Harry banked left, feeling the window on his wings as he moved to give Fawkes room to maneuver. On paper he and Dumbledore should have had the edge when it came to fighting Jack. He had only sent out Azog, a bulky fighter that couldn't hope to jump very high, let alone take flight. With Zygarde engaging him on the roof that should have allowed Harry and the Headmaster's Moltres ease to strafe Jack and take him out of the fight.

Should.

Because Jack was the Modern Master of Speakers and he wasn't about to give up on a fight so easily.

Leon fired off a vine whip to try and keep Azog down but the Tyranitar merely snarled and unleashed a Dark Lightning attack that very nearly clipped Leon, forcing Harry's starter to dive for cover and release the Vine Whip.

'Too close,' Harry thought as he moved into position to try and firing off a Steel Wing attack on Jack. 'If that had hit Leon would be dead. We have to be more careful.' He tucked his wings and went into a barrel roll, feeling the odd sensation of his feathers hardening into metallic blades. At the last moment he unfurled them…

…and Jack easily leapt over Harry's attack and swung his Escrima sticks at Dumbledore, the Headmaster quickly throwing out a shield of aura to protect himself but Harry could tell that the force of the blow had been far greater than the old man had been expecting. He clenched his jaw as he held out his hands, long spindly fingers splayed out as he fought to keep the barriers up and thus ensure that he was protected. Sparks flew from the escrima sticks as they pressed against the aura shields, making Jack's features twist and distort with their flickering.

And then he leapt back and spun his weapons before rushing toward' Azog, jumping onto his tail and using it as a springboard to launch himself into the air so he might catch Fawkes off guard.

The Moltres let out a cry of surprise at that as Jack landed on her back, his hand going into his jacket and pulling out a thin knife. Not something that was designed to tear and rend but rather created to slip between bones. He lashed out, cutting into Moltres, the flying legendary shrieking as she wobbled in the air. Jack though, to their surprise, didn't push the advantage but rather dove off of her, rolling onto the ground before throwing his knife at Dumbledore.

The Headmaster easily deflected it but that proved to be his mistake as Jack in the next instant tossed out a charlotte, wrapping the old man up in razor thin wire, forcing him to remain still least he slice himself to ribbons on the wire. Jack smirked, sharp teeth gleaming in the sun, and stepped forward, rolling his neck back and forth.

Harry dove down, demerged from Hedwig, and attacked.

"You've learned some new tricks," Jack said with a grunt as Harry punched at him with an aura boosted strike.

"I'm full of surprises," Harry taunted even as Jack caught his wrist and flung Harry away from him. He saw from the corner of his eye Zygarde's eyes light up before it lashed out with an Iron Tail, striking Azog and causing him to wobble. Moltres, recovered from the blow she had taken earlier, arched back before unleashing a volley of Flamethrower right at the Tyranitar, causing Jack's starter to raise its arms to protect its face. Zygarde moved to slam him with his tail only for Dumbledore, much to Harry's surprise, to suddenly lash out with his arm, having broken free of the charlotte rather quickly and making a chopping motion that caused a blast of aura to race through the air like a Scyther's fury cut. It rocketed right at Azog, catching him in the chest and that gave Moltres the time to fire off a fire blast that sent Azog right off the roof.

At once Jack leapt forward, firing out Azog's Pokeball from one of his Escrima Sticks. There was a beam of light and before Harry could even comprehend what had truly happened Jack spun around and fired the ball right back out, Azorg roaring as he emerged from his Pokeball and unleashed a blast of Dark Lightning right at the flying legendary.

"Fawkes!" Dumbledore cried out as the Moltres took the hit, slamming down on the roof and nearly causing Harry to topple. The Headmaster narrowed his eyes before launching himself into the air and diving right at Jack, coated not just his fists but both of his arms fully with Aura. He swung them like warhammers, forcing Jack to move back, his Escrima sticks clanging against the Aura-infused limbs as they pounded on him again and again and again. But what was truly frightening was the fact that the Headmaster wasn't angry. He wasn't upset. He wasn't cursing out Jack. He just went at him with cold detached violence.

And then Jack lashed out, kicking the old man in the stomach and doubling him over before jabbing the ends of his weapons into Dumbledore's shoulders.

The Headmaster threw back his head and screamed as electricity flowed through his body, his entire form twitching violently before he managed, most likely only through instinct, to smash his palm into Jack's chest and send him rocketing back. Dumbledore sank to one knee and panted while Harry whistled, Leon using his Wine Whips to wrap Jack up tight while Hedwig circled, ready to merge again the moment Harry gave the command.

"Let's make this interesting," Jack said with a smirk before thrusting out one of his Escrimas. "Gwaihir!"

