Signs and Portents

Chapter 13

Anastasious's fangs glinted in the dim light provided by the torches in his underground lair. She was gaining in strength! He remembered helping Her to break out of the crystal using the power of the black moon of July 31st 2000, a highly exceptional phenomenon. He succeeded in freeing her from crystal Merlin had trapped her in, a long time ago. She'd been all weak and feeble then, but now…just being in her presence was intoxicating. The scent of her magical blood, flowing through her veins…it was enough to make him tremble. And her beauty, oh her terrible beauty surpassed that of the most beautiful Veela.

Someone chuckled. "I guess it is true what they say. Once love touches a person, he becomes a poet."

He turned around and saw a short, scrawny man with a pasty face grinning at him, while toying with a gold pendant shaped like a curving teardrop. What he was seeing wasn't her true appearance, but her choice of words and her nervous habit of playing with the pendant gave her away.

"What do you want, Selene?" he asked, annoyed that she'd read his mind.

Selene's true appearance was that of a tallish and attractive young woman with dark hair, and equally dark eyes that seemed to pierce one's soul. However, she could go to great lengths to make herself look plain and common, and she was good at all sorts of illusionary spells that hid her true appearance. Often, she went disguised as a man, using Polyjuice Potion.

She was an excellent spy and very valuable to him. And since he had a large role in her upbringing and almost considered her a daughter, he her took her insolent behaviour with a grain of salt.

"Just came to see how you were doing, you old bloodsucker!" she taunted merrily. "How is the mistress?"

Anastasiou regarded her steadily. She was tired, he could tell. He had worked her really hard, and he knew she needed rest, like other mortals, but he needed her for several more jobs.

"Oh, won't you let me get some sleep?" she asked, looking at him pleadingly.

"I suggest you let people speak their minds, even though you know what they are about to say." Anastasiou sighed. "I thought you'd have learned to control your gift by now. You are developing a bad habit. I know you like to show off, but other people will feel uneasy if you remind them that you read their minds all the time, and that isn't going to help you in the long run."

"I know that, boss…and I can control my power easily enough, but I like to read minds. You'd be surprised how many skeletons some people have in their closets." She fished a Muggle candy bar out of her pocket and ate it. "Anywaf's," she mumbled, before swallowing. "I've been watching Malfoy. He would make a valuable ally."

Anastasiou nodded. "What about Petra? Did you find out who was behind that?"

He paced and enjoyed the fact that it made her nervous. He could smell the shift in her scent. He didn't smell fear, but there was a definite anxiety there. "If my knowledge of magical gifts is as deep as I think it is, mind-readers are able to pull images out of people's minds. Did you try this?"

Her scent changed, and now he smelled her fear. He luxuriated in it, for he felt she'd been losing respect for him. "Sorry Lord Anastasiou, it didn't occur to me."

He sighed exasperatedly. "I forgive you…" He nodded to the big doors that lead to the main chamber. "…but She may not. I suggest you go and remedy your mistake by finding out who this wizard is. He would make a powerful ally."

Selene looked at him quizzically. "Okay, but I doubt it. He killed one of our potential allies. We suspect he was the intended target, and that the rest was collateral damage."

"Ah, yes, Saleh! Such a shame that was. He was an excellent administrator and record keeper. He provided me with most of Voldemort's transformation spells." Anastasiou frowned and sank back into thought. He still wondered who had killed Saleh, and why. As far as he knew, very few people had known that Saleh had still been alive. Some of his allies, the Order of Illumination…

He tapped his left fang with his index finger. His allies wouldn't have killed him…simply because he was too valuable to them alive, and as far as he knew none of them had perceived Saleh as a threat.

The Order of Illumination could have killed him, but it wouldn't have gone over the dead bodies of innocents to accomplish it…unless one of the Rangers had gone dark. He knew they weren't perfect. They tried to prevent people like him from ever entering, but once every three decades, on average, a sensible wizard inclined towards realism, rather than the regular do-good fanatic, managed to slip through. They were usually exposed and ejected quickly enough, but Anastasiou knew it was an issue that haunted the Order immensely.

He supposed, for the sake of argument, that a Ranger had gone dark. It had to be one of the more powerful ones. He'd have to ask his spy in Concordia to send him a list of these Rangers, and their backgrounds. It was probably a dead end, but there was still a small chance that it could lead to something. After all, he was the top analyst in his day, and he'd only got better over time.

