Azkaban was cold any day of the year. So it was with no surprise that Remus found his teeth chattering while he was in the medieval prison. However, he had been informed that the battlements were much warmer than the actual underground cells, so that was why he was standing outside, his back to the blistering wind, gazing unenthusiastically at the magnificent view.

He jumped as someone grabbed him from behind, but it was only Maria, who wrapped her arms around his body and shivered. "Merlin, it's cold up here. Come down into the compound, it's warmer around the bonfire - oh, nice view!" There was a note of definite approval in Maria's voice as she evaluated the scenery. "Pity about the location." she added. The blue-grey masonry of the fortress wall met with a thick pine forest before the sheer cliffs dropped away to meet turbulent green seas. On the horizon they could see a scattering of islands, and to the left was the mainland, hazy in the distance, and crowned with a blazing gold sunset. It was a wild, untamed scene - the sort seen in paintings of times long since past. In fact, Remus thought, Azkaban had an untamed, uncivilised edge to it - rather like the setting.

"Has the Magical Catastrophes Squad found anything interesting?" he asked quietly.

"No, not a thing. Nothing's disturbed, nothing's taken. There are no tracks, no fingerprints, no evidence of how the murderer got in or out. And even with all that blood lying around, there is no footprints, no smears on the doorhandles, and no trail of droplets. And strangest of all, there's no trace of spells!" Maria rested her chin on Remus' shoulder.

Remus frowned. "No spells?"

"Not a single one. All those experts milling around down there are scratching their well-educated heads."

"But ... then how else was Spicier killed?"

Maria paused. "Someone broke through his ribs and pulled out his heart. So either the murderer was a blood-crazed maniac with incredible strength, or he used some sort of new spells we don't know about."

"This is not good," Remus murmured. "Azkaban's out of control. Spicier could talk with the Dementor, bargain with them, persuade them into doing what he wanted."

"Which is probably the reason he's now spattered all over his office," Maria added curtly.

"Remind me once again why we are here."

"Because a crazy woman in St. Mungo's said I had to," Calypso said tiredly.

Snape chose not to answer.

It wasn't a normal doorway they had walked through. Snape had realised there was a long-term Floo Charm set up around the doorframe the moment his nose first passed through it. So instead of walking through a doorway into Gringott's bank from the ruined Auror HQ, they were now in a small courtyard somewhere near the sea, with a large beehive nearby and a motorway off to the left. Snape could tell this by the sound of the waves nearby, the large number of bees flying past and the sickly petrol fumes drifting by. The courtyard was no bigger than a bedroom, and was flanked by six foot red brick walls, topped by some sort of charm that had prevented Sirius climbing over them. The door behind them had disappeared the moment they had walked through it, leaving Sirius, Moody, Calypso and Snape from going anywhere. The only means of escape from their brick prison was a green painted door at the other end of the courtyard.

The only problem with this door was that it went nowhere. Its hinges were merely bolted to the wall, and it swung limply in the breeze.

Calypso picked absently at some moss growing between flagstones. The group were sitting down on the ground, trying to get out of the scathing midday sun.

"I'm sorry," She blurted out suddenly. "I'm really sorry. It's all my fault. I should have thought before I went through the doorway. It's my biggest failing - I never really think before I do anything." She stared at the ground, and continued destroying the moss.

"It's okay," Moody grunted. "We'll get out of here."

"How?" Snape drawled.

No-one replied.

After a long silence Sirius spoke up. "I've been thinking-"

"-Well, this is a first!"

"-Shut up, Snape - thinking about this door. It must date from about the 1400s or so. The old Auror HQ was built in 1487, give or take a few years. There was no way you could access that door through the Auror HQ - it was the men's ablution block along that wall, if I remember correctly."

"So nobody's been here in about 500 years," Moody added.

"Brilliant," Calypso said gloomily. "So no-one will know where to look for us."

"Oh, don't be so negative," Sirius replied, upbeat. "No-one would make a door that goes to nowhere. There is some way out of here - we've just got to find it."

There was silence again as the four magicians racked their brains for any ideas.

"God it's hot," Calypso eventually said crossly, pulling at the collar of her robes to improve the airflow. "I didn't actually imagine Britain got a real summer."

"Where on earth did you get a silly idea like that?" Moody said tiredly.

"Oh, I don't know. Probably fro- Oh, wait! I've just had an idea!" Calypso leapt to her feet, bright eyed.

"Only one?"

"Shut up, Snape."

"Well, spit it out."

Calypso looked around at her hot, sticky companions sitting in the shade. "Has anyone ever seen The Labyrinth?"

"The what?"

"It's a movie from the 80's, and it had David Bowie in it, wearing an awful mullet and horrible tight silver pants."

Moody shook his head. "Can't say I have." Snape merely sneered.

However, Sirius looked interested. "Oh yes. Awesome movie, that one."

"Do you remember the bit where that girl was in a maze that went on forever? And the way she finally got out of it was by-"

"-walking into the walls." Sirius finished, eyes alight. "Just like at King's Cross. Yes, maybe...."

Sirius stood up and brushed off his robes. "Same principal to the gate to Platform 9 and Three Quarters. You've got to believe that you can go through." He leaned experimentally against the red brick wall.

"Try jumping," Calypso suggested. Sirius slammed his shoulder into the bricks, and grunted. "Ooof. Hey, that hurt."

"I'll try this wall," Calypso said gamely, and promptly began throwing herself into the brick wall, with the same results as Sirius.

"Ow!" "Ike." "Doof!" "Mmph." "Ooch." "Owwee!"

Snape rolled his eyes from where he was sitting. "Honestly, you two are both depriving a village of its idiot."

Sirius glared at Snape, while rubbing his now very sore sholder. "Shut up, Snape. I can't see you doing anything constructive."

"I'm using my brain, unlike the pair of you," He replied smugly, causing Sirius to bristle.

"Break it up!" Moody growled, and with a parting stare, Sirius resumed charging the wall. "Try over by that green door, Calypso," The old man said after thought. "They wouldn't have hung that door for no reason, would they?"

"Exactly what I was thinking." Snape cut in crisply. He got to his feet stiffly and walked over to the door, catching it in mid-swing by the doorknob and began bouncing it back and forth from one hand to another. "I actually have seen The Labyrinth." He said suddenly. "And you might remember another part, in the garbage heap, where there was another interesting door? If you opened it from the left, it revealed a cupboard full of pots. And from the right, the funny little man's house."

"What are you thinking, Snape?"

Snape studied the doorknob closely. "Calypso, exactly how did that mad woman gesture?"

"She kind of went like this...." Calypso held out her arms straight, hands together, and then moved them apart. "She did it a few times, and then she got all confused. She kept going on about how it's a trick and how I-"

Calypso trailed off. For Snape had slowly taken the doorknob in one hand, and the knob on the other side of the door in his opposite hand. And pulled them apart.

The door split down the middle, and Snape leapt back as the crack opened up and a great cloud of dust billowed out. Coughing, the four buried their faces in their robes until the dust had settled, and then looked up cautiously,

"Wow!" Calypso exclaimed. Where there had been a solid wood door, there was now a double-door gap in the brick wall. The gap descended into darkness, but it definitely descended.

Snape was running a finger down the green wood edge of the gap. "Ingenious. They compressed the tunnel entrance onto the back of two doors, and then sandwiched them together."

"So it's a tunnel?" Moody said, pulling out his wand. "Oh yes," Snape replied smugly, a look of accomplishment on his face. "There's steps that go down."

Sirius, Calypso and Moody edged over and peered down the tunnel. Indeed, there were cut stairs leading down into the darkness and disappearing around the corner.

"Well?" Snape said loftily. "Are you going to go down or just ogle?"

Moody gave Snape a startled look. "What? Do you take us for cowards? Of course we're going!" And before anyone could doubt his courage, Moody planted a large foot on the first stair. Immediately wall-mounted torches leapt to life in their iron brackets, making Calypso jump. "Do we have to go down there?" she pleaded quietly. "Unless you can see another way out of here," Snape said. Calypso glanced at the determined faces surrounding her, and reluctantly clutched a handful of Sirius' cloak. "Okay," she said gingerly, and Sirius and Snape drew their wands.

"Moody, you go first, followed by Sirius, Calypso in tow," Snape said firmly. "I'll cover the rear."

"He's the last person I want covering my rear," Sirius snarled. "Cut it out," Moody said sharply. "It's a good plan." And with that, Moody started cautiously making his way down the torch-lit tunnel. Sirius followed, Calypso clinging onto his cloak tightly. The moment her foot touched the first slippery stair, she had a sudden thought.

"Moody, I just thought-"

Snape followed Calypso down the tunnel, his foot leaving the cobblestones from the courtyard.

