AN

Here it is! Finally! I'm sorry it took so long, but I do have a legitimate reason, really! I got about three-quarters done writing it, and then read what I'd done and didn't like the way it was done at all. I had to re-write almost all of it again!

This is a fairly long chapter, so I hope you think it makes up for the really short one last time. I think chapter 11 will be pretty long as well, so look forward to that in the next few days.

Thanks once again to ALL my reviewers, and my (almost) co-writer, JC-S

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Chapter 10

Mind War

The following three weeks flashed by in a haze of activity. Harry continued his Martial Arts and Wandless Magic training, and could now do most 5th year spells easily without a wand. In addition, he could do most spells up to 3rd year or so wordlessly. He was stuck there though. He wouldn't be able to progress any further until he unlocked his power, and even then it would take him months of hard work to be able to do any more spells wandlessly or wordlessly.

Besides his training, Harry also managed to pay a visit to a few private detectives, both magical and muggle, concerning his long lost sister. He didn't tell them who she really was, of course, only that she was someone he wanted to find. He gave them what information he could, and told them to spare no expense. He'd empty his vault for this if necessary.

The detectives, of course, were eager to do as he asked, once he said that. He only hoped that word of this didn't get back to Voldemort. Sirius had unfortunately no close friends in that line of work, and they'd been forced to trust virtual strangers.

Still, if it found him Katherine, it was worth the risk.

After they were finished with the detectives, Sirius had insisted that Harry go shopping. He was, after all, the heir of two of the wealthiest magical families in Great Britain. He could at least wear some decent clothes now and then, instead of the oversized rags inherited from Dudley.

Unfortunately (as far as Harry's opinion went) Sirius' shopping day hadn't stopped at new clothes. He'd also insisted that Harry get rid of his old glasses (for which the prescription had changed dramatically anyway), and start using contacts. Even that wasn't enough for the old marauder though, and before the day was out, Harry was sporting an earring on his left ear and a tattoo of a dragon on his right arm, up near the shoulder.

Anyone who'd seen the short, scrawny boy in the big glasses that first came to Hogwarts would have a hard time recognizing him now. Nearly a month of physical conditioning (including some transfigured basic gym equipment in his room) had done it's work. Harry was now a 6-foot tall, well-muscled (though still more slim than really built), handsome young man, with startling green eyes and short, spiky black hair.

One of Harry's favorite things about the muggle world had always been that nobody noticed him. There was no one staring at him or pointing out his scar. To Sirius' delight, and Harry's horror, that changed once he got his 'makeover.' Now he attracted stares where ever he went. Of course, it was mostly from the female population of the muggle world, but that did little to make Harry less uncomfortable. His godfather's increasingly lewd comments and hysterical laughter when ever a teenage girl looked his way was not helping much either.

That was why on one particular morning, exactly 21 days after his first attempt at Wandless Magic, Harry was doing some of his Martial Arts exercises in the park, trying desperately to ignore the two girls sitting on a park bench several dozen yards away, staring openly at him and giggling to each other.

:You know, Harry...: Sirius started to say, before being immediately cut off by his now quite irate godson.

-Padfoot, if you say one more word about those two, I swear by all that is holy that I will shut you out of my mind for a week.-

Sirius winced mentally. Getting shut out for long periods of time was quite unpleasant. Mostly because it was immensely boring.

:Alright, alright already. Relax, I'll shut up about them. I was just going to say that we need to do that ritual tonight.:

That threw Harry momentarily. He stopped the kicking drill he was in the midst of, and settled onto the ground in what looked to be a meditative pose. In reality, he was just sitting and closing his eyes so that he wouldn't get strange looks from people who saw the emotions from his conversation with Sirius flash across his face.

