Headmaster's office

The headmaster was in his office reviewing how a shortened school term might impact the fifth year and seventh year final exams when he heard the spiral staircase to his office activate. One of the portraits informed him, "Lord Peverell is on his way up."

Shortly after that, Dumbledore used his wand to open the double doors, revealing Harry with his hand raised to knock. The lad would never be considered to be very tall, but the Headmaster realized that he was already at least an inch taller than his father ever was and likely outweighed him by about two stone (28 pounds or nearly 13 kilos). The glasses were gone, showing his mother's eyes prominently. He had to really look to see anything of the old scar. Not only was it well faded, but Harry was wearing his hair a bit longer these days and the scar was nearly completely hidden. Dumbledore also noticed that Harry made almost no sound at all when he moved, more like a stalking great cat than a man.

The corners of the Headmaster's beard twitched up as his favorite student stalked into the room, "Harry, my boy. Won't you take a seat?" As he gestured to a chair on the opposite side of his desk.

Harry only perched on the edge of the chair. It was plain that something was bothering him. Without even a proper greeting, he got right to it, "Headmaster, I have some concerning news."

Dumbledore steepled his fingers and regarded Harry over his half-moon spectacles, "Please, do tell."

"Headmaster, during the Easter holidays, we captured a werewolf. His pack was sent to attack Hogwarts. Under questioning, he revealed that there is another way into Hogwarts besides the seven secret passages that we know."

Dumbledore's nostrils flared. He placed his hands flat on the desk, preparing to rise, "Werewolves! Here? I have to tell Hagrid right away…"

Harry waved his hand, brushing the concern aside, "Sorry Headmaster. To be clear, that wolf pack will never hunt again. NO, what I'm concerned about is that there is another way into the school of which we know nothing, but Riddle's forces do. That is a vulnerability we cannot tolerate. How could this happen?"

Dumbledore settled back down into his seat then adopted a scholarly demeanour. He began with some enthusiasm, "Hogwarts is not just a castle, Harry. It is a magical castle that has stood for more than a thousand years. Each lay line, magical creature, staff member and student that has passed through here in all that time has made their own contribution. This place has more ambient magic than anywhere I have ever visited. That when added upon the original enchantments and wards that the founders laid down to build this place has made the very school sentient. Have you ever wondered about the Room of Requirement? How is it that it only appears in time of need and always seems to have exactly what you need in it? In all my years at this school, I'm sure that I still do not know all of it. That's because The Room of Requirement is only one example. The school will always respond to the needs of the students. The founders wanted it that way. I expect that when you locked off all the secret passageways, that the students who still serve Tom Riddle needed a new way to come and go and the school provided it."

Harry raised his eyebrows quizzically, "Does that mean you already know about the new way that opened up?"

Dumbledore nodded, "Indeed I do." He reached into a desk drawer and produced a map which he laid out on the desk. With a Very definite twinkle in his eye, he said, "I understand that misters Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail and Prongs made something very similar to this during their days at Hogwarts. Of course, not even the teachers know that I have this. I wish it to remain that way?"

Harry whistled softly, "Of course, headmaster. This explains a lot."

The two of them took a few minutes to observe the labelled dots moving about on the map. Then Dumbledore extended a finger and pointed to a supply closet near the Slytherin common room, "there." He traced the path as he spoke, "It starts near the Slytherin common room. As you can see, it passes underground, under the ramparts, neatly bypassing all the wards. The exit point is in the alley behind the Hog's Head."

Harry quickly unfurled his own map. Tapping it with his wand he muttered, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." As the lines drew themselves on the parchment, Harry said to Dumbledore, "I can't understand why I never saw it before." Paying close attention to the room by the Slytherin common room, he saw the passageway draw itself on the map.

Dumbledore actually chuckled at this, "As marvelous a thing as that map is, Harry, it cannot know more than the people who created it or use it."

Harry tapped the map with his wand muttering, "Mischief managed.", and folded the map away as it blanked itself. To Dumbledore he said, "You mean that since I didn't know, the map couldn't know? Sorry, that's not important right now. Why haven't you sealed up that passage?"

The Headmaster blanked and stored his own map away before answering, "Better the devil you know…"

Harry finished, "Than the devil you don't. What's that got to do with it?"

Dumbledore nodded sadly, "There are a number of students who have death eaters in their families who have remained at Hogwarts. Until recently, I did not know how they were passing intelligence out of the school. If we block up this passageway, I am certain that their collective need will cause the school to open up another one. We may not be so fortunate as to spot the next one."

At this, Harry grinned, " And, as long as you know where their passageway is, you can monitor it?".

The corners of the Headmaster's beard twitched up again, "Just so. I have both ends of this passageway warded and monitored. I know every bit of intelligence they are passing and I can stop it if I need to. When the time comes and we have finished evacuating all the students, it will be sealed quite effectively for the duration of the battle. Anyone or anything attempting to enter that way will be a casualty."

Harry nodded his approval, "That will do. While I'm here, is there anything else I'm missing?"

Dumbledore shook his head slowly, "Nothing I can think of. But, there is something that I think you are uniquely qualified to do."

Harry intrigued, asked, "And what would that be?"

Dumbledore took a deep breath and let it out again before he made his request, "I do not believe that we will gain any further useful intelligence by leaving our dear Severus Snape in harm's way. Do you think that you could persuade him to give up the spying business?"

Harry nodded slowly, "I'll do what I can, Headmaster, but if he's determined to make a martyr of himself, I won't force him."

The leak

Two of the Ravenclaws from Seamus's crew were skulking through the shadows of the castle, heading for the Astronomy tower. They were going to head out from there on brooms for a practice session on the catapults. In keeping with Harry's orders, it was well after dark. The darkness kept them mostly hidden from normal human sight, but they were talking in carelessly loud voices as they went. The practices had been going well. While Seamus was still the only one that could land a boulder on a rabbit's hole at two-thousand meters, but the others were getting there.

Nobody talked about it but it was clear that the mechanisms were built of Goblin wrought silver. There were some good technomancers in Wizarding Britain, but large machines of war like these were not their specialty. International treaties made magical war machines all but completely illegal. The Goblins lived by a different set of treaties from the wizards. They also had really good lawyers if anyone questioned them about it. Although the machines were both hopelessly fiddly and massive at the same time, nothing ever broke and nothing ever jammed. It wasn't just the crews that were getting better but the machines were getting better too. With just the slightest care, the siege engines practically wound and aimed themselves.

These machines were catapults designed specifically to throw heavy boulders and stones to a great distance. They were not suited to do anything else. Too light a load might cause the machines to break loose from their mounts. Trying to fire at close range delivered weak shots that were difficult to aim. Unlike muggles, wizards hadn't gotten around to building machines that could kill hundreds at once. They weren't calibrated to fire magical ammunition either. It would be a miracle if they could use it to thin down the ranks of the death eaters to any degree. Seamus figured this out quickly and told Ron about it when they returned to their dorms. Ron looked worried. He was relying on those machines when he told Moody about their strategy. He would have to think of something else and do it soon.

As the claws walked to the astronomy tower, they were followed by a bleary eyed serpent who had been giving up sleep and study time to tail this pair for days. Nobody knew for sure that these students knew anything of value. It was only the wildest chance that the spy was tailing these students at just the right time.

One of them said, "I promise I'm going to hex Seamus into tomorrow. Does he think he's Harry or something? Ordering us around like that, practicing on those monstrosities."