"-shouldn't we leave someone up above to keep-"

There was a woosh, and in an instant the door closed behind them, wiping out the sunlight.

"-the door open?"

Ben and Kevin were on Owl Catching Duty at the Malfoy Manor.

"Kevin!" Ben hissed from under his privet bush. "This is no time for sunbathing!"

"I am not sunbathing!" Kevin growled back. "I am trying to get out of the ground this bloody rock that keeps digging into my back. I can't be under the plant and pull the rock out at the same time."

"Well, you'd better get back under your 'plant', rock and all, because here come Malfoys on broomsticks!"

Kevin gave a grunt and instantly rolled back under his shrub. Just in time, as five brooms whipped past, barely skimming the treetops.

The Aurors waited until the leaves were still again. "Ben, did you see that?" Kevin whispered.

"Lucius, Narcissa, Draco and two others. And I'd bet they were..."

"Octavia and Cain from the other Death Eater Tribe." Ben crawled out from under his privet, twigs in his hair. "But they hate each other, don't they? Why are they out on a scenic flight together?"

Kevin frowned. "Something is up, boy. The number of Owls have dropped off. There are no more message coming into Malfoy Manor."

"They suspect we are reading their mail?"

"No, they are planning something," Kevin said with certainty, sitting up and gazing after the brooms. "Something so big they are not trusting it to Owlpost. And there's been no attacks for days - it's like the calm before the storm."

Ben gave a low whistle. "Both Tribes together....we'd never be able to stop them!"

Kevin shook her head. "Nah, their leaders may be civil to each other, but they hate each other too much to work together. I'd say one tribe is going to make a big attack, and they are briefing the other tribe so they don't get in the way."

"So how big is this big thing?" Ben was slightly confused. BAF Auror Training Unit Standard #12839 hadn't covered this sort of situation.

Kevin bit his lip. "Bigger than........... uh.... well, big. We'd better get back to HQ and report this."

Remus was warm for the first time in what seemed an eternity. The hot water cascaded down in hard needles, stinging his skin, but at the same time feeling very good. Curry pain, Remus called it. He was sure it was a mild form of sadism, but the burning spices in curries and the steaming water slashing at his skin made him tingle all over. He bravely held his face under the water, and flinched as liquid attacked the delicate skin around his eyes. He needed to rid his skin of the feel of Azkaban, and only elbow grease or high pressure would get into his pores and flush out the cold, slimy essence of the gaol. And showers were very relaxing. They also gave Remus a chance for a wee bit of privacy, and a short space of time to think - just to let his mind wander while his body was pleasantly tortured by wonderfully warm water.

So it was with great annoyance that Remus was broken out of his daydream by someone banging on the bathroom door. Scowling, Remus turned off the shower taps and poked his head around the curtain. The bathroom was thick as cucumber soup with mist, and he had to squint to see the door. He reached out a hand and twiddled the lock. "What is it?" he asked, rather miffed, as Maria slipped into the bathroom. "Jeez Remus!" She exclaimed. "It's like breathing in a wool blanket in here! How hot's that water?" "Is that all you came to say?" Remus snapped uncharacteristically. Maria raised her eyebrows. "No, I came to say Snape, Moody, Calypso and Sirius have just arrived. Thought you'd want to know," She said gently.

Remus froze, and then warm relief flooded across his face. "Oh. Oh, that's brilliant!" He seemed to sag a bit, and then perked up. "Are they here, or at BAFHQ?" "In the lounge," Maria replied. "I'm serving them Lamingtons and Tea, and trying to keep Sirius and Snape apart. And since you have spent half an hour in the shower already, I hoped you'd give up trying to drown yourself and help me."

"Give me two minutes." Remus was already out of the shower, towelling himself off.

Remus was done in one and a quarter, and Moody for one was very glad to see him arrive in the lounge, as Sirius and Snape looked ready to tear each other's throats out. Moody was onto his fourth coffee, Snape his second Earl Grey, Sirius his second Jasmine, and Calypso hadn't touched her lamington or cuppa.

"...in the first place if you had have used your brain and held the door open!" Sirius snarled.

"Used my brain?" Snape sneered back. "This from the man who spent five minutes trying to leap through solid brick walls?"

"Not in my house you don't!" Remus announced firmly as he walked into his lounge.

"Don't what?" Sirius asked innocently.

"Bicker. No, don't argue." Remus cut Sirius off in mid-protest. "Tell me what on earth you have gotten up to. Or more importantly, where on earth you have been." Remus settled into an empty purple couch.

Sirius looked around impishly. "Well, we're quite sure we were on earth, but exactly where we were was a mystery."

Moody shot Sirius an impatient look. "Will you let me tell the story? It's been a stressful day for all of us, and I'm not in the mood for smart remarks."

Sirius, sulking, sipped his tea. Snape smirked antagonisingly at him again, causing Sirius to suddenly snap and hurl his cup of Jasmine tea across the room and across Snape's sallow face.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!" Snape screamed as the hot liquid hit the side of his face. Leaping to his feet, he grasped his burnt skin and tried to run forward. Instead he fell over the coffee table as the others scrambled helplessly to their feet and scrabbled for wands.

"SHIT!" "SIRIUS YOU MORON!"

However, it was Maria who had the presence of mind to throw the pitcher of milk at Snape and cool down his skin, possibly saving him from severe scarring.

It was some moments late when things settled down again. Snape was sent off to St. Mungo's to get his face seen to, and Sirius was sent to BAFHQ in disgrace to make a formal report of the happenings of the day. Maria magicked up a bucket and cloth and got down on her hands and knees and started cleaning up the milk from the pitcher than had missed Snape's face and found its way into the carpet. Remus collapsed on the couch, head in hands, and Moody started on his fifth coffee.

"This has been the day from hell," Remus mumbled.

Moody raised his bushy eyebrows. "Try mine."

Remus sat up. "Do tell. Where in Merlin's name did you four disappear to?"

Moody rolled his eyes and cracked his knuckles. "Well," he said with relish, promising a long, drawnout story, "it all started when Calypso fell through the window of the briefing room and onto Sirius."

Maria interrupted. "Where is Calypso?" she said with concern. Moody jerked a thumb to the open doorway, through which Remus could see Calypso sitting in the windowseats in the Kitchen, which was bathed in the last of the dying sunset. Sitting there, bathed in gold-red light was Calypso, legs tucked around the side of her body, studying intently from a large leather book. Remus frowned. "Where did that book com-"

"Let me finish." Moody cut in. With a final curious glance, Remus concentrated on the old man. "She'd been to St. Mungo's. Said she thought that boyfriend of hers had been hurt in a skirmish, but turns out it was just a Quidditch injury. Then she met a crazy woman in the corridors of St Mungo's who told her to go through the invisible door in the old Auror ruins."

Comprehension dawned across Remus' face, and Maria gave a satisfied 'tsk' as she sopped up spilt milk.

"So somehow we stupidly agreed to go and check it out. I couldn't see the door," Moody sounded annoyed, as if failing to see the door reflected his abilities as an Auror, "even with my eye. But it was there, and we just waltzed through it. Shoulda guessed it wasn't a normal door. It was a Portal to somewhere right out in the countryside - a little funny bricked area with walls on all four sides. Couldn't get over the walls, couldn't use spells. There was no way out - apart from this stupid door with it's hinges just bolted to the wall." Moody took another sip of coffee. "We spent ages in that damned courtyard. Stinking hot, too. And then Snape got us out of there. Split the door in half - it's hard to explain - and revealed the tunnel out of there. This is where we made yet another stupid, dumb mistake. We galloped, all gung-ho down the stairs and surprise, surprise, the doors closed behind us."

"What sort of tunnel was this?" Maria had paused in her mopping up.

Moody thought for a few seconds. "Dark. And very cold. Quite wet - the steps were all slimy and streaked with grime. Calypso slipped over a few times and barrelled into Sirius. But the moment the doors closed, the torches burst into light." "So there we were, hobbling down the steps, going down, oh, I don't know, stories and stories. The tunnel wound around and around - I got totally disorientated. But it finally levelled out into this huge chamber." Moody's voice dropped to a hoarse whisper - a growl, really. "Gave me the collywobbles. This enormous chamber carved out of the rock - bigger than the Great Hall at Hogwarts, yeah, and the same height."

Maria looked suitably impressed, and Remus wondered if he was over- exaggerating. Then he realised it was Moody speaking. If anything, the old man tended to under-exaggerate.

"All over the floor were bones of small rodents - rats, mice and the like. They'd been vapourised by - " Moody paused for effect and leaned closer to Remus. " -an Amber Spellshield!" Moody leaned back, this conspiratorial piece of evidence delivered. Maria whistled. Remus looked stunned.

