc in his name. They were all well versed in dark magics. It was almost certain that they would know almost as much as he did.

Neville was glaring hatefully at Bellatrix Nameless. His expression looked murderous. His magic had wrapped itself around him like a cloak. Harry knew that Neville would like nothing better than to hack her to death. Hannah was there holding his hand in hers, patting it lightly, whispering words in his ear.

Harry was glaring at Travers, one of those who had been incarcerated in Azkaban since the end of the last war. One of his purported crimes included being involved in the murder of the McKinnons. He wanted to get his hands on that one to kill him after he had performed all the methods of torture that Charak had taught him.

Susan was glaring at Bellatrix nameless and Augustus Rookwood. He was a pockmarked wizard who was scratching his nose and looked like he was bored in his picture frame. One of his crimes was to have helped in bringing down the wards around the house which Edgar Bones had bought for himself and his wife. He was a ward specialist who had been employed in the past in the Department of Mysteries. He could break down any ward if he was given sufficient time to study it.

He carefully studied the names of every witch and wizard who had escaped Azkaban. He burned their names and crimes into his memory so that he would know who had personal grudges against each one and exactly how much justice to extract from every one of them before he allowed them to die.

There was Dolohov who had been incarcerated for having killed the Prewett twins. Any one of the Weasleys would love to have a chat with him. There was Mulciber Sr. who was incarcerated for killing a family of muggles. Any one of them could settle up with that one. There was Corbin Yaxley who was sent to Azkaban for having killed 5 Aurors during the previous war including Reginald Dunbar. It looked like Fay wanted nothing more than to get her hands on that death eater and kill him.

The mood was grim all over the castle. Many of the students looked thoughtful, some of them looked angry. A few were gleeful. Harry was marking the important ones. He also remembered Narcissa's request. He wrote a short note and sent it to Jugson through one of Hogwarts Elves to come meet him on the fifth floor in an abandoned room with other Vassals of House of Black, at dinner time when almost all of them would be in the Great Hall.

A meeting with Vassals

Jugson, Everly and Dryden entered the room and bowed to Harry before he offered seats to them. After they were seated, he turned to Jugson, "Where is your father?"

"He is in hiding at one of the safe houses of my family. The Dark Lord has still not noticed his absence so his dark mark has not flared at all. He asked me again if you can get mercy for him from the ministry."

Harry asked him earnestly, "Did he ever kill someone in his service? Was he convicted for it or did he use the Imperious defense?"

He shook his head, "I do not know Lord Black. He has never told us about his time as a death eater. He would only say that it was the most embarrassing time of his life."

Harry thought for a few minutes before he started speaking again, "I will offer a letter of reference for him. In a week's time, he is to present himself to Alastor Moody at the Ministry of Magic. He will offer to give up all secrets of Voldemort that he knows of in return for clemency or a blanket pardon if he did not commit any horrible crime. The unspeakables need someone to conduct their research on the dark mark. Your father would be safe in their custody while they try to find a way to rid him of the mark and if his connection to Voldemort through it can be severed in some way".

He turned to Everly and Dryden, "If you have someone in your family in the same predicament then something similar can be arranged for them, but only after considering their crimes. You three cannot return to your homes in the meanwhile because I expect that Voldemort or his followers will come recruiting. Given their tactics, you would have to join them or be killed."

As Jugson pondered everything Harry had said, Harry started speaking again, "I have a job for all of you, if you agree. Since the final battle will be fought here, we will need to evacuate the castle. I want you to make a list of students who come from families of death eaters or would act for Voldemort if he attacked the castle. When we are evacuating, you three will be keeping guard over such students at one of my safe houses with a couple of Aurors. I will make sure that you are given recognition for your service. the taint of death eater on your houses is washed off by your service to the light".

Jugson was the first to find his voice, "Lord Black, I am grateful for the generosity you are bestowing upon me. My father had left it for me to decide where to pledge my allegiance to the Dark Lord or to renew my fealty to you. I am glad that I chose the latter. I will ask him to surrender to Alastor Moody as soon as you can give me a letter of Reference for him."

Dryden and Everly were of the same mind. This was the best deal they would be getting in the present climate. Their families were bent on serving the Dark Lord. They wanted them to stay away from it. This was in every way beneficial however Dryden asked him, "Do you require any service of us?"

Harry nodded, "As a matter of fact, I do. Can you tell me what Draco Malfoy is up to?"

Everyly started telling him, "As much as he is a pathetic scumbag, I feel pity for him sometimes since he returned from Winter Vacation. He has been abandoned by everyone. He kind of keeps himself to himself. He has no one to talk to. He sleeps with his wand nearby. His cronies, Crabbe and Goyle have abandoned him. They now serve Theodore Nott who is the new boyfriend of Pansy Parkinson since Lucius Malfoy lost his status before the Dark Lord. The Light has always detested him for his behavior towards muggle-born, half bloods and other pure bloods who he calls blood traitors. As for neutrals, there are no neutrals since Lord Greengrass joined the Light Side in the Wizengamot. With things being the way they are, he is favored by no one, scorned by those who were previously his friends. He spends most of his time cooped up in his dorm or sometimes in the library. There is nothing to suggest that he is up to any mischief."

