You never do what you know you oughta
Something tells me
you're a Devil's daughter
Sorrow, sorrow
Ahhhh, ah, ahhhh

I tried to find her
'Cause I can't resist her
(I tried to find her)
I never knew just how much I missed her
Sorrow
Sorrow
--

Dumbledore noted that Fawkeys still had not returned. He hadn't slept a wink since he'd sent the phoenix off on the hunt for the girl. His mind was too flooded with images of the past, which he tried to ladle off into the pensive in one of his drawers. Yet always he saw their faces, their shining eyes. Lily's beautiful green eyes he used to love, yet now they haunted him every time he looked at Harry. The same was true of James! Looking at their poor child made his chest throb like a beast was eating its way through from the inside.

Dumbledore was glad he did not have to face Harry much thus far, but at night he had another child to dwell on. It seemed baby Kira was haunting him. Every night she appeared before him, her dress ripped and her wavy blond hair was misplaced and caked together with blood. She was full color; the pink of her dress was faded, but visible, as was the blood in her hair and the shoes on her tiny little feet.

Yet her face had lost its rosy glow and had become pale. Her eyes now seemed hallow and drawn back into her skull. Always she looked sad. Tortured, lost, and dare he say it, betrayed. She would follow him if he tried to leave his bedroom and venture the halls. She never ran, but if he did, she'd be waiting around the next corner.

"Mr. Dumbledore," she cried, looking fearfully around. "Where's mommy, where's daddy! The house is a black skeleton! Where is everyone? I can't find my mommy! Daddy is missing, where are they? Where are they, Mr. Dumbledore, where?"

"There dead!" he wanted to scream. "Dead, gone, moved on! You can't join them because Takai owns your soul!" But every time he opened his mouth to say those harsh, cruel words… he couldn't.

"Where's Cota?" she would whimper, drawing closer to him as if searching for some form of comfort in her dismal world. "He never came home!"

"He is somewhere far away, not wanting to return and not speaking," Dumbledore always thought to say, but never could. "He is a shell of a human being, a shadow of what he once was."

"Where's Lion?" Kira begged. "His crib is burnt! Where is my baby brother!"

"Not a baby anymore," Dumbledore yearned to explain. "He has grown up and never once have we spoken to him about you, or Cota. He will not know about you because there is no reason for him to know. You're dead! I am trying to protect him! Leave me be, Kira!"

Yet all he ever managed to say was, "Kira, dear, I don't know where they've gone, but they'll come for you, I'm sure."

Yet that never made her go. She'd come the next night and ask the same questions. He had enough to worry about without ghosts, but she was barely three years old, how was she to know any better… poor child died on the eve of her birthday. She must have gone to bed that night, dreaming of presents and cake… …. … then awoke, not a year older, but as a ghost. He longed for nothing more than the chance to see her again and tell her he had not forgotten her and that he was sorry. He wanted to comfort her and keep her safe… Dumbledore gazed out his window. The moon was in a clearing of clouds, setting off a luminescent glow.

It was then that, in a blaze, Fawkeys appeared on his perch, carrying a leaf. Dumbledore took the leaf as if it were a porcelain teacup. He focused on it, training his eyes on every detail, honing his senses to every element; the smell, the color, the size, the veins, the texture, everything. The leaf had red around the edges and spikes as well. Its scent was heavy and its veins were black. He had never seen this before and as the moon light hit it, it began to emit a soft glow.

Without hesitation, Dumbledore left his office and headed down to talk with Professor Sprout. It was late, but he was sure she'd still be awake. He hesitated at the bottom of the stairs. Professor Sprout might be awake, but surely being asked about such a rare plant in the middle of the night would draw her interest. Albus repositioned the half-moon spectacles perched upon his tree-limb nose.

He would have to wait till morning, but willing his restless body to do so would be tough. He removed his glasses all together and began cleaning them, a distraction while he willed his mind and body to obey. He was so focused that he didn't hear the drowsy footsteps approach him until he heard a loud gasp and-

"It that Devil's Emblem!"

