Chapter 23

That night after the children were in bed, the adults gathered and began discussing the possible location of the amber block and Riddle's corpse.

The sun rose in Hogsmeade to find the nine adults still in deep conversation over the whereabouts of Riddle's body. Caitlyn came up to Cho, "Mum, I need you to sign a permission slip, we are going to a muggle science lab today."

Cho smiled at her daughter and read over the slip of paper. Her eyes widened and with shaking hands handed the paper to Harry. "I think I know where Riddle's block went to Harry."

Harry's eyebrows lifted and he read the paper.

Hogsmead School Permission form

I ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_______________ give permission for my (son/daughter) __________________ to visit a muggle science facility for Elementary Muggle Studies.

The facility is the Roslin Institute, Edinburgh, Scotland. This is the famous cloning facility that we have read about in the latest section of our Muggle Studies.

We will be at the facility from 9am until 4pm, and will be traveling by floo-powder. Please make sure your child is dressed in appropriate muggle clothing.

Harry dropped the note on the table and smiled at Caitlyn. "Caitlyn, would you like Uncle Harry, and Ron to come with you today?"

Caitlyn beamed at them and gave them big hugs. "Yes! Can daddy come too?"

"Of course he can sweetheart, I wouldn't dream of asking him not to. Now go get ready, and we'll walk you to school."

Caitlyn skipped home, happy that her favorite uncles would be coming along to help chaperone the field trip.

Harry turned to Dean. "Sorry mate, but I have to leave someone here, even though I don't doubt the lovely ladies are able to take care of themselves…" his voice trailed off.

Dean nodded, "I understand Harry. We all do."

Ron stared blankly at Harry, "What's a clone, mate?"

Hermione tutted, "Honestly Ron, don't you read anything other than Quiddich?" she sighed and continued, "Clones are replicas of the original animal, but you'd have to have a good DNA sample, like blood for example." She paused as if thinking over the lecture, "for example, they were able to extract DNA from a dinosaur from a mosquito embedded in…" her eyes opened wide.

"Amber" Harry finished for her. "That's what I'm afraid of too Hermione. The initial clones were not stable, for example Dolly only lived a few years."

"Dolly?" Ginny asked

Hermione spoke up again, "Dolly was the first known successful clone, a sheep. So you are thinking Harry that the Death Eaters took the body to get blood?"

"No Hermione, I think they already had the sample, but that someone discovered the hole where they extracted the blood from, and I believe that Riddle is already alive and kicking in some form, so they destroyed the block, and are trying to make it appear as if he was risen from the grave so to speak."

Harry ran upstairs and took a long shower, waking himself up and dressed in muggle clothing, and pocketed his wand. He met Ron, Justin and Caitlyn downstairs, and they headed off to the school, weathering the glares and stares from the other parents.

The teacher seemed a bit nervous with the infamous Harry Potter and two of his cronies with him, but she managed to maintain order with her class. Caitlyn was proud of her relationship with the Companions, and didn't care who knew.

The trip to the Roslin Institute took just a few moments, and soon they were met by a very attractive young woman, and very handsome young man, both of whom had Dr. before their rather unremarkable names. Harry read them, and detected the traces of the Imperious Curse. He attracted the young woman's attention.

"Pardon me Dr, but I have a couple of rather important questions, is there somewhere we can talk?" Ron noticed the woman's eyes glaze over, and detected a faint hint of gold surrounding Harry.

She seemed to melt and barely uttered a "Yes." As she took his proffered arm and lead him away from the crowd. Ron watched amused, and then grinned evilly. 'Oi, Harry, Gin will kill you if she even thinks half what that twit teacher is thinking right now.'

'Well Ron, we won't tell her then will we? Or need I bring up the real reason you were late home from the Cannon's game last month?'

Ron glared in the rough approximation of Harry. 'It's not the same thing at all. We were talking Quidditch.'

'But Hermione doesn't know that, now does she?'

'Prat.'

'Keep your eyes peeled Ron, the good Doctor seems to be an unwilling participant in this mess, they either have or are almost finished with the clone. Now keep sharp mate, this could very well get rough.'

Ron broke the link and paid attention to the rest of the tour. At the end Harry re-joined them.

