This chapter is dedicated to a friend of mine who died in an accident two and a half years ago.

Magic School

Harry sat in the library finishing up his essay on the basic composition of rituals. He had convinced Hermione and Ron to talk to McGonagall and Dumbledore about them teaching the basics of that branch of magic. Dumbledore had given his full consent before Hermione could finish her argument. McGonagall was not all that convinced, but could not change the wise headmaster's mind. The next day they had their first lesson sitting around the fire in Harry's antechamber. Hermione, being who she is, had given them all homework despite it being a nonacademic class.

"Done with your essay yet?"

"Speak of the devil," Harry muttered to himself. "Yeah, just finished it." Harry blew the last of the ink dry. "What are you doing up here? I thought you and Cho were going to fence after dinner."

Hermione blushed. "Cho had to cancel. Dumbledore called a staff meeting."

"She beat you?"

Hermione's cheeks went as red as Ginny's hair. "Yes."

Harry laughed. "Did you come up here to read or talk to me?"

Hermione sat down across from Harry and placed a book on the table. "I've been trying to read this book."

Harry looked down and knowingly smiled. "Does Draco know you've got this?"

"Of course Draco knows I have his book!" Said Hermione indignantly. "I'm not some common crook."
Harry looked down at the book and slowly reached out to touch the cover. His palms glowed a faint green and the book's pages started to ruffle of their own accord. Harry took his hand off the cover and rubbed his head.

"Damn power."

Hermione placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you ok?"

Harry nodded. "Bad headache."

Hermione nodded and began ruffling through the book, staring at the inscriptions and exquisite artwork. She stopped on a page with a male human staring out of the picture with utterly blue eyes.

Enluuned are the graduates from the secret Academy who are assigned the role of protecting Magic School and the Academy should evil ever enter them. These warriors can oftenbe identified by their completely blue eyes and exceptional skills in fighting. Most are not excellent at magic; however, since they fight in groups of three, they can easily overwhelm and overpower even top-level demons. The few who are capable of fighting with magic usually have energy balls or telekinesis as powers as well as the ability to use a wand. Their wands are all made out of pewter, have the insignia of the Power of Three, and the core of unicorn horn. They are experts of remaining out of the way and most never realize that they are there unless they are at the battle scene. The Enluuned are the closest mortals have come to becoming Elven, despite their lack of magical power, unless the mortal has Elven blood and as such, the Elves have used retired Enluuned on numerous occasions throughout their existence. The Enluuned can live up to four thousand years before aging and their mortality catch up with them. They remain in service for five hundred years before being released from their contract. Most however, choose to remain part of the Enluuned because they lack friends or family in the outside world and are addicted to the LCD-laced water which give them their blue eyes…

Hermione gasped and Harry went back to read the last sentence. He had known that the Elders sometimes used underhanded ways of getting what they wanted, but this was the cherry on top in Harry's mind. Harry closed the book and the title reverted back to the loopy golden Elvish script.

"They make them addicts!" Hermione could barely breathe.

Harry nodded. "Looks like it."

"But how?"

Harry shrugged. "That is a question for whoever recruits these poor souls."

Hermione rambled on and on about how immoral that choice was. Harry got up and left and she continued her tirade despite there being no one to listen to it.

Brendin and Caleb sat on the center rock watching the griffins catch the swallow that flew too close to the tree. Caleb conjured up a fireball and extinguished it in his fist. Brendin simply watched his younger brother practice controlling his deadly power. Caleb extinguished another fireball before turning around to look at his brother.

"Have you heard from anyone outside of here?"

Brendin shook his head. "Why?"

Caleb flicked out one of his hands and a rock turned red before exploding. "Never mind."

"You worried about Mom and Dad?"

"Yeah…among other people."

Brendin frowned. "Like who?"

"Leah."

Brendin laughed. "You don't even like her!"

Caleb reddened slightly. "I do. I just didn't like her in the beginning…I guess I was jealous?"

Brendin smiled and squeezed Caleb's shoulder tightly. "You don't need to worry about that, Caleb. No one could ever replace you."

"Same for me, Brendin." Caleb's smile grew broader when he saw his older brother's cheeks turn red.

"Dinner's almost ready!" Daelan yelled across the courtyard.

Brendin acknowledged with a quick reply. "Your should join for my morning run. We don't get to talk much during school…"

Caleb jumped at the idea. "That'd be sweet, Brendin." They got up and walked back into the building, ready for a large portion of whatever the house elves had cooked up.

