Chapter 11

Harry,

Mum says that if you don't come over she'll have to skin you alive. Well she didn't say that but you know how she gets when she really means it. I think that means you'd better come over. The rest of the family (besides Pig-head Percy) will be there and Ron invited Hermione as well.

Thanks for the rubber chickens, they're great.

Looking forward to seeing you again mate!

Gred and Forge

Rahkesh smiled at the note, no question, no real demands. He'd chosen to contact the twins because they were easily the calmest of the four younger Weasleys. Rahkesh crumpled up the short note and held it on the palm of his hand. Staring it at he willed it to burn drawing the magic into the paper and setting it alight. With a soft whoosh of flames it turned to ash in his hand, leaving his palm unharmed. Rahkesh let out the breath he'd been holding and smiled. He was getting better at that.

Rahkesh finished transfiguring his hair and took a look in the mirror. The messy hair was back, he preferred it the way it had been for six months, glossy black and wavy rather than this mess. The fake glasses looked just like his old ones and his eyes were back to being green again. He couldn't do anything about the added height but that was okay, he didn't want to.

For Christmas he had gotten the twins a pair of rubber chickens that bit you when you turned your back on them. Everyone else got massive plastic pink flamingos, which would untransfigure themselves into their real presents later. He'd given them small glowing orbs that could be stored inside a wand and then sent out to follow you. Most of his friends used their wands for the lumos spell, and that tied up the wand. In order to cast another spell they had to stop the light spell. The little glowing orbs would provide plenty of light and still leave their wands free to cast other spells. His friends from Akren also got rubber chickens, which would also untransfigure themselves later. Ally had gotten a necklace with all sorts of useful potions and enchantments stored inside of it to use when needed. The vampires got a series of enchantments that, if performed properly, should render them undetectable to vampire spells. He'd found those in the Room of Requirement too, in one of the books on vampires he'd copied without reading.

He was only going to the Burrow for one night, the next day, and the day after that. He really didn't think that staying longer was a good idea, especially if they didn't take his new - school that he couldn't tell them about - thing very well.

Rahkesh, no no, he had to be Harry now, apparated to the Burrow that evening. Rather than go inside at once he waited outside the house, casting an eavesdropping spell that Ally had taught him.

"Ron he's got to tell us, we're his friends. We have to convince him to stay, or at least take us with him." Hermione was saying.

"I think he made it pretty clear that that wasn't going to happen." Fred said.

"Harry's a tough chap." George added, "He'll be fine." Rahkesh…Harry he reminded himself, smiled. His trust in the twins was also well placed.

"Yes but how is he going to pass his NEWTs if he's not here?" Hermione asked.

"There's more to life than those tests."

"You were ready to go with him."

"What about your NEWTs?"

"I think Harry knows what he's doing more than you realize." It was the twins again, speaking in turns. Harry couldn't tell which started first.

"All right, we're going with him then." This was Ginny now.

"Or at least get him to tell us where he's been." Ron added.

"I don't understand how he could hide so well. Everyone looked for him. We sent letters to a dozen different schools! I've searched every corner of the library and there's no mention of any other school that teaches a class about Horcruxes!" Harry frowned; they really were trying to find him. And clearly it hadn't worked. Hermione hated not knowing something. Too bad for her, he wasn't staying or telling them anything. He walked up to the door and knocked. It flew open a second later.

"Harry!" Ginny hugged him, and then dragged him inside. Harry ignored his friend for a moment and turned to greet the other Weasley's.

"Afternoon Mr. Weasley." He said, smiling and shaking Arthur's hand.

"Wonderful to see you again Harry." Mr. Weasley said.

"Oh my, you've grown." Mrs. Weasley said, pulling him into the living room and gesturing towards an empty seat. "Sit down, sit down."

"How's it going Harry?" Charlie asked, looking up briefly from his chess game with Bill. There were almost no pieces left but neither seemed to be winning.

"Oh I'm fine, how are you Bill?" Harry asked, wondering just what had been the eventual result of the werewolf attack last year.

"Fine. Restless and agitated on the full moon anymore. Great night vision though. And I've been eating a lot more meat ever since that fight." Bill said.

"No tail and furry paws huh?" Harry said, Bill chuckled.

"No. Thank goodness. The fangs might have been interesting though." Harry relaxed, if Bill could joke about it then it couldn't be too bad.

"I bet you could manage a wolf animagus form pretty easily now." He suggested.

"Hm. I hadn't thought of that. That might be nice." Bill mused, knocking Charlie's last knight off the board.

"Did you give everyone the luck potions?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Yes, we all have them, and we gave one to Tonks as well. The last one we decided to give to Neville's Grandmother. She's all he's got left you know." Hermione said. Harry nodded, he'd brewed another batch and brought some of it with him just in case. It had been tempting to use it during the fight but he'd decided against it. He had to be able to fight on his own. Reliance upon a potion was a very bad thing.

Dinner was a surprisingly pleasant affair, Fleur and Mrs. Weasley had cooked up something halfway between a French and an English dinner. They were apparently getting along very well. After dinner had been cleaned up everyone went back to the living room.

"Okay Harry. Talk." Ginny told him.

"About?"

"Where you've been of course!" Hermione said.

"Elsewhere. Learning. I can't tell you where or what I've been learning." Harry replied, sure that they weren't going to like that answer.

"Oh come on mate! You can't just vanish like that and not tell us where you've been!" Ron protested.

"Yes I can. I can't tell you any of that stuff so I'm not going to."

"But Harry you've got to tell what country at least!" Ginny said.

"No I can't. That would give too much away."

"Harry dear, what if something happens? We need to know where you are." Mrs. Weasley tried.

"No. If something happens then it does." Harry said firmly.

"Fine what have you been learning?" Hermione asked.

"I just said I couldn't tell you." Harry reminded her.

"But Harry what if it isn't part of the NEWTs curriculum?"

"Then it isn't. I'm still not telling you."

"What about the Horcruxes?" George finally asked. Harry shot him a grateful look.

"I haven't figured out where they are. But I'm learning a better way to find them. It will take a few years but eventually I should be able to find them easily enough. Of course, I intend to destroy Nagini as soon as possible."

"So how are you going to find them?" Hermione asked.

"Can't tell you that."

"Damn it Harry you've got to tell us!" Ginny snapped furiously.

" No actually I don't." This time Fred intervened before they could start yelling.

"What can you tell us?" That got everyone to be quiet.

"That I'm going to a different, very selective school. The stuff we learn probably isn't anything like any other school's curriculum. There's students from a variety of different species. I have several vampire friends. I've been learning wandless magic. That's about it." Harry said.

"Vampires?" Ron asked, "but don't they, well, you know…"

"No I don't, what?" Harry replied, Ron missed the warning note in his voice. None of my new friends would have missed that Harry thought, immediately angry at himself for thinking it. But he couldn't help it. He, Ally, Daray and Silas were much more in tune with each other.

"I mean, don't they, drink blood?"

"Of course. They're vampires."

"You're okay with that?"

"Sure. Why wouldn't I be?" Harry asked. Ron stared at him.

"I think he's trying to ask if they ever drink your blood." Bill said finally.

"Oh, of course not. They just drink the blood of the animals that are slaughtered for the school meals." Harry said with a laugh. Ron didn't relax much. Apparently the idea of vampires was too much for him. "Most of them are nice enough. They're a very interesting species." Harry said.

"Please tell me you're not learning anything illegal at that school." Hermione said.

"I don't know if any of it is illegal. I've already told you that the school isn't in Britain." Harry replied.

"We asked every school we could, find, none of them said they had any new students fitting your description." Ron said finally, Hermione glared at him, apparently she hadn't wanted to tell him that.

"If I was at any of those places don't you think I would have disguised myself? Or made sure that the headmaster would deny knowing I was there?" Harry asked. "And you can stop bothering them, you won't find the place I'm at."

"Fine. Can you tell us what it's called?" Harry glared at Hermione, "all right. Fine."

"What about those assassins?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Oh Harry you're in so much danger. Why not stay here where the Order can keep you safe?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"You'll forgive me," Harry said harshly, "if I have absolutely no faith in the Order to keep anything or anyone safe. As to assassins," he turned to Mr. Weasley, "I'm not too worried. They can't kill me where I am, and if they know I'm back in Britain, which they don't since I've been disguised, then they'll have quite a fight on their hands to get me." He grinned in a not-so-nice wolfish way.

"Harry they're professional killers." Mrs. Weasley protested.

"And?" Harry asked again, hinting that she really ought to drop it.

"Harry this isn't a game. They're professional killers and if they get you they will kill you. The Ministry and the Order can keep you safe from them." Ginny snapped at him.

"Oh I'm very much aware it isn't a game. I've already killed one of them. And I don't trust the Ministry or the Order as far as I can throw them. I'm very safe where I've been." Harry said in the coldest voice he could manage. "Now how about you tell me what's been going on here."

"Hogwarts opened late this year." George began, drawing the conversation away from Harry.

"Yeah, new defense professor is another Ministry lackey. Absolutely horrid. Umbridge got put on the board of directors you know. Defense class is all out of text books again." Ron said miserably.

"But in the second half of the year we'll be doing practical stuff. Theory first then the actual spells. I think he's a good teacher, and he stopped Umbridge from being so nasty " Hermione said, Ron glared. Harry decided the new professor was probably either good looking or played favorites.

"Slytherins are saying you're dead or run away." Ginny added.

"A lot of students left, most of them either home schooled or going abroad." Hermione said. "There were only fourteen first year students."

"Why didn't you go elsewhere?" Harry asked her.

"Hogwarts is the best there is. And I'm not leaving, it's too much like giving up." She said angrily.

"What if I told you that Hogwarts is actually not such a school and your education there is so much less then what it is elsewhere that most of those students who went abroad have been set back years because of how behind they are?" Harry asked.

"What?" Mrs. Weasley said. "Hogwarts is the best wizarding school."

"No it isn't. In ranking it against all other public wizarding schools – there are sixty one of them, Hogwarts came in ranked forty five." Harry replied, seeing the shock, and in Hermione's case, horror.

"That's not possible, you must be reading it wrong." Hermione said finally. "I refuse to believe it."

"Oh it's true. Hogwarts students usually have to stay in Britain because they couldn't get hired anywhere else. This information has been suppressed for years because if everyone knew what other schools think of Hogwarts there'd be a massive outcry to change things, and you know the pureblood movement is against change. Especially the kind that would be needed" Harry said. He'd read up on other wizarding schools before returning. Most of them used muggle science to help teach magic. Like he had learned, especially in transfiguration. Knowing what was actually happening, though not how, was very important. The Purebloods would never allow it.

"In most of the world students go to school starting at the age of eight, the first five years it's only day school. With students going home in the afternoon and coming back the next morning. After that they go away to a secondary school until the age of nineteen. Then there is another level of school that goes from nineteen to twenty four. Students compete to get into those schools and there they start to specialize in whatever they plan to do. I have friends who have attended these schools. They learn all the things muggles students do along with everything magical. Apparently knowing all the muggle stuff makes learning magic easier. Most of the world considers European schooling to be horribly backwards and inadequate. And they're right. Students form Hogwarts don't measure up at all against students from elsewhere." Harry explained, seeing their shock and knowing that this news was going to cause real problems for Hermione.

"Why haven't we heard anything about that?" Mrs. Weasley demanded.

"I don't really know. I think it's being suppressed, and if foreigners told anyone they'd be ignored because everyone is so loyal to Hogwarts. But it really isn't a quality school. The people who left are the ones who really get it. It isn't running away if it's for a better education. And they're safe." Harry replied. He was hoping his friends might be persuaded to leave. They'd get exposure to the real world, which they were, with the possible exception of Hermione, rather naïve about, and they'd get a better education and they'd be safer. But that decision was up to them.

"Have you used those potions yet?" Harry asked.

"Nah, saving it for the next time death eaters attack." Ron said, "Remus got the idea of putting them inside special compartments in our shoes, or wearing them on necklaces." Harry nodded he'd have to go see Remus before he left. He missed Remus too, and maybe he'd stop by to see Neville.

Harry left a day earlier than planned. He'd gotten tired after only a few hours of Hermione and Ginny trying to trick him into talking and Ron was trying not so subtly to persuade him to stay. They were very clingy, their lives so wrapped up around his that they couldn't seem to get away and live on their own. It bothered him, they couldn't just say goodbye for a few years, they were almost obsessed with knowing everything that he was learning and where he was learning it.

"So you're really just going to leave us knowing nothing?" Ginny said as Harry left.

"Yes. Sorry but I really can't say anything." Harry said, very tired of the repetitive nature of this.

"Harry, would this school let us enter? Could we transfer in and join you? I rather think that would solve the problem of not being able to tell us." Ginny suggested.

"No. They don't accept students halfway through the year. And I'm not sure you'd manage well. It's a very rough place, you have to heal all you own injuries, stuff like that. Very different classes." Harry said, mentally thinking that after so many years with wands neither Weasley would be much good at thread magic. And Ron was a bit close minded. The vampires would take him apart.

"Harry we're your friends." Hermione said angrily, she'd been angry ever since he'd refused to tell them what he was learning.

"You are my friends, please, do me a favor and drop it. I'll see you in a few years if not sooner. Why can't you just accept that?" Harry asked. None of them could really answer that.

"Because we're you friends, we worry about you." Ginny said.

"Thanks, try not too, I'm very safe."

"Yeah, with vampires." Ron said.

"I rather like some of those vampires Ron, there's nothing wrong with them."

"Harry, please, you can't do this." Hermione pleaded.

"Yes, I can. And I need to." Harry said, and apparated back to the inn.

XXXX

Back in his usual form Rahkesh slid into the seat across from Remus and Neville. They were in Hogsmead; he'd given them letters to meet him there at a pub. It had been several days since he'd left the Burrow. The time had been spent finding out what all the Potter and Black estates were. He'd go back to Gringotts later for some things from the vaults.

"Who are you?" Neville asked, "oh, Harry?"

"New name now. And don't say that so loud. I'm disguised for a reason." Harry said smiling. "Sorry I can't tell you my new name, but the less you know the better."

"Growth potion?" Remus asked.

"Yeah. Really nice. Oh and the hair is permanent." Harry added. Remus grinned.

"James spent years trying to find a way to fix that."

"Where have you been?" Neville asked. Harry flipped open a menu.

"Lets order first, I'll tell you over lunch."

"Okay." Remus said several minutes later as they began to eat. "What's been happening with you?"

"I found a new school. One that can teach me more than Hogwarts ever could. I'm enjoying it, love it actually. It's safe, very safe, from the assassins and Voldemort. I'm sorry I can't tell you anything more but it just isn't safe and we're not allowed to." Harry said apologetically.

"Nothing else?" Neville asked, Harry shrugged and tried to think of something else.

"One of my teachers has a magical frill-necked lizard for a pet. The headmistress owns a magical snow leopard. I'm hoping to learn magics that will enable me to find and destroy the Horcruxes much easier then it would be now. Without getting killed when I destroy them."

"Soul magic." Remus muttered. "Good god. Be careful Harry."

"I will. I know the dangers. And it will take a few years."

"Have you seen Ron and Hermione yet?" Neville asked.

"Yeah. Our…reunion…didn't go so well. They're too pushy, won't stop trying to get me to tell them where I've been." Harry said.

"Well you can't blame them, they've been your friends for years." Remus said

"That's exactly why I can blame them. They know I wouldn't do this if I didn't have to, and if I don't want to tell them anything then they really ought to respect that, it doesn't concern them much anyway." Harry said. Remus thought about that and then nodded. "You'd probably like this place Remus. There are students from every species and a lot of lycanthropes. They use wolfsbane potions every month so every student learns to brew it. You liked the present?" Remus beamed, his present had been several month worth of wolfsbane potion. It was the latest version available, though not one Rahkesh could brew yet, this new type could be preserved for up to six months.

"Yes, thank you. It really does help." Remus said.

"And how are you Neville?" Harry asked.

"Fine, fine. Gran says thanks for the potion by the way. School isn't the same without you, you know. Slytherins are being absolutely miserable. Everyone's so frightened." Neville said, "but none of them really know what they're frightened of. It's like a little fear is being fed by others fear until it multiplies and suddenly everyone's terrified. No one wants to anger the pro-dark Slytherins because they're afraid they'll get killed, or their families will. The Slytherins are loving it." Neville said, that easily telling Harry more about the situation at Hogwarts than anyone else had. Harry leaned across the table and slid a parchment to Neville.

"It's a spell list. Memorize them and practice them, Room of Requirement is a good place. They're great. Very good at ending a fight and not illegal." He said, Remus looked at the list a nearly choked.

"Make them wet their pants and then create boils on their hands?"

"Humiliates and it's hard to retaliate if you can't hold a wand." Harry said maliciously. "The wrist breaker is pretty good too. And even if they give you detention Filch ought to be nicer to you if you remind him that the Slytherins want him dead because he's a squib, or almost is. Oh and that one at the bottom wipes spells from the memory of the wand, priori incantatem won't find a thing. Just tell who ever calls you on the attack to try priori and they'll think you're innocent. It's a very rare spell though so don't tell anyone else. The parchment is keyed to you and Remus only."

"Devious." Remus said, not at all disapprovingly, "I have never heard of that spell."

"And you won't ever again. Here," Harry handed over two small phials, "antidote to Vertisarum. I know, I know, there's isn't supposed to be an antidote that actually works, this does. I told you I was going to a great school." He had bought the potions from an older student who was about to take the tests for her Potions Mastery. They had been a bit expensive, but Rahkesh didn't mind when it came to keeping the few people he really cared about safe.

"Why the antidote?" Neville asked.

"Incase your new defense teacher, or Umbridge, calls you into their office for a little chat over some tea. They'll dose the tea to make you tell them things." Harry said. Neville put his phial away and Remus slid his into a chest pocket.

"Remus is the Order using or watching 12 Grimauld Place?"

"I don't think anyone is. If there's anyone there I don't know of it." Remus replied, "there's something a little odd about that, I know you told Dumbledore it was okay to use it but the house won't let us in."

"Probably that dratted house elf." Harry mused, "I guess I'll probably kill Kreacher before I leave then. Can't have him telling secrets to someone else and making things difficult" Remus winced, then shook his head.

"Won't be necessary, he's already dead. He just suddenly died a few months ago. No one knows how, might have been old age, might have been Dobby, no one is going to ask." Harry smiled, he'd sent Dobby two pairs of socks, one silk and one fleece, and thank you letter for the house elf's help over the years. Harry pushed his plate away and rested his head on his hands. "Remus, did you know Sirius's brother?"

"Huh? Where did that come from?" Remus asked.

"The Horcruxes. Whoever took the last one had the initials R.A.B." Harry replied. He'd thought that one out within the first few weeks of school.

"Oh. Regulus. Yes. I never knew his middle name. Regulus was younger then us, several years younger. He was a Slytherin. Sirius and he hated each other. But Sirius didn't get along with any of his siblings much. He was the black sheep. Regulus was killed though Harry, he was a death eater and he left Voldemort. Voldemort killed him."

"Did he?" Harry asked. "I don't think so, he probably sent a death eater to do it. Regulus could have escaped, and no one is going to tell Voldemort that they failed." Remus stared at him for several minutes.

"Harry you told me about the note," Neville said, "it said that the person who wrote it would already be dead." Harry nodded.

"Yes, perhaps. Dumbledore almost lost his hand destroying one of them. But there's no way to know for sure if they would kill the person who destroyed them. By the way, do you know where Fletcher is?" Harry asked.

"Mundungus? He's in France until summer. I have no idea why he decided to go there." Remus said, "why do you ask?" Harry looked between the two of them. Wondering. He might as well run his theory past them. No one else was available.

"It isn't inconceivable that Regulus is alive. If he was he would have had many years with Voldemort out of the way to gather the Horcruxes. Since his brother was in Azkaban, Grimauld Place was his and he would know he could hide stuff there. Such as the Horcruxes as he gathered them. Destroying them is clearly dangerous so if he was determined to die, which he might have been, he would have wanted to destroy all of them at once. Since Grimauld place hasn't been destroyed, nor the other properties the Black family owned, (Harry had checked those several days before) I can only assume he never did destroy them. Mundungus Fletcher was stealing things form that house and selling them, perhaps he found the Horcruxes and sold them without realizing what they were? It would explain why Regulus couldn't destroy them." Harry theorized, he knew it was a long shot, a very, very, long shot, but he knew Regulus was alive.

"That's an interesting theory, however unlikely." Remus said.

"There is also more than one interpretation of the word dead. Vampires are called the undead after all, could be Regulus became one of them." Harry said, he had not thought of that before.

"This is all assuming that this Regulus is alive." Neville pointed out, "Voldemort, or whomever he sent, might have killed Regulus after all."

"If Regulus were alive he would be the only one who could counter what I did with Grimauld Place. He could have the house keep people out." Harry said, "I don't know how else that would be happening."

"That does seem like someone else overriding or interfering with your hold on the place." Remus agreed. They ate dessert in near silence, Neville telling Harry about what had been happening with certain individuals in school.

"Remus, Neville, have either of you considered getting out of Britain?" Harry asked.

"Uh, no." Neville said, "Gran wouldn't go for it." Harry repeated what he'd told the others about the quality, or the lack thereof, of Hogwarts schooling.

"What about you Remus?"

"Oh I don't know. I'd like to be around, to help stop Voldemort." Remus said, Harry got the impression that the werewolf didn't really know or care what the other possibilities were. Or Remus was doing a very good job of being evasive…actually that was far more likely. Harry eyed Remus for a moment, and decided that Remus didn't want to discuss this too much.

"You know that in just about every non-European country werewolves have full equal rights." Harry commented, by Remus's surprised look he guessed that Remus hadn't known.

"They do? Really?"

"Canada, The United Sates, New Zealand, all of the South American countries, Japan, Korea…well South Korea anyway…Russia. You could go anywhere." Harry told him. And it was true; switching citizenship was much easier in the magical world because populations were so small everywhere that newcomers were welcomed. Unlike most muggle countries that restricted immigration.

"I have never really thought about leaving Europe entirely. Maybe. But I want to see this war through first." Remus said. Harry nodded, knowing from Remus's tone that the werewolf would not be changing his mind.

After the two had left Harry relaxed in his seat for a moment, noticing, but pretending not too, when someone in an invisibility cloak sat down across from him.

"Harry." Harry nodded and rose, sensing the invisible person do the same, and left. Outside he walked idly around behind the pub. Moody pulled off his cloak and tucked it into a pocket. The two then wandered out into Hogsmead, Harry very glad for his disguise.

"You were eavesdropping." Harry said simply. Moody did not appear at all apologetic, only delighted that Harry had noticed.