"A good old piece of 14th century magic, still alive and kicking. Couldn't believe it." Moody shook his head, recalling the strange scene. "And it was the only thing in that whole bloody hall. So there we were, wandering around this torchlit damp underground hole looking for a way out, when Sirius gives a yell. He had been wandering around the Amber Spellshield - Sirius seems magnetically attracted to danger - and there's something under the shield."

"Sirius and trouble always find each other," Remus murmured. "What was under the shield?"

"A desk," Moody said crisply, folding his arms. "That's all. No door, no rubies and riches. Just a desk. Wooden, possibly oak. Four legs, top, one drawer. An inkpot, two quills. And-" Moody swung an arm around dramatically to point towards Calypso, who was still pouring over her book. "-one book, and two crystal balls."

"Really?" Maria said skeptically. "How did you get past an Amber Spellshield?"

Moody gave a rueful grin. "Sirius and danger always find each other. Calypso and disaster are a combination that pops up with alarming regularity." His twisted smile dropped. "We were all walking around the Spellshield - it was obviously our only way out - and Calypso rolled her ankle on a rat's skull, and did a very impressive belly-flop straight into the sheild."

Remus winced. "So you all went through?"

"No, it would only let Calypso through. It spat sparks at the rest of us." Moody sighed. "I think I aged ten years today." He took another swig of coffee. "Anyway, Calypso investigated the desk, and picked up the book, totally ignoring our instructions for her to touch nothing. And as soon as she grabbed the book, the Amber Spellshield dissipated, and a door appeared on the far wall. Not surprisingly, we scarpered up the provided flight of stairs. Came out in the bottom vaults of Gringotts - the Goblins were NOT impressed when we emerged. Found the nearest Flooport in Diagon Ally and came straight here." Moody sighed again. "So, what did you get up to today?"

It was Maria that spoke. "You know Spicier, the Azkaban Warden? He was murdered last night, while at Azkaban."

Moody froze for a moment, and then tightened his grip around his coffee cup. "How? Who?" He said unsteadily.

"We have no idea," Remus replied softly. "There's absolutely no evidence whatsoever."

Suddenly as Remus spoke, there was a gentle ringing from under the coffee table.

Maria, Remus and Moody looked expectantly at each other. "Yours?" Maria asked Moody. Moody shook his head. "My Pocket Foe Detector vibrates and whirrs, it doesn't ring," he replied.

Maria got to her feet and tracked the sound to under the coffee table, and pulled out of the mess of broken china and wet carpet a small black orb that was chiming.

"Oh," Moody said, "that's one of those crystal balls Calypso took from that desk. I wonder why it's making that noise."

Maria cradled the small ball in her cupped hands. It was very heavy for its size, and was a strange shade of black. "Funny colour," Maria noted. "It's quite reddish. Like dried blood."

"Calypso has got the other one with her - it's just a normal white crystal ball," Moody informed Maria as she went and sat beside Remus. "Notice the crack on this one - pity, it would have made a nice paperweig-"

He was cut off by Maria's gasp. What Moody had taken for a crack Maria had recognised as a vein of pearly Quartz. And suddenly something in the quartz shifted and white liquid rock streamed out of the vein and through the black ball. "It's forming words," Remus mumbled. Indeed the liquid swirled and ran together, criss-crossing and winding to form spidery luminous cream lettering across the top of the ball.

"Wormtail" Remus read out loud, and instantly the chiming stopped and the letters ran wetly back into the quartz vein, leaving the crystal ball as blank as the three Aurors' minds.

There was a thud and a squeak as Calypso burst through the open door into the Lounge. "Moody, where did you put that little black- aha!!!" She exclaimed excitedly. Deftly nabbing the dark crystal ball from Maria, Calypso gazed at it with delight. "What is that thing?" Remus asked, and told Calypso quickly what had just happened.

Calypso nodded. "What question did you ask it?"

Remus frowned. "Question?"

"Yes, you must have asked it a question........." looking at the blank faces around her, Calypso tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and grinned. "Watch."

Taking the ball in both hands, she shook it briefly and then said loudly "Where is Ben?" The soft ringing started again, and Calypso turned the ball around to show the puzzled Aurors the glowing white letters forming the words "St Mungo's" on the dark surface. Moody read the word out loud and the chiming stopped.

"It answers questions," Calypso said delightedly. "Virginia left it to me. Only it doesn't answer every question of course, just ones that Virginia knew the answers to. And then you've got to ask it the right sort of questions. And you can't confuse it. And you've got to shake it between questions or it tries answering all sorts of questions at once. Virginia says it's to go to Dumbledore."

Maria pointed to a chair. "Sit and explain coherently."

"Wait," Calypso begged, dancing on the spot, "let me get the rest of the stuff." Without waiting for an answer, she dashed out of the room and returned with another crystal ball, a piece of paper and a fat leather- bound book tucked under her arm, all of which she dumped ceremoniously upon the coffee table. "This is the stuff that was on that table in that dungeon thing. Read the letter." She handed a large stiff piece of paper to Remus, who began to read the inky spidery letters.

Dear Calypso,

If I can still contact you, ignore this. If you haven't heard from me in a while, I'm sorry. St. Peter was risking a lot by letting me lurk outside the Pearly Gates to contact you, and I can't blame him for getting cold feet about this plan, as no-one is allowed out of the Gates, period.. I expected Peter to pike eventually. I mean, after Keeping The Gates, who wants to be demoted to Processing New Arrivals? But since the Fates have guided you here, it doesn't really matter. Congratulations on getting this far. But don't get lax, there's still a lot to do dear. Don't mess it up. I spent my whole life setting all this up for you to find and use. Please don't ruin it all.

There are three important things under this Spellshield. Firstly, my old Crystal Ball - it's the white one. It's got threads of Opal through it, and it's a brilliant Scrying ball. Cost me a fortune, so treat it gently. This is to replace your Crystal Ball that Harry broke. Don't blame the clumsy boy, it was meant to happen.

The other crystal ball - the black one - is very special. Lose it or break it and I'll haunt you for the rest of your life, and beyond. It's my Prophecy Journal, put into a Crystal Ball. I've set it up so that you can ask it questions, and it'll reply if I have had dreams or visions about it. So you can bug it instead of me with queries. It's not perfect, but I did the best I could. Remember to shake it between questions, ask questions slowly and clearly, and think about the kind of questions you ask. The best are yes/no questions, or questions with definite answers. Don't ask it stuff like "What shall I do now?" Instead ask "Should I go with Dumbledore or Moody?"

Talking about Dumbledore, this ball is to go to Dumbledore. He'll be able to use it best. And whatsmore, it should take an awful lot of pressure off you. Maybe the Aurors will even decide to let you go back home. The book is for you. The Divination Textbooks used in schools are complete codswallop, and I always swore that I'd write a proper one to replace them. Well, things happened and I never got around to getting it published. So here's my Magnum Opus - it needs to be edited and properly typeset. Please get it published. Feel free to claim the royalties - I have no use for them nowadays. But make sure this book gets into Magical Schools around the world - this is by no means the last crisis the world is going to experience, and we need to properly train those young Divinators. Get a copy to a little red-head girl at Hogwarts - she needs a crash-course in proper divination before Voldemort really starts getting powerful. If you manage to do nothing right in your entire life, just get the book to the little red-head. You think you are saving the world? Your adventures are mere candyfloss at the fairground compared to the roller- coaster ride she's going to take. Also read the book and learn it yourself. You may find it useful.

Well, I suppose that's about all.

Don't mess this up. Think before you act. Listen to Remus, Maria and Moody. And Dumbledore. In fact, don't leave Moody's side. That way you are less likely to end up causing catastrophes.

You are a good kid. I'll see you at the Pearly Gates.

Virginia.

PS - Promise me you won't mess this up.

"Well," Maria said as Remus finished. "How strange."

Moody had picked up the black Crystal Ball and was peering at it with his magical eye. "Fantastic," he murmured. "Last time it said 'Wormtail.' And I had just asked who had killed Spicier........ no wonder there was no trail - of course no-one throught of searching the drainage pipes for the killer."

"Ask it a question," Remus said, a curious glint in his eye.

Moody shook the ball, and then paused. "What shall I ask?"

"Where will the Death Eaters attack next?" Maria said clearly.

The ball started ringing, and the words that spread across the ball cast a chill down the backs of those reading

"Azkaban, or Hogwarts."

Moody shook the ball again.

"When?" he asked urgently.

Nothing happened.

"Wrong sort of question," Calypso said quietly. "Pass it here, Moody." He did so, Calypso shook the ball.

"When will the Death Eaters attack Azkaban or Hogwarts next?" she asked.

The ball started chiming again, and Calypso paused before giving the answer.

"Tonight."

