Um…Hello everyone, it's been a while? (Ducks rotten foodstuffs) Okay, so it has been a while since I last updated…And it will probably be another while after this before I update again. This story, Tainted Betrayal was done slightly out of order and certain parts had to be redone so it was a pretty big mess and Dark Angel is just sitting there awaiting another burst of inspiration. I know what'll happen but it just won't come out so…I'll try and put out another chapter soon but I don't know when that'll happen.
Stuff happened. Life was tough. But not that tough. Not at all, really. Mostly, I was lazy. There's something about summer vacation that makes you want to sit around and do nothing but read. Of course, I hadn't updated for a while before that. Mostly, I couldn't write Harry Potter. Seriously, that part of my brain just shut off. Couldn't even read it. I have about 180 emails worth of updates sitting in my inbox…Unfortunately what caused this sudden burst of inspiration was my dad getting mad at me and shutting the internet off and limiting what I'm allowed to do. So now I'm trying my best to update this and Dark Angel. Not sure if my third fic is ever happening, though.
I'll shut up now. You can go read now.
About the Slash…
Well, one point…Harry is not being paired with anybody! I thought I'd mentioned it at least once before but anyways, I just wanted to clear that up. I was thinking about how you'd react to a male/male pairing with other characters. Anyways, it doesn't matter now, I'm not sure if I'm going to pair up anybody…
Is Draco Malfoy Godric Gryffindor? What about Helga? Is Terra Helga?
Yes, for those that are confused, Draco is Godric. For Helga you'll have to wait and see. No, Terra isn't Helga, she's just an original character.
Okay, so who betrayed him?
Well, a large chunk of the wizarding world betrayed Harry by believing him guilty, especially Harry's friends. In the founder's time, Rowena, Helga, and Godric betrayed Salazar, though their reasons were explained in the previous chapter.
How does he (Draco) know that Harry is Sal? Sal doesn't know that Draco is Godric, does he? Or would he even care?
Well, it would be pretty obvious that Harry is Sal; they look exactly like each other. By now or sometime in the next couple of chapters Harry has already learned Draco was Godric. I won't show it but the knowledge has to be there for the plan to work; otherwise he wouldn't really care.
Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter.
:Mindspeech:
-Parseltongue-
Chapter Four: Of Confusions and Frustrations
"Hello!" Cobra cooed in a voice that most reserved for talking to babies and little fluffy animals.
Needless to say, the three death eaters he had cornered were scared out of their wits. The large, emerald-colored snake that was wrapped around Cobra's shoulders hissed and flicked its tongue disdainfully at Voldemort's followers.
"Oh now, don't be that way!" Cobra continued merrily, "I just wanted to ask you a few questions!"
The small group of Voldemort's followers looked at each other, silent and unsure. They knew better to expect mercy from an enemy (look what they did to those who begged mercy from them) but the 'light' side was supposed to be above such things. Then again, this man was hardly working for Dumbledore.
"Now," Cobra continued in his cheerful voice, "Which one of you is highest in rank?"
The Death Eaters looked at each other again. Inside Cobra was getting impatient; he knew that he didn't have much more time before Voldemort came and Dumbledore's Order soon after him. And Voldemort would take his full attention; it wouldn't do to underestimate a Slytherin, even such a warped, twisted one. But it seemed that he needn't have worried, reaching some unspoken decision, two of the Death Eaters pushed the third unceremoniously forward. Hey, if it saved their own skins; Death Eaters had no loyalty among them.
The leading Death Eater gave an outraged gasp and Cobra could tell by her voice (and figure) that she was a female – and proud of it. Cobra instantly paid closer attention to the group in front of him. Not Lestrange (Voldemort wouldn't waste such a high-ranking Death Eater on such a small raid as this) and there were few females that participated so openly in Voldemort's activities, as Cobra knew from Harry's visions. Death Eaters were just sexist that way. So this girl might be…
With a casual wave of his hand, the two lower-ranking Death Eaters were out cold and, turning back to the higher-ranked female and narrowing his eyes slightly, he dove into her mind. Just a couple seconds later he was out of it again, wearing a satisfied smirk at what he had found. The female, dazed by his rough handing of her mind, fell to the ground unconscious and, as a precaution, he went through the minds of the two other, still unconscious, Death Eaters, but found nothing that he didn't already know.