He paced around in deep thought. Maybe he had to look at it from a different angle. Saleh used to be a Death Eater, although very few beings knew this. Apart from the Order of Illumination, and Saleh's former allies, who knew this little titbit of information? Albus Dumbledore…but he was dead. Severus Snape used to be a Death Eater as well, and it was through him that Dumbledore had found out about it…but it couldn't have been Snape. He was competent and his magical ability was above average, but he couldn't have done what that wizard had.

Then there was Harry Potter. Saleh had once told Anastasiou that the boy had found out about his being a Death Eater. He was powerful enough to cause that amount of devastation, detested Death Eaters and had shown a tendency to do whatever it took to hunt them down and get information out of them…as Lucius Malfoy had found out! But he was dead… or was he? They'd never produced a body. Information from his spy as to why no body had been produced had been sketchy, but there was talk about some kind of magical interference.

He couldn't believe he was actually pondering the possibility of Harry Potter being alive…much less having turned to glorious darkness, but in this scenario all the pieces of the puzzle fit perfectly. He had the motive…the power…and possibly the inclination. He clearly came out at the top of the list after analysis.

Turning around as he heard footsteps behind him with the help of his superhuman hearing, he was confronted with one of the dark trolls that served as the Mistress' personal guard. At first, he'd been amazed at how these large creatures moved so quietly. Humans would not be able to hear them move…yes the perfect killers!

"She wishes to see you, vampire!" the troll barked and stalked off in front of him to open the door.

Anastasiou turned around and raised his voice a little. "You can go now, Selene. Please gather the information I requested."

"As you wish, Lord Anastasiou," she replied, and hurried off. Like most mortals, she was afraid of the trolls and wanted to be as far away from them as possible at all times.

He entered the chamber that used to be his, and was graced by Her smile as She looked at him. The torch-lit chamber was cavernous, but it seemed smaller now that it was occupied by Her greatness. He couldn't hold her gaze for very long, and he soon lowered his eyes to the floor. He knew he would have surely blushed…had he been able to do so.

"Well, my favourite servant…how are things progressing?"

He smiled at Her words and chanced a glance at Her. "I am rounding up trade currency for the Dementors. They drove a hard bargain, my lady. They wanted ten happy beings for every individual we wanted.

"Who have you got?"

"Lucius Malfoy, Horatiu Chivu, Ivan Maximov and Tetsuo Yamato. The others were too far gone to be of any use to us. These four are now being held in a lower security area in Azkaban where they face less exposure to the Dementors."

"Just four?" Her eyes narrowed a bit.

"I beg your forgiveness, my lady. It was the best I could do. Lest we forget, they have to be replaced by forty people! Acquiring all of these people will be very difficult to do without rousing the suspicion of our enemies." He frowned.

He had to kidnap forty people and deliver them to the Dementors without anyone noticing. That was probably the most difficult task he'd ever had to undertake. "So far, I have thirty-one people. We're lucky that the Order of Illuminations seems to be preoccupied with something else right now."

"Yes…" She purred. "I can feel his presence…his power. I want him to join me."

"My lady? Though I suspect who it could be, we don't know for sure who it is, and I doubt that his motivations coincide with yours. I believe he only wants revenge…against people like us."

"Who do you believe it is, then?" Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Harry Potter, my lady."

"The one who bested this Voldemort…you told me he was dead."

"I can't explain his possible return, my lady. Allow me to explain what made me come to this conclusion."

She nodded slowly, and Anastasiou explained his theory about why he thought it could be Harry Potter to Her.

"You are correct…" She said, after listening to his story. "But if we can give him a larger scope for his revenge, he will join us. After all, from what you told me, the Dementors joined Voldemort for very similar reasons, did they not?"

Anastasiou nodded. She did have a point there. "Some of your servants are already working to find out who he is for certain, my lady."

"Your initiative is noted, my dear Athanasios." She smiled sweetly. "How are the other recruitment efforts going?"

"As planned, my lady."

His plan was to gather an inner circle of about twenty beings that knew everything about his plans. The rest would be accomplished through cells of other groups who would never find out about Her existence. He would simply keep them happy and dependent by satisfying their petty needs.

Ironically, forming the inner circle was much tougher, for it was difficult to find capable and dependable allies like that. Allies that could be depended on if properly motivated. Trust was not a word that would be used, even in that inner circle.

He continued, "A young wizard by the name of Draco Malfoy has means to baffle all sorts of magical detectors. He is one of my top candidates, and he will marry into a prominent British wizarding family soon…the Weasleys. I believe I could make him my second spy in Concordia, since his future brother-in-law has a business there. If George Weasley can be convinced to offer him a job there…"

She nodded and carelessly waved off further speech. "Carry on with your excellent work. And keep me informed of this powerful wizard. The sooner we find him, the better our chances of convincing him to join us," She added lazily, as She slowly walked to a large four-poster that had been brought into the room.