Wyatt sat cross-legged, levitating a foot off the floor watching Harry and Kyle sword fight. Both Potters were naturals when it came to wielding a sword. Wyatt could barely match Harry in a duel and probably would have lost a number more if he did not use Excalibur. Wyatt had the trustworthy sword levitating beside him. He was haphazardly upgrading the spells and enchantments woven into the very core of Excalibur and his wand.

Kyle switched hands and drove a materialized dagger into Harry's guard forcing the older Potter to defend himself. This allowed Kyle to bring his sword close to Harry's neck and force him to surrender. Harry, however, dropped lower than Kyle anticipated him to and Kyle felt Harry's head knock the wind out of him. Harry was impressed when Kyle did not drop his sword or dagger despite the pain his cousin was in. Harry pressed the attack but stopped when Kyle telepathically sent a wave of caution. Glancing up in befuddlement, he noticed that Kyle's nose was bleeding freely.

"Stay back, Harry." Kyle warned. "I'll clean this up in a sec."

Harry ignored his cousin's plea and came over to help and was surprised when Kyle sent him stumbling back.

"What was that for?"

Kyle was livid. "Have you forgotten what I have?"

Harry shrugged. "Doesn't bug me."

"It should! All it takes is for a bit of this blood to get into your system and you're an HIV patient." Kyle waved his wand over his nose and the bleeding stopped with another wave, all the blood disappeared. "When I tell you to stay back…DO SO!" Kyle picked up his sword and hung it back up on the wall. He stormed out the door slamming it shut.

"What's his problem?"

Wyatt placed Excalibur back in its sheath. "He was just trying to protect you."

Harry stared at the door thinking things over. "I knew what I was doing! I mean just because he has AIDS doesn't mean people can't help him."

Wyatt nodded. "I agree, but I think the nose bleed scared him. He might have thought that this was a new symptom." Wyatt's voice carried both confusion and compassion.

Harry turned away from the door. "He needs to talk to Leo."

Wyatt tilted his head slightly and took a deep breath. "That's a bit of a risk. My dad'll have to report this to Dumbledore."

"Better that than Kyle run out of medication or something." Harry placed his sword back on the wall next to Kyle's. "I mean, last year his dad sent him the pills but now they're not precisely on speaking terms. He might use the pills to force Kyle to come home."

Wyatt unsheathed Excalibur. "I suppose so….Want to duel?"

Harry looked Wyatt in the eyes like a deer in headlights. "Excuse me?"

"Well, Kyle is going to need some time to cool down, so do you want to have a quick duel before going to talk to him?"

Harry nodded slowly. "…I guess I could let him cool off a bit."

Wyatt attacked the second Harry had his sword in hand. Harry knocked back Wyatt's blows making sure to keep Wyatt over stretching. Harry caught a powerful swing to his neck and their swords hooked. Without thinking, Harry pushed his sword toward Wyatt and nicked Wyatt's thumb. Wyatt backed up and while he healed his thumb, Harry took the few seconds to reposition his feet. He let Wyatt's lunge drive past his defense before knocking Excalibur off course. The hit was close enough to the hilt that Wyatt loosened his grip to stop the vibrations from traveling up his arm. Harry brought his sword down again, this time knocking Excalibur out of Wyatt's hands.

Wyatt orbed out just in time to mess up Harry's victory. He came in from behind, knocking Harry in the back of his head with a sharp jab. Harry dropped his sword and kicked backwards, striking Wyatt square in the stomach. Wyatt winced, but did not let the fact affect him that he just had the wind knocked out of him from carrying on the fight. Harry used a combination of magically enhanced punches and kicks to back the Twice-Blessed Child into a corner. Wyatt caught his punch in an iron fist and used telekinesis to send Harry's fist back into its owner's face. Harry stumbled back and fell to the floor when Wyatt knocked his legs out from under him.

Harry rolled out of the way of Wyatt's foot. He barely managed to get up on one knee before being forced back onto the ground. Harry kicked his legs out and landed back on his feet upright just in time to block Wyatt's energy ball. Wyatt burst into a thousand orbs when Harry redirected the energy ball back to the back of his head.

"Well done, Harry." Wyatt shook Harry's hand. "You're back to your old self."

"Yeah, except for my control of the elements." Harry waved his hand in front of him and the classroom repaired and rearranged itself. "I just can't get air and earth to work properly!"

