Title: Harry Potter and the Orb of Souls
Author: SerafinaMoon
Date: April 22, 2005
Summary: Voldemort has discovered a new weapon—the Orb of Souls. With it, he has discovered a way to purge the world—with their only savior.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, any of its characters, or themes. I will not profit from this story except receiving enjoyment of your questions, comments, and input on this work.
Claimer: I do, however, own this story and its plot and any Original Characters that I may use during the duration of the story making process.
A/N- The much awaited chapter 10, when Naito has to answer to Voldemort for what he did in Hogsmeade...I hope you enjoy...Hazel, this is the one w/the torture scene I was telling you about.
Chapter 10: Halloween
Tension filled the air so much that it was almost palpable. Students huddled in groups, conversing in hushed tones at what was about to take place.
For them, it was one of the most terrifying experiences they would ever have to face.
Asking the girl or guy they liked out to the Halloween ball that had been announced about a week prior.
After the attack on Hogsmeade, it had been relayed to the students that they would no longer be able to go to the all-wizarding town near the school. To placate all the angry upperclassmen, Dumbledore had decided to host a Halloween ball to make up for the loss, as well as several other exciting activities at different times around the calendar.
Naito merely rolled his eyes at everyone's behavior and continued walking down the hall. Ever since he had saved Ron, Naito had been distant and antisocial with everyone except the Gryffindor Trio and Draco. He knew when he defied the Death Eaters that he would have to be punished for his insubordinate actions.
Unfortunately, that time had come for him to pay for it.
That Halloween, the same night as the party, was a Friday—the day Naito had to report to one of his Death Eater "superiors."
While everyone else would be having fun, enjoying childhood, Naito would be tortured and once again made aware of where he stood in the Dark Lord's army.
Naito sighed, why could he not just be normal like everyone else? Had he been such a terrible person before he lost his memory that he was destined to suffer in his new life?
"Oh, excuse me!" some third year Hufflepuff said as she bumped into him, racing down the corridor with her friends.
Natio nodded at the girl and continued on, hoping to find something he could use to distract himself from the fear that was rising up within him.
He finally found his distraction in the form of his Head of House. Professor Snape swept through the corridor, his black robe billowing out behind him. Naito smirked at the sight, struggling to hold back a laugh as everyone in the hallway quickly made themselves scarce at the sight of those daunting robes.
Maybe Naito should charm his robes to act like that too just to scare everyone off when he wanted to be alone. He certainly could do an accurate imitation of the Potion's Master. Naito decided against it on account of how he wanted everyone to trust him, not cower in fear every time he walked by.
"Mr. Koori!" Snape snapped, "You will accompany me to my office immediately!"
"Yes, Professor," Naito sneered, the smirk never leaving his face.
Snape's eyes narrowed at him in a fierce glare, but Naito ignored him, looking serenely down the hall, his slow gait belying his eagerness for a talk with his teacher.
After his talk with Dumbledore, Naito had gone to Snape, telling him about what he had done and the mixed feelings he had of the situation. Being the only other person (that Naito knew of) to make the decision to turn against the Dark Lord, Naito felt secure in his confidence of the Potion's Master.
For the moment, he appeared to not be taking sides on the matter and was just letting him make the decision for himself instead of trying to influence him one way or the other.
After he had overheard the conversation between Snape and Dumbledore about him, he knew not to doubt Snape's discretion to the Headmaster on the matter.
While he did not spill all of his deepest, darkest secrets with the man, Naito did explain certain trying situations to him and had come to respect the advice he was given.
Naito was broken out of his musings by the slamming of a door, from what sounded like anger but was really just a cover, by the object of his thoughts.
Snape cast strong silencing charms and wards around his room, probably to make sure no one was able to disturb them as Naito already knew that Snape's door was automatically warded whenever the door was closed, and sat down in the chair behind his desk.
"Are you ready for the evening's activities?" the Professor asked and Naito knew he was not talking about the Halloween ball.