Dumbledore turned, putting his glasses back on as he did. The fuzzy outline of a stocky, slight boy became the distinguished figure of Neville Longbottom. There was no hiding the leaf so instead Albus smiled gently and spoke in a curious, kind voice.

"To be honest I don't know," he admitted pleasantly. "Fawkeys likes to find this sort of thing; it's a game you see. He wants me to find out where he's been."

Neville held out his hands, onto which Dumbledore laid the leaf in as casual a display as he could. Neville peered at it closely, a jeweler examining a rare gem. When he looked up again his face was alive with excitement.

"D-devil's Emblem only grows in one place," he stated enthusiastically. "Saru Forest. It's hard enough to get there, but recently no one is willing to go because there has been a few reports of monsters within that forests, beasts unlike any ever seen before."

"The Magical Creatures Department has heard nothing of this," Albus informed him lightly, though he was displaying signs of disheartenment. Surely this was a Quibbler story that Neville had read.

"Well they wouldn't, would they," Neville shook his head, obviously too absorbed in the new treasure to think of who he was talking to. "The herbologists decided the monsters were guarding the plant and concluded that they do not want the creaturists destroying it in their attempts to catch the monsters. It said so in Find Your Roots Magazine."

"Ah," Dumbledore gave an amused smile. "Thank you, Neville."

Neville's face flushed with color. "I-it," he stuttered. "It was no trouble."

"Five points to Gryffindor, for your wonderful display of knowledge," Albus beamed. "And you may keep that leaf. Oh, if anyone asks. Let's not tell them you got the points because my pet outsmarted me," he added slyly.

Neville gave a nervous laugh and shook his head. "I wouldn't tell anyone that."

Albus gave a warm eye-twinkling smile, and looked at his watch. "I'm afraid it's getting quite late, you better hear off."

Neville nodded quickly and trotted off to the Gryffindor common room. He was so relieved that the headmaster hadn't asked why he was out of the dorm, that he didn't look back or ask the question of why the headmaster was out so late, carrying a leaf if it was for a simple game. He muttered the password, slipped back into the common room and headed off to bed, placing the leaf securely in the pages of his Herbology book.

The next morning the students in the fifth-year Gryffindor boys' dorm room were awoken so the rather pungent, spice smell emitting from Neville's trunk. They awoke, rather grumpily, and tried to find the origin of the scent. It was not a bad sent, rather a spice-like rose scent. Harry at first assumed someone had put the two scented air fresheners into their trunks. But he knew very few guys that would do such a thing.

Neville leapt up from his bad, nearly falling flat on his face, and grabbed a book, which he quickly moved to the open window and began fanning it out, stammering out apologies.

"What is that, Neville?" choked Seamus, fanning the air with his hat.

"Sorry," Neville cringed, crushed by his stupidity. "I forgot how strong an intact Devil's Emblem smelt when it dried."

Harry and Ron dressed and retreated out the door. It was very early and no one else was awake yet, so they positioned themselves in the more comfortable chairs and tried to nod off. Seamus came down a few minutes later with Dean in tow. They saw Harry and Ron and decided they had a good idea. Poor Neville was left to his own devices as he assumed they hated him. He rolled his hands against the leaf, putting all his weight behind the movement and flattening the leaf. The oil rose from it and dripped down into the vial Neville laid at the base of the plant's stem.

He corked it and was happy to see that the act had lessened the scent. With a feeling of slight accomplishment, Neville stowed the leaf back in his book, stuffed the book in his book bag, yanked the cord tightly shut, and proceeded to air out the room with his hat. Hermione joined him half an hour later, having been told what had happened by Harry. She cast a wind spell and the boys had to run into the dorm to secure everything that wasn't nailed down.

The morning adventure over, they then headed to breakfast. Which was delightfully uneventful until the toad began glaring at them. Fred took first notice and was aiming a spoon full of oatmeal at her left nostril when Hermione caught him; though they all noticed that McGonagall had not risen to stop him, though she was watching. None of them could read minds, but they heard a silent 'damn,' in their heads when Hermione yanked the spoon away from Fred and the look on the transfiguration teacher's face proved she'd been thinking it.

