p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt; border: none; padding: 0in;"Hogsmeadebr /br /"Is everything ready?" Scythe /br /"Yeah." Cal smirks, "This should be fun. We've got a dozen of our guys in the village. Zane is there as well. What do you want to do with that guy in the shack?"br /br /"After you've captured the target, move him as well. He'll be her final test." scythe grins, "And now, we will commence the prelude to my greatest work!"br /br /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt; border: none; padding: 0in;"br /"I've got news." Reiji says calmly, stepping back through the wards, "It took a little while, but I found the end of that tunnel. It leads to a shack on the other side of the town. The wards are identical to the ones we used to cast when we were interrogating someone."br /br /"Then someone is still there." Eren says calmly, "what do we do?"br /br /Reiji takes his project and hands it to her, "Take this and find a good spot. Take the invisibility cloak. I'll try and covertly break down the wards. It'll take a little over an hour, but inferno's enemy is our friend. Some of the students are going into the village. Keep watch in case Scythe goes with them. We'll meet at the bar tonight, hopefully with our new friend."br /br /"Alright. I already have a spot in mind. Be careful." she smiles, pulling her wand out of its holster. br /br /"You too. Don't get caught. I'm taking an extra wand, since our new friend won't have one." br /br /"Take a few. The might be more than one." Eren says, strapping her new weapon around her back. br /br /"Got it."br /br /_br /br /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt; border: none; padding: 0in;""That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." Harry said, stretching his /br /"I'd have thought they'd push for every little detail, but the let you go with just a basic retelling." Susan smirked, "So, now all that left is to spend the day getting a sneak peek at what we should expect next year."br /br /"Actually..." Daphne says slowly, "Me and Harry were going to go on a date, so..."br /br /"I know." Susan laughs, "But I had to get you to say it. Besides, I was planning on going with Tori anyway."br /br /"Actually, I'm going on a date with Neville." tori smirks, sticking her tongue out at the older girl. br /br /"So I'm the only one without a boyfriend?" Susan gasps, "Damn!"br /br /"I'm available." Fred and George said at the same /br /"Did I forget to mention that auntie plans to attack my boyfriend to make sure that they're man enough to protect me?" Susan /br /"Now that I think about it, I'm going with Katie. Sorry!" Fred says quickly, running off towards the /br /"I'm sorry, but I can't cheat on Angelina no matter how much you beg!" George sighs, following his /br /Susan sighs dramatically, "I'll never find love!"br /br /"Have you tried a summoning charm?" Daphne jokes, making her snort with laughter. The four walk along the path and share a carriage riding into town. br /br /"What are these things?" Harry asks, staring at the bizarre horses tied to the /br /"What things?" Susan asks, climbing into the /br /"I think they're thestrals." Daphne says, sinking into her seat, "Mr. Flamel told me about them in passing. Apparently, you can't see them unless you've seen someone die."br /br /"Makes sense." Harry shrugs, "I've seen three people die. My grandparents and that guy who impersonated Sirius."br /br /"I'd rather not see them, if you don't mind." Susan huffed, and Daphne nodded in /br /The four enjoyed the view from the carriages, though they weren't very happy with the fact that the older students were walking instead of taking the carriage. "We'd have been there by now." Tori /br /The carriage landed easily and they disembarked. Susan gave them each a hug and ran through the streets. Harry took Daphne's hand as Tori giggled behind them, and the two walked into the village./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt; border: none; padding: 0in;"br /br /'How long have I been here?' Cyrus asked himself, shaking from the pain he'd /br /"Hey!" a voice /br /"Now I've really lost it." he sighs, "I'm hearing things and talking to myself..."br /br /"Are you in there?!" the voice yelled again, this time loud and /br /"I'm here!" he says /br /"Hold on just a little bit longer!" the voice yelled, "I'm breaking the wards down! You'll be out of there in no time. If they come back, don't let in that I'm here. They won't be able to feel me destroying the wards."br /br /"Alright." Cyrus says weakly, collapsing against the wall opposite the voice. 'It might just be my imagination, but better this then imagining what'll happen when they come /br /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt;"br /br /Harry was having the time of his life. He was on a real date with Daphne, exploring an all magical village where neither of them had ever been. Their first stop had been Zonko's. Daphne didn't see anything she wanted, but she did browse for ten minutes, making careful notes about where everything was and it's /br /Next, they went to Honeydukes sweet shop, where the met with both tori and Susan, both grinning wildly. Daphne hands Susan the list, and receives one in return. They each buy an assortment of chocolates, all on Harry's dime. Not that he minded, of course. br /br /Again the groups split. Harry took Daphne to a small restaurant next to the post office. The food was great and the price was reasonable, but most of all, Harry enjoyed talking with his Fiancée/Girlfriend. br /br /"Where to now?" Harry asks, belly full from the feast and the lunch. br /br /"We could go meet the others at the three broomsticks, or we could go to the shrieking-" she says before a loud explosion rips through the town. Harry has his wand drawn and looked towards the source. About two streets over, a large cloud of smoke was raising, along with the screams of the citizens beneath /br /"I say we go