"For lunch, you are all guests of the Institute; please feel free to have anything on the menu in the cafeteria." The young man turned away from them and headed away from them.

"He was like that all day," Ron said as they sat down "He would go on and on and then suddenly stop, like he had forgotten his lines or something, and then start back up again."

Harry stood up, concerned. He moved to where the food was being served, and muttered a quick charm. The food gave a brief poisonous green glow that even the teacher saw. Harry walked to her, fixing a smile on his face. "Mrs. Jenks, I have an idea, a dear friend of mine owns a restaurant just a few miles from here. Let's take the children there, my treat."

As he said this, Ron watched the glamour overtake the teacher, and she blushed and nodded her assent.

They were outside the Institute, and were walking towards where Harry thought he had seen an inn. The place was appointed well enough, and was fairly large. Another use of the glamour and the manager of the inn could have sworn he and Harry had been mates since forever.

The children were excited about not only having gone to the Institute, but also about the prospect of eating in the inn, and didn't notice Harry, Ron and Justin ease away from the tables and stand at the front door.

Mrs. Jenks saw Harry discussing something with his friends, and was trying to move closer to talk to them and ask why they were here rather than in the Institute when she overheard something from them.

"Are you sure Harry?" Ron was asking.

"I cast the spell myself, trust me the food was poisoned." Harry said his face dark with suppressed anger.

"How could they know we were coming then mate?" Justin asked.

"I am not sure they did. I am afraid this is a common misunderstanding. It was easily lunch time and we were the only ones in the cafeteria, that's what tipped me off to the food. A quick spell and I was certain. We'd all be dead now if we would have eaten there. Now we just need to get these kids out of here, and safe.

"I am now certain they have managed to clone Voldemort, and are going to try and pull off this as some failure on my part to exterminate him for good." Harry seemed weary, all of his thirty years, and more weighing on his shoulders. He turned and saw Mrs. Jenks, and motioned her over to them.

"Mrs. Jenks, I'm sorry but I cannot allow you to go back to the Institute. You and the children's lives are in danger. I won't go into details, but I will say this much, you are not allowed to go near that place, and I will use any method I can think of to keep you from going there."

She held up her hand and looked at him curiously. "They said in the papers you were some kind of monster, and I believed them, even though I was one of the students you saved. I can't believe for the last ten years you have been living like you have almost an exile from the very community you fought to protect." Her eyes were starting to shine from unshed tears. "Why didn't you defend yourselves in the trials? Why didn't you tell them the truth about what happened to us?"

"Because Mrs. Jenks, it was not my place to save myself by exposing the humiliation and degradation the death eaters put you through. What were we supposed to say 'Here are the Hufflepuff girls who were whoring themsleves for three weeks'?"

The shame burned her cheeks "It wasn't like that."

"I know it wasn't, but what do you think that cow Skeeter would have written? That would have been the least of the articles. By the end of her 'Informative Expose' you would have been portrayed as having begged for it." His voice was harsh, and the words rang with truth.

Mrs. Jenks shoulders slumped. "It wasn't like that at all. They, they forced us…"

Harry laid a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up. "I know, I was there. You were all under Imperious, and had no control. No one ever blamed you, and I thought it best to keep everything secret, lest any word ever get out. You had all suffered enough."

She looked at Harry again in the light of this new information, and once again he stood before her, not arrogant, but humble, proud, and with reason, defender of all of them. She saw the hero Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived for the first time since he was taken from them so mysteriously that year at Hogwarts.

She wiped her face dry and favored them with a smile. "I just remembered, there is some work we need to do on a project back at the school. If you gentlemen would excuse us?" She turned to the children and arranged to use the floo to get them back to the school as rapidly as possible.

Ron turned to Harry. "Now what mate?"

Harry sighed, and raised his wand pointing it at the teacher "Obliviate".

She looked quite stunned a moment, and then blinked. "Mr. Potter, what do you think you are doing? I'm taking these children out of here and reporting your antics to the school administration!"

"Would it have been so bad if someone knew the truth?" Ron asked. "I'm sick and tired of being treated like this."

"Yes Ron, it could be that bad." Harry's voice had an edge of weariness and guilt. "It could be devastating."

