The Hall of Dreams had not seen such a meeting in years. Every Lupuscan present found place either on one of the chairs or on the floor. Their normal cheerful mood was strangely absent and an air of solemnity hung over all. It was Elhaz who spoke first.

'For those of you who do not know me, I am Elhaz. I was alpha internal here up until sixteen years ago. For this my family was murdered and I was lost, until now. You have always been a family to me and now you are all I have. It is for this reason alone that I have called you here.

'Once again our way of life has been threatened by this.' The blue rith slammed the Daily Prophet down on the table, 'Fenris, an outcast wolf of our order, the one who joined He Who Must Not Be Named. We must decide where our loyalties lie truest and which is the best course of action to follow. I trust in your collective judgement and leave it for you to decide.'

Saiph stood and placed a letter on top of the paper, 'We have, again, received word from the Dark Lord himself. He makes an offer of everything we desire in return for our unquestioning loyalty and servitude. We must send him our answer tonight. If I could I would have liked the entire pack to be here, but that is impossible, we are scattered too far and wide, so we must send those who are absent our decision. Everybody's view shall be heard and no one shall be ridiculed or scorned for their honest opinion. That is my word as your alpha and I will make sure that it is carried out.'

Saiph gave the floor to anyone who wanted to take it, and Raq voiced her opinion first, 'The point I make is not what have we got to gain, but what have we got to lose? The last time we refused the offer we thought our leader had been killed, she was the one who signed the reply…'

Faol's gruff voice was mocking, 'Which was incredibly subtle.'

Underneath her fur Elhaz blushed, 'Okay, so I went a little overboard…'

'Never! You don't think calling him a evil, twisted, forked-tongued loony bastard was a bit excessive?'

Raq could see this going nowhere and gained order again, 'Whatever, my point is, we lost our leader, we lost one. But we did not lose our pride, our respect and we did not sully our name nor did we break the pack. For a thousand years we have stood for learning, trust and freedom for those who wish to seek us out. Do we honestly want to throw all that away for blood and slavery?

'Our name is dark to those who do not know us, and those who believe Fenris's lies and deceit. Perhaps that should change rather than our principles. Let the Lupuscans lead the charge against such things. If we vote to serve under anyone other than ourselves and I will be no longer a Lupuscan.'

Remus took his opportunity to speak, 'I have not known most of you long, but what I have seen and felt has changed me beyond what words can tell. Had anyone told me this time last year that werewolves could be civilised creatures with an honourable and bloodless code I would have called them a liar. And if anyone had told me that I would be a member of the Lupuscan Circle I would have laughed at them.

'But today I see you all as great friends to someone who has not known a lot of comfort or friendship in his life and I come with a warning: Join the Dark Lord and it shall never be forgotten. Because of Fenris we are already seen as evil, join him now and, come what may, we shall be reviled. Even if he wins now, at some point his power will be lost and where will that leave us? I have lost many friends in his rise to power the first time, and I cannot join him with a light conscience. Think hard and know that I am glad that some loner werewolf bit me as a child, despite the suffering I have incurred.'

Saiph's head was in his paws and he couldn't hide the truth any longer, 'Your bite was an accident. It shouldn't have happened when it did. The one who did bite you regretted it for the rest of his life. He knew what you would experience, for I too once experienced it, and he paid a heavy price for biting a child.'

'You knew him?'

'Of course I knew him. He was my father. My family have been werewolves for generations. He did not mean for you to get bitten. If a loner had attacked you, you would have been dead. Did you never wonder how you survived with nothing more than a small scar on your upper arm?'

'Who was he?'

'Those here knew him as Colvarn, our leader and mentor. I will speak to you more of this alone, but we must get back to the matter in hand.'

Talk lasted long into the night, each having their say, until a unanimous verdict was reached. Letters were written out to those not present and sealed in wax with the Lupuscan mark on – a full moon encircling a golden eye – warning the recipients not to open in a place where it can be easily read by others. These were carried to the owlery and sent on their way.

Some decided to rest in the Hall of Dreams, others disappeared out into the dawn lit forest and Elhaz, Saiph, Moony and Raq went to deliver their decision to Professor Dumbledore.

'Well, here goes.'

Raq said the password and the stone gargoyle leapt aside to reveal the spiral staircase. Elhaz and Saiph led the way.

Professor Dumbledore had waited up all night for the answer to come and knew it would come soon when he saw the flock of owls flying from the owlery. He had waited in silent contemplation. He had realised that there was a large group of werewolves around and had heavy suspicions that they were the Lupuscans. What he had not bargained with, however, was how deeply the influence had penetrated the school to include both teachers and students, and even the ghost of a founder. No one knew who the descendents of the four were, except for Voldemort being the heir of Slytherin, and his quest had been to find the others. It had been written that only combining the strength of the other three would the power of the one be broken. He hadn't realised that the heirs of Ravenclaw would be so unusual, and that there would be so many of them.

