AN: My disclaimer is on my bio page.
Entrapment
England Ministry Falls Two weeks ago the English Ministry of Magic fell to the Dark Lord and his overwhelming army. On that fateful night, Lord Voldemort was able to squash any last hopes numerous nations had of winning their battles against the New Order, the dictatorship that now rules the majority of the Eastern Hemisphere and some South American nations. That very night numerous leaders of the war were killed, captured, or incapacitated; leaders including Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore, and Wyatt Halliwell. The Power of Five that many hoped would help Harry destroy Voldemort was also shattered. Among the dead were the heirs of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, Brendin Will and Ethan Long respectively. The remaining members Daelan, Slytherin's heir, Casey, heir of Hufflepuff, and Merlin's heir and Harry Potter's cousin Kyle, all returned home at the end of the school year. Brendin is survived by his younger brother who also attended Hogwarts, his parents and younger sister. Ethan's parents were devastated to hear of their only son's death. These powerful wizards only learned who they were less than a year ago since their parents are Muggles. Kyle's mother (James Potter's sister) passed on nearly two years ago never having told her son of his background. These powerful wizards were the hope of so many witches and wizards that their collapse was felt around the world to the delight of the Dark Lord's. Bellatrix Lestrange, the Death Eater in charge of public announcements, said during a press conference late last night, "The Dark Lord is pleased that so many people were affected. He is confident they may now be able to make the right choice and end this bloodshed." Of course, numerous of the straggler nations in Europe and Asia relinquished all power to the New Order.
Our Minister of Magic decided early this morning to not comply with Lord Voldemort's demands and America will remain outside of "that bastard's hands until he is wiped off the face of the Earth." Both the International Confederation of Wizards and the International Federation of Warlocks stand firmly behind the American Ministry of Magic to resist the advances of "anyone who wants to destroy our way of life." While the rest of the free nations have not made a formal decision, either way the Minister is confident they will remain true. To prove her conviction to fight the Dark Lord, the Minister personally went along with the infiltration unit charged with bringing our friends back to the United States.
The operation went off with great success and everyone who was at Hogwarts and the Order's headquarters were brought back in the early hours of the morning to Washington, DC. The Minister and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall, are talking about whom else to rescue. Their names and reasons are top secret but at least thirty families have been put on the potential list. Professor McGonagall was kind enough to provide us with a Pensieve of everyone's memories of the battle. The scenes about to be shown are genuine and extremely graphic therefore not suitable for children:
Demons upon demons stormed through front door to the Ministry of Magic; the lifeless bodies of Ministry officials marked the trail they took. The walls shook, as Voldemort appeared followed by Nagini and Eyad. The newly erected Fountain was shattered with a glare from Voldemort. The room stank with the smell of scorched flesh and there were numerous tell tale signs of demonic strikes missing their mark. Pulling out his wand, the dark wizard muttered a spell changing the décor to that of an old grimy dungeon, a sign to all who came to the Ministry of whom controlled England.
Out of the shadows, a figure charged Voldemort knocking his wand out of his hand. The figure swished his hand and a sword materialized, giving his identity away.
"I was wondering if you would attack, Harry." Nagini and Eyad moved to attack but stopped as the dark lord hissed, "He is mine!"
"You may have defeated the government, Riddle, but you will never be ruler of England." Harry lunged, his sword hitting its mark and he smiled.
Voldemort smiled and grabbed the sword and it melted away: the last remnant of the battle between Slytherin and Gryffindor destroyed. "With that memory gone, it's time to change history." Voldemort stood up and offhandedly motioned sending Harry flying into the far wall, adding his blood to that already there. Harry righted himself and sent a spell at Voldemort who dodged it. Voldemort conjured up a sword of his own and ran straight at the young Gryffindor. The sword missed its intended mark but nonetheless drew blood. Harry wounded, blinked behind his nemesis and struck him in the head.
Brendin and Kyle ran to the next demon and vanquished it; they were trying to buy Wyatt and Dumbledore time to get the remaining officials out of the Ministry. A Death Eater fired the Killing Curse at Kyle. The spell barely missed Kyle as he nudged it off course. The Death Eater muttered another spell and before either could react, Brendin was knocked off his feet by an arrow. The arrow was implanted in his arm, throwing this group into a grave disadvantage against the overwhelming number of demons and Death Eaters filing in from everywhere.
Kyle pulled out his wand and with the sense of urgency fired off three Stunning Spells in quick succession. The first hit a demon, the second and third hit the Death Eater who they had been fighting. Kyle summoned as much power he could muster and used a spell few ever effectively cast. A golden lion erupted out of his wand and destroyed the entire group of demons and the demons' attacks. The demons were replaced quickly and Kyle could not sustain the Golden Shield. The lion disappeared and Kyle desperately fought to create and uphold a telekinetic force field.
Alpha appeared in front of the barrier. "Impressive, Kyle," He places his gnarled hand on the barrier and it falters before finally collapsing: "But not good enough." The demons all circled around the two teens making sure that they couldn't escape. Alpha smiled while summoning a plasma ball that he tosses up once before taking aim at Brendin. "It's such a pity that he has to die," the old demon licks his lips, "but it is for the best of my kind."
Kyle, drained from placing up the barrier and fighting to keep his mental barriers up, could only watch as the curse flew out of Alpha's hand and straight into Brendin. Brendin's body was incinerated the moment the ball touched him. Kyle shut his eyes. When he opened them, there is nothing left of one of his best friends. The demons started to press on, leaving a disgruntled Kyle to drown in his own miseries. Alpha smiled wickedly and caught the red and gold orb zooming around the room. Pocketing the orb he moved off in search of his next victim.
Leo and the Charmed Ones were fighting a desperate battle in front of the Manor. Although the demon numbers were not overwhelming, their powers were proving too much of a match for the veteran witches and their whitelighter. To make matter worse, they knew that if they failed there wouldn't be anybody else to carry on the fight.