They made their way back to the institute under the cover of informing them that the students would not be back.

"We are going back to India after the child is born Harry, why don't you all come with us?"

"I love England Ron; all the traveling Ginny and I did just confirmed that."

"Yeah so do 'Mione and I, but I can't stand the people. We save them, and they treat us like so much scum. You know they were going to send us to Azkaban don't you?"

"Yes Ron, I knew. Look we go over this all the time. You are as bad as Fred and George, we aren't leaving and that's final."

"Stubborn git."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

Justin just shook his head listening to the two of them chatter on as they made their way back to the Institute.

The building looked deserted to Harry, he saw Ron already reaching for his wand. "Alright, this is just plain wrong. Steady on now, and keep alert."

The main gate for the complex was standing open, almost as if everyone had simply left for the day, and left the gate unlocked. The three young men examined the guard house, it was deserted completely. A cup of cooling coffee sat on a console. Monitors flickered pictures from dozens of cameras, each one showing the same thing; a deserted highly technical complex.

Harry motioned his friends over while looking at one monitor, this one apparently locked on a single camera. The camera showed the lab where the clones were made, oddly, here they saw people, and these people were wearing robes.

Ron's eyebrow rose. "Oi, Harry, what in the bloody hell are they doing?"

Justin reached tentatively for a knob, and turned.

"…when the Dark Lord rises, we will use the bodies of the brats to blame this on Potter." Harry's mind reeled as he tried to match the voice with a face.

"My Lord, the muggles say that he should be awake in a half hour or so."

The pretty female doctor walked into view. "Lord Malfoy, the process is almost complete." She knelt before the wizard in the black robes in submission. "Is there anything else you need My Lord?" The tone in her voice lent no question as to the depth of her offer.

"No, leave me." He turned, and paused "did you offer yourself to Potter?"

"Yes Lord, I did as you asked, but he didn't want me."

"Pity, you are truly remarkable once I got past your initial inhibitions." His hand lifted to her face and traced her jawbone, "on the other hand, we do have plenty of time. Leave us."

As his lackey's filed out of the complex, the wizard removed his robes, and Harry saw Draco Malfoy standing in the room, with his servant. Harry's face held an expression of barely masked fury.

Ron was the first to speak "Well, not only is he unimaginative in the arts of evil, but apparently he's not got much imagination in the sack either."

"How, though?" Justin's face showed the confusion. "Dean killed him, I was there!"

"There are a lot of possibilities; I say we go ask Mr. Malfoy how it is that he's still alive." Harry paused looking thoughtful, "well, let us be on our way. We have a lot to do, and little time to complete it."

They jogged to the front doors of the complex, and not surprisingly found them unlocked like everything else. Harry paused with his hand on the door. "This feels so wrong; I don't like this at all."

The two friends looked at Harry and waited for him to complete the inner struggle. "Bloody hell" and he thrust the door open.

The corridors were well lit, as they had been that morning, all that was missing were the people. Folders had been apparently simply dropped on the ground along with pencils and pens. Harry lifted one and flipped through it. The papers were filled with scribbles, and simplistic drawings. The people had been under Imperius too long, but were unable to throw it off.

He let the papers fall, and continued to the part of the facility the young servant of Malfoy had taken him. They found the large metal door that had been the only real barrier between the administration and laboratory sections of the building. This door however, was very much locked.

"Alohamora!" after a second the door made a clicking noise, and shifted slightly, Harry wrenched it open, expecting more resistance from the door than was there, it swung noiselessly open until it impacted with the wall with a terrific 'bang'.

Ron glared at him, and Harry shrugged "Nothing to do for it now Ron. They knew we were coming anyhow."

Ron snickered, "Speaking of c-"

"Shut it Ron that is not a mental image I need." Harry glowered at his best friend. "Prat."

"Git."

Justin held up his hands. "Alright you two, stop it, you are driving me around the bend here. Can we just concentrate on this task, and then go home please?"

Ron smirked, "Why sure Justin, we'd be happy to oblige you." He bowed formally to Justin and again to Harry. "Please sir, accept my most sincere apology for any injury, real or imagined to your impeccable personage."