Calypso shut the door behind her with a sigh of relief. She was rather tired, as the adrenaline from the day's discoveries had finally ebbed away. What was left were very sore calves from climbing around under the Gringott's vaults.

But as Calypso trotted down the spiral staircase from Dumbledore's office, euphoria flooded back. She studied the piece of notepaper in her hand that Dumbledore had given her.

Remus, Moody, Maria and Calypso had instantly Flooed to Hogsmeade and then trekked up the road to Hogwarts to see the Headmaster and hand over the Black Crystal Ball, as per Virginia's wishes.

It was Calypso's first visit to the School of Witchcraft and Wizadry, and she was completely gobsmacked. While striding with the others unerringly through the twisting corridors to Professer Dumbeldore's office with the others, she was told by Remus that she looked like a goldfish. At that Calypso made sure her mouth wasn't hanging open in awe and stopped staring at every tapestry, painting, ghost, staircase and student.

When in Dumbledore's office she peered out the windows of his round tower, dazzled at the extent of the castle and it's grounds. Kindly, Dumbledore had realised that she wasn't interested in retelling the day's events yet again, and had written her directions explaining how to get to Fleur Delacour's rooms.

Fleur. It wasn't actually that long since Calypso had seen the French trainee Auror, but it seemed like eons ago. And Calypso was lonely for some good girly company, so it was with much excitement that she was powering down the stairwell, studying Dumbledore's note.

At the bottom of the stairs, turn left.
At the 5th intersection, turn right. At the staircase, go across to the lower level IF the above staircase runs
left to right. If it runs at an angle, backtrack and find the tapestry with a large Oak tree on it. Press the red
brick in the wall that is about level with the bird in the tapestry and follow the secret passage that will
appear. IF you went across the staircase before, turn left, go through the door,
turn right and go up the spiral staircase and to the end of the corridor. Watch out for the eighteenth step
up - it's sticky. Turn right and go across the staircase if it still points the same way you saw it from below.
If it doesn't, wait for it to change. IF you went down the secret passage behind the tapestry, turn right, and
then left at the second-to-last intersection on that corridor. But if Peeves is down that corridor, you'd
better take the third-to-last door
beside the gargoyle..............

Calypso started to feel a little anxious. Hogwarts gave the impression that you could wander around the vast corridors for years and never find what you were looking for.

So it didn't even surprise Calypso herself when she found herself hopelessly lost - things had started to go wrong after she encountered Peeves......... perhaps she should have taken the middle door after the staircase........

Her hair was falling down out of its ponytail, so she pulled the hairtie out and twiddled it in her fingers while she tried in vain to work out where she should go from her current position. She sighed, and the noise echoed off the stone walls eerily. Calypso tried a few more turnings, and managed to get even more muddled, but found a window to peer out of. She was still on the same side of the castle as Dumbledore's office, as the view was much the same - the lake, a large brooding forest, Hogsmeade in the distance, a few small buildings and vast meadows - but she was far to the right and a few floors lower than before. This particular wing of Hogwarts was deserted - there was a faint musty unused smell and the overhead windows illuminated the hovering dust Calypso's sandals were kicking up. Also, Calypso could no longer hear the classroom ruckus seeping from underneath closed classroom doors - there wasn't even anyone around to ask for directions.

She was just formulating a plan of action - to work her way down to ground level and find the Great Hall and someone who could give her better instructions - when Calypso heard footsteps slapping on the marble floors around the far corner by a large oval painting.

Calypso smiled with relief - finally, human life!!! - and started towards the footsteps before stopping suddenly. The person approaching was muttering to himself in a low voice, and Calypso knew that disgruntled snarl. Snape.

She rolled her eyes. The last person she wanted to encounter now was Snape in a bad mood. Especially after today's adventures. Calypso quickly weighed up the options, and decided she'd rather stay lost than ask Snape for help. She leapt nimbly behind a large Coat of Armour and held her breath.

Snape turned down her corridor and swept past Calypso's hiding place like an ill-tempered, rattling petrol tanker in black robes. Calypso's nose wrinkled at the smell, and realised it must be the ointment the St. Mungo's staff had gooped onto Snape's tea-scalded face. Calypso was torn between amusement and compassion for Snape, eventually settling on amusement. She couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as Snape disappeared around the corner, and then slipped out from behind the Coat of Armour.

Suddenly there were voices from right behind her.

"Fred, just look at what's dragged itself inside!"

Calypso whirled around, and with her elbow accidentally knocked the spear the Coat of Armour was equipped with. The clang it gave as it hit the Armour rang densely down the corridor and wiped the wide grins off Fred and George Weasley's freckled faces.

"Cripes, Snape will hear that!" Fred - no, maybe George - said in a low voice. And indeed Calypso could hear Snape's disappearing footsteps pause, and then start returning. She forgot her astonishment at seeing the Twins, whom she had played a game of Quidditch against a while ago, and scowled. "Bugger."

However the twins gave a mischievous smile and grabbed her elbow. "So you want to avoid old Snapey as much as we do? Smart lass! To Myrtle's bathroom!" he said, and before Calypso could react, the twins deftly steered her down a maze of twisting corridors, tunnels and stairs at a dogtrot.

And surely enough they stopped at a bathroom. A girl's bathroom at least, so it was clean - but a bit wet on the floor, and rather dim.

"Oh good, Myrtle's not here," One of the twins said, peering into each cubicle. The other twin sat on the edge of a handbasin and grinned at Calypso again.

"Who's Myrtle?" Calypso asked.

"A disgruntled ghost who usually mopes around here. Don't worry about her, she's probably perving on the Prefects in their bathroom. Isn't that right, Fred?"

The other twin came over. "Which is the reason why my dear brother and I turned down the offer of becoming Prefects. We like to attend to our toilet in private."

"Bullcrap." Calypso said before she could help herself. "You weren't asked to be prefects because you are far too much trouble, I bet."

George tsked and Fred looked affronted. For a second, and then they both grinned again. It seemed to be the shape their mouths formed naturally.

"On a more serious note, what in Merlin's name are you doing wandering around the North-West Wing passages, Calypso? It is Calypso, isn't it?" George asked, simultaneously delivering Calypso a friendly back-slap.

"I should ask what you two are doing avoiding Snape in the North-West Wing passages!" Calypso asked mischievously.

"You first." Fred said.

"I'm trying to find Fleur Delacour's rooms-"

Both boys burst into laughter. "You and every other pubescent boy in Hogwarts!!!"

"Oh no, poor girl. I'm just paying her a visit while Maria, Remus and Moody talk to Dumbledore."

"You mean Remus Lupin? Professer Lupin? And Professer Moody are both here?"

Calypso nodded. She'd heard offhand that they'd both taught at Hogwarts previously.

The twins exchanged looks. "Do you think..." Fred started.

"Yes, we should," George finished.

"Should what?" Calypso asked.

"We've got some stuff to tell Moody," George said vaguely. "Here, if we take the shortcut through the tower we can go past Miss Fleur's rooms on the way to Dumbledore's office."

And as quickly as they had whisked Calypso to Myrtle's bathroom, they whisked her out and through another dizzying complex system of doors, passages and flights of stairs. At one point they stopped and skirted a large sunlit patch on the corridor floor. Calypso asked why, and was Informed mischievously that she really didn't want to know. Calypso correctly concluded that the twins had laid some sort of booby-trap there.

Quite soon George stopped in front of a large oak door. "Miss Fleur's quarters, as promised! We'll leave you here Calypso - sorry to abandon you, but we have to see Moody now."

"Thanks heaps." Calypso was wheezing slightly - the twins set a cracking pace through the corridors and it was hard keeping up. "I really owe you one!"

"Don't owe us anything - just promise you'll always play on our Opponent's Quidditch team!" Fred said as the boys started trotting off.

Calypso grinned, remembering the Quidditch game she had played with the Weasleys - she had been more help to the opposition than her own team. She turned and knocked hard on Fleur's door.

There was a pause, and then.....

"FOR THE LAST TIME, GO AWAY!" a voice roared from behind the door.

Calypso jumped. "Fleur? It's me, Calypso Grey. Is this a bad time or something?" she called uncertainly.

Another pause, and then the door was thrown open and the magnificent figure of Ms. Fleur Decalour leapt out and threw her arms around Calypso.

"CALYPSO!!! Oh, why did you not say so at first? I thought you were another of those wretched boys again!" Fleur squeezed Calypso till she squeaked, and then dragged Calypso into her quarters before the rather stunned girl could utter another word.

Fleur's 'apartment' consisted of three rooms - a large sitting room cum office, a medium sized bedroom, and a tiny bathroom, all with a view of the mountains. Calypso sprawled across the ancient green consulting couch in the corner while Fleur sat primly at her rather ostentatious desk chair, both eating Fleur's stash of Chocolate Frogs.