"Getting a bit too old for this Piper," a familiar voice rang out amongst the demons. Leo and Piper froze at the sound and the fighting in general ceased. Beta stepped out and morphed back into his true form. "You didn't think I would allow you to be destroyed without me present. After what you did?" The demon turned to Phoebe. "Your daughter will make an excellent Queen, should," he turned to leer at Piper, "Wyatt fail. Chris, on the other hand, will be dealt with; I won't make the same mistake twice."
Those words switched on both Piper and Phoebe's maternal instincts and they charged Beta. He smiled, and promptly became transparent.
"You would think after all your dealings with my brothers and myself that you would realize," he formed a fire ball and threw it at Leo, knocking him unconscious, "that physical attacks won't work. Prue will prove to be an assistance that we did not see last time." This set Piper off and with one flick of her wrists every demon within a ten-mile radius exploded. "Temper, temper, Piper." He rebuked in a simpering taunt. "Using all your energy on meaningless attacks won't help your children."
He pulled out an athame and before the witches could stop him he gathered blood from Phoebe, Piper, and Leo. "Now, to get what I came for. Ghaash ghaashu, Frûmfrûmu Thraku grish!" Everybody but Beta covered their ears. Two white balls appeared: one in the arms of Phoebe, the other next to Piper. The balls changed into Prue and Patricia Halliwell each by their own mother. Beta summoned two black orbs and threw them at each child. The orbs hit and the children disappeared; the orbs returned to Beta before he shimmered away with a smirk on his face.
Piper stared in a daze where her youngest had been standing moments before; pieces were all that was left was her necklace Wyatt had given her. Phoebe collapsed first; she had tried so hard to get pregnant and in one split second, her only child was gone. Paige went to comfort her, her own tears running freely. Leo like Piper was in shock. The amount of spells, incantations, and amulets they had used to protect their daughter proved futile. Demons started to reappear in the manor, but seeing that the Charmed Ones were already broken, they withdrew.
Daelan, Casey, and Ethan were completely outnumbered and fighting desperately to stay one step ahead of each attack. Alpha froze the demons and walked up to the bewildered teens. "Ethan…you are mine." Alpha morphed into a floating, ghostly head and fired a plasma dart at Ethan. Daelan deflected the dart, but it turned back on its course and hit its target. Daelan and Casey watched horrified as Ethan disappeared and left a scorch mark on the grass. Again — this time an orb, blue and bronze zoomed into Alpha's pocket. Smiling victoriously, he disappeared. The demons left after causing some damage to the grounds.
The fight between Harry and Voldemort was still at a stalemate, neither being able to gain the upper hand on the other. Eyad and Nagini had gone in search for victims.
"Give up, Potter. You will not win."
"Never!" Harry was covered in blood and knew that more than one thing was broken. "I'll see to it you land in hell before I give up!"
Voldemort cackled high and cold and bared his crooked teethroaring, "I rule Hell!" The dark wizard's eyes melted completely black and he hurled a fireball at the boy-who-lived. The Gryffindor did his best to avoid the attack, but it hit and sent him soaring into the wall. "And soon—very soon—I'll rule this world, too."
Harry tried to push himself up into a sitting position but it was too painful; Voldemort noticed and laughed. "Don't worry, Potter. I gave up trying to teach you manners. Avada Kedavra." Harry knew it was over; no one was coming to his rescue. The prophecy that killed his parents was now going to finish what it had started.
Wyatt fought the impulse to orb and help his charges; he had to get the remaining officials out of the Ministry. They had their jobs and he had his, one that overrode his responsibilities as a whitelighter. The demons appeared out of nowhere and attacked. Before any of the Order members protecting the officials could move, three were dead and two more were seriously wounded. Wyatt flicked his wrists and sped up the orbing process. Unfortunately, the wards of the Ministry of Magic stopped group orbing and no more than two people could be magically transferred in or out of the building. "How the hell did they know to put up a ward for Wicca if they don't even believe in it?" he shouted to no one in particular, orbing two more to the hospital wing at Hogwarts.
Dumbledore and Snape cast a vanquishing charm on a harpy. The harpy caught the two charms and smiled at the two professors before bursting into flames. Lupin and McGonagall annihilated a banshee, but the spells to kill demons were extremely draining and after a few more even Dumbledore felt the strain. The younger members had given up on magic and were fighting with swords. The older members did not have that luxury and became sitting ducks for the demons breaking through the circle. A grimlock focused its attention on the headmaster; Dumbledore could do nothing as he was choked by his own aura. Chris threw the grimlock telekinetically, but Dumbledore was still in critical condition. His windpipe was crushed and he needed immediate medical attention; however, Chris was too weak to break through the wards with a passenger and Wyatt was busy.
"He needs help!" Minerva said harshly as Chris just stood over the unconscious old wizard.
"I know, but we can't get him to any."
"Get your brother…"
Wyatt, having just finishing orbing the last official came over; without saying anything he placed his hand over Dumbledore's throat. His hands glowed and the headmaster started to breathe weakly. Wyatt stopped and orbed him out of the Ministry before collapsing onto the floor. His brother kneeled next to him ready to lend him energy to orb out of the battlefield, but he shook his head and pointedly looked at the demons gaining the upper hand. Chris understood and as much as it pained him to leave his brother defenseless he moved to attack the nearest demon. Soon the demons were beaten back and the Order members started to pick up those injured or dead and apparating out of the Ministry to Hogsmeade. Chris went and took Wyatt's hand and helped him to the elevator, which they would take to the Atrium and pick up Harry.