-Tonight?! Why tonight? I thought we had to wait until my birthday....-

:Ordinarily, yes, you would wait for your 16th birthday, but we don't have that luxury any more. The ritual is going to take a lot out of you, and if we don't do it soon, that temporary weakness will leave you vulnerable to Voldemort. We have to do it now, while I'm still a strong enough presence in your mind to keep him out long enough for you to recover. I'd hoped we'd come up with a solution before it came to this, but it doesn't look like it's going to turn out that way.:

Each night since their long conversation in the Marauder Realm about his future, Harry had been filling his head with thoughts of the people closest to him right before going to sleep, in the hopes that it would make it harder for Voldemort to enter his mind. It worked, somewhat. Voldemort was only able to send him the dreams of the Death Chamber every second or third night, instead of every single night. Sirius only pulled Harry into the Marauder Realm on those nights (and they managed to finish transferring Sirius' knowledge during that time)

They were only delaying the inevitable, however, for each night that Voldemort actually managed to break through long enough to send a vision, Sirius' presence in Harry's mind and his ability to hold back the Dark Lord grew weaker.

-Alright then, tonight it is.- Harry said, then went back to the kicking drill he'd been in the middle of when they started their conversation.

:I warn you, Harry. This ritual will be painful. That much is clear from what little about the stone is recorded. It's loads worse than the Cruciatus Curse. And that's if you do it on your 16th birthday. If you do it earlier than that it's even worse.:

Harry swallowed. -I see. So that's why we didn't just do the ritual immediately after getting the stone. I'm curious though, why does it have to be on the 16th birthday?-

:Because that's when you have grown enough in body and mind to withstand the pain. You actually most likely had enough emotional control to be able to have your power unlocked by the time you were 15, but the ritual is so painful, you probably would've gone insane from the sheer agony. Don't worry though, your birthday is only 6 days away, so the difference won't even be noticeable.....at least I don't think so.:

Harry forced a laugh. -Well that's encouraging.-

That night, Harry ate dinner with the Dursleys. He'd been doing it every night since his first prank, and rather enjoyed the effect it had on his relatives. They were very jumpy if he made any sudden moves, and sniffed each bite of food and cup of tea suspiciously before consuming it. Of course, their fear was somewhat justified, since Harry had been putting a few "surprises" on their plates and in their cups every now and then.

That night, he ate his ham and potatoes slowly, savoring both the taste (which wasn't even fit to be compared with the Hogwarts Elves' cooking) and the revenge he was taking on his aunt, uncle, and cousin. He tried desperately not to laugh when each of them, one at a time, cast him fearful looks, as though he would blow up and kill them all at any moment.

Some might have thought it a bit cruel to torture them in this way, but when you really consider it, all he was doing was forcing them to be civil to him, and to not treat him like a slave. If that somehow seemed like torture to them, then he wasn't to blame. The pranks, of course, were another matter, but they were harmless really, and besides, that was nothing to being used as slave labor, being locked in a cupboard, or any of the other innumerable things they'd done to him when he was younger. One could hardly find fault with him for getting back at them just a little.

When everyone was done eating, Petunia got up to clean the dishes, and Harry, out of habit more than anything, helped her clear the table. He would've hung around a bit longer and made them squirm some more, but he really needed to get upstairs and do the ritual.

He put the last few cups into the sink, and then dashed upstairs as fast as he could, nearly bowling over Dudley on his way out. Once he was alone in his room, with the door magically locked and the room put under the strongest silencing charm he could manage without a wand, he clambered down into the trunk his parents had left him, where he had kept the stone ever since returning to the vault.

As he climbed back out of the trunk, Harry made a mental note to spend more time in there reading in the future, as he'd only even been in there once since retrieving it, and then he only got to look through the titles to see what he had - mostly Defence books it seemed, though there were quite a few on strange subjects he was sure weren't taught in Hogwarts or virtually anywhere else. Probably because his parents had been Unspeakables.