"But he can't be that bad, Fleur!" Calypso said around her mouthful of chocolatey goodness.

Fleur shook her head miserably. "Professer Doolagan is terrible. He just goes...... goes to pieces in front of the class, every time he starts to talk! And then the students will snigger and he'll get worse, and then all flustered! And then he'll excuse himself with some silly made-up reason, and leave me to teach the class....." She rested her head in her hands. "I'm only supposed to be a Student Teacher, a support. In all reality, we Student Teachers are here just to maintain order at Hogwarts and maybe try and teach when all the Professors are called away to fight the Death Eaters. I do my best, but I cannot teach the classes! The Dark Arts are too complex for me to instruct, especially at the upper levels. And in these times, our students need to learn about the Dark Arts as much as possible..." Fleur looked tired, Calypso noticed. She had bags under her eyes and much of her lively French spirit had seeped away.

"I don't know what to do!" Fleur finished desperately. Calypso thought she was about to cry. "And those boys...they follow me around everywhere, about eight at a time. Like little puppies. Everyone just laughs at me, I know it. I don't know how to make them go away."

Neither did Calypso, and it was with great luck for her that the door opened and William Knight strolled in.

"Will!" Calypso exclaimed with delight. He was another Student Teacher at Hogwarts, whom Calypso had met while Will, like Fleur, was an Apprentice Auror before 'restructuring' meant the apprentices were shuffled into babysitting at Hogwarts.

Will stared at Calypso, and then gave his trademark wide grin and brushed blonde hair out of his eyes. "Well if it isn't the elusive and cunning Calypso Grey!" he said with relish and leapt onto the couch beside Calypso. "How is life treating you?"

"Well, I'm still alive," Calypso replied candidly. "How is teaching going?"

"Brilliant!" Will replied passionately. "I love teaching, and being back at Hogwarts."

"Professer McGonagall keeps him busy," Fleur commented. Will was the Transfiguration Student Teacher.

"Fleur thinks McGonagall is a mean hag," Will told Calypso. "But the old witch is a sweetie, really. You've just got to know how to push her buttons."

Fleur rolled her eyes. "Greaser."

"No I'm not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am n- Oh, I haven't come here to argue with you again," Will said with a laugh. "Message from Dumbledore - we are on a Code 1 Alert tonight, and we all have to be ready to catch a Portkey out at any time."

The glittery smile dropped from Fleur's face. "So you were right, Calypso!"

"Course I was," Calypso said huffily.

Will looked confused. "Sorry, I don't understand. Why is Calypso right?"

Quickly Calypso told Will of what had happened that day, and what the Black Crystal Ball had said would happen tonight. Will narrowed his eyes and whistled. "They must be taking it pretty seriously if they've issued a Code 1 Alert. That means that everyone, even us Students, will be on our tiptoes tonight.

"D'ya reckon it will be Hogwarts or Azkaban they will attack?" Will asked.

Fleur pursed her lips. "If they were smart, they would release their comrades in Azkaban before trying to destroy Hogwarts."

"Yes, but I wouldn't credit most Death Eaters with much intelligence," Calypso said tiredly.

They pondered this in silence for a moment, and then Calypso shivered. "Yuck, Azkaban. If you end up going there tonight, bring your winter woollies. And a hot water bottle. It's a horrible place, Azkaban. Makes you feel so horribly cold all the time, right down to the marrow in your bones."

Fleur nodded. She and Will both knew Calypso had spent a few nightmareish days at the prison.

Just then there was a roaring whoosh from Fleur's fireplace, and Remus' face appeared in the hearth, making Calypso jump and let out a strangled squeak.

"Calypso, we're going now. You'd better come ba- oh, is that you William? And Fleur?" Remus said.

"Hullo Mr. Lupin," they replied in unison.

"Could you two please guide Calypso back to Dumbledore's tower? We need to get home and have some food and a nap before tonight's big adventures." Remus did look very tired.

Back at Remus' house, tucked up in her bed with covers pulled up to her neck, Calypso tried to get to sleep. It was hard, especially when she knew what was coming ahead tonight. Dumbledore's office was a hotbed of activity when Remus, Maria, Moody and Calypso had left - there were owls in a constant stream leaving and arriving, and the fireplace contained many people's heads, jostling for prime position in the red-orange flames, all jabbering away excitedly. Calypso would hate to see what the over-crowded Auror HQ looked like at the moment. From what Calypso could gather, Aurors were secretly slipping into Azkaban to create a mini-army on hand in case the Death Eater attacked there. At the same time, other Aurors were gathering at Hogwarts. The Black Crystal Ball had shed no new light on the exact place of attack - it still said either Hogwarts, or Azkaban. Calypso wondered if it would be both.

She sighed and rolled over in her bed to look at the sun streaming from under the curtain. It was still light outside, but she was trying to get as much shut-eye as possible. It was impossible though. All I want to do, Calypso thought, is go to the beach and run around on the beach. Oooh yes, and swim in the waves and have a picnic on the beach and play in the sand and make sandcastles with moats and play soccer on the beach and..................

Sandcastles.

Sandcastles........

Suddenly it hit her like a Mac truck, and Calypso leapt out of bed like she'd been electrocuted.

Sandcastles! She'd had a dream about sandcastles a while back. And one was Hogwarts, and the other was Azkaban. And there had been some message with it, but she couldn't quite remember what.....

Calypso threw an old tartan dressing gown around her shoulders and dashed out into the Lounge, startling Moody and Remus, who were in the middle of a deep, meaningful discussion. She grabbed her Dream Diary from underneath the Coffee table, leapt into an empty couch and began leafing through pages.

"Calypso, what are you doing out of bed?" Moody scolded Calypso like a small child.

She kept flicking through pages and mumbling. Suddenly she stopped not far from the end and gave a grin of triumph.

"I'd forgotten all about it!" Calypso said absently to Moody. "Do you remember when I had that horrible meeting with the Auror Council? And I told them all about the dream with Sandcastles?"

"Yes," Remus said. "Don't worry Calypso, we remember it perfectly. And it's what the Auror Council is discussing right at this moment."

Calypso looked crestfallen. "Oh. I'd forgotten all about it..."

"We didn't," Moody growled. "A prediction that tells us that either Hogwarts or Azkaban will be destroyed we regard as pretty important. Especially when that prediction tells us that we have to make a decision about which one we will save! And then when it's followed with a prediction about the attack being tonight...."

"Not the sort of thing we'd forget," Remus followed up.

"Oh," Calypso repeated. "So what's happening? Is the whole British Auror Force going to try and defend just one castle? Or both of them? Or don't you know?"

Moody smoothed out creases in his inky robes. "It's anybody's guess. The Council is fighting it out at the moment. Some say that Hogwarts should be saved and Azkaban left to fall. Others say we should defend Azkaban and evacuate Hogwarts. Then others say we should try and save both."

"It's a hard decision," Remus noted sagely. "I wouldn't want to make it. I'm very fond of Hogwarts, but I know how important Azkaban is."

Moody just hurrumphed scottishly, and turned his attentions to the tartan dressing-gowned Calypso. "Now girlie, before things start getting messy, is there anything important that you want to tell us? Anything at all?"

Calypso paused. Yes, there was something that Ben made her promise to tell, but she didn't really want to. Remus and Moody waited.

"Why do you ask?" she said, innocently.

Remus leant forward and picked up a piece of parchment from the coffee table. "The BAF just got a message from Kerian, our spy in the Death Eater camp."

Calypso held her breath. Kerian was a childhood friend of hers. Like Calypso, Kerian's parents were Death Eaters, and Kerian had been an active member since her was small. And after over twenty years of Death Eater activity, he was trapped in an organisation that he couldn't leave. Instead, he was feeding information to the Aurors, at the risk of his life.

"He was quite panicked. Told us that the attack was to be at Azkaban, and it was to be tonight."

"Which we already knew, but it's nice to get it confirmed," Moody added.

"He also said that they've got some novel attacks lined up. He doesn't know what they are, everything is hush-hush, but one involves a small wooden box, and another is centred around an Auror, who is a traitor. He said he heard Octavia and Wormtail laughing about it. Apparently, we'll never guess who the traitor is."

"No-one on our side is a turncoat! I know everyone personally, and my foe detectors and my eye didn't detect anything," Moody said, furiously. He was obviously annoyed at the mere suggestion of an Auror turning out to be a Death Eater.

"If it's true, or if it's not, it doesn't matter. But we've got to keep on our toes, if they've got strange attacks. That's why I'm asking, have you dreamed or seen anything... unusual lately?"

"Well..." Calypso chewed on a strand of blonde hair nervously.

Ben had made her promise to tell Moody and Remus about the latest dream. In it, Calypso watched herself be murdered. But that didn't involve a traitor. Just Calypso dying.