The knock came as expected on the solid oak door at the entrance to his private chambers and in strode Diana Hooch, Remus Lupin, his rith, Storm, and the large white wolf Saiph. He indicated that they should sit, and all four did so.

'Have you come to a decision?'

It was Saiph who acted as spokes-wolf, 'Aye, we have. The pack have met and discussed our options. We have thought long and hard and would not leave before we had a unanimous verdict. Last night we received word from the Dark Lord himself. He offered us great things in return for our loyalty. This is not the first time he has done this – on his rise to power last time he offered us much the same. We gave him the answer we gave him last time,' Dumbledore sighed, expecting the worst, 'We have refused.'

He looked Saiph directly in his golden eyes. The Lupuscans refused to aid Voldemort, but…

'I know what you think, Professor Dumbledore. No, the Lupuscan pack has never served him. An outcast of ours has and dragged our name down with him. We thought his punishment last time was enough of a warning, but once again Fenris has betrayed us. This is our matter and we shall deal with it. We will not become the slaves of evil and will lead the attack if you wish to have our power joined with yours. We have our honour and we will not stand idly in the shadows while another takes our glorious name in vain. If you do not want our alliance we will stand alone. What say you, Professor?'

A secret smile had crept across his wrinkled face and he held out a hand to the large wolf, 'I would be honoured to have you standing at my side, Saiph.'

'My father would be most pleased at this. I believe you knew him many years ago. His name was Odin Varulf.'

'Odin? Of course I remember him. That would make you Frey, wouldn't it?'

'That was the name my mother gave me.'

'And you are Elhaz?'

'I am. It was a pity that Voldemort's lackeys were not so well informed as to who they were looking for when they came looking to kill me as it might have saved my family.'

'Perhaps they were, but one of them managed to distract the rest. Now we must decide what to do.'

'Our task is clear. The Lupuscans must find as many loner werewolves as possible and ally them to us. If we don't find them first then Fenris's lies will turn them against us.'

'How many of you are there?'

'What we know of? Around the fifty mark I think would be accurate. But that's only the UK. I'm sure there are hundreds more all around the world, but at the moment they're rather out of reach so we must concentrate on those we can find.'

'I agree with that. How well connected are you?'

'We have some in the Ministry, we're scattered all over, Professor Dumbledore. We werewolves and Lupuscans are not all vicious, uncontrollable animals, although we're rather dangerous when riled. Most of us are just as normal as everyone else, despite often having a few extra appendages, eh, Raq?' Diana smiled as her tail flopped out into the open.

'And this Fenris?'

'That is our business. We cast him out and it did nothing, we marked him and yet still he betrayed our name, I think it is time he learned a more permanent lesson. I will do this personally.' The cold glint in Saiph's warm eyes disclosed a fiercer streak in his heart. Dumbledore was glad that they were on the same side, and that he was not the wolf who had betrayed his brothers.

'I will accompany you.'

'No, Elhaz, it is best if they do not know that you have survived. You will be our secret weapon in this fight. Stay as alpha while I am gone, the youngsters will need your guidance for your suffering has given you much wisdom.'

'I agree. I need to speak to you about many things. What a kick in the face it will be when Voldemort finds out that someone he sent his assassins to kill several years ago has been living in one of his key Death Eaters' houses for the past thirteen years.'

Elhaz nodded her slightly unwilling agreement. She wanted to see Fenris get his come-uppance once and for all, but she was still not right and she figured it was best to rest a while longer before joining her brothers in battle. Plus she had some serious thinking to do about old prophecies suddenly being fulfilled.

The golden sun had just risen above the horizon, casting long shadows that early summer dawn, and Elhaz and Saiph made their way down to Elhaz's dungeon home where they would not be disturbed. There she spilled out the countless years of suffering she had experienced and wept into the warm arms of the white wolf who shed tears in empathetic understanding. She'd changed so much in those years, she seemed so fragile now, but there was a core of steel in her that wouldn't bend where most others would have folded. But, as his father had often said, knowing the darkest reaches of your soul and where torment can lead you often makes for a stronger leader.

Oh yes, in her youth there were few that could match her at many things, and for that she often felt the cruel stab of jealousy. Before she met Lupus she had been quiet, timid, but afterwards there had been nothing to hold her back. Such was Lupus's great influence. But for this her family had been murdered and the Lupuscan's greatest weakness had become their greatest strength. He knew that Voldemort would not have looked for a child when searching for an alpha. She had been tortured, and cruelly so, but she had survived and when she came to show herself again it would be a blow, and one from which their opponents might not recover.

Elhaz eventually fell asleep in his arms and he settled himself down to rest. The time of the Lupuscans was fast approaching, to death or to glory, they would not turn back.

Albus Dumbledore stared at the rising sun and wondered what it all meant. He knew the blue rith's true identity from the moment she opened her mouth and wondered how she could have survived such an attack, and how she came to be what she was. There were too many questions and so few answers. There was also another problem on the way and he frowned as he thought on how to counter it. If he recognised Enyana then there was no doubt that Sirius would, and he would arrive by nightfall.