Anastasiou left the chamber and hurried to his new and smaller chambers. His meal was fearfully awaiting him, and after that he would have to do a lot of planning, for the extraction of four people from Azkaban could not be done easily…much less the introduction of forty new ones. He would have to contact several cells all over the world to spring into action simultaneously and cause a lot of chaos, drawing attention and resources away from Azkaban.

As he swept into his room, he addressed one of his few truly trusted servants, a being who had once been a Prussian nobleman called Wilhelm von Brandenburg. Now, he was a two hundred and thirty-eight year-old vampire. "Wilhelm, please instruct the ninth, thirteenth, twenty-fourth and thirty-ninth cells to undertake action at midnight, Greenwich Time."

"The Azkaban operation will happen then?"

"Unless you have another suggestion!"

"Not about the time of extraction, but I believe it would be better to use the twenty-ninth instead of the twenty-fourth cell."

Anastasiou thought about it. The twenty-fourth cell consisted mostly of lesser vampires and their ghouls, in northern Australia… He smiled. "It'll be broad daylight…they won't be effective." He nodded. "Good observation…I forgot about that. Do as you wish!"

The younger vampire bowed slightly and left the room, leaving Anastasiou with a frightened teenaged girl.

***

It was a special evening in the wizarding world in Britain. It was a Memorial Day to remember the slain in the war that had ended nearly three years ago. As a result, the shops wouldn't close until midnight. It was a relatively warm night for early April, and Ginny cast annoyed glances at Ron as she strolled down Diagon Alley, arm in arm with Draco. He was hovering behind her and Draco like a shadow all the time. It was probably her mother's doing! She must have put him up to it.

She sighed. She'd moved in with Draco two days ago, in an effort to compromise, and it couldn't hurt to live with a person you were about to marry anyway. In retrospect, it hadn't been a good idea to move in with him on April Fool's Day. It had taken her a very long time to convince her mother that it was for real. Ginny shuddered. She almost wished she hadn't convinced her mother.

She and Draco now slept in the same bed, and Draco had been remarkably cool about the whole thing. So far, he hadn't tried to pressure her into anything.

Ginny sighed. She hoped that her mother would come around before the wedding, which was to take place in June. She would hate to miss her mother at her own wedding.

Her insides squirmed guiltily. She really hadn't intended to string Draco along like this, but the simple fact of the matter was that she wasn't ready for him yet, and she felt worse when she realised that she might not be ready on their wedding night either. She kicked a small pebble and sent it flying into the shins of Rita Skeeter, who was following Amos Diggory around and pestering him with all sorts of questions. Rita yelped and Ginny quickly looked the other way.

"Do you want ice cream, my love?" Draco asked.

Ginny ignored Ron's groan and smiled at him. "I'd love some!"

"Do you want some, Weasley?"

"Sod off Malfoy," Ron growled

Draco went into Florean Fortescue's to get Ginny her ice cream, and Ron turned to look at Ginny with narrowed eyes. Ginny didn't like that look. It meant that Ron was jumping to all sorts of wrong conclusions about everything.

"Malfoy told me he intends to respect your wishes, to…" He swallowed and blushed. "Err, retain your virtue…but I never knew it was such a big issue for you."

It wasn't what Ginny had expected, and it was her turn to blush. "Actually, it isn't, but I needed him to back off for a while."

"You did? Why?"

Ginny nibbled on her lower lip and tried to look very interested in the cobbled stones that made up Diagon Alley. The pathetic truth was that she was still deeply in love with a dead man…Harry Potter, and to her it felt like betraying him. "I'm just not ready, all right! Just leave it alone."

"If you're not ready then maybe you should call off the wedding," Ron said, looking at her hopefully. "You can't just string Malfoy along like that. Think of his feelings!"

"Nice try, Ron, but we both know you couldn't care less about Draco's feelings! Cancel the wedding…You'd just love that, wouldn't you?" she said sarcastically.

"Yeah," Ron gave her a brief toothy grin "…but my point stands!" he pressed.

Ginny knew her brother was right, of course, but if she called off the wedding now it would cause too much trouble. She didn't want to do that to Draco, because despite his occasional selfish moods, he was really good to her. "I just can't do that, Ron," she said stubbornly.