Naito put up his best "game face" but knew that the professional Legilimens would see through it even without a reading. Snape was a spy and would automatically note the slight shaking of his arms, the stiffness in his shoulders, and the clenched jaw muscles.
"There is going to be a meeting tonight," the spy informed him. "I have been instructed to bring you with me to the meeting and you will be dealt with there."
Naito winced and tried to cover it with a jerk of his head.
"Great," Naito muttered under his breath, "nothing like an audience to perform for."
"You will be expected to submit to Legilimency. Will you be able to sustain your barriers?"
"Hopefully," was Naito's quiet reply, "He usually is able to tell if I'm trying to trick him by placing a shield inside a shield."
Snape nodded and stood up, coming around his desk to face Naito. Gesturing for Naito to get up, the Professor took out his wand. Warily, the Slytherin boy and brought out his to bear as well.
The Professor shook his head and Naito reluctantly put his away. He did not like to make it easier for people to attack him more than necessary. Not having his wand in hand when someone else's was clearly directed at him unnerved him greatly, although he did not let it outwardly show.
"What are you doing, Professor?"
"I'm going to teach you how to hide your second shield so that it will not be detected when the Dark Lord probes your mind."
"How?"
"You will see."
The Potion's Master gave a flourish of his wand to announce his intentions and muttered, "Legilimens!"
At first Naito fought hard against the intrusion into his mind, but then he felt a gentle nudging against his barriers, not a barraging attack, but more like a soft caress, seeking entrance, offering a calm reassurance.
Hesitantly, Naito punctured a small hole in the shield, allowing only a little of the soothing presence into his mind, but steadily widening the hole so that the whole being was allowed in.
No peeking, he requested and he felt the foreign presence give its acquiescence.
While the form looked around at Naito's inner workings, it did not pry into his memories and personal space. Instead, it seemed to be inspecting the strength of the wards erected around Naito's mind, every once in a while pushing against the shields and gauging its reactions.
Your barriers are well constructed, the form said, but they lack the subtlety needed to keep from being noticed.
Naito sent a feeling of confusion to the being and it continued to explain.
While you may have the strength needed to fight against an attack, you do not have your shields shielded. Do you understand?
As the Dark Lord's spy, you are expected to be completely open and honest with him. He will want you to allow your memories to be freely accessible to him, not blocked off to where he cannot tell if you are telling him the truth or not.
While you need to be able to keep him out of your thoughts, it is also important to keep him from noticing that you are keeping him out of your thoughts. At the moment, you have made it no secret that you are holding up a shield.
What you want is to maintain that shield without him knowing that you are doing it, disguise the fact that you even have the shield up to begin with. To do that you need to shield your shield.
All of a sudden it clicked in Naito's mind what the Professor was saying, but how did one shield a mental shield?
How do I do that, Professor?
By hiding it behind whatever mental image you choose. But remember, the form you decide on must be subtle, something that would not be easily noticed.
It took a moment of thinking, but Naito finally conjured up some fog in front of his second shield.
Good, now you want to put enough memories, sometimes false memories in front of that image to throw off suspicion. Now whenever you open up your first shield, your second one will be hidden behind those memories and the fog will keep it from being detected.
So the memories are more like a diversion than anything else? Naito thought curiously.
Yes, just something to divert suspicion. Do you wish for me to test it from the outside now to be sure you are ready?
Yes please.
With that, Naito let Snape back through his barriers and out into his own body (not that he had ever left it).
When they were both ready, Snape again cast Legilimens and this time he nodded his head in approval when he was finished.
"That is good, you would not know that you were still shielding even if you knew where or what to look for. I do believe you are ready to face the Dark Lord."
Both of them glanced at the clock on the mantle across the room in the Potion Master's office and noticed the late hour.
"We had best leave the castle before it is encased by total chaos, the like of which Albus insists upon."
"Better the chaos within the castle than that without," Naito said, sounding strangely philosophical.
