Disclaimer is in chapter 1.

"I will give him this much," Wednesday drawled idly, sounding bored, "Potter knows how to stir up a crowd."

Xander rolled his eyes, a half smirk on his face, eyeing the chaos that was visible on his copy of the Marauders map. "This is just him stumbling around blindly, if he ever learns to do it intentionally I fear for the world."

"Indeed."

"Are you two quite finished!?" Hermione snapped at them, eyes wet with unshed tears. "Harry's out there somewhere with murderers and kidnappers!"

"Much like every year so far," Wednesday replied evenly. "It's hardly a new occurrence."

Hermione glared at her, mouth open, but words seemed to fail the bushy haired girl just then. Ron appeared at her side, shooting Xander and Wednesday dark glares as he tried to lead Hermione away from them.

"He'll be fine, Mione," Ron told her, "Moody's a legend, and he's gone after him, right?"

Hermione sniffed, "I hope you're right."

Xander frowned, blinking as he stared at his map, "I'm not so sure he is."

Ron glared at him, "Just shut up! Harry will be fine!"

"Not about that, about Moody." Xander growled, eyes not leaving the map. "He's supposed to be off where Harry is, right?"

"Right, what of it?"

"Then why is he in his office?" Xander pointed at the map.

The three others frowned, leaning in, and clearly read 'Alistair Moody' on the map where the DADA professor's office was.

"This," Wednesday said with finality, "Does not bode well."

"Ya think?" Xander asked dryly.

"Where'd you get a map?" Ron asked, bewildered.

"I made it."

"You sure it's any good?"

Xander shot him a scowl, "It's as good as Harry's."

"Blimey." Ron said quietly, looking lost for a moment. "What do we do?"

"I don't know about you lot," Xander said, "But I'm going to Moody's Office. If Scarface is pulling a Lockhart, I say we string him up over the goblet of fire and light the damned thing."

With those words Xander set out back to the school, Wednesday, Hermione, and Ron determinedly following behind.

"Untie him."

The snake like visage of the reborn Dark Lord sneered slightly as he casually buttoned the robe handed to him by Pettigrew. The rat faced man simpered, glancing about like his animal form might, before approaching where Harry was bound.

Harry glared at Peter with contempt as the man's silver hand flexed and deftly undid the ropes. Peter finished and stepped back as Voldemort retrieved his wand from where it had been placed on the ground. He appeared ready to say something, then seemed to reconsider before turning to Moody.

"How much time do we have, Bartimus?"

Harry was confused when Moody responded, "No more than minutes, My Lord."

"I suppose we'll have to end this quickly, then." Voldemort shrugged, "Pity. I wanted to make an example of him in front of my followers."

"It will be their loss, My Lord."

"Indeed." Voldemort smirked, idly lifting his wand in Harry's direction as his face and voice cooled. "Now, Potter, your time is come."

Harry tensed.

"Avada Kedavra."

As the first sound of the spell escaped the Dark Lord's lips, Harry charged. He hit Pettigrew low, driving the air from the rat faced man's lungs, and drove them both to the ground. Harry scrambled with Pettigrew as the death curse destroyed the gravestone behind him.

"Imbecile!" Voldemort snarled, his anger rising at yet again missing Potter. "Avada Kedavra!"

"Kingsley, Good," Albus said as the dark Auror arrived with a half dozen others in tow, "Are you prepared?"

"We are."

Albus nodded, noting that a couple of the Aurors looked nervous, but willing and eager all the same. His gaze fell on the youngest, "Ah Nymphadora, I see you've passed your training."

She lost her nervous look as she scowled back at the Headmaster, "Yes, just a few months ago."

"Fabulous. I've prepared a portkey, but be ready. There's no telling what we'll find when we arrive."

The Aurors all nodded determinedly, arraying around him in a semi-circle as Albus prepared the old sock for activation.

"PROFESSOR!" A voice screamed from down the hall, startling them.

They turned to see a student running up.

"Ah, Mr. Harris, I'm afraid we're a little busy. Whatever is the matter will have to wait."

"Oh hell no." Xander slashed his hand, cutting Albus off. "You need to see this."

Albus raised an eyebrow, quite used to students feeling that their concerns were the only ones of import, yet couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't one of those cases. "Indeed?"

"Now." The young man said firmly, with all the weight of an order. Under other circumstances, Albus would have been amused.

"We're preparing to…"

"Go rescue Harry, yeah I get it." Xander told him, "This is related."