He sat down on the floor of his room, with his legs folded into an Indian seat. -Alright, Padfoot, what do I have to do?-

:Take the stone out of the box, and hold it out in front of you.:

Harry did so, once again feeling the strange sense of power radiating off the crimson object with the golden Potter crest etched onto the surface. He clasped it in both hands straight out in front of him, letting the chain hang loosely below his fingers.

:Alright, now concentrate on the stone and say very clearly, absolvo habeo pollentia:

"Absolvo habeo pollentia" Harry said loudly and strongly.

Suddenly, the world faded.

There was nothing but black all around him. No light anywhere. A vast ocean of nothing.

Then, a small pinprick of light in the distance, growing steadily larger and larger, brighter and brighter. Soon he was immersed in the light, swimming in it like a sea. It was blindingly bright. Brighter than the brightest sun.

Something dark loomed ahead. A wall, made of gigantic black stones. The wall wasn't supposed to be there, it was holding back something, something that belonged to him. He had to destroy the wall, but how? He.....floated? Glided? Swam? It didn't matter. He went right up to the wall, put his hand on it. It was too strong, he couldn't break it.

Determination welled up inside him. Yes he could. No wall was going to hold him back.

The light around him roiled agitatedly. His determination fueling it. That was it. The light would destroy the wall for him.

He raised his hands, and threw them forward. The light pulled back, then slammed into the wall. He wasn't sure how light could slam into anything, but it didn't matter. The wall groaned under the onslaught, but held.

He raised his hands again, and threw them forward, harder this time. The light withdrew, then slammed forward into the wall once more. Small cracks appeared in the wall, but it held.

He roared in frustration. It wasn't working. The light around him welled up and grew even brighter in his anger. He raised his hands one more time, and threw them forward with all his might. The light pulled back so far it almost disappeared, then in an almighty rush, threw itself at the wall with everything it had.

That did it. The wall crumbled into dust, and more light poured out from behind it. This light was different. It wasn't pure, blinding white like the rest, but a myriad of colors, like a rainbow. It mixed with the white light and the two became one. The light grew brighter than ever before, and he shielded his eyes, though it did little good.

Then he felt the pain. Intense, powerful, neverending pain. The light was flowing to every molecule in his body, infusing every inch of him with power.

He found himself back on the floor of his room, screaming in agony. A million times worse than the Cruciatus. A thousand times worse than when Voldemort possessed him. It pervaded his entire body. Every cell, every molecule, every atom, was in pain. He could think of nothing else, but the pain. He wanted it to end, to die. Then, determination welled up inside him once more. He would not give in. The pain could not control him, instead he would control it. He shunted it sideways, ignoring it, willing his body to not feel it.

He got to his feet shakily, and closed his mouth to cut off the screaming. The pain faded away. It was over, he won.

He felt powerful. More so than ever before in his life. His whole body tingled with the sensation of magic flowing through his very veins. His fingertips crackled with suppressed energy when he clenched his hands into fists. His whole body glowed like a sun.

Then the glow faded, and he only felt tired. The power was there, waiting for him to call upon it, but for now, he had to sleep. He was exhausted.

As he collapsed onto his bed, he heard what sounded suspiciously like a sniffle, and Sirius whispered to him, :Well done, son. I'm so very proud of you.: and then he was asleep.

He was in pain again. His entire body was exploding from the inside out. He knew what was happening. Sirius hadn't been able to hold on any longer. The Dark Lord was inside his mind.

He tried to push him out, but Voldemort was too strong.

Fortunately, Harry hardly even noticed the pain. It wasn't nearly as bad as the Ritual.

The Dark Lord was shuffling through his mind. Reading his thoughts and memories like books on a shelf. Harry saw and felt a stream of images and emotions.

......The Dursleys were locking him in his cupboard for the first time. He had a nightmare that night, and pounded helplessly on the door, but no one heard him......

....He was soaring through the air in his first quidditch match. Lee was announcing the score.....

......He was coming up out of the lake at the end of the second task, Ron and Gabrielle in tow.....