Harry attempted to maintain a straight face, "Why certainly dear sir, your slight was hardly worth a notice so minor an infraction."

Justin sighed deeply, "Are you two about done? I'd think you'd be taking this a bit more seriously." Resentment shone in his eyes for their antics.

Harry turned to Justin, his face impassive, a look Justin remembered well from before. "Justin, if I don't joke around with Ron, I am going to build up a magical signature a Muggle could see. Is that what you want?"

Justin was quite taken aback. "I – I didn't know Harry, I'm sorry."

Ron responded quickly. "It's ok Justin; just understand that Harry's power has grown, not reduced over time. He's been hiding it from most people, but some, like Ginny, Hermione and I can see it in him. All those exercises to focus our power are all that keeps Harry from wandering around in a perpetual aura."

"So now what then?" Justin asked of Harry and Ron, "This is the big reason you wouldn't defend us? You let us go into our little exile because you are afraid of your power?"

"No Justin, I am not afraid of it, but the Aurors are. Why do you think we have a twenty four hour 'guard' with us at all times? It's to protect others, not us. They are afraid I'll go mad and destroy everything. If they exile me, they exile all of you as well. So I suffered that inconsiderate bitch Skeeter to paint me out as little more than the next Riddle. I lied to prevent her from finding out about the women who were forced to service the slime Riddle had working for him, and most importantly, I kept my mouth shut so your children, and mine could have something of a normal life."

Justin glared at Harry "You don't have to be the fucking hero all the time Potter. Some of us are capable of making our own decisions. Damn you! You had no right doing this to us over the last ten fucking years! Look at Susan for gods' sake! She's miserable as hell, and not one god damned thing we do makes her happy! What are you going to do for her Harry? What great miracle are you going to pull out of your ass for her?"

Harry's shoulders slumped. "You have no idea what I'd do for Susan; Justin so shut your damn mouth. We'll finish this conversation later."

Justin glared at him, "So now what, you obliviate me so we can go on without my revelation?"

"No Justin, we are going to find Malfoy, and get some answers. Once we have those answers we are going to find their damn clone and then we are taking them all to the Ministry. Then we are gong to go home, and have the children go outside and play while the adults scream at one another like the prats we are. How's that sound to you?" Harry's voice had grown icy cold.

Justin took a step back from Harry and raised his hands defensively.

Ron stepped between them. "Alright both of you stop it. Concentrate on the here and now. We'll cross this bridge again later."

They continued through the corridors following the signs on the walls to the main eugenics facility. Shortly they found a room with the door open and the attractive doctor lying on a pile of her clothing, she still seemed dazed. Malfoy was standing over her with his customary sneer on his face. "Sleep well my little whore."

Malfoy turned to leave when he locked gazes with Harry Potter. "Well, if it isn't my old friend. Harry, how pleasant to see you."

"Malfoy, I swear if you as much as twitch wrong I'll kill you."

"You couldn't last time Potter, what makes you so sure you can this time?"

"Because this time Malfoy, I know you are a sadistic bastard, and I changed a lot in the last few years."

"Strange you should say that Harry, so have I. See we found a way to block the unforgivable curses Harry, now that redactor on the people's throat that is a stroke of genius. Well, anyhow the unforgivable curses appear to work, but they are blocked leaving the illusion that they worked. I'm sure you were shocked by my, well, lack of being dead. That idiot Crabbe got the counter curse wrong and he paid for it with his life, I on the other hand got it right, so here I am."

The blonde doctor roused. "My Lord please, I need you again."

Draco sighed melodramatically "You can never please them once I've had them, right Fletchley?"

Justin's face turned red, "What in the hell are you inferring Malfoy?"

"I'm not inferring anything. I said that I shagged your wife."

Justin began to tremble in rage. "You lying bastard. Cho would never touch a filthy Slytherin git like you."

"Oh, of course not Justin," Draco's voice was oily smooth, betraying no emotion "but, why not ask her where she was the night after Potter here killed Diggory?"

"Harry didn't kill Diggory and you god damn well know it Malfoy!" Ron spat the words out.

"Sure, we all know the great, and wise Harry Potter – "

"Malfoy, shut your filthy mouth unless I tell you to talk. Justin and Ron calm down; this is between him and I." Ron and Justin felt the anger wash away, and realized Harry was glowing brilliantly in his golden aura.