"I'm not asking you to. You're a big girl and capable of making your own decisions. Even if they are wrong!"

"Let's not talk about wrong decisions," Ginny warned. "What has kept you from swallowing your pride and going back to Hermione?"

"Because I'm right and she's wrong!" he grumbled.

"Oh come off it, Ron!" Ginny said, raising her voice. "Harry did not turn evil!"

"Yes he did. I know some things, Ginny!" Ron said darkly.

"Yeah, like what?" Ginny asked, eyeing him sceptically.

He winced. "I can't tell you."

Ginny smirked in triumph. "Because there's nothing to tell, is there?"

Ron exhaled and suddenly looked deflated. "Never mind. How is Hermione doing, anyway? She owls you frequently, doesn't she?"

"Great," Ginny said, and she told Ron about their distant Ranger cousin, Max Wolfe, that he was in coma and how Hermione was trying to get him out of it.

"That's Hermione for you," Ron said gloomily. "And has she met anyone yet?"

"If she did, she didn't tell me about it," Ginny said. She felt bad for Ron despite the fact that he was a huge prat. He still loved Hermione. How could he not? She was one in a million.

A sandy haired wizard came up to them, and she recognised Seamus Finnigan, who was living with Lavender Brown. Molly had heavily criticised their unmarried status, but Ginny didn't mind. In this day and age there was no better way to really get to know someone than to live with him or her. That's why she was staying with Draco…it was the final test. If he managed to respect her, all her worries about the old Draco resurfacing would be put to rest.

"Hullo there Weasleys," Seamus greeted. He slapped Ron on the back and then kissed Ginny's hand. "Looking more beautiful every day, Ginny."

"Do you want to get to know her better? She's single," Ron said.

Seamus laughed. "I don't think Lavender would appreciate that. And what about Malfoy?"

"We can Port Key him into a room full of Mackled Malaclaws," Ron suggested. "Then it would only be a matter of time before an unfortunate accident finished him off."

"How are you, Seamus?" Ginny interrupted. "How do you like working for Percy?" she asked, remembering that Seamus was now working in that department.

"Busy, and working for Percy isn't that bad." He sighed. "The ban on flying carpets will be lifted effective January 1st 2002. At least that whole affair is behind us. And the boss is taking as much time off as he can get to be with Hannah."

"Percy, taking time off?" Ron asked, amazed.

Seamus nodded. "Told me he doesn't want to make the same mistake Crouch made. I don't begrudge him his time with his wife, but I could really use his help right now, though."

"Because of what happened in Petra," Ron pointed out.

"There's that too, yes." The Irish wizard nodded, massaging the muscles at the back of his neck. "There is something out there, Ron. I understand the Order of Illumination is hunting it, but there is no indication that they're having any luck finding it. People are worried. Some reckon that it's You-Know-Who."

"It can't be Voldemort," Ginny interjected, causing Seamus to flinch. "I'm sure Harry killed him."

"Me too," Ron said, much to her surprise.

Seamus shrugged. "Well, better the devil you know…"

He paused as Draco pushed his way past him to get to Ginny. "Finnigan!" he said, with barely restrained loathing, and Ginny frowned at his tone.

"Malfoy," Seamus replied coolly.

Ginny felt miserable. None of her Gryffindor friends got along with her fiancé. She'd lost count of the times they'd tried to persuade her not to marry him and the times she'd assured them that he was a changed man…mostly. She had to stand her ground…she needed to forget Harry and move on with her life.

"I have to go!" Seamus said suddenly. "Lavender and I will come to your wedding, of course." He smiled warmly at Ginny and didn't even look at Draco. "But you really don't have to rush into things, you know. Why don't you just live together for a while? Trust me, it can work wonders for a relationship."

"I'm sure it can," Ginny sighed. Seamus was a bit subtler than Ron, but not much. Why was everybody telling her it was a bad idea? "Thanks but my mind is made up."

"It's your wedding." Seamus shrugged and turned away, just as the clocks in a nearby shop chimed, signalling the arrival of midnight.

A thundering explosion that shook the narrow street and shattered a lot of windows, following the last stroke of the clocks.

The sheer force of the explosion threw Ginny to the ground and her brother helped her up as Seamus drew his wand and looked around, trying to get an idea of what was going on.

"Ginny, are you okay?" Ron asked worriedly.

Ginny nodded. "Where…"

She heard Seamus grunt and collapse onto the street. A small throwing dagger was sticking out of his back.

"No!" said Ron, dismayed.

Ginny surveyed the area. She needed a safe place to work on Seamus.