The elevator's doors opened to the worst picture the brothers could imagine: Harry Potter, the only being able to destroy Voldemort, was crumpled on the floor and the Killing Curse was inches away from him. Wyatt froze the spell with all the energy he could muster; the spell slowed down but did not stop. Chris threw out his hand and the spell changed course heading straight for a new arrival, Eyad. Eyad, caught unawares was hit by the spell, which did little more than cause a stinging pain. Wyatt held Chris's hand and together they orbed Harry to them before taking a fiery exit.
Kyle, Casey, Daelan, Caleb, and Chris sat in a corner of the Gryffindor Common room as the four older boys tried to break the news to Caleb that his older brother was dead. A few days had passed and today was the end of term, which meant that all the students would be returning home and entering a new world. The news of Britain falling to Voldemort's army had spread quickly and sped up much of the other battles in other countries. The castle was slowly deteriorating. Hermione said it was because the last magical heir to Ravenclaw was dead.
Harry Potter was like most of the other seriously injured during the battle at the Ministry. He was awake, but in what the medics called magical shock. This meant that they were for all intents and purposes in a coma. Pomfrey assured everybody that it was a good thing because it allowed the patients time to work through some of their survivor's guilt. Wyatt had lost a dangerous amount of magic and although awake and well physically, emotionally he was a wreck. A lot of his self esteem and who he was to himself was built on the fact that he was magical, but he was now a muggle.
Minerva McGonagall turned off the television, the grief and pain still too close to the surface. She stood up and looked around her temporary living quarters. A suite of the Hilton Hotel that overlooked the National Zoological Park with a private kitchen, which magically refilled itself so, she did not have to go out. Outside her door stood two concealed aurors armed with everything possibly imaginable. While she understood the Minister's concern for her safety, it did not stop her from being furious with being locked up. The only reason she had not blasted her way out of the room was that the Minister kept her up to date on everything going on every thirty minutes via the news network's reports. He placed certain hidden messages in every report made. The latest had been the most devastating; the task force had not been able to reenter the country, which meant numerous faithful light families were now trapped.
"Professor?"
"Yes, Stormfoot?" Stormfoot was the name for the lead guard outside her door.
"The Minister is here."
The old Transfiguration teacher took a deep breath and prepared herself for the worst. "Let her in."
The door opened and in stepped a woman around McGonagall's age. The woman was dressed in formal wear and her hair was windswept. She looked Minerva right in the eyes. "My doctor has just informed me that Harry Potter has had yet another episode."
McGonagall sat down heavily on the bed. "Is he stable?"
"His heart stopped but they were able to save him. He is stable, yes." The Minister sat down next to McGonagall. "He is not improving unlike the others injured: even Dumbledore has made some progress." The Minister paused for significance. "Is there anything you are not telling us about him?"
McGonagall firmly shook her head. "Poppy is the one you should be asking. All I know is what she told me and what Albus suspected."
Her brow rose."What did Dumbledore suspect?"
"He believed that Harry's scar somehow connected him to Voldemort and that is why he is having these episodes. Albus told me that in Harry's fifth year that Voldemort tried to possess Harry but failed and then last year Harry collapsed more than once because of his scar."
The Minister passively echoed, "Voldemort is connected to Harry?"
McGonagall nodded slowly. "The Order has reason to believe that Voldemort could drain his minions' lives and powers out of them through their Dark Mark. Perhaps he has found away to do that to Harry, via his scar."
The Minister patted the old witch's back. "Don't jump to any conclusions, but I will have my doctors try and seal that connection."
"No!" McGonagall half shouted "You must not permanently seal the connection off."
The puzzled Minister inquired, "Why?"
"The scar is Voldemort's mark of the one he considers to be his ultimate foe. That scar may save Harry's life. It has done so before."
She nodded mostly to herself. "I will tell them to make it temporary. The scar is hurting him Minerva, I cannot allow the connection to continue. You must understand."
McGonagall nodded. "You were one of the few people able to make me question Albus's advice, Claudia."
"I know." The Minister smiled. "I was the only one able to make you bend the rules."
"I miss those days when the only thing we had to worry about was rule breaking."
"So do I, Minerva, but at least we had those times. This generation starts their destinies in the heat of battle."
On the other side of the country sat Wyatt Halliwell rereading the Book of Shadows for the hundredth time. He was still powerless, and so research was the only thing he could do to help the battle against Voldemort. His mom and aunts had been attacked yet again by an unknown demon and while they were busy trying to find him, Wyatt wanted to brew the vanquishing potion. The only problem was, they did not know what the demon was. The only clue they knew was that he could become invisible and that he was an upper level demon. That narrowed it down to twenty completely different demons each with a unique and expensive vanquishing potion.
"Damn it." Wyatt hissed.
"Is everything all right, Wy?" Asked Chris as he entered the attic.
"I need more information!" Wyatt shouted.
Chris looked at his brother and with a wave of his hand pulled the book to himself. "What more information could you need? This Book contains every single demon the Halliwell family met and will meet until I am twenty!"
Wyatt sighed in frustration. "That's the problem. There are simply too many demons it could be." Wyatt looked up at the ceiling. "Any help would be great, Penny!"
Chris smiled. "I never thought I would see the day that Wyatt Mathews Halliwell would be asking his great grandmother for help."
"Shut up, Chris." Wyatt said as he sat back down with his face in his hands. "Why the hell did I have to lose my powers now?"
"Because you rely too much on them, Wy." Chris answered soothingly. "You needed to learn that your powers are not who you are."
"Well, they could have chosen a more convenient time. Because of their little test the entire Light side might be utterly destroyed."
Chris put his arm around his brother. "Not if I have anything to say about it."
"Chris! Wyatt!" Screamed a voice from down the stairs.
Chris and Wyatt jumped up and rushed down the stairs and into a battlefield. The Charmed Ones were fighting an entire horde of demons and at the horde's head stood the demon that attacked them earlier. Chris moved quickly to protect his older but defenseless brother from the attackers. Wyatt called for Excalibur, which appeared in his right hand. Wyatt stood back to back with his younger brother and the next generation of magic went to work. With in ten minutes both young men were exhausted but had made a huge dent in the swarm of demons. The demons however were only beginning and slowly the Halliwell family was forced to retreat into the basement.