Harry noticed that Albus seemed oddly distracted, and Snape and Minerva looked restless. Harry couldn't eat. He knew something was happening, and doubted anyone was going to tell him what it was. Fred and George were huddled with Lee Jordan, undoubtedly thinking up some nasty way to pay Umbridge back for her newspaper embargo. Ron and Hermione were arguing though they didn't seem to realize it. Ron was trying to convince Harry what a good idea it was to so to the Shrieking Shack, while, on Harry's other side, Hermione tried to talk him out of it.

Harry, having learned to ignore them, instead stared at his breakfast and waited for his friends to lean forward and argue directly against each other so he could leave without them noticing. I didn't take very long and he faded away from the table without anyone stopping him. He wanted to be alone anyway. Harry meandered through the halls until he heard something that caught his interest.

"Everybody has broken out," stated a boy's voice.

"Yeah, the ministry is going berserk," chortled another, this time recognizable voice. Draco Malfoy.

"I hear they're calling all their employees back for an emergency meeting, and to cover it up from the media."

Malfoy released a sharp laugh. "Attempt," he clarified. "They can only attempt to cover it up."

The group burst into odd laughter and Harry took the opportunity to leave. He reported his findings to Hermione and Ron as they made their way to their first class.

"So, it's like You-Know-Who said last year," gaped Hermione, her brow furrowed in distress. "All the Death Eaters have been freed."

"What do we do?" Ron asked. "Tell McGonagall?"

"No, I'd think they already know about it," said Harry. "But now we know it too, just in case…"

"Incase of what?" Hermione asked tentatively.

"Incase of the usual," Ron sighed. "Incase we end up solving the mystery as usual."

The next morning, Harry made his way easily towards the Quidditch field, hoping some flying time would improve his foul mood. He could just make out Alicia in the distance, waving for him to hurry. He was in the air in a matter of minutes, chasing the snitch around without really trying to catch it as they waited for the rest of the team to arrive.

Minerva had secured them the field and Snape seemed too giddy to care at the moment, though seeing him happy was more frightening and nauseating then seeing him leaning over you with a curvy knife. Harry followed the snitch almost lazily until Alicia made him catch it and hand it over. She then cast a spell on it that she got from her Quidditch trainer's guidebook and held it by the wings, sneering tauntingly at Harry. He smiled, daring her to show what she'd done and she did so with pleasure. The minute she released the snitch it zoomed off faster than Harry had ever seen it go.

He gave chase, thankful of the calm crispness of the early morning. There were no other students on the grounds to distract him. He followed the out of control snitch as it zoomed higher and higher into the clouds. The snitch made a sharp left and Harry was right behind it, unable to see the stadium anymore. He whipped around to the left just before the snitch did; glad his instincts had been right, Harry reached out his hand, stretching his fingers as far as he could. It was below him in an instant and he dove down after it.

The clouds cleared quite suddenly and Harry saw that he was above the forbidden forest. The snitch veered right, heading back towards the school and Harry's eyes moved to follow, but something caught his eye first; a flicker of light that caught his attention in an instant. Staring up at him, all that was visible under the hood was a gasping mouth, but Harry recognized the silver weapon in the figures hand.

"Hey!" he called down, zooming closer as she leapt from the tree. "Stop!"

It was quite a drop to the forest floor, but the girl managed it and took off. Harry shot after her, bobbing and weaving through the trees as he followed the flicker of the girl's cloak. He turned a corner and grabbed the cloak, yanking back as hard as he could. He managed to pull her off her feet and to the ground, but within a moment he was holding nothing but a fist full of fabric. She had lashed out with her rapier, barely missing his hand. Harry jerked back and shot upward as she slashed at him. Harry was rewarded for his maneuver by chilling pain shooting down his leg as he powered towards the sky.

Grabbing his wand, Harry swooped back down. His lack of knowledge about the ANGEL program making him immune to how very bad of an idea facing one was. He stayed on his broom, his every muscle prepared for emergency maneuvers, yet she was nowhere to be found. He wanted to continue looking, but Alicia appeared above him, looking worried.

"What happened!" she demanded, rushing over to him.

Harry sighed and turned to head back towards the school. Alicia followed, but spotted his wounded leg like a shark smelling the tinniest drop of blood.

"Potter!" she gaped. "Where you attacked? By who? Where did they go? What did they want? Did you see their face-"

"No," Harry interrupted her angrily. "I just… I hit a tree, okay? It's embarrassing."

Alicia didn't even begin to buy that excuse and her face showed it. "Yeah sure," she rolled her eyes. "I've seen you fly, Potter, you'd have to be blind to hit a tree."

Harry glared forward. "Well I did," he growled.

"Either way," Alicia's tone made it clear that getting mad at her wasn't going to end in anything but an ass kicking. "Fine, you didn't get attacked. Then you've lost your ability to fly and thus I'm taking you to go and see Madam Pomfrey."

"I haven't lost the ability to fly!" Harry snapped. "I just got distracted!"

"By some trauma you'll need to speak to a councilor about," Alicia countered. "I knew what happened last year would affect you this year. Who can blame you, but I need my players in top form."

"I do not need a psychiatrist!" Harry bellowed angrily.

"Then what happened!" Alicia screamed back.

"Nothing!" Harry argued. "The snitch was going faster than usual and I wasn't concentrating and I hit a tree!"

Alicia obviously wasn't buying his excuse, but they were nearing the pitch and she didn't want the Slytherin who had shown up to hear her arguing with her seeker about his tree problem. Instead she led the way back into the pitch and excused Harry to go have his leg patched up. Harry had never been glad to see a Slytherin in his entire life, but he was happy that the conversation was over, though he doubted it would stay over. He walked the hallways with his gait a bit awkward as the cold sting traveled up and down his leg.

It made the simple trip to the infirmary a time consuming venture, yet to be honest it didn't hurt too terribly. Ron and Hermione caught sight of him though, and Harry had to shoot them each warning glares and wave his hands in the classic 'don't,' signal as Minerva was close buy and sure to notice if they made a fuss. With Ron's help, Harry managed to hobble his way through the halls and into the infirmary without being stopped or questioned by anyone other than Hermione.

"Okay, so what happened," Ron whispered as soon as Madam Pomfrey left.

Harry hesitated, but Hermione was quick to threaten. "You can tell us," she explained. "Or we can get a professor."

Harry glared at her and she returned the scowl, stating quite clearly, "Glower at me all you want, but I'll go straight to the headmaster."

"Fine," snarled Harry. He glanced around; making sure no one else was within hearing distance and leaned forward, causing Ron and Hermione to do the same. "I saw that girl in the forest."

"What girl?" asked Ron.

"What?" Demanded Hermione. "A Death Eater attacked you and you were not going to tell Professor Dumbledore!"

"Like he would care," Harry grumbled, receiving a sharp punch in the arm from Hermione.

"Stop being conceded!" she snapped. "Of course he'll care."

"What girl?" Ron asked again.

"Well then at least tell Si-"

"Shh!" Harry snapped at her, even though there was no one around to over hear.

Hermione knew she was being told to shut up and her lips pursed tightly in frustration. "Fine, I'll tell him," she stated crisply. "And don't give me that look. You were attacked and somebody needs to hear about it."

Before Harry could open his mouth to argue, Hermione swept out of the room and was gone from sight. He glared after her and then fell backwards onto the bed, trying to think up a good excuse for following her. How he came to be face to face with her was easy enough, she'd been watching the school from one of the higher branches of a tree and he had gotten lost in a cloud. From there he had problems.

"What girl?" Ron asked after quite a long moment of silence.

Harry looked over at him, incredulous. "How many do you know that are vicious?" he asked.

Ron smirked, his head turning in the direction Hermione had disappeared in. "Lots."

Harry suppressed a laugh as Madam Pomfrey came back in and spread a cream across the cut. Within a few seconds the pain was completely gone and the cut was healing.

"There, that wasn't as nasty a wound as I thought," she smiled grimly. Letting it be known that she thought he should be more careful. "And so clean for a tree," she added thickly.

Harry chose not to answer, though she paid him back for his silence by splashing some peroxide on the cut. Harry let out a hiss of pain and shot her a look, which she ignored completely. By the time the torment was over, Minerva strode in with Hermione at her heels. Harry sighed inwardly as Madam Pomfrey retreated to fetch a wrap. He had not come up with a good cover story yet.

"Mr. Potter," Minerva began curtly. "What's this I hear about someone attacking you?"

"Just what it sounds like," Harry grumbled. "I was chasing the snitch and traveled out of the pitch by accident," he explained, clarifying the word accident. "When I broke through the cloud I… er… kind of ran into someone in a tree."

"Someone was in a tree?"

"Yeah, she was up on one of the branches watching the pitch," Harry stated. "With a sword," he added, pointing at his leg. Harry turned to trying to explain what happened next, but it turned out he didn't need to as Minerva asked,

"What did she look like?"

"Er… She was wearing a hood, but I'm sure she…." He trailed off. He couldn't exactly talk about the first attack in front of Madam Pomfrey, who was returning.

Minerva nodded to show she understood, though she didn't stay to discuss matters, instead she said, "I'll look into it. For the time being it might not be a good idea to mention it to anyone. We don't want to spread a panic," and then turned and left.

The three teenagers stared after her, knowing she was off to initiate an order meeting they would not be allowed to attend even though they knew the most about the incident. Harry was cleared to leave and did so with a heavy heart. He was no closer to finding out what was going on than he had been, though his curiosity had grown stronger. There was something odd about that girl.

When he had seen her, even though he knew she could kill him, he had not been afraid. For a moment he had actually been impressed with her. She was amazingly fast… of course then she stabbed him and he began to hate her very quickly. However, something was wrong, no- something was familiar. Harry retreated to the dorm, not feeling much like hearing Alicia chew him out about the incident. Ron and Hermione stopped at the message board to see the latest decree that the giant toad had issued.

Harry sat in one of the chairs on the rim of the room and picked up where he had left off on his Astronomy report. That was when two things happened. The first was when Neville fell into the common room, his clothes smelling strongly of that leaf he had been carrying around earlier. Yet, before Harry even looked up, an image flashed before his eyes. A memory brought up by the scent. He saw platinum strands of hair spilling out from underneath a hood and flowing across a younger looking mouth, open in shock.

That girl had smelt like that leaf. Harry looked up and motioned Neville over. The awkward boy shuffled over to the table and sat heavily into a chair.

"Hi, Harry," he greeted, letting his books drop onto the table.

"Neville," Harry pondered, trying to seem casual. "Who gave you that leaf you had this morning?"

Neville sat up straighter and smiled happily. "Professor Dumbledore gave it to me for identifying it correctly," he answered proudly.

"Uh huh," Harry's mind was off and running. The girl smelt like the leaf that Neville had gotten from Dumbledore, who gave him the leaf for identifying it and knowing Neville he had emptied an encyclopedia about the plant including its location.

"He said Fawkeys brou-" Neville stopped and looked sharply away, but Harry had all the information he needed.

Neville gathered his books rather quickly and hurried out of sight just in time for the second thing to happen. Hermione rushed over with Ron a step behind her; they were both carrying heavy loads of emotion.

"Harry," Hermione began. "You said that all the ministry employees were being called in for a probably lengthy assignment, right?"

"Yeah," Harry drawled, bored as he was waiting to tell them that Dumbledore knew where the girl was and might have been planning to find her though he did not know when.

"So Umbridge is closing the school while she is gone!" Ron explained excitedly.

"She feels Dumbledore will turn this place against her if she is not here I'll bet," Hermione concluded. "This is awful; it could be closed for weeks!"

"Could I stay with Sirius?" Harry wondered out loud.

"I'll bet," grinned Ron. "Or with me. This rocks!"