there!" Daphne says as the two run towards the scene. br /br /They found themselves back on Main Street and had to start dodging as a figure in black with a plain white mask started casting curses towards them. Harry returns with curses of his own, pushing the man back. Further back, about a dozen of the masked men were dueling with civilians or teachers. In the far back, dueling with Professor Giuseppe and professor Flitwick was the same woman who had killed his grandparents the summer /br /Despite the number advantage, Giuseppe and Flitwick were being pushed back. Giuseppe begins throwing more powerful curses, conjuring fire as he had against the memory of Voldemort. br /br /Harry was certain that she would flee, but she effortlessly dodges all the spells and turns the flaming Runespoor into a flaming lasso, which she uses to lasso Flitwick. No sooner does Giuseppe realize what had happened, and then the flaming wizard collides with him, knocking both of them to the ground. br /br /Harry runs forward and started casting the most powerful spells he could, but she kept dodging or blocking. Harry's concentration is broken by a bang in the sky. Chancing a glimpse up, he sees a firework explode out in a rain of color. br /br /This was the wrong move, as he is blasted backwards, smashing through the wall of the three /br /"You gotten better, Nephew." she sneers, "You might've had a chance if you hadn't gotten distracted." She walked towards him, wand out front. Harry's wand had fallen out of his hand when he crashed, leaving him defenseless. br /br /A red jet hit the approaching blond. "Stay away from him!" Daphne yelled, casting more spells. Getting over her initial surprise at the new combatant, Cal dodges effortlessly, grabbing her wand off the ground. Harry gasps as she begins firing killers, each narrowly missing her. br /br /"That's enough." a voice shouts, and a stream of black flames created a wall between them, "You will not harm my students!" br /br /Giuseppe was standing about twenty yards from them. Behind him, almost all of the teachers from the school, wands pointed at the group of attackers. Dumbledore made the first move, engaging three of the attackers at once. The remaining teachers went after the rest of the group, save Cal whose perpetual grin had disappeared in favor of a scowl. br /br /Giuseppe attacked her with vigor, pushing the killer backwards. He briefly overpowered her, but before long, it had turned into an ugly stalemate. br /br /"Get out of here!" Giuseppe shouted, blocking an incoming spell, "She's too much!"br /br /Harry nodded, and grabbed his wand, running between the fierce duels to Daphne. Dumbledore had dealt the final blow to his opponents, leaving them chained to the roof of a nearby house, and had joined McGonagall in her duel against a new opponent that appeared after they had. br /br /"Let's go!" Harry shouted, grabbing Daphne's hand. Behind him, he heard the sound of a body hitting the ground and turned to see Giuseppe lying on the ground, Cal standing above him. br /br /"Not bad, old man!" she laughed, "But you shouldn't have stuck your nose in business that doesn't involve you."br /br /Harry gasped as one by one, the remaining teachers were quickly dispatched by the blond haired monster. Only McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore were left. Snape had taken over for Dumbledore, who dueled furiously with her. br /br /"Daphne!" a weak voice called from behind them. Harry and Daphne turned around just in time for her to be embraced by a ragged looking old man. Harry gasped as he recognized him. Underneath the grizzly exterior, the scarred torso, Cyrus was still /br /"Daddy?" Daphne cried, pulling him into a strong hug. br /br /"You stay here." the brown haired man next to him said, handing him a wand, "I've got a score to settle with her."br /br /"Thank you..." Cyrus cries in his daughters shoulder. br /br /The man nods and runs into the fray. The men who had been defeated earlier were waking up, and tried to stop him. Moving as easily as Cal did, he dodged, and killed two of them with killing curses to the face. br /br /One of the other ones screamed, "Holy shit! He's the second phantom!" the brown haired man smiles grimly and stuns him as the rest start firing curses with reckless abandon. br /br /"Now!" he shouts and the air hissed. Almost faster than he could see, a flash of green hit one man in the chest. He falls as the rest turn to find the caster. Harry squints in the direction of the school. Another quick flash came from the top of the astronomy /br /"Sniper!" a man shouts before he is hit from behind. Two more flash hit their mark before most of the remaining attackers disapprate. The only battles left were a panting Dumbledore and a smirking Cal, and the masked assailant against an exhausted McGonagall and a wounded Snape. br /br /"Cal!" the brown haired man shouted. She looks and /br /"Reiji! You're dead!" br /br /"Not yet." he says, standing between them, "Let's settle this, one more time."br /br /She stares blankly at him, drawing a pistol from her waist. Reiji responds in kind, wand in his left, Beretta in his right. "Zane! We're going! We've already got what we needed. The last thing we want is to tangle with him and that other one in the tower. The only reason you're still alive is that building's blocking her line of sight."br /br /"Think I'll let you?" Reiji asks, removing the safety from his gun. br /br /"Try and stop me." she smirks, "We'll settle this later."br /br /Reiji aims, but slowly lowers, "Fine. Tell scythe that he's next."br /br /"Whatever." she shrugs, disapparating with a loud crack. Her partner follows suit without a word. br /br /McGonagall runs over to the aged headmaster, "Are you alright, Albus?"br /br /Dumbledore leans up against the wall, clutching his chest, "I'm not as young as I used to be, and she could have beaten Grindelwald. That's not important, what about the students?"br /br /"Most of them made it back to the school." Snape sighs, "I saw Pompfrey treating Longbottom on the way, and Potter was giving her a run for her money."br /br /"Good." he sighs, still clutching his chest, "Minerva, please escort them up to the school. Severus, get anyone that can still move and clear this debris. Some people may be trapped."br /br /McGonagall nodded and walked over to them, "Mr. Potter, Miss Greengrass, please come with me. And you are... Good heavens! Cyrus!"br /br /He laughs weakly, before coughing with the strain, "Hello, Professor. Sorry that I can't give you a hand..."br /br /"Cyrus, I'm glad you're alive." Snape smiles slightly, "Go with them and get yourself checked out. I'll clear this mess up."br /br /"I'll help as much as I can." Reiji sighs, waving his wand and clearing the rubble from a destroyed house, "It's been a long time, Professor McGonagall."br /br /She stares at him, smiles and nods, "it has, Reiji. I can't say I approve of your choice of spells. Some of them could have been captured."br /br /"You don't know them as well as I do." he shrugs, "Even if you questioned them, you'd never get anything useful before they're killed by the unbreakable vow."br /br /"You do realize that those curses are illegal." Dumbledore says as he falls to the /br /"That's the reason that you lose so many aurors. You expect to capture these people when they're prepared to kill and you aren't. If you think I should be arrested, go ahead and try. But in your state, you'd never stand a chance." Reiji shoots threateningly. br /br /"You won't hear me complaining." Snape smiles, "How did you find Cyrus?"br /br /"I was poking around the area and thought it was odd to find a mass of wards surrounding that shack over there." he shrugs, treating the potions masters arm, "I broke through and found him just as the attack began."br /br /"I see." Dumbledore sighs, passing out from the strain of the earlier duel. McGonagall conjures a stretcher and lifts him onto /br /"I'm taking these four up to the school. Severus, send a message to the school if you find anymore students." McGonagall says as she leads the group back to the /br /"How is Neville?" Daphne asks, still holding her father /br /"A concussion and a broken wand arm." McGonagall sighs, "He should be alright in the morning."br /br /"What about Tori?" Harry asks, holding Cyrus' other /br /"What about her?" she asks /br /"She was spending the day with Neville." Daphne answers, eyes growing /br /"I didn't see her at all." McGonagall says before sending a patronus back to Snape, "Hopefully Severus will find her."br /br /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt; border: none; padding: 0in;"_br /br /Tori opened her eyes in a well lit room, on a somewhat comfortable bed. Her head was spinning as she slowly stood up. 'Where's my wand?' she thinks, looking around the bed. br /br /She finds it next to her shoes on the floor. 'Where am I? And how did I get here?' she sighs, looking around the room. br /br /It was relatively plain. A dresser with robes and muggle clothes. A bathroom and an empty closet. The only other door in the room was locked. She lies back on the bed and tried to remember what had happened. br /br /She was having a blast with Neville. They'd gone to a rare plant store that Neville knew about and she'd bought seeds for a rare type of flower. They were sitting in the three broomsticks, waiting for Harry, Daphne, and Susan. A man with grey, mane like hair walked over and grabbed her by the arm. br /br /"Get off her!" Neville shouted, launching himself at the man. Outside, a house exploded and several people ran screaming as black robed people started firing /br /Neville grabbed her and ran, "We have to get to the school!" he shouted as curses flew over his shoulder. She nods and started firing back. The people shouted and chased after them. br /br /They got half way to the school before the man caught up with them. Neville tried to fight him off, but he smashed head first into the door of the Hogs head. She tried to get to him, but something hit her from behind and she /br /"Finally awake?" a woman asked from the /br /"Who are you?" she asks, voice shaking in /br /"I'm Drei." she says, sitting in an armchair in the corner. br /br /"Why am I here?"br /br /"To start your new job." she shrugs, conjuring a bottle of wine, "You want a cup?"br /br /She shakes her head, "What job?"br /br /"Killing people." she laughs to Tori's horror, "Oh don't worry. You'll get used to it before long."br /br /"I won't do it." Tori says /br /"Yes you will." she smirks, "Believe me, you will."br /br /"That will do, Drei." a familiar voice said at the /br /"Professor!" Tori smiles, relief clear on her /br /"Good to see you Astoria." he smiles, wand drawn, "Obliviate."br /br /She can only watch in horror as the wand points to her and everything /br /"About time." Cal smirks, "She was seriously getting on my nerves."br /br /"Quite the impressive show. What happened after I left?"br /br /"We've got two big problems." she says /br /"Oh?" he asks /br /"Our prisoner escaped."br /br /"That isn't good. What else?" scythe sighs, fine tuning his memory /br /"He got help. From Reiji."br /br /"He's alive?" scythe asks sharply, and she nods, "This can't be. Zane was confident that he was dead. I heard that Ein was spotted in Los Angeles, but if Zwei is still alive, we may have a problem."br /br /"Speaking of, I think that Ein might've killed a bunch of our guys. Someone was sending curses from the castle." Cal /br /"Then we must speed up our Ein's training. You and Zane will be kept off missions for the summer. I expect her ready by next school year." he /br /"I get you keeping me off, but why him?" she /br /"Greengrass didn't know who you were, but he does know him. By this time tomorrow, he'll be a wanted man. Naturally, we can't allow him to stay alive for long after his identity has been compromised."br /br /"So he'll train his own killer? That's low." she /br /"See to it." he smiles, "I look forward to examining her progress."br /br /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt;"br /br /Daphne worriedly looked around the great hall for tori. Harry joined her, along with Susan and the twins. They looked everywhere in the hall, but she wasn't anywhere to be found. Daphne cried bitterly by the door, relief at finding Cyrus forgotten. br /br /"It's alright, Daphne." Susan said from her side, "They'll find her. Maybe she got hurt and she's up in the hospital wing crying on Cyrus' shoulder."br /br /"Yeah..." she sniffles, when the door opens. McGonagall his leading a group of students, who aside from being a little shaken up looked fine. Daphne runs to the professor, "Have you seen tori?"br /br /"I'm afraid not. She might have been taken to the hospital wing by another teacher. Come with me." she says calmingly, leading the three Slytherins out of the great hall. br /br /"Poppy." McGonagall says as she opens the door to the hospital wing, "Was Miss Greengrass brought up from the village?"br /br /"The younger one?" she asks, staring at Daphne, "I haven't seen her. That said, I've had my hands full with the headmaster and Cyrus."br /br /Daphne starts crying again, running to her father's /br /"I'm sure she's fine." Cyrus mutters, sounding slightly stronger than earlier, "She's probably trying to help the people in the village."br /br /"She's not..." Neville mutters, trying to sit up, "They were after her from the beginning. I tried to help her, but they just..."br /br /What little color remained on Daphne's face drained away and she toppled forwards. Behind her, Cyrus looked similar, but with an intense fire in his eyes. "I'm going to go look for her!" he shouts, jumping out of bed. br /br /"Don't be foolish!" McGonagall snaps, "Professor Dumbledore was unable to defeat them! What makes you think that you'll fare any better, when you've already lost once?"br /br /"I can't just lay here and do nothing!" he shouts as the doors /br /"What happened?" Amelia barks, walking quickly to the seething /br /"My daughter was kidnapped by those monsters!" he shouts, legs shaking. Before he can say anymore, he falls backwards onto his /br /"Astoria?" Amelia wonders, "Why would they take her?"br /br /Giuseppe answers, "Perhaps they needed more information from lord Greengrass. What better way to extract information then threatening the life of his youngest daughter?"br /br /"Why target her? Daphne would have been just as viable a target." Pompfrey says as she stoops to examine the fainted /br /"Daphne is headstrong and daring, besides which she has Harry potter watching her back." Giuseppe points out, "Even if they didn't know the true depths of his ability, his legend alone would deter them from the fight. While Astoria may be just as strong magical as harry, she lacks his confidence. She would rather run than fight. That makes her significantly easier than targeting her braver and better protected older sister."br /br /"What will happen to her, now that Cyrus has escaped?" Dumbledore mutters quietly, voice still /br /"Two possibilities. Either they will kill her to silence her, or they'll keep her to be used against Cyrus." Amelia sighs, "I don't know who was behind this, but they sure were ballsy. Attacking Hogsmeade, which is less than ten minutes from the strongest collection of wizards and witches in the British Isles. Even more troubling, someone in this castle tipped them off. That's the only way that they could have known she would be in the village."br /br /"Professor Giuseppe, where were you after Cyrus arrived?" Snape stares, "I thought that you were still unconscious, but you were gone when I looked."br /br /"I took advantage of the distraction to apparate to the ministry and raise the alarm, but when I returned, the fighting had ended." Giuseppe says dejectedly, "If I'd known that they took that poor girl, I'd have fought to my last breath."br /br /"You did the right thing." McGonagall assures him, "Luckily, Reiji was nearby and stopped to help."br /br /"Reiji?" Giuseppe, Amelia, and Susan /br /"You mean Reiji Asuma?" Pompfrey asks as she floats Daphne onto a bed. br /br /"Yes." Cyrus sighs, "He rescued me from the shirking shack and drove them away."br /br /"There wasn't anyone named Reiji in the village when I was there earlier..." Amelia says to /br /"He did use illegal curses. I doubt that he wanted to stick around after the aurors arrived." Dumbledore sighs, "What now?" br /br /"I have to go back to the ministry and open an investigation. The full auror corp will be deployed to search for her." Amelia says, "Cyrus, report to my office as soon as you're cleared by Madam Pompfrey."br /br /"Amelia, wait." Cyrus says seriously. "Rufus Scrimgeour is an inferno."br /br /"What?!" all of them /br /"Most of these scars are from him. He was my jailer." Cyrus nods. br /br /"If he's at the ministry, he'll wish he'd never stepped foot in my department." Amelia sighs, "I would never have thought that Scrimgeour would betray us."br /br /"According to that blond haired woman, he's called Zane." Cyrus says, drinking a potion handed to him by Pompfrey. br /br /"Minerva, take the students back to their dormitories." Dumbledore orders, "Amelia, you have my permission to base your investigation in this school if you wish, and you will have the complete cooperation of the staff. I want the person responsible to pay."br /br /"Headmaster, I will assist in the recovery of the village." Giuseppe says, drawing his wand, "If I can find her magical signature, perhaps I can track where they took her."br /br /"I pray you are successful, and I will join you as soon as I am done enjoying poppy's hospitality." Dumbledore /br /"That will be awhile. You should know better than to duel against such a skilled opponent after all the stress you've been through. Your heart can't take much more." Pompfrey says, waving her wand /br /"Take care of Daphne, madam Pompfrey." Harry /br /"I will do everything I can, but it will depend a lot on whether they find Astoria soon." she sighs, running between /br /"Thank you..." Harry mutters, following McGonagall and Susan out of the room./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt; border: none; padding: 0in;"br /"I've got news." Reiji says calmly, stepping back through the wards, "It took a little while, but I found the end of that tunnel. It leads to a shack on the other side of the town. The wards are identical to the ones we used to cast when we were interrogating someone."br /br /"Then someone is still there." Eren says calmly, "what do we do?"br /br /Reiji takes his project and hands it to her, "Take this and find a good spot. Take the invisibility cloak. I'll try and covertly break down the wards. It'll take a little over an hour, but inferno's enemy is our friend. Some of the students are going into the village. Keep watch in case Scythe goes with them. We'll meet at the bar tonight, hopefully with our new friend."br /br /"Alright. I already have a spot in mind. Be careful." she smiles, pulling her wand out of its holster. br /br /"You too. Don't get caught. I'm taking an extra wand, since our new friend won't have one." br /br /"Take a few. The might be more than one." Eren says, strapping her new weapon around her back. br /br /"Got it."br /br /_br /br /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt; border: none; padding: 0in;""That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." Harry said, stretching his /br /"I'd have thought they'd push for every little detail, but the let you go with just a basic retelling." Susan smirked, "So, now all that left is to spend the day getting a sneak peek at what we should expect next year."br /br /"Actually..." Daphne says slowly, "Me and Harry were going to go on a date, so..."br /br /"I know." Susan laughs, "But I had to get you to say it. Besides, I was planning on going with Tori anyway."br /br /"Actually, I'm going on a date with Neville." tori smirks, sticking her tongue out at the older girl. br /br /"So I'm the only one without a boyfriend?" Susan gasps, "Damn!"br /br /"I'm available." Fred and George said at the same /br /"Did I forget to mention that auntie plans to attack my boyfriend to make sure that they're man enough to protect me?" Susan /br /"Now that I think about it, I'm going with Katie. Sorry!" Fred says quickly, running off towards the /br /"I'm sorry, but I can't cheat on Angelina no matter how much you beg!" George sighs, following his /br /Susan sighs dramatically, "I'll never find love!"br /br /"Have you tried a summoning charm?" Daphne jokes, making her snort with laughter. The four walk along the path and share a carriage riding into town. br /br /"What are these things?" Harry asks, staring at the bizarre horses tied to the /br /"What things?" Susan asks, climbing into the /br /"I think they're thestrals." Daphne says, sinking into her seat, "Mr. Flamel told me about them in passing. Apparently, you can't see them unless you've seen someone die."br /br /"Makes sense." Harry shrugs, "I've seen three people die. My grandparents and that guy who impersonated Sirius."br /br /"I'd rather not see them, if you don't mind." Susan huffed, and Daphne nodded in /br /The four enjoyed the view from the carriages, though they weren't very happy with the fact that the older students were walking instead of taking the carriage. "We'd have been there by now." Tori /br /The carriage landed easily and they disembarked. Susan gave them each a hug and ran through the streets. Harry took Daphne's hand as Tori giggled behind them, and the two walked into the village./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt; border: none; padding: 0in;"br /br /'How long have I been here?' Cyrus asked himself, shaking from the pain he'd /br /"Hey!" a voice /br /"Now I've really lost it." he sighs, "I'm hearing things and talking to myself..."br /br /"Are you in there?!" the voice yelled again, this time loud and /br /"I'm here!" he says /br /"Hold on just a little bit longer!" the voice yelled, "I'm breaking the wards down! You'll be out of there in no time. If they come back, don't let in that I'm here. They won't be able to feel me destroying the wards."br /br /"Alright." Cyrus says weakly, collapsing against the wall opposite the voice. 'It might just be my imagination, but better this then imagining what'll happen when they come /br /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt;"br /br /Harry was having the time of his life. He was on a real date with Daphne, exploring an all magical village where neither of them had ever been. Their first stop had been Zonko's. Daphne didn't see anything she wanted, but she did browse for ten minutes, making careful notes about where everything was and it's /br /Next, they went to Honeydukes sweet shop, where the met with both tori and Susan, both grinning wildly. Daphne hands Susan the list, and receives one in return. They each buy an assortment of chocolates, all on Harry's dime. Not that he minded, of course. br /br /Again the groups split. Harry took Daphne to a small restaurant next to the post office. The food was great and the price was reasonable, but most of all, Harry enjoyed talking with his Fiancée/Girlfriend. br /br /"Where to now?" Harry asks, belly full from the feast and the lunch. br /br /"We could go meet the others at the three broomsticks, or we could go to the shrieking-" she says before a loud explosion rips through the town. Harry has his wand drawn and looked towards the source. About two streets over, a large cloud of smoke was raising, along with the screams of the citizens beneath /br /"I say we go there!" Daphne says as the two run towards the scene. br /br /They found themselves back on Main Street and had to start dodging as a figure in black with a plain white mask started casting curses towards them. Harry returns with curses of his own, pushing the man back. Further back, about a dozen of the masked men were dueling with civilians or teachers. In the far back, dueling with Professor Giuseppe and professor Flitwick was the same woman who had killed his grandparents the summer /br /Despite the number advantage, Giuseppe and Flitwick were being pushed back. Giuseppe begins throwing more powerful curses, conjuring fire as he had against the memory of Voldemort. br /br /Harry was certain that she would flee, but she effortlessly dodges all the spells and turns the flaming Runespoor into a flaming lasso, which she uses to lasso Flitwick. No sooner does Giuseppe realize what had happened, and then the flaming wizard collides with him, knocking both of them to the ground. br /br /Harry runs forward and started casting the most powerful spells he could, but she kept dodging or blocking. Harry's concentration is broken by a bang in the sky. Chancing a glimpse up, he sees a firework explode out in a rain of color. br /br /This was the wrong move, as he is blasted backwards, smashing through the wall of the three /br /"You gotten better, Nephew." she sneers, "You might've had a chance if you hadn't gotten distracted." She walked towards him, wand out front. Harry's wand had fallen out of his hand when he crashed, leaving him defenseless. br /br /A red jet hit the approaching blond. "Stay away from him!" Daphne yelled, casting more spells. Getting over her initial surprise at the new combatant, Cal dodges effortlessly, grabbing her wand off the ground. Harry gasps as she begins firing killers, each narrowly missing her. br /br /"That's enough." a voice shouts, and a stream of black flames created a wall between them, "You will not harm my students!" br /br /Giuseppe was standing about twenty yards from them. Behind him, almost all of the teachers from the school, wands pointed at the group of attackers. Dumbledore made the first move, engaging three of the attackers at once. The remaining teachers went after the rest of the group, save Cal whose perpetual grin had disappeared in favor of a scowl. br /br /Giuseppe attacked her with vigor, pushing the killer backwards. He briefly overpowered her, but before long, it had turned into an ugly stalemate. br /br /"Get out of here!" Giuseppe shouted, blocking an incoming spell, "She's too much!"br /br /Harry nodded, and grabbed his wand, running between the fierce duels to Daphne. Dumbledore had dealt the final blow to his opponents, leaving them chained to the roof of a nearby house, and had joined McGonagall in her duel against a new opponent that appeared after they had. br /br /"Let's go!" Harry shouted, grabbing Daphne's hand. Behind him, he heard the sound of a body hitting the ground and turned to see Giuseppe lying on the ground, Cal standing above him. br /br /"Not bad, old man!" she laughed, "But you shouldn't have stuck your nose in business that doesn't involve you."br /br /Harry gasped as one by one, the remaining teachers were quickly dispatched by the blond haired monster. Only McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore were left. Snape had taken over for Dumbledore, who dueled furiously with her. br /br /"Daphne!" a weak voice called from behind them. Harry and Daphne turned around just in time for her to be embraced by a ragged looking old man. Harry gasped as he recognized him. Underneath the grizzly exterior, the scarred torso, Cyrus was still /br /"Daddy?" Daphne cried, pulling him into a strong hug. br /br /"You stay here." the brown haired man next to him said, handing him a wand, "I've got a score to settle with her."br /br /"Thank you..." Cyrus cries in his daughters shoulder. br /br /The man nods and runs into the fray. The men who had been defeated earlier were waking up, and tried to stop him. Moving as easily as Cal did, he dodged, and killed two of them with killing curses to the face. br /br /One of the other ones screamed, "Holy shit! He's the second phantom!" the brown haired man smiles grimly and stuns him as the rest start firing curses with reckless abandon. br /br /"Now!" he shouts and the air hissed. Almost faster than he could see, a flash of green hit one man in the chest. He falls as the rest turn to find the caster. Harry squints in the direction of the school. Another quick flash came from the top of the astronomy /br /"Sniper!" a man shouts before he is hit from behind. Two more flash hit their mark before most of the remaining attackers disapprate. The only battles left were a panting Dumbledore and a smirking Cal, and the masked assailant against an exhausted McGonagall and a wounded Snape. br /br /"Cal!" the brown haired man shouted. She looks and /br /"Reiji! You're dead!" br /br /"Not yet." he says, standing between them, "Let's settle this, one more time."br /br /She stares blankly at him, drawing a pistol from her waist. Reiji responds in kind, wand in his left, Beretta in his right. "Zane! We're going! We've already got what we needed. The last thing we want is to tangle with him and that other one in the tower. The only reason you're still alive is that building's blocking her line of sight."br /br /"Think I'll let you?" Reiji asks, removing the safety from his gun. br /br /"Try and stop me." she smirks, "We'll settle this later."br /br /Reiji aims, but slowly lowers, "Fine. Tell scythe that he's next."br /br /"Whatever." she shrugs, disapparating with a loud crack. Her partner follows suit without a word. br /br /McGonagall runs over to the aged headmaster, "Are you alright, Albus?"br /br /Dumbledore leans up against the wall, clutching his chest, "I'm not as young as I used to be, and she could have beaten Grindelwald. That's not important, what about the students?"br /br /"Most of them made it back to the school." Snape sighs, "I saw Pompfrey treating Longbottom on the way, and Potter was giving her a run for her money."br /br /"Good." he sighs, still clutching his chest, "Minerva, please escort them up to the school. Severus, get anyone that can still move and clear this debris. Some people may be trapped."br /br /McGonagall nodded and walked over to them, "Mr. Potter, Miss Greengrass, please come with me. And you are... Good heavens! Cyrus!"br /br /He laughs weakly, before coughing with the strain, "Hello, Professor. Sorry that I can't give you a hand..."br /br /"Cyrus, I'm glad you're alive." Snape smiles slightly, "Go with them and get yourself checked out. I'll clear this mess up."br /br /"I'll help as much as I can." Reiji sighs, waving his wand and clearing the rubble from a destroyed house, "It's been a long time, Professor McGonagall."br /br /She stares at him, smiles and nods, "it has, Reiji. I can't say I approve of your choice of spells. Some of them could have been captured."br /br /"You don't know them as well as I do." he shrugs, "Even if you questioned them, you'd never get anything useful before they're killed by the unbreakable vow."br /br /"You do realize that those curses are illegal." Dumbledore says as he falls to the /br /"That's the reason that you lose so many aurors. You expect to capture these people when they're prepared to kill and you aren't. If you think I should be arrested, go ahead and try. But in your state, you'd never stand a chance." Reiji shoots threateningly. br /br /"You won't hear me complaining." Snape smiles, "How did you find Cyrus?"br /br /"I was poking around the area and thought it was odd to find a mass of wards surrounding that shack over there." he shrugs, treating the potions masters arm, "I broke through and found him just as the attack began."br /br /"I see." Dumbledore sighs, passing out from the strain of the earlier duel. McGonagall conjures a stretcher and lifts him onto /br /"I'm taking these four up to the school. Severus, send a message to the school if you find anymore students." McGonagall says as she leads the group back to the /br /"How is Neville?" Daphne asks, still holding her father /br /"A concussion and a broken wand arm." McGonagall sighs, "He should be alright in the morning."br /br /"What about Tori?" Harry asks, holding Cyrus' other /br /"What about her?" she asks /br /"She was spending the day with Neville." Daphne answers, eyes growing /br /"I didn't see her at all." McGonagall says before sending a patronus back to Snape, "Hopefully Severus will find her."br /br /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt; border: none; padding: 0in;"_br /br /Tori opened her eyes in a well lit room, on a somewhat comfortable bed. Her head was spinning as she slowly stood up. 'Where's my wand?' she thinks, looking around the bed. br /br /She finds it next to her shoes on the floor. 'Where am I? And how did I get here?' she sighs, looking around the room. br /br /It was relatively plain. A dresser with robes and muggle clothes. A bathroom and an empty closet. The only other door in the room was locked. She lies back on the bed and tried to remember what had happened. br /br /She was having a blast with Neville. They'd gone to a rare plant store that Neville knew about and she'd bought seeds for a rare type of flower. They were sitting in the three broomsticks, waiting for Harry, Daphne, and Susan. A man with grey, mane like hair walked over and grabbed her by the arm. br /br /"Get off her!" Neville shouted, launching himself at the man. Outside, a house exploded and several people ran screaming as black robed people started firing /br /Neville grabbed her and ran, "We have to get to the school!" he shouted as curses flew over his shoulder. She nods and started firing back. The people shouted and chased after them. br /br /They got half way to the school before the man caught up with them. Neville tried to fight him off, but he smashed head first into the door of the Hogs head. She tried to get to him, but something hit her from behind and she /br /"Finally awake?" a woman asked from the /br /"Who are you?" she asks, voice shaking in /br /"I'm Drei." she says, sitting in an armchair in the corner. br /br /"Why am I here?"br /br /"To start your new job." she shrugs, conjuring a bottle of wine, "You want a cup?"br /br /She shakes her head, "What job?"br /br /"Killing people." she laughs to Tori's horror, "Oh don't worry. You'll get used to it before long."br /br /"I won't do it." Tori says /br /"Yes you will." she smirks, "Believe me, you will."br /br /"That will do, Drei." a familiar voice said at the /br /"Professor!" Tori smiles, relief clear on her /br /"Good to see you Astoria." he smiles, wand drawn, "Obliviate."br /br /She can only watch in horror as the wand points to her and everything /br /"About time." Cal smirks, "She was seriously getting on my nerves."br /br /"Quite the impressive show. What happened after I left?"br /br /"We've got two big problems." she says /br /"Oh?" he asks /br /"Our prisoner escaped."br /br /"That isn't good. What else?" scythe sighs, fine tuning his memory /br /"He got help. From Reiji."br /br /"He's alive?" scythe asks sharply, and she nods, "This can't be. Zane was confident that he was dead. I heard that Ein was spotted in Los Angeles, but if Zwei is still alive, we may have a problem."br /br /"Speaking of, I think that Ein might've killed a bunch of our guys. Someone was sending curses from the castle." Cal /br /"Then we must speed up our Ein's training. You and Zane will be kept off missions for the summer. I expect her ready by next school year." he /br /"I get you keeping me off, but why him?" she /br /"Greengrass didn't know who you were, but he does know him. By this time tomorrow, he'll be a wanted man. Naturally, we can't allow him to stay alive for long after his identity has been compromised."br /br /"So he'll train his own killer? That's low." she /br /"See to it." he smiles, "I look forward to examining her progress."br /br /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt;"br /br /Daphne worriedly looked around the great hall for tori. Harry joined her, along with Susan and the twins. They looked everywhere in the hall, but she wasn't anywhere to be found. Daphne cried bitterly by the door, relief at finding Cyrus forgotten. br /br /"It's alright, Daphne." Susan said from her side, "They'll find her. Maybe she got hurt and she's up in the hospital wing crying on Cyrus' shoulder."br /br /"Yeah..." she sniffles, when the door opens. McGonagall his leading a group of students, who aside from being a little shaken up looked fine. Daphne runs to the professor, "Have you seen tori?"br /br /"I'm afraid not. She might have been taken to the hospital wing by another teacher. Come with me." she says calmingly, leading the three Slytherins out of the great hall. br /br /"Poppy." McGonagall says as she opens the door to the hospital wing, "Was Miss Greengrass brought up from the village?"br /br /"The younger one?" she asks, staring at Daphne, "I haven't seen her. That said, I've had my hands full with the headmaster and Cyrus."br /br /Daphne starts crying again, running to her father's /br /"I'm sure she's fine." Cyrus mutters, sounding slightly stronger than earlier, "She's probably trying to help the people in the village."br /br /"She's not..." Neville mutters, trying to sit up, "They were after her from the beginning. I tried to help her, but they just..."br /br /What little color remained on Daphne's face drained away and she toppled forwards. Behind her, Cyrus looked similar, but with an intense fire in his eyes. "I'm going to go look for her!" he shouts, jumping out of bed. br /br /"Don't be foolish!" McGonagall snaps, "Professor Dumbledore was unable to defeat them! What makes you think that you'll fare any better, when you've already lost once?"br /br /"I can't just lay here and do nothing!" he shouts as the doors /br /"What happened?" Amelia barks, walking quickly to the seething /br /"My daughter was kidnapped by those monsters!" he shouts, legs shaking. Before he can say anymore, he falls backwards onto his /br /"Astoria?" Amelia wonders, "Why would they take her?"br /br /Giuseppe answers, "Perhaps they needed more information from lord Greengrass. What better way to extract information then threatening the life of his youngest daughter?"br /br /"Why target her? Daphne would have been just as viable a target." Pompfrey says as she stoops to examine the fainted /br /"Daphne is headstrong and daring, besides which she has Harry potter watching her back." Giuseppe points out, "Even if they didn't know the true depths of his ability, his legend alone would deter them from the fight. While Astoria may be just as strong magical as harry, she lacks his confidence. She would rather run than fight. That makes her significantly easier than targeting her braver and better protected older sister."br /br /"What will happen to her, now that Cyrus has escaped?" Dumbledore mutters quietly, voice still /br /"Two possibilities. Either they will kill her to silence her, or they'll keep her to be used against Cyrus." Amelia sighs, "I don't know who was behind this, but they sure were ballsy. Attacking Hogsmeade, which is less than ten minutes from the strongest collection of wizards and witches in the British Isles. Even more troubling, someone in this castle tipped them off. That's the only way that they could have known she would be in the village."br /br /"Professor Giuseppe, where were you after Cyrus arrived?" Snape stares, "I thought that you were still unconscious, but you were gone when I looked."br /br /"I took advantage of the distraction to apparate to the ministry and raise the alarm, but when I returned, the fighting had ended." Giuseppe says dejectedly, "If I'd known that they took that poor girl, I'd have fought to my last breath."br /br /"You did the right thing." McGonagall assures him, "Luckily, Reiji was nearby and stopped to help."br /br /"Reiji?" Giuseppe, Amelia, and Susan /br /"You mean Reiji Asuma?" Pompfrey asks as she floats Daphne onto a bed. br /br /"Yes." Cyrus sighs, "He rescued me from the shirking shack and drove them away."br /br /"There wasn't anyone named Reiji in the village when I was there earlier..." Amelia says to /br /"He did use illegal curses. I doubt that he wanted to stick around after the aurors arrived." Dumbledore sighs, "What now?" br /br /"I have to go back to the ministry and open an investigation. The full auror corp will be deployed to search for her." Amelia says, "Cyrus, report to my office as soon as you're cleared by Madam Pompfrey."br /br /"Amelia, wait." Cyrus says seriously. "Rufus Scrimgeour is an inferno."br /br /"What?!" all of them /br /"Most of these scars are from him. He was my jailer." Cyrus nods. br /br /"If he's at the ministry, he'll wish he'd never stepped foot in my department." Amelia sighs, "I would never have thought that Scrimgeour would betray us."br /br /"According to that blond haired woman, he's called Zane." Cyrus says, drinking a potion handed to him by Pompfrey. br /br /"Minerva, take the students back to their dormitories." Dumbledore orders, "Amelia, you have my permission to base your investigation in this school if you wish, and you will have the complete cooperation of the staff. I want the person responsible to pay."br /br /"Headmaster, I will assist in the recovery of the village." Giuseppe says, drawing his wand, "If I can find her magical signature, perhaps I can track where they took her."br /br /"I pray you are successful, and I will join you as soon as I am done enjoying poppy's hospitality." Dumbledore /br /"That will be awhile. You should know better than to duel against such a skilled opponent after all the stress you've been through. Your heart can't take much more." Pompfrey says, waving her wand /br /"Take care of Daphne, madam Pompfrey." Harry /br /"I will do everything I can, but it will depend a lot on whether they find Astoria soon." she sighs, running between /br /"Thank you..." Harry mutters, following McGonagall and Susan out of the room./p