A muffled hissing pulled his attention back to the entrance of the ally he stood in. Cobra's smirk widened and an almost predatory light seemed to gleam in his eye as he saw the second good thing to happen that day (to him, at least). Two out of three. Not bad at all. He was bound to get lucky some day but he had expected to have to wait a bit longer. He glanced fondly at the serpent slithering towards him, this one silver rather than the bright emerald green one wrapped around his shoulders (he hadn't been able to resist when he saw the pair in a pet store in Knockturn Alley), a rat, paralyzed with fear, trapped in it's jaws. A rat with a silver paw.
Those two would be more than enough to set his plan in motion; all he needed now was to take down Bellatrix Lestrange and he would be set to take down Voldemort worry-free. It wouldn't do to let the man (if you could call him that) ruin Slytherin House's already-soiled reputation. All that mattered was deciding how much the wizarding world deserved to suffer first (Cobra would make sure that no attacks to the muggle world would be successful). You could, after all, always trust a Slytherin to extract as much revenge that he or she felt the offending party deserved.
Cobra roughly grabbed the female Death Eater and, while the silver snake wrapped around her, he yanked a necklace over her head, not caring if he hurt her as long as it didn't kill her (and it wouldn't, the silver snake would be able to easily see to that). From here on, today would be a race against time to be in several places at once. And not just today…the game could go on for months. But he would not loose. After all, he was the one setting the stage. And, of course, he had a plan (several, in fact).
-Activate; manor,- He hissed and one of the five Portkeys he carried around with him, the stone on the necklace that he had put on the Death Eater, activated, whooshing the Death Eater, snake, and rat away. Voldemort would come soon. Even if he had not already been alerted by the Death Eaters that Cobra had allowed to escape, he would feel it through Her mark and come. It was too big a blow to his pride for him not to.
Cobra smirked, feeling Voldemort appear behind him. Some could argue that facing Voldemort with the little magic he had currently was rather stupid and he would normally agree but it was too much fun not to publicly humiliate the Dark Lord, even though they were in some little-traveled, little-known ally near Rafendest, a magical city known for its enchanters. Everyone who had been walking around earlier had taken refuge in the shops and buildings some time ago. The Order, however often popped in mid-battle and sometimes witnessed the (to him) humorous confrontations.
A killing curse sent at his back snapped him out of his thoughts. He ducked automatically and it hit a brick wall, fizzling out harmlessly.
"That wasn't very nice, Tommy, I was trying to think," Cobra said, frowning, as he tuned to face his attacker.
He would win.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Salazar looked at the glowing stone in front of him and sighed, Godric's words once again echoed in his mind and he didn't have the strength to fight them anymore. He had one more hour to 'claim his possessions', one more hour left in Hogwarts. The truth was, he didn't have anything that he wanted to bring with him. Everything belonged with Hogwarts. Maybe some day a student would find them and make use of them but for now…The dangerous rooms were sealed off with Parseltongue. Hogwarts had nothing left to offer to him; no joys, no sorrows. It was just the bleak, empty nothingness that made up his future. He had no possessions and nowhere to go. He briefly thought about confronting his cousin, maybe he could find out about some unknown spell that had allowed her to control Godric so completely. Maybe all hope was not yet lost. And if not, he did not mind dying in battle. Or killing her.
But he would not leave the earth that way. He would not allow himself to be killed by one of them; he would die a peaceful death or defending the school, dammit, and nothing else. And he had no desire to live the half-life that awaited him away from the school.