His buddy shushed him, "watch what you say. The walls have ears."

The serpent trailing them had his eyes light up in a malicious spark as he cast a spying charm on the robes of the one who had been speaking earlier, just so he could hear them more clearly.

They were speaking in hushed whispers now, but with the eavesdropping charm the spy could hear them plainly, "… those machines will destroy a good chunk of his forces if he decides to attack. It was a good thing that Harry got hold of them when he did."

The serpent couldn't follow them up the astronomy tower without being seen. Soon they were out of the limited range of the spying spell. But, it was enough. The damage had already been done.

A few minutes later, an owl winged its way through the night from the owlery in the general direction of Hogsmeade. There it landed on the outstretched arm of an unmarked death eater loyalist. He eagerly pulled his arm back in through the cottage window, hungry for any news the owl brought. The owl flew back out through the open window as he unfurled the note. His eyes grew wide as he read the note, and read it once more to make sure that he got it right. This was far too important to trust to owl post. He retrieved his broom from the front closet and took a few seconds to secure the cottage before he left. In the darkness, a lone broom flew to the South-West, carrying the rider and the news.

Who will win?

As the sun began to show itself above the horizon, it lit up pink and purple streamers of cloud high in the sky, contrasting with the brilliant blue and the retreating purple. Vikram and Neville were giving Harry a good workout, shrouded in the mist over the lake. He was fighting them two on one with a wand in each hand. The defense teacher's style of old and crafty contrasted with Neville's youth, strength and raw speed. And still, Harry only shielded or blocked when he absolutely had to while neatly side-stepping nearly all the spells. In the cool mist of the morning, none of them were wearing shirts. In fact, they had all been for a swim, but the workout they were having had replaced the sheen from the lake water with a sheen of sweat.

Finally, the sun hit the water in earnest and the mist over the lake evaporated. With just a hint of a grin, Harry pulled off a brilliant double transfiguration and his opponents found bouquets of flowers in their hands instead of their wands.

Harry doubled over laughing while his bemused opponents tried to figure out what had just happened. When he was able to speak again he said, "Don't worry about it. They'll turn back in a few minutes. How about we race across the lake and back before we go up to breakfast?"

Accepting the challenge, Vikram ran toward the lake saying, "Last one back is a rotten egg!"

Neville and Harry caught flat-footed, just glanced at each other and charged after him.

Minutes later, Harry, dried and dressed, arrived at the barrels outside of the Hufflepuff common room just in time to offer his arm to his lady as she emerged. With some interesting wand work, Harry had learned to dry himself off and get dressed while running. The hair still needed some work, but that was never going to change.

When they arrived in the Great Hall for breakfast, the entire place was buzzing with excitement. There seemed to be a lot more people dressed in Slytherin and Ravenclaw colours than usual. Today was the day of the match between those two houses. Harry noted with some satisfaction that there were a lot of people showing support for Slytherin. In past years, it always seemed that it was Slytherin against the rest of the school. Today, more people were showing support for that house than he could ever remember.

Harry escorted Susan to the Gryffindor table. As they sat down, Fred and George accosted him.

"Who do you like…" said Gred.

"…for today's game?" finished Forge.

Harry considered for a moment before he began, "You know, Cho has the experience and so, for that matter, does the rest of the Ravenclaw team. But Harper, he's hungry. And I've never seen anyone want it as bad as Ferret Malfoy. It's a tough call and it's do or die for both teams. But, I think the Slytherins are going to take it today."

Fred and George looked at each other and said together, "Blimey!" Then they looked at Harry and said, "Care to put your Galleons where your mouth is?"

Harry asked, "What are the odds?"

Gred said, "Sorry mate, it's even money…"

Forge finished, "lot's are betting on the Snakes today."

Harry deposited a stack of Galleons in George's hand, "Twenty on Slytherin then."

Susan looked on in bemused disapproval while all this was going on, "I hope I'm not marrying a gambler?"

Harry kissed her cheek, "Not to worry, my dear. I'm not often wrong about these things."

As they made their way out to the pitch, Ron caught up to them, "I'm really looking forward to the Claws stomping those no good Snakes once and for all!"

Harry gave Ron a side-long glance before he answered, "No matter which way it goes, I'm sure it's going to be a good game."

Ron huffed, "No matter which way it goes? Are you outta your tree?"

Harry had a lot of respect for Ron's ability in tactics and strategy, but when it came to the Slytherins, he had real trouble with being objective. Harry explained carefully, "We've all watched these teams play. You know their abilities as well as I do, right?"

Ron nodded, "I suppose. What are you getting at?"

Harry let out a breath, "In the entire time that we've been friends, only once have we ever seen a game where the Seeker didn't determine the winner and that was at the World Cup. Am I right?"

Ron thought for a moment before he realized, "Merlin's beard! That's a pretty big blow, but you're right. So what, Cho is the most experienced seeker by far. She's sure to get the Snitch."

Harry shook his head firmly, "Experienced. Right. She's pretty and she's Wiley. She sure knows a lot of dirty tricks. But when it comes right down to it, she almost never spots the Snitch."

Suddenly, Ron had nothing more to say. He spotted Hermione in the crowd and rushed off to join her. As the stands filled up, Harry heard an eagle screeching in the Ravenclaw section. He looked over to see Luna with her life-sized animated Eagle hat. He could also see that although there was a definite concentration of Slytherin green and silver in one section of the stands and a concentration of Ravenclaw blue and bronze at the other end, there were banners and colours well distributed throughout the rest of the seats.

When most people were settled in, Lee began the commentary, "Welcome Quidditch fans to the fifth match of the year. Today we have Ravenclaw versus Slytherin. Gryffindor is ahead in the house Quidditch championship with two wins and no losses, Ravenclaw has to get a win today to stay in the running. Slytherin, on the other hand, with two losses already, the best they can hope for is to stay out of the dungeon by winning today." He paused as a lone witch flew out onto the field with the ball crate.

"There's our referee. Please welcome Madame hooch." The crowd applauded as she settled at centre field.

Lee continued, "The Ravenclaw line-up hasn't changed but in their last game against Gryffindor, their seeker showed exceptional daring. We expect to see great things out there today."

With a sound like a cannon shot, the Eagles burst from the dressing room. They flew to centre field, Cho in the centre while the chasers flew in formation on one side with the keeper and beaters on the other side, moving in sync to suggest the flapping of wings. A roar went up from the crowd and Luna's animated eagle hat could be heard screeching above the cheers.

Lee commented, "Here come the fighting Eagles of Ravenclaw: Cho Chang, Chambers, Summers, Davies, Corner, Bradley, and Page!"

When the cheering settled down, Lee continued, "The Slytherins have had some tough breaks this year. We questioned the wisdom of moving their Seeker over to the role of Chaser. But, in their last showing, our favourite Ferret certainly made a contribution. And green though Harper certainly is, he just might catch the Snitch this time. Finally, Thickett, the first girl to play for Slytherin in living memory has shown that she knows how to handle the bat. This match could go either way."

The Stadium was suddenly filled with the sound of a giant hissing serpent. That's when the Slytherin team came flying from the change-rooms. They flew just a few feet off the ground with Margaret Thickett in the lead, the rest following her course in a zig-zag pattern so that the whole team looked like a great slithering serpent. Each member of the team waved at the crowd as they reached the outside of the coil.