Harry heard everything with an impassive face while he felt a little sorry for the ferret. True the ferret had caused problems for him with those 'Potter Stinks' badges among other things. But Harry had already more than fully paid back any insult Malfoy had ever given him and got a full apology out of him besides. And slimy git or not, this was still his cousin, a black and a 15 year old boy. Harry would help him, if he would allow it. A lonely existence was a miserable existence which no one should have. He turned to the trio, "I have a job for you all. You will keep an eye on Malfoy. If he gets up to any mischief or anyone threatens him or plots against him, you are to let me know immediately. Don't try to handle it yourselves. That is, unless he is in immediate danger, then protect him the best you can and get word to me. I need every one of you to be above reproach, keep your hands clean and appear to the death eater's children that you are on their side. If you need me, hand a note or a message off to any of the house elves. I'll be there before you know it. I want a daily report of the Malfoy heir."

Head Master's study

Albus Dumbledore had sent for Harry and Neville to talk about something important. When they entered, he offered seats to them. After they sat down, he asked them, "I presume you both know about the break-out from Azkaban?"

Harry nodded, "Of course it was all over the papers".

Dumbledore started saying grimly, "I do not need to foist upon you the ramifications of these death eaters breaking out of Azkaban. They are the worst of his followers. with them back, he has increased his strength many fold. I have heard reports that Tom himself is planning to leave Wizarding Britain to find more followers. His forces already outnumber us. With even more followers at his side, the balance tips a bit more his way. I wanted to discuss with you both where we can get more people to fight for us knowing that we cannot resort to the methods adopted by Tom."

Harry asked him, "Professor, what can you tell me about our forces?"

Dumbledore nodded, "We have about 250 competent Aurors. Maybe 50 more wizards most of whom are not fighters."

Harry smiled, "Professor in addition to those you mentioned, we have about 50 students who have been training as hard as they can. Remus has been raising a force of 40 werewolves at the Rosier Estate. They would be useful in dealing with the werewolves on his side. In addition to that Monsieur Delacour had promised help to us. I received a letter from Viktor Krum who has promised to visit here next month. He is going to sign up with Puddlemere United. I am hopeful of him adding at least 40 more wands to our numbers. Taken together, we can have a distinct advantage if we choose the battlefield which we already have. This castle will be the ground for battle. The Order of the Snow Leopard is now working on developing strategy to be followed in case the castle is besieged."

Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling, "The Order of the Snow Leopard? Named after your magnificent Animagus form, I presume?"

Harry was gaping at him, "Did Professor McGonagall tell you about this?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "No. The day you achieved your transformation, the centaur Firenze was in that part of the Forbidden Forest. He was keeping an eye on you as it happened. Later he sent a message to me about it. I must admit that I was surprised with your achievement. How long did you work on it?"

Harry grinned, "About 2 months, professor."

Neville asked him, "Two months? And you didn't tell me about it that day?"

Harry grinned at him, "I don't remember Professor McGonagall asking me about it. I suppose that she suspected it since the term started."

Dumbledore nodded, "Indeed. She has framed the picture you sent her for Yule. She has it proudly displayed on her desk in her office."

When he left the Head Master's office, Harry was thinking about where he could find more wizards to join his side. True he had said all that to Dumbledore but he had a feeling that he would need a few more wands before all was said and done. They would need a lot more than those he already had. If money could get him the desired help, he would have emptied all his vaults. But it seemed that people would either fight for their freedom or not and no amount of money would ever change that.

The Room of Requirement

"Hello everyone. Welcome back. A lot has changed since our last session. I presume that you all know about everything that has come to pass in the previous few weeks. It has all been in the papers and, if I do say so myself, the reports have been pretty accurate. With Tom coming out into the open, the threat of death eaters has increased. We need more than just knowledge of single spells to defend ourselves. I think that it is time to introduce Spell-chains to you. Spell-chains are useful when your opponent can cast a decent shield, provided you have put a shield breaking charm between two spells in a chain. To cast a spell chain, beginners put those spells together where the end wand movement for one spell is the starting wand movement for another. For example if the first spell is ending with a counter-clockwise circle then the next spell can be one that starts with a half-circle, a quarter circle or a counter-clockwise circle. As you become proficient at casting, you can chain any two spells together", Harry finished explaining spell-chains to the students gathered in the Room of requirement.

With that, he showed them a few spells that could be put into chains. He set them to practice. Everyone was being diligent, trying to cast it. Harry knew it would take some time for them to get used to it. There was a lot that they had to do before they would be able to put them together. Harry didn't have the heart to break it to them that most of them would be fighting in the final battle.

Aside from the final battle, there was something which was starting to trouble him. OWLs were coming. Hermione was fretting. She was forcing them to schedule time for study. Ron had succumbed to the pressure. Neville had escaped by saying that he would study with Hannah. She did not even bother to ask Harry. Besides, he and Susan spent many hours studying in the library, often in groups with others joining them.

Harry was watching the students cast, noticing improvements in their casting and making notes as to who could lead their own groups if they had to.

This task had been delegated to Hermione. He was curious to know if her assessments matched his. He was also looking for people who could take orders from him and carry them out.