"Ginny, we have to get out of here!" Ron urged, holding Seamus under the armpits.

Then Ginny noticed a stall in front of the apothecary. "Come on, hide behind that stall. I have to help Seamus."

"But…"

"He's bleeding, Ron! Trust me, I had disaster class last week, it's all still fresh in my mind."

"You had disaster class last week…" Ron muttered. "He needs proper attention, Ginny. You're a half trained nurse."

"I'm his best chance…" she said, before gasping in horror. A hooded man loomed over Ron, with a long dagger in its pale hand. "Ron!"

Ron started turning around, but Ginny knew it would be too late. She would never be able to draw her wand and take aim in time. But just before the hooded man could plunge down the blade, a pair of voices bellowed, "Lumos Solem!"

The man…a vampire…Ginny suddenly realised, dropped the blade. It clattered onto the ground next to Ron, who had drawn his own wand and had immediately jammed it against the chest of the now smoking vampire. He muttered a spell and the vampire started making choking noises. As Ron backed off, Ginny saw a stake sticking out of its heart. The vampire fell down and started decomposing at a rapid rate.

Ginny looked over her shoulder and saw the Longbottoms, Neville and Eloise, standing in the doorway of the apothecary with their wands aimed out to the street.

"Bring Seamus in here!" Eloise commanded as Neville got out of the doorway to make room.

Ginny flicked her wand and levitated him into the apothecary. Following directions, Ginny put him on a long table, face down. Quickly, she cast a charm around the knife to see whether or not it was poisoned. Her suspicions were confirmed as the knife glowed with a sickly yellow.

Then she cast a charm to slow down his heart-rate, to slow down the bleeding and the spreading of the poison through his system. Next, she cast a detoxification charm to purge Seamus of the poison, and then she started to work on the wound itself, frowning in concentration as she healed the punctured lung first, and then moving outwards.

After a couple of minutes of intense concentration, minutes that had seemed like hours to her, she lowered her wand with a shaking hand.

"Everything seems to have quieted down," Ron called, peeking through the windows.

Ginny looked out of the window too and saw a couple of Aurors, and many Ministry wizards swarming the place.

"Good job, Ginny," Eloise praised.

"Yeah, you were brilliant." Ron nodded, with a smirk of approval on his face

Ginny wiped a sweaty lock out of her eyes and smiled. "I didn't know I had it in me! That was an some pretty advanced stuff…" Her face fell and the bottom dropped out of her stomach as she remembered. "Where is Draco?"

"Don't worry about that git," Neville said darkly. "He certainly didn't worry about you. I was just coming outside say hello to you all when this started. He Disapparated in a flash. What kind of a man would leave his wife-to-be like that?"

"Yeah!" Ron nodded vehemently. "If you won't listen to me, at least listen to Neville. Malfoy may be honey-tongued, but when the going got tough he left you out on a limb. That is the kind of man he is! Harry would never have abandoned you like…" Ron's jaw clicked shut, and he didn't finish his sentence as he realised what he'd just said. Ginny's heart surged with joy and Neville's eyes brightened.

"Caught on, have you…took you long enough!" he grinned.

Ron looked at Neville in horror as if he were an Acromantula, and stormed out of the shop.

"What did I say?" Neville asked quizzically.

Ginny shrugged. She didn't know, and she didn't really care because she was too happy! Ron must have realised that deep down, he knew he was wrong about Harry. That had to be it, and knowing Ron it was impossible to tell how long it would take him to come to that conclusion for himself." She had to write to Hermione about this!

"I wonder what caused this?" Neville frowned. A random act of violence by dark creatures?" He shook his head. "I wasn't any great shakes at Defence Against the Dark Arts, but this just doesn't make sense."

"What were you two doing here anyway?"

"I was filling in for my grandfather, and Neville was keeping me company. Gramps is getting a bit old to stay up this late."

Neville shook his head. "No he isn't. I saw him having drinks with his mates at the Leaky Cauldron on my way here."

Ginny chuckled. As Neville's best man, Seamus had told the embarrassing story of how Eloise and Neville had fallen in love. It had all started when Neville botched an order of herbs and came to Midgen's Cures for all Maladies to apologise. Old man Midgen hexed off Neville's ears, but Eloise had been smitten. Ginny suspected there was no love lost between Neville and Old Midgen, and Neville had just confirmed her suspicion by ratting on the old man.

Seamus groaned and opened his eyes. He heaved and coughed up a little blood.

Ginny blushed in shame. "Oh, sorry! I forgot to double-check whether or not you still had some blood in your lungs…hold on."