Harry sat back in his chair and linked his fingers. "…No, I think the best thing for us to do is to find a way to stay here."

"Here?" Ron questioned.

"Wonderful idea!" Hermione chirped. "We can get extra studying in or maybe have the papers sent here while the embargo is off so we don't have to sneak into the shrieking shack! Oh thank Merlin!"

Harry nodded, though he knew that he would have to tell Ron the real reason later. The order knew where the girl was and most likely would want to detain her and get information… and what better a time or place than the closed school, with its functioning dungeon?

--

The mission was set. Only three members of the Order would be attending as any more and they would risk detection, but any less and the ANGEL might escape. It had not been difficult to decide who would go as only Sirius, Remus, and Mad-eye had volunteered. Moody was a respected fighter, Remus was a creature expert and had dealings with the ANGEL project, and Albus would lead the mission. Sirius wasn't happy, but had no choice in the matter as his job had been changed to watching Harry in case something went wrong.

The girl was a danger, they all knew it. She had come to the school and attacked Harry. They HAD to know her connection to Voldemort and her side in the battle. Albus Dumbledore sat in a tree that smelt heavy of rose spice. A cloaking spell was cast heavy upon him as well as Remus and Mad-eye. They had been in their hiding spots around a clearing for a good hour, not daring to talk. Then they came; the terrible beats and creatures that could only have come from the twisted mind of Takai; their very existence was a perversion upon the land.

The first to break through the trees was a white, gorilla-like creature with a mangled, almost skeletal head and long fangs. It swung to the center of the clearing and pounded its chest, its hands revealing sloth-like claws. Behind it came a tall gangly creature with acid burns across half its body, and the other half was a dark red color, it walked dignifiedly, yet its raptor styled legs were tense and quick.

Its long arms were held at its side, ready to strike. Three more creatures arrived, some looking brutally mangled and others deadly and fierce. Most though, held wounds and seemed tired. They grunted and growled at each other, snapping or slashing out. Dumbledore stayed still, the animals would not sense them as they were down-wind and had been there for a long time. As the creatures grew steadily more reckless and uneasy, however, he began to worry. If the wind should shift they would undoubtedly have to fight these monsters. Yet, after what seemed and eternity another call pierced the air and the monsters replied in unison, clearing away from the center of the clearing.

Dumbledore had not seen her approach, but within seconds the girl dropped down amongst the creatures. They drew near her, coming terrifyingly close and yet she did not budge nor bat an eye. She merely looked to each one in turn and eventually spoke.

"Welcome," she started, her voice evocatively smooth. "Your journey has been hard, but your efforts will not go unnoticed by his eyes."

The creatures grunted and barked in reply and the girl nodded. She held her hands up to her mouth and let out a strangely musical howl. A massive white monster of a wolf trotted into view, its purple eyes matching the girl's as it peered around. Dumbledore's jaw tightened. So Takai had copied Kira's eyes had he? Or perhaps he had taken their design from Voldemort's daughter… possibly the girl before them.

"Rial, lead them home," the girl instructed. The wolf nodded and trotted off, the monsters followed instantly, but the girl stayed to await any stragglers. Remus leaned in for a closer look and snapped a branch. The noise echoed though the clearing. The girl heard the noise, jumping into full alert and Dumbledore knew their hiding game was up. Mad-eye leapt from his spot, his wand twirling in an attack. The girl brought up her rapier to meet his blow as Remus jumped down.

He brandished his wand like a foil and battled the girl as Mad-eye stood up. The girl battled for only a moment, then threw down a bomb which exploded into a cloud of smoke. From his higher vantage point, Dumbledore saw her run. She leapt to the side and vaulted a fallen tree, looking over her shoulder only briefly. Dumbledore dropped in front of her and held his wand at her throat, forcing her to stop.

"Ah, the coward emerges!" the girl spat. The ninja-style mask over her face blocking most of her features, but her eyes were still visible. They were angry and bloodshot from the powder, but exactly as Harry had described them.

"Surrender child," Dumbledore advised softly, his arm relaxed. "You will not be harmed."