"Give it a bit more time," Wyatt orbed Excalibur back to his room. "After all, that's all it took for the other two."

"Yes, but these are the two that are the most useful in a battle."

Wyatt rolled his eyes. "I thought fire works just wonderfully."

Harry nodded. "Against demons, but I'd prefer not to have to kill the Death Eaters." He paused to smirk a little. "Just make sure they're out of the battle for the rest of their lives."

"So leave the Death Eaters to me and you battle the demons." Wyatt opened the door and waved Harry through.

"You're going to have to tell him sometime, Kyle!" Harry half shouted.

Kyle—equally angered—rolled his eyes. "I can get the pills through owl order."

"And then you'll expose our whereabouts to Voldemort." Harry tried to reason.

Kyle looked at the door before getting up from the bed. He started to pace back and forth. "Where the hell is Leo going to get these pills from?"

Harry shrugged. "Madam Pomfrey might be able to send them with Fawkes."

"So why can't I just use Osiris to get the medicine?"

"From who?" Harry questioned his temper rising again. "You need a prescription for your meds, Kyle! And its not like some Muggle pharmacist is just going to tie a bottle of pills to a mythical creature's leg."

Kyle stopped pacing; his eyes were red. "He'll tell Dumbledore, Harry." His voice took on a pleading quality. "I don't need the entire staff knowing about this."

Harry stood up and picked up Chris's book on Magic School's history. "I'm not going to force you to tell Leo, but it's the only choice you have if you want to carry on living….You could always ask Leo to keep the information confidential." Harry walked out the door shutting it softly behind him.

Kyle sat back on his bed and took a deep breath. He knew this day was inevitable, but it did not make it any easier. This was a secret that he had kept hidden from everyone; the few who knew about it figured it out for them themselves. Kyle knew that even Harry had suspected something long before he had ever told Harry about the worst experience in his life. He motioned with his hand and a glass full of water appeared out of thin air. He took a sip and tried to calm himself down. He had gotten pretty uptight with Harry over the course of their discussion; now he had to prepare himself for his talk with Leo. Whether he liked it or not, Harry was right about Leo being the only option.

Kyle took the shortcut across the courtyard to reach Leo's office. He kept on reciting in his head what he was going to say. His eyes remained focused on the next spot he was going to place his foot and by the time he had passed the rock, his neck was extremely painful. He ignored it along with Brendin and Daelan's calls. He had to get this done now while he still had the nerve to go through with it. He entered the hospital wing and knocked three times on Leo's office door.

"Kyle, what are you doing here?" Leo opened the door slightly and poked his face out of the crack.

Kyle took one look at Leo and started to turn around. "You're busy. I'll come back later."

Leo closed the door and unbolted it. "No, Kyle. I was just reading up on the latest findings on the dragon flu. Nasty disease!"

"You sure?" Kyle kept his eyes averted but gave his neck a break.

Leo nodded. "Of course I'm sure. The only thing I had planned was going up to fetch Prue when she woke from her nap. Give the house elves a break, you know."

"Ok," Kyle paused. "Err…could we talk in your office?"

Leo nodded and held the door open. He followed Kyle in and sat down behind his desk. "So what's going on?"

"Well, you've obviously seen me take all sorts of pills at meals, especially breakfast." Kyle forced himself to look Leo in the eyes. "Do you know why I have to take those pills?"

Leo leaned back, his brow furrowed. "I've always wondered, but I must admit that I haven't given it much thought."

"That was my hope." Kyle smiled with his lips. "Leo, I have to tell you something. You have to promise me that you keep it between me and you."

Leo nodded decisively. "I won't tell a soul."

Kyle hesitated. His skin grew clammy and he felt lightheaded. "I have AIDS."

Leo swallowed hard but otherwise did not show the shock he felt.

"…I was infected a few years back, and the disease spread rather quickly. I have almost no immune system except for the little protection I have because of my magic. I take an AIDS cocktail to keep my body functioning as normally as possible. I need you to be able to refill my prescriptions." Kyle said all this in a matter of three seconds.

Leo sat dead still for a few more moments. "That is possible. Madam Pomfrey can get those drugs fairly easily and Dumbledore has already lent me Fawkes as a messenger." Leo stared at Kyle. "How did you get the virus?"

Kyle grimaced. "I was raped." Kyle took his shirt off and showed Leo his back. "That is from the same person who raped me. Said he wanted to mark me as his own, little did he know…" Kyle spoke with pure hatred.