She performed a spell that removed the last bit of blood, and his breathing eased. "It's okay." He sighed. "Thank you. I thought that was going to be it." He smiled at Neville and Eloise. "Hello there! Hey Elli, I know it is technically past closing time, but can I still buy a flask of birth-control potion?"

"Hold on, I'll get it," Eloise said as she went deeper into the shop to get what Seamus asked for.

"Birth control?" Neville asked. "Doesn't Lavender want any kids?"

"Not yet." Seamus shrugged. "That's okay, because I'm not really in a hurry to have kids either. Lavender keeps talking about the stars not being right to start having kids…or something like that." Seamus sighed. "It's like living with Trelawney."

Ginny and Neville laughed at this.

"Where is Ron?" Seamus asked.

"Dusting the cobwebs off his brain." Ginny smiled.

Neville chuckled briefly, before his face turned serious again. "You could use some dusting too, Ginny. Malfoy…"

"Isn't Harry…I know," Ginny groaned. She was disappointed in Draco for leaving her, but she felt it would be childish to break off the marriage for something so trivial.

"I was going to say he didn't deserve you," the round-faced wizard frowned. "But yes, her certainly isn't Harry."

"Listen, he isn't all bad!"

Neville and Seamus exchanged glances but said nothing else.

Ginny sighed. "Harry's dead. I have to get on with my life."

"By running away from the past?" Eloise asked. Ginny saw her leaning against the counter. "You can marry Draco if he makes you happy. But marrying him won't make you forget about Harry."

Ginny bit her lip. She really didn't need this. "Thanks for taking me in for a while," Ginny said quickly. "See you at the wedding!" She walked out of the shop and Disapparated.

**

Ron shivered as he remembered Neville's words. He was going bonkers. He could have sworn it had been Harry talking to him. He'd said the same thing after the first task in the Triwizard Tournament.

He sighed. The old Harry would probably have died defending Ginny, rather than run like Malfoy. But Harry had turned evil! Ron had started to doubt his convictions at times, until Malfoy told him that Harry had threatened to kill him. His Sneakoscope hadn't reacted, so Malfoy must have been telling the truth.

Then again, when Malfoy said yes after Ron asked him whether he would protect Ginny with his own life, the Sneakoscope hadn't buzzed either. At the time, maybe Malfoy had believed he would protect Ginny, and chickened out when things went bad for real. Then again, Malfoy was a Slytherin, so perhaps he would adopt a different, more subtle means to protect Ginny in the future. He'd have to confront Malfoy on abandoning Ginny like that. Still, something didn't feel right to Ron.

He arrived at the building that housed the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and saw many of his Ministry colleagues from various departments standing there. He saw that the front doors of the building had been torn away, and a feeling of nausea overcame him. Breaching that building was nearly impossible.

"Ron!" Percy and Charlie said in unison, and he rushed over to them.

"What happened here?"

"Someone broke into the Department building," Percy said.

"Why would they do that?" Ron asked.

Before Percy could answer, a grave looking Amos Diggory addressed him. "A word."

Percy nodded and followed the Minister for Magic into the building. Ron sank back into deep thought and his frown attracted Charlie's attention.

"What's up little brother?"

"Huh?"

"Something is bothering you."

Ron nodded slowly, and told Charlie how Malfoy immediately Disapparated when the fighting started, never bothering to try and protect Ginny. He also proudly recounted how Ginny had saved Seamus Finnigan, and Charlie beamed.

"Atta girl, Ginny!" He nodded, mimicking Ron's proud look. "We have to do something about Malfoy, though."

Ron shook his head. "We can't meddle in Ginny's life like that."

Charlie raised his eyebrows in surprise and a small smile appeared on his face. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Not really," Ron answered truthfully, for he was definitely feeling a bit queasy. A clonking sound attracted his attention, and he saw Mad Eye Moody exchanging a few words with a young Auror. Then the magical eye swivelled and regarded him and Charlie, before Moody himself turned around and limped towards them.

"Lovely evening this turned out to be," he growled. "Where is your brother?"

Charlie nodded towards the Ministry building. "Talking to Diggory. Any theories on what happened, Mr Moody?"

"I don't waste my time with theories, sonny. I only deal with facts, and the fact of the matter is that the attack further up the street was meant to draw away the guards stationed here. Can't believe they fell for it…"

"Hey, they had to protect innocent people," Charlie countered.

"Aye, but how many innocent people are going to die now?"

"What are you talking about?" Ron frowned.