It flooded into her mind as she chewed on the gritty strands of hair, and a shudder ran up her back. "...do you want a cup of tea?" she said awkwardly carefully not catching Remus' concerned and Moody's suspicious eyes.

Offering to make tea for someone in Remus' house wasn't as charitable as it sounded. All the 'generous' person had to do is walk into the kitchen and ask Fridge and Pantry to whip up the order.

"How many teaspoons does Mr. Moody have in his coffee, Calypso dear?" Fridge fretted.

"Oh.... four, I think." Calypso replied absently.

"And it was Earl Grey for Remus, right?" Fridge was making strange banging and sloshing noises. Pantry was working in affronted silence due to Calypso's mere presence in the room, but Calypso didn't notice, or care. She was wound up in her thoughts, and she needed someone to talk to.

"Fridge......"

"Yes luv?"

"Do you have a minute?"

Fridge slowed, then stopped her busy noises. "Why yes, the cuppas can wait. What do you want me to do?" it replied chirpily.

"Oh.... no, I don't want you to do anything." Calypso replied awkwardly. "I just wanted to ask you something."

"Oh! Well then!" Fridge sounded pleased. "Nobody ever asks me anything. Fire away!"

Calypso paused for a moment and swung on her kitchen chair. "Fridge, if you.... I mean, saying if......just hypothetically........ if I.... I mean, if I had a friend........" Calypso was getting flummoxed after a few words. She stopped and took a deep breath.

"What I'm trying to say, is that supposing that an occasion cropped up where you knew something very, very bad was going to happen to you tonight. I mean, some night. Would you tell anyone?" Calypso asked sheepishly.

Fridge was confused. "Well...... I guess, depending on what the bad thing was. How bad would it be?"

Calypso stood up and started pacing around the little kitchen table. "As bad as bad can be! They don't get any badder! But if there's nothing you can do, because it's fate, and it'd just hurt people to get involved, shouldn't you just stay quiet?"

"Well...... I don't-"

"Exactly!" Calypso thundered. "But even if I - I mean, if you promised someone that you'd tell everyone, then it'd be kinder, and a matter of common decency to break your promise to that person and not tell anyone, because it's such a horrible stressful heartbreaking thing, and I wouldn't want anyone to put anyone through such a thing."

"If you put it like that, I suppos-"

"And then it'd all be over nice and quick. Because no matter what anyone did they wouldn't be able to change things, I know. And I don't like what's going to happen, but it's going to happen no matter what! But I guess that's what Virginia was talking about all that time. I've just got to grow up and accept things, and take them like an adult."

"Wo.... uh..... so whe-"

"So I'll just not tell them," Calypso whispered. She had stopped pacing, and was staring out of the window. "I owe it to them. I've caused them all enough heartache already. And I don't thing I actually have the guts to tell Remus."

Fridge didn't know what to say. This conversation was spiralling out of control.

"Or Sirius. Or Maria or Moody or Angelina. Oh god, Ben and Ria and Mel and everyone...... I couldn't do it. Just couldn't. So much easier just to keep mum. I've got so many secrets, what's one more?"

There was a quiet period. Then Calypso whirled around, a big smile on her previously troubled face.

"Thanks, Fridge! I really needed to get that off my chest. Amazing what talking through a problem does. Now, can I get a cup of tea as well?"

"Oh.... sure dear. Happy to be of service," Fridge warbled uncertainly.

In the corner, Pantry stood, listening, thinking.

"So there's nothing you want to tell us?" Moody demanded again over the top of his coffee cup, fake eye steaming up with condensation.

"No, I wish there was!" Calypso said with a dramatic sigh. "I don't like this tension. I feel so... unprepared. You know, it's like.... exams. You see them coming for ages and ages, and then whoosh! They are upon you, and before you know it, you are smacked in the face with an exam paper and it seemed like yesterday you had two months to revise."

"Or Christmas Day," Maria agreed. "Every year it feels like someone has shifted Christmas Day to the 1st of December without telling me."

"Only this time we don't fail exams, we get killed instead," Moody growled.

There was a pregnant pause.

"Well that killed the mood, didn't it?" Sirius asked cheerfully, looking around Neil Johnson's lounge. "C'mon, other people are arriving. Spit it out, Calypso, if you've got anything to say."

"I've already told you, I've got nothing to say!" Calypso snapped back.

Remus shrugged. "Okay then. Just wanted to know. I know how reticent you are with information."

At that moment the BAF Official Messenger arrived with a whoosh out of the fireplace, spreading charcoal all over Neil's plush carpet. Calypso was the only one who noticed, as all the other people crowded into Neil's house were firmly concentrating on the Messanger.

The Messenger, a lanky teen in badly-fitting Official BAF orange robes, festooned with angry acne and a rather lethargic attitude, was clearly stunned by the amount of people in the room fixated on him. He just stood there for a few moments, staring back at the faces impatiently staring at him.

"You have a message?" Moody said irritably.

"Oh... uh... yes." The teen regained some composure and braced his shoulders in preparation for delivering his important message. "The British Auror Force has voted 7-5 to defend Azkaban tonight."

There was a collective exhaled breath among the listeners, and some started to talk excitedly, but the messenger glared about imperiously until the noise abated, and the he continued.

"The students from Hogwarts will be evacuated to a specialised Safe House in Nottingham at the first signs of any attack on the school. The Auror Board requests that members of Teams 2, 11 and 18 Apparate to BAFHQ immediately, to be stationed at Azkaban. The plan is to drip-feed Aurors into Azkaban as a mass influx of people would be easily noticed. Everyone else is to remain close to their fireplaces, and to await further instructions for deployment.

There was silence while the Aurors thought about what they had just heard. The messenger mumbled a few words about leaving, and quickly departed back through the fireplace.

People started talking in low voices to each other. A few got up and picked up their cloaks from against the wall, and Apparated away to BAFHQ as instructed.

Calypso just thought for a while, and then turned to Moody, who was standing next to her. Following Virginia's advice, she was sticking close to Moody, but now she had a bit of a dilemma. "Moody, what are we supposed to do?"

Moody didn't reply, but continued staring straight ahead and cracked his knuckles frustratedly. It was obvious what was upsetting him - as he had agreed to 'babysit' Calypso, and since there was no justification for Calypso to go to Azkaban, Moody would be sitting out on the action.

Calypso bit her lip, and slipped away to stand next to Remus and Maria, who were talking with Sirius, Neil and a few other wizards. Remus quickly noticed her standing there.

"Before you ask, no, you are not coming. It's far to dangerous," he said firmly. "You'll only be in the way."

Calypso stared back at him. She needed to go to Azkaban - her dreams said that she did. In her dream, she also saw herself murdered, but that wasn't the point. She needed to fulfil the dream. She had just opened her mouth to try and sweetly persuade Remus to change his mind, when Maria interrupted.

"Calypso, could you come with me for a second...." Maria walked over to a secluded corner in the kitchen, and Calypso followed, weaving around huddles of nervous-looking witches and wizards.

"Yes?" Calypso said, curious, as Maria looked thoughtful and dug around in her pocket. She hesitated, and then leant closer to Calypso.

"Remember a while ago, I told you that I have a little bit of the sight myself?" She whispered into Calypso's ear.

"Oh... yes, that's right. That's why you gave me this crystal necklace - you said I was mean to have it." Calypso pulled the little crystal pentagram pendant out from under her shirt.

Maria smiled. "Yes. And there's something else you should have." She slowly pulled out of her pocket a small box and slipped it into Calypso's hand. "In that box is a Portkey to Azkaban. I don't know why, but you need to come to Azkaban tonight. I organised it months ago - I didn't know what for, back then, but I do now."

Looking at Calypso's surprised expression, Maria squeezed her hand tight. "I'm sure it's nothing dangerous, maybe it's just your presence that's needed tonight. Or Moody's. He's a damn good Auror. How about you slip off and tell him what you've got - it might cheer him up a bit!"

It sounded like Maria was the one who needed the cheering up, with her cracking voice and trembling hands, but Calypso was also worrying about herself. It looked like she was going to be murdered after all. With a large, heavy weight in her stomach, she walked over to Moody and whispered a few words in his ear. The effect was instant - his eye lit up and a smile spread across his distorted face.

"Well, we're no use here, are we, Calypso? Better be back off home." He started walking across the room to the fireplace, exchanging solemn nods with aurors he passed. Calypso however, had trotted off to where Sirius and Remus were standing, and quickly enveloped each in a bear-hug.

"Good luck, you two. Don't cause any trouble," she said quietly. "What, us?" Sirius replied, but his heart wasn't in it. Remus gave her a sad smile. "See you tomorrow morning," he said as Calypso walked away to catch up with Moody, who was waiting impatiently beside the fireplace. Calypso felt awful. She wouldn't be alive the next morning.