Naito's Professor gave him a searching look before stating, "That was exactly how Albus put it."
Naito's eyes widened in surprise and he turned to look at the man behind him.
Snape merely ignored him and continued past Naito to the door, sweeping it open and gesturing for Naito to precede him outside.
Together they walked up from the dungeons and out the great double doors onto the lawn.
They walked swiftly side-by-side down the grassy slope in an amenable silence.
As they passed the Whomping Willow, Naito noticed how its dark branches swayed eerily from side to side as if irritated by something. The sight seemed to trigger a memory in Naito's mind that gave way to another one of his visions.
They were shrouded in darkness, creeping through a tunnel. Several of the figures in front of him were familiar looking—Ron, Hermione, Remus Lupin from the Order...and Severus Snape who was being levitated by a man that he could only see the back of. The man had long, black hair; his robes were torn and soiled and hung loosely around the man's thin frame.
They were edging awkwardly along the tunnel in a single file, a ginger colored cat in the lead. The man in front of him, who was still making Snape drift along ahead of them, kept bumping his lolling head on the low ceiling. He had the impression that the man was making no effort to prevent this.
Suddenly, the man turned around, looking right at him. His face was pale and gaunt; he had the look of someone that had been locked up as a prisoner for a long time—the sunken cheeks, dead eyes, and sullen look on his face giving clues to the man's past.
His face seemed to stir up something within Naito's mind and tickle at the back of his conscious. The feeling became stronger the longer he looked at this man; soon it was no longer a tickle, but a barraging, enraged awareness that had come alive and was struggling to break out of its cage.
As quickly as the feeling came, it was suppressed by a forceful presence at the back of his mind. Naito paid it no heed as the vision continued...
"You know what this means?" the hoarse, scratchy voice of the stranger asked. "Turning Pettigrew in?"
"You're free," Naito heard himself say.
"Yes...," said the man. "But I'm also—I don't know if anyone ever told you—I'm your—"
The vision blurred and warped, attempting to linger and reveal more of his past. Naito could feel the vision literally fighting against something in the back of his consciousness, but could do nothing to keep the vision from slipping away and fading to blackness.
Naito blinked rapidly.
His vision had been trying to tell him something that time, he had felt something that time that he had not felt any of the other times and knew that if whatever had been fighting it off had not persisted he would have regained his memories...he just knew it!
Naito forcefully shook himself as Snape hissed in pain through tightly clenched teeth and grasp his left arm firmly. Trying not to show any emotion, Naito turned frigid aquamarine eyes on his Professor and raised a questioning eyebrow.
Snape nodded to him and they hurried toward the Apparation point, swiftly disappearing from Hogwarts grounds and reappearing in a large, stonewalled chamber with a familiar sinister throne amongst several black cloaked, white masked Death Eaters.
They all hurriedly assembled themselves before their lord, one coming up after the other to kiss the hem of his robes, murmuring a respectful, "Master" and returning to their place.
The last of these was Naito.
As he tried to return to his proper place, the Dark Lord laid an ice-cold hand on his shoulder, preventing him from rising to his feet.
"Naito, my young knight, are you my faithful servant?" Voldemort asked, his hissing voice dangerously low.
Naito suppressed a shudder, that low voice of his was even more frightening than a screaming dark lord; it promised intense pain and torture in his near future.
"Yes, my Lord. Always. You know I serve-"
Naito was cut off as Voldemort continued, "Then why did you resist my Death Eaters in the attack at Hogsmeade? Even if you were unaware that an attack would take place, you should have heeded my faithful servants' wishes and helped them...not our enemy!"
Uh oh. I don't know how I'm going to get myself out of this one. He said 'should have heeded my faithful servants' that means he thinks I'm not loyal! I've got to think of something good if I want to survive the night.