.......He was in detention with Umbridge, she was making him write lines in his own blood, forming scars on the back of his hand.....

......He was reading the letter about Katherine, tears pouring down his cheeks.....

......He was going to visit Ginny, a strange sense of excitement running through him. Why was he so excited? It was only Ginny....

'No!' He thought desperately. Not those memories, Voldemort would go after them both. He could feel the emotions from those times all over again. First pain, sadness, anger, shock, and perhaps hope when he found out he had a sister, then some unidentified ones connected with Ginny....

He knew then, he really did care for Ginny. Deeply so. Some time in the last year it had happened. He had come to care for Ginny Weasley, and as more than a friend, pity he had been shut an idiot about it. He could feel the Dark Lord's laughter as he came to the same conclusion.

"Got yourself a girlfriend have you Potter?" sneered the evil man. "Interesting."

"NOOOO!" Harry roared. He had to get that man out of his mind. He was going to take Ginny...

White-hot anger rose inside him. No he most certainly would not. Harry would die before he let that happen. His anger spread like wildfire. He could feel it burn in his very veins, a river of molten magma. He let the anger take over, as the power it brought forth reared up inside him like a gigantic snake, waiting to be unleashed.

He shoved hard against the foul presence invading his mind.

He could sense Voldemort's confusion. Obviously, he had no idea just how dangerous a foe Harry really was.

"OUT OF MY MIND TOM!" he pushed the thought against his enemy.

Voldemort was resisting, trying desperately to stay withing Harry's mind. Harry gathered his power and pushed harder, and the Dark Lord gave a little. Harder still, the young man pushed, until he could feel his foe weakening. Harry gathered himself for a final push, and rammed his power into the Dark Lord's presence with everything he had.

Then Voldemort was out, and he was slamming his mental walls into place, reinforcing them, making them impregnable. Sirius' presence returned to his mind, and he felt him lend his strength to the shields, shoring them up until nothing on earth could get through them without Harry's permission.

The blinding pain, forgotten until now, returned for a moment, and then slowly receded.

Everything went dark, a strange shift and a jolt, and Harry was back in the Marauder Realm.

Sirius was waiting for him. "We did it!" he cried happily, doing a little dance of joy.

Harry, on the other hand, was not so happy. "Yes, we did it, but he knows now Siri. He knows about Katherine....and Ginny."

Sirius sobered at once. He contemplated this for a moment. "That's not good, Harry. Him knowing about Katherine isn't so bad, since he'll have to search for her just the same as we do. But Ginny.....he'll stop at nothing to get hold of her now, because he knows you'll do anything to save her. Nowhere is safe for her - perhaps not even Grimmauld Place."

Harry tapped his chin thoughtfully. "There is one place....." then he sat bolt upright on the bench he was resting on. "Sirius!" he shouted. "She's going to Diagon Alley tomorrow! And he knows! I need to wake up, NOW!"

Sirius didn't even hesitate, just laid his hand on Harry's shoulder and said, "See you in a moment."

Harry awoke with a start. As soon as the memory of the night returned to him, he leapt out of bed and put on his clothes, socks, and shoes as fast as he possibly could.

He took a moment to glance at the clock next to his bed and nearly fell over in shock. It was nearly 10 am. The Weasleys would already be in the Alley by now. He had to move fast.

Just as he was about to leave, he stopped. Something was off. Then he caught it. His sense of Voldemort was gone. It had been an almost constant thing the last few weeks, and now it had disappeared altogether. Those mental shields he had put up must have been pretty powerful. He tentatively lowered them for a moment. Voldemort was feeling some pretty strong emotions at that moment. Glee, anticipation, and a little bit of confusion.

Harry nearly panicked. He was attacking, or at the least, about to. He had to go now. He started to transform and then stopped once more. 'Slow down,' he told himself. 'Don't go rushing in. You'll need help, go grab the Order first.'

:Good thinking,: said Sirius approvingly. Harry said nothing, just transformed and Flamed to the kitchen of number 12, Grimmauld Place.