"Now what?" Phoebe asked.
"We fall back to the Magic School." Paige suggested.
"We can't leave the Manor undefended," Wyatt said coolly, "Or the Nexus."
"In case you did not notice Wy, we are not in the position to defend out own butts at the moment, never mind the Nexus." Chris sarcastically reminded and vanquished a large fiery demon that managed to slip under the door.
"Chris." Piper admonished her younger son.
"Wait a minute." Wyatt exclaimed. "That's it!"
"What?" Paige asked.
"There's a spell in the Book of Shadows that will awaken the Nexus to defend itself and the manor from invaders."
Piper felt like she was going to be violently ill. The Nexus was the reason her mom died, and her grandmother, sister, and baby. They all died because of that damn pocket of magic. And now her own son was asking her to release that horror on the world. "No, Wyatt. I will not allow that thing out of its box."
"Mom, it's the only way we are going to get out of this alive." Wyatt argued.
"I will not open Pandora's Box," Piper snapped.
Wyatt sighed. "So you would rather place it in the hands of those who would use it for evil."
Piper stared at her family. All of them stood there with determination on their faces. Phoebe whispered to her older sister. "Do it for Prue." Phoebe had tears running down her face the death of Patricia, her baby, also weighing heavy on her mind.
Piper slowly nodded. And just in the nick of time as the door burst into flames. "What is the spell?"
"Guard this threshold, Guard this door, So that raiders, Will be destroyed."
The Halliwell family repeated after Wyatt ignoring the large group of demons rushing down the stairs at them. The demons reached the family and two of them threw fireballs at Wyatt and Chris when the ground shook. Out of the gapping hole rushed a blinding white light. The light slowly took the form of a giant pure white ibex; the fireballs evaporated in midair. The ibex moved slowly up to the nearest demon and the demon burst into flames. The mob realized that it was defeated and started to escape from the Manor but the Nexus had other ideas. The ibex looked directly at Wyatt who instinctively threw up his shield, which appeared. The ibex then exploded destroying every single demon in the house.
"Bravo." A man stepped out of the shadows. Wyatt kept his shield up. "For a second, I thought that you were actually going to lose. But the Twice-Blessed One came out on top even without his powers." The man morphed back into his true state, Beta. "That is why we chose you." With that said he disappeared leaving two glowing balls in his shadowy wake.
Falling, what an amazing and dreadful sensation. Your stomach does flips as if you are in love, your heart pounds with anticipation of the inevitable abrupt stop. The wind in your face takes your breath away. Falling is possibly the most desired and feared feeling a human can feel in his or her lifetime. The main attractions at every fair, amusement park, and carnival are the rides that produce this sensation. The only problem was that this fall was never ending. He was surround by darkness and had been falling for what felt like forever. There was nothing that could distract him from this predicament and the only other thing he felt was a massive headache.
As he continued his plummet into the eternal abyss he felt another intense wave of pain flood his body:
"You!" he gasped.
Quirrell smiled. His face wasn't twitching at all.
"Me," he said calmly. "I wondered whether I'd be meeting you here, Potter. . . ."
"What does this mirror do? How does it work? Help me, Master!"
And to his horror, a voice answered, and the voice seemed to come from Quirrell himself.
"Use the boy…Use the boy…"
Quirrell rounded on him.
"Yes – Potter – come here."
He clapped his hands once and the ropes binding him fell off. He got slowly to his feet.
"Come here," Quirrell repeated. "Look in the Mirror and tell me what you see…"
He would have screamed, but he couldn't make a sound. Where there should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face, the most terrible face he had ever seen. It was chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake.
"Harry Potter…" It whispered…
"Seize him! SEIZE HIM!" shrieked Voldemort again and Quirrell lunged, knocking him clean off his feet, landing on top of him, both hands around his neck – his scar was almost blinding him with pain, yet he could see Quirrell howling in agony.
"Master, I cannot hold him – my hands – my hands!"
And Quirrell, though pinning him to the ground with his knees, let go of his neck and stared, bewildered, at his own palms – he could see they looked burnt, raw, red, and shiny.
"Then kill him, fool, and be done!" screeched Voldemort.
Quirrell raised his hand to perform a deadly curse, but he, by instinct, reached up and grabbed Quirrell's face –
"AAAARGH!"
Quirrell rolled off him, his face blistering too, and then he knew: Quirrell couldn't touch his bare skin, not without suffering terrible pain – his only chance was to keep hold of Quirrell, keep him in enough pain to stop him doing a curse.
He jumped to his feet, caught Quirrell by the arm and hung on as tight as he could. Quirrell screamed and tried to throw him off – the pain in his head was building – he couldn't see – he could only hear Quirrell's terrible shrieks and Voldemort's yells of "KILL HIM! KILL HIM!" and other voices, maybe in his own head, crying, "Harry! Harry!"
He felt Quirrell's arm wrenched from his grasp, knew all was lost, and fell back into blackness, down…down…down…
The Basilisk lunged again, and this time its aim was true. He threw his whole weight behind the sword and drove it to the hilt into the roof of the serpent's mouth.
But as warm blood drenched his arms, he felt a searing pain just above his elbow. One long, poisonous fang was sinking deeper and deeper into his arm and it splintered as the Basilisk keeled over sideways and fell, twitching, to the floor.
He slid down the wall. He gripped the fang that was spreading poison though his body and wrenched it out of his arm. But he knew it was too late. White-hot pain was spreading slowly and steadily from the wound. Even as he dropped the fang, and watched his own blood soaking his robes, his vision went foggy. The chamber was dissolving in a whirl of dull color.
A patch of scarlet swam past and he heard a soft clatter of claws beside him.