Somewhere, he knew Severus Snape was watching him intently. This was not only a test of his loyalty to Voldemort, this was also a test to see how good of a spy he was by the older man. If he failed this, there would be no one to help him. Snape would want him to be able to take care of himself, and indeed he would. He could not lose it all now when he had finally uncovered information on the Orb of Souls.
Forcefully collecting himself, Naito, inwardly wincing, said, "I thought I was."
There was a moment of silence as everyone in the room digested this. Naito was sure that, like him, everyone else in the room was waiting on baited breath for the Dark Lord's reaction.
They did not wait long...
That dangerous voice of Voldemort's went even lower... "What! Explain yourself!"
"Yes, Master. You told me before I even left for Hogwarts that it was my duty to gain the respect of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger and find out any and all information I could. Despite all of my attempts they have resisted and kept themselves distant from me.
"Suddenly, after a month of not hearing anything from you and without any forewarning, there is an attack at Hogsmeade and I understood. Since I had been unable to gain their trust and comply with your wishes, you had sent Death Eaters to attack the town and go after the two Weasleys and Granger to give me the perfect opportunity to prove to them that I was on their side.
"I took the opportunity you had so graciously provided and protected them from your servants and now I have gained the trust of the Gryffindors at long last. If I had only been made aware of the attack beforehand and known the true intentions of my Master, I would not have made such a grievous error."
Naito waited for Voldemort's reply, his head bowed and his form the absolute picture of submission.
When Naito thought he could not wait any longer, Voldemort removed his hand from Naito's shoulder and used his finger to lift up Naito's chin so that ice blue eyes met and held the blazing red of his master's.
Naito knew Voldemort was searching his mind and felt as he encountered his first mental barrier.
"Lower your Occlumency shield, Night."
Naito knew it was not a request, but a command.
Using the Occlumency techniques Snape had taught him before they left, Naito hid his second shield behind a wall of fog and put up false memories of the attack and other inconsequential instances as a distraction.
Lowering his first shield, Naito allowed Voldemort to search his "memories" of the incident and finally pull back, finally satisfied with Naito's loyalties.
"Even if you thought you were abiding by my wishes, you were not and managed to ruin an operation that has been planned for months. You have failed me again and I will not tolerate such failures from you.
"I trained you myself to find out information about certain parties and you have yet to succeed after a month. Now that you have the assurance of the Gryffindor's trust in you, you will gather information for me and if you cannot get them to talk to you, I want you to find creative ways of discovering what I want. Do you understand?"
Naito and all of the Death Eaters could hear the underlying threat "or else" echoing in that sentence and Naito knew that Voldemort had been referring to his unique Animagus ability when he said "creative ways." If Naito did not start passing on information to Voldemort's Death Eaters at his weekly meetings, Naito knew he would be taken out of Hogwarts and brought back to the Dark Lord's sanctuary to stay.
"Yes, Master."
"Good. Now for your punishment. Crucio!"
The Death Eaters looked on eagerly, most of them, as Naito writhed and screamed under the curse for five minutes before finally being released.
Naito lay panting in the floor after he was released, knowing that the Dark Lord had been unleashing his anger on his servant for failure.
Weakly, Naito struggled to regain his feet and berated himself fiercely when he fell back down and again as he swayed when he actually managed to regain his equilibrium.
"Ganmou. Take Naito for the duration of the meeting and demonstrate our displeasure of his failure."
The Japanese man stepped out of the circle of followers from beside Bellatrix Lestrange and grasped both his arms tightly from behind. Naito saw the disappointment in his neighbor's eyes when it registered she would not be able to watch, much less help out.
Resisting the urge to just transform and escape it all, Naito tromped along in front of his caretaker, unable to move farther than a hair's breath away from the man due to the tight grip Ganmou had on his arms.
Naito bit his lip nervously as they approached the torture room, the room used by the Death Eaters to torture their victims until they died or gave up whatever information the Death Eaters were trying to get out of them.