Lee commented as they took to the pitch, "Here they come! Margaret Thickett, Montague, Malfoy, Pucey, Bletchley, Harper and Du Vant! Give 'em all a big hiss will you?" After the previous game, the Slytherins let the other students know that the hiss was cool with them. A lot of the crowd cheered and clapped but most of them let loose with their best hiss. Just before they got to centre field, Thickett launched high into the air and dived down with her team-mates following. The manoeuvre looked like a serpent striking. The Slytherins spread out to take up position opposing the Ravenclaws at centre field.

Madame Hooch's words were brief and to the point. She liked an intense, competitive game, but she had no patience for any attempt to deliberately injure another player. So far, nobody tested her on that. The team captains shook hands. As the Snitch and the Bludgers flew into the air, they were quickly followed by 15 brooms.

Lee commented, "Madame Hooch has finished her briefing. There go the balls."

There was a mighty blast from the referee's whistle as she sent the Quaffle arching over centre field.

Lee continued, "They're off! Malfoy grabs the Quaffle before it even began to descend! Looks like he caught Davies napping." There was nothing illegal about grabbing the Quaffle any time after the whistle, but nobody had ever gone after it before the ball began to descend before.

Lee continued, "Pass to Pucey. It's a Hawks-Head formation. Pass to Malfoy. Over to Montague. Bludger from Bradley! That's got to hurt! Montague takes a Bludger in the ribs, but he's still advancing on the goal! Pass to Pucey. He's all alone! Feint right. Page isn't buying it. There's the shot and… Page saves!

Ravenclaw in possession as Page passes the Quaffle back out to Davies. That's some fancy flying as he dodges two quick Bludgers from Thickett and Du Vant! Here comes Malfoy and Pucey trying to break up the play. It's the Porskoff Ploy! Davies drops the Quaffle to Summers. Bletchley didn't even see that coming! It's a goal through the right hoop and that's 10 to zero for Ravenclaw!"

Cheers erupted from the crowd as Madame Hooch retrieved the Quaffle and the teams formed back up at centre field. So far, Cho and Harper had been behaving themselves. Harper being less experienced just focused his attention on trying to locate the Snitch. Cho, for her part, had been advised by her captain, to quit show-boating so much and find the Snitch. There was the sound of the whistle as the Quaffle was thrown back into play.

Lee commented, "There's the whistle and Pucey comes up with the Quaffle this time. Davies had to dodge but he's after them! It's a lateral pass to Malfoy. Bludger from Corner! That's got to hurt!" Malfoy took a Bludger in the ribs and dropped the ball.

Lee continued as Chambers picked up the ball and cork-screwed his way to the Slytherin goal posts, "Picked up by Chambers. Dodges Bludgers in rapid succession from Thickett and Du Vant! Nice Sloth-grip rolls! He's all alone in the Slytherin end! Bletchley's not having any of that! He charges Chambers and it's the Translyvian Tackle!" This was a manoeuvre akin to the poke-check in Hockey. While Chambers was trying to figure out where the Quaffle went, Bletchley had already passed it back out to the Slytherin chasers.

Lee narrated, "Bletchley passes the Quaffle out to Pucey. Montague and Malfoy are flanking him all the way to the Ravenclaw goal. Here come the Ravenclaw chasers in Hawks-Head formation. It looks like they're going to catch them. Pucey uses the Finbourgh Flick and it's through the left hoop! That ties it up at 10 all!"

Author's Note: In the Finbourgh Flick the Chaser drops the Quaffle then uses the end of the broom handle to bat the Quaffle through the goal post. I leave it to the reader's imagination to picture how difficult and risky this is.

The crowd clapped, cheered, stomped and hissed as Madame Hooch carried the Quaffle back to centre field. While all this racket was going on, Harper's heart leapt into his throat as he spotted a flash of gold down on the pitch. But, as he turned his broom in that direction, he realized that it was only a reflection from Montague's wrist-watch.

Lee commented, "In my seven years at Hogwarts, I've never seen flying and teamwork like we're seeing today. This is the best Quidditch we could hope for. There's Madame Hooch with the Quaffle. There's the whistle. Malfoy comes up with it."

Malfoy had been in motion already as Madame Hooch blew the whistle. No nonsense this time, he laid down over the broom handle and shot straight to the Ravenclaw end. Although the other chasers followed as closely as they could, none of them were going to catch up this time.

Lee continued, "There goes Malfoy! He looks like that Bludger that got him earlier is still hurting, but he's not slowing down! He's heading for the left hoop and Page is ready for him. There's the shot! It's heading for the left hoop. But, no! It's a curve-ball and Page comes up empty while the ball goes cleanly through the centre hoop! That's a lot of English on that one! The score is now 20 to 10 for Slytherin!"

Malfoy was visibly rubbing his ribs as he soared back to centre field. That last shot had strained some bruised muscles. But, he had to keep playing because his team didn't have any back-ups. The crowd gave forth with cheers and hisses as the mighty Snakes took it all in. Pucey moved into position to take the tip-off. Hooch blew the whistle to resume play as the red ball arched through the air.

Lee commented, "There's the whistle and Pucey comes up with the ball. Pass to Montague. Interception by Davies! There he goes! Bludger from Thickett! There's the dodge! Pass to Summers. Shot on the left. No, that was a feint and it's clean through the right hoop! That ties it up at 20 all."

The crowd stomped and cheered while Madame Hooch made her way back to Centre field. Above the roar, Luna's eagle hat screeched. A wave started in the Ravenclaw section and made its way most of the way around the stands.

When play resumed, Cho wheeled her broom around and headed for the Slytherin goal posts at maximum speed. Harper spotted the move but he had watched Cho use this ruse too many times to fall for it. He calmly continued to circle around the pitch, looking for the Snitch. When Cho realized that Harper wasn't buying it, she too went back to looking for the Snitch.

Lee commented as it went along, "Madame Hooch throws the Quaffle into play. Chambers with the Quaffle. The Ravenclaws in Arrow-Head formation headed into the Slytherin end with Pucey and Montague in hot pursuit. There goes Cho! Has she spotted the Snitch? Harper is ignoring her! NO, it's just another feint. All four of the Beaters are fighting it out in the Slytherin end! There's a Bludger for Chambers. Bradley blocks it. Back at Thickett. Davies has the Quaffle. Shot on centre. It's a go… NO, Bletchley saves it with a brilliant Star-Fish and Stick!"

There was an enthusiastic hiss from the Slytherin fans while the Ravenclaw supporters groaned.

Lee spoke over the noise, "Back out to Malfoy. Look at that flying! Malfoy dodges everything as he clears the Slytherin end! The Ferret …"

"Jordan!", McGonagall exclaimed.

Lee, unphased continued, "… is in position to score! Chambers and Davies are trying Parkin's Pincer but Pucey is right there. Pass to Pucey. Pucey flicks it through the right goal and… There's a whistle on the play."

Madame Hooch made a double blast on her whistle and took the Quaffle out of play. There was a brief conference with the two team captains. In the end, she handed the Quaffle over to Davies.

While the teams made their way to the Slytherin end, Lee made the announcement, "Penalty on Montague for Stooging inside the goal crease. No goal. Penalty shot awarded to Ravenclaw. Davies will take the shot."

This drew a boo from the Slytherin fans. It was bad enough for the other team to be awarded a penalty shot. That was part of the game. But to be denied the goal as well, that was a bit too much.