"Fawkes," he said thickly. "You were brilliant, Fawkes…" He felt the bird lay its beautiful head on the spot where the serpent's fang had pierced him.
He could hear echoing footsteps and then a dark shadow moved in front of him.
"You're dead, Harry Potter," said Riddle's voice above him. "Dead. Even Dumbledore's bird knows it. Do you see what he's doing, Potter? He's crying."
Harry slipped back into the endless falling. He knew that he had defeated Tom Riddle in both of those meetings, but he had forgotten why.
"Lily, take Harry and go! It's Him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off –"
The sound of someone stumbling from a room – a door bursting open – a cackle of high- pitched laughter –
"Not Harry! Not Harry! Please – I'll do anything –"
"Stand aside – stand aside, girl –"
A flash of green light dissolved into darkness.
'But that little charm is null of void now.' He thought.
"B-blood of the enemy…forcibly taken…you will…resurrect your foe…"
The thin man stepped out of the cauldron, staring at him…and he stared back into the face that had haunted his nightmares for three years. Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snake's with slits for nostrils…
Lord Voldemort had risen again.
"His mother left upon him the traces of her sacrifice…this is old magic, I should have remembered it, I was foolish to overlook it…but no matter. I can touch him now."
He felt the cold tip pf the long white finger touch him, and thought his head would burst with the pain…
The darkness returned.
'But then what about in the Ministry…'
He was gone from the hall, he was locked in the coils of a creature with red eyes, so tightly bound that Harry did not know where his body ended and the creature's began. They were fused together, bound by pain, and there was no escape –
And when the creature spoke, it used Harry's mouth, so that in his agony he felt his jaw move…
"Kill me now, Dumbledore…"
Blinded and dying, every part of him screaming for release, Harry felt the creature use him again…
"If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy…"
'Let the pain stop,' thought Harry. 'Let him kill us…End it, Dumbledore…Death is nothing compared to this…'
'And I'll see Sirius again…'
And as Harry's heart filled with emotion, the creature's coils loosened, the pain was gone, Harry was lying facedown on the floor, his glasses gone, shivering as though he lay upon ice, not wood…
'Voldemort could not touch me then…'
"Try again, Ron." Shouted the instructor.
Ron Weasley got his temper under control and stared at the ten-foot wall he was supposed to scale. The wall was covered in Superslip, a potion that made it impossible to hold onto anything, and barbwire was placed surrounding the top except for the tiny gap he was supposed to fit through. He sighed and looked at his girlfriend who was one obstacle behind him; she was busy trying to maneuver through a mile wide patch of dangerous magical creatures without a wand. He turned to face the wall again and placed his right hand on the lowest handgrip. He barely got his left leg off the floor before the Superslip took effect and he fell back to Earth.
"This is impossible!" Ron shouted. "How am I supposed to climb this without magic?"
The instructor smiled wickedly. "That is the puzzle you need to figure out."
"This is worse than the trials Harry had to go through." Ron muttered.
"You are meant to be able to protect Potter so therefore your challenges must be more intense."
Ron glared at the instructor. The instructor just pointed at the wall and wrote something down on his notebook. Ron really was annoyed. The wall was an obstacle that needed magic in order to be overcome. Ron grabbed the first handgrip again and pulled himself up with just the one hand and as he felt himself slip he grabbed the next grip with his other hand. He was now hanging on with his weak arm and the potion was starting to loosen his grip. Ron reached the next grip just in time. In a matter of ten minutes he scaled the wall and fell on the other side, exhausted.
"See when you keep a level head anything can be done. Head to the Commander's office; she wishes to test your skills." The instructor gave Ron a salute and went to greet his next student.
Ron went and waited for Hermione outside the training room. She appeared next to him soon enough and they rushed off to visit the Commander.
The Commander's office was located behind a giant red oak door. The only problem was finding the office; the door had an annoying habit of moving to different places in the manor. It only seemed to even appear when someone was summoned to the office or if the Commander was at the school. Once the door was found they stepped into the always well-lit office of Commander Sandra. Sandra wore golden robes with the hood usually up. The hood hid a young looking woman with flowing red hair and deep green eyes. Hermione had told Ron that the Commander reminded her of Mon Mothma from Star Wars which of course he did not understand. However, a boy who was sitting next to them burst into laughter, which Hermione shut up with a well-placed charm. That was one thing they both were extremely proud of, they both could perform magic without the assistance of voice or wand.
The Commander as usual was standing looking out of the window, which kept changing its image. "Miss Granger, Mister Weasley, please have a seat."
Ron and Hermione took the appointed seats and waited for the Commander to take her seat. "I am pleased to hear how exceptionally well you are both doing in the magical classes. You are as capable of handling a demon as anyone of those Wiccan witches with the exception of the Warren descendants and your other close friends at Hogwarts." She pulled out two sheets of paper from under a pile of books. "These are your qualification certificates. While some of your physical trainers wanted to keep you here longer, Leo has assured me that Phoebe will continue your training in that area."
Ron and Hermione struggled not to show any emotion as both were bounding with joy.
Sandra produced a rare smile, rarer than even McGonagall's, "I have been informed that the Weasleys are staying in Dumbledore's summer home in San Francisco and the Grangers have bought a house in Oak Park. Leo will be here shortly to escort you to the Halliwell Manor and your living arrangements will be dealt with there."
"Commander?" Hermione interrupted.
"Call me Sandra, as you are no longer my pupils."
"Sandra, has there been any word about the Order or Hogwarts…?" Hermione continued.