He arrived right in the middle of what must have been a late breakfast. Tonks, Remus, Kingsley, Hestia, and surprisingly Dumbledore himself were all there, sipping tea.

Of course, the sight of a large, solid gold Phoenix suddenly appearing in the kitchen was enough to make most of them spill that very same tea all over the place. Only Dumbledore managed to keep from dropping his cup, and even he looked uncharacteristically surprised.

He did drop his cup when, a moment later, the Phoenix transformed into none other than Harry James Potter.

"Professor!" said the young man urgently. "Voldemort is attacking Diagon Alley! We have to go!"

The aging man didn't even hesitate. After all, Phoenixes were pure Light creatures, so it had to be the real Harry. Besides that, he had found Grimmauld Place (even under the Fidelius), and had spoken the Dark Lord's name. There was no way it could be a trick.

"Very well. Remus, round up the rest of the Order and get over there as soon as you can. Harry, you stay here. Everyone else, come with me."

Harry glared at Dumbledore. "I think not, Professor." And with that, he was gone in a burst of flame.

He reappeared in front of the doors of Gringotts to pandemonium. The attack was obviously well under way. As he reverted to human form, he noted that there were already a few dead bodies littering the street. There were small battles between Death Eaters and civilians everywhere, and the Death Eaters were easily winning.

'Why won't they just disapparate?' thought Harry. The children couldn't, obviously, but that didn't explain why there were so many people still in the Alley. He attempted to disapparate and realized suddenly why everyone was still there. Anti-apparition wards. Temporary ones, but enough to hold everyone there for several hours.

He glanced down towards the other end of the Alley. The Death Eaters held the entrance. Everyone was trapped. Behind him, the goblins had sealed the main doors of Gringotts.

With these wards up, the Order and the Ministry would have a hard time getting in.

:You'll have to take them down, Harry.: Sirius said soberly.

Harry was confused. -How?-

:I have no idea. You're the all-powerful wizard. I just inhabit your mind:

-I don't have time for doing this now Sirius. They could have already gotten her by now. I'll break the wards once I've found her.-

Now he had to locate Ginny. He ran straight for the thick of the battle, using his most powerful curses on any Death Eater who got in his way. He spotted Fred and George fighting side by side several feet away. Any enemy who got close to them was incapacitated in rather unusual (and often rather painful) ways. There was one Death Eater who had somehow managed to sprout tentacles out of his head, and another had so many different hexes on him that he just sort of lay in the street, oozing.

Harry ran straight for the twin pranksters, who looked very surprised to see him. They opened their mouths, perhaps to do their eerie 'twin speak thing', but Harry didn't allow them to get started. "Where's Ginny?" he demanded.

The looked at each other, then back at him. "No idea," said Fred.

"Why?" asked George.

Harry motioned for them to come with him. "She's the reason for this attack. C'mon, we've got to find her and get her out of here."

The twins, serious for once, followed him without another word.

The trio fought their way for a dozen or so yards at an agonizingly slow rate. Harry, fed up with their progress, decided to reveal his secret to the twins.

He turned to them. "We're taking too long. I'm going to transform. When I do, grab my tail feathers."

Both of them blinked in surprise, but before they could ask what he meant, Harry was gone, replaced by a Golden Phoenix. They gasped (in unison of course) but grabbed his tail immediately. Harry took off into the air and started searching for the distinctive long, red hair of the smallest Weasley.

He spotted Arthur and Molly trying desperately to reach Ron, who was across the street fending off three Death Eaters by himself. 'Doing an excellent job of it too,' Harry thought to himself. He flew on. There was Bill, using some very nasty looking curses on the group of Death Eaters in front of him. Those ancient Egyptian wizards were twisted people.

Then he saw her, down a side street, backed up against a dead end. Several Death Eaters had formed a half-circle around her, and by the looks of it, they were taking turns putting her under the Cruciatus. Harry landed on a building above them and reverted to his natural form. Glancing at Fred and George, he could tell they were nearly as angered as he was by her agonized screams.

"OK, on three," he said. "One......Two......Thr-" he paused there, as her screams abruptly cut off. He peaked over the side of the building to see a black cloaked and hooded figure standing at the entrance to the side street. He removed his hood, and Harry heard two sharp intakes of breath from right beside him.

Inside his head, Sirius swore violently.

-I think that about sums it up,- said Harry.

Standing there, not 15 feet away, was the Dark Lord himself.

Harry watched in amazement as the dark wizard walked towards Ginny. Anger flowed in his veins once more. That creature was not getting anywhere near his Ginny if he had anything to say about it.

He was so angry at that moment, he didn't even notice he had thought of her as his Ginny.

His eyes once more lit up with fury, twin pillars of fire blazing on twin pools of emerald green. His skin glowed brightly, as the power within him flowed hot once more. He let the anger take over, allowing the power it unleashed to fill him.

He turned to Fred and George. "He's mine. Take out the Death Eaters." Before they could say anything, he leapt off the building, transforming in mid-jump into the one form he had never before practiced.

A gigantic Hungarian Horntail Dragon landed right in front of the Dark Lord's face, roaring in rage. Voldemort didn't even have time to react, before he was brutally swept aside into the building on his right by the Dragon's clawed foot.

He got up, dazedly, and just barely had time to put up an anti-fire shield before the streams of fire coming from Harry's nostrils enveloped him.

When the flames dissipated, Voldemort immediately Conjunctivitus Curse at Harry's eyes.

Harry, having expected him to make that move, ducked immediately. Voldemort blinked. Dragons were smart, but anticipatin his move like that? He suddenly spotted a small, lightning-bold shaped group of scales on the dragon's snout.

His eyes narrowed. "Potter," he spat, then waved his wand and Harry reverted to his human form.

Harry smirked at his archenemy. "Took you long enough," he taunted. He risked a quick glance behind him and noted that the Death Eaters had all been successfully subdued, and the twins were crouched on the roof above him, waiting.

"Shut up, Potter. I see you've come to save your little girlfriend. I didn't think you'd come for her until I'd managed to get her away from here, but apparently I was wrong. No matter, I will destroy you, and then I will kill her as well."

Harry rolled his eyes. Voldemort and his 'You're going to die' speeches.

"Yeah, yeah, give it a rest, Tom. You can't defeat me. I've faced you what? Five times now? And each time I've either beat you or escaped." If he could keep Voldemort talking, there was a better chance of Dumbledore and help arriving. The old wizard would probably be able to break through the wards.

"Do not call me by that name," Voldemort hissed angrily.

Harry rolled his eyes again. "Afraid of your name, Tom?"

Voldemort opened his mouth, perhaps to make another angry retort, then closed it.

-Damn, he caught on to our little trick.-

:Looks like you'll have to fight.:

-No, really?-

:No need for sarcasm. Good luck, and kick his scaly rear end.:

"Trying to delay me, Potter? None of that now, let's get on with this duel shall we?"

Before Harry could even reply, the Dark Lord had sent a long stream of hexes, curses, and jinxes in his direction. He dropped into a roll that brought him up almost in the mans face, and kicked the wand out of the man's hand before he had time to react. He then proceeded to kick the man somewhere unmentionable. Voldemort doubled over in pain, and Harry slammed his elbow down on the back of his bent over head, sending him to the ground.

Harry went to grab his opponents wand, but as he reached for it, it zoomed past him and into the outstretched hand of Voldemort. The Dark Lord obviously had less human left in him than Harry originally thought, if he could take the beating he'd been give that easy. He should be unconcious right now. Still, he was satisfied to note that the man was wheezing in pain.

"This is not over, Potter," he choked out. There was a tremendous boom overhead that Harry recognized as the wards collapsing. Aurors, Hitwizards, and Order members apparated into the Alley all over.