"I'm talking about thirteen and a half inches of yew with a phoenix tail feather core," Moody growled.

Ron was feeling really sick now. Voldemort's wand! "Wasn't that thing destroyed?"

"Evidence clerks didn't want to touch the thing. Before we shipped him off to Azkaban, Lucius Malfoy spread the rumour that whoever touched that wand would die a horrible death," Moody said, running a hanky over his ravaged face. "Higher-ups didn't dare touch it either."

"How do you know they took it?"

"I don't know for sure, but that's what I would break into the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's building for if I were a dark creature."

"So it's just a theory," Ron said, relieved.

"Just wait and see," Moody said, smiling wryly.

When Percy came out of the building on shaky legs, Ron knew Moody's speculation had been right on target.

"Voldemort…wand…gone…back," he stammered.

"Get a hold of yourself, Percy," Charlie admonished. "Voldemort is dead!" Several people who'd been standing close to them flinched at the mention of the name, even though the Dark Lord was no more. The Weasleys however, had no reservations about saying the name out loud anymore, having survived Voldemort's attempts to exterminate them because of their relationship with Harry.

"Aye." Moody nodded. "But do we want to know who really is responsible for this?"

Percy, who had regained some of his senses, finally managed to speak. "We've got news coming in from Australia, Norway and Turkey. They all had similar trouble at exactly the same time. Mostly vampires in Turkey and dark wizards in Australia and Norway."

"Are they connected?" Charlie frowned.

"You can bet your left nut they are!" Moody said. "I reckon Turkey and Australia are diversions." He wiped his forehead again. "Just look around…look at all of us! The same thing is happening in Norway…and neither we nor the Norwegian Ministry will respond to a distress call from Azkaban," Moody said, referring to the wizards who were posted on a small island about a mile from Azkaban Prison. It was a highly unpopular job to have, but someone had to do it. "Something is up in Azkaban."

"But Voldemort's wand…" Ron groaned.

"A bonus, it seems," Charlie said grimly.

"I have to tell Amos about this!" Percy said, and hurried off.

Moody shook his head. "Won't do any good. The bureaucracy will slow things down. First they'll go to the International Confederation of Wizards, who will appoint a committee to conduct an investigation. But the time things get rolling the trouble will be somewhere else. Let's hope that Basham and her Rangers catch these people."

***

Privet Drive hadn't changed that much with the passing of years. Some of the homes had obviously had facelifts to keep up with the times. Many of the cars parked in the driveways were newer models than the ones he remembered as well. He grimaced as he looked at no. 4. Nothing had changed there at all…the same old dull Muggle dwelling. It was time to liven things up a bit!

He strode up to the doorway and willed the door to open. He had to be careful not to use his wand, for the Order of Illumination would be on scene within minutes. And while he could take any one of the Rangers on easily, they'd probably approach him with a vast numerical superiority. So he'd only use his wand to conclude his business at no. 4 Privet Drive.

The door burst open, and he strode in, pausing at the cupboard under the stairs where he knew Vernon kept his tools and grabbed a heavy spanner, before stomping up the stairs. He heard Vernon's loud snoring, and Petunia's deep breaths. He also heard sounds from Dudley's room. Apparently, the fat arse wasn't ready to leave the nest yet. This was just fine with Harry, since he'd have to waste no more valuable time in hunting down Dudley separately.

He kicked in the door to the master bedroom and flicked on the lights. "Wake up! It's judgement day!"

Vernon and Petunia looked at him groggily. "What is the meaning of this! Who are you?"

"Come now, Vernon," Harry said derisively. "Don't you remember me? I'll give you a little hint. I blew up your sister once!"

"You!" Petunia hissed.

"Very good, Aunt Petunia!" he said, practically spitting out her name. "It's too bad little Dudleykins had to inherit Vernon's brains." He paused as a shadow fell across him and recognised the silhouette of a cricket bat. He snapped his fingers, and ropes sprang out of nowhere and tied his assailant up. Dudley crashed to the floor.

"Took you long enough to react, fat arse!" Harry taunted as he looked at Dudley. Then he snapped his fingers again and ropes sprang out of nothing and wrapped themselves around Vernon and Petunia.

"What are you going to do to us?" Petunia whimpered.

"Just a little payback." Harry grinned, walking to the laundry basket, finding one of Vernon's oldest, foulest socks and shoving it into his mouth. "How are your feet, Vernon? Are they still bothering you? You should have lost weight like the doctor ordered, you pig! You know…I can't imagine why you're both so fat. It's not like Aunt Petunia is such a good cook."