During his time as Voldemort's trainee spy, Naito had spent many hours in the torture room, which had quickly been labeled by him "The Punishment Room." Not very creative on his part, but it had been after the first time he had been punished and he had been slightly delirious with blood loss before Shrinket had been able to fix him up.
Naito hated that room; Ganmou was always very creative in his punishments, knowing all of his weak points and doing just what he knew would torment Naito the most.
They came to a stop as Ganmou magically waved the door opened and thrust Naito into it, making him stumble slightly and work to regain his footing as the Japanese man closed the door with an ominously resounding thump.
Naito's eyes widened slightly as he turned around to see Ganmou advancing on him, his pitiless expression wiped of all emotion except an icy chill that sent shivers down Naito's spine.
He did not move as the man approached him, knowing it would be futile to run away; the door would have been warded against him and it would just lengthen his torment.
Ganmou muttered a string of Latin, but Naito, lost in his thoughts of what was going to happen, missed what was said, so it was entirely unexpected when Naito's back was slammed violently into the wall behind him, causing him to release a gasping breath of air.
When he managed to regain his footing from where he had fallen to the ground, Naito noticed that his legs were shaking. He had not hit the wall that hard, but Naito knew that was not why he was shivering...it was because he was scared.
Ganmou was a strict disciplinarian and his punishments were even more fearsome than Lucious Malfoy's and Bellatrix Lestrange's in Naito's mind. They just used the Cruciatus Curse repeatedly, but Ganmou had ways of making all of your fears a living nightmare and effectively crushing any hope into the dust.
The Japanese man's eyes were twin spears of ice as they pierced right through him with a look of disgust.
Before he knew what was going on, chains had appeared out of thin air and wrapped themselves around his wrists and feet, pulling him into the center of the room and stretching his arms and legs out so that he was immobile.
A second later, Naito's shirt was removed for him to keep it from getting ripped and soiled by the blood that was sure to be flowing from his back momentarily.
Knowing what was coming next, Naito bit the inside of his cheek hard to keep from crying out when the lashes began. It was one of Ganmou's favorite ways of starting out—whipping his victim like a common Muggle, only using magic to set the whip to its task. After that, he would sit back and watch, his ice blue eyes boring into Naito's soul, watching as he struggled not to let his weakness show.
Soon it became too much to hold in and Naito whimpered and groaned as the leather straps beat against his back. He wiggled his torso and hips around, trying to break free and just stop the blasted thing from hitting his back repeatedly.
"Hold still, boy; it will make things easier for you."
Naito paid no attention to him; he just wanted that thing to stop hitting him and if moving around might make it stop, that was what he would do.
Ganmou lifted an eyebrow, shrugged, and waved his wand again. Naito did not know what he had done until the stings on his back changed and became searing pieces of glass cutting into his skin.
His whimpers and groans turned into screams and shrieks of pain and he trashed aggressively against his restraints. He felt the blood from the wounds flowing in rivets down his back, drenching the waistband of his pants.
It was not too much longer before Ganmou tired of this and stopped the whip. Quicker than Naito would have thought possible, Ganmou shouted, "Electrify!" and he was plunged into agony as painful waves of electricity flowed through him, pillaging his nervous system and sending him into convulsions.
Before he could even register that the curse had been taken off of him, Naito found himself on the ground after the chains disappeared and he was left with nothing to support himself.
Naito took the time to collect himself as Ganmou had his back turned working on something that Naito could not see.
He wiped his face clean, embarrassed that he had been crying in front of the man and had not even known it.
When Ganmou turned back around, Naito was leaning against the wall where he had crawled over to sit down. Despite the fact that he knew it would do no good to run away, his body had taken over for him and had moved him as far away from the man as he could possibly get.
Ganmou walked over to the boy and unceremoniously hauled him up off the floor and over to where he had been preparing just seconds before. Not giving Naito any time to protest or get away, Ganmou stuffed Naito's head into a freezing tub of water and held him under.
Naito kept his eyes tightly shut and struggled to stay awake as darkness gathered at the edge of his vision. Just when he thought he would pass out from lack of air, Ganmou pulled his head back up and let him suck in gasping lungfuls of air before thrusting his head back under the water.
The Japanese Potion's Master kept this up until Naito went completely slack in his arms before dragging him out for the last time and discarding him onto the floor, vanishing the tub of water.
Ganmou gave Naito a few minutes to recover himself, and sat down to watch the boy regain his composure as he blearily blinked his eyes open, water dripping from his midnight black hair and running down his chest as it expanded every time Naito took a breath.
He just sat there, staring at Naito as he slowly rose and struggled to his feet, swaying dangerously and falling back down again.
His expressionless face was stoic and uncaring as he watched Naito's stubbornness and pride force him off the floor and onto wobbly legs.
"Transform into one of your canine or feline forms," Ganmou instructed.
Naito looked at him tiredly, but quietly did as he said and became a tan colored cat. He did not even bother trying to attack the man, knowing he would just use the Animagus reversal spell on him if he attempted it.
Naito waited warily as that menacing black wand was pointed in his direction. He had no idea what was coming next; Ganmou had never had him use one of his transformations when he had been punished before.
"Incendio!" Ganmou cried and a ball of flame shot out of his wand, lancing toward Naito and hitting its mark dead-on.
An unearthly shriek split the air as the fire consumed all the fur on Naito's back and quickly spread to the rest of him. Naito rolled on the ground wildly, trying viciously to extinguish the flames, but nothing he did eased the searing hot coals of fire as they ravaged his small cat body.
His shrieks and howls were piercing and pain-filled and continued for some while until Ganmou decided he could change back.
He lay on the ground, groaning and whimpering in pain again, not caring this time that tears were flowing unchecked down his pale cheeks.
He did not even acknowledge Ganmou throwing his shirt back at him except to cry out in pain as it touched his burnt skin.
He did notice, however, when the man squatted down beside him and pointed his wand at him again. Letting his body take over, Naito flinched away, but was too weak to do anything when the Potion's Master gripped his seared shoulder hard to prevent his escape.
Naito screamed in pain, but Ganmou did not remove his hand. Instead, he muttered a healing spell that completely covered Naito and began to heal the evidence of the burns, but let the pain of them remain.
"Get up and get dressed. There are some other clothes in the corner that were brought from your room. Put them on and hurry up, no dawdling."
Blushing and wincing at the same time, Naito realized that the rest of his clothes had been burnt off and quickly scrambled to tidy himself up as Ganmou fiddled with something at the other end of the room.
When Naito was finally presentable, his caretaker came over to him and gripped his forearms again in a painfully tight embrace.
Naito bit the other side of his cheek, making it bleed as he reigned in the urge to scream. Even though the burn marks were gone from his skin, the searing feeling of pain had not left him and even the touch of the light clothes against his skin was agony; Ganmou's grip on his charge's arms was unbearable.
Thankfully, Naito was distracted from his pain slightly once they neared the throne room and heard Voldemort talking to his Death Eaters about the Orb of Souls.
As they walked in, Naito heard the Dark Lord say, "...my sources have uncovered a clue as to the whereabouts of the Orb; therefore, Lucius, Bella, I want you to pick a team and go to Gringotts tomorrow to look for the Orb of Souls.
"Dumbledore will not expect an attack the day after Halloween. As a matter of fact...Avery, Nott, take a couple others with you and have fun with some Muggles. Create as much mayhem and chaos as you can, but don't get caught.
"That old fool will expect an attack tonight, so why don't we lower his suspicions, and therefore, when we attack again tomorrow he will not expect it."
Voldemort looked up from the rest of his servants to see Ganmou entering the room, Naito walking stiffly in front of him.
"Naito, my faithful servant, you will go with them to Gringotts and help them obtain what I seek," Voldemort practically sneered at him.
Oh great! Despite the fact that he went running around in my mind, he still doesn't trust me! And if I do anything with the Orb of Souls when we get to it, he'll know everything! Now what am I going to do!
"Yes, Master," Naito ground out between clenched teeth because of the pain.
Voldemort gave him a piercing stare before turning back to the other Death Eaters and dismissing them. As Naito turned to go back to Hogwarts with Snape, Voldemort called out one last thing to him.
"And, Naito..."
"Yes, Master?"
"If there is anyone waiting for my servants to give a counter attack, I'll know who it was that sent them."
Naito gritted his teeth and muttered in the calmest tone possible, "Yes, Master," before turning around and walking out of the immense castle Voldemort had commandeered as his own.
When they were outside, Snape turned to him, giving him a quick examination and said, "Are you able to Apparate back to Hogwarts."
Naito gave a jerky nod of his head and said, "I have to be; it hurts too much for other people to touch me."
Snape looked like he was about to say something, but instead he just vanished with the swish of a cloak and Naito soon followed suit. Together they walked up the steep slope to the castle, Naito's breathing becoming more labored with every step they took as Snape kept a critical eye on him the entire way.
"Would you like for me to assist you up to the Hospital Wing?" Snape casually inquired.
"NO! I can't have anyone know about me! My position is in jeopardy as it is. I can't have anyone jumping to certain conclusions about me either way. I'll be fine."
"If you wish. Would you care for some potions?"
Naito almost sighed in relief.
"Yes, please."
They trekked back to the castle in silence and after a small detour to the Potion Master's stores, they each went their separate ways.
As he lay in bed, almost asleep, Draco rolled over and noticed him.
"Where've you been? You missed a great party..."
Naito's face scrunched up miserably. Why could his life not just be easy for once? Would things ever go right for him or was he just cursed to be hapless?
These thoughts filled his mind as Naito drifted off into exhaustion-induced sleep.
(To Be Continued…)
A/N- Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I thought it was ok myself, but the way I see things and the way others do isn't always the same...Please let me know what you think!
Coming Up: The attack on Gringotts doesn't go quite as planned when Bellatrix Lestrange's group sets off an alarm bringing in Aurors and Professor Albus Dumbledore himself. Things become 'hairy' when Naito is discovered as the Dark Lord's spy in Chapter 11: Gringotts.
Review Responses:
Willow Evenstar: Yay! I'm so glad you liked it...it was really hard for me to write and I didn't think it was really that good of a fight scene myself after all the other ones I've read, but I'm really happy you like it! It gives me more confidence in my writing when ppl say things like that! EEK! I guess I'll have to stop then, I don't want to lose this story...
The-Lone-Marauder: aite! I will! Er...well, soon for me that is...
Nicky: Yay! You were able to read it! His memories were intentionally erased by Voldemort so he wouldn't remember his past, but he still remembered everything he learned, it was the actual happenings themselves that were removed...does that make any sense? Haha! I remember Uncle's voice too whenever someone tells me they have something else to tell me and I always hear, "One more thing..." lol...haha, I like your description of Draco's energetic presence! Voldemort's always wanted Harry to be his 'pet' and now that Naito is under his complete control...if you think that chapter was violent, I wonder what you think this chapter is...
logi: well, as to who will find out first who Naito really is...that can only be one person! Who's the most suspicious so far? I'm glad you like this story so much that you'll continue to read it!
Jin: Melissa was talking about the weird HP parody songs we wrote in P.E. class last yr...we've sang them b4, but I don't know if you've heard them...they're up at her profile page which is LadayoftheWood...
MagicmanSmokegirl: Lol! Bakura: yo! Lol! I love it! Just wait, Naito will get even more on the 'right' side in the next chapter...just you wait and see...
Professor Moony S. Padfoot: awesome name...Thanks so much for your kind words and hopefully this chapter will impress you as well!
I'd like to thank Jin Cheng for beta reading for me! You do an awesome job Jin Cheng! I love you Jin Cheng!