Leo nodded. "You must just let me know when you're running low and I should get the pills in about a day or two."

Kyle nodded. "Thanks, Leo." He put his shirt back on and paused. "Err… could you tell me one thing?"

"Yes?"

"What does it mean if your nose starts to bleed for no reason at all?"

Leo smiled. "You probably just have high blood pressure, Kyle. Strenuous exercise can exacerbate the condition, which causes some of the capillaries in your nose to burst. It's nothing to worry about unless the bleeding doesn't stop after a few minutes."

Kyle left the office feeling both relieved and comforted. He now did not have to worry about his medicine and Leo had confirmed what he had already known. The nosebleed had been nothing out of the ordinary. It had stopped almost as quickly as it had begun.

Brendin found himself spending more and more time in the library. It was not that the homework load had become any heavier but for some reason or another, it seemed their essays were requiring more and more research; the answers was no longer supplied by their textbooks alone. Today he was busy researching vampires.

There were three basic types of vampires. The vampires made famous in the Dracula type movies; the ones driven by the need for fresh blood. The second type were the Wiccan vampires that were demons exiled from the Underworld by a previous Source. These were the ones able to attack in bat form and could perform a feeble amount of magic. They had been the ones who joined Voldemort's cause. In fact the Wiccan vampires had been the ones to convince the blood driven ones to join Voldemort.

The third type had so far remained neutral in the war. They lived mostly in America despite the fact that they originally came from somewhere in Russia. They could perform magic as well as a normal witch or wizard. They had no use for wands and their superhuman strength and speed gave them extra advantages in a duel. They were still susceptible to the same dangers as any type of vampire: sunlight, garlic, stake through the heart. They were much more organized than the rest of their Family. They have four Elders who were the first four vampires converted by the Original. The Original Vampire had died soon after founding the Coven. He had been a vampire who also was infected by the werewolf curse.

The Elders took turns governing the Coven; only two were ever awake unless there was a dire need. One was ruler of the Eastern United States the other governed the Western parts. They never attacked innocents except when the innocent offered him- or herself up to be converted. They instead fed on expired blood from the blood banks. They kept both the vampire and werewolf population around the world under control. Although with Voldemort, in power they had stopped messing in the affairs where he controlled. The Coven, strangely enough, also had a friendship with the Elves before the Elves went into hiding soon after the Griffins Wars. Brendin wondered why the Elves had not approached the Coven about joining the fight against Voldemort.

"What're you up to?"

Brendin jumped. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that, Osric!"

Osric smiled evilly and sat down across from Brendin. He pulled the book out from under Brendin's hand and started reading it. He yawned and pushed the book back, "How do you stay awake reading that stuff?"

"Easy." Brendin closed the book. "I get enough sleep at night."

Osric feigned injury. "You're more sarcastic than a flea-ridden sphinx!"

"Ok," Brendin said. "So what are you doing up here?"

"Oh, Kyle has asked all of us to meet him and Harry in Harry's antechamber."

"Any idea why?" Brendin started packing up his stuff.

Osric shrugged. "Neither of the Potters would explain. I've been hammering them all day. Harry got so annoyed that he threatened to vanquish me. Like he could!"

They arrived at the meeting place along with Casey and Daelan. Casey disappeared into Harry's bedroom along with Kyle and Harry. Wyatt's eyes kept darting toward the door and surveying the room, but otherwise he remained seated with his back to the fireplace. Hermione and Ron were the next to arrive; both were a bit disheveled. They had just had their private lesson with Cho. Caleb, Ethan, Uur, and Chris were the last to arrive. Ginny and Draco had been the first to arrive and were sitting discussing some topic that would only interest a pureblood wizard. Some obscure piece of magical history that every pureblood family claimed to be apart of.

Casey and Harry slid out of the door and took the last two seats closest to the entrance. Kyle followed them out looking a bit green around the gills.

"I've asked you all here in order to tell you a secret." Kyle looked at Harry who nodded encouragingly. "One that I've kept from everyone except for the few that figured it out….As many of you know, my dad is an extremely successful prosecutor and has many enemies. One…uhhm…one of those enemies got out of jail. He...err…he kidnapped me. He tortured me a number of ways before the police rescued me and in the process killed him. Unfortunately he had the HIV virus and…an…AND he passed it on to me."