Voldemort realised that his followers were all fleeing, and decided to leave. Before he left, he cast once last spell.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Harry's eyes widened in horror as he saw the wand aiming, not at him, but straight at the barely concious redheaded girl at the end of the street.

Without a second thought, he leapt straight into the path of the stream of green light.

AN

My first real cliffhanger! I know, you're all ready to kill me now, but how am I supposed to write chapter 11 if I'm dead? To answer your inevitable questions, do you think I'd kill off Harry? Particularly this early? I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

I would like to thank each and every one of my reviewers individually, but it would take up all my time when I could be writing chapter 11, so if you're not in the following review responses, it's because I have nothing specific to say to you. Instead, I extend my deepest gratitude for your review of my story.

Suicidal: I feel like such a hypocrite. I always hate it when people put too many review responses in their updates, and here I go doing it. Sorry about that, there's nothing I can do to change it really. I will try to keep it shorter in the future. Hope this longer chapter makes up for it!

breeand oreo-darcy: You are the only two people to actually not like the way I portrayed him, and I thank you for saying so. I appreciate you voicing your opinions, as criticism (constructively of course) is equally as welcome as praise. Now, the way I see it, Dumbledore the way I make him and the opposite Dumbledore both have their canon evidence. However, the way I made him fits with my storyline better, so that's what I'm sticking with. I hope it doesn't put you off the story (this is slightly AU anyway), as Ihope to get more reviewsfrom you both in the future!

RealityIntrovert: I loved your review! I just want to say, don't worry about the Slytherins. The oath didn't say ALL, Slytherins, so naturally Harry will interpret it as Draco and his gang :) As for the HG stuff, in this chapter I had Harry realizing that he cares for her, but I'm not going to jump into the relationship right away. It is still quite a few chapters before they get together, and there will be bumps.....It's WAY more fun that way! If they just jump into each other's arms, it's boring. Am I right or am I right?

everpresent: Remember, with Flame travelHarry traveling to America every day is no more difficult than Arthur apparating to work every day. Perhaps easier magically, although he'll have to work around his schedule of course. As for Ron and Hermione, I don't think he's really ditching them. He's just waiting for them to grow up and see the world for what it is, instead of blindly following Dumbledore like everyone else. Don't worry though, I'm a sucker for happy endings....

Tanydwr: And the people said AMEN! Those are the fics we like! Glad to have a reviewer from Britain. Particularly a like-minded one.I'm 17 in.....5 months. lol. It's funny, most people immediately think of the Silence of the Lambs and etc when they see my name. Shame really, since Hannibal Barca was such a brilliant soldier all those centuries ago. He deserves his notice. Yep, this is one with a sister by the way, and the pairing is HG.

princess-fictoria: I'm still not really sure on the four eldest Weasleys. I think given the choice between supporting Harry and Dumbledore, they'd stick with Dumbledore because they all seem to regard Harry as a child. Though they would probably have their doubts about the whole thing. We'll just have to see what happenswon't we?

captuniv: The much-awaited confrontation with Dumbledore is coming up next chapter! I'm going to be very careful writing it. I want it to be perfect. Confrontation with Ron and Hermione is still a ways off, but it'll be there.

highbrass: I know, I really should make them longer, but I kind of like updating more often instead. I am trying to make every chapter at least 4000 words from now on though (actual story, not author notes)

SheWho'sNameMustBeHyphanated: LOVE the name. Sorry, Katherine is an American character.

LICORN: I'll put just enough to be interesting, I promise. I hate the fics that go into the training too much, as well, They're boring.

Yavinbase: He used magic. Sort of. It was like when Tonks was frozen and couldn't follow him. Releasing it in increments is better for reviews as well.....:)

john: On the contrary! I don't think you were harsh at all! I love reading your reviews, they're very interesting and informative, even if I disagree with you on some point or another.