Lee commented as the teams lined up around the Slytherin goal posts, "It's Davies with the Quaffle. Cork-screw! Feint Left and it's through the right hoop! That's 30 to 20 for Ravenclaw!"

The play got rougher from there. By the time play resumed, Malfoy made a brief suggestion to the Slytherin Beaters. He was hampered a bit by his bruised ribs, but he played with more heart because of it. By the time an hour had passed, every single one of the Ravenclaw chasers were sporting similar injuries. Cho had tried to fake-out Harper twice more, but he never made a move unless he spotted the Snitch for himself.

As the play progressed, the score piled up. Ravenclaw scored five more times, three of which were on penalties. Slytherin also racked up 50 more points, two of those goals being on penalties. With the total score at 80 to 70 for Ravenclaw, Harper made his move.

Lee was commenting, "It's Montague with the Quaffle, making a bee-line for the Ravenclaw end… And there goes Harper! He's heading for the Slytherin end!"

Harper had spotted a fleck of gold hovering around the base of the Slytherin goal-posts. He was pushing his Nimbus 2001 for all he could get out of it. Cho was above him, scanning the pitch when she saw him flip his broom over and dive for the end of the pitch. With all the chasers and beaters heading for the Ravenclaw end, she had a clear view of what Harper had already spotted and the race was on. It took her just a moment longer to get on track, but she had a slight advantage in altitude.

Lee continued, "Looks like Harper has spotted the Snitch! Cho is trying to chase him down, but will she be fast enough? Looks like the Snitch is trying to get under them. Harper has adjusted course. Cho is too far behind. There goes Harper! He's flipped over! And it's all over! That's 220 to 80 for Slytherin!"

Harper was unable to get back on top of his broom so he just stopped it and tumbled to the ground just below him. Before he could even get back on his feet, the rest of his team swarmed him and threw him up in the air. In the next few seconds, the crowd emptied the stands and mobbed the team. Before you could say, "Merlin's beard!" the entire team was being carried back into the castle amidst cheers, hisses and shouts for joy.

I renounce you

While the Slytherins partied, their head of house was in the potions dungeon, working on a potion. Using the map, Harry found him there, "Professor, do you have a minute?"

Checking the progress of the potion, Snape answered, "I have precisely 20 minutes before this concoction will require my attention again. What is it?"

Harry said, "This is a delicate matter, requiring the utmost discretion. Perhaps we could use your office?"

Leading the way, the potions master opened the walk-through to his office. When Harry was inside, he closed the door after him. Just to make sure, he layered his privacy wards over what was already there. Snape nodded in approval at Harry's precautions. When they were comfortably seated, the professor asked him, "What may I do for you, Lord Peverell?"

Harry nodded at the formality, "To you, I shall always be Potter, Professor. But, this is more about what I may do for you."

The potions master smirked, "You have managed to make a believer out of me in the last few months. But still, I doubt that there's much you can do for me."

Harry nodded gravely, "Perhaps there is. But first, I need to ask you a question."

Snape marvelled. This young war-mage that could swat him like a fly was being hesitant. The previous four years of history had not given Harry much reason to confide in him, but whatever this was clearly daunted him. The professor decided to make it as easy as he could, "Ask anything you want, Harry. I will try to answer as truthfully as I can."

"Professor, why do you serve Tom Riddle?"

This stumped Snape. He had never expected that a student much less Harry Potter would ask this question of him. He drawled, "I don't think I need to answer that question."

Harry insisted, "Please Professor, tell me why did you join him? What was the attraction?"

Snape growled, "Very well. Since you insist, I wanted to be in Slytherin since I was little. When I came to Hogwarts, the Dark Lord was already an up and coming force. Everyone sort of expected us to join him. I already knew many curses and hexes and the students of the Dark families in the servitude of the Dark Lord started spinning a web of lies and deceit around me. They showed me a picture of a world where the wizards wouldn't have to hide. I was their friend, shared their ideology and the same contempt for muggles and the muggle-born but I refused to join them formally and become a death eater until your mother ended her friendship with me. She was the only thing that kept me from joining them. I was solely responsible for pushing her away when she made excuses to others for remaining my friend. After things ended between us, I went over to the other side. I was angry, jealous and resentful of everything that had happened and I wanted the world to burn.

I was inducted into his circle as soon as I graduated from Hogwarts. Lucius Malfoy had already told him about my abilities and he used them to do a lot of questionable things. When I heard that he intended to go after your parents, I realized the folly of my actions. That was when I joined Dumbledore. I agreed to serve as a double agent."

Harry paused for a whole minute digesting in everything that Snape told him before he spoke again, "Professor, did you… you know... did you had feelings for….?"

Snape growled, "That is not for you to know, Potter."

Harry raised his hands in a pacifying gesture, "Okay. Do you know anything about who told Riddle of the prophecy?"

Snape fidgeted, "That… is not for me to say, Potter,"

Harry decided to let it go for now, "So Professor, why did you not leave his side once you joined Dumbledore?"

"Because I realized that Dumbledore needed a man inside to keep them in check and I had to repent for my actions. The night your mother died I promised Dumbledore that I would remain here to keep you safe anyway that I can. It is all I can do to repay the kindness that Lilly showed to me."

"Professor I am safe now, as you can see. In fact, all that remains between me and Tom Riddle is a final duel during which no one can interfere. Why don't you leave him now? Why not renounce him?"

Snape showed him the dark mark on his arm, "Do you know what this is? This is not just a mark through which he summons us like dogs. It is his brand and it connects us to him through magic. Even if I try to think about giving up on him, it will kill me."

Harry said, pointing at the Dark Mark, "That is exactly why I came to talk to you today. We can sever its connection to you."

Snape looked at him as if he were a fool, "We? You and who else? This is a desperately tricky bit of magic. It is designed to kill anyone that tries to tamper with it. I doubt that you have the subtlety to deal with it without getting me killed."

Harry smirked, "Yes, we. Allow me to invite a certain guest before I answer your question."

With that, he pulled out his wand and conjuring his patronus, he sent it running away.

A few minutes later, Algernon Croaker entered the office, grinning, "I think you have convinced him, lad."

Snape growled, "What is this? What are you doing here?"

Croaker answered, "Well, the unspeakables have been busy this year. We have a guest in our department who has a mark quite like yours and he wanted its connection severed. We did a lot of experiments on him and we have finally found a way to sever this mark's connection to Tom. Now his mark is nothing but a ghastly tattoo, symbolic of the ties that he had in his past. Do you want that?"

This made Snape think. Croaker was offering him something that no one else could. Even Dumbledore couldn't do it no matter that he would have wanted Snape near the Dark Lord so he could spy on him. If Croaker could do it, Snape felt that he would be free of the taint that was on his arm. It would be good to be free of this last attachment and maybe he could spend the rest of his days away from everyone and in peace. Everyone deserved some peace at last.

He turned to Croaker, "What do I have to do?"

Croaker produced a contraption from within his robes. It had a little handle and a wire attached to it. He looped the wire around Snape's arm and tightened it. Snape could feel blood circulation stopping. Croaker then fiddled with a small lever on the handle until Snape could not feel his arm anymore. He asked worriedly, "What is this?"

Croaker said coolly, "This device has interrupted blood-flow, nerve impulses and magical flow between this arm and your body. In effect, this is no longer your arm. Neither is it capable of any movement or magic by your will or involuntarily. It's a necessary first step. Next, I'm going to remove some enchantments. This is tricky stuff."