The twins could do it for sure. They would not lead two groups however but stay together. He needed Ronald, Hermione, Susan, Neville and Hannah to stay with him in the final battle at least until he was able to kill the dementors. He remembered that Achala had told him to keep those around who could cast patroni when he was using the spell to kill the dementors.

"Harry, have you thought about letting us duel with you?", Eddie Carmichael was asking him.

Harry looked at him quizzically, "Are you sure that's what you want Eddie?"

He said, "At least that way we would know how much we still need to learn."

Harry pondered over it for a minute before he acquiesced, "Alright. I guess I can duel with a couple of you, one at a time just to see how good you are."

With that, the floor was cleared for Eddie and Harry. Before the duel started, Harry told him, "The duel will be non-lethal spells only. I do not want you to injure me." Of course he had said the last part in jest because everyone knew that the chances of Eddie getting a hit on Harry were almost non-existent.

Harry started the duel with a powerful bludgeoner at Carmichael. He flipped backward twice with the impact. He groaned mightily before others hauled him up. But the boy had some fortitude that he was ready for another round despite wincing from pain.

He sent a petrification hex at Harry which Harry swatted aside with his wand. Eddie started sending bludgeoners, petrification hexes, stunners at him in rapid succession but Harry kept swatting them aside as if they were nothing more than a minor inconvenience to him. When he had enough, he sent a powerful stinger at the boy who yelped with the impact. The next moment, he found himself to be hanging upside down by his ankle.

Harry released him a second later. He crumpled. Harry turned to the other students, "Would anyone else like a go?"

Unknown Castle

"They need a lot of rest and potions to be of any use to you my lord. That could take a month, or year, depending upon how much the Dementors affected them. I have seen all of them. I can confidently say that everyone except Bellatrix will be fine again. She, however, was never sane in the first place", said the healer who had been treating the escaped death eaters. 14 years in Azkaban had been bad for their sanity. Voldemort had to know if they could be of any use to him or if his labors had been for naught. Of course he knew that Bella was insane even before she went to Azkaban. There was a reason that she was his most trusted lieutenant.

"You do what you are trained to do, healer. If the need be, I will treat them by necromancy myself. You do what is your work here. Do not care about other details which are mine to bother about", he drawled.

As the healer withdrew, he raised his voice, "Parkinson."

Guinevere Parkinson entered the room. She bowed low before him, "My Lord?"

Voldemort noticed that Parkinson had not kissed the hem of his robes. He knew that most of the death eaters were getting wary of him now but having been bound to him by magic, they could not abandon him. Most of them had started treating Voldemort with light fingered contempt. While it was subtle to most but on the other hand it was easy enough to be discerned by others if they knew how to see it. His death eaters used to kiss the hem of his robes but recently, they had started to avoid it. Perhaps it was time that he reminded them what he did to those who tried to defy him.

He said coldly, "Parkinson, bring Malfoy to the courtyard of the castle."

Lucius Malfoy who had been broken out of the Island fortress had not been taken to the dungeons. He was kept in one of the lavish chambers however he was no better than a prisoner. Since he had arrived, he had been subjected to the Cruciatus curse five times a day. That had always been in private. Perhaps Voldemort wanted to kill him after making an example out of him for others. So he was being brought to the courtyard of the castle.

Goyle and Parkinson brought him to the courtyard of the castle, shackled in chains. They dumped him in the center of it before retreating. Every death eater in the castle was watching the spectacle with fear in their hearts. If Voldemort could kill one of those of his inner circle, he definitely could kill anyone of them.

Voldemort applied sonorous to his throat before he started speaking, "Lucius, I had trusted you. I gifted a memoir of mine to you to remember me by. I handsomely rewarded you for every service that you rendered to me. I took up residence in your manor as an honour to your house. I have been benevolent to you more than to most of my other faithful. What did you do? You renounced me the moment you were in the clutches of the ministry. Did you not trust your master to be powerful enough to break you out of Azkaban? I razed it to the ground for my faithful, Lucius. Yet you doubted me. You questioned my dreams of a pure-blood dominated world? I had explained to you all that no change of such magnitude can be caused without sacrifices. We had to kill those who oppose me. If my faithful would question my motives then how would the great dream of my noble ancestor Salazar Slytherin be fulfilled?"

The death eaters were hearing every word of his, hanging on to it. Voldemort was a silver tongue so most of them were swayed by his words. Many of those who had started to waver in their loyalties had their loyalties reaffirmed to him in that moment while there were still a few who had compunctions about him.

Voldemort was saying, "You have seen my benevolence, but you have not seen my rage. Today, I feel it is the moment to give you a taste of my anger to make sure that none of my followers would waver from their loyalties ever again."

With that he levelled his wand at Lucius. He started casting a multitude of torture curses at him like skin peeler, tissue dissolver and bone liquefiers. Malfoy's shouts and cries were heard by everyone in the castle. It shook most of them to their cores. The way the Dark Lord was torturing Lucius was enough to set his fear in their hearts. When he had cast a number of torture curses at Malfoy, he ceased casting for a few moments during which he seemed to be inspecting the faces of those around him. He was probably unsatisfied with what he saw because he again levelled his wand at Lucius. He shouted, "Crucio." The next minute was pure agony for Malfoy. With pain he bent double, his teeth chattering hard. He bit his own tongue. He had lost the ability to think after the torture curses only. Now he could not even cry or shout due to the intensity of pain being forced upon him.

Voldemort lifted his curse after a minute. He said, "You deserve to be punished for your words towards me Lucius but I am not without mercy for my followers. I am sparing your life. I will have the healers cure you. But one more instant of disobedience from you and it will be your last."

With that the healers rushed forward to carry the Lord Malfoy to the infirmary on conjured stretchers. They would need to use all their skill to save him, to ensure there was not any lasting damage or Voldemort would turn his wrath on them next.

Making a public spectacle of punishing Lucius was a none-too-subtle message to his followers. Voldemort would not take kindly to wavering loyalty from anyone. He would not hesitate to kill the insolent ones. They had seen what he did to Malfoy who had been his financier in the last war, his torture expert, one of the members of his inner circle. To see him being treated this way had etched the message into their brains.

You make your choice

As a part of the boon he had granted to Narcissa, Harry had one more thing left to do. He was not happy about it but he had to confront Draco Malfoy for once.

To this purpose, he chose a time when Malfoy was alone. Since most of his friends had abandoned him, he was mostly by himself. Even at the Slytherin table where he used to sit like a prince, he had been ostracized by those who were formerly his friends.

Hermione told him that he often had prefect patrols by himself. He had personally requested that the Head Boy not assign Pansy to any patrol with him. Harry had asked her when the ferret was going to be on patrol again. He told her that he was not going to trouble Malfoy.

On the day when Draco was patrolling the fourth floor, Harry simply appeared before him out of the shadows. Malfoy had his wand out in a trice. He sneered, "What do you want, Peverell?"

Harry scoffed, "Put that wand away, Malfoy. I would disarm you before you can get a shot at me."

Draco drawled, "What do you want?"

Harry pointed to an empty class-room, "Inside now. For your own good, we need to talk."

Malfoy had hesitations about walking inside but the look in Harry's eye and the steel in his voice made him do as he was told. When he entered, Harry followed behind him, locking the door and erecting privacy wards. After they made themselves comfortable, he turned to Malfoy, "This conversation is not happening between Harold Peverell and Draco Malfoy. This is between Lord Black and his ward. I am going to ask a few questions. I want you to answer them honestly."

Draco didn't say anything. Harry was miffed but chose to let it slide this time. He continued, "The first question is, who are you loyal to Draco?"

Draco drawled, "I don't care for the Dark Lord. I care only about my family. My father is in prison courtesy of you and Sirius Black. Do you come here as a pretender?"

Harry said sternly, "That isn't the answer to my question. I'm not in the mood to sit and bicker with you. Narcissa sent me a letter to ask a boon of me. I have promised your mother that I will protect you from harm provided that you do not go attacking any of my friends. that is the reason that I am here. Now answer my question ".

Draco sneered, "I am loyal to my family only. My father did some things wrong. my family name is mud now. I am not fighting for anyone nor will I do anyone else's bidding."

Harry nodded, "What if your father ordered you to serve the Dark Lord?"

Malfoy frowned, "If he did that, I would have to refuse. Mother made me see some reason that I should not harbor prejudices against anyone but it does not mean I am suddenly a Saint. I will stay away from this conflict."

Harry understood where he was coming from. He addressed him again, "Malfoy, if you stay away from any of those who are opposing Voldemort, I promise that we will stay out of your way. You can finish your education; live your life as you wish. However, if you follow that maniac, you will suffer the same fate as your father. I have come to know that your father has been made to renew his faith in his dark lord through torture. I have no doubt that he will throw his life away in the final battle. When he fights on Voldemort's side, he will be killed."

Draco looked like he wanted to attack Harry when he finished speaking however he slumped down after a few moments, "Mother and I talked about it. Mother said that father did things which may land him in Azkaban in the future or maybe death at the hands of an Auror. We have actually accepted that it would happen. Mother was distraught with the thought but for me, I am going to do what I find would be in my best interests."

Harry nodded, "Our business here is done then. Remember your promise to stay away from the conflict. If you do that one thing, you will not be persecuted by anyone."

With that, Harry took down the wards and walked out of the room. As he turned a corner, he simply disappeared.

Constant vigilance!

One evening, Harry decided to test the members of his order. He knew they needed to be at their best if they were to survive in the oncoming war. He decided to start with his friends. If those who were always around him were not vigilant enough, he couldn't very well expect anyone else to be vigilant.

The first to be tested was Fay Dunbar. She and Ellia Runcorn were out on the grounds near the Forbidden Forest. Harry disillusioned himself and walked towards them carefully so that they would not be able to hear him coming.

When he was just behind them, he summoned his wand to his hand from his wand holster. Inaudibly, he shot a stunner. It seemed that Fay had sensed something. Before the stunner could connect with her, she had ducked. The stunner passed through the space where she had been a moment ago. However that was not all for Fay Dunbar. As she ducked, she had her wand in hand. She lifted the disillusionment charm from him.

Before she could fire another spell, he called out firmly, "Halt."

She instantly stopped and sheathed her wand again.

Ellia Runcorn asked him, "What are you doing?"

Harry however was talking to Fay, "I was testing your attentiveness to your surroundings. I am pleased that you are paying attention to everything around you. What gave me up?"

She gave him a half smile, "Thank you for the praise, Harold. You had not silenced your feet. Your footsteps were too loud. Besides I heard the rustling of the spell. I barely had time to duck."

He nodded, "You won't find me that loud the next time. Now would you help me with something?"

She eagerly nodded. Harry started telling her his plan. When he was done telling, she was grinning in anticipation of the fun.

That night, Hermione Granger had been in bed for 10 minutes when she heard someone pulling open the curtains around her bed. She had her wand on her bed-side table. Before she could reach it, there was a wand pointed at her, pushing her into her bed. Since there was no light in the dormitories, she could not see who it was. What she was certain about was that the assailant was a girl about her age. She had a cloth covering her face and she had draped a baggy robe around her body so that Hermione could not make a guess about her identity by her mannerisms such as posture, her body shape etc. The voice was a harsh one, one even more snide and contemptuous than Draco Malfoy however without the usual venom in it. The figure growled, "Don't even try to speak, Granger. One word from your mouth and I will not hesitate to silence you for good. I'm going to finish off your dorm mates while you get to watch. I'll deal with you last."

Before Hermione could do anything, the figure had petrified her and bound her to her bed with an incarcerous. After she was done tying Hermione up, she turned to the other girls. Hermione could not move any part of her body but her eyes. She noticed that Fay's and Ellia's beds were empty and unkempt. There were signs of struggle. She figured that the assailant had already dealt with those two. Now the figure was hovering over Lavender's bed. While Hermione watched in horror, the stranger fired an emerald green curse at Lavender's bed. Hermione could not believe her eyes. Someone had just killed Lavender Brown while all Hermione could do was watch.

Parvati however proved to be a tough nut to crack. As the assailant turned her wand towards Parvati's bed, a pillow flew out of the bed hitting her squarely in the face. Before the assailant could understand what had happened, Parvati was out of her bed with her wand held in front of her. She banished the assailant towards a wall and sent a finite at Hermione.

As Hermione was free, she picked up her wand and fired a bone breaker at the assailant. She was seeing red. She wanted to hex this girl into oblivion who had just killed three of her dorm mates in cold blood.

Hermione was about to cast a nasty curse at the assailant before she spoke in the voice of Fay Dunbar, "Hermione, don't shoot. It's me, Fay."

Hermione growled, "Why did you kill your own dorm mate? Have you pledged your loyalty to Voldemort?"

Fay snapped, "Hold your horses, Granger. And don't you dare to make such an allegation. His followers killed my father. I would die defying him rather than bow to him. Lavender is not dead. It was just a colour changing spell."

Hermione motioned to Parvati, "Go check her, Parvati."

Parvati cautiously trudged over to Lavender's bed. She pulled open her curtains. There was Lavender, sleeping oblivious to the world around her. Parvati poked her with her wand a couple of times but she just grunted and went back to sleep.

Hermione did not lower her wand, "Now speak, Fay. What is this all about?"

Fay told her about everything that had happened during the day. When she was done telling, she said further, "He wanted me to see how attentive you are. I am disappointed to say that you could not sense me before it was too late. Lavender will be reported as a lost case. Parvati would get full marks.

Hermione turned to Parvati, "How did you know there was an intruder?"

Parvati grinned, "I am a light sleeper so I heard your squabble with her. I was freaked out when I saw her using that green colored spell but then I remembered that you cannot cast an unforgivable inaudibly so I knew she was not an enemy. If she was an enemy, I would not have hit her with a pillow but a solid block of stone to disfigure her pretty face."

Hermione turned to Fay, "Where did you get that robe? Also where is Ellia?"

Fay grinned, "This is not a robe but my bed sheet. Ellia is breaking curfew to go meet her boyfriend, Adrian Pucey."

The next day, in the Room of Requirement, the students were still working on spell chains. She had been glaring daggers at him. Harry understood what was happening. He ordered everyone to stop practicing for the time being. When they all halted, he started speaking, "Yesterday, I sneaked up on Fay Dunbar. she was none the wiser. I was disappointed that she had not learned the basic lesson of Constant Vigilance. On my instructions, she tested her dorm-mates. it is disappointing that bar one none of them were successful. I have talked to all of you about Constant Vigilance ever since we started this training group. It is time I see that you learned your lessons. It was fifth year Gryffindor girls's turn yesterday and it can be any of you next. The importance of Constant Vigilance is evident to anyone who can see what is going on in the world yonder. So, be alert."

The prefect's pranked

It had been weeks since there had been a spectacular prank. Harry felt that he was overdue. First, he had to decide who would be the next victim. After having pranked the whole school at once, it was nigh impossible to top with another one.

He thought hard. He decided that since they had not pranked the Prefects yet, it was about time. For a change, they would start with the Hufflepuff Prefects rather than their perennial favorites, the Slytherin Prefects.

For this project, he chose Neville as his henchman (Of course he was to be one considering one of those about to be pranked was his girl friend), along with Justin and Kevin Entwhile. He enlisted all of the Hufflepuff boys in his year except Ernie, Wayne Hopkins and Zacharias Smith, of course. Ernie was the prefect to be pranked while Wayne was best friend of Zacharias. He would not agree to anything Harry wanted to do. He did not involve Susan in it because she was Hannah's best friend. She may have tried to stop him from indulging in any of the pranks.

The idea was simple. They had to prank them whenever they got a chance. First it was Ernie. For him they simply did one thing. Harry summoned a lock of hair from Lilith Moon which he mixed in a mouthful of polyjuice potion which he gave to Kevin to drink.

Kevin, after he changed himself into Lilith, met him on the seventh floor near the Room of Requirement where Ernie was on patrol. Ernie was surprised to see Lilith out of her common room after curfew because she was not one to break any rules.

The biggest problem for Kevin was that polyjuice would only change appearance. It did not confer habits, gestures or any special knowledge about the person. Ernie asked her, "What are you doing here, Lilith?"

She (Kevin) dragged him into a broom cupboard without saying anything. Perhaps they had explored a few broom closets together because Ernie wordlessly followed her inside. He failed to notice the wand that poked into his ribs. Before he realized what was happening, he had been stunned. With that, Kevin locked the broom cupboard from outside and walked away. Disguising himself as a female was a distasteful thing but there was no other way to make Ernie follow him without getting suspicious.

Next day, Ernie was glaring daggers at Lilith when they were at the Gryffindor table. Harry cautiously asked him, "Mate, what happened? Why are you trying to kill her with your glare?"

In an undertone, Ernie told him how Lilith had duped him last night. Others wanted to laugh but they didn't. Lilith noticed Ernie was looking agitated. She came to their table to sit with them.

She asked Ernie directly, "Why are you trying to kill me, boyfriend of mine?"

Ernie seethed, "As if you hadn't stunned me then left me locked in the broom cupboard last night."

Neville asked him, "So you trusted her. You followed her into a broom cupboard without even knowing if it was her? Is that your constant vigilance, Ernie?"

Lilith was telling him, "I was not out of my common room last night. I was sitting with Tracy and Daphne talking about OWLs which are coming up soon. We have to be ready for our exams after all."

Harry tried to be helpful, "Maybe it was someone else mate. Someone who wanted to prank you. You didn't notice."

Ernie nodded, "I guess you're right, Harry.". He turned to Lilith, "I am sorry to have doubted you."

Lilith smiled then waved him off, "It's alright, love. I would have been duped the same way as you if I were in your place."

The second prefect was Hannah. For her, Harry had deferred to Neville telling him that since she was his girl friend, he had to do it.

Neville thought long and hard about it before he decided on the prank. It was pretty simple. He would not draw her ire… much. After all, he wanted to keep all of his limbs.

He gift wrapped a perfume he had ordered from Diagon Alley. There was a dung bomb just under the wrapping. It was rigged so that as soon as she opened the package, it would go off peppering her with smelly debris. When he told Harry about what he planned to do, Harry silently said a prayer for Neville's well being.

The next day, an owl landed before Hannah when she was on the way to the library. It was packed in a beautiful pink coloured parchment. Below the recipient's name a line was scrawled, 'To the witch who made my life beautiful'.

Smiling to herself, she opened the package. *BOOM*, she was peppered with debris. The stench of dungbomb was intolerable and it filled her nostrils. She had to run to the Prefect's Bathroom to get a scented bath while making plans for Neville Longbottom's painful demise.

When she was finally clean, she went to find Neville Longbottom in the Greenhouses where he was working on Devil's snare. She gave a guttural cry and started sending hexes at him. Neville however was more than her match. With a few well-placed, well-timed stunners, he had her under control before she could destroy the Greenhouses. Unfortunately it was too late and Professor Sprout banned them from the Greenhouses in perpetuity except their classes.

Harry, who had been hovering nearby to see what she did to him, was disappointed when he escaped without being hexed. He carefully enervated Hannah and asked her to not make a scene right there. She followed them to the Mermaid's Sanctuary where she again whipped her wand out to start hexing him. Harry was silently cheering for her but she did not cast a hex. She rather asked Neville tersely, "Was it your idea of a prank to pelt your own girl friend with a dungbomb?"

Neville had the audacity to grin, "It was just a prank. And I added a bottle of perfume to get rid of the stench, didn't I?"

They stopped their quarrel. Harry was disappointed.

The next were the Ravenclaws. It was easy to prank them. He hexed Anthony to sing Soprano every time he opened his mouth to say something. He hexed Padma to keep changing her appearance every 10 minutes. Since Anthony could not undo the prank, he applied a silencing spell on himself. He had to spend 3 hours waiting for the hex to wear off. Padma got rid of her problem within 20 minutes after she had met Dumbledore. Dumbledore asked her if she wanted the one responsible to be punished, she refused telling him that all it had done was to get some laughs. There had been nothing demeaning about those pranks.

That evening, Harry was in the common room talking to Sirius in the fireplace when Hermione interrupted him, "Harry can I have a word?" He noticed that Ron was with her and they both looked anxious.

Harry nodded. They took chairs beside him and he asked her, "What has got you both so worried?"

Hermione flatly asked him, "Are you pranking the prefects?"

Harry looked at her incredulously, "Hermione! I am offended that you would even think such a thing. Why would I prank you both?"

Hermione waved him off, "I know you better than that, Harry. You may have had your minions doing your bidding, but it was your brain behind it. I just want to know why you are doing this."

Harry sighed, "Hermione, I am not complicit in this. Please do not tarnish my reputation."

Ron snorted, "Yeah, right! Just so you know mate, if someone pranks us, we are coming after you."

Harry knew he would prank them but he had to do without letting others know. He suddenly remembered that he had a lackey that no one knew about. Peeves the poltergeist had vowed to do his bidding whenever he wanted to. Summoning Peeves in an empty room, he gave him the necessary orders.

Two days later when Hermione returned to her bed after a late night patrol, she asked Ron to make sure that Harry was indeed in his bed. She retired to sleep. As she entered her own bed, she could smell that there was a pungent odor coming from her quilt. She lit her wand to inspect. She found that her bed had been laden with stink pellets. They were the source of the smell and her bed was defiled with the stink. What was worse, it seemed to have got into her clothes when she laid on the bed.

Fay, who had not gone to sleep yet, was laughing. When she glared, Fay raised her hands in surrender, "I had nothing to do with it, Hermione. Neither did Harry. It was Peeves who covered your bed with these pellets. He was here up to a minute ago. I didn't interfere fearing for myself."

For Ron, it was simple. When they were in Flitwick's class revising the locomotor charm, Harry said, "This class has become boring. I'm so hungry; I swear I could eat a hippogriff."

Ron nodded in agreement, "I couldn't eat enough at breakfast."

Harry produced a batch of cauldron cakes from his bag. He took the first one for himself. He offered one to Ron, "Take it and gobble it in one go, mate. If Flitwick catches us eating in his classroom, he'll put us in detention."

Since Harry had eaten one of those cauldron cakes himself, there was no reason to suspect anything. Ron downed it in one go. About a minute later, he felt a strong desire to profess his love for Hermione.

He looked around to find Hermione. She was immersed in listening to something Flitwick had just said. He turned to Harry, "Mate, am I looking decent?"

He had such a funny expression on his face that Harry had a hard time to keep himself from laughing. He told him, "Yeah Ron. You're looking very smart but why are you asking?"

He said dreamily, "I feel like I need to tell Hermione that I love her. Where is she?"

Neville was alarmed at his behavior. He held him back by his collar hissing, "Oi Ron. You will end up getting laughed at. Talk to her later when we are in the Common Room."

Ron, it turned out, was not going to wait for later. Neville restrained him with great difficulty. When the class was over, Ron ran after her yelling, "Hermione, wait. I need to say something to you".

Hermione glared at him, "Honestly Ron! I am not running away. I am right here. You did not need to shout."

Ron however was not listening. He conjured a bouquet of roses for her. He went down on one knee presenting it to her before every one, "Hermione Jean Granger, I love you."

Hermione was blushing hard but controlled her blush. She accepted the bouquet from him. The twins who had witnessed the spectacle were whistling. George was saying "Where did little Ronnikins get the guts to be a Gryffindor enough to do something so openly?"

Fred added, "I suspect it is the influence of a Love Potion."

Hermione looked at them skeptically. She seemed to think things over for a moment before she took Ron's hand. She started dragging him to the Infirmary to ask Madam Pomfrey to check if Ron had been given a love potion.

In the infirmary, Madam Pomfrey was tending to some first years who had a potion accident. When Hermione brought Ron in, she asked, "Oh dear! What's all this? You both seem to be in fine shape. Why are you both here?"

Hermione hesitated a little while telling her. Even if he was under the influence of a potion, Ron had been complimenting her all the way up to the infirmary. It kind of felt nice to hear him speak so nicely to her. He ordinarily would not have been so open with his feelings. But she had to get it countered because if she did not and something happened, they would end up getting laughed at.

She was holding onto his arm while he just kept chattering away. She turned to the mediwitch, "Madam Pomfrey, I fear someone has given him a love potion."

Poppy Pomfrey frowned, "Love Potion! No one is permitted to brew them in the castle except Severus Snape. Did he give it to him?"

Hermione shook her head, "No. We didn't even have a Potions Lesson today. Love Potions aren't taught before sixth year anyway."

Poppy nodded, "Let me get him some antidote. Maybe he can tell us then."

She pulled a small vial out of her potions cabinet. She handed it to him, "Here Mr. Weasley, drink it. It is a rejuvenation draught."

Hermione coerced him into drinking the potion. His eyes rolled up into his head for a minute before he blinked and came to himself again. Madam Pomfrey smiled, "Welcome back, Mr. Weasley."

He however had turned to Hermione, "What happened? Why are we here?"

Hermione replied, "You were dosed with a love potion. Do you remember anything that happened? Who gave it to you? Do you remember anything you did?"

Ron said uncertainly, "Harry and me were eating Cauldron Cakes in Flitwick's class. I remember I got on my knees and… Did I propose to you?"

"Oh yes! You did. It was quite spectacular. You have set the bar high Ron", said Harry who had just entered the Hospital wing behind them.