A light shot from his weapon and Hedwig let out a cry of panic as the larger Braviary formed before her and began to attack with wings and talons.

In response Harry sent out Firebolt, the Pokemon of House Potter blasting flames as Azog to keep him from going after the downed Moltres. The Tyranitar's lips curled back in a feral snarl as he began to slam his tail at anything and anyone that moved, making the battlefield a chaotic mess. The roof was cracking and caving in at spots, attacks were flying all over, and Harry was trying to connect with all his Pokemon at once in a desperate attempt to manage the insanity of it all.

'God, I wasn't ready,' he thought to himself. Dumbledore and Jack were fighting once more and Harry used that moment to touch his earpiece. "Everyone okay?"

"We've lost Ron and Ginny's signal," Hermione answered. "Neville got stopped by Greyback… I'm going to help Luna but sounds like she has problems herself."

"This isn't going according to plan," Harry muttered darkly. The wingbbeats of Moltres, Hedwig, and now Gwaihir were turning what had once been a calm day into a cyclone nightmare. Zygarde had moved to take on Azog, the two titans clashing violently together, and that allowed Firebolt to focus on Jack's flyer.

The winds were blowing hard, nearly sweeping Harry off the roof.

It was only his prosthetic hand and the agility he'd gained thanks to his most recent Long Talk that allowed him to keep his footing. He looked up, eyes narrowed and lips curled back in a snarl as he lifted his left hand and ignited it in Aura Flames. Launching himself forward he thrust out his glowing hand to dissipate the attack that had been heading towards Firebolt, allowing the Potter Family Pokémon to return his focus back on the Braviary that was currently giving him so much trouble.

There was a small explosion to his left and he turned to see a chunk of the roof crumble and fall, smashing down into Hogwart's Great Hall below. "And you alright, Professor?"

Dumbledore, using Aura to leap about the battlefield the top of Hogwarts had become, nodded as he came to a stop. "I am Harry! But I fear we are running out of time!"

"We need to stall a bit longer, get the students out of here!" Harry shouted over a Hyper Beam that struck the Ravenclaw tower, bisecting it. He spared a moment to watch as the stonework shifted before it began to slide and topple and he prayed that Hermione had managed to get everyone out in time. 'We've already lost Ron and Ginny,' he thought grimly, 'we can't lose anyone else.'

A warcry made him remember to focus on the battle and Harry dodged a blow before swinging around with an Aura-charged fist that caught the older man in the stomach, sending him toppling down near the edge of the building. Harry was on him within a second, his left hand wrapping around the man's throat while he used his right to tear off his hood.

"Harry!" Dumbledore called out. "If we take him now then all of this will end!"

"We aren't taking him," Harry said coldly. "After all… you always said you'd never be captured, didn't you Jack?"

Jack stared up at Harry and sneered. "I did. So you have a choice, Harry… are you ready to make it?"

"Then there is no choice at all," the teen said, the skin on his right hand peeling away and he charged the blaster in his prosthetic. "It's time to finish it."

He fired.

"You didn't see that coming, did you?" Harry said coolly.

Dumbledore groaned, his right shoulder hanging limp and loose. Harry's shot had managed to dislocate it.

"What… what are you doing, my boy?" Dumbledore asked. There was a roar and suddenly Zygarde twisted, breaking off from Azog and firing a Petrifying blast that nearly got Fawkes, Azog snarling as he cracked his neck before he moved to stand with the legendary Pokemon. Gwaihir and Hedwig's dogfight instantly ended, the two of them now moving to land near their trainers.

Harry reached down and offered Jack a hand, the Father of Johto taking it as Harry hauled him to his feet.

"Cutting it close," Jack muttered. "We didn't rehearse that last hit."

"You're one to talk about things not being planned out. What the fuck is going on?"

Jack shook his head. "No fucking idea. Nocturne was supposed to storm the island not already be here when I showed up! We catch them on the shore… except we showed up and they were already fucking here."

Harry grit his teeth. "Draco fucking let them in." His gaze slowly slid towards the Headmaster. "I wonder who gave him the access codes to shut off the anti-teleport devices?"

"My boy… you can't-"

"Knock it off," Jack snapped. "You aren't fooling anyone no this roof. You haven't for a while."

The Headmaster shuddered… before suddenly standing up straight and tall, not even blinking as he reached over and used Aura to force his shoulder back into its socket. "Tell me," he said in a strong steady voice, the creak of age and concern suddenly gone leaving only dark intensity. "How long have you been planning to betray me?"

"I can't betray someone who was never on my side… Voldemort," Harry said.

Dumbledore smirked as his eyes began to glow with the same green and purple energy of the Spiritomb that had destroyed his life. "Then when did you figure that part out?"

"I've always known," Harry said. "Since the moment I accepted your help."

~Last May, The Morning After The Assault On The Ministry~

"Hello Jack,"he greeted quietly… then quickly he slipped into the Speaker's Realm. "Did Jasmine talk with you?"

"She did," Jack replied. "She said you knew who Voldemort was."

Harry paused. "Fight with me."

"What?"

"Fight me on this. We need to put on a show."

Jack nodded and left the Speaker Realm to said out loud, "I would ask you what happened but Jasmine already let me know. Not just with yesterday, but all school year. How you have been acting on your own, refusing to give us information, running your own operations behind our back." His voice was more worn that usual, like there was gravel caught in his throat. "Did you imagine I would be pleased?"

"I did what needed to be done," Harry said firmly. "I truly am sorry, Jack," Harry said in the Realm. They had to quickly shift back and forth, to prevent anyone from realizing what was going on.

"We can deal with that later. And we will deal with it," Jonas warned, his tone making it clear that despite the information Harry had to share the Pack would not be forgiving what he had been doing during the second half of his school year very easily. He'd understood that and been ready for that. "What matters is Voldemort."

"He wasn't the man that died in the arena today."

"I thought we'd already agreed on what needed to be done," Jack asked; it was clear that it had been agreed by all those involved that he would take the lead in this. "I don't remember us discussing you waging a secret war without our imput. In fact," he shifted and grimaced in pain, "I believe that we made it clear that you were to serve as a distraction. Nothing more." "Who was he?"

"I wasn't going to let Nocturne get away with their crimes just because I was scared of facing them." "A grunt he wanted me to believe was Voldemort. He didn't show any of the powers Voldemort has and… he was sloppy."

"Sloppy?" Jack asked.

Jasmine spoke up. "Voldemort when we faced him in the graveyard was cunning. The man claiming to be Voldemort felt like he was reading from a script.

"So he had someone posses as himself?" Jack asked.

Returning from the Speaker's Realm Harry glowered at that. "I was acting on intel, Jack."

"Intel that had already nearly gotten me killed!" the Father of Johto snapped. Jasmine winced at that little declaration. "Did you not think that your source was feeding you information just to get you to the Ministry?"

"He was right about Stan," Harry countered. "He did. And he played me for a fool. Voldemort knew that Umbridge was getting to me, knew about the attack on you, all my frustrations and he used them perfectly to lay his trap."

"Why do all that though?" Jonas asked.

"Because Voldemort can't be in two places at once," Harry said firmly."It's Dumbledore. He's Voldemort's new host."

"Baiting, Harry, baiting." Jack looked over at Dumbledore."You are sure?"

"Positive," Harry said. Jonas and Jasmine were also looking at the Headmaster in surprise. "This was a trap. Voldemort wanted me to kill Fudge and then reveal who he was. Probably play off that I was no different than Umbridge of something like that. But then Prof. Snape spoke up and got me to realize that none of this made sense. That's when the Fake Voldemort came in and they went with plan b."

"Killing the Heads of the Hogwarts Houses," Jack stated.

"Yes," Harry said. "And then my friends too, until I finally gave in. But the Fake… he went off script."

Jasmine's eyes went wide as she locked onto what he was getting at. "He went after Dumbledore instead of Snape."

"Exactly," Harry stated. He went to say more but Jack pulled them out of the Realm.

"What are you teaching the children at your school if they don't understand such basic concepts." He shook his head in disgust, turning his attention back to harry before Dumbledore could responds. "In my father's Safari Zones one must bring in the Pokemon with bait. Earn their trust before they attempt to catch the Pokemon in a Safari Ball. You can't just begin chucking balls at them and expect them to happily walk into a capture. You need to lure them in. That's what your source did!"

"There are other explanations beyond Dumbledore and Voldemort being one and the same now," Jonas said when they returned to the Realm.

"Except there is another piece of evidence," Harry said firmly. "Dumbledore freed us. He had the power to do so the entire time. He was banking on me forgetting that, not questioning it… but that was his mistake. When his minion forced his hand and he freed us I knew there was only one reason why he didn't move to save the other professors: he's Voldemort."

"That doesn't-" Jack began but Harry cut him off.

"The box. The one that knocked out Art Users. Dumbledore is supposed to be an Aura Knight… he wasn't affected. Because Voldemort only uses Aura when he has to."

"But why?" Jasmine asked. "Why Dumbledore? And why FIGHT Nocturne instead of handing us all over."

"Because Harry as his new vessel can't be the leader of Team Nocturne," Jack reasoned out. "Voldemort hides who he is… that is how he is able to maintain power. If you suddenly declared you were uniting with the people that killed your family everyone would know something had happened to you, Harry."

Harry swallowed. "But I've created a new Order of Moltres. I am gathering allies. Voldemort wants to take me over and then turn the Pride into the next Nocturne. Slay the failures and raise me up as the savior of Avalon… shit."

"I did what I thought was right."

"And what you thought nearly got you killed!" Jack roared before sagging back into his chair, coughing violently. He pressed a hankie to his lips, taking several weezing breaths before continuing. "You are a child, Harry. You might have been forced to grow up faster than most kids but you are still a child. You aren't all knowing."

"I know more than you realize," Harry said in frustration, snapping at his mentor.

"What do we do then?" Jasmine asked. "And second question: why is Dumbledore still alive?"

Harry let out a sigh. It was very tiring switching from the false anger to natural conversation. He utterly hated having to pretend that he and Jack were feuding but if Dumbledore realized that they were on the same page it would only create further problems. "I've seen Voldemort's host die now twice and I'm betting Moody is dead too. Killing Dumbledore doesn't do us any good. In fact it just means that he can possess someone else and we have no idea where to look."

"Better the devil you know," Jonas stated. "Then you have a plan, I suppose?"

"I do… and you are going to hate it." He left the Realm. "You are so obsessed with keeping me on the sidelines, letting me be a 'normal kid' having a normal education and a normal life. Newsflash, Jack! I wasn't normal the moment I was born! My parents were fighting in a war! They were killed because my bloodline is connected to Salazar Slytherin and the lost king AZ. My mum and dad were killed and I was left in the care of abusive fundamentalists! And when I finally got away from them every year at Hogwarts my life is threatened! So stop acting like I am normal!"

"And stop acting like your experience means you know everything!" Jack snarled. "Because you don't Harry… you have no clue. You haven't led men into battle, you haven't seen the horrors of war… even being a Speaker and a Magnus you aren't a master of either Art. Not yet." Jack jabbed his finger at the boy. "You have this delusion that you are going to be able to rush out and defeat Voldemort all on your own when that isn't the case!"

"It is me!" Harry roared, leaping up from his chair to the surprise of the others. "It has always been me! And you can be as deluded as you wish in thinking otherwise but you can't keep me from this fight." He slipped into the Speaker's Realm. "Lugia stated that the Master of the Deathly Hollows needed to know the three types of Arts: Mind, Body, and Soul. Mind is covered by Speaking, Body through Magnus. It's the Soul that's the tough one… Dumbledore is an Aura Knight. The last Aura Knight"

"…shit," Jack muttered. "You want him to teach you."

"I do."

"How can he even be an Aura Knight still?" Jasmine asked. "I thought Aura Knights were supposed to be pure."

Jonas spoke up. "We don't know how Voldemort works. He could have absorbed a pure soul centuries ago just for this reason, to have one ready that he could use to power Aura. Or maybe Dumbledore submitted but there is enough good in him that he can use the powers."

"I'm not trying to keep you from the fight-"

"That is exactly what you are doing!"

"Damn it Harry I'm trying to keep you alive! Something you struggle with far too much! You said it yourself: every year you find yourself in a life or death situation. Well answer me this: who is the idiot that keeps putting himself in those situations!" He began to tick off the points. "First year you go to a place you were told you shouldn't and end up fighting Voldemort. Second year instead of finding a teacher or contacting Remus about Luna disappearing you decide to run off on your own and nearly get blown up and then eaten by Zygarde. Third year you go to the Shrieking Shack, once more on your own. Fourth year is the only one I can give a pass to… though you did decide to actually compete in the tournament."

"You told me to!" Harry exclaimed. "You know my life sounds really screwed up when you summarize it."

"Believe me, I know," Jack said dryly, wishing he could pace. "So you think you can get him to train you?"

"I do. I think Voldemort has moved onto his next plan, to use everything that happened as a way to get close to me. Form a bond like I have with you. Get me to see things from his viewpoint slowly but surely until all it takes is a small push for me to accept him into me and merge with him. A long con…"

"But a good one," Jonas said.

"Harry, this is too dangerous," Jasmine said.

"It's the only way. Unless we find another Soul Art-"

"Which there are none available to you," Jonas admitted. "Veelas are the only ones I know of and that is strictly female-based."

"-then this is my only option."

Jack merely continued on. "And now you decide to get arrested, give an Undersecretary brain damage, attack aurors, and almost kill the Minister of Avalon because you wanted to play hero!"

"I want to stop Voldemort! Something you don't seem to want to do!" Harry charged. "You spend all your time coming up with plans and backup plans and backups to the backups! You don't actually do anything at all! My friends and I are the ones that got Stan arrested-"

"When we had a plan that would have not only had him captured but singing to us. Instead you got him handed over to the aurors and their corrupted members silenced him. Ruining everything."

"I didn't know that would happen!"

Jack narrowed his eyes. "That is the damn point." "How do we do this though to protect you, Harry?" He asked in the Realm. "Because despite the fact that we are staging this fight I do agree with a lot of the points I've made."

"And I've come to agree with you as well," Harry admitted. "And while I have to do this alone I don't have to be alone-alone."

"What are you thinking?" Jonas asked.

"We stage a massive break up. You and me are done, Jack… that's what it appears like to everyone. Let Voldemort think there is a massive wedge between us. But in secret you work to monitor the situation. I report to you via secret comms. And you and the Pack and everyone else work to create our own trap for Voldemort."

Jonas mulled this over. "You'd be at risk."

"I already am at risk."

"…I could call in some favors," Jack reasoned. "I've made friends with people in other regions. People that the masses don't know are close to me. Hogwarts needs more professors…"

"We fill the school with allies that can help us," Harry said, quickly seeing the merits to the plan.

Jack nodded. "Okay Harry… hit me with a low blow."

"What?"

"We have to make this feel real. Do it."

"We are all trying to stop Voldemort-"

"And no one asked you to!" Harry charged. "Avalon doesn't want you here, the government has forbid you from being here, and if it weren't for Speaking I wouldn't want you involved either when you don't give a damn."

The Father of Johto leapt from his chair. "I nearly died for you, you ungrateful little-"

"ENOUGH!" Jasmine shouted, drawing attention to her. "Da… Harry… there is one more thing we can do" She took a breath. "I need to separate from you both."

"What?" Jack asked. "Why?"

"Two reasons, to be honest. First… I need to spend some time with Aunt Diantha and Cynthia. I… I did something… we can talk about it later. But if I'm going to be an asset in this fight I need to get over that. I need to heal. And they are the only ones that can help, I think." She steadied herself before continuing. "But… the second reason is that if it appears that I've broken off from both of you I can work in secret to help set things up. It will give us another front." Jasmine grit her teeth. "It will be like tearing my heart out… but it's the only way." Before they could answer she returned to the real world. . "This… this is getting us no where." She looked to her father and said in a cool voice. "I think you need to leave, da."

"I need to leave?"

"You do." "Da… I love you."

"I love you too, baby girl." "…fine," Jack said, hissing out the word like it was a curse. He nodded and the Pack surrounded him, Lance helping him to the door, his boy shaking from the strain of the argument. "You want to throw your lives away? So be it." "This isn't the end. I swear." And with that the six members of the Pack left the room.

Harry let out a weary sigh and looked over at his girlfriend, reaching out to place his hand on her shoulder. "Thanks Jas-"

She knocked his hand away.

"Harry… no." "I love you too, Harry. So very much. And I will watch over you during all of this. You'll never be alone with him, I promise. And when the time is right all of us will make him pay." She shook her head, tears in her eyes. "I can't… not right now." She swallowed. "I think… I need some time away from everyone. You… my da… everyone. I need to… figure out who I really am. And if this path is the one I want to be on." She paused, biting her lip. "And if I can stand watching you or da throw your lives away without a care for what those who love you may think."

"Jasmine…" Harry said softly but she merely smiled sadly and walked out the door. "I love you too."

~MC~MC~MC~

"Pretty clever, wasn't-"

Harry didn't get to finish.

Voldemort, without saying a word, attacked.

~MC~MC~MC~

Author's Notes; Oh boy… does this chapter require some commentary!

Yes, from almost the very beginning of this series, ALL the way back to The Master's Ball… I knew Dumbledore and Voldemort would merge to be the final Big Bad.

I wrote the entire second half of this chapter WAY back in 2020, knowing what was coming, setting up everything to get to this reveal. So many of you that complained about Harry's attitude, him willing to backstab Dumbledore, to use him… I have stayed silent because I knew this moment was coming. And if you reread many of their interactions suddenly they all take a darker undertone knowing Dumbledore is grooming Harry to be Voldemort's next vessel.

Final, the title. This forms a trinity with two chapters in Order of Moltres, all based on The Magician's Setup:

1) The Pledge. To show you something ordinary and expected. Here it was Harry planning the prank that would get in into the ministry.

2) The Turn. Changing the script. Harry and Jack feuding. But… did you see what you thought you saw? Or… like a good magician… did I distract you from reality?

3) The Prestige. The trick is revealed.