"Oh, come on Ron! Give it up for the night!" Harry was getting a cramp in his leg and was very tired. With all the homework his teachers had piled on him, and the nightmares he was having, he wasn't getting much sleep. And it seemed that every spare moment that he did wrangle, Ron was pestering him to stalk Fleur Delacour from underneath the Invisibility Cloak.

Which was what the pair was currently doing. Ron was absolutely smitten with Fleur, and just catching a glimpse of her made his day, much to Hermione's disgust. They were standing outside Fleur's room, waiting for her door to open and her visitors to leave - then Ron would be able to gaze, enthralled, at Fleur's beauty for a few seconds before the door was banged in his face.

However, this night Fleur's visitors were staying longer than they usually did - Charmaine and Philip, the other student teachers, seemed to be in some sort of in-depth discussion that showed no signs of abating, despite it being nearly midnight.

"A bit longer Harry! Just a bit!" Ron hissed excitedly.

Harry sighed. He was starting to agree with Hermione - Ron needed dunking in an icy lake.

Fifteen minutes later, Harry was about to put his foot down and demand that they give up and return to the Gryffindor Common Room - it was his invisibility cloak they were using, after all - but at that moment there was commotion from inside Fleur's room, and the door swung open. Charmaine Ulliet hurried through the doorway, but a call from inside Fleur's room made her stop.

"Charmaine, there's not time! And Hogwarts will be evacuated soon, you'll never get back through the hallways, they'll be full of panicking students. Just borrow one of Fleur's coats, we're in a hurry!" Philip looked nervous, and was clutching his wand tightly. In the background, Fleur could be seen rifling through her wardrobe, looking for coats.

Ron and Harry were intrigued, and glanced at each other. Evacuating Hogwarts? They both edged closer to the door.

Charmaine hesitated, and then trotted back into Fleur's room, brushing dangerously closely to Ron and Harry. "Do you have another warm one, Fleur? Azkaban is supposed to be really cold." She sounded nervous.

Ron and Harry were even more intrigued, and shuffled closer.

"How does furlined sound, Charmaine?" Fleur said, shaking out a large hooded coat. "It should fit."

Philip was hopping up and down on the spot. "Hurry up, ladies! If we get there too late, the Death Eaters might have already broken out!"

"Hush, Philip!" Charmaine said. "We're just being called up, there's been no attack. Yet, anyhow. They don't expect anything for a few hours yet."

Philip continued fretting.

The Gryffindor boys kept creeping closer, trying to hear more, and suddenly Harry realised they had crept right into Fleur's rooms and were huddled next to the fireplace.

Charmaine dragged on the heavy coat, tucked her wand into a pocket, and nodded at the other two, also heavily cloaked. "Let's go." She said, but her voice was shaking.

Philip grabbed from the mantelpiece, just next to Harry's elbow, a small box, and carefully opened the lid. A small steel orb lay inside on the blue velvet - a Portkey.

"Ready, everyone?" He asked. "On the count of three.... one.... two...."

Suddenly Harry got a burning rush of anger through his stomach. No Death Eaters would be freed from Azkaban tonight, he was going to make sure of it! Before he had even thought, Harry reached out from underneath the invisibility cloak and touched the side of the Portkey as the other three Apprentice Aurors did.

"Harry!" Ron hissed in alarm, and grabbed Harry's arm, trying to drag his friend away. But it was too late, Harry's finger scraped the side of the Portkey, and both Ron and Harry felt a strong tug...........

Moody and Calypso were frantically digging through the piles of boxes in Moody's spare room, looking for a coat for Calypso to wear. Books, toys, photo albums, magazines and general junk was flying.

"Oh, this is stupid," Calypso said eventually, her arms still in the box she was searching. "I don't plan to see any action - I'll just take a blanket and curl up in a corner."

Moody paused, and considered it. "Hmmm." He leapt up and hobbled over to an overturned box, and pulled out a tartan wool blanket. "That's a good idea. Then you won't be able to get into trouble!" He threw it to Calypso, who folded it up and tucked it under her arm.

"Is that all?" She asked, and Moody nodded. "Let's be off, then."

Calypso had already picked up her wand from Remus' house, and a hot water bottle. She couldn't think of what else to take, apart from Puffy, her pet Puffieskien, which Sirius had somehow found for her. She had lost Puffy in the stolen car which had been re-stolen, but Sirius had tracked it down and placed the funny, pinky-cream-coloured hairy thing into her bed when she was feverish and sick. Puffy was very comforting, and was currently purring in her pocket.

"Enthusiastic, are you?" Moody said, eyebrow raised.

"No. But I just hate waiting around," comma Calypso replied with a shaking voice. Truthfully, she was terrified, but Moody didn't notice. He was too delighted to be going into action.

"Right, where's that Portkey then?" He said, rubbing his hands together eagerly.

Moody, Calypso decided, was definitely crazy. She pulled out of her pocket the small box Maria had given her, and opened it up to reveal a metal ball nestled in purple velvet. "Moody..." Calypso said slowly, "... do you think they will let me stay when we arrive?"

The old man snorted. "They'll have better things to do than send us home. And I bet they'll be glad to see me. Someone will find a job for you to do, you'll be out of harm's way, don't worry."

Calypso was still nervous. Moody didn't know that she was supposed to die.... perhaps she should have told someone about that dream, after all....

"Right then. When I say go. Three, two, one....... GO!"

Moody and Calypso touched the Portkey at the same moment, and within seconds had been whisked out of sight.

"Harry, you great big dolt!" Ron hissed between his teeth as another Auror strode past. "What were you thinking?"

Harry grunted, and looked from side to side. He and Ron were trying to shuffle to a less crowded spot on the Azkaban ramparts - Ron had spotted a good place underneath a watchtower to the left. However, getting there was difficult, as highly-strung, alert Auror were patrolling the paths and swingbridges, and as Ron and Harry were now quite tall, they had to move slowly to avoid letting a shoe or ankle peek out from underneath the Invisibility Cloak. The pair waited until the auror had strode around the corner, and then they waddled forward to their spot. Underneath the tall watchtower, there was a slight nook in the path where the boys could loiter without any disturbance. It also had a wide view of the main ramparts, the edge of the fortress, and the deep black forest beyond. Whatsmore, it was out of the freezing wind that was whistling eerily around the fortress. Ron and Harry carefully sat down on the blue-grey stone, tucked their legs up and both shivered.

"God, it's cold!" Harry said, teeth starting to chatter as he rubbed his goose-pimpled arms. Ron huddled closer to his side.

"Never mind the cold," Ron said with concern, "what are we doing here, Harry?"

"We're going to help," He replied. Ron snorted. "Harry, I know you like getting.... well, stuck in.... where Voldemort is concerned, but this is stupid! We are going to freeze to death before anything happens!"

"Sssh!" Harry whispered, as another grim-faced auror rounded the corner, and swept past them. There were at least two hundred Aurors roaming the sprawling rampants of Azkaban, all dressed in black, keeping low. Azkaban was eerily quiet, and any low voices were easily drowned out by the whistling and moaning wind. And the howls and groans from the prisoners in the cells below.

Harry thought for a second, and then replied to Ron's initial question. "When the Death Eaters attack - and I know they will - we will be able to see from whereabouts they'll launch their main attack. We can move around so we can position ourselves neatly, we are up high enough that I don't think we'll be in too much danger. You can help the Aurors pick off the Death Eaters, you're a bloody good shot."

Ron smiled, in spite of himself. "What are you going to do?"

Harry scowled. "I'm going to deal with the Dementors. They'll assist the Death Eaters, I'll bet Firebolt on it!"

Ron was about to reply when another Auror trotted around the corner. However, this Auror was walking slowly and deliberately , and instead of scanning the horizon for possible signs of attack, was staring fixatedly at the tray she was carrying. Obviously concentrating intently on balancing the piles of chocolate, mugs and steaming pots of tea, coffee, and hot pumpkin juice, she weaved erratically about the path, and wandered straight into where Harry and Ron were sitting. Harry's heart froze in his chest, and Ron scrabbled to get out of the way, but at the last moment the Auror swerved to the left to stop the chocolate from sliding off the tray. Both boys sighed in relief, but failed to notice that the corner of the Invisibility Cloak had caught in the Auror's shoe. The slight pull on the Auror's foot was enough to upset her balance considerably, sending her on a dizzying dance, spinning and spiralling, dodging and ducking to try and re-balance herself and the tray. With a squeak, she collided with the wall, and the mugs and jugs of drink slid across the tray to collide with her chest, sloshing their contents about, but amazingly staying upright. The chocolate however, flew off the tray and showered over Harry and Ron.

