Chapter 6- Building of Strength

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter only my imaginary stuffed animals and the

book set.

Warning: OOC Snape, slash/yaoi, A/U; mild swearing

Severus: I'm surprised you even got around to typing this.

Baka Otaku: I'm sorry for not updating in a super long time.

Severus: Not to mention school and your laziness kept you from typing this up.

Baka Otaku: Doesn't me writing the first part of the chapter count for

anything?

Severus: You wrote it during the classes you found were boring. Don't you think

you should pay more attention in class?

Baka Otaku: It's not my fault that I have an attention span of a freaking

gopher!

Severus: Too bad there's no such thing as a Concentration Draught in your

world.

Baka Otaku: Stop TEASING me!

Psychotic Otaku: Let's go on with the story. This is boring me and the rest of the

audience.

As the Golden trio went down from the Gryffindor Tower, they heard a commotion from the direction of the Great Hall. As they entered it, they saw the sixth year and seventh year slytherins crowded around the main entrance. Harry looked at the figure emerging from the crowd and saw the Slytherin prince walking his way. "Potter I need to talk to you" Draco said gruffly

Hermione and Ron looked at the two, wondering why they needed to talk privately. It wasn't spoken but it was implied. Normally, if Draco had something to say, he would say right in people's faces. Draco saw Hermione and her boyfriend's confusion and said, "Don't worry you two, we won't be long."

When Draco had found an area that he considered private enough for them to talk, Harry asked Draco why he had dragged him all over the castle to for a secluded spot for a private conversation. "Simple Potter. I need to talk to you about that night you found me nearly dead…" He rolled up his left sleeve and said, "Do you see this?" Harry looked at Draco's face and saw the intense hate burning in his eyes. "Yes Draco, I do."

"This Harry… is the new Dark Mark. There are new evil forces building up in secret which means we need to revive the Order of the Phoenix. Since I hear that you have 'remedial potions' again… I think that you can alert Snape this way and Dumbledore too."

Harry nodded his head and Draco said, "I know you understand the seriousness of this situation and we as a magical community need to watch out. My father is the new Dark Lord and he and his thugs are very eager to kill you off. Now that Snape is a known traitor to the Dark Side, he cannot resume his duties as a spy anymore. So… It looks like I have to take them now. To tell you the truth Harry… I'm very worried about this whole thing…"

Harry looked at Draco and saw that he face was cold and emotionless. But he also saw that Draco's eyes were full of sadness and fear. Draco looked at his watch and said, "We should get going to our seats so we don't raise any suspicion… you know as well as I do that there might still be spies lurking around the school and in our community. "

The two returned to their seats at their respective seats at their table. Shortly after they returned, the staff entered the Great Hall and sat in their seats until the head master remained standing. "Well… it seems like out slytherin head boy has returned. I'd like to call a meeting later on tonight most certainly after dinner. The people whom I'd like to attend the meeting shall be owled later on in the day. You may now eat your lunch."

The golden trio's couple looked at Harry and asked him what he and Draco talked about. "Do you remember that meeting we had earlier this month?

The one where the head boys, girls and prefects attended? We talked about that."

Hermione and Ron nodded their heads and ate their lunch. Harry looked around and his attention fell on Draco, who was also being watched by some of the professors especially Severus. Draco was constantly rubbing his left forearm and kept on glancing at it. Severus frowned, 'Something's not right…' he thought to himself worriedly. He looked at his colleagues and found that they too were watching Draco too. They caught each other's attention and gave a curt nod to show that they were thinking the same thing.

After lunch, the golden trio went to their History of Magic class and sat in their usual place which was at the back of the classroom. Professor Binns floated through the chalkboard and the lesson began. Ten minutes later, a young wizard with auburn hair and blue eyes entered the classroom. "Hi… I'm sorry, but am I interrupting this class?"

The Gryffindors turned around in their seats and looked at him while shaking their heads. Professor Binns was still droning on and on not noticing anything. The wizard whistled softly and said quietly, but loud enough for the students to hear, "Well, it looks like Dad didn't replace Professor Binns yet… Tehnee, Holly and I keep on telling him to replace the poor ghost with someone else, but he never does…I wonder why…"

All the students looked at him in shock and sat there gaping at him. He noticed that they were sitting there in shock and said, "Erm… I didn't really introduce myself did I?" The students shook their heads. The wizard smiled apologetically, "Sorry about that. I'm Wyatt Dumbledore and it's nice to meet you all. I'm the apprentice of Professor Binns here, whom I've had as a professor when I was your age. He was still alive back then though."

Ron exclaimed out in surprise, "Why are you the apprentice of Binns? He's so boring!"

The ghost who still was teaching the lesson looked up from his text book and said, "Mr. Weasely, I do not appreciate you interrupting a teacher while he's teaching the lesson. Five points from Gryffindor."

The whole class groaned loudly and Wyatt said, "How about if you guys can keep quiet for the whole class, I'll give you 10 house points?"

The students nodded and Wyatt turned to Ron replying, "I'm his apprentice because of two things. First of all, I want to teach just like my sisters and my dad. And secondly of all, since my father won't replace some one, my siblings and I just decided that one of us should just be an apprentice to replace Professor Binns."

"One of your sisters teaches here, where does your other sister teach?" Hermione asked.

"Oh. Holly teaches at Beauxbatons."

"Wow."

Professor Binns looked up and said, "Wyatt Dumbledore, I haven't seen you in years. I presume that you are here to teach?"

"Yes sir, I am."

"I want to stop teaching and do things I've wanted to do for some time now. I will be teaching until you can get your license."

The Gryffindors did a mental jump for joy, smiled and turned to Wyatt, asking him if he could start teaching right away. Wyatt laughed and said, "Sure, I'll start tomorrow. I already have done my studies and all I need to do is the practical studies and then write the exam."

As the lesson went on, Harry spaced out like the other students but he kept on seeing flashes of outlines of two people talking to each other then merging. His scar began to hurt and he began thinking to himself hazily, 'Why is my scar hurting? I thought that Voldemort was dead…' His vision soon became blurred and the last thing he could remember was the darkness overpowering him.

"Harry? Harry? Wake up! It's time to go!" Hermione yelled.

"Something's not right…" Wyatt said, "I'll get my father and anybody else that I can find."

A couple minutes later, Severus, Minerva and Albus and his two children rushed and pushed their way into the crowd of Gryffindors crowding around the unconscious Harry. Snape was getting a little fed up with the crowd of students so he roared as loudly as he could, "GET THE BLOODY HELL OUT OF OUR WAY! THERE IS A YOUNG MAN WHO IS CURRENTLY UNCONCIOUS AND IF YOU DON'T GET OUT OF OUR WAY I WILL BLOODY GIVE YOU ALL DETENTION AND YOU WILL GET 50 POINTS TAKEN FROM YOU!"

After he yelled the students quickly moved out of the professors' way and the professors got him to the infirmary. "Poppy! Harry's unconscious!"

"WHAT? He hasn't had to come here once for serious medical attention since You-Know-Who was killed!" Poppy said dropping some things she was carrying. Hermione and Ron tagged along and Mme Pomfrey shooed them out telling them that they could visit Harry when they were asked to.

An hour or two later, Harry woke up and saw that the lights were extremely bright and that there were people peering down on him. He heard someone exclaim. "He's awake!"

Harry groggily moaned, "…Where am I?"

Ron replied, "You're in the infirmary Harry. You blacked out during History. Half of the girls screamed because they thought you were dead… I was pretty worried… What happened?"

Harry bolted up in his bed and said, "Where's the Headmaster? I need to tell him something…"

He felt a hand on his shoulder and heard Albus say, "I'm right here. My son came to fetch me. Tell me Harry, why did you faint?"

"My scar acted up during History and it hurt really badly too. I kept on seeing flashes of outlines of two people talking and then merging into one person." Harry said anxiously, "But… I thought my scar only hurt when Voldemort was mad or nearby…Voldemort should be dead, and this shouldn't be happening to me…"

The headmasters look turned from a concerned one to a grave one. "True Tom is dead. Something has not been right since the beginning of the school year, and I can feel it in my bones Harry. Unless… there is some dark force that we have not yet learned about… I have owled the people I wish to see at the Order of the Phoenix Headquarters. Don't forget about the meeting scheduled for tonight. I have scheduled it after your 'remedial potions' lesson.

Mme Pomfrey came into the area where the group crowded around Harry's bed and shooed them out. Harry slept for an hour and left the infirmary to go back to the dormitory. Once he was on the seventh floor, he saw the sign up sheet for the DA club and saw that there were a lot of people who wanted to join. There some names that he could recognize and some that he could not, but the thing that pleased him the most was that there was a mix of people from the different houses.

He walked to the portrait of the Fat Lady and said the password. The portrait swung open and Harry entered the Common Room. The Gryffindors looked at the entrance and fell silent. Harry was feeling very nervous with all the Gryffindors at the room looking at him. Hermione looked up from her book with a tear stained face and said shakily, "Harry… are you ok? I thought… I thought… you were in a coma again!"

Harry smiled sheepishly and said, "I'm ok." Hermione burst into tears, ran to Harry and hugged him, "It's alright…Sh… I'm here, there's nothing to worry about 'Mione…"

The first years and the other students had looks of confusion on their faces and Harry saw this. Turning to Ron, he asked, "Why doesn't anybody know about this?"

Ron shook his head and replied, "Nope. Fudge didn't want the wizarding world to know that their 'saviour' fell into a coma so shortly after a long and tiring battle. He wanted you to seem like you could bounce right back from an exhausting battle. The press was going to publish the truth but Fudge intervened."

As soon as Harry heard this, he screwed his face up in anger and said heatedly, "Fudge is always saying things about me that isn't true! I'm so sick and tired of hearing about what he's said about me! MY God! He's worse than that Rita Skeeter!"

The Gryffindors shifted uneasily and Harry sensed their unease and said calmly, "Sorry about that outburst… Erm… So the first years only you don't know what really happened at the last battle…. The rest should know because they participated in it…How about I tell you all what happened before the adults shooed you away before seeing what I had to see?"

His peers nodded to show that they were interested in what he had to say. He found a place to sit down and the rest followed suit. They sat all around him and before he began his tale, he looked at the people sitting before him and took a deep breath.

"It was the end of the battle, and where most of the students were fighting was with the lower class Death Eaters. Some students were killed unfortunately… But Ron, Draco, Hermione, some seventh and sixth year Slytherins were fighting in the area where Voldemort and his most trusted servants were."

Harry was dodging spells and he pushed his way to the circle of Death Eaters protecting Voldemort. He saw Bellatrix fighting her nephew and them having a screaming match. "Why the bloody hell are you on Dad's side? Huh? Mum was the one who tried to stop you! She cared about you so much! Now, every time she sees a picture of you two together she breaks down and cries! I HATE YOU AUNT BELLA!"

"Shut up you insolent brat! Your mother never supported our cause!"

Then Harry saw Bellatrix fall to her knees screaming, "No! No! Get out of my head! Ah! I'm so sorry…"

"Aunt Bella!"

"NO! Get away from me! It's a trap! Ghh..." Lucius was stepping on Bellatrix's throat and smiling like a mad man. "Sh… We didn't need to let that little secret out did we Bella?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh… my son didn't know. Shame on me. I wanted to control your mother but your aunt wouldn't let me." Lifting his foot from Bella's throat and hearing her gag and sputter, he smiled and said, "In the future I will get you to serve our side. I have plans for you boy, and you will follow through with those plans."

They fought and Draco sent a spell at his father. It hit him and he screamed in agony. Lucius fled the battle and limped to somewhere safe so he could apparate away. Bella pushed herself off the ground and said before apparating safely away, "I'm going home now. I want to see my sister and my parents. Come back alive for us Draco and don't let down our family."

Draco nodded his head and then he turned to Harry, "Harry, I'll get to help you get past these assholes, and then you can kill the bastard that fucked up the lives of many people."

"I found my way through the circle of Death Eaters and in the middle of the circle, there I found Voldemort. I heard loud hissing and saw snakes slither away from the area. He taunted me and I got very angry and we fought."

Harry was walking the field, a couple of kilometres from Tom Riddle's birth place. He saw many dead bodies. There, at the centre of the field, he saw Lord Voldemort. He heard hissing, and then crazed evil laughter, "You will not overthrow my reign boy! I am everlasting darkness…I am un-defeatable, and I shall have a kingdom that triumphs and that rejoices over your death!"

Harry screamed angrily, "You insane bastard! You will never win!"

"Oh but my dear Harry… I already have. Many nameless wizards and witches have died for your cause and for the Light…What have you done Harry? You are supposed to be the saviour of the wizarding world…."

"Shut up! Stop messing with me! You and your bloody Death Eaters killed those people! You messed up more than half the wizarding populations lives! Some children now don't have parents or siblings because of you!"

"Many lives have been lost… All because of you, so why don't you do us all and yourself included a favour… Die already or join my side…. One or the other! Don't you feel guilty and worthless for not having been able to save the people who fought for you and your cause? You are responsible for many people especially your parents! If you had never been born, they would still be alive!"

Harry froze in his place and Voldemort threw a curse at him. Harry screamed in pain and fell to the ground, "Oh my. Harry, how quaint of you to bow before me, the new ruler of the wizarding world. Soon it will be placed in age of darkness incomparable to before. MWAHAHAHA!"

Harry pushed himself off the ground and they began to duel. Spells, curses, hexes and jinxes were flying everywhere and their surroundings were slowly being demolished. The battle raged on and some spells were being nullified because of how their wands shared the same core. Finally at last, they were both exhausted and Harry thought, 'I have enough power for one spell and I have to make this count…'

They both looked each other in the eye and bowed, "Well Harry, it was nice playing hide-and-go-seek with you, but I'm afraid it's time to say goodbye… See you in hell Harry. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Meanwhile, in another part of the field, Severus was looking for Harry,"Damned boy, thinks he can go off by himself when Voldemort's still at large…"

He stopped in his tracks when he saw a bright green light at the centre, "Oh no… No no no no…. He can't be… The prophecy must be fulfilled, for the Light side.

He ran as fast as he could to the centre because he knew he wouldn't be able to apparate in his current condition, he tried to concentrate on healing himself while running. 'I hope I get there in time…'

"After fighting, Voldemort died… and the sight of his dead body made me relieved to know that he wouldn't be screwing millions of people over. I felt weak and fell unconscious."

After the green light faded into the eerie darkness of the field, Harry watched Voldemort fall to his knees then fall forward. He could see the blood pouring out from the Dark Lord's body and the sight didn't disgust him. In fact, it made him relieved to know that there would be no more threats of evil. "Fuck you Voldemort, you've made my life hell." He spat vehemently.

Harry was feeling very weak and decided to sit down on the ground. His robe was torn, hair dishevelled, and a few cuts, wounds and bruises. He found that it was a bit difficult to move and his vision was becoming hazy. He was also feeling very tired, so he closed his eyes and opened them once again. Harry was trying to stay awake to see if there was anyone that was heading in his direction. He muttered the lumos spell before falling unconscious.

As Severus walked into the area, he could smell the sharp scent of blood. He followed the scent and found the still body of the Dark Lord with blood pooling around him. He looked around and saw Harry lying unconscious on the ground, and a bit bloody. 'Bloody hell…the boy need medical attention' He levitated Harry instead of picking him off the ground because he was afraid of hurting him anymore than he was already. He took the Knight Bus back to Hogwarts and rushed to the infirmary. Poppy looked from a student she was attending to see that the Boy Who Lived was unconscious.

Mme Pomfrey called for the Headmaster and the Deputy Headmistress, while Severus called for a medi-witch or wizard that could come to help in their situation. A few minutes later a medi-witch and a trainee came from St. Mungo's and set to work on healing Harry.

"He's losing quite a bit of blood. Anymore and he could fall into a coma…" The trainee was quickly jotting down notes on Harry's condition. Ron and Hermione entered the infirmary, a little battered and bruised, demanding to see their friend. "NO! You may not! He is currently in an unstable condition and having you barge in here may upset his condition. You will be allowed to visit him in the morning. GET OUT!" Poppy shooed them out of the infirmary and resumed helping the medical personnel.

After the medical personnel did their work, Poppy attended to some last duties that required her attention. "Severus, will you be staying here to watch over Harry?"

Severus nodded slowly and then resumed watching the young adult. He looked at how pale Harry's skin was and how it contrasted with the blood on the bandages on him. Every once in a while, Harry would open his eyes and Severus would see the brilliant emerald eyes. He was taken aback by how bright Harry's eyes actually were. Severus was thinking about how the war ended and how everyone whose lives that had been affected by the tyranny of the Dark Lord. How it had changed for himself. For Harry. 'All these years, he's had to face many challenges and difficulties. He's much braver than I give him credit for.'

He looked at Harry's face and saw how Harry's hair was framing his face and thought about how the he had changed over the years, 'From a boy who didn't know a thing about the world that he was born into, to one who has learned much… In a way I'm proud of him.' He mentally awarded Gryffindor 5 points, and he knew that Minerva would rub it in his face, but right now, he didn't care He watched Harry a little longer and fell asleep in his chair.

That morning, Severus woke up to find himself in the infirmary and he remembered that he had stayed in there watching over Harry. Poppy walked from her private quarters and saw Severus fixing himself up. "I asked one of the house elves to get some of your clothes, one of your cloaks and some food for you. Here, you can change in my room."

Severus changed into his regular black clothes and robe and ate his breakfast near Harry. 'Wake up Harry… There are many people that are counting on you to wake up.' He prayed silently. He heard the door to the infirmary open and looked up and saw Hermione and Ron. "Good morning sir."

"Good morning Miss Granger, and Mr. Weasely. You want to see Harry right?" The two nodded and saw Snape reach for Harry's charts near his bed. They watched him attentively and saw how his expression changed slowly. "Get me the Headmaster. It's very urgent.'

Hermione and Ron both exchanged worried glances and did as they were told without hesitation. Before they left, they took one last look at Severus and saw him rise form his chair and begin to pace around. They ran to the stone gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's office and said the password (Saviour of the Wizards) the gargoyle hopped aside and they rushed into the office and only saw Fawkes. "Fawkes! Do you know where the Headmaster is?"

Fawkes cocked his head to one side and stretched his wings. He flew to the bust on top of the entrance and motioned towards the door. They didn't understand what he was trying to tell them and tried to run out but instead, they bumped into Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall and fell down.

"Please do watch where you are going, Mr. Weasely and Miss Granger."

"Sir! Professor McGonagall! Professor Snape needs you in the infirmary!"

"Please, there is no need to shout. Go tell Severus that we are on our way."

They all headed back to the infirmary and saw Severus still pacing around anxiously. He had a tight grip on Harry's charts and stopped when he heard Dumbledore say, "Severus, my boy… Is Harry alright?"

"No. I'm afraid that he's fallen into a coma."

"WHAT? He was just fine yesterday!" Ron yelled in surprise

"Yes, but during the night, it appears that he had lost more blood. I gave him some potions to stabilize his condition and I cast some spells on him too." Severus answered.

Ron was unsure of Severus' skills in the medical field and said a little rudely, "Are you sure you're qualified to do that?"

Hermione reprimanded her boyfriend's manners by saying, "Ron! If you are going to ask a question, at least be polite when asking it!"

"Hermione is right Mr. Weasely. I am qualified to use medi-magic and the like. All teaching personnel are required to know a basic degree it."

Dumbledore and Minerva examined Harry's charts and said, "We have to announce this to the school at lunch and then the public."

They left including Severus and waited to announce the news of Harry's state. They were all distracted in their own ways until lunch. When it came time for them to go down to the Great Hall, the saw Fudge sitting at the professors' table. "Hello. I came to check up on Harry and found out that he's in a coma. I've already told the press that he wanted to go live in the muggle world for a while, that way they don't come searching here for him. I don't want to cause a panic amongst the people you know."

They all rolled their eyes at the stupidity of the Minister. The professors sat at their table listening to the nonsensical plans of the minister if he was to be elected for the 16th year in a row. Half of the professors sat there praying silently for some one to kill them or Fudge to end their misery. The students sat at their tables feeling sorry for the teachers or were trying to restrain themselves from trying to hex Fudge. "Poor people, I wonder how they can stand him and it all?"

Hermione whispered anxiously, "Ron, would you please watch it? Although I have the same opinion with more than half the students here, I still say that you should practice timing what you say in public… If some one that supports Fudge –I have no idea who would-, you'll never hear the end of it from Percy or your Dad. Or worse even your mum!"

Ron looked at Hermione and opened and closed his mouth a few times, and then he fell silent. "That's more like it darling."

After Fudge left, everyone returned to their regular routines and after classes, Severus returned to the infirmary to check up on Harry. This became a habit that had grown on Severus and at one time Minerva and Albus hugged each other and watched as Severus cared for Harry. Any one that visited Harry prayed that he would hopefully wake up. A few weeks later, Harry woke up and everyone told him what happened to him.

When Harry finished recounting the events of the last battle and the aftermath the Gryffindors all burst out exclaiming things that showed how shocked and mad they were. "Fudge is a bloody spaz!" Seamus exclaimed.

Everyone clamoured in agreement and after everyone calmed down; Dean looked at his watch and said, "It's almost supper. We'd better get going otherwise McGonagall will take points from us."

They made their way to the Great Hall and saw the other houses and professors seated. The golden trio noticed the Headmaster looking at them with the famous twinkle in his eyes. They then glanced at the hourglass that held the rubies for their house points and saw that it had filled up some more by 20. The Gryffindors headed to their table and sat down.

Severus looked at Harry and saw that some of the usual fire in his eyes had returned and Severus felt a little relieved to see the boy back to his usual self. Everyone looked at the sky to see owls dropping letters. Severus saw a black owl fly by him. "Hello Nyghtwing. Do you have a letter for me?"

Everyone at the table looked at Severus and saw the black owl. They smiled and continued eating as if nothing happened. Meanwhile, all the students were staring at Snape with the black owl. "Psst… Harry! Did you ever see that owl before" Ron whispered with his eyes still glued to Snape and the mysterious owl.

"No. It looks like some of the Slytherins have seen it before though."

Severus saw that the students were watching him in utter fascination and mentally sighed. "Hoo. Hoo." Nyghtwing gently nipped him and dropped the letter. Severus opened it and read.

'Hey Sev,

How are you? How are the rest of the old gang? I'm sorry I haven't written to you in… what? Three months? The reason I didn't write was because I'm in a really bad financial situation here… I can't access my Gringotts bank account from here. I'm using my last couple of thousand dollars to come back to Britain and crash at Hogwarts. I need to get a job so I can get some muggle money before that though. The muggles here won't hire me because of the fact I only have my magical stuff on me. They think I'm some wacko. Why?

I dropped my book that I'm writing for the wizarding community about the Muggle world while I was working. Once a klutz, always a klutz eh Sev? My colleague from my job at the Toronto Sun told my boss that I needed a shrink. I was so close to using a Memory Charm, but I couldn't, where I work, it's all hustle and bustle; people need you every 5 minutes.

The next few days, I get letters from my superiors saying I need to for 'psychological tests'. I quit my job in hopes of getting another one… Well, it seems that my old employers had the nerve of contacting my previous ones. Then you know what? I land a job interview and when the employer contacted the previous one… and the next thing I know, I can't land a job.

I hope all that rambling didn't confuse you…..'

Severus paused from reading his letter and realised that he had a small smile on his face and that the students looked at him as if he sprouted another head. "Well Nyghtwing, it looks as if I have to read Mathiylch's letter later. Come, I have something for you to eat. May I please be excused?"

Albus looked up from his seat and replied, "Yes Severus. Please tell Mathiylch that we all saw hello."

He gave a small smile and said, "I will"

Harry noticed that only the first and second years Slytherins were interested in the idea of Severus receiving a letter. He looked at Draco who motioned to the other Slytherins that it was time to go to get their books and go to class, "What class do we have to go to now Hermione?"

"We've got Defence against the Dark Arts."

They went to their Defence against the Dark Arts class and sat in their assigned seats. They opened their text books and sat quietly because the last time they wandered around the classroom, Snape took 10 points off. Snape entered the classroom and said, "Put away your text books, because we're reviewing the Unforgivables. I understand that you all learned about it in your fourth year. Who can tell me about them… other than Miss. Granger? Hmm… Seamus Finn, stop poking that spider on your desk and tell me about them!"

Seamus looked up from his desk and gulped loudly. The 7th year Gryffindors stared at him hoping that he could come up with something so that they wouldn't have more points taken off of them. "Er… There are three unforgivables. If you use them against another being, you can be tried for casting them and if found guilty, you can be sent to Azkaban."

"Very good Seamus, but what are they called?"

"One of them is Crucio."

"Explain what it is and the effects it has on a person."

"It is a torture curse and can render someone injured, and wounded."

"Neville!" Severus barked,"Tell me, are there any other effects that the Crucio curse has?"

In a tiny voice, he said, "Yes, there is, if the curse is cast enough times, it can leave someone mentally unstable. The pain is very intolerable."

"I want those of you who have experienced the unforgivables to come up to the front after we review what they are. And what I mean by those who experienced them I want those who experienced them last year in the war. All of you experienced the Imperious curse and that's not what I'm looking for. The professor you had in your fourth year held back when casting those curses. If it was last year, or a previous year, then you must have experienced people casting it without restraint. Now any other volunteers to tell me the other two?" Snape said.

Ron raised his hand because Hermione wrote down what she wanted to say, and she kept on poking him to do it, "Mr Weasely, yes what curse would you like to explain to the class?"

"The curse I'd like to explain is the Imperius curse. It is the mind controlling curse. The caster has complete control over you and if you have a weak will you will not be able to break the restraint the curse has on you. But if you have a strong will, you might be able to break free from it."

"That's very detailed Mr. Weasely. But I'm pretty sure your girlfriend wrote that for you because I absolutely refuse to have her explain every single curse. I want you students to learn something by me having you explain thing to your peers." The students laughed at Ron because for a moment they thought that he had actually come up with the explanation. "Totally whipped I say." Dean laughed.

"What is the final curse? Potter! Explain now!"

"The final curse is the deadliest curse sir, it is the Avada Kedavra. It kills the victim instantly, and the last thing you see before you die is a brilliant flash of green light. The death is a quick and painless one… You can't block it. What you hear is some thing rushing at you, and the only known survivor is me. And yeah, Fawkes swallowed the spell once." Harry replied

"Well explained and you know that part about Fawkes was really unnecessary. Now those of you who have had these curses cast on you come up. If you know someone who has had these cast upon them come up as well. I want to you to describe what you felt so that the others have an idea of what they might encounter if in the future there is a threat of evil. Remember, those that serve evil don't hold back if they know that their victims are weaker than themselves."

Some students and Professor Snape himself stood at the front of the class to tell their stories. Harry stood next to Snape and having his peers watch him was making him nervous. It was Neville's turn to recount his experiences with the unforgivables. "Well my first experience was with my parents. They were attacked by Bellatrix Lestrange; she used the Cruciatus curse on them… Now they're in St. Mungo's still… That's what happens when you are exposed to the curse a long period of time. A couple of years ago, I felt a fraction of what my parents felt…"

Neville quietly walked back to his seat and laid his head on the desk and watched the others tell their experiences. Severus began telling the students what he saw and felt as a Death Eater, "You know Neville, it is very hard to tell people about things that are very personal to you but as well it helps others to understand you and where you're coming from. I know you've all heard that as a student here, I had quite and interest in the Dark Arts and I was very skilled in it. It is true but that interest served me to a greater purpose to make sure you brats and your children have a peaceful life. My parents and my little sister were killed by the Dark Lord because he heard about my interests. I was offered the position to be a Death Eater and I refused. He made me watch my family die before my eyes. I had no choice to refuse the next time he offered me because through spies he made sure I didn't do anything stupid. And the rest I'm pretty sure you know because of the interviews."

The students nodded to show that they had read the interviews that Albus had ordered to take place. Albus made sure that the interviews of the members who served the Order of the Phoenix had the exact words they said relayed to the public. Luna's father published these interviews since so many people had already subscribed to the magazine. Harry started to speak, "I've been at the receiving end at all three curses and I have casted two of them. The Cruciatus curse hurts a lot. It's like having somebody take 1000 needles and insert them at the pressure points of your body. You twitch violently at times and all you can do is scream and pray it ends. The Imperio curse controls you and you have no control at all. The only way is to have a strong will to fight it. And the last and final curse is Avada Kedavra. I survived it twice and if your victim is weak enough, you can brutally kill them through that curse. When casting these curses you have to mean it not just cast it for the sake of casting it. Like Moody said, if you –excluding Professor Snape- were to all gang up on a powerful wizard, all you'd give him would be a nose bleed or some thing like that."

Professor Snape stood up from his seat and looked at the time and said, "Before you all go, I want you to go and read ahead into the next chapter in the text book and write your own notes. I will be choosing random students and quizzing you on how well you learned what you read. I expect that you know at least something from your readings."

owls, Ootp meeting, occlumency

They went back to the Gryffindor Tower and put their things away. They headed down to the Great Hall for dinner and sat down in their seats. The food arrived from the kitchen and the students and professors began to eat. Minerva leaned over to Albus and said, "Albus have you sent the letters yet?"

"Yes, I have. After dinner everyone will receive them. Severus, I am assuming that you didn't forget about the occlumency lessons that you will be having later on tonight." Albus replied.

"No, I haven't forgotten Albus. By the way, I was thinking about it, shouldn't the some other students be receiving training in this area as well?" Severus said

"I'm pretty sure that some of the students you are referring to have already received training, but the others will not need it."

After they finished their meals, there were owls flying in to the Great Hall and were delivering letters. Severus, Minerva, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco, and the other members of the order received the letter about the meeting. After they read the letter, they all retired to their sleeping quarters. Severus was in his office continuing to read Mathilych's letter.

'So, I'm planning to come back to Britain and get a job at Hogwarts. I kinda miss being there; after all, I did spend a little more than seven years of my life there. I might apply for the position of teaching that Muggle course. I realized that what I learned in that course was completely useless. I kinda miss having people like family around also. You know how I'm an orphan, how I never knew my parents and all that stuff.

Yeah, before I moved to where I am now, I travelled around a bit. I saw Asia. It's really beautiful there. I should take you there some time with your kids and hubby too if you have one Severus. Did I tell you I studied at a muggle university for a while too?

Although I was in the muggle world for over 5 years, it still fascinates me because around the world, they have different cultures and there are different beliefs. Some even belief in magic! Well, I have nothing else to say, but that I'll be seeing you soon Sev.

Lots of love from,

Mathiylch '

Severus smiled as he finished reading the letter and when he looked up he found Harry waiting at the door with his pensieve and his book. "Hello Potter. I see you haven't forgotten about the occlumency lesson. Today, we'll be learning how to store our memories in there."

He pointed his wand to his temple and concentrated on transferring his memories to the pensieve. "The key thing to remember is to concentrate on transferring your memories as not to accidentally cast a spell on yourself. Now you try."

Harry transferred his memories to the pensieve and the next thing he knew was Severus chanting, "Legilimens!" Harry could see flashes of his memories fly before him but when he saw the memory about when he got his acceptance letter, he silently pleaded, 'Anything else but this one! I'm begging you God!'

The flashes stopped at this particular memory and Severus looked at Harry and saw him fidgeting nervously. There he saw Harry and his relatives sitting in the living room and Vernon was pacing around in deep thought. He stopped and said, "Petunia, you know what this means. The freakishness passed onto their son. What should we do?"

Petunia shrugged and replied to her husband, "What would you do Vernon if you found out if Dudley had that… that abnormality, because honestly, I don't know. I know I said I'd keep him because my parents found out, but you know, maybe if we just keep in him in his closet some more?"

"We could always try beating it out of him."

"Vernon, that's a far out idea… But it could work. Harry! Go cook us some lunch!"

"Dad, can we kick Harry out? PLEASE?"

"No Duddy-kins. No. Not unless I find some way that won't get me into trouble with my parents and the law. My parents are still grieving over the loss of my dratted sister anyways…" sighing and whispering quietly to herself, "I still wish they had paid more attention to me though."

Harry peeked through the door of the kitchen to see if they were still talking over possibilities of what to do with him. "I wonder why they're so worried about what they're gonna do with me… It's not as if they cared about me in the first place. It's always, 'Duddy-kins this, Duddy-kins that!' My god, I wouldn't be surprised if he got expelled from school or something like that. Aunt Petunia is always sticking up for him even though she knows he did something wrong. 'Oh no, my baby Duddy-kins wouldn't even hurt a fly!' That stupid whale of a cousin always always gets what he wants!" Harry muttered to himself angrily.

Severus looked at Harry again and saw Harry looking at his feet and not looking up, "After this is done you're going to have some explaining to do…"

"What the hell are you doing? Get back to cooking you stupid brat!" Petunia slapped Harry hard on the cheek and afterwards there was a big red mark on his cheek. Harry saw Dudley getting some food out of the fridge and he was smirking and laughing at him. Harry felt tears starting to form and rubbed his eyes frantically so that his cousin wouldn't laugh at him more or Vernon or Petunia wouldn't yell at him and throw him his cupboard.

The memory ended and Severus said, "As I said many times before, clear your mind and let go of all emotions. What was that I just saw?"

"Well, my relatives really don't like magic and they try beating it out of me. I think my aunt knows it doesn't work but she still does it anyway because they tried to use other methods to try to get it out of me."

"Potter, magic doesn't come out of you. The only way magic comes out of you is by a side effect of a spell or potion and if you die. Magic goes on in a circle. What methods did they try to stamp the magic out of you?"

"They tried scaring me, hitting me, giving me little food and water, working me until I was exhausted, they even made me live in the back yard. They didn't work so they just let me go here and just decided that beating me and not letting me do any magic. Luckily, I hid my wand."

"Is that all they did?"

"Yes sir."

"What about that cupboard? Are you still using that?"

"No, after my second year, they decided to give me my cousin's second room. It's full of rubbish that my aunt Petunia keeps as little memoirs of my cousin Dudley."

"Petunia, where have I heard that name before? Yes, Mathyilch and Lily."

"Who is Mathilych and how does this person know my mum?"

"Potter, Mathilych was my sister's best friend. She was a couple of years younger than us. She was in Slytherin just like my sister and I. She used to tag around with us and say all these things. She was another sister to me. She was friends with a lot of people from different houses. I remember when we were in our sixth or seventh year, your mutt of a godfather tried asking her out, she flat out refused him in front of the whole school. Your mother was also friends with my sister, because of her."

"Oh. How come you heard of my aunt?"

"Mathilych went over to your mother's house for one summer and sent me owls telling me about how uptight your aunt was."

"Is Matheyilch…er Mathilych her real name? I'm getting this feeling that it's not."

"No it isn't. She doesn't mind being called by her real name, but she just prefers this because it makes her laugh when people can't pronounce it right. Anyways, Potter if you have anymore questions about her, you can ask her when she comes here. Come, we must go to the meeting now, and remember Potter; this is still practice and review. You may have mastered occlumeny and legilimency, but you still have some things to go over before this is all finished. Now let's go and not waste time." Before going, Harry went back to the Gryffindor Tower to put his things away and met up with Severus to leave for the meeting.

They took the floo to 12 Grimmauld place and found the Order of the Phoenix in the kitchen with Molly preparing assortments of drinks and snacks. "Well it seems the last of the Order has come in. Would you like something to drink or eat?"

"No thank you Molly." The two declined politely.

Dumbledore began the meeting by saying,"It is a shame that we do not have the members we had before but, I have been feeling uneasy about this peace that we have now. Draco has something he would like to show us all." Dumbledore motioned to Draco and he rolled up the sleeve to his left arm. There was a collective gasp around the room and their eyes lingered on it before turning to Severus.

"Professor Snape, do you still have your Dark Mark?" Draco asked. Unsure why he would ask that Severus rolled up his left sleeve to and said, "It's gone but not quite. You can still see the outline of it."

"This is the new Dark Mark. There was an Azkaban breakout that Fudge kept hush-hush and pretty soon that decision's going to bite him hard in the arse. I mean really really hard. If the public ever got wind of this, there'd probably be a riot."

"Who is the new Dark Lord Draco?" Hermione asked.

"Who else would it be? It's my father." He said bitterly.

They talked about how they would try and break down Lucius' power and how they would try and warn the public about a new growing opposition to the light side. After the meeting, they all went back to Hogwarts and went to their living quarters and slept. Before Harry could fall asleep he thought about how busy he would be the next day because of the Dumbledore's Army meeting he would have. Severus couldn't sleep because his friend was coming to England to stay a while and he had not seen her since Lily and James' funeral.

Meanwhile in Canada, there was an Asian woman with a British accent getting onto a plan headed towards Britain. She sat in her seat and watched the movies playing. She sighed and flipped through the channels and got bored because she had seen most of them. She decided to listen to music instead. She looked at her watch and she began thinking to herself, 'How long has it been since I was last at Hogwarts? The last time I was there my little godsons were still babies. A woman with a bar cart and the snacks stopped by and asked her what she would like to drink and she said, "I'd like to have some scotch on rocks please. Oh, and can I have three of those pretzel packs, not just one?"

The flight attendant handed her three pretzel packs and her scotch on rocks. She flipped through the channels while eating and drinking but soon afterwards she fell asleep. When she woke up the plane was in the process of landing and she straightened herself up and fixed herself and put everything she needed in her carryon. When the plane stopped at Heathrow, she decided to a little shopping first before going to Hogwarts.

After buying the things she wanted she called a taxi and said she wanted to go to the nearest park. There, she found a secluded place and apparated to Hogsmeade. She talked to the local innkeeper and found a room. Once she organised her room to her liking, she decided to go to Hogwarts and visit the old gang. She entered the castle and entered the Great Hall and everyone stopped in the middle of morning announcements to stare at her.

Severus: Interesting plot twist. And I'm definitely out of character. WHAT'S

WRONG WITH YOU? I like being snarky!

Baka Otaku: No use complaining about it. I'm just borrowing you and

bending you to my will. You remind me of House by the

way.

Severus: Who the hell is House?

Psychotic Otaku: Another fictional character who's snarky and is a muggle.

He's a brilliant doctor though.

Harry: Who the hell is that character?

Psychotic Otaku: Relax would you? It'll be explained in the next chapter. If I

explained it now it would ruin the story a bit!