With that Croaker began to weave spells in song. They were spells about banishing, about disconnecting, about disenchantment and renouncing. As the spells progressed, Harry could feel Snape's arm twitching as if trying to opposewhatever was being done. Snape appeared to be in a lot of pain but had gritted his teeth and was enduring it by the force of his will.

When Croaker finished the spells, he freed Snape's arm from the contraption. It took a few seconds for the blood-flow to re-establish itself, then the pain hit. Snape's eyes rolled into his head as he fell unconscious, muttering, "I RENOUNCE YOU, TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE."

Croaker levitated Snape to his bed, poured a vial of potion down his throat and turned to Harry, "He will remain unconscious for a day and when he wakes up, he will be a free man."

Harry left Snape in his office while pondering over how Snape had fidgeted. He had always wanted to know who told Dumbledore about the prophecy. Dumbledore hadn't told him about it. Asking any of the seers was futile because they wouldn't tell him. He felt that Snape knew something even if he was not telling and decided to ask him again at the most opportune moment.

Snape would be out for a day. Rather than letting Snapes potion spoil, he re-entered the potions classroom and finished the work on the potion that was already brewing. Of course, Snape did not have any written instructions, he kept that sort of thing in his head unless he wrote it out for the classes. But, Harry managed to identify the potion correctly and finish it. He left notes on what he had done, just in case Snape was interested later.

Gaunt's Shack

Nagini was the ideal host. She was unique. There was not another serpent in the world like her. It had been a long journey, but with her body sustained by many unlucky rodents and unfortunate house pets and his will driving them onward, it hadn't taken very long to return to Gaunt Shack.

They had finally arrived at the Gaunt Shack and now it was time for the hardest thing. He had to disable the ward which tied into the curse that had severed his connection to the homunculus. The problem was that the ward stone itself was within the wards. He couldn't get near it without tripping his own wards. Tripping the wards could expel him from Nagini, possibly even killing her in the process. That would leave him as a helpless wraith again and down one more horcrux.

He tried to coerce some snakes into serving him but they were useless. They could not reach the snake pinned to the door which served as the ward stone. This was what had kept the snake intact for years.

Some of the snakes slithered over the door and reached the ward-stone but could not move it. Finally after trying for hours, he decided to risk her. Slowly Nagini crawled towards the ward stone, dreading every inch of it. When finally she was within reach, she raised her body to a height just out of the range of the wards. After making sure that the distance was right, she lunged at the door and the snake which was nailed to the door.

She struck at the door with all of her might. From inside her body, Voldemort felt a brief wrenching sensation as most of her body passed through the ward line. But, her tail remained outside the ward line and he was not cast out. There was a tremendous thud and the splintering of wood as the ancient, rude wooden door was obliterated by the force of the strike. The dead snake was wrenched from the nail while splinters scattered in every direction. Freed from its decades-long perch on the nail, the dried up talisman turned to dust as it hit the ground. All the energy that had been contained in the wards was released at once in an explosion.

The explosion blasted Nagini backwards and she laid unconscious for hours. When she came to her senses once more, Voldemort was still inside her, doing everything he could to wake her up. In that time, the sun had moved from noon to low in the sky. Her hearing was badly damaged. All she could hear was a ringing and a roaring all at once. When she tasted the air, all she could smell was smoke. Her vision was double, swimming in and out of focus with patches of dark and light swimming across her view. Being a reptile and a magical one at that, all these injuries would heal, but it would take time.

She wanted to find a nice, safe burrow and curl up for a good long sleep, but Voldemort would have none of that.

With the wards gone, Voldemort drove her body into the remains of the old shack where the homunculus that served as his vessel lay. It was still intact. None of the native creatures had disturbed it. He had Nagini pick it up and carry it well away from the shack before he used the last of his will to take back his body. He was only able to open his vertically pupil, red eyes for a moment before he fell unconscious again.

Being back in the construct refreshed and sustained him. He was able to draw upon his magical core again. By the time he regained consciousness, the last of the purple twilight was on the Western horizon.

Using wandless magic, he summoned his wand to his hand. It flew out of the remains of the shack and slapped itself into his palm smartly. Nagini had made good on her earlier wish and found a burrow to recover from her injuries. He could feel her presence nearby. Taking stock of his own condition, he would need to eat soon, but was otherwise uninjured.

With some careful detection spells, he was able to determine the traces of what had nearly been his undoing. He took his time to make absolutely sure that no more traps waited between him and the horcrux he had hidden under the floor of the old shack. Every bit of his cunning, deadly trap was still there, undisturbed. But when he used the disarming spell and reached in to retrieve the ring, it was gone!

His enemy had stolen the horcrux and left a deadly trap in its place. This was a disaster! Did they know what they had taken? Using all of his strength, he tore the entire shack to pieces, searching every splinter for his lost talisman, but he knew it was futile. By dawn, he lay in the ruins, starving, exhausted. The birds nesting in the trees seemed to mock him. The vessel that served him as a body needed sustenance. He stunned the largest bird he could see, summoned it to him and ate it raw. Then he passed out again.

Several hours later, the sun was high in the sky. As he sat up, he called Nagini to his side. The rest had restored most of her injuries already. The next moment he was on his feet. Placing one arm around Nagini, he disapparated back to the Unknown Castle. He would have to keep her safe while he determined the fate of his other horcruxes. Something very worrying was going on and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

The Unknown castle

Once on the grounds, Voldemort sent the great snake away to hunt and stay out of sight. He entered the

castle flying. Once inside, he apparated to the room where the meetings of the inner circle took place.

Emmett Wagner was there, listening to some reports. As Voldemort materialized before them, they all went to their knees, kissing the hem of his robes, proclaiming their loyalty for him.

After a minute or so, he allowed them to rise. He ordered them, "All of you, leave me now. Send in Lucius and let no one disturb us until I send for you."

Wagner lagged behind. He had one finger raised as if he would speak. But seeing how Voldemort's followers were in a great hurry to leave the room, he thought better of it and followed close upon their heels. Judging by the Dark Lord's mood, this may well be the last time they saw the Malfoy lord alive. Just in case Voldemort decided to spare Malfoy's life, Wagner took the time to alert the healers to what was coming. The healers had been able to restore him to health a few times already. Perhaps they could do it again.

Malfoy entered the room, quaking with fear. Voldemort could feel and smell the fear on him from across the room. Malfoy crossed the room, knelt down and attempted to kiss the hem of Voldemort's robes, but the dark lord pulled back from him, drawling, "You shall receive my benediction when you have proven worthy, Lucius."

Lucius knew that the Dark Lord's tone did not bode well for him. He kept his head bowed, swallowed hard and answered, "I live only to serve you, my Lord." There was nothing else he could say. No matter what he did, Voldemort would do whatever he wished. There was no escaping the consequences. There is a strange kind of serenity that takes over once a person accepts their fate.

Voldemort spoke slowly in his high, cruel voice, "Lucius, I am sure you will recall that I gave you a treasure during the first war. There was another such treasure that I gave to dear Bella for safe keeping. Now, tell me Lucius, where is my journal?"

It was with renewed horror that Malfoy realized that Voldemort was asking about the old diary he had slipped into the Weasley girl's school-bag four years ago. He had been told to guard that book with his very life and the Potter boy had destroyed it. There was no use trying to hide it. Voldemort always knew when people tried to lie to him. His only hope was that the Dark Lord would never ask and that hope was gone.