"Hogwarts School has for the time being been closed and is under the control of the New Order, Voldemort's followers. The Resistance—remnants of the Order—has been stationed throughout the USA. Their headquarters is temporarily a hotel suite in Washington, D.C. Albus Dumbledore is in stable condition although unable to stay awake for more than an hour. All that is thanks to the elfish healers. Harry Potter, due to his cursed scar, could not be healed by the elves and is still in critical condition. The funerals for the fallen members of the Power of Five are going to be held later this summer before school commences. There has been no word about what is going to happen about schooling this coming year for anyone who attended a magical school of the fallen countries. The Elders have discussed the idea of opening Magic School to them, but Gideon threw that notion out the window. I have never seen him that angry since we sided with Leo about his sons and daughter."
Ron jumped at the word 'we', "Are you an Elder?"
Sandra nodded. "I was one of Leo and Piper's adamant supporters and one of the few who survived the Titan's second purge. For which I am forever grateful, Leo."
The sound of someone orbing could be heard through the wooden door.
"Do not mention it, Sandra." Leo said as you walked into the room. He looked ten years older than the last time Hermione and Ron had seen him. He had come to check up on them to see how they were holding up considering when they left they thought Harry was going to die. Leo barely spoke to them for two minutes before being called off on another mission for the Elders. "Ron, Hermione, we best be off. Molly said that if you are not both at the Manor in two minutes that she will have my head."
Ron smiled. "But she can't kill you."
Leo waved good-bye to Sandra as he and the two teens exited the office into a hallway that Ron and Hermione had never seen before. "That does not mean it won't hurt me."
Hermione looked around the hallway. "Where…" She got cut off as they orbed out.
They reappeared to a scene that they did not except. The family room was in complete shambles but it did not seem to be bothering the occupants of the room. Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Wyatt, and Chris were all huddled around…Hermione and Ron blinked. They knew that one of the Avatars, whatever those were, had killed Prue and Patricia leaving only that golden necklace that gave Hermione the shivers. And yet here they were smiling up at their awestricken family.
Prue was the first to notice that Hermione, Ron, and Leo had arrived. She rather abruptly pulled herself out from Wyatt's hug and orbed into Leo's arm. "Daddy, I miss you." Leo simply hugged Prue tightly as he was at a complete loss for words.
It was at that moment that there were four resounding cracks as Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, Fred, and Bill apparated into the family room. "What happened here?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"We had a demon attack." Wyatt said evenly and Hermione caught the sorrow in his voice. "And we have been a bit too busy to tidy up."
Mrs. Weasley shook her head. "You are all witches and wizards…this could all be tidied up in a swish of a wand." She pulled out her wand and demonstrated. "Nice and easy."
Wyatt looked ready to shout at Mrs. Weasley but thought better of it. "I am the only one able to do that type of magic and since I do not have any of my powers…" Mrs. Weasley went beet red and muttered her apologies. "Don't worry about it." But Wyatt looked a little smugger after that.
It was then that the Weasleys spotted Hermione and Ron. Both were quickly wrapped in Mrs. Weasley's embrace. They quickly greeted the other members of the Weasley family who simply shook their hands although Fred tried to imitate his mom with Hermione. Ron had his wand if hand before anyone knew what had happened.
"I would not do that if I were you, Fred." Ron said evenly as he waved his wand causally revealing a packet of white substance. "Hermione would jinx you into the next century without your prized possessions."
Fred involuntarily moved his hands to bloke between his legs which caused Ron and Hermione to burst out laughing. "It was only a little itching powder and I swear I was not going to use it," he said in a squeaky voice.
Keen to change the subject before Fred tried to get his revenge. Hermione asked, "Are we allowed to tell them?" directing the question at Leo.
Leo nodded, "You can tell everyone you deem trustworthy."
Ron jumped at the announcement. "We are fully qualified Slayers." He handed his mom his certificate and Hermione gave hers to Mr. Weasley.
It took them a few minutes to take in what this meant but both beamed with pride once they read the description of what a 'slayer' was. Mrs. Weasley seemed a bit shaken though.
Leo noticed and put his daughter down. "They are not part of the signed candidates so they are not required to take part in any mission except for the one the Elders gave them when they opened up the Academy to Hermione and Ron. They are to use their new training to protect Harry Potter. You have to agree, Mrs. Weasley, that this training can only help them as it has enabled them to fight demons with much more proficiency than ordinary wand wizards and witches."
Mrs. Weasley nodded and hugged Ron tightly again. "This deserves a celebration. We will invite everyone over for supper but I won't mention anything about slayers," she had noticed Ron and Hermione grow tense. "I guess that supper is a bad idea then."
"Not at all, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione jumped in, "It is just we would prefer not to have this common knowledge even in the Order. At least until we can tell Harry."
"Yeah, mom. We felt terrible not telling him all of last year and he will murder us both if he is the last to find out about this." Ron added. "Where will the party be?"
Mrs. Weasley thought for a moment then: "Dumbledore's home. It is the only place big enough to accommodate us all and it is the safest."
Mr. Weasley nodded. "Yes, I guess you are right, Molly. I will go fetch the Grangers and see if…" but her broke off unsure of himself.
Leo shook his head. "I would be best if we remained outside of their lives for the present. That is what their parents request."
After a few more details were laid out, Mrs. Weasley went back home to start fixing dinner while Mr. Weasley fetched the Grangers and spread the word about supper. Fred said he had to return back to the store as George wanted to also say hi and he disapparated. Bill talked a bit more with Ron and Hermione about what a slayer actually was before he too had to go back to work at a hardware store. "As Mom and Dad are both heavily invested in Or—err – I mean Resistance business, I decided to bring home the bacon along with Fred and George who opened up a Muggle magic store downtown."
The Halliwells were of course going to join in the festivities that evening. They were however under extreme pressure from their jobs and had to go back and deal with those situations. Phoebe, who had continued writing her advice column, was the least affected by their stay at Hogwarts but the newspaper had taken a heavy blow in subscriptions over the year and Elise was being forced to lay off people.