"It's hard keeping that up isn't it Potter?" Malfoy taunted.

"I said shut your damn mouth Malfoy"

Malfoy appeared to struggle to say something further, but no words came to him. He seemed perplexed, and resorted to an ages old method of communication. He glared at Harry over his raised finger.

"Impressive Malfoy," Ron said smugly "I honestly didn't think you had it in you old boy!" With that statement he slapped Malfoy on the back, causing Draco to stumble forward a step.

"Malfoy, where is Riddle?" Harry's eyes bore into Draco's.

"Like I'd ever tell you anything Potter."

"Draco, where is Riddle now? Tell me." Harry's voice echoed oddly in the room.

"He – He's behind that door…" Malfoy waved at the door behind him casually.

Harry turned to the woman "You are released from the Imperious Curse."

The young doctor blinked a few times, and her eyes flew open wide Harry sensed the volatile change in her as she buckled to the ground and began to heave.

Harry looked at her with pity and helped her into a robe. "You will remember nothing of this experience. It was a movie you saw, a nightmare you had, a book you read."

The woman's eyes glazed over and she again sank down, this time shaking her head. "I – I'm so sorry, I had the oddest feelings. I think I'm going to go home." She rose shakily and headed out into the hallways.

"Impressive Potter, and you didn't use your wand at all, so is that how you got the Weasley whore to…" the last words were choked off by Harry's hand around his throat.

"Don't you ever refer to Ginny. Not in any context, am I making myself clear?" Even without using the glamour, Malfoy seemed stricken by Harry's words, and nodded.

Harry released him. "Now, let's try and be at least a bit civilized about this. Make no mistake Draco, I don't intend on letting you walk out of here anymore than I intend on letting Riddle leave this place, but your cooperation will greatly affect the passing of the end of your life.

"I want to know how you blocked the unforgivable curses. Details Draco, details and while you are at it I want to know everything about Riddle."

Draco Malfoy sat in the room considering his options. His eyes flickered between the three of them and the door he indicted Voldemort would be behind. Suddenly under Harry's glare, Malfoy grabbed his head in both hands and screamed.

Ron watched Harry's face, and saw sweat break out on his brow, veins pulsed in his temples, and the look of concentration on Harry's face was remarkable. Malfoy gasped and slumped back onto the floor, unconscious and pale as death.

"Well, the good news Justin is that Cho didn't sleep with Malfoy." Harry turned shaking to his friends. "The bad news is that while they did clone Riddle, it seems making a copy wasn't enough, they improved on the old design, and it will be free in less than ten minutes."

Justin let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Thanks Harry."

Harry looked at Justin for a minute. "Justin, Cho is a lot of things, that's not one of them. She was a Hufflepuff; loyalty is one of their strong suits."

"Have you ever wondered why we never got a Slytherin?" Justin asked "I mean we had representatives from Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. Why not a Slytherin?"

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, and Harry turned to Justin. "The only reason I was sorted into Gryffindor Justin, is that I asked the Sorting Hat not to put me in Slytherin, or I would have been in that house."

Justin viewed Harry in a new light. "So you were almost a Slytherin? Well Bob's your uncle…"

By this time Malfoy had regained consciousness, "So the Great Potter was almost a Slytherin. My, my Potter, you certainly are an enigma aren't you?"

"Shut it Malfoy." Ron glared at him.

"You realize of course Draco, that you were buried." Harry said slowly. "So in effect, this feeling that I should have spared Dean from killing you in the first place can finally be corrected." Harry was twirling the wand in his hand.

"What do you mean Potter?" Draco's eyes were riveted to Harry's wand.

"It means, according to anyone who matters you are already dead. It also means I can correct a mistake I made ten years ago." He stopped twirling the wand.

"And what mistake was that then?"

"Reducto" Harry's wand shot a stream of liquid gold at Draco's throat. "I was going to use the wrong spell, and quite frankly, I let Dean shoulder the burden of guilt alone." The three got up and moved to the door in the back of the room. "I don't suspect we'll meet again Draco."