Voldemort grew impatient, "You hesitate, Lucius? Could it be that you have allowed my gift to pass out of your possession? What happened? Where is the journal? Is it in your manor or Ministry custody? I will break into where ever it is and bring it back. Tell me where it is."

"My… My L…"

Voldemort realized that Lucius was hiding something because he was stammering. He pointed his wand at Lucius and shouted, "Legilimens!"

The sudden attack on Lucius's mindscape gave him no chance to erect whatever little defenses he had. Voldemort started riffling through the memories and his rage started building up. Lucius could sense his anger as he saw Voldemort watching him slip the diary to Ginny Weasley's cauldron and then the meeting in Dumbledore's office where the headmaster showed the ruined diary to him. Destroyed! But that was impossible! It couldn't be destroyed! But, there it was in Malfoy's memory with a hole burnt right through it. How? The answer was not in Malfoy's mind.

"Crucio", Voldemort shouted at the top of his voice. Lucius curled up writhing in pain.

Voldemort ended the torture after a minute. As Lucius laid on the floor, convulsing from the effects of the curse, he bellowed at the top of his voice, "You dared Lucius? You squandered the treasure that I bestowed upon you? You have so little regard for such a priceless treasure? CRUCIO!"

He poured all of his hate, frustration and despair into the spell for another minute. To Lucius, it seemed like a lifetime. With his mind on the very edge of slipping into permanent insanity, the spell finally stopped. But what followed was a series of imaginative, cruel dark curses and hexes that were not quite meant to kill. When the Dark Lord said that his victims begged for death, he meant it. But Malfoy was beyond even begging.

Satisfied with his work, he lifted the silencing ward and called out, "Wagner! Enter."

Wagner entered immediately with the healers close at his heels. They cast stasis charms on the quivering mass that had been the Malfoy Lord just a few minutes ago. Being very careful not to do any more damage, they levitated him onto a stretcher and took him away.

Voldemort turned to Wagner, "Go and send the Lestrange brothers to me."

Wagner shuddered despite himself. If Voldemort kept disposing of his men at this rate, there wouldn't be any left to wage a war.

When the Lestrange brothers entered, he had them sit and then started speaking, "During the previous war, I gave a gift to Bella. It was a little chalice with the Hufflepuff badger on it. Do either of you know where it is now?"

Rudolphus spoke after a minute, "My lord, Bella refused to part with the cup for even a minute after you gifted it to her. It was only with a lot of persuasion that she decided to part with it for safe-keeping. I wanted it to be kept in Lestrange Manor where it would be safe and grace our house. But she decided that it needed to be kept in a place whose defenses could not be breached. She sent the cup to Gringotts where it was stored in her personal vault. That vault was part of her dowry from the Black family. It has some very intricate protections like thief's downfall, a dragon and not to mention that it is situated within the deepest levels of the bank."

Voldemort was pleased with their answer. If the cup was in Gringotts then it was safe. No one could take the cup out without going through Gringotts security and that was almost impossible.

"I am in need of that cup, Rudolphus. You will retrieve it for me."

Rudolphus spoke apprehensively as he shook his head, "Not so, my lord. The moment the Potter brat ascended as Lord Black, he dissolved our marriage, cast Bella out of the house of Black and seized the vault. I have no more access to that vault than any mudblood."

Voldemort growled, "Write a letter from me to Ragnok. Tell him that I need him to grant you access to the vault so that you can take whatever you please. I will grant him his fondest wish and give his kind more rights than this regime if he will be amenable to it."

Rudolphus rose from his seat immediately, "According to thy will, my lord." and he left the room.

Voldemort realized that Rabbastan had been very quiet. Once Rudolphus had left, he tried to enter Rabbastan's mind. Strangely he could not enter Rabbastan's mind. Someone else had the man under an imperious curse!

He stunned Rabbastan immediately and bellowed, "Wagner, bring me two healers this moment."

The healers entered at a run. He instructed them, "Somebody had him under the Imperious curse all this while. Take him away and find what you can. But first search his person and bring me whatever you find on him."

The fake Galleon that Snape had given to Rabbastan was found and brought to Voldemort.

Voldemort cast a few spells and started seething in rage. He beckoned one of his followers forward and said, "Pass me your arm."

Even though Voldemort had branded his most loyal followers like cattle, he had not defaced his own arm in that manner. He needed the dark mark on one of his followers to work the magic. He pressed the dark mark and started sending a summons to Severus Snape. When Snape did not come despite the summons that were issued, Voldemort realized that either his most loyal follower was dead or had betrayed him and would shortly be dead.

While he was pondering which could be true, an owl deposited a bright red envelope in front of him and departed as quickly as its wings could carry it. It took a few moments for Voldemort to realize that not only had this letter made its way through the mail wards and the Fidelius charm, but it was a howler! The outrage! Who dared? Who could?

He reached for his wand to vanish the offending correspondence, but it was too late. The smoldering, red envelope burst into flames and Snape's highly amplified voice filled the room:

"TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE,

I SERVED YOU AS YOUR MOST LOYAL FOLLOWER. I EXPECTED NOTHING IN RETURN OTHER THAN TO BE PART OF THE NEW ORDER THAT WOULD RISE WHEN WE RULED OVER THE MUGGLES AS YOU PROMISED. I ONLY EVER ASKED ONE BOON OF YOU THAT WAS TO SPARE THE LIFE OF ONE I CARED FOR. BUT YOU COULD NOT DO THAT. YOU KILLED HER ANYWAY.

SINCE THAT DAY, I HAVE SPIED FOR YOUR MOST DANGEROUS ENEMY. I HAVE DONE EVERYTHING, RIGHT UNDER YOUR NOSE, TO DEFEAT YOU.

I DENOUNCE YOU AS A FRAUD! YOU ARE A HALF-BLOOD. THE SON OF A SQUIB AND A MUGGLE. YOUR PURE-BLOOD RHETORIC IS NOTHING BUT A SHAM. YOU HAVE KILLED MUGGLES, HALF-BLOODS AND PURE BLOODS AS EASILY AS YOU BREATHE WHEN IT SUITS YOU.

I AM FREE OF YOUR TAINT AT LAST. I WILL DEVOTE MY EVERY LAST BREATH TO BRING YOUR END‼! YOU SHOULD HAVE SPARED LILLY. NOW YOU WILL REGRET IT!"

With that, the last remaining ash of the howler crumbled to dust.

Voldemort had not restored the silencing wards. Surely, everyone in the castle heard that. It was bad enough that Snape had been a traitor and a mole all these years, but now everyone knew it too. His fury reached another level altogether as he blasted a hole through the wall of the room bellowing at the top of his voice, "Kill SEVERUS SNAPE wherever you find him. The one to kill him will have riches beyond his wildest dreams."

Severus's treachery was unthinkable but then he should have seen through it. Severus was his downfall. He had brought him half of a prophecy. He had been spying on him and his men for Dumbledore. He had caused the deaths of many of his loyal followers. He had also thwarted his attempts to obtain the Philosopher's stone. He lied so smoothly that Voldemort had to believe him. No matter, he could kill Snape through the dark mark.

He smirked evilly as he did a curse which could kill any of his followers through the dark mark if they chose to betray him but to his shock, the spell didn't work! Did something go wrong with the way he had marked his followers? No that was unthinkable. He had performed the curse expertly. That must mean that Severus indeed had found a way to sever his connection with the mark! He resolved to kill Severus as soon as he could.