He continued to stare at the multicolored stone, now watching as it changed from a deep green to a flat grey to a dark red…It was a part of the school, his part of the 'core'. All the founders had one, a magical gem, hidden deep within their own part of the school where no one, not even the other founders, could get to them. It was to ensure that the school stayed safe against attack and no one but Salazar and Rowena knew how easily fallible they were. They had discussed it once, not long after the castle was built. Salazar had wanted to power them up somehow but Rowena had forbid him from trying. To try and give your magic to such an item would be far too dangerous. The slightest slip of control and the stones would continue to absorb your magic until everything you had to offer, your magic, life energy, and even your soul, would be sucked into it, disturbing your own soul's cycle of magic, life, and rebirth. In short it was beyond crazy and, yes, most definitely suicide.
And here he was, years latter, seriously considering something that Rowena had made him promise to never, ever do.
Was it worth it?
Was it not?
o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Draco had a headache. Harry Potter was Salazar Slytherin, there was no mistaking that (they looked too much like each other for it to be coincidence and he hadn't lived long enough to have children), but making it so that he and the other two founders could talk to the boy was proving extremely difficult. He was currently trying to talk to the people who believed in Harry's innocence. The problem was, most of them were smart enough to keep their opinions to themselves and the ones whose opinions were more commonly known were out of the country so they didn't have to face the reactions of the wizarding public to their 'betrayal'.
There was also the chance that Harry had not yet received memories of his past life, which could lead to a mess. And, of course, there was the possibility that they did manage to talk to Harry who had Salazar's memories but was driven mad by the dementors or wouldn't listen to any of them. It was fear of this last option that made him continue searching; trying harder to get things done faster.
And then there was this Cobra character. It sounded suspiciously like Salazar but Cobra had never shown up where he or one of the other founders happened to be; despite the fact that they were all Order members. In fact, they were the only ones that had yet to get a glimpse of the mysterious fighter. Even the newest Order member, a spy by the name of Damon Faunus, had seen the elusive fighter; even nearly gotten hexed by him if Faunus' story was to be believed. Without seeing him, there was no way for the founders to make even a guess at Cobra's identity and, anyways, Harry was locked up in Azkaban behind all sorts of wards, not that Draco had been allowed close enough to the place to check up on these alleged wards; no, a Death Eater's son would never be allowed near such a place without Dementors guarding him and the last of Salazar's protection had faded away with Godric's death. A couple seconds with them had him reliving Salazar's banishment and the months of despair afterwards. It wasn't something he could stand against with pure bravery, not that he hadn't tried to several times.
The list of people who believed Harry was alarmingly short. Alastor (Mad-eye) Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, and a handful of Weasleys were all he could get to join his group. He was looking into some others, mainly Remus Lupin, but his hopes weren't high. Lupin had made his opinion of his best friend's son well known during and after the trial and, anyways, he was off in some obscure forest trying to track down some werewolves. Draco had eventually managed to drag Snape into their group, though the older man had protested loudly and continuously at first.
With so little support it was very unlikely that he would be granted so much as a visit to Harry Potter's cell within the next couple of years. And time was something that he worried that he did not have.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"Aaah!" Bran Fiachra yelped rather loudly as he pitched forward, momentum bringing him towards the ground faster than his rather horrible reflexes could catch up with.
Just before he landed on his face a helping hand came swooping down, grabbing his left elbow with a yank that twisted his whole body sideways, postponing his inevitable fate and allowing him to remain unharmed; right arm dragging across the smooth, regularly spelled clean, floor. He looked up to see who had saved him and his face burned with shame.
"Auror Tonks!" He scrambled to his feet, bowing his head, unable to stop the blush from spreading across his cheeks at his embarrassment. That he had been saved by Nymphadora Tonks would be the talk of the Ministry for several days. After all, who would the clumsiest auror catch but the clumsiest ministry worker on record? The only one who had been booted out of basic defensive training on his first day for sheer clumsiness, despite his dream to become an auror, his last chance relying on passing that class? The laughingstock and disgrace (and often scapegoat) of the ministry?
"I told you, Bran, you don't have to use titles. It's just Tonks," the auror reminded him cheerfully, but she frowned, "Is something wrong? You look a bit down."
"No, no; I'm fine," Bran reassured her. She had taken pity on his clumsiness and crushed dreams and had become something of a friend to him. Bran hated it. Tonks was nice and all but he didn't want a friend out of pity.
"It doesn't look that way. Now spill, what's got you so upset? You're clumsier than usual and that's saying something." Typical tactless Tonks.
He frowned at her,
"I'm fine!"
"No, you're not!" She squinted down the way he had come, "That's Fud…The minister's office, isn't it? What happened…You're job…"
"I've been promoted," Bran spat bitterly.
Tonks blinked,
"Well, that's good then…"
"Yes, it is, isn't it?" But the bitter tone didn't fade, "Congratulations, I've now been promoted to the ministry's official scapegoat. Yay. Joy. Can't you just feel my excitement?"
"Surely it isn't…It's not like that…I mean…" Tonks didn't seem to know what to say to that statement, "I…What do you mean?"
"I'm now the minister's personal assistant and honorable transcriber. Which means I'm to blame if he forgets something at home or looses an important paper. Not to mention, I have to be at his side every second, recording everything he and others around him say (during meetings, official partied the minister attends, and of course any trials he is forced to attend as well) and I'll be blamed if I don't tamper with it to make Fudge seem like a hero to the whole world. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going home. It's been a long day."
He pushed past her roughly and headed towards the elevators and jabbed angrily at the down button. It used to amuse him how the old-fashioned ministry would use something so…Muggle as an elevator, complete with buttons, but now he was just annoyed. The elevator arrived and he got in, soon completely out of Tonks' sight, leaving her to stare bemusedly at the now-closed, gleaming elevator doors.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Cobra was practically flying as he ran around; trying to make sure that everything had been done. His two prisoners, Pettigrew and the girl, had to be taken care of, select memories removed and others enhanced, just in case. Then, of course was setting up the other part just right. He changed his face to that of an average-looking brown-haired, hazel-eyed man and pulled on a Death Eater's cloak and mask before yanking the hood and mask off so his face was clearly visible. He stopped in front of a mirror for a second to make sure that he looked disheveled enough, he grabbed a pinch of powder from a fancy box and tossed it into the fireplace. Shouting an address, he stuck his head in the suddenly-emerald flames.
"Dumbledore!" He gasped, as soon as he recognized the Order Headquarters, "You'd better come quick! Rafendest! He's attacking! Voldemort!" Cobra, now Damon Faunus, the Order's newest member (and now their only spy, which is why nobody realized that he didn't actually belong to Voldemort's army), sat back, with a panicked look, appreciating the sudden flurry of panic. "I've gotta go!" he shouted, "He's calling!" He pulled his head back out of the fire and paused to catch his breath.
"And what are you doing?" asked an all too cheerful and relaxed voice from the entrance.
Cobra glared half-heartedly at the wall in front of him, not even bothering to look and see who it was,
"All of your dirty work."
"Your bitter words pierce my heart," the other voice said dramatically, "Really." He added unconvincingly when Cobra failed to look convinced.
"I have captured the Rat and the Traitor. Pissed off Voldie while I was at it. I have floo-called the Order and am ready to hand them over to Dumbledore."
"You never did tell me what you had to do to get them to trust you enough to join the Order," the voice from the doorway mused. Cobra scowled at the other's lack of response to the other news.
"Just a connection or two. I didn't have to do much."
"So they just let you into the Order?" The other sounded surprised, "Well, the quality has dropped since the last time I was there, it seems."
"They need all the help they can get," Cobra said smugly, "Especially spies, ever since Voldemort discovered Severus."
"He'll kill you if he knows you're referring to him by first name," the other voice warned, sounding slightly amused, "Anyways, are you sure you want to do this? Are we sure? We won't be able to keep a close eye on the others for a while…"
"It's all part of the plan and the lapse is only temporary," Cobra said, "And the whole point was to be neutral. I give Dumbles some information of Voldie and then make him think that I'm giving some information to Voldie. Keep 'em confused. Anyways, we've already set the plan into motion. There's no time for doubts."
"You're right. Anyway, need any help?"
"You just stay here and don't touch anything. Not a thing. Okay?"
"Aw man…and I just got back from 'work' too…" He could hear the attempted puppy-dog eyes, "Please?"
"No."
"You guys never let me do anything," the other person muttered, "Bunch of control freaks."
"We have good reasons. Now go sulk or something."
Harry Potter grinned at him from the doorway and walked off to do precisely that.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"Godric…" Helga started, but sighed when she realized that her fellow founder wasn't listening to her.
The other founder was quiet, determination mixed with an almost crazed sort of…energy…wrapped around the Gryffindor as he pulled on a dark red cloak. Still silent, he left through the large doors of the castle, setting off in search of his departed friend. He had been doing the same thing every night for over a year. The rest of the castle didn't take so long to adjust to Slytherin's absence. The Slytherins seemed prepared and strangely resigned to Sal's departure and elected their own Head of Slytherin. Though the original Founders had little to do with the graduated Slytherin, they allowed him to stay and teach and he remained polite to them, speaking for the other Slytherins if it was needed. Rowena could see a sort of hierarchy forming and was glad. Some of the other students celebrated, laughed, and jeered at Slytherins in general but were quickly shut up. Salazar had had students loyal to him in every house.
Hogwarts was quiet; eerily so. It was grimmer than the cheerful, bubbly school that it had been before. House rivalries were silent but tense, as if every meeting between members of different houses was a fight waiting to happen. Godric, after continued months of finding nothing on his friend, became obsessed with any news that might have been connected to him. The other two founders searched and grieved, looking desperately for any hint that could lead them to Salazar, through books and word-of-mouth but still, even after a year, there was nothing.
And the castle remained that way for several more weeks until the dubious peace was shattered by an attack on the school by the Dark Lady.
Godric slashed through a curse with his sword, causing it to disappear, as he pressed forward towards the leader of the Dark wizards. For now she was their last remaining clue as to where Salazar had disappeared. Or at least they could figure out why she had put so much effort into making him do so. His eyes widened as a red curse (the red curse, incidentally, also called the Cruciatus curse by some) got past his defenses and brushed his arm, sending pain throughout his whole body.
"Lovely curse, isn't it?" a voice hissed in his ear, causing him to swirl around, slashing his sword at whoever had gotten so close to him, but there was nothing there.
The voice laughed,
"I invented it, you know. I invented them for a reason, too. Especially the one I used on you when we first met," Godric's eyes went wide as he realized who the owner of the voice was. "I wanted to use it on my dear cousin first but I'm afraid his mind magics were a little too advanced to risk it."
"Cousin?" Godric breathed.
"The one you banished, you foolish boy," the Dark Lady taunted, "Or do you forget the one they called Salazar Slytherin?"
o0o0o0o0o0o0o
The Order returned to their Headquarters, feeling triumphant. Never mind that the illusive 'Cobra' had done most of the work for them (and all before they arrived), they had managed to scare away the remaining Death Eaters and even managed to catch two (courtesy Damon Faunus but, as he was pretending to be a Death Eater at the time, nobody noticed) and now they were happily marching their captives back Headquarters to interrogate them. They wouldn't torture them, of course, (such brutal and effective methods were left to the Death Eaters, though in the Death Eaters' hands, torture wasn't an effective method at all, because, of course, all of the Order was unfailingly loyal to Dumbledore and would never reveal anything) and instead used Veritaserum (illegal, yes, but fail-proof…because it was Veritaserum, right, infallible in all it's super-potion glory).
Then came the unmasking, like children unwrapping their presents on Christmas in front of their parent's proud eyes. Everyone huddled around and made appropriate noises. The first was Pettigrew, which caused quite a commotion, and the second one was…
"Cho?" Ron squeaked, obviously puzzled why the girl he had been dating for months behind his wife's back was sitting there in a Death Eater's robes.
The girl was, of course, too drugged by the Veritaserum to reply more than a monotone 'yes'.
Hermione stared suspiciously at her husband for a second before turning back to the girl. Then came the questioning, the rowdy Order members shouting questions and accusations at the Death Eaters in front of them, as well as each other for good measure.
Damon zoned out halfway through the captured Death Eater's listing of all the crimes that they ever committed, everything that they knew of Voldemort's activities, and all the names of the Death Eaters that they knew (in no particular order and, yes, both at the same time for some unknown reason), from stealing a toy from a friend when they were three to helping Voldemort frame Harry to the fact that they knew that Damon Faunus was giving information to Voldemort directly from the Order.
The last two caused a sudden hush and, as they stared at each other and them at Damon, he leapt to his feet, making a wild run across the table for the fireplace. Dumbledore shot a spell at his back but Damon tripped and it missed and the various transfigured items hardly hindered him as he slid down the table. Several Order members attempted to grab him and Moody came fairly close, along with quite a few nasty hexes from the old auror and the Weasley twins but nothing hit him as he grabbed a pinch of Floo powder and dove, head-first, into the fireplace. His face being flat against the back of the fireplace, none of the Order could hear just what he said before he disappeared.
He fell out of the fireplace at the feet of a bemused Harry Potter, his muffled sniggers turning into howling laughter as he rolled, soot-stained and food-spattered on the smooth floor.
"I haven't had that much fun in ages!"
o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"What is the meaning of this?" the man was angry, no doubt about it. Conall Silvia had every right to be angry, of course and Terra mentally cursed herself for daring to bring Sali to her small tent in the camp. It was a harmless visit, a celebration of Sali's birthday…Or at least it was supposed to be. She hadn't expected the pack leader to be hanging around her 'house', especially today of all days. Why, oh why, did it have to be the one day that she had invited a friend over, something that was forbidden amongst the pack?
"Silvia…I can explain…"
"What reason could you possibly have for bringing a human into the camp? What were you thinking, you foolish girl! Were the last seventeen moves since your arrival too soft on you? Well, Miss Lyall?"
Terra couldn't seem to form a sentence properly. She just gaped for a moment and stared down at the floor in shame. There was silence for a minute before Sali cleared his throat pointedly. There was no malice in the sound, nothing to make Silvia react as he did. The head of the pack whirled around, snarling, in a defensive stance.
They stared at each other for a minute, some hidden, newfound malice seemed to make the air crackle with electricity…Or magic. Suddenly Silvia let out a growl and swiped at Sali. Nature had hardened the werewolf's softness, the ones typical to most humans; his nails were rough and jagged and would have hurt quite a lot, had it hit an ordinary human. Fortunately, Sali was not ordinary, nor did the attack ever reach him.
Terra didn't know what happened next. One moment Sali was there, in the path of the attack and the next…he wasn't. He was only standing a few feet further back but there seemed no movement involved…Had he moved quicker than she could see? Unlikely, she was a werewolf and with her heightened senses (sight, or the ability to detect the movement in the air around them…even hearing the fabric of Sal's robes rustle) she would have noticed such a move. Sali just stood there, cool and unruffled as ever. The shadows around him seemed to be…shifting agitatedly, curling protectively around Sali. Terra blinked and shook her head slightly. The shadows still seemed to be moving.
Silvia looked a bit thrown off by the sudden disappearance but otherwise unruffled, though underneath hostile manner changed to outright malice.
"Shadowalker." It was a statement, calm and colder than ice.
"Werewolf." Sali's reply was just as level but lacking the hatred that filled the other's voice.
"What brings you here, to werewolf territory?" The words were civil but the tone was not.
"Oh, just visiting a friend," Sali replied breezily, "We were going to have a little birthday party down by the lake but I was interested in seeing your little village. Werewolf civilization is much more interesting than all the human or vampire politics."
"I'd have thought you were much more interested in vampires…Close cousins and all. Why are you really here? Who are you; I thought the last of the shadowalkers died out centuries ago."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Sali Azar Slythurn and as for your comment regarding shadowalkers…It is a common misconception but you are mistaken. Werewolves fascinate me because, unlike vampires, they have to try very hard to fit into wizarding society, simply because they are easier to detect. Wizards are idiots, as we probably both know."
"And what does a Shadowalker," Silvia spat the name, his voice full of hatred, "Want with us werewolves?"
"As I said before, I'm just visiting a friend." Sali said lightly. His open innocence and playful nature seemed to have the same effect on Silvia as it did on Terra; she could see his stone-hard mask of disdain and hatred erode away slowly with every word.
"Be gone from this camp. I shall let you off easy this time. But be warned: if I see you near any members of my pack or in our territory ever again, the consequences will be dire. Terra, come with me."
"Please don't punish her too harshly," Sali asked, "It was my fault, really." And he vanished. This time Terra could see the quickest flash of darkness as the shadows gathering around Sali's feet surged upward and vanished suddenly, taking Terra's friend with them. She stared at the place that he had been standing just moments before with awe-filled eyes.
Silvia turned to Terra,
"I don't want you talking with that boy ever again."
"Why not?" Terra asked, suddenly defiant, "He's my friend!"
"He's a Shadowalker!" Silvia spat.
"So what? And what exactly is a Shadowalker anyways?"
Silvia sighed,
"I'd forgotten that you were just recently bitten. You are a muggleborn, correct?
"What does it matter?" Terra asked defensively.
Silvia sighed again,
"Shadowalkers play a part in many wizarding folktales. As the antagonist."
"And there are many "big bad wolves" in Muggle literature. So what?"
"They're very closely related to vampires, who are werewolves' enemies by nature. Shadowalkers are said to have been extinct for hundreds of years."
"So the history books were wrong. Big deal. And he's not a vampire, is he? He's a Shadowalker, though you still haven't explained to me what they are."
"They are beings with the power to control shadows. As means of transportation, as weapons…the full range of their powers is unknown; they're a very secretive race. Werewolves have no better a history with them than we do with vampires. Do you think you know his face? Shadowalkers are shapeshifters; the face you know could be his or it could belong to somebody else…or it could simply be made up. You think he's your friend? Their feelings are as vague and fleeting as the shadows they control.
He is not to come back to this camp and you will not meet with him anywhere else. It would be best for you to just forget about him. No good will come of continued contact between him and the pack."
But Sali continued coming to the camp, despite Silvia's warnings. In fact, neither Silvia nor Terra knew of it for several weeks. By the time Silvia found out about it, it was far too late to do anything; the whole camp had fallen in love with the boy. He was their favorite nephew or grandson or big brother and, had he even tried to say anything about getting rid of the boy, Silvia was sure that the whole camp would revolt against him, which was a disturbing thought, considering the whole pack's loyalty to Silvia. The triumphant gleam in the Shadowalker's eyes, imagined or not, would haunt the pack leader for a long time afterwards. Terra was annoyed her friend had not told her anything about his secret visits but was glad that she could once again talk to her friend.
Sali did his best to help out the pack and even Silvia couldn't deny that the help was much appreciated. With Sali's permission and reassurance (and under his direction) they started to expand the camp and began building actual houses. He traveled between the camp and the magical world, selling things such as werewolf fur as potions ingredients and homemade dolls and other objects as collectors' items for money which he then used to buy food and various much-needed supplies for the pack. He was working to starting a fundraiser for werewolves in general and researching wizarding law in hopes to be able to fight for more werewolf rights and still found the time to start teaching the young magical werewolves how to do basic magic (along with some of the older ones who never learned and still wished to). He was everything that the werewolves ever dreamed of and still continued to surpass their expectations every day.
So why did Terra get the feeling that he would be leaving the camp, perhaps for good, sometime in the near future?
o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Back in the place he had claimed as his house, Harry smiled. It was all going according to plan. He would see if the wizarding world was worth saving
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Sorry for suddenly introducing some random characters, I hope it wasn't too boring or confusing. Next chapter – the trial! May or may not come before a Dark Angel update…Well, considering how long I've wanted to write that part…It's pretty decided that I'll be working on the trial next. I'll try Dark Angel, though.
Oh, and the part with the Order meeting and interrogation…I wrote that at three in the morning, when I just wanted to get this chapter out. So it might be kind of messed up. If it's really bad, I'll redo it.
Review? I like reviews…Especially when people say what parts they liked/disliked but…they really do make me feel guilty when I haven't updated in a while…Well, otherwise we wouldn't have this chapter quite so soon.