"Shit!" the auror exclaimed as the chocolate bounced off in all different directions. She put the tray on the edge of the stone wall, and suspiciously drew her wand.

"Oh no." Harry whispered to Ron, as the Auror edged towards where they were huddled, poking the air experimentally with her wand. Suddenly she lunged forward, and stabbed Ron in the forehead.

"OI!" he barked, and the Auror leapt back, startled. She had just opened her mouth to shout for help when Harry piped up.

"Sssssh! Ssssssh please! Calypso! It's just me, Harry!" he begged.

Calypso's mouth dropped. "Harry? What the hell are you doing here?"

"That's what I was just asking him," Ron said ruefully, rubbing his forehead as Harry raised the Invisibility Cloak to reveal his and Ron's faces.

"We caught a ride with Fleur," Harry said. "We're here to help."

Calypso just stared for a moment, running her hands through her hair. "Harry, are you mad? This place will be crawling with Death Eaters soon!"

Harry glared at her. "How many other people here can cast a Patronus?" he asked. Calypso just stared.

"Jeez Harry, they were pissed enough about me being here! They're going to spew to find you two!"

"Don't tell them, then." That was Ron. Harry grinned at him - he knew he could rely on Ron in a tough spot. "We'll stay here, out of trouble, until we can be of use. We'll keep a low profile."

Calypso sighed. "You two......" she paused, thinking. Then she gave a resigned sigh. "You two are obviously freezing cold. Coming to Azkaban without a coat! I've got to fetch some more chocolate, finish my rounds with the drinks and chocolate, and then I'll nab some coats for you."

"The chocolate is kind of inedible now," Ron noted, pointing to the chocolate scattered all over the dirty stone flagstones.

"I'll see you soon, then," Calypso said, turning on her heel and disappearing into the inky darkness. She trotted over a series of swingbridges and around the outer walls, down a few flights of steps to the hive of activity - the central courtyard. What was previously a large, dusty, empty enclosure was now packed and buzzing with anticipation. Calypso wormed her way over to a trestle table where a short witch was standing, stirring a large cauldron full of a steaming liquid. "Dot," Calypso said, panting slightly, "I dropped the chocolate."

Dot turned her attention from the Burn Cream to the witch standing in front of her.

"Oh, Calypso, be more careful! Was it a loose flagstone?" Calypso nodded. "Don't worry then, there's heaps more chocolate over the back." Dot nodded her head towards a mountain of boxes. Calypso went around the table and pulled five slabs of Honeyduke's Finest Chocolate from the nearest box. "I also need two more coats for some Aurors out on the upper west rampants." Calypso added, and Dot sighed. "On the rack to my left." Calypso grabbed two large woolly coats and tucked them under her arm. "See you soon, then." "Be careful," Dot replied. She had said the same thing every time Calypso returned for more hot drinks and chocolate - fifteen times now. "Always am," Calypso replied, and hurried back through the crowd, and to where Harry and Ron were turning into blocks of ice. They were immensely grateful for the coats, and looked so pitifully cold that Calypso also gave them her hot water bottle, which she had tucked against her stomach. With a mug of hot pumpkin juice each and handfuls of chocolate, she left them looking a bit perkier. She worried a bit about them, and the trouble to be had when they were finally found, but quickly found that she had bigger problems to deal with.

After delivering refreshments to three pairs of Aurors stationed on the upper west rampants, she came to Remus and Sirius, who were not pleased to see her.

"What in Merlin's name do you think you are doing here?" Hissed Sirius.

"Delivering chocolate, coffee, tea, and hot pumpkin juice." She replied, unruffled.

Remus just groaned. "What about Moody?"

Calypso jerked her thumb in the direction of the south wall. "He got stationed out there somewhere - he wanted to be right in the thick of things, and the southern side of Azkaban is the weakest."

"Typical," Remus murmured. Sirius, however, was still livid.

"You shouldn't be here at all! I'm going to go with you now and personally escort you back to Moody's place, and lock you in the linen closet!"

"No, you're not," Calypso replied, calmly pouring Sirius a cup of coffee. "You can't leave your post, and I'm fulfilling an essential service. Dot's run off her feet - she can't brew potions and deliver treats to people at the same time. Whatsmore, to stop the Death Eaters retreating and getting away, there are strong wards again Apparating, Flooing or Portkeying out of here."

Sirius ground his teeth. "You'd better keep out of trouble."

"When the attack starts, just get to some shelter. Go help the Healers, if you can get to them." Remus' advice was more constructive, but he was also concerned.

"Don't you two worry about me. Just watch yourselves." Calypso replied, with a wry smile. She squeezed Remus' hand before leaving. Her heart was heavy as she walked off, and didn't notice the pumpkin juice splashing all over the tray.

Calypso was pouring drinks to a chatty pair of Aurors on the south-east rampants when she thought she saw something out of the edge of her eye. Andy, whom she was pouring a large mug of pumpkin juice to, saw her puzzled expression. "Do you see something?" He asked, and quickly looked out over the edge of the fortress.

It was a cloudless night, and the stars and the pale crescent moon gave enough light to reflect off the waves at sea, and picked out the tops of the dense pine trees at the edge of the cliffs. The trees were swaying in the wind, and Calypso frowned. "No... I think it was just the trees moving."

The other Auror, Hydy, was also peering at the pine trees. "I thought I saw something before, too, but I assumed it was my imagination." They all squinted at the forest and cliffs in silence for a second, and Calypso was about to turn away when Hydy gave a gasp. "Look! The flashes between the trees!"

Heart pounding, Calypso focused where Hydy was pointing. Suddenly she saw it - flashes all throughout the forest, left and right. Instead of being flashes of light, they were flashes of dark - ink blackness instead of deep midnight navy, the difference only just visible to the eye.

"Jupiter!" Andy swore. "They are using tunnels from the Underworld to get onto the Island! How many have arrived without us knowing?" Dragging from his pocket a small red object, he flicked a trigger on the top, and a tiny flame leapt up. "Dark flashes in the trees! They're here!" he hissed into the flame.

Hydy and Andy shifted into better positions, while Calypso hurriedly grabbed her tray and started backing down the stone stairs, intent on following Remus' instructions to go help the healers. Keeping low, she was scurrying along a long walkway when commotion broke out.

With a resounding thud, illumination spells leapt into life, casting a dazzling light on the land surrounding the fortress, and the air above it. There was a crackling noise, and green sparks leapt up the side of the blue- grey stone walls - a shielding charm. Aurors rushed from the courtyard up onto the rampants, and Calypso felt very much in the way. Hands shaking, and with ragged breathing, she assessed her situation. Aurors were moving to line the rampants, so she couldn't take the most direct routes back to the courtyard. However, if she went up to the next level, along the swingbridge to the west tower, down the stairs there and along the west wall, she could avoid tripping over the aurors feet, and she'd go past Remus and Sirius, and Ron and Harry. She could assure Sirius and Remus that she was going to a safer spot, and check up on Harry and Ron, and persuade them not to do anything too reckless. She started walking, just as the first curses were being cast.

"SHIT!" Octavia exclaimed as the grounds surrounding Azkaban were suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree. She could see the glittering protection spells running around the fortress walls, searchlights running about the sky and hundreds of figures running about the stone rampants. She leapt back into the shadows underneath the pine trees, just as a spotlight swept the area, making her shield her eyes.

"Octavia?" Someone called out, concerned. "Merlin's balls, what now?"

Octavia growled, and her eyes flashed angrily as she surveyed Azkaban. Although she had been caught off balance by the obvious Auror presence at the Fortress, she had instantly regained her composure, and was rapidly re- thinking her plans.

"Martin! Rochester! Novotny! Get us some protection! North, east and west – at least fifty paces. Now Martin, damnit, now, or I'll send you out as a decoy for our attack!" Martin got moving, and melted back into the trees towards the cliffs to set up the Emerald Spellshield to the south.

A blue curse streaked past and hit a tree, setting the bark on fire with a sizzle. "Pilepich, get behind that bloody tree!" Cain barked. "Everyone, stay hidden until the Spellshield is up." As he said that, a faint green line ran around the ground at the edge of the tree line, making the pine needles glow radioactively. From the baseline, fingers of light shot up into the navy night sky.

Octavia smiled, and strolled from her tree. A curse beamed towards her, but a green finger of light quickly bent to obliterate the spell, which exploded into a starry shower. Octavia stretched lazily, and looked around the dark-cloaked Death Eaters in the forest. "Not to worry, everyone. So the Aurors are here already – this won't change our plans very much. Everything goes as we have planned and practiced. Just remember that we're about another two hundred paces away than planned, so just adjust your trajectory. They expected our arrival – but they won't be expecting what we'll be throwing at them!"