Kyle raised a single bottle of pills as if that proved he had HIV. "I've got AIDS, and have had it for two years." He took a deep breath and smiled sadly in Brendin's direction. "I kept this a secret because I'm embarrassed about it. And I was afraid that if you knew that, you'd treat me different." Kyle's voice finally broke.

Harry stood up. "Anyone who has a problem with this…please leave now. Because you are no longer welcome." His voice was stern. No one stood up or even moved. Harry spoke in a more gentle voice. "See, Kyle, you had nothing to worry about."

"What is AIDS and HIV?" Caleb asked.

Everyone fumbled around for an answer. Kyle was the one finally able to come up with a simple explanation. "It is a type of disease that is contagious in certain fashions and…err…there is no cure. It kills your immune system so when a person with AIDS catches the flu his or her body can't fight off the infection and he or she…ummm…dies."

"Oh, that sounds bad." Caleb put his hand down slowly. "So shouldn't you be in a clean room or something?"

Kyle smiled. "I should, but I decided against that. My magic helps fight off infections and the medicine helps enough that I'm not in life-threatening danger…yet." He whispered the last part.

Brendin got up and walked up to Kyle. "Err…ummm…ahhhh…"

Kyle hugged Brendin tightly. "You don't need to say anything, Brendin. The fact that you're still here says enough."

"So now what?" Chris asked. "This meeting is adjourned right, or does someone else have a deadly disease?"

"CHRIS!" Hermione exclaimed. "Don't be so insensitive!"
Kyle laughed. "Relax, Hermione." Kyle opened up the entrance doors. "I only ask that you don't go tell others about this. I'm not quite ready for the fact that I'm dying to be public knowledge."

Chris, Ginny, Draco, Ethan, and Casey all disappeared soon after. They had homework or research to do before class the next morning. Ron and Hermione talked a bit to Kyle before also heading off to complete assignments; rather Ron was going to start his homework and he dragged Hermione along to help him. Daelan slipped off after having a quick private exchange with Kyle. Harry and Wyatt dragged Caleb off to help explain to him the details behind HIV without going too far. Osric and Uur both were summoned via a booming voice to Snape's office to serve detention.

Brendin sat staring at the empty fireplace with his head resting in his hands. Kyle stood awkwardly behind the chair Brendin was occupying waiting for his first real friend to explode. Eventually Brendin stirred and tilted his head back to see Kyle. Kyle took this as his cue to sit in the seat next to Brendin's.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Brendin asked hurt more than angry.

Kyle bit his lip. "I didn't know how'd you react. The last thing I wanted was to lose you as a friend."

Brendin shook his hair around. It fell back in the same spot no matter how Brendin moved his head. "You should have known that I'd not have judged you because of something you couldn't control."

Kyle nodded. "I know, but this is hardly something you just blurt out one day over lunch."

"You told Casey?" This time Brendin's voice carried some anger.

Kyle tried to get Brendin to look at him but Brendin kept his eyes averted waiting for an answer. "He found out. He found my medicine in his bathroom one day. I'd slept over the night before and forgot to grab the pills after brushing my teeth."

"How'd Wyatt find out?"

"He picked up a pill I dropped at a meal. He knew what the pill was for. And Harry suspected something was up and I told him…" Kyle let his voice trail off.

Brendin sighed. "I wish you'd have told me sooner. I could've been helping you instead of sitting in the dark."

"You're too much like your father." Kyle stated. "That's exactly the type of thing he'd have said."

Brendin smiled. "I guess it runs in the blood."

"Certainly does." Kyle complimented. "It's an excellent quality to have."

"Yeah, but sometimes it sucks to always put yourself and family second." Brendin smiled and stood up. "So, what do you want to do?"

Kyle shrugged. "Let's go see if anyone else is interested in a game of volleyball or soccer?"

"That's a first!"

"What?"

"Kyle Potter asking to play a sport."

Kyle rolled his eyes, but grinned. "Shut it, Brendin."

Harry hurried down the passage to Dumbledore's office. He was late! He had been so busy helping Ginny and Cho decorate the dining room for the Halloween feast that night. He had completely lost track of time and before he knew it, he was late for his second lesson with Dumbledore. He reached the door, which was closed and rapped firmly on it.

"Come in, Harry." Dumbledore called.

Harry turned the knob and entered the office. The Pensieve was sitting on the desk, but was not giving off the usual faint glow. "Sorry I'm late, professor."