"Oh? Very well, show me." Albus ordered.

Xander jerked his head down the hall and took off at a jog, forcing them all to rush to catch up.

"Sir, why are we chasing a student when Potter is in trouble?" Kingsley demanded.

"A feeling, Kingsley. Just a feeling."

Xander led them to the DADA office, causing a chill to run down Albus' spine as he entered to see Poppy leaning over a rather worse for wear Alistair Moody.

"When did he return?" Albus demanded.

"Sir," Xander attracted his attention again, shaking his head, "Best we can tell, he never left."

"He's been dosed with sleeping drought, Albus," Poppy said, "For a while. He's dehydrated, his muscles are atrophied, and he has bed sores you don't get in a few hours. He's been in that trunk in the corner for weeks at least, maybe months."

Albus paled, "Then who did I send to help Harry?"

He jerked around, "we have to go now! Be aware, if we find Alistair Moody when we arrive, it is an imposter. Act accordingly!"

The Aurors nodded quickly as they reached out for the sock in Albus' hand. In a flash they were gone, leaving Poppy with Moody and the Students.

"I'll need help getting him to the infirmary."

"We've got you covered, Ma'am." Xander said, glancing around at the others, who all nodded.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Harry jerked sideways, fingers hooked into claws that pulled Pettigrew up and over as he rolled. There was a green flash of the killing curse, and Harry felt the rat go suddenly limp.

He swallowed hard, teeth bared, and yanked his wand from where Pettigrew had tucked it into his robes. Then he kicked free of the body of his parent's betrayer and rolled behind a gravestone.

"Blasted pest!" Voldemort hissed, "Circle around, Barty. We'll finish him and be gone from here."

"With pleasure, my lord." The one legged man said, stomping clumsily around in the soft soil of the graveyard.

Harry took a moment to breath, listening to the sounds around him, and decided to take out Moody first. He waited, trying to judge the right moment, then dove clear of the cover he had, wand leading the way.

"Reductor!" He called, sending the blasting curse on its way ahead of him, forcing Moody to throw up a shield in a hurry.

He followed it with a string of curses, the sorts he'd send after Xander when he needed to take down his shields, and kept those lessons in mind as he kept on the move.

Harry heard Moody curse, the older man unable to mount a counter attack to Harry's barrage, and he prepared to press the assault when he heard that hated voice from his right side.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Harry threw himself down, the curse passing over his head, and rolled behind another gravestone as Moody dropped his shield and loosed a barrage of his own.

Marble splinters were raining down around him, some with enough force to draw blood from Harry's face and neck, but he stayed in place and tried desperately to think of another move.

"It's the end, Potter." Voldemort hissed, "You have no exit now."

"You said that before!" Harry called back, "By my count I'm only outnumbered two to one now, instead of three to one!"

"As if the loss of that fool matters," Voldemort replied disdainfully. "Come out, little Harry… or are you going to die like your father, on your knees and begging for your life?"

"LIAR!"

Voldemort chuckled easily, "Are you so sure? He and your mudblood mother died pitifully, begging me to spare them."

Harry shook his head, "My Mother died telling you to kill her, just spare ME."

That set the Dark Lord back, his wand dipped as he demanded, "How did you know that!?"

Harry took a shot, jumping up to his feet as his wand settled on the Dark Lord, "Because I. WAS. THERE! BOMBARDA!"

Voldemort's eyes widened more in shock than fear as the lethal spell bore down on him, he threw up an Imprimis shield instinctively, but it was blown apart under the intense force. The blast lifted the Dark Lord off the ground, throwing him back across the graveyard.

"Master!" Moody yelled, stomping as fast as he could in the soft earth after his fallen lord.

Harry turned his wand on the distracted man, unleashing a rain of hexes and curses that sent him to the ground, scrambling for cover.

"Damn you, Potter!" He yelled from behind the stones. "You'll pay! I swear you'll pay!"

"You sound just like Draco, Moody! Whining about your precious Dark Lord and cursing my name!" Harry said between spells, "Well so be it! When you've got the balls to collect, I'll be waiting!"

"I believe, I'll collect NOW, Potter."

Harry blinked, eyes turning to see the red glowing eyes of the Dark Lord glaring at him from so much closer than he would have believed possible.

How did he get up so fast? Harry managed to think as the Dark Lord's wand snapped in his direction.

"Avada Kedavra." The Dark Lord hissed, wand so close Harry could see the green glow as the spell charged.

He couldn't dodge that fast, Harry knew, but he tensed to throw himself aside anyway.

"Leviosa!"

A large marble headstone pulled itself from the earth and leapt between Harry and the curse, exploding to shards as the killing curse destroyed it. Harry dove to the right, landing in a roll, and took cover behind another stone with his heart beating in his ears.

There was a long silence as no one seemed to move, only his heart thudding kept him company in the darkness of the graves.

Then he heard the furious voice of Voldemort.

"Dumbledore!"

"Hello Tom," The comforting voice of the headmaster rolled easily across the cemetery, "You're looking fitter than the last time we met."

"I'm back, Old Man," Voldemort sneered, an impressive look on a face as inhuman as his. "Your stay of execution has finally come to an end."

"I have a few more years left before I go on to my next adventure, Tom," Albus said serenely as the Aurors behind him fanned out. "Tell me, who did you have impersonating Alistair?"

"Finally worked that out, did you?" The snake faced man smirked, "Only took you until it was far too late. You're slipping, Albus."

Albus smiled serenely, "I suppose I am. I must compliment your man on his acting, he had me completely fooled. Ironic that he was discovered by children who never even met the real Moody."

"Pah!" Voldemort spat, annoyed at the elder man's unshakeable calm. "Enough of this! Crucio!"

Dumbledore calmly flicked another headstone into the spell's path, and the cemetery erupted into spellfire.

Harry stayed low, watching as the Dark Lord easily held off an entire squad of Aurors with casual slicks of his wand while keeping up enough pressure to force Albus Dumbledore to the defense. It was an amazing bit of dueling, Harry had to admit. Then the man Harry had believed to be Moody, but who apparently wasn't, waded into the battle with a string of curses that rained down on one single Auror, dropping them in their tracks.

Harry watched as he turned his focus to another, but decided that wasn't going to do, and rose up.

"Difindo Ossi! Reductor! Ossi Fragier!"

The three spell combo rained down on 'Moody', surprising the man. He managed to react, though, and threw up a shield to block the first two with ease. Harry's redactor shattered the shield, however, and the Bone Fragmenter caught his wand arm with a sickening series of cracks that caused a spray of blood to erupt from the small holes in his flesh through which bone now peeked.

He went down to one knee, cradling his arm, "Master!"

Voldemort spared him a glance, then seemed to ignore him for a moment before fighting his way back to the kneeling man and grabbing his shoulder.

"I should leave you to die, fool." The snake faced man hissed, blocking the Aurors curses.

"I'm Sorry, Master…"

Voldemort looked up as Dumbledore snapped his wand back, a whip of flames erupting from the tip, then vanished in a crack just as Albus snapped it forward, scoring a deep burn through the very ground he'd been standing on.

For a long moment no one said anything as the last echoes of the apparition sound vanished, then Albus stepped forward.

"Harry?"

"I'm here." Harry stepped out, leaning on a gravestone.

"What happened?" Tonks muttered, looking around with a stunned expression.

Harry nudged the body of Peter Pettigrew over with his foot, "This piece of crap helped the Dark Lord return."

She stared at him, paling remarkably, "Th… that was?"

"Yeah. Right, Sir?" Harry looked at Dumbledore.

The Headmaster sighed, "Yes Harry, as you well know, that was the Dark Lord."

"He used my blood to come back." Harry said dully, cradling his arm as it began to ache. He then looked around, "Where's Cedric!?"

"Calmly, Harry. Mr. Diggory was forced to use the return portkey when you were stunned, Peter was trying to kill him."

Harry sighed, "Thank God. He's ok?"

"He will be fine." Albus said, levitating Peter's body with a flick of his wand. "Come. Back to Hogwarts, Harry, it's been a long day."

Harry snorted.

The Headmaster was fond of understatements, apparently.

When the portkey deposited the Headmaster, Aurors, Harry, AND a dead body on the grounds of the Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch the initial reaction of the crowd was decidedly mixed. The largest portion were relieved to see everyone back, though they were quite concerned to see one of the Aurors being held up by two of his colleagues. Another portion were still thinking about Amos Diggory screaming 'Harry Potter Crucioed You?', these people were angrily murmuring when they saw that Harry wasn't in shackles.

The smallest portion of the crowd, however, proved to be the most vocal. These people were close enough to recognize a dead body when they saw it, and they freaked out. Their screaming and shock was well on its way to kicking off a mini riot when Minister Fudge elbowed his way through the group and made his way up to Dumbledore.

"Got him back, then? Good, good. None the worse for wear, my boy?" He asked, smiling at Harry. "So what happened then? Who did this? I'll see to it that the full force of the Ministry is brought down on him I will!"

"Minister, maybe we should speak of this in private." Albus said quietly.

"Nonsense! These people have a right to know!" Fudge blustered.

Kingsley Shacklbolt stepped quietly up to him, "Sir, You don't want this getting out yet. Not until you work out a plan to deal with it."

Minister Fudge glared at the Auror for a long moment, then rolled his eyes, "Fine. Your office, Albus?"

Dumbledore nodded, "First the infirmary, I think."

Fudge glanced at the injured Auror and then at Harry, "Ah right, yes of course."

The group pushed through the crowd, heading back to the school, and up toward the infirmary level. Harry was surprised to find Hermione, Ron, Xander, and Wednesday already there while Mad Eye Moody was laid out on a bed against the far wall.

The Headmaster must have caught him eyeing the former Auror, "I assure you, Harry, that whoever it was that attacked you was not Alistair Moody. Apparently the real Moody has been held hostage for quite some time in a trunk in his office."

Fudge stared, not blinking, "Scandalous."

"Bartimus." Harry said.

Everyone looked at him while Poppy and two of the Aurors levitated the injured man onto a bed.

"Excuse me, Harry?" Albus asked, confused.

"He called him Bartimus. The fake moody, that's what V…" Harry glanced at the others, "The Dark Lord called him."

"Dark Lord!?" Fudge squeaked.

Albus sighed, "please, Nymphadora, make sure no one is listening in?"

"Right." Tonks said, glaring at her former headmaster for his use of her actual name, but not saying anything because the situation was too tense as it was. She whipped out her wand and cast a few privacy spells before glancing over at the children, "Headmaster?"

He followed her eyes, and sighed, "Would I be terribly mistake to believe that you intend to tell everyone here the whole story no matter what I say, Harry?"

Harry looked at his friends, "Maybe not the whole story, but yeah I'm telling them."

Dumbledore nodded, "Very well… Minister? Yes, the Dark Lord."

"He's dead!"

"No longer, I am afraid."

"That's not possible, Albus… it…. It just can't be…" The Minister stuttered out.

"Sir," Kingsley spoke up, "I can't swear that whatever that was, it was the Dark Lord…"

Albus shot him an annoyed look while the Minister obviously was overjoyed to have anything to grasp at. "There, you see?"

"But if it wasn't," Kinsley continued, "We still faced off against one Wizard who was able to easily hold off an entire squad of Aurors while he was dueling Albus Dumbledore. And, let me be frank, Minister… that's very nearly as bad as the Dark Lord returning. Especially when you consider he kidnapped the Boy Who Lived for some sort of Dark Ritual."

"Ah… yes." Fudge drooped.

"It was the Dark Lord." Harry said firmly, "Pettigrew was helping him."

Fudge looked at the boy in annoyance, but didn't pay him further mind. "We'll have to keep this quiet. Can't have a panic on our hands, Albus. Kingsley, this is top secret, understand?"

"Yes Minister."

"That means NO REPORT!" Fudge blustered.

Kingsley blinked, "But Sir…"

"I said No Report, Kingsley. I don't want this leaking out. We'll have a public outcry, and I won't have it."

"I'll report orally only, to Madame Bones."

"Are you deaf, or just stupid, Auror? I said no report and I meant it."

"Sir, that's completely against procedure… and illegal…"

"I am the Minister, I decide what's legal!"

Albus raised an eyebrow, "Now Minister, that's not…"

"Don't you start! This was all your fault," Fudge was on a roll now, and seemed to have forgotten who he was speaking to, "How could you not know you had an imposter in your school!?"

"Minister Fudge…"

"No." Fudge said, backing away, "No report, Kingsley. Or I'll have you thrown in Azkaban!"

The Minister turned and rushed out before anyone could say anything more.

"That didn't go so well." Kingsley said dryly.

"No, it did not." Albus sighed.

"Sir?" One of the Junior Aurors spoke up, looking more than a little fearful and extremely confused. "What do we do?"

Kingsley looked over at him firmly, "You say nothing. None of you. This is officially over your paygrade. It'll be handled above your heads…"

He glanced at Albus, not saying the rest, but adamantly wishing that it would be handle above his own as well.

I should be so lucky.