Hermione turned to him, "Harold Peverell! What did you give to him? How did you dose him with love Potion?"

Harry raised his hands in a pacifying gesture, "Hermione, I did not. I was thinking the same. I realized that he started behaving differently after he ate that cake." He produced a packet of cakes, "Here, I have brought them here to get them inspected so I would know for certain that they were not filled with Love Potion."

Madam Pomfrey took the packet from him. She checked two of them before she shook her head, "These do not have any potion in them, Miss Granger".

What Hermione did not know was that the love potion was indeed brewed by Severus Snape who kept samples in his office. Those had been nicked from his office by the twins who had sold it to Justin Finch-Fletchley who sold it to Entwhile who sold it to Harry. He had dosed only one of the cakes with it. There was no trace of evidence left to point the finger at him.

There was no reason for the prank other than the prank itself. Unknown to Harry, preparations were being made to prank Harold Peverell. The students generally agreed that if they did not prank him that it would look bad on them. Yes he was very attentive but there must be some way that they could pull one over on him. For now they were looking for students who could help them. They were not above seeking help even from the Slytherins.

Unknown Castle

Voldemort was sitting with his inner circle in the meeting room of the castle. Most of those from his inner circle were there including Lucius Malfoy. Voldemort wanted to kill him and be done with it, but the erstwhile Lord of Malfoy was the perfect one to demonstrate his displeasure on, send a message to his followers if they strayed away from their loyalty towards him.

He looked at his followers sitting around him. He could see that most of them were missing. The first whose absence he felt acutely was Barty Crouch Junior. He had been instrumental in getting him returned to a body but he had been taken prisoner. He had set Severus to find out about him and Severus told him that he had been thrown through the veil after the unspeakables made some use of him. They had studied his dark mark to make those wards which guarded the Ministry of Magic now.

The next who's absence he felt most was Rosier. It was almost ironic that Rosier was his follower while the grandson of his brother was his nemesis. The Rosier lord was a competent fighter. He had almost killed Alastor Moody before he did.

There was Karkaroff who had turned traitor. He sent many of his followers to prison. The coward had fled immediately after he had been resurrected. He had given him a place of honour and Karkaroff had betrayed him.

There was Regulus Arcturus Black, the son of House Black who was loyal to him. He had served with the fanaticism of a worshipper, always ready to do his bidding.

Lastly there was the rat. True that he was a worthless, talentless thing but he had his uses. If he had lived, Voldemort could have used him to spy on the ministry for him.

Crabbe was also missing. There was no word to indicate if he had been captured or killed. He had disappeared when he was sent to scout St. Mungos and never heard from again.

He had lost too many of his best followers. What had he got in return? Several demented death eaters who were not in the best fighting shape right now. If they would ever be in that position was not something he knew but he would make them useful again.

"My Lord, what are our orders?", the drawl of Severus Snape attracted his attention.

He turned to him, "For now, you have to lie low with others. We are not yet in position to openly fight. We need to take the ministry before we move on to Hogwarts. For now, we need to sow terror again as we did in the past."

He turned to Macnair, "I have a job for you Walden. I want you to take one of the giants. Go rampaging through the countryside in Yorkshire. Ruin everything. Kill anyone you come across. By the time this day is over, I want them to fear my name again. Take as many death eaters as you want. Remember I will not take it kindly if you or any of our followers get caught or die."

Macnair stood and left the room. He turned to Parkinson, "Guinevere, you will lead a raid in Manchester in the hidden wizarding shopping district there. The Ministry is yet to provide for ample security there. Go in, kill some. Then disapparate away before the Ministry can retaliate. You will do the same to a few places before you return here. I want no holds barred."

As they were all sent away, he turned to Severus, "Severus I feel that there is a spy in our midst who is sharing our information with the other side. I want you to find out the identity of said spy. When you do, kill him without hesitation. I also want you to find out if you can slip some draught of living death to the boy and bring him here before me."

Severus was incensed at his audacity. He drawled, "The boy can detect any sort of poison. He can identify a potion by its colour. He is admittedly better at it than me. He is always surrounded by a lot of students not to mention he can out duel anyone, my lord. It is not a plausible plan."

Voldemort dismissed him telling him to keep an eye on the brat. He was about to retire for the day when someone knocked on the door. In entered Bellatrix Nameless and the Lestrange Brothers.

She was dressed in an emerald robe with a little make up on her face. Her heavy lidded eyes were half closed. She had such an expression on her face as if she was in awe of him and his power. Since these three had a few good meals in them, they were all looking better except for the haunted look in their eyes but that would be gone within no time.

She bowed low then sat on her haunches before him purring, "My Lord! I am gratified that you came in person to release me from the prison."

Voldemort picked her up by her shoulders. She visibly shivered. He said to her in his most sickly sweet voice, "My dear Bellatrix! You are one of those who remained loyal to me. You went to Azkaban rather than deny your loyalty to me. I am not one to scorn such loyalty."

He released her. He turned to the Lestrange brothers, "I am pleased with all of you for your loyalty towards me. When we have won over the wizarding world, I will reward you all above any of my other followers."

A/N- The first chapter was that bad? I mean just one review!