"Quite alright, Harry." Dumbledore sat in his chair behind his desk with his long fingers lightly tapping the wood. "It gave me a chance to remove my memories from the Pensieve."

"Sir?"

Dumbledore pointed to the two large glass jars sitting on a table in the corner next to the empty golden perch that belonged to Fawkes. "We needed to have the Pensieve empty for tonight's lesson. We're going to enter the memory of one of my former colleagues at Hogwarts. But first, do you remember what we learned in the last lesson?"

Harry nodded. "We took a quick look at Voldemort's past and how Tom Riddle became less than human."

"Well, that is partly true." Dumbledore said. "We certainly saw some of the reason why Tom Riddle went down the dark path he chose. But just because of all of the bad things that happened to him, does not excuse him from the choice he made when he chose to become Lord Voldemort." Dumbledore pulled out a small-capped jar. "In this lesson, we will learn why Lord Voldemort is, as you put it, less than human."

Dumbledore unscrewed the lip of the jar and poured the contents into the Pensieve. The Pensieve glowed slightly before the contents started to swirl and give off the faint silvery glow Harry was accustomed to. "After you, Harry."

Harry stood up and leaned over the Pensieve; the swirling slowed down and revealed a picture of a lavishly decorated classroom. The picture slowly started to take on color when Harry felt himself falling through the air and saw the ground approaching at a dangerously fast pace. Harry closed his eyes and waited for the impact, but it did not happen. He opened his eyes and found himself standing behind a stool, looking at a rather fat, but friendly looking man. Dumbledore appeared a second later.

"That is Professor Pellaeon. He, at the time of this memory, was the Potions Master for Hogwarts. He eventually became the Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor when Tom graduated. If you remember from last lesson I mentioned him."

"He's your friend that knew so much about the Dark Arts!"

Dumbledore nodded solemnly. "He was extremely knowledgeable in the Dark Arts and was a bit too free about who he spread the knowledge too. Especially after he had a nice strong drink."

"So he is the one who taught Voldemort!' Harry started to get angry.

Dumbledore nodded again. "Unknowingly, of course. Tom Riddle was a promising student and Pellaeon took the young orphan under his wing. Tom used this relationship to milk Pellaeon for everything he was worth. You must remember Harry, Tom Riddle was a prefect and Head Boy. He was the picture example for Hogwarts for his time and few nowadays know who he became. Of the few that have figured it out, only I and now Pellaeon believe it. The others prefer to live oblivious of the fact that Tom Riddle used all we taught him and twisted it into the Dark Arts. Now, let's watch this meeting shall we?"

The door behind Harry and Dumbledore opened. Harry turned around to see a much older Tom Riddle than the one he had seen in the diary. Tom carried a bottle of brandy in one hand and a notebook in the other. Harry watched in disgust as Tom went over and kissed Pellaeon on both cheeks.

"Tom," Pellaeon's voice was hearty and rich, "what brings you down here so late in the evening?"

Tom handed Pellaeon the bottle of brandy. "I was reading the book you recommended last week professor, and had some questions."

Pellaeon opened the bottle and took a swig of the brandy right out of it. "Ask away, my lad."

Tom sat down on the stool and pulled out a quill and inkbottle. "The book mentions Horcruxes, but doesn't explain what they are?"

Pellaeon spluttered and brandy ran out of his mouth and down his graying bread. "Horcruxes, you say?"

"Yes, sir." Tom's eyes glinted with hunger but, Pellaeon seemed to not notice it.

Pellaeon pulled a face and took another longer sip of the brandy. "Horcruxes are extremely dark magic, Tom. The likes of which I'm not allowed to talk about with a student inside or outside the classroom."

Tom's eyes flashed in anger but he calmed himself down. "I'm of age, sir. I'm head boy and the top of my class. You know you can trust me." Tom flicked his finger and the brandy bottle stayed on Pellaeon's lips just a little longer than Harry thought Pellaeon wanted it to.

Pellaeon talked with a bit of a slur by now. "Well, I guess it couldn't hurt. You are planning to be an Auror, so you'll learn about this stuff in the history classes they teach at the Ministry. You can impress your instructor with your knowledge." Pellaeon took a short sip of the brandy. "A Horcrux is an object usually of great significance to the owner that contains part of the owner's soul. This protects the owner from dying when his or her body is destroyed, but at a horrible cost. The person must live with half a soul because the part still in the body dies with it."

Tom's smile grew. He jotted down a few notes. "How is a Horcrux made?"

Pