A/N: I've got over 240 reviews! I am over the moon about it! Ok, everyone seemed to enjoy the Veritaserum Chapter. Well, remember back in Chapter 5, when Dumbledore said the two Shadow Masters were almost impossible to deal with? Let's see how the Order deals with two, shall we? Oh, and just to be fair, let's send them to Voldie's camp as well. Ready? Here we go!

**

Chapter 16: Pardon the Interruption

**

            "My faithful Death Eaters," The snake-like Dark Lord began, "It has been two weeks. Two weeks I have given you to find out whatever you can about the Imperial Dragon Circle. Now, you will tell me what you have found." Voldemort was feeling good. Snape had given him the antidote to his malady, and he was back in action. He was really looking forward to punishing somebody tonight. "I want numbers first, my servants. How many of them are there?"

            A man stepped forward and accounted for six of them, which he named. Unable to resist the urge to say something, Snape stepped forward as well. "My Lord, he is incorrect. There are six confirmed assassins, but I can confirm a seventh entity known only as 'Leader,' who apparently picks the targets for them." In truth, Snape was the only person with this knowledge. The unsigned note that came with the antidote said that Leader wanted him to have it. The seal on the envelope was the same as the insignia he's seen on Flame's robes when he'd disrupted the meeting.

            Voldemort's wand whipped out, and the erring man was under the Cruciatus Curse for a good thirty seconds. "I expect better service than that, Baxter." He said. "Next, I want to know if anyone knows the identity of any one of the Imperial Dragon Circle assassins." Nobody moved. "I will punish all of you if nobody has anything to say." He growled. Slowly, a woman stepped forward.

            "My Lord, I do not have a solid answer, but I may make an educated guess." The woman said. "While we do not know who they are, there is someone who does. I believe that person is Ha-" She dropped off abruptly as a knife buried itself in her throat. All the Death Eaters jumped, wands out, casting curses into the shadows, trying to find the source of the knife.

            "Shameful gossipers, the lot of them." Said a feminine voice from one of the shadows. Immediately, several curses were sent that direction. Receiving no indication that any of their spells had hit, they waited. "And they're terrible marksmen, to boot." The voice said, from a different shadow.

            "I know what you mean, Blade." A male voice spoke from yet another shadow. Several spells were sent in that direction too, but apparently missed their intended target as well. "Plus, they seem to be overdoing it a little with the spells. I mean who sends killing curses at unknown targets? With that kind of magical draw they're going to wear themselves out before they even find us." It was true enough. Some of the more inexperienced Death Eaters were sweating behind their masks, the spells tiring them out more than they would admit.

            "Cowards! Show yourselves!" Voldemort screamed. The two figures in the shadows laughed.

            "Of course we're cowards!" The man said. The group of Death Eaters stared at the shadows in disbelief. "Why should we come out and face you, when we can just as easily stay here?"

            "Besides," the woman piped up. "You're no better, snake-face!" This prompted an indignant growl from the Dark Lord. "Even Octavius Grindelwald used his real name when he terrorized the world. You can't even do that! What kind of Dark Lord are you?"

            Names. These two beings were going into the name game again. Suddenly, Voldemort knew he was in the presence of the Shadow Masters. He just had to smile. "Ah, my Shadow Masters have joined me at last." He said, in a very forced cheerful voice. "Come out, my pets, and meet your master."

            There was more laughter from the shadows, and then the woman's voice, cold enough to give Voldemort frostbite, came. "You? Our Master? Don't fool yourself, snake-face! Our master is Lord Voldemort, not some half-breed named Riddle."

            "I am Lord VOLDEMORT!!" The snake-faced man shrieked, his blue-purple veins straining proudly against his pale skin. "I am the true descendent of Salazar Slytherin himself. My blood is purer than any!"

            "Tell that to your followers, but don't think you can fool us, you filthy half-breed. Your name is Tom Riddle, and you can't change that." The male voice said. As if to illustrate his point, an arm reached out of the shadows, and pointed a gloved finger at the Dark Lord. "Recognacio!" The voice said. A blue light shot straight at Voldemort, and struck him square in the chest. Immediately, in large gold block lettering, Three words appeared above his head. The Dark Lord looked up to see the words 'TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE' written clearly above his head.

            Seeing his chance, Voldemort spoke. "I will prove to you that I am your master." That said he swished his wand at the golden letters. Within moments the letters had rearranged themselves to form different words. It now said 'I AM LORD VOLDEMORT' in the golden letters. Then, Voldemort, in true Slytherin fashion, smirked. "There you are. Now you see who your master is."

            There were a few moments of silence, followed by the two Shadow Masters hysterical laughter. "Tell me, Riddle. Do you honestly think that demons play word games?" The man's voice said. "Rearranging the letters of your name doesn't mean anything to us."

            The woman's voice continued. "Your true name is Tom Riddle. You're nothing more than a filthy Half-breed. You might as well accept it, because you can't change it. Frankly, I'm surprised that you have as many pure-blood followers as you do, seeing as you're just a half-blood."

            At this point, Voldemort lost all patience with the duet of demons, and yelled at his death eaters to attack. Spells were cast everywhere for the next five minutes, all shadows being hit with multiple killing curses. When the last killing curse fizzled out on the wall, the Dark Lord looked around, rather satisfied with himself. It didn't last long, however, as twenty of his followers dropped dead in the next second.

            "I told you they were poor marksmen, Riddle." Said the male voice. "I can't believe that your followers killed each other trying to kill us."

            "It was really stupid, wasn't it?" The female voice spoke up. "Well Lord Riddle, it has been a treat. We'll see you soon. Watch your back!" She sang in a child-like voice.

            The two Shadow Masters disappeared, and Voldemort screamed in unbridled rage.

**

            "God, that was fun!" Hermione said, when they were safely back at Hogwarts. "I never thought that the terrifying Dark Lord would look so funny."

            "In the right atmosphere, I'm sure that humans find it quite frightening." Harry said.

            "I know, but as frail as he looks, I don't understand why everyone is afraid of him."

            "Hermione, it's all about presence, or lack of it, if you will. Riddle wants people to be afraid of something they've never even seen. Hence the whole He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named thing. When he actually appears in public, his Death Eaters sort of carve a path to terror for him. Most people are more afraid of the troops than the commander. So, when they see all of his followers bowing and groveling at his feet, it adds to his whole image." Harry explained. "Voldemort himself would command very little respect without his followers, and that's why we're getting rid of them."

            "I understand that now, Harry." Hermione said. Now that she thought like a demon, her previous questions seemed kind of stupid. "We have another meeting to attend right now, do we not?"

            "Ah yes, The Order of the Flaming Turkey. I bet they want us to join them. How shall we decline?" Harry said, his eyes dancing with mischief. "Or should we let our friends in the Circle decline for us?"

            "Blade really wants to meet the Order." Hermione said. "And, I'm sure the Order would love to meet her as well."

            "Ok then, Circle it is." Harry replied. "Here's what we're going to do…"

**

            "I call this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix to order." Albus Dumbledore said, in his most authoritative voice. "Hey, that sounds a bit redundant, doesn't it?" He finished, twinkling his usual twinkle. "First on our agenda, Ronald Weasley has a report about Harry and Hermione's summer studies." The whole group sat up straighter, anxious to hear what the two Gyffindors were up to over the summer. "Ronald, if you would?"

            Ron walked up to the front of the room, and faced the Order. "I've been working on gathering this information for five days now, and I'm absolutely shocked by what I've found out."

            Now the Order was really interested. Whatever it was, it was big. Molly and Arthur Weasley were beaming with pride. They had no idea that their smiles were going to be for nothing.

            "First, I found out that they traveled around Europe during the summer. Apparently, Hermione's parents wanted to see the sights, and were kind enough to take Harry with them." This was not news, as the Order already had this information. "Second, Harry and Hermione, while on vacation, went to every Wizarding library they had access to. Why they did this, I have no idea. I mean, I understand Hermione doing it, but not Harry." Ok, that was news. That meant that whomever they met with, they met in the libraries. Ron paused for a moment, for dramatic effect.

            "Now, here's where it gets interesting." He said. The Order was really paying attention. "I found out that the Order of the Phoenix is a manipulative, fraudulent organization." The whole Order slumped back in their seats. Molly and Arthur felt horrible. "I found out that the information you sent me to get was a secret that nobody but those two knew. You used me, manipulated me, to get information that you weren't meant to know. You jeopardized my relationship with my two best friends so you could get a secret."

            "Ronald, please understand." Dumbledore said. "It was for the greater good."

            "Who are you to decide what the greater good is?" Ron said hotly. "You may think you serve a greater good, but in the end, it all comes down to control. Knowledge is power, and you wanted to know how powerful they became over the summer. You wanted them under your control again. Well, they're not under control yet, and I won't help you get them under control!"

            Ron started pacing the room. "I used to think that the Order was the best hope of defeating Voldemort." Ron paused for a moment. He had surprised himself by using the Dark Lord's name. He watched as several Order members flinched. "I thought that until I saw how you used the resources you have to try and pry into a sixteen year-old hero's private life. As of now, I'm ashamed of every moment I ever spent wishing I was a member."

            "Mr. Weasley, that information may help keep our spies in the Dark Lord's camp alive." Minerva Mcgonagall said.

            "Who should have been pulled out by now." Said a voice from the shadows. As one, the entire Order looked toward the shadows. Mad-eye's magical eye was looking intently into the shadow, but saw nothing. "I'm here with a message again, my Orderly friends." The voice said. The Shadow Master stepped out of the shadows, clad in his battle robes, cuffed with flames.

            "And, I thought I'd accompany him today." A second voice, this one female, said. Another Shadow Master stepped out of the shadows. She was wearing battle robes as well, but these were cuffed in dark silver material that looked razor sharp. "You may call me Blade." She said with a small mocking curtsy.

            Mad-eye Moody, who always does his research when he needs information, was somewhat ready for the newest invasion. Whipping out his wand, he banished a chair at he nearest Shadow Master, who just happened to be Flame. The Chair went flying straight at him, but never made it. Quick as one could blink, Flame pulled a weapon from his belt, and pointed it at the flying chair. He pulled the trigger, and a white light erupted from the barrel. The light hit the chair, and it blew apart into several thousand pieces. Putting the weapon back in its place, Flame spoke one word, albeit several moments late. "Reducto."

            The Order was struck dumb. Never in their lives had they ever seen anyone use a spell like that before. However, before anyone could really react to this new information, Blade spoke up. "Flame, what is that thing, and where did you get it?"

            "Nytemare made it. He's a tricky little devil, isn't he?" Flame said, the laughter evident in his voice, although his face was shrouded in shadows under the hood of his cloak. " The things he puts together amaze me every time."

            "Now," the female Shadow Master said. "On to business." She walked up to the front of the room, every eye following her every movement. "You were told, quite expressly, to pull your spies out of Riddle's camp. You have not done so. Why?"

            Dumbledore was the one to answer. "Severus Snape, our last active spy, is installed in a very public position, as Potions Master at Hogwarts. We cannot come up with a workable extraction scenario."

            Flame laughed. "Please, tell me that you're joking. Are you wizards, or muggles? It cannot be that difficult to stage his death, or something equally deceptive."

            Dumbledore was back in his element. As long as they were talking, he could hopefully trick them into providing help. "You see, it is difficult to stage his death, or anything similar, because the mark on his arm ties him to Voldemort. Voldemort will always know whether or not he lives."

            "Then why not just remove it?" Blade said.

            Now it was Snape's turn. "How ignorant are you? Several of the top minds in the Wizarding world have tried for years to get rid of the Dark Mark. It's impossible." As soon as he finished, he found himself pinned to the wall with 4 coal-black throwing knives.

            Flame chuckled. "A bit of advice. Never call Blade ignorant. She takes it quite personally." He walked over, and grabbed hold of Snape's arm. He looked at the Dark Mark carefully, and then laughed. "The greatest minds of the Wizarding world, eh? I pity the Wizarding world." He placed his hand on the mark, and said a very simple spell. "Deletrius." Snape bit back a scream as the skin on his forearm was removed from his body. "Immendo." And relief swept through him as the open wound healed up. Flame let go of his arm, and everyone looked to see the result.

            Shocked silence followed the revelation for a few moments. Finally, a rather ecstatic Snape broke it. "It's gone!" He cried, almost in tears from joy. Any normal human would be on his knees thanking god, but Snape only allowed himself a smile.

            "Now that Voldemort can no longer track him, get him out." Flame said. "You have forty-eight hours until the next Death Eater meeting. We'll be watching it. If we see him posing as a death eater ever again, we'll kill him ourselves."

            The two Shadow Masters disappeared into the Shadows once again, leaving a shocked, confused, apprehensive, yet joyful Order.

**

A/N: Big update for me, because it marks the halfway point in my story. From here on things are going to get interesting. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Coming soon, Dementors on the prowl!