Hospital Wing

Harry met with every student who had been injured or wounded in the battle to ask after their well being in addition to helping out where he could. The number of Slytherin students among those who had been injured trying to defend or evacuate others convinced him that his decision to include Slytherins when he started training them was right but he was filled with guilt for those who had died.

Susan was still bed-ridden and could not move by herself. She had tried once only to fell flat on her face and the healer, Sushrut, had sternly told her that if she tried one more idiotic thing then he would put a permanent sticking charm on her and forget it. That had convinced her to listen to him. The healer was a man of average height, black brown eyes, balding and stocky. Susan had a feeling that he could be a fighter as well when it was needed. Since she had seen him tending to her she hadn't heard him speak more than necessary. He was also responsible for the entire hospital wing since Madam Pomfrey was a nurse but not a fully qualified healer and he was extremely able. He however often deferred to Poppy Pomfrey when the situation demanded it.

"Hey Susan", called Daphne, "How are you this morning?"

She grinned widely at her, "Hi Daph. I'm fine. Where is Harry?"

"Oh, he is running some errand. He said that he would come by later. Hermione and some others stopped to ask after the health of the injured students here", said Daphne. After a moment, she said with some hesitation, "Susan, there's something that I wanted to talk with you about."

Susan eyed her suspiciously, "What?"

"I wanted to thank you. You know if you hadn't jumped in the way of that curse, it would have been me."

Susan waved aside her concern, "I only did what a friend would do for another, Daph. In fact you would have done the same for me if our places were reversed."

"Still, I thank you for it, Susan. If life permits, I will try to repay it anyway I can", she said earnestly.

Ministry of Magic

Frank was holding a meeting in his office, "Do you understand your orders, Alastor?"

"Yes Minister. I understand. I assure you that we will not fail in this. I will instruct my boys to use lethal spells in every fight they might find themselves in as I will do also. I have already chosen those who will be placed in charge of this operation."

Frank nodded, "And don't forget to liaise with the other guys. They will be our eyes and ears for the next few months while we sit in the shadows and prepare."

Alastor clicked his heels and marched out of his office, heading to the interrogation room where Amelia was busy breaking bones of a death eater who had irked her. She had fury and angry pent up inside her and she had been looking for a way to let it out. Moody had obliged by showing her the interrogation room and his little tools. Pain was on the menu and she was serving up a heaping helping to her prisoner.

Hogwarts

Daphne was walking back to her dormitory from the hospital wing just before curfew hour. She had been helping Madam Pomfrey tend to students when she could since that way she also was kept in the know about how the students were mending and what was going on the in the world yonder as the mediwitch was prone to gossip sometimes. The wizard that Harry had introduced to her, Lord Harsh Vardhan, had visited the hospital wing during the day to talk with Madam Pomfrey and they sat together for long. Poppy Pomfrey talked with him as if he was an old friend and he had an aura of authoritativeness around him. She could feel that the wizard was powerful and that he was someone important but in all her studies of magical history and snippets of information given by her mother or taught by her father she had never heard of this particular man.

She had seen the level of reverence that Harry had for him, how he hung on every word of his. She had never seen the boy-who-lived be so respectful to anyone else. He behaved with most of them as if they were his equal but not Harsh. It was visible to her that he held the older wizard in high esteem.

"Good evening, heiress presumptive Greengrass", said Harsh emerging out of the shadows and startling her.

She had her wand out in a moment but Harsh had not even his wand out. He looked at ease as if emerging out of the shadows was normal for him. The wand in Daphne's hand was of no concern to him.

She tried to control her thudding heart, "Lord Harsh, you startled me."

"My apologies", he said with a smile, "It was not my intention."

"What do you want?", she asked.

He said very sombrely, "I wanted a private conversation with you, if agreeable to you and it is important that we have this conversation."

She eyed him suspiciously, "What do you want to talk about?"

"The life debt created between you and Miss Bones among other things", he answered her "To show that I don't have any overt intentions towards you or anyone else, I will take a magical oath to that effect."

When she acquiesced, he pulled out his wand and firmly gripped it in his hands, "I Sharang Varun, do hereby swear on my magic that I have no intention to hurt or injure Daphne Alexis Greengrass and that what I am going to say is the truth as I know it. If I am found untruthful in my words or intention, may mother magic smite me. So I say so mote it be."

When she was convinced, he showed her into an empty room, "I promise it won't take more than a few minutes."

When they were inside the room and fully secured, he turned to her, "Miss Greengrass, what do you know about life debts?"

She thought it over for a minute before she replied, "When a person saves another's life, a debt is created between them. In repayment for the debt, one can ask anything of the other. It does not come into existence unless both parties are willing to acknowledge it."

Harsh nodded, "Precisely. When you discussed the issue of life debt with Susan, you acknowledged it. She also acknowledged its existence even if she did not agree to any repayment. So there is a life debt unfulfilled between the two of you and then you promised to repay it if the occasion ever came. Now you are bound by your magic to this promise and unless you fulfil it, you will be bound by it."

She nodded, "Yes. I will repay it, if the occasion comes. What does it have to do with anything?"

"Miss Greengrass when she saved you, she changed the fates. You were supposed to die out there due to that curse but she took it on herself. From now that every life you save were meant to perish in battle. It was a little event but will have ramifications. If you see any death eater, please put him down with no hesitation for any death caused by him will fall on you otherwise."

She didn't say anything for about 10 minutes. When she spoke, Harsh could sense fear in her voice, "What does it entail? The changing of fates I mean. I guess it is not a common occurrence so there must be some price to be paid. What is that price? Who will pay it?"

He said grimly, "It's something that happens perhaps once in a century and requires a payment. Be assured though that the payment is already decided and you won't be paying it. However there will be a time in life when you will have a way to repay your debt towards Susan."

She said apprehensively, "And what is it?"

Harsh asked, "Tell me, Miss Greengrass. What are your feelings towards Mr. Peverell?"

Tale of the Grey lady

That evening, Harry finally sought out Luna. She had been in the Ravenclaw common room since the battle, not venturing out. She was in agony over the deaths and had cut herself off from everyone to grieve in solitude. Of course she knew what was going to happen but she could not interfere for that would alter the fates. She knew of the rule but it was hard for her to endure it all and she felt somehow guilty for not telling everyone but doing so would have put her in a spot where others would run to her with every problem inundating her with requests and blaming her if something went wrong.

Harry met Padma outside of the Ravenclaw common room as she was about to answer the question of the door knocker, "Padma, do you have a moment?"

She turned to him, "Yes Harry. What is it?"

"Would you please tell Luna that I'm waiting here to meet with her?"

Padma nodded, "I'll try Harry, but she's been hiding in her dorm for a few days now. She does not venture out nor does she talk to anyone. I hope you understand what I am getting at."

He nodded, "I do understand, Padma but it is important for me to meet her."

Luna came out after about 10 minutes. She looked awful. She had bags under eyes like she had not been sleeping well, her robes were wrinkled as if she hadn't care about them at all and she didn't have the dreamy look about her anymore.

Harry frowned when he saw her, "Luna, what happened to you?"

She waved aside his concerns, "The Grey lady is on the Astronomy tower. Let's go and find her."

They found the Grey Lady where she said they would. At the foot of the tower, Luna turned to him, "I have foreseen that I should not be present in this meeting. I will see you later, Harry." With that she walked away. Harry recognized that Luna was in a bad way. She had never been so direct about her talents. Being a seer must be a great burden when things go badly.

Harry took the stairs to the top of the tower where the Grey Lady was. She was on the tower looking toward the setting sun apparently oblivious to everything about her. When Harry neared her, she said over her shoulder, "You have come to ask me about my mother's diadem, haven't you?"

Harry's mouth fell open, "Your mother? Do you mean…"

As she turned, Harry could see her pain reflected in those eyes, her countenance was dim as if she was sad about something. She said in a low voice, "Yes, I am Helena Ravenclaw. I took the diadem from my mother and ran away with it. My mother who wanted me and her diadem returned, sent the bloody Baron after me. When he found me eventually, he tried to convince me to come back with him. I tried to resist him and…" She trailed off, remembering the terrible event.

Harry encouraged her to continue, "And…? What did he do?"

Helena shot him a disdainful look, "Have some patience. I only speak of this for Luna's sake. It would suit me fine to leave you stumbling around in the dark for the rest of eternity."

Harry looked down at his toes and muttered, "Sorry".

After some time, The Grey lady continued, "I tried to resist him and he bound me with chains, determined to do my mother's bidding. She had promised him my hand in marriage. I resisted him and called him some evil names. That was when he stabbed me in the abdomen."

She lifted her cloak to one side to show the ethereal gaping wound in her stomach and then covered it. "In remorse, he killed himself. As an act of penance he still wears those chains to this day."

Harry was shocked, "Do you mean The Bloody Baron as in the ghost of Slytherin? That he never takes off the chains and they are smeared with your blood?"

She nodded, "Yes. He is the wizard my mother sent after me. Those chains are the mark of his punishment that he is cursed to wear. Bound by the diadem, I remain on this plane. His guilt and desire to repent keep him from passing into the afterlife."

"But what happened to the diadem? Where is it? Can you tell me?"

She shook her head, "I had hidden it in an ancient tree in the forests of Albania. I won't tell you anything more about it. I was once fooled by a boy who told me that he didn't want to use it but would return it to the wizarding world. He instead used it for his nefarious purposes and tainted it. The most prized possession of my mother is reduced to being a foul vessel."

Harry decided to tell her what he suspected, "It was Tom Riddle, wasn't it? He stole the diadem from its hiding place after graduating from Hogwarts. He made it into a horcrux. Please tell me where it is so that we can exorcise it and kill him finally or thousands more will die," by the time he finished speaking Harry was literally pleading with her.

She was adamant, "How do I know that you won't use it to gain more power? Besides my existence to this plane is bound to it. If you exorcise it then I will cease to exist. My soul would move on to the other plane and the Bloody Baron with me."

Harsh emerged from the shadows saying, "And what would be the problem with that, O noble Helena? You lived a life of misery under the fame and stern upbringing of your mother. Your promising life was cut short by the act of one whose love towards you was unrequited. You suffered through your life, you suffer now in your afterlife and yet you cling to this existence where there is nothing for you".

She turned to him, "I was wondering if we would ever meet again, Sharang. I always looked toward you for sage advice. When you were not around to counsel me, I made some choices that lead to this fate", she finished, gesturing toward her fatal wound. With a hopeful tone she asked, "Do you bring me a message from Mother magic?"

He shook his head, "In a sense, Helena. I am merely to tell you that your time here is at end. It is time for you to pass onto the afterlife where your mother waits to reconcile her differences with you. She was in pain when she died for she knew that her daughter was killed and she still repents sending the Baron after you. Go on to the afterlife, noble lady and help the world to get rid of the terror known as Tom Marvolo Riddle."

She nodded, "Your advice I have always followed. If you had been my benefactor when I needed it then maybe things would have been different. I will do as you ask."

She turned to Harry, "Go to the Room which answers when called upon. The room which gives help to those who need it. Ask it for the place where people have been hiding treasures since the castle was founded. There you will find the diadem which holds the key to Voldemort's existence. You will need help from those who know his presence. Now, you must promise that you will not use it for your own selfish purposes."

Eagerly, Harry drew his wand. Holding it tightly, he bowed his head and said, "I solemnly swear on my magic that I will never use the diadem except to exorcise it and to give it to the wizarding world."

At that moment, they were joined by the Bloody Baron. Helena looked at him and said, "Come now my assassin. Onwards we go to the afterlife. There we will be judged for our crimes. We have tarried for too long and it is time to rest."

The Baron turned to Harry and said gruffly, "Good bye, young lad. Send him to hell where he deserves to go. Tell Albus that we go together to meet our fate."

The ghosts began drifting toward the Forbidden Forest when suddenly a golden light engulfed them and they disappeared in a flash.

Harry muttered, "That was truly strange."

Harsh who was still beside him, his eyes moist said, "Yes, it was."

Harry turned to him, "Are they really gone, Guruji? I mean will they never return?"

He nodded, "They have gone back to the folds of mother magic where everyone eventually goes. Now let's go and find Albus for we need some help."

"What help?", Harry asked curiously.

"Helena told you to seek help of those who know his presence i.e. his magical signature. There are only a handful of people who can claim so. We will need Neville Longbottom who sensed his magical signature at the cave, Ginny Weasley for her unfortunate incident with the diary acquainted her with his magical signature and of course Albus Dumbledore who probably knows him more than anyone else.".

When Harsh took his hand they disappeared to reappear in Albus's office.

They found Albus in his office reading the journal which he had found in the Archives that had once belonged to Helena. It was an interesting account of the life of a young witch from an era gone by but otherwise, there was nothing in it to suggest the location of the diadem.

He raised his head when Harsh and Harry appeared in his office and pointed them to chairs, "be seated."

After they made themselves comfortable, Albus turned to them, "So what is the reason for this unannounced visit?"

Harsh let Harry explain, "Professor, we finally found Helena."

Dumbledore was surprised, "You found. Helena? Where? How? Did you get the diadem?"

Harry shook his head, "She told us the location but we still haven't retrieved it. When she died centuries ago, she didn't pass into the afterlife. She remained as a ghost, the Grey Lady, the ghost of Ravenclaw Tower. Voldemort somehow discovered her identity and her connection to the diadem. He convinced her to tell him its location. When she did, he stole it."

Dumbledore asked excitedly, "But where is it?"

"Helena told us to go to the room which gives help to those who need it where we will find it in the place that people have been hiding treasures for ages. We will need Ginny and Neville to help us with this task. I'm pretty sure she was talking about the Room of Requirement. Can you have them meet us on the seventh floor outside the Room of Requirement?"

Dumbledore whipped out his wand and produced his patronus giving it directions. It floated out of his office toward the Gryffindor tower while they climbed stairs to the Room of Requirement.

The Room of Requirement

By the time they arrived, Neville and Ginny were already waiting for them outside the room. As they saw the party, Ginny asked him, "Harry, what's happening?"

Dumbledore answered, "Miss Weasley, you and Neville are uniquely qualified to assist us with this task. We are here to find an object, something that will feel like Tom Riddle. Since both of you, through chance or misadventure, are familiar with his magical signature, we hope you can help us find it."

Ginny's eyes went wide as the colour drained from her face, "D-do you mean another object like that cursed diary?"

Dumbledore's eyebrows lifted momentarily before he nodded solemnly, "Indeed, Miss Weasley. We are looking for just such an object."

Neville looking back and forth between them, settled on asking the Headmaster, "What exactly are you two talking about?"

Dumbledore stared at the wall as if it could answer for him before he spoke, "Young Master Longbottom, what we seek is an object of the most foul magic imaginable. I'm sure that if you found it, you may not know exactly what it is, but there would be no doubt in your mind that you had it. It contains a portion, a fragment if you will of Tom Riddles damaged soul. In this particular case, we believe it to be the lost diadem of Ravenclaw."

Ofcourse Neville knew that they were looking for Horcruxes but the Headmaster could not just go on to announce it in front of Ginny too.

While this exchange was going on, Harry walked back and forth in front of where the door to the Room of Requirement generally appeared muttering, "I need the Diadem of Ravenclaw.", three times. The wall mocked him by remaining stubbornly blank. He asked the people gathered, "What's wrong? It should have shown me the room."

Harsh looked at Harry and said, "Think about what Helena told you."

Harry stopped pacing for a moment and reviewed what the Gray Lady told him. Then he started pacing up and down in front of the wall again saying, "I need a place to hide something." The moment he passed the wall for the third time, double doors appeared. They were high, elaborately carved and looked like they were made of solid gold. Harsh drew his wand and stepped through first, followed by Dumbledore, Neville, Harry and Ginny last.

The moment Harry entered the room, he took in the light, streaming from the dirty high windows through the dusty air. He scanned the hills of discarded contraband and broken or unwanted refuse, piles of junk higher than a man's head, some reached all the way to the vaulted ceiling. He recognized it from the memory he took from Voldemort during the battle at the Ministry. He exhaled with relief, "This is the right room. The diadem is in here."

Dumbledore found his voice next, "I will have to get this room emptied. The books can be sent to the library, the cauldrons will be sent to the dungeons. In a similar way, uses can be found for other things. It will keep me and the elves busy for months and make them very happy."

Harsh chided him, "You are excitable as a child, Albus. We have to do what we have come here to do today. The rest can be done in spare time."

Neville, Ginny and Harry spread out in different directions, trying to find the object. The problem was that every magical object had a different magical signature so it was all jumbled up. By himself it would have taken quite some time for Harry to find it. With the three of them at the job, it could be accomplished in half the time.

Harry fully expected to find the diadem straight off. He carefully reviewed the image of where he had seen the diadem, comparing the angles of the light and recognizable land-marks. There were two problems with his approach. First, Voldemort had never been in this room at this time of day. Second, nearly 50 years had past and most of the stuff had more stuff piled on it since then. Trying to figure it out gave him a headache.

Neville was being methodical. He was painstakingly examining the magical signature of each item, one-by-one. If anything had Voldemort's taint on it or tried to masquerade as something it was not, he was going to find it. The problem was that he was going to be older than Dumbledore by the time he finished the search.

Ginny could never forget the magical signature of the one who possessed then tried to kill her. His endless thirst for power, his swaggering overconfidence and his sense of entitlement were forever engraved into her memory and her soul. Yes, the stench of Voldemort was in this room. She followed the familiar reek, passing one mound of trash and treasure after another. Gradually, the sense of dread and the feeling pulled harder at her. She wasn't trained for this nor was she trained in Occlumency so there was little she could do to resist. After some time, she found herself in front of a cabinet which stood off to one side groaning under a lot of junk. It looked pretty ordinary by itself but beside it, was a statue of an ugly warlock with a crown on its head. The feeling from that crown was what drew and repulsed her at the same time. She felt unclean and wanted to run away but another part of her, a part that was getting stronger by the second, wanted to pick up that crown and place it on her own head. She could feel it, the promise of power, wisdom, knowledge even wealth beyond her wildest dreams. All she had to do was to take that diadem and sneak away then it would all be hers. Her feet moved by themselves. Without any conscious effort from her, the diadem was easily in arm's reach, her hand floating up to seize that priceless, beautiful artefact. Yes! It could all be hers…

"Stop! Snap out of it, Miss Weasley! It is trying to possess you. You must resist.", Harsh's voice rang out in her mind sending a jolt through her.

Suddenly, the most beautiful and desirable artifact in the whole world became a tarnished, dusty, cob-web encrusted piece of junk with a nasty infestation. Her hand dropped back to her side as she stepped back from the horrid thing. She shouted, "It's here! I found it!"

Harsh had marked how Ginny seemed to just walk purposefully as if she were following a painted line on the floor. She didn't appear to be using any kind of detection spells or even looking around her. He recalled that Dumbledore had told him about how she had been possessed by the diary horcrux three years ago and guessed that she might be vulnerable. As she wove her way between the small mountains of abandoned artifacts, he kept her in sight until he was sure that the abomination against Mother Magic was controlling her. When she began to reach for the diadem with her bare hand, he acted quickly to save her from a second possession.

Ginny shuddered as Harsh came to her side and said feebly, "It. It was talk... talking to me."

Harsh said sympathetically, "I understand Miss Weasley what it was trying to do. It was playing with your mind, a desperate attempt to save itself. But this can give you nothing of the sort that it promised."

"Have you found it?", asked Dumbledore who had just come up with Harry and Neville close behind.

Harsh pointed out the diadem to them, "This is the famed diadem of Ravenclaw. With it in our possession, we are one step near to kill Tom Riddle." With that, Harsh levitated it off the bust of the wizard to store in a box with runes drawn on it. The moment the object was in the box, Ginny felt the pressure it was exerting on her abate. The colour returned to her face as she heaved a sigh of relief. Harsh wasted no time slipping the box into an inside pocket of his robe. He turned to Dumbledore whose attention was fixed on something else.

"Albus, what are you looking at?", he asked.

Dumbledore turned to him finally, "A curious thing. I believe this is a vanishing cabinet", He gestured toward a cabinet as tall as himself with what looked like acid damage to the finish on the doors.

Neville asked, "What is a Vanishing Cabinet?"

"Incomplete.", said Dumbledore cryptically. He paused for a moment before he continued thoughtfully, "They always come in pairs. If this cabinet is here, it has a twin somewhere. The idea is that one could place any article or person in one cabinet, then close the door and poof, it would turn up in the other cabinet. They were very popular during the last war as a way to disappear through all kinds of wards and barriers when the death eaters came to call."

Harsh asked excitedly, "Where is its partner?"

Dumbledore frowned, "I don't recall where it is or even who brought this here in the first place. Let's see if a closer inspection will yield something."

He opened the old cabinet but there appeared to be nothing special about it. A couple of detection spells revealed that it was not in working condition. Dumbledore turned to them, "Neville and Harry, this cabinet isn't working properly. I'm going to hand it over to Professor Babbling to see if she can repair it. I ask both of you to assist her with the repairs anyway you can. If we succeed and find its twin, this cabinet can be quite useful to us."

They both nodded. Harry thought about how a pair of vanishing cabinets could be put to use. Of course, there were the hidden passages that he learned about from the Marauder's Map. He had seen to their repair months ago, but none of them exited very far from the school itself. If or when the need to evacuate came, there was no guarantee that any of those passages would lead to safety. This cabinet, on the other hand, its counterpart could be located almost anywhere, it could take one past wards and enemy forces without anyone knowing. It was just what they needed.

Dumbledore returned to the reason they were in this room today, "That's the last horcrux, Harsh. When can we exorcise them?"

Harsh spoke very deliberately when he answered, "Not yet, Albus. There is still the great snake, Nagini. Before we do this, she must be exposed. When we do this, it is certain to bring Tom down upon us with all the fury he can muster. We and the Ministry forces must prepare for the final battle before we do this thing. Let us train and prepare until Beltane. Then, at a time and place of our own choosing, we will use this to draw him out."

A week later

It was hard to believe that it had already been more than a week since The Battle of Hogsmead as it came to be known. Although the students who had survived the battle were healed of their physical hurts, the absence of their friends who had not been so fortunate was like a gaping wound. Not just the school but the entirety of Wizarding Britain mourned their loss. Parents buried their children. Students and teachers alike were absent from classes in droves as they attended the funerals of their friends. The Daily Prophet swelled in size as it carried the stories of every student who had died. Accounts and recollections were gathered from the parents, friends and other relatives of the departed ones. Unknown to Harry, the Harry Potter fan club had begun work on a comprehensive book of remembrance for all the casualties of the battle titled "Lest We Forget".

Albus discussed erecting a memorial in Hogsmead to honour the fallen. Frank answered him by saying, "When this war is won, we will erect a monument to all those who gave their lives to defeat Tom Riddle in both wars. For now, we need to focus all our efforts on preparing for the final battle."

There was also some talk about giving awards for bravery to those who had stood out during the battle. Albus replied by reminding the general that the very people they wanted to recognize wished to remain anonymous. So much for grand gestures and monuments. If Fudge were still around, he would have done it anyway to try and boost his public image, but Frank was all business.

16… 16 students were dead. All of them were members of The Order of the Snow leopard and ten of them fighters. The rest were killed, shielding students as they tried to evacuate the non-combatants. Their wands and suits of armour would lie unused. They didn't even have that armour with them for a day's outing in the village. It likely would have saved their lives if they had been wearing it during the battle. The parents who had found the armour among the affects of their children had returned it to Harry. With disbanding the order all together on his mind, Harry certainly wasn't going to recruit more students to wear it. He thought about giving the precious suits of basilisk hide armour to The Order of the Phoenix. They certainly had fighters who could use them.

At last, some things began to return to normal. The students were back in class. The fifth year and seventh year students were revising for their OWL and NEWT exams. The corridors and Great Hall were much more solemn than they had been just a week ago, but the staff and students were back to work.

As each of the healed students emerged from the hospital wing or returned from St. Mungo's, they were greeted with much fanfare and applause. Justin returned by floo to the Headmaster's office just before breakfast. Word spread to the Hufflepuffs the moment his visage, gleaming scalped spot on one side of his head and jagged scar on his other cheek, was spotted emerging from behind the gargoyle statue at the entrance to Dumbledore's office. Before he could make his way down the stairs, a mob of his housemates came boiling up the stairs and took him up on their shoulders. They pumped their fists in the air and chanted "JUSTIN. JUSTIN. JUSTIN!", as they carried him to their common room. They had the house elves serve them a feast fit for a hero before classes started for the day.

Harry greeted each returning hero as they entered The Great Hall. He thanked them for their bravery and asked after their health. People started to notice that the only time they saw Harry was during class or when he was greeting the returning students. Although more students than ever were taking exercise in the pre-dawn twilight out by the lake, Harry wasn't there. Hermione, Ron and Neville continued to drill the students mercilessly in the Room of Requirement every chance they got, but Harry wasn't there either. Some assumed that he was spending every available minute at Susan's side as she recovered, but Susan knew that was not true. For her part, she had assumed that Harry was spending all his time working with The Order of the Snow Leopard, drilling them for the next battle.

Cho was at all the practices. She hadn't got her full strength back yet but she drilled like a person possessed. During the sessions in the Room of Requirements, she drilled until she dropped. Every night the house elves took her back to her dorm where she slept like the dead until the next morning. Her determination to give payback for the death of her best friend drove her to improve faster than anyone else in the order.

Susan was the last casualty still in the hospital wing. Harry visited her every day, at least twice a day, but that wasn't where he was spending most of his time.

Ernie's injuries had been minor and He was treated and released the same day. When he was brought back into the hospital wing a few days later, Susan had thought that he was injured during a practice session. But when Madam Pomfrey and the visiting healer discussed his case, she overheard bits of their conversation. She picked out words like in 'shock', 'Miss Moon', 'under restraint', 'force feed nutrient potion'. The next time Harry came to visit her; she let him know who was in the bed behind the screen and why he was there.

Harry had a very short conversation with Madam Pomfrey but she wasn't going to tell Harry anything. He then tried the visiting healer, speaking rapidly in a language that Susan didn't understand. The healer responded in one short sentence that ended with "Moon".

Harry cast a privacy ward as he marched behind the screen. Nobody but Harry and Ernie heard the conversation.

When Harry laid eyes on his friend, he was taken aback. In just a few short days, the lad was already beginning to show visible signs of wasting away. At first, Harry thought he must have been hit with some kind of wasting spell and they missed it when he was treated. Drawing on what he learned while he studied with the Mystic healer, he drew his wand and ran some detection and diagnostic spells. No, there was no foul curse active here or poison or disease, just some really good binding charms. This young man was suffering with a broken spirit.

Harry pulled up a chair to sit by the head of Ernie's bed. Quietly, he said, "It's Lilith, isn't it?"

Slowly, Ernie turned his head toward Harry, "You get right to the point don't you mate?"

Harry allowed a bit of a smile, "Saves time. Doesn't it?"

Ernie nodded once slowly, "Harry, she was everything to me. There's just nothing left in this world that I can still care about. I just want to go and join her."

Harry shook his head, "Ernie, I can't even pretend that I know how you feel. But, there was a moment when I was sure Susan was dead. The next thing I knew, I woke up on a stretcher, in the hospital wing. Ernie, I'm told that I went berserk, killing everything in my path. I don't know how, but somehow, she wasn't gone. I don't know if I'd be any different from you, right now, if … if…" He trailed off.

Ernie looked at Harry with some understanding, "Mate, I think you know well enough."

Harry patted Ernie's hand, "I can't bring her back for you. I would if I could. But, I need you. The Potters and the MacMillans go back to before the time of the Vikings. I can't imagine fighting the final battle without you there. Besides, don't you want a chance to pay them back for what they did?"

Ernie nodded firmly, "You're right about that. It's just that I feel so … empty."

Harry said, "So long as the living remembers them, they are never truly gone. Honour her, Ernie. Keep her with you."

Ernie shook his head, "I… I don't know if I can. But I'll try. "

Harry gave him a firm pat on the shoulder, "That's all any of us can do."

With that, Harry took down the privacy ward and let the healer know that Ernie might take some food now.

He kissed Susan on the forehead and strode out of the hospital wing. There was no sound, but he seemed to vanish the moment he was beyond the door.

Susan had recovered well, or so she thought. She was getting restless, eager to get back to work. The healer was reluctant to let her go and he wasn't telling the reason why. At last, he relented saying only that she needed to be careful not to over exert herself when she used magic. There seemed to be a deep sorrow in his eyes as he advised her. His final instructions when he released her from the Hospital Wing were that she was to continue to come to Madam Pomfrey for potions twice per day until she said to stop. With that, he packed up his few things and headed for the gate to the castle.

The Room of Requirement

When Susan entered The Room of Requirement, the students were paired off, fighting duels. Ron, Hermione, Neville and Daphne were making the rounds, helping them with their blocking and dodging, but her emerald eyed betrothed was not there. Fred and George, who were busy trying to give each other rabbit ears, hooves , horns and the like, broke off what they were doing and came over to greet her.

"Glad to see…", said Fred.

"… you up and about", said George.

"We welcome you back into our ranks!", they said together.

Susan smiled as she pulled them both into a hug, "You two always make me laugh." Then she released them as she asked, "Where's my dashing young man?"

Fred and George both looked puzzled as they realized it was Susan asking about Harry. George said, "If he's not with you."

Fred finished, "We don't have a clue."

Susan's eyebrows went up as she remarked, "Oh really?"

Being curious about him, she drew her wand and tapped out a message on her wand holster, "Meeting in the RoR. Where are you?"

It was another minute before her holster heated up and the response came back, "I will be there in ten minutes."

Completely unsatisfied with Harry's answer, Susan began to take her frustrations out on a practice dummy. She was supposed to be in her dorm, resting but, this was Susan after all.

The Chamber of Secrets

Harry was blasting away with at least 20 practice dummies at once. These weren't the stationary things that just fired a spell as they recharged, these things were fully animated monsters that dodged, shielded, cast random spells at random intervals. As soon as Harry managed to destroy one, another one would spawn to take up the fight. None of the practice dummy spells were deadly, there was no need for that, but each one was colour coded to represent a different deadly curse. Some could not be shielded. Some could not be dodged and some could not be blocked. The purpose of this exercise was to keep straight what was what and use the correct defence for each one, no matter how many came at him at once. In a real battle, one slip could make the difference between victory and death. Harry was surrounded by a black aura, rapidly firing spell chains from both wands at once when his wand holster heated up. He thought it was likely Neville or Hermione asking him to come to practice again, so he didn't answer it right away.

Harsh emerged from the shadows and spoke, "Young Lord Peverell."

Harry did not take his eyes off the practice dummies or faulter in his timing for even a split second. With a flick of the wand in his left hand, he silenced all of the practice dummies at once. The smoke and dust continued to swirl about the room. With another gesture, Harry cleared the air. He emerged from the dark mist, breathing hard, glistening with sweat. He had been practicing for over an hour and not one of the dummies had managed to score a hit. He checked his wand holster and sent his terse reply before he put his wands away and bowed, "Guruji, what may I do for you."

"I have come to ask, young war mage, why you are hiding from your friends?", Harsh spoke in his low, gentle tone.

Harry gestured to the room where the practice dummies were arranged, "Not hiding, Guruji, practicing. I need to be better."

The leader of the mystics scanned the wreckage and dust from more than a hundred practice dummies strewn among the ones that were still in one piece. He commented, "I believe your skill to be sufficient for the task. And…" he paused before continuing, "your friends need you."

Harry surveyed the room. He thought back to what he was able to do before he trained in the mountains of India with his mystic friends. Finally, he had to admit to himself and to his master, "You're right, of course. This is not training. I just don't know what to say to them. I drilled them over and over again on how to dodge and block spells. I taught them everything I could to help them stay alive. And then, what did they do?", He turned to the old mystic with the tears overflowing from his eyes, "The idiots block deadly spells with their bodies!". He wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand, "That's not noble or brave. It's just stupid. So many of them died. So many more of them were hurt. And Susan… She could have… She almost…" Harry couldn't bring himself to say the words.

The Lord of the mystics who had lost more friends in battle than Harry knew, nodded his understanding, "Yes, Harry. I know how you feel. I would, however, remind you that there is a time to be hard and a time to show love. Remember that when you speak with your friends. Also remember that none of your practices were like a battle which you faced in the village so they were bound to make mistakes". Then he gestured at Harry's holster, "I think that Susan is waiting to see you. Don't waste one minute that you can spend with her. Time may be more precious than you think."

Harry asked his master pointedly, "Guruji, do you know something that you're not telling me?"

The mystic chuckled, "Of that you can be certain. Now I send you to her, but before I do, I must take my leave of you. There are matters in Africa which require my personal attention."

Harry nodded sombrely, "I am sorry to see you go. Thank-you again. For everything."

The old mage nodded, "It is no more or less than what Mother Magic requires of me." With that, the leader of the mystics simply vanished.

It took Harry about another 30 seconds to make himself presentable. The next moment, he strode into the Room of requirement.

The Room of Requirement

The practice session was winding down. Cho had already been taken off to bed by the house elves and most of the other students had wandered off to their common rooms. Susan was still there along with Daphne, Ron, Neville and Hermione. Ginny was duelling two on one with the twins and giving them a good workout. When Harry entered, he found Susan first, "Sue? Was it you who sent that message?"

Suzan peppered him with stingers, "Yes!", zap, "that", zap, "was", zap, "me!". She continued on, zap, "Where", zap, "have", zap, "you", zap, "been", zap, "hiding?"

Harry carefully dodged the stingers, trying his best to give the impression that he was jumping around in pain while the spells hit the loose folds of his robes. Sometimes, true love hurts. He had to work hard to keep the smile from his face at seeing his Sue back to her old self. He thought he'd better make a stab at apologizing for whatever she might be upset about.

"I'm sorry Sue. I wasn't hiding, I've just been really busy", he said, not quite honestly.

She huffed in indignation, "Not with these people you haven't. I know because I asked them. They haven't seen you at a work-out or a practice in over a week. I thought you were looking after your Order and they thought you were fawning over me. So where, Oh Great Chosen One, have you been!?"

Harry glanced around the room to see that all activity had stopped and they were all waiting to hear his answer.

He looked around for a place to sit. Of course, this was the Room of Requirement so there was a convenient circle of chairs that wasn't there a minute ago. He waved people over to invite them into the conversation. Once they were all sitting, he began, "To be honest, I've been brooding."

Ron interjected, "Brooding!? We've been working our butts off and you've been off sulking somewhere! I can't believe it!"

Harry grinned at him, "For me, brooding involves 20 of the nastiest practice dummies I can animate."

Ron's eyes went wide and his mouth formed an, "Oh!", as he recalled his last practice session with just one of Harry's specials.

Harry continued, "Look, I know that every single one of us here is mourning the loss of at least one dear friend. I saw the mess that Ernie is. But, do any of you know what it's like to feel personally responsible for every single one of those deaths?"

He scanned around to see that every one of them was thinking about it.

Susan spoke, "I'm sorry, Harry I didn't think…"

Harry looked into his betrothed's eyes and said, "No, Sue. I didn't talk to you about it. I thought you had quite enough to get along with, being injured and all. I didn't want you worrying about me."

Several responses went through Susan's mind as the emotions chased each other across her features. What could she say? After all, Harry wasn't the only one keeping secrets here. Finally, she had to admit that she hadn't been in any condition to take on any more drama since the battle. When she spoke, it was to try and honour his gesture, "Yes, my love, I understand. But we are all here for you now."

Harry smiled a sad smile at the bright, shining centre of his world. No words could express his gratitude. He took a deep breath before addressing the gathering, "Every one of you have been and are more brave, more loyal, more understanding than I could have ever hoped. I owe it to all of you to tell you how I really feel."

He stood up and started pacing the room, "16 of our friends are gone. The losses are huge, staggering, overwhelming. To me, it still doesn't seem real. It's too many. They were too young. What was I thinking? Drilling my class mates like we're some sort of army or something. When it came down to the real thing, so many just weren't ready. I… I can't do this anymore. You owe it to the people you care about to stay alive! You can't throw life, any life, your life away like that."

He sat down again, hard, thumping his fist on the arm of his chair to emphasize each word, "I'm disbanding the order. I won't use any more of my friends for human shields. The Order is done!"

That was when Hermione spoke up, "'Human shields'? Is that all you think we've accomplished here? You listen up, Harry and listen well." She sat up straight as she took a deep breath. "Last week, the village of Hogsmead was attacked by about 80 trained, disciplined death eaters. They had a plan. They had the element of surprise. They set up wards to keep help from arriving and they attacked when most of the garrison had been called away to another battle. Their plan was to round us up and slaughter us like so many cattle to break the will of Wizarding Britain and bring the entire nation to their knees." She paused to let the immensity and villainy of the plot sink in. Then she continued, "And we stopped them. We didn't just stop them, we handed them their hindquarters on a platter and sent them running. We could not have done that if we hadn't been training like a bunch of maniacs under your leadership, Harry. Instead of counting the dead, you need to count the life of every single student that survived that attack as one person who would have been dead but for your training. Everyone in the order and many more owe you a life debt. Now stop feeling sorry for yourself and get back to what you do best!"

Neville just looked on in awe. Daphne seemed to have breathed in new life. Susan nodded her head in affirmation. Ron, being Ron, said, "Couldn't have said it better myself, mate."

Susan spoke up, "She's right, my love. We need you to lead us. Failing to do so will only cause more deaths, more losses, more heartache. When you look at it like that, there is really only one way to go."

Daphne said, "I know it weighs heavy on you, Harry. I know you didn't ask for it, but this is your lot. None of us can do it for you."

Finally, Neville said, "Brother, whatever you decide, I'm there for you."

The twins and Ginny held their peace. Looking around the gathering, seeing the resolve on every face, Harry had to reconsider. These weren't foolish romantics with delusions of glory, laud and honour or invincibility against a scary but mostly harmless foe. These were people who had been through real battle, lost loved ones and seen death. And yet, they wanted to fight on. They wanted to support him. This was part of what it means to be the chosen one. To put them in harm's way was evil, but to leave them in harm's way with no way to defend themselves when he could make a difference, that was worse. This was the burden of leadership.

At length, Harry said, "Alright. I'll be there, starting tomorrow morning." Turning to Sue he asked, "Walk you back to your common room, Sue?"

Sue said, "I'll see you there in the morning, my love. You can take me to breakfast. I would like to sit and chat with Daphne for a while."

Harry barely let his surprise show. He stood and gallantly bowed to take and kiss the hand of his betrothed before he lead the rest of the gathering out the door.

As soon as they were gone, Susan sagged in her chair, her colour gone. She said weakly to Daphne, "Daph, I've overdone it. How can I get back to my dorm?"

Daphne cast a critical eye over her friend then cast a few quick diagnostic spells, "Sue, You're dangerously exhausted. I should get you to Madam Pomfrey immediately."

Sue waved her off, "No. She can't do anything for me. I just need some rest."

Daphne asked, "Are you sure? It looks like you're in a bad state."

Susan gave her a firm look, "I'm not sleeping another night in that wretched hospital wing. I promise, I'll check in with Madam Pomfrey in the morning, after I've had a good night's sleep in my own bed."

Daphne acquiesced, "OK. I'll do the same thing we do for Cho". She called to the air, "Blinkey!"

A house elf, dressed in the livery of the Hogwarts tea towel popped into the room, "Yes, Miss Ice Queen? How be's Blinkey serving you?"

Daphne hardly cringed at the House elf's use of the nick-name. She said, "Please get Heiress Bones to her bed. She needs her rest."

Blinkey curtsied once then taking Susan by the hand, the two of them disappeared with a louder pop.

By the Lake, Hogwarts

Neville lead the students through the knee deep snow to the side of the lake. There was a lot on the ground but it wasn't difficult going because the training sessions of previous days had trampled the snow into a hard-packed trail. It was still February and there was enough ice on the lake to be safe for skating. In the dim pre-dawn twilight, Neville thought he made out someone swimming, yes, swimming from one side to the other at an amazing speed. There was a strip of open water, no more than five feet wide, that stretched from shore to shore and there was his god-brother swimming laps like it was the middle of July!

As the other students began to assemble and start their stretches, Harry emerged from the water, dripping wet and grinning. A giant tentacle rose out of the water and waved. Harry waved back as he dried himself off. In another minute, he was dressed in his sweats and ready to lead the workout.

Harry rapidly went through the gathered students, pointing at each one in turn, counting, "One, two, one, two, on…" When he was done he said, "Alright. Listen up. If you are a one, it is your turn to run laps. If you are a two, it is your turn to stop the ones running by any means you can contrive. One's, if you are tackled, if you are hit by a spell, you are out. You will sit out the rest of the round. Two's, when we you have eliminated all but the last one the round is over. You will then switch places and start again. When we are done", Harry grinned, "We will run off between the best from each group and the rest of us will stop them. Winner gets", Harry produced a giant chocolate bar from inside his robes, "a giant bar of Honeyduke's finest." He looked around as the mesmerized students beheld the coveted confection then he said, "Go."

There was mayhem as the students drew their wands and started zapping each other. A few of the One's got themselves sorted out and dashed off around the shore of the lake. More than half of them were eliminated before they even got off the starting line. After a couple of laps, it was down to Fred and Neville. They jigged and jogged around everything the Two's could throw at them. Then Tracy blew Fred a kiss. While he was distracted, Daphne zapped his backside with a stinger and he was out. The next round, a lot more survivors got past the starting line. After a couple of laps, it was down to Pucey, Ron and George. When George had a spell coming at him, he conjured giant mushrooms that exploded into a cloud of confetti when the spells hit them. Ron was manoeuvring So that there were obstacles between him and the casters. His dodging was also getting really good. Pucey was so smooth and fluid that it looked like he was flying on a broom rather than running. Harry pointed them out, "That's what I'm talking about! No two of them are using the same technique but all three of them are effective. George is going to tire first. His conjuring is highly effective and the chaff from the exploding mushrooms is giving him extra cover, but that technique is going to wear him out. Now Ron, what he's doing works well, so long as there's available cover. Then there's Pucey. His dodging is really smooth."

As the racing trio passed by Harry, he zapped all three of them with a wide-area stunner. Pucey and Ron tumbled to the ground, unconscious. George, who had popped up a shield in a split second, was declared the winner of the round.

Harry revived Ron and Pucey, "Sorry, mates. You forgot to use shields."

The final round was between Dumbledore's apprentice and one half of the best pranking team in the school. It seemed like an uneven contest, but George's ability to improvise seemed endless. Neville's reflexes were blindingly quick. He was choosing between dodging, blocking and shielding correctly every time. Some spells that he judged to be just plain cheeky, he swatted them away into the crowds of the casters. As a result, the crowd of people casting spells at the racing duo thinned out a bit. George was doing really well, but in the end, he collapsed to the ground, exhausted, just as Harry said would happen.

Harry said, "Well done, everyone! But I only brought one bar. Congratulations, Neville."

Most of the students clapped and cheered as Harry handed over the prize. Fred and George made cat calls, yelling things like "fixed.", and rigged", while laughing uproariously.

"Alright!", said Harry as the cheering died down, "Everyone, three more laps around the lake and I'll see you in the Room of Requirement after dinner."

Room of Requirement

After dinner, the students filed into the Room of Requirement. It seemed bigger than they remembered it. One of the first things they saw as they entered, was a wall, covered with photos of the 16 students that had died in the Battle of Hogwarts. Many among them wondered what Harry was about, reminding all of them about their recent loss like that. Ernie just stood in front of the picture of Lilith as if he was transfixed. At length, a change came over him and he marched up to Harry like a man on a mission.

He demanded, "Did you do this, Peverell?"

Harry responded in a neutral tone, "I will explain everything when the rest get here."

Ernie growled, "You'd better."

Without exception, the students stopped at the wall and took some time to view the smiling, waving figures in the pictures. There were very few dry eyes in the gathering. Some glared at Harry like, "This better be good."

Harry addressed them in a brusque tone, "I hope that all of you have taken the time to look at the photos on your way in. Yes, I want you to feel their absence. I want you to think about how you feel every time you miss them. And then, I want you to deeply consider how every person who cares about you would feel if it were your picture on that wall."

He paused to let them ponder it for a few minutes.

He paced up and down in front of the students when he began to speak again, "When we started this, I told you that I would only accept your service if you promised to do what I say. In return, I promised that I would teach you everything I can to help you stay alive. All those students are dead, their promising lives, everything that they could ever be, cut short, their loved ones bereaved. They were our friends. They were my friends. WE have lost a part of ourselves that will never come back."

He stopped pacing and turned to face the group, "I tried to disband the Order of the Snow Leopard last night because so many of us died. Ultimately, I am responsible for every one of you and those deaths", He pointed to the wall, "weigh on me so heavily, that I wished it was me instead of them."

It was Daphne that spoke up this time, "Yes, Harry, we know. And that is why we follow you. You can never be like Tom. He treats his followers like chattel, throwing them away at a whim. You will never do that. And that is why we will win."

The rest of the students murmured their agreement.

Harry responded, a lot more gently this time, "Thank-you Daphne, all of you, for that. But it doesn't make leading you any easier."

He straightened up again, "The point I'm trying to get at is this: Many of our friends are dead because they tried to shove their friends away from a spell meant for someone else."

Harry paused while the students reacted. Some shrugged, some muttered, "I was there wasn't I?" A few uttered the name of the one that saved them. Daphne and sue gave each other a significant glance.

Harry growled into the silence. "You can block, you can conjure, you can summon. I know you can because I taught you, here, in this room. I've seen all of you do it." He paused while they recalled the endless drilling. Then he drove his point home, "Shoving someone away from the path of a spell does not make you noble or brave or anything else like that. It just makes you dead. Think about your loved ones. It might sound noble and honourable in stories of knights in shining armours but in real life...", he gestured to the wall covered with the photos of their dead friends. He stopped pacing to face his friends, "Trading one life for another is no gain for our side. It doesn't serve you and it places a terrible burden of guilt on the person you save." He looked around the gathering again as the students stomachs began to do flip-flops. Then he continued, "If you have enough time to shove someone away from a spell, you have more than enough time to do something that will save your friend without throwing away your own life.".

By this time, Susan was cringing. She knew it wasn't all about her, but she felt all of the anger behind Harry's words was all directed at her. During the next pause, she whispered to Daphne, "I'm not feeling well." And she left the room to report to the infirmary.

Harry failed to notice Susan leaving the room. He continued, "Pair up everyone. You will be fighting practice dummies. They will cast spells, colour coded to represent every deadly spell that was used in the battle last week. Your job is to stop those spells from hitting your partner. You are not allowed to shield, block or dodge for yourself. That is not the purpose of this exercise. If I catch any of you diving in front of spells or any other stupidity, you're out and I mean out of the Order. I won't have that going on ever again. Am I clear?"

The students paired up and each chose a group of dummies to fight. There were five dummies in each group. The spells flew fast and furious. It took a few tries before they got it right, but Harry, Neville, Fred and George, were all helping the students to get into a routine. Some of the students got their robes spattered with the colour spells and they stung a bit, but it was much better than the real thing. Shields, flocks of canaries, Small flying items, rocks filled the air, soaring in every direction. At the end of an hour, Harry was satisfied that he had driven his point home.

With a gesture from Harry's wand, the practice dummies fell silent. He gathered everyone around, "Not bad. Not bad at all. From now on, half an hour of this drill is going to be part of every practice session. I will, of course, change it up as you improve. I can see by the spatters on your robes, that around half of you are dead. That's awful, but I did see that all of you improved once you got the idea. Alright, now I'm going to show you a little something I picked up while I was training with the Aurors." He looked around the room before he continued, "This spell is quite deadly and its use is restricted. It requires pin-point accuracy and you will have to practice long and hard before you can use it in combat."

Du Vant, his headwound still bandaged, asked, "Why don't you teach us the spells you used in the battle, Harry? We can all do with learning those spells."

Harry shook his head, "I'm not going to waste everybody's time explaining all the reasons I can't do that. You'll just have to take it on faith that it can't be done. The piercing hex, on the other hand, is something that anyone can master if they work at it. As I was saying, the use of this spell is restricted. Since it is deadly when used properly, the Ministry takes a dim view of it being used casually. However, used in self-defence, against a deadly foe, that is quite another matter."

Harry showed them the wand movement and incantation for the hex. These students were eager learners. In less than ten minutes, they had the theory and wand movement down. They spent the rest of the hour working on accuracy. It was rough going but most of the students were at least able to hit their target by the end of the session.

It was getting close to curfew when Harry called a halt to the practice. "Alright, off with the lot of you. I'll see you by the lake in the morning."

Albus had been hiding under a disillusionment charm the entire time. He nodded his satisfaction and carefully blended in with the students as he exited the room.

Thinking to escort Susan to her common room, Harry looked around and noticed that Susan wasn't there.

As Daphne headed toward the door, Harry tapped her on the shoulder, "Daph, do you know where Susan is?"

She shook her head, "Wow, Harry. For someone who can track ten people casting spells at you in one go, you sure miss some important stuff. I don't know for sure but she told me she wasn't feeling well and ducked out early on. You might try Madame Pomfrey.".

Hospital Wing

Susan was just exiting when Harry came to the door. Susan surprised him at the doorway, "Susan? Are you OK?" She smiled up at him, "You have a funny way of asking to walk a girl to her common room, young man."

Harry caught wrong-footed for the second time in less than a minute, quickly recovered, "Of course, my lady. May I have the honour of escorting you to your common room? He extended his arm for her to take.

Sue smiled impishly, "That's better. We just might make a gentleman of you yet."

Sue never once faltered or complained, but to Harry, it seemed she was walking a little slower and that she leaned on him a bit more than usual. They talked about how the practice session went, how things were going to change there from now on. Every time Harry tried to turn the conversation to Susan's health, she just said that she was fine and started talking about something else.

Hestia's hearth

"Do you understand your task?", asked Moody of Mr. O'Neil.

Moody had come to visit him under Frank's orders. The ministry had decided to keep their forces close and not venture out but they were keeping an eye on the world yonder through the muggle-born network. The muggle born would watch things and if something required the ministry's intervention, they would promptly inform the ministry. Doing this freed up the Aurors to train and drill instead of spending endless hours on patrol.

Mr. O'Neil's task was to keep a track of everyone in his circle and to ensure that they never risked their lives. Unknown to the death-eaters, this clandestine restaurant in the heart of muggle London was going to become the central hub of intelligence for the faction of the light.

"Yes I understand perfectly, Mr. Moody", he replied "I already have a functioning network. They cover all of Muggle London and many of the magical areas. They don't risk their lives but keep themselves to informing the ministry. In other words, we will be the ministry's eyes and ears. We'll leave it up to the Aurors to be the Ministry's boot."

Moody nodded, "If some of your clients are in the habit of visiting Knockturn Alley or the taverns there, tell them to keep their ears open for any sort of gossip going on there. Sometimes, we can learn a lot from listening to a drunk at the next table."

Greece

"You understand, boy?", asked Abbadon of Voldemort.

Voldemort nodded, "Yes master. I am grateful to you for teaching me this spell for now I have some hope of winning against him."

Abbadon growled, "You will never understand what I have done for you teaching you this spell but as your master, it was all that I could do. Now listen closely for I will not repeat myself. Giving you the knowledge of this spell, I give my life into your hands."

"Master!", Voldemort exclaimed "You will surely live long."

Abbadon growled, "Stop trying to butter me up, boy. I am more ancient than you know. I am weary. I've lived quite long enough. This spell has always been my last resort when I fought with my nemesis. Giving it to you is giving up my last weapon to you."

"Your nemesis?"

"Yes boy! Those who trained the boy as the champion of light are our enemies. Their leader is my nemesis. I have fought him many times, using this spell to fight him. Giving it to you means that I am giving up the last arrow in my quiver."

"But can't you use it again, master?"

"Meaningless. Worthless. I have given you all of my followers. When you fight the last battle, they will find you and augment your power with theirs. They of course don't know what the spell will do to them. But since I am giving everything to you including my former apprentices or followers, I am empty now. This time when my nemesis comes for me, I will die. I warn you, do not tarry. Take the boy on as soon as you can. While he gains strength, they are hunting down my followers."

"Master!", Voldemort exclaimed, "What do you mean?"

He said sourly, "Yesterday Ionut Anastese was killed in Romania. It is reported that he died of poisoning but I know he never left his home without taking an antidote. He was killed by a special poison which leaves no marks on the victim's body and has no antidote. I have no delusions that they will not be going after my other followers so make haste in whatever you do."

"Master, how may I repay this debt?", Voldemort asked with a fake trace of sympathy.

Abbadon slapped him again, "You don't need to pretend to warm up to me, boy. I know you revel in the fact that you will get more followers while you won't have to worry about me. Now be gone and let it be known that a teacher chose to die for his apprentice."