He paced about, twiddling his wand between his finger. "What to do, what to do. So many curses to choose from. Hey Vernon, how would you like me to put Dudley under a spell and have him butcher the next door neighbours before I finish you off?"

A muffled grunt came as a reply and Harry laughed. "I can see the headlines. Frustrated youth kills parents and neighbours. And no one will ever know what really happened." He pointed his wand at Dudley. "Would you like me to demonstrate?"

Vernon just glared at him and Petunia whimpered a bit.

He pointed his wand at Dudley, and to his satisfaction, the Dursleys flinched. "Or would you like me to try the Cruciatus Curse? Nasty one that is! It'll make you feel a pain that can't be described by words. I should know…it's been used on me several times. Amazingly, it didn't hurt quite as much as being ignored and mistreated by my family. Did you know, Vernon, that what you did to me…only a small bowl of soup a day…did you know that's abuse?

"You didn't think I'd let you get away with it, did you? Honestly!" Harry tutted and rolled up his eyes. "Trying to keep me from going to Hogwarts. You should have wised up, Vernon. You should have considered the fact that I'd come back when I was fully trained…and of age! But I guess all the fat is clogging up your brain, isn't it?"

He swung back the heavy monkey spanner and brought it down, connecting with Vernon's foot.

He revelled in Vernon's apparent agony as he did the same to the other foot, and he examined the spanner. "We wizards don't need spanners. Just a flick of the wand…but beating you up with a spanner is so much more satisfying." He laughed. You ought to be glad…Vernon. You've always insisted that I shouldn't use magic!" He aimed his wand at Dudley and kept it trained on him. He smirked as he saw a large wet spot forming on the carpet under Dudley. "Wetting yourself, Dudley?" he chuckled. "I guess you got your wish, Vernon. I did grow up to become a criminal, just like you said I would!" he said, as he proceeded to break Vernon's toes one by one. Then he briefly considered cutting off Vernon's ears, but he decided his point had come across nicely, and that it was time to finish up.

Harry knew he had to finish everyone off within a minute after casting the first spell. Not that he had a problem with that… he just didn't want to spend any more time in that house now that he'd made his point. "Funny…Dudley, how you teased me about having no proper family of my own. Let me show you what happened to my family! Avada Kedavra!" he roared, and the green beam rushed forth out of his wand, sucking the life out of Vernon Dursley. The fat Muggle went limp next to his wife.

Then Harry pointed his wand at Dudley. "Time to join your father. I think I'm going to hang you, or better yet, hang yourself! You don't deserve to die by magic! Besides, Vernon always advocated hanging…didn't he?"

Petunia, who'd been weeping quietly and seemingly slipping into shock, snapped to attention. "No! Not Dudley…please don't kill Dudley. Kill me instead, but let Dudley go!"

Those words jerked Harry back to the memories that had been brought back by the Dementors. His mother had begged Voldemort not to kill him…and his resolve to kill Dudley weakened.

He must have stood there in contemplation for over a minute, because the next thing he knew, he heard voices outside. He recognised Nathan Kelly's booming voice, as well as Patience Gedeon's accented English. He tucked his wand away. "Sorry, I can't put you out of your misery today…but I'll be back!" he said, before Disapparating.

He Apparated as far away from England as possible. Nobody knew he could now easily Apparate across the world. It was amazing…the feats he could accomplish now that he let his power flow freely. He smiled maliciously. He'd already killed Saleh. That hadn't been a problem. Vernon Dursley was now dead as well. He frowned. Unfortunately, he'd let the weakness resurface when faced with Petunia's pleas. He clenched his fists at the thought. Even though he'd been reborn, rising like a phoenix out of the ashes, some of the ashes still clung to his feathers. That's what had prevented him from finishing Petunia…but soon the ashes would be shaken off, and nothing would stand in his way!

For now he needed to lie low. He didn't have the power to complete his revenge. The Rangers were responding more quickly every time, and he had no doubt that they now knew that he'd returned. He knew Saleh had had the notes on Voldemort's transformations. Harry wasn't thrilled about the prospect of transforming himself like Voldemort had, but he needed the powers that came with the transformation, and he knew his reluctance would dissipate over time. Then he'd have his revenge. First he would start with his enemies, and after they were all dead, he'd punish those who'd turned their backs on the one who'd sacrificed everything to rid them of Voldemort.

The caretaker had told him to learn to embrace the pain that came with loneliness. He would…but he'd teach everyone else to embrace their pain as well! No one would ever take him for granted again!

***