Paige, who worked at Magic School had caused trouble for herself when she disobeyed an order from Gideon not to teach the students at Hogwarts how to brew a vanquishing potion for your common day demon. Gideon was doing his best to fire her, but the other Elders remained resolute in keeping on good terms with the girls and refused to second his motion. Paige was fighting hard to keep it that way.
Piper's club had been doing well until a Death Eater attacked two nights after they arrived back from Hogwarts. The police refused to reopen the club as they were determined to find some clue about their murderer. The fact that they had to return home every few seconds to deal with another demon crisis was not helping their chances.
Chris was studying hard to pass his examinations that would allow him to be a teacher's aide. He was hoping to be able to pair up with the librarian so he had free access to the library. He, like Wyatt, had been spending as much time as he could spare from his studies reading the Book of Shadows trying to find any spells he could revise so that everyone could use them. But the Book could only be so helpful and his mother was too busy to lend a hand. There was an entire section in the library dedicated on writing and modifying spells. He was being asked at the moment by his demonology professor to read the Lord of the Rings and write a ten-page essay on the power of voice based on the trilogy and Silmarillion. He found the books to be a rather dull read and it did not help much that Wyatt absolutely loved the book. When Chris complained about the length of the paper Wyatt reminded him that Hogwarts students had to HANDwrite essays just as long, which caused Chris to shut up. Other than that the brothers were getting along quite well and helping each other out. The loss of Prue had hit both of them really hard but instead of destroying their relationship it, strengthened it.
Draco sat next to Harry's bed for his daily visit to his friend's hospital room. He had been the one who alerted the staff that Harry's scar had acted up again and the nurses were able to counteract the draining effects. He was the one that gave the potion that would with any luck temporarily block Voldemort's connection to Harry. So far so good, but that did not mean the potion worked; Voldemort usually waited until their hopes were raised before he crushed them.
Draco had tried his best to persuade the staff, the Minister of Magic, McGonagall, and Snape to allow him to stay in the room with Harry, but none of them seemed to think it was the best for Harry or him. Draco eventually gave up when Snape threatened him with the Cruciatus Curse. He grudgingly accepted that he would only be allowed to see Harry once a day for an hour. The rest of the time he was locked in a Muggle's house that had been enchanted so only those invited in by McGonagall could enter, which meant a very confused Muggle could not enter his own house. The police had come past twice before they quietly escorted the Muggle off his own property. Draco had a sneaking suspicion that the police had been under the control of Snape.
Draco looked darkly at Harry. "This is all your fault Potter. Had you not been there I would be happily dead with my baby sister and cousin. You and your damn prophecy." He thought he saw Harry smile slightly. "You think its funny. I risk being put under a pain curse for you and you laugh at me. Some friend you are."
"At least you have a friend, dear," said the magical mirror. Draco jumped and shot a curse at the mirror before he thought things through. The mirror shattered into a thousand pieces.
"Damn it." Draco muttered as he causally flicked his wand to repair the mirror.
The voice in the mirror sounded very annoyed when it spoke. "Next time why don't you use some of your brain, you useless oaf!" Draco raised his wand and the mirror quickly shouted an apology.
"I see you learned a few more tricks from your father than I thought you did, Draco." Stated a deeper voice casually.
Draco turned with his wand halfway through a complicated spell before coming to an abrupt halt. There in full battle uniform stood the High Lord of Elvendom. Draco had only caught a glimpse of him when the high Lord had come to Hogwarts. "Wha—wha…"
"What am I doing here?" The High Lord asked Draco's question. "Well I came here to give Dumbledore a potion that my personal healer brewed and to visit you."
"Me?" Draco asked. He had fully expected him to say Harry.
"Yes, you. Have you not wondered why you of all people could perform Wicca?" Draco nodded dumbly. "It is because you, like young Harry and Brendin, bless him, have elfish blood running through your veins. Now add that information to your other quite complete knowledge of your bloodline and you can answer that question."
Draco sat still for a moment before jumping to the right conclusion. "Zechariah Slytherin."
"Yes, Salazar's despised cousin, your family's founding father. The Malfoys were the first of this time's pureblood families and yet the only one to have a Muggle founding mother. However the amount of blood you share with Salazar is not enough in and of itself to activate the gene that allows Wicca to evolve. But coupled with elfish blood, which grows strong every seventh generation, mind you, it could." The High Lord smiled.
"Is that why you risked yourself just to explain that basic principle?"
The High Lord shook his head. "I wanted to give you this book. It is a book on demons the elves have dealt with over the millennia we have been keeping records of such things. You will have to wait until someone can translate it for you as it is in elfish and is impervious to all charms."
Draco quickly hid his wand and the High Lord grinned. "You remind me so much of my sister's first husband. Which is naturally, of course, as he is one of your forerunners about twenty-one generations ago if a have my sums right."
"You remind me of Dumbledore," Draco blurted out before he could stop himself.
"Yes that would be a reasonable comparison as I was the one who taught him most of his manners. I raised him you see, but don't tell anyone. I believe Dumbledore is rather sore that his mother of father gave him up when he did not show any magical potential." The High Lord's eyes twinkled in the very same way Dumbledore's did. "Now I must give this potion to Albus and then be off." He left the room very quickly.
Draco simply could not believe what he had just heard. You are going down, Dumbledore.
"Describe your summer holiday to date in detail." Caleb stared at the computer screen that showed a blank document open in Word. His mother who refused to allow him to slip anymore behind than he already was in schoolwork enrolled him in a summer school program that would allow him to enter the seventh grade at Colina caught up to his classmates. While he told both of his parents numerous times that he would be attending Hogwarts in the fall neither felt that they could allow him to return. The problem was that for all his insistence that he would return back to Hogwarts, he was not sure if there would be a Hogwarts to go to. Hermione had told him about the other major magical schools in the world but none of them appealed to him because they did not have Harry Potter and Wyatt Halliwell attending. Even though he blamed them at first for his brother's death the only reason he kept fighting was because of them and the hope of seeing them again. They were as much big brothers to him as Brendin had been. He looked to see that no one was looking and pulled out his wand. With a quick flick of that magical stick and a well-chosen word he had the computer typing out an essay.
'How can they except me to write an essay now?' He shouted in his head. 'And besides the teachers would never understand what I am going through.' This was very evident the first day of summer school two days after Brendin's death. His mom had refused to keep the fact that his brother had died away from his teacher. His teacher kept on treating him differently from everyone else which just made matters worse. Now instead of only worrying about his emotional turmoil he had to make sure that there was no threat to his physical well-being. The other students did not like the fact that he was treated special and they decided to bully him. Of course that problem could be easily solved if his mom allowed him to take his wand to school but she refused.
"How will you learn to solve problems properly?" she snapped after he asked her for the third time.
That was another thing that had been worrying him. His parents seemed to have been changed for the worse by the death of their eldest child. They were short-tempered and extremely protective of Ashley, his younger sister. They were distant when they talked to him and when he told Daelan about this Daelan nodded.
"You look a lot like Brendin. It must be hard for them to look at you and not think about him." Daelan explained.
He did not like this. "I am not Brendin and do not wan…" he screamed but stopped when he realized what he was going to say.
"You are right Caleb, but it's going to take them some time to accept Brendin's death." Daelan stared at Caleb in the eyes when he said it. He turned away; Daelan's eyes were too intense for him to look into.
"We are going out tomorrow night—Kyle, Casey, and me. Do you want to join us? We are just going to dinner and then hang out at a park."
Caleb looked up back at Daelan to see if he was kidding. "I'll have to ask my mom but yes, definitely."
He had to get this essay done in order to go and he only had another hour to get ready. The computer had written a two-page essay which he quickly skimmed over to make sure it had some truth to it, which thankfully it did. He clicked print and hurried off to tell his mom he was done. He reached his parent's bedroom door and was about to open it when his mom's voice stopped him; she was talking to his dad.
"We need to choose a date." Amber whispered. "They want to know so they can plan their schedules around it."
"I know it is, just…a funeral will make it final." Jack's voice answered his wife. "But I guess the sooner the better. The last thing we want is for my returning to work stopping us from having a big funeral." Although his dad phrased his reason rather impersonal like, Caleb knew that that was the last thing Brendin was to him.
"Well I'll set it for next week Friday and send a letter to them with that ruddy owl they sent down." Amber said rather Dursley-like.
Caleb gulped. The date was set then, he would have to say good-bye to his older brother in a week and a half. He was caught up in that thought that he did not notice his dad open the door.
"Caleb, what do you want?"
"I am done with my homework so I am going to get ready." Caleb said looking at his mom. His dad did not know that he was going out.
"That is fine, dear. I will read over your essay when you are gone." Amber said as she finished folding up a pair of shorts. "You better hurry up; Daelan does not like to wait."
Caleb was ready to go, money in hand when Daelan drove up in his silver BMW X5. Caleb jumped into the back seat next to Kyle who gave a friendly smile before returning to his conversation with Casey.
"What's up, Daelan?" Caleb asked as they drove off.
"Nothing much, you?"
"Oh, I just heard when Brendin's funeral is going to be." The car almost hit a minivan driving in the opposite direction.
"When?"
"Just now. I over heard my mom and dad talking about it." Caleb said softly. "Next Friday."
Kyle nodded. "Same day as Ethan's. Do they know that?"
Caleb nodded. "My dad phoned Ethan's mom about it a few minutes before I left."
"So where do you want to eat?" Daelan asked breaking the awkward silence that had descended on the car.
"Anywhere but Denny's," they all said in unison. Brendin always said that when asked where he wanted to go to eat. They all smiled at each other quickly and did not make another sound.
"How about In-and-Out?" Casey suggested. Everyone agreed quickly. The car remained very quiet all the way to Newbury Park and no one said anything except the bare minimum when they ordered their burgers. Once they got their burgers, drove to the park and ate them in silence, Kyle and Casey reentered their conversation and Daelan went for a walk with Caleb tailing him.
"So how do you feel about the funeral being so soon?" Daelan asked.
"I don't know. I'm still in shock." Caleb answered honestly.
"Well at least you didn't fry them," said Daelan jokingly. They had learned after Brendin's death that Caleb had the power to superheat anything he touched when he experienced any raw emotion.
"I guess, maybe if I had then I would be allowed to carry my wand around or even just do my homework."
Daelan shook his head. "You, Hermione, and Harry must be the only people in the world who would want to do homework. You do realize that Hogwarts might not even open up this year? And you certainly won't be punished for not doing your homework since no one knows if Hogwarts is going to reopen."
Caleb sighed. "I know, but I would like to practice, in case…you know."
"We are attacked." Daelan said promptly. "Well if we ever are attacked then use your power. You don't know any of the wand spells that would vanquish a demon."
"I know, but my power is not exactly consistent and I do not know how to call it upon a moment's notice." Caleb said defensively. "But never mind that, how are you?"
"I will be a lot better when we can talk to Wyatt again." Daelan muttered. "I just do not understand why we can't contact him. I mean we could use the normal postal system. What is McGonagall's big problem with that?"
Caleb could only shrug. "At least that is something we can look forward to. They are going to come to the funeral."
"Are you sure?"
"Well kind of, they sent an owl two days ago and tonight I heard my mom say she will send the date back to them with the owl."
Daelan bit his lip. "Well we can only pray that it was Wyatt that sent the owl and not just the Weasleys. I mean I like the Weasleys and all but Wyatt and Chris are more friendly toward us than Ron or Ginny." Daelan looked at his watch. "We better leave. I have a basketball game at Oak Park High in thirty minutes and I still have to drop every one off."
Next chapter: a small party and a tearful funeral. More character backgrounds.