"Yeah. And the theory is a good one. No one ever found Regulus's body. I know because I didn't think he was dead. I snuck in behind everyone's back checked the casket while at the funeral." Moody said, Harry tried hard not to laugh or roll his eyes. "They put a body in, but it wasn't Regulus. Possibly the poor bloke sent to kill him. Regulus was pretty good at transfiguration and potions."

"Not an animagus?"

"I don't think so. He was probably not back then, though he could be now."

"Are you back working for the aurors or are you permanently retired?"

"I'm teaching a course or two at the auror Academy. The youngsters these days… impossible…not going to survive their first duel." Moody said, shaking his head sadly.

"Recruit some alumni." Harry said, not having to say where from.

"Possibly. Most of them don't care what's going on here. They figure Voldemort is going to win, then they'll get rid of him and take over. Or whatever. Werewolves all seem to be against him, vampires couldn't care less, lets not start on the veela." Moody said.

"Mundungus Fletcher?"

"I'll let you know when he gets back. If he sold those Horcruxes…if they were in Grimauld in the first place…I might just kill him."

"Not until after we learn who he sold them to. I want his memories taken while he's under a truth serum, nothing less." Harry told him, Moody nodded. "I'm installing an observation device in Grimauld tomorrow to see if anyone drops by."

"Good idea, can they be monitored from that far away?"

"We'll see. I'm going to Brazil soon. If I can't monitor them from there then maybe Remus would do it."

"I could do some too."

"Thanks. I let you know if they work." Harry said, glad to have the auror's help. Moody nodded and abruptly apparated away when a stray spell flew past. Harry glanced over his shoulder, a little kid was being scolded for stealing his mother's wand. Figuring that Moody wouldn't be back Harry apparated to the small house the Potters owned not far outside of Hogsmead. Just a little cottage but it was enough. He'd moved his things there and the observation devices he'd bought in Knockturn (since they were also designed to blow up when the viewer wished, assassination devices). He'd install them the next day.

XXX

Harry walked through the Potter family vault. Besides all the money there were some other interesting things in here. This included three dragon's eggs that were being kept in a time capsule so that they never aged. He didn't recognize the eggs; they weren't in the books on dragons sitting next to the capsule. Harry thought it best to leave them alone.

There were two magical turtles also being kept in out-of-time cages, a male and female. The small journal beside the cages read that they were some of the last of a very rare species. They'd been secreted away by his great great grandfather because they were so valuable. He'd noticed them on his first visit the day before and had since done a bit of research. There were five of these turtles left, all in captivity. Two in the United States, two in Australia, and one in the public magical creature zoo here in England. With the two turtles were two eggs. It was the eggs that were valuable, and the shells, and the eyes, and the brains, and the claws, the whole turtle could be used in potion making. They had been hunted to extinction because of this, and because the eggs could be crushed, powdered, soaked in a few other things like acromatula blood, then dried and spun into silk. The rarest silks in the world. These two were living treasures. Harry decided then and there to find the time to bring them back to the world and look after them. He didn't know how often they reproduced but this seemed like a species worth saving.

He also found a set of four identical knives that he really liked. And there was also a set of two tiny knives of a sort he'd never seen before. Next to them was a set of books on the Indonesian martial arts, specifically the Pentjak Silat fighting styles. A massive set of books; someone must have been a real enthusiast. Flipped one of them open Harry found enchanted moving pictures and demonstrations. Harry took a few of the books that appeared to be designed for beginners, and left the knives. Maybe there'd be something in here to help him beat the vampires.

The previous day he had picked out a handful of books, some about necromancy, some about bloodmagic, and a few others. Why they weren't being kept in the family library was a good question, Harry figured it was because of how rare they were. He'd brought them to the cottage and copied them using enchanted quills over the night and that morning. Now he put the originals back. He found a set of knife sheaths designed to be placed on the arms, legs, shoulders, and back, and took these with him. He also picked out some Dyalnos seeds that were being kept dried in a box filled with rare plant seed. Dyalnos, known in several languages as the blood tree produced a magically powerful sap, leaves and roots used in potions and enchantments, and wood used in wand making. It was called the blood tree because the sap and leaves were blood red. And when watered with blood the tree produced a wood that could be used for making wands or staffs for only the person whose blood the tree drank. It was an enormously powerful and exceptionally rare plant. Harry thought he could try to grow one or two trees on his balcony. He'd already started draining off a little blood every day, ever since he saw the seeds. That way he could feed them when he wasn't around.

Picking out a few other objects to take Harry left the vault, nodding a polite thank you to the goblin who'd driven the cart, if they called that driving.

XXX

Grimauld was empty, dark, and silent. Nothing moved. Harry placed one orb into the wall above the door, it slid into the wood of the door and became invisible. Opening the door he placed a second one at the end of the front hallway looking back towards the entrance. Another on the staircase. Two on the chimneys to see if anyone entered or left by the windows. One in the basement. And another three scattered around the house. He didn't stop to look around long, there was little here that he had the time to find or to try to un-enchant.

The orbs all fed into another, larger, orb that Harry carried with him. It played what the others saw, if anything moved then the picture switched to that orb. He could control it via nine tiny orbs set into the copper base of the large one.

As he was leaving the house he felt something, some presence, and looked up. Searching the sky he saw a large dark shape flitting about, suddenly a bat seemed to materialize hanging from his arm. It had a small harness strapped to its back. Taking the creature in his arms Rahkesh flipped the latch on the backpack and pulled out a small envelope. The bat hung on his shoulder as he opened it and under a streetlamp to read.

Rahkesh,

You know what the password is. Nine a.m. your time.

Daray

"You can go," Rahkesh told the courier bat, it flew away. Rahkesh looked inside the envelope and found a large scale of some sort. It was a dark green with flecks of gold and a dark purple gleam at the edges.

The next morning Rahkesh had his things packed and had shut up the cottage. He wrapped Sygra around his neck and shoulders and tucked his shrunk bags into a pocket.

"Ocelot." He felt the annoying jerk and a whoosh of air.

The hot humid air hit him like a brick wall. He was standing in a clearing in the middle of the tallest trees he'd ever seen. The towering giant trees were draped in vines thicker than his arm. Everything was shockingly green, every shade of it imaginable from the dark understory to the brilliant green canopy. Around him spots of color flared up, very bright flowers standing out brilliantly against the green.

Up ahead was a palace, built of white marble and dark gray stone, the domed ceiling of glass in panes with gold between so that the gold resembled a spider's web. It was a massive building, but there were no windows on the first floor. It wasn't a palace, Rahkesh slowly realized, it was a fortress. The sides steep and sloped so that boulders would bounce off. It was dug into the ground so that no one could dig underneath. The windows started higher up, they were huge but they, like the ones at Akren Mountain School of Magic, had massive stone slabs above them that could be pulled down to cover the windows during an attack. The balconies looked like they could possibly be moved back inside the building itself. With the windows shut, and the balconies drawn in and shut too, the building turned into a sealed fortress. The tower windows even had the huge stone shutters. The Ateres' ancestral home had clearly been built with war in mind.

Wham! Something hit him from behind and sent Rahkesh smashing into the ground. Rolling over one shoulder he snapped out a knife. There was a low growl and he felt fur against him. Black fur. It was Nuri the young panther.

"Very nice Nuri." Came Silas approving voice from a little ways off to one side. Rahkesh showed the vampire the knife as he sheathed it, telling him without words just how close he'd been to sticking it in the cat.

"Think that's cute huh? He's not even full grown yet, someday he's going to kill someone." Rahkesh snarled.

"I told him to attack, with no claws. He is very well trained. Aren't you darling?" Nuri purred and rubbed his head against his master's knee. "See?" Rahkesh scowled at the animal. The cat had grown fast in six months, no longer the little house-cat sized cub. And he was still growing fast; Rahkesh would bet real money that Nuri would reach six feet eventually. Maybe more, he was starting to wonder if Silas hadn't fed the cat a growth potion. After all Silas was already talking about possibly trying to work bloodmagic on the cat, to give him some magical powers. Rahkesh had pointed out that vampire blood being what it was he could just mix some of it into Nuri's dinner.

Sygra reared and flared her hood as Rahkesh stood, hissing at the vampire and his cat. Rahkesh stroked her hood gently, trying to tell her not to attack without words.

"I told you not to set the cat on him." Daray was walking out the door towards them. "Nuri has been up in that tree for hours practicing pouncing so he could get you."

"Silas." Rahkesh growled.

"Sorry, but he needs practice."

"He could just practice on you."

"Not as much fun." Silas replied with a grin.

"Come in Rahkesh, it's going to rain soon." Daray said, "we'll leave cat-boy out here to pounce on all the intruders we get however many hundreds of miles from the nearest village."

"Fine, fine, ruin my fun." Silas followed them inside. Massive dark clouds were brewing outside the windows.

"Welcome, this is the ancestral castle of the Ateres family. Often as not we move it around wherever we go." Daray said as they led Rahkesh through the main entry-way, which was wide enough for five to walk side by side. The thick oriental looking carpets and massive tapestries falling down white marble walls looked like something from another age. Which, Rahkesh realized, was exactly what this place was given that it had been built maybe a thousand years ago, or even earlier.

The furniture was all solid wood pieces with heavy ornate fabrics, comfortable but massive and beautiful. Silks were in display everywhere, and the pictures on the walls hung in gold frames worth more than the artwork. The ceiling, where it wasn't stained-glass gold encrusted sky-lights, was instead covered in gilded paintings or elegant carvings with sparkling gemstones highlighting everything. Daray and Silas led him through several massive rooms and up a wide marble staircase.

"It's built to house everyone with plenty of room to spare, and to fend off any attack magical or physical." Silas explained as Rahkesh looked around at what had to be at least four levels above ground, not counting the highest of the towers.

"Grandmother is here right now, my parents will be back soon, they're off removing a bunch of vampires that needed removing. Silas's sister Sierra is around somewhere. And great uncle Saforin and aunt Tashanna." Daray said, running over the people at the palace. "There's a handful of others who come and go, you might meet them you might not."

"You'll be staying in here." Silas opened a door at the end of a hallway with a dark red, orange and blue rug that had a shine to it almost like velvet.

It was a large guest room, a bed and desk with a few chairs and fireplace. A large polar bear rug and he had his own bathroom too, with a marble bathtub. Rahkesh took Sygra's cage (minus the mice) out of a pocket and put it on the floor and enlarged it. Then he took out a box with two mice in it and dumped them in. Sygra followed, eyeing the mice hungrily.

"There's a pool on the lower level, want to go for a swim?" Silas asked from the doorway.

"Yeah sure." Rahkesh replied absently as he gazed around. The room was truly opulent, the rugs were very old and expensive and the wood on the walls was solid oak. The gilded picture frames contained real gold and the doorways had amethysts done in spirals and waves around them.

The pool turned out to be more like a massive stone hot tub. Rahkesh guessed it was about ten feet deep all around with, a ledge a foot down into the water for sitting on. There were lounge chairs and tubs of small indoor trees and tropical flowers. Water poured in out of the mouths of two golden roaring lions on the side where the pool water lapped against the wall. The room was steaming from the heat of the water and Rahkesh was very glad he no longer had to wear glasses. Nuri splashed around on the ledge, chasing the hundred or so small fish that were in the pool, who were trying to stay out of their way as the three swam

"The fish keep the pool clean by eating anything that starts to grow on the side of the pool, aside from them the water is completely filtered one every five minutes." Silas told Rahkesh, "they're also ornamental of course, magical fish." The little fish were every color of the rainbow with long trailing fins. Rahkesh dove to watch some of them working along the bottom, nipping at anything resembling algae on the stones. A low rumble of thunder shook the building.

"We get some massive storms here." Daray said, glancing up at the high ceiling. "Hopefully it won't flood again. The only thing I don't like about living in the jungle, we're also on the edges of a floodplain." Rahkesh relaxed in the warm water, watching a tropical bird of some sort flying from potted tree to potted tree, this was so much nicer than cold Britain.

"Have you two finished the next set for designs for your bloodmagics?" Rahkesh asked, he knew that the two cousins wanted to finish their sets as soon as possible, and with so many different pieces that meant that they had to work fast.

"Yes. Namach says we should wait a bit longer before finalizing anything. I tell you it will be nice to be able to spend more than a few days in the sun." Daray said, "are you done with your next set?"

"Yes, I'll complete the night vision piece in another three weeks." Rahkesh said.

"Namach thinks you're a genius you know. He's put a bet in the staff betting pool that you'll manage master level in bloodmagic, necromancy, and soul magic." Daray told him.

"How do you know that?" Rahkesh asked. Very glad to hear it, it would make getting into the higher level classes much easier.

"A young pretty vampire teacher who teaches the Herbology masters." Daray said with a smirk. Rahkesh rolled his eyes skyward and Silas shook his head.

"You did make it clear to everyone that biting the human is not acceptable?" Rahkesh asked suddenly, vaguely worried.

"Yes. Not sure if my sister was listening, and Grandmother might give it try anyway just for kicks, to see how well you can defend yourself. No need to be gentle, she's been killing for nearly two thousand years, the more damage you manage to inflict the happier she'll be. She likes a feisty opponent." Silas told him, Rahkesh mentally groaned, great, an ancient vampire who would probably attack him for fun.

"Just how does she expect me to put up much of a fight?" Rahkesh demanded.

"No clue. She's awfully violent Grandmother is." Daray said. "She insisted that we start training last year, so you can join in this week. She's a good teacher and she hasn't been beat since, ohh, 1280 A.D. or something like that. That was the last time she sparred with Namach you know." Rahkesh shook his head, vampires were insane. Well, he had brought those tasers…