They let the door swing shut to the last sounds of Draco Malfoy's life. They moved quietly and slowly through the corridor to the lab where a large metal and class coffin was surrounded by a full dozen muggles and death eaters.

Harry balled up his anger and fear pushing it outwards. The wave of destruction rippled and twisted, blue flames filled the room, and Harry heard the screams from the death eaters.

"You really need to show me how to do that Harry," Ron said looking at the muggles standing there unharmed. "But what if one of them was latent?"

Harry shrugged. "At this moment in time Ron, I don't really give a damn. Now let's get that bastard before he hatches, or whatever it is they do to these abominations."

Ron glanced at Harry with a curious look on his face. "You think cloning is wrong then mate?"

"The muggles are tinkering with forces even we don't Ron. This whole thing was wrong to do with animals, and it's doubly wrong to do this to a human." His eyes were dark and shining with righteous indignation.

"Can we have the philosophical revelations held off until we get out of here then?" Justin asked. "You two are impossible, you know that?"

Ron and Harry grinned at one another and nodded. "Of course" Harry said.

"It gives Hermione and Ginny something to complain about." Ron grinned cheekily at Justin and winked. "Otherwise we'd just be perfect."

"Perfect prats if you ask me." Justin muttered as they walked into the room. The muggle scientists were looking around confused as they looked at the small piles of ash at their feet, the only remains of the death eaters.

"Gentlemen, please follow me." Ron said in an overly-loud voice, and motioned them over to a wall. "That's right, shoulder to shoulder." He was directing them to stand against the wall, and pulled out his wand. Obliviate Ovorour." The wash over of silver light seemed lost on these people, "now then, we are here from erm…"

"Scotland Yard, Ron." Justin said rolling his eyes.

"Right, but shouldn't we speak with a Scottish accent then?" Ron looked thoroughly confused.

"Oh for Christ's sakes Ron, let me do this." Justin glared at Ron and recast the charm. "We are here from Scotland Yard, and are here tracking down the rumor that an escaped convict is in the vicinity."

"That was good Justin." Ron said

"My dad works at the Yard." Justin was smiling Ron with a flush of embarrassed pride.

They escorted the scientists out of the lab, and then went back in. Harry looked around. "I don't know what to do about this place."

"What d'you mean Harry? Let's get out of here, and get home." Ron glanced between Harry and Justin.

Justin nodded to Harry. "We have to do something Harry. There is genetic material all over the place."

"Gene-what?"

"Genetic material. If we walk away now, they could easily re-do this, ad we'd be back at square one." Justin explained, seeing confusion he continued, "it's like this Ron, everyone is made up of DNA, this determines who and what we are physically, and it also determines our affinity with magic. While there is a lot of the means of you growing up that is conditional, your family, your living conditions, you know the emotional side of you.

"Take your family for instance, you and your sister are very similar, because you were so close in age, and played together since forever, the same with Fred and George. But yet look at Charlie and Bill, they are similar, but as different from you and Ginny as Fred and George are similar."

"Well if that were true, Harry would have been like Riddle, an orphaned powerful magician raised in a spiteful muggle world."

Harry cleared his throat. "I had a talk with Dumbledore about that once. He said the difference between us was that while we were both unwanted, Riddle chose power over all of the traits that make us up."

Ron's eyebrows reached for his hairline. "You mean that's the difference between you two, Riddle choose power and you chose to be brave?"

"Well, that about sums it up Ron, though in a highly simplistic manner." Harry nodded to his friend.

"Now, however we need to destroy the last of this research." Justin already had his wand out and was casting a spell. The jet of orange flame splashed against the wall, immediately igniting the material. "That fire can't be put out, and should take care of the complex."

They took a last look around and Disapparated as the flames began to consume the walls of the lobby.

They arrived at the circle of houses, and noticed there were more Aurors than the usual guard. A quick glanced showed two standing at each doorway, and six bearing down on them. "Hold your hands out!" one of the younger Aurors shouted at them.

With a shrug the trio held their hands out palms facing the advancing Aurors. Harry muttered "I don't like the looks of this, not one single bit."

"Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Justin Finch-Fletchley." The Auror made it a statement, not a question.

"Yes," Harry said to him, "what is going on?"

"We are here to place the Companions under arrest."