It was now more important than ever for him to check on his horcruxes. What if he was already too late? Would Master Abbadon's words come true? Had his hubris become his undoing? He would have to check on the remaining horcruxes!

He clapped his hands and Wagner entered at once, bowing low to him, "My Lord."

"What has become of Lucius?"

"He will live my lord", replied Wagner, "Though the healers says that he would die if he were to go through another session like that one."

Voldemort didn't reply to that but said, "I will again have to go out to finish some unfinished business Wagner. In the mean time, start training the troops more extensively. We may soon have to launch an all-out attack on Hogwarts. We will give them no chance to get ready to fight back."

As they were talking, Montague entered bearing a letter, "My lord this has come from Hogwarts."

Voldemort took the letter and opened it. It read:

"Revered Master,

I write this letter to you in hopes that you will find the information useful in your war against the mudbloods and blood traitors to lead wizarding kind to new glory.

A group of students under the leadership of Harold Peverell have been training for war. I have heard talk of some machines constructed and installed to deal with massive forces all at once. I could not find much more. What I know for certain is that these machines can kill a lot of people at once. Despite our best efforts, none of us could learn anything about their location.

A group of 5th year students have been learning to work them recently. Three of them are of wizarding families while one Michael Corner and Lisa Turpins are half-bloods who know about the machines.

If they were to be seized during the upcoming Beltane holidays, they can provide us with a lot of information.

Yours to command forever,

Graham Montague

Heir to the house of Montague"

Voldemort read the letter and passed it to Wagner, "Looks like our enemy has been preparing themselves for some time now. This is the first we have heard about it. We need to know more about these machines or we would suffer such losses that our campaign will fail."

Wagner agreed, "My Lord, I think we will need to get hold of either one of these students named in the letter if we are to get more information on these machines. I can think of a few machines which can do that kind of damage but I don't know how they are hiding them. I will try to find out more about them however."

Voldemort nodded, "Do that. We will need to make a lot of preparations if we are to win. Now I must tend to Lucius."

It was strange to Wagner. He would never have thought of Voldemort as the type that would tend to someone. He was a dark wizard and devoid of feelings like love and empathy. But maybe? Strange things have a way of happening.

Voldemort strode into the infirmary where Lucius was on a bed, being tended to by the healers. As they saw him, they carefully retreated to a distance from him. He pulled out his wand casting spells at the comatose Malfoy. The healers didn't know that spell but it worked wonders on Malfoy. They could see his skin rapidly healing from the burns that he had suffered and colour returning to his face.

He turned to the healers, "Leave us."

As they walked out, he enervated Lucius, who could not speak a word but looked up dazedly at him. Voldemort was speaking in a low, sickeningly sweet voice, "I went overboard with punishing you Lucius but you lost a very important treasure. However I am very merciful to my followers and I have treated all of your ailments despite the loss that you caused to me. You are very important to me and this sacred mission of my noble ancestor Salazar Slytherin. I relied on you and your loyalty to me through these years and I have ever considered you as my friend. Your acts of betrayal hurt me but I can understand that the feeling of self-preservation made you do so. I have not forgotten the services that you have rendered to me through these years and I cherish them as fond memories. In fact, among all my followers I regard you as my friend for there is no one who has done so much for me or suffered that much for me. Will you prove yourself worthy to our noble cause again? Will you help me create a world free of mudbloods and blood traitors? A world where purebloods will be treated with the respect and dignity that they deserve. Will you help me in making a world where wizards wouldn't have to hide from the worthless, defenseless muggles?"

This monologue that Voldemort did and the spells that he cast to visibly cure Lucius of his ailments had the desired effect on him as Voldemort kept speaking. He was remembering all those times where he basked in the glory of being the personal favorite of the dark lord and the favors that the dark lord did for him. Didn't he once share in the dream of a pureblood dominated world? That was a fine dream and there was nothing wrong with it. He had failed his Lord and yet Voldemort didn't kill him but was healing him of the injuries that he sustained from punishment that was just and reasonable.

He winced as his muscles screamed when he opened his mouth to speak, "My L… my lord, I have f… failed you. I wil. will not…fail again… I will… gladly die for you."

Voldemort hushed him, "You will not die but live to share in the glory that will be ours after we have killed our enemies for good, Lucius. Now rest and get back your strength."

As Voldemort left, he was thinking about plans to make and things to do before the final battle happened. He knew that the battle couldn't take place anywhere but Hogwarts. That was his destination because now he was sure that at least Dumbledore knew about the horcruxes and he couldn't trust that the one within the castle was safe anymore. Hogwarts was almost impregnable now with the war wards around it and the fact that the students could fight. He also knew that the ministry wouldn't let him launch an attack on Hogwarts without offering resistance. In fact, he had a growing suspicion that the ministry was laying an ambush for him. He also realized that he had been blindsided ever since his return while that master manipulator, Dumbledore made his moves. While Voldemort floundered in the dark and kept running after the prophecy, the old fool was making an army. They had installed Frank Longbottom as the minister because they knew that he wouldn't hinder them. Instead, Frank Longbottom had started preparations for war the moment he entered office. Calling Alastor Moody back from retirement, hiring Auror recruits by lowering the required qualifications were just one side of the thing. His nemesis Harold Peverell had not sat idle either. He had gone to train the moment he had returned home at the end of his fourth school year. He had trained throughout the year and then they had staged the battle in the ministry atrium. They had been systemically killing his forces throughout the year so the odds would be in their favour. Voldemort realized what a fool he had been to think that he was acting covertly and no one had a whiff of his affairs. On the contrary, Snape had been reporting his every move. Perhaps now it was time that he did something that will solve all of his problems.

As he returned to the room where the meetings for the inner circle took place, he made a list of things that he had to do. First was to order Wagner to double the training of the troops and have them divided under the leadership of his trusted commanders. Second was to find more information about their war preparations. This knowledge was only available to a select few to Voldemort's knowledge. The first and foremost was the Headmaster, the second being the General, the third being Amelia Bones, the fourth being Alastor Moody and the fifth being Harold Peverell. Besides them, he was reasonably sure that Sirius Black and Remus Lupin knew everything about the plans which were made for final battle. He however couldn't lay hands on anyone who could give him that information. His problem was that Dumbledore lived in Hogwarts where he couldn't reach him without fighting a bloody battle. All others were living in some place secret where he could not find them. Sirius Black lived under Fidelius Charms and as such, it was not easy to find him. Remus Lupin lived in a place which was protected by formidable wards and he would need to be dealt with or he could be a problem. The third thing that he had to do was to find someone who could tell him what preparations had been made in Hogwarts regarding the final battle, for example those machines.

He realized that he just couldn't walk in half cocked and find that his men were all dead before they even had the time to cast a spell. This will require a lot of preparation from him and on many fronts.

Soon, he had called a meeting of his trusted men. In attendance were Wagner, Rowle, Yaxley, Parkinson and Lestrange.

"The time soon will be upon us to wage a final battle or we will be outnumbered by the other side. They have been blindsiding us for nearly a year now. One of my most trusted followers has betrayed me and told my secrets to the other side. He has kept us in the dark about their preparations or what they are doing about the war. He has cost us the lives of many of our faithful. He will answer for it. I am placing a bounty upon the head of Severus Snape from this moment. Whoever brings him to me alive or dead, with proof of death acceptable, will get riches beyond their wildest dreams. He is now at No. 2 in the list of my enemies and should be killed putting all our forces against him, if the need be. The second thing is to cease all attacks at once. Call in all our men and the werewolves. Let no one go out and about. They will now go out only when I command so. The ministry has been working on a multi-pronged strategy against us. Now it is time that we devise ours. I am assigning individual tasks to each of you."