The girl raised an eyebrow and the mask twitched as if sneering. "Then what will surrender bring me? Death?"

"Death is not what I came to offer you," Dumbledore stated, hearing Remus and Mad-eye begin fighting their way through the shrubbery. He smiled as if to comfort the girl.

"Then what is your offer?" The girl asked, though her tone had dropped into curios and almost longing.

"I need to ask you some questions," Dumbledore explained easily, not lowering his wand.

The girl crossed her arms. "Here?" She asked doubtingly. "I don't think this is the place for a conversation, Master coward."

"I'll assume you are speaking to me," Dumbledore informed her pleasantly, his eyes twinkling. "You need not be afraid. I just want to talk back at my school."

"I'm not afraid, but you are a coward for you do not drop your wand," the girl growled, her eyes meeting his fearfully.

"You have yet to surrender," Dumbledore reminded her with a smile and twinkling eyes. He waited a few seconds then lowered his wand as if in a sign of agreement. "Better?"

The girl stared back at him and her eyes grew cold. She snapped to the side and Dumbledore brought up his wand and fired, missing by just millimeters. At the cost of dodging, the girl's cloak became caught in a tree and she had to rip free, every second making her more desperate. She was caught tightly and stretching her hand towards a pocket of her cloak. Dumbledore raised his wand as Mad-eye and Remus ran up, but Albus was interrupted by the return of the wolf.

The creature leapt into the fray and charged at Dumbledore. It weaved between bushes, as agile as a fox. Remus and Mad-eye fired, hitting the metal clasp of the collar and breaking it off, but unable to hit the animal. The wolf veered off at the last moment and the girl pulled herself onto it and was gone.

"Damn!" Moody cursed. "Lost her!"

"Maybe not," Albus whispered, staring at collar. He picked it up from the ground and smiled. Upon it was a patch depicting a school logo.

"I think next time we need a trap," Remus observed. "There is no other way to get her without hurting her. She is too quick and every stunning spell I used phased right off."

"Well the research notes from the lab said they would, didn't it," Mood grunted. "Constant vigilance!" he marveled. "She was ready."

Dumbledore studied the crest and eyed Moody. "I don't think she was ready to leave a mark behind."

"Ya notice the mask," Moody argued.

"Minor complication," Remus shrugged. "The ANGELs do not exactly blend in."

---

By the next morning the order had tracked down the school by way of connections at the Ministry. It was a school Dumbledore had heard of fairly recently. A school for those deemed too dangerous for other schools. Werewolves, Fire starters, Wraiths, Gifts… those were the kinds of children taught at this school. It was built by private funding on the cheapest piece of land available; land on constant attack from creatures like Kelpie, mountain trolls, and red caps. It was called the Lunar Eclipse School of Magical Affairs.

Albus mounted the steps to the school entrance, his eyes forward yet watchful. The grounds seemed deserted and he could see many bell towers for different alarms. It was a grey place surrounded by an iron gate and a thick forest, yet the crest was on the door, and it matched the collar. He had wrote the headmaster a letter saying he wished to speak to a member of the staff, or possibly a student who had came to his school recently, but the reply came from the deputy headmaster, who had explained that the headmaster was out of town

As Dumbledore entered the school he found the interior to be rather inviting, though empty save for one man in a wide-brimmed hat and brown cloak. The entrance hall was a rather large room with a pristine tile floor and decorative circle staircase. The walls were blue and faded to black near the ceiling, which held a realistic mural of a Lunar Eclipse. Light pored from the moon and lights at the base of the walls lit up the room, creating a mystical appearance that Dumbledore could not help but admire. Then there was a banner of silver with dark blue print displaying the school slogan.

Turn not a bind eye to race, culture, gender, religion, preference… instead admire it for being different. Do not judge without walking in the shoes of those who oppose you, and always be brave enough to be yourself. Hold true what you know and do what your heart tells you is right.

The school mascots were the Snow Leopard, the Winged Wolf, the Phoenix, and the Dragon. The names were Cixla, Raphasy, Riva, and Venon. Though from what Dumbledore knew there weren't actually enough students for all four houses and one was reserved for school guardians. Older members and graduated students who fought off the monsters who attacked the school, and kept everyone in line. The man by the stairwell looked up as Albus entered, and then rushed over.

"Ah, there you are," he greeted warmly, his eyes covered by his hat. "Please, follow me."

Dumbledore followed, ignoring how odd it was that a meeting would begin with being rushed into another room. Still, it was an odd school and guaranteed to have odd customs. He followed the man to a large office, auburn on color with maroon carpeting and bras finishing. There was a fire crackling in the fireplace and a brilliant golden chandelier.

"Have a seat," the man invited with a gesture of his hand as he removed his hat to reveal long brown hair pulled back into a pony tail and youthful eyes. "My name is Irving, I invited you here. Sorry about the rush but classes are ending soon and things tend to get hectic."

"Quite alright," Albus nodded, taking a seat upon the couch. Instantly he seemed perfectly at ease.

A pretty woman with shorter black hair entered the room and set down a tray of tea and cakes. She smiled warmly, a smile that never faded. Albus smiled back and her eyes crinkled and she lifted her shoulders as if erupting with pleasure.

"Thank you, Dima," Irving nodded to her, seeming nervous though Albus pretended not to notice. "Tea, professor?"

"Thank you," Albus nodded again as if they were about to discuss pleasant things like vacations or birthdays. "Are you quite alright? You seem nervous."

"Shouldn't I be?" Irving asked while Dima poured them tea as if her entire life had been leading up to doing so. "Your letter made it sound like one of the students here had gone to your school. Imagine what the ministry would think."

"I try not to," Albus smiled wryly.

"Given I still find it hard to believe one of our students left and traveled so far without my knowledge," Irving added with a side-glance to Dima.

"Yes, it does seem strange," Dumbledore agreed, amused. "She must have extraordinary talent."

"Your description does not describe anyone I know of though," Irving continued, frowning and acting as though Dumbledore had not spoken. "Purple eyes? All day I've been looking and the closest I came to was a girl wearing contacts, making her eyes a very deep purple, and a male with blood-shot blue eyes. I really cannot do much without more information."

Albus stared at him, there was something missing. He smiled warmly, noticing how tense Irving was. "Well, I'd love to agree, but one of my students was attacked and I simply cannot let this go. I do hope you'll aid in finding this individual who must be pretending to be one of your students. Surely the ministry would not think twice to a girl such as her attending your school."

"None of our students are dangerous, Mr. Dumbledore," Irving clarified strictly, taking the tea as Dima handed it to him. "Just misunderstood."

"Oh yes, yes of course," Albus knew he wasn't going to get anywhere. The school was always on edge, having to constantly defend its right to exist. There was no way they would admit it if they had connections to Death Eaters. Dumbledore made fast effort to turn the conversation down to less hostile grounds and finish his tea. It did not matter if the school did not cooperate as there was always another way. Never was there only one path to choose, one simply had to know where to look. He bid farewell to Irving, trying purposely to leave during the chaos of the ending classes.

Irving escorted him to the door, but seemed to be growing nervous. Albus smiled calmly and set his pace to one of ease and grace. Though Irving was rigid and his eyes followed a particular student who was descending the stairs. Albus left the school, but turned back to look at Irving, who was talking to the student. His back was curved and his hands were slapping against each other angrily. The student's face was blocked by a cloak so Dumbledore could not see who it was. Instead of trying to see, he continued down the path towards the main gate and then turned back.

The student left the main doors, heading out like a few other students to enjoy the sunshine. Yet this student seemed different and sensed eyes upon her. The student spun around and Albus smiled. So, they had an ANGEL on their roster. The girl had a pretty face to match her alarmingly beautiful eyes, though her mouth was opened in surprise. Albus matched the girl's gaze and opened his mouth in a mocking copy of her own. He smiled at her and she started towards him threateningly, but was stopped by an energetic boy who bounded in front of her and began a conversation. The girl looked around him, but by then, Albus was gone.