With that he turned to Wagner, "Wagner, as I understand, the guild hires out mercenaries to dark lords. Will you take a contract to them for me?"

Wagner said slowly and thoughtfully, "After you called on all the dark wizards to create havoc in Abadan's name, there was a severe backlash. All international and local authorities cracked down on the dark guilds. Many were destroyed outright. The rest have dispersed and gone into hiding."

Voldemort asked, "Is there no way that I can get them to fight for me?"

Wagner thought for a moment, "My own guild master is somewhere in Asia, working as a wand for hire. I am still in touch with about 70 of my old guild brothers. If you want to hire them, you will need separate contracts for each of them. I can communicate your offer to them, but that is all. They will likely demand payment up-front. The good news is that with times being tough, you might be able to hire them for a modest fee."

Voldemort seized on that, "I don't care about the prices, Wagner. I am going to pay whatever is required. I want 100 men here within two weeks."

Voldemort turned to Parkinson, "Parkinson, have you transferred the gold from Gringotts to the Gnomes as you were instructed?"

Parkinson nodded, "yes my lord. I transferred all the gold, which Lucius had delivered according to your directions, to a single vault with the Gnomes before the battle of the ministry atrium."

Voldemort nodded, "you will transfer the gold to Wagner as he requires."

He then turned back to Wagner, "You will arrange 100 mercenaries for me and I will pay the gold they want but I want the best men. It will be on them to find a way to enter Wizarding Britain and join us. I will give you slips to send the address of this place to them. Step up the training of our troops. We are going to launch an attack within a month."

Then he turned to Yaxley, "I have a job for you Yaxley. Find some of your supporters and ask them to spy on some mudbloods for me. These mudbloods may know a lot of things which will be useful to us in the long run."

He then turned to Rowle, "Rowle, Rookwood is somewhere out there in the wild. Find him and ask him to find me some ward masters. We may need a way to destroy wards which have stood for centuries."

He then turned to Lestrange, "Get connected with the Goblins and get me the treasure that is missing. It is imperative that I know about its location and get it back in my possession soon."

Assignments made, he dismissed the meeting. He left the castle to go and check on other horcruxes.

A well oiled machine

The students were in the Chamber of Secrets training again. The final Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff was less than a week away, but Harry had managed to make peace with Angelina by scheduling Quidditch in the morning and spell practice in the evening. Today they were drilling at fighting back to back against multiple practice dummies. Harry was making the rounds, helping the students to tell the difference between spells that had to be blocked versus dodged versus shielded.

Suddenly, Harry's eyes went wide. Susan noticed this and asked him, "What happened Harry?"

Harry shook his head in denial, "Sue, I think the castle has been breached". Regaining his senses, he gestured with his wand and the practice dummies fell silent.

Sue shouted, "What!?" That attracted everyone's attention.

Ron asked him, "What happened mate?"

"An army has invaded the castle upstairs. We will have to stop them", he said.

The crowd exploded in a multitude of questions.

Harry called for quiet by raising his hands in a pacifying gesture, "I don't know the exact details. Here's the deal. Break into your teams. Ron take your squad and lead them clearing out the ground floor. Use the stealth tricks to stay in the shadows and flush them out. Disable them but don't kill them until you absolutely have to. There are a lot of questions we need to answer."

Ron snapped to attention and started commanding his squad. Harry opened the door for him which led out to the ground floor where one of the secret doors from the chamber opened near the grand stair case.

Harry was already passing orders, "Fred and George, "Collect your squad, get them out of here just behind Ron's and take the teams to evacuation points.".

Fred tried to say something, "But Harry…"

Harry growled, "There's no time to debate, Fred. Lead the students to evacuation points now."

Fred and George started collecting their squad to follow Ron's. Harry had already turned to the others.

"Ernie, lead your squad and clear the second floor of intruders, disable them and hold your ground. I hope that the ministry will be coming through soon."

In this way, teams were moving out of the chamber. Harry was left with Susan, Neville and Hannah. He turned to Neville, "My brother, we need to see what is happening. Perhaps the moment is upon us to prove to the world again that wherever a Potter goes, a Longbottom will follow."

Neville nodded grimly, "You go find the defense Professor. I will go to the headmaster."

Neville ran with Hannah on one side while Harry caught Susan's arm and they disappeared to appear in Vikram's office. They found Vikram sparring with 5 at once who were having difficulty subduing him. Harry could see that three were already on the ground, not moving.

They had surrounded Vikram from all sides but he was dealing with them as if he were walking in the garden. As Harry watched, Vikram conjured the mist around him. A minute later, the rest of the 5 were on the ground, not moving.

"Professor", he called.

Vikram turned to him and barked orders, "Harry, they have a group of students in the great hall. They have them held captive at wand point. Dumbledore had to leave for some errand and is not around to help. Your friends are dealing with them everywhere but you will have to clear the great hall."

Harry started running downstairs to the great Hall. Susan was following him and asked, "Why don't we apparate directly inside the Great Hall?"

Harry answered as they ran, "there would be too many trigger happy wizards inside the Great Hall. They would freak out if we suddenly appeared inside. Can you imagine what they would do in that case?"

Along the way, he could see that his teams had subdued the intruders mostly. Fights were still going on here and there but it was just about over.

Fred and George met him on the way. Fred was frantic, "Harry, the entrances to the common rooms are sealed by barriers. We can't get through them."

Harry relayed orders without breaking stride, "Neutralize whoever is guarding the common rooms. Let no harm come to the students inside the common rooms."

As Harry went to the Great Hall, he was joined by Neville and Hannah, Ron and Hermione, Ernie and Luna, Daphne and Conrad.

When they reached the great hall, the double door opened of its own accord. The scene inside was hard to believe. About 50 armed men had about 100 students captive in shackles. As they entered, suddenly someone shouted, "Charge".

More men started to emerge out of the shadows. Immediately, Harry and others went into action.

He and Susan stood back to back and started dealing with whoever came their way. Harry's overpowered stunner knocked the first one out while a flippendo hex threw another into a wall. Susan had already stunned one when another approached her. She started casting some hexes that Susan was sure that only some specific people would know. She averted the hexes for a while. When her opponent dropped their guard, she fired a stunner that dropped her opponent.

Others were also faring well in pairs and fighting them toe to toe. The battle was going to be decided soon when the leader challenged Harry, "Potter, fight me. If you win, we will surrender."

With an ear-to-ear grin, Harry replied, "I accept!"

A moment later, a ring was cleared between them. After a quick formal bow, they both raised their wands, ready to cast at a moment's notice. Finally Harry's opponent sent a bone breaker at him which he side stepped. Harry conjured the fire whip and lashed out at his opponent. He cleaved the whip into two with a spell of his own. Harry fired a bone breaker at him in return which his opponent flicked aside with his wand. He started casting some very questionable spells at Harry which Harry dodged with ease. Finally when Harry had enough, he sent a flippendo hex at his opponent when he saw his opening. As his opponent flipped end-over-end, Harry quickly bound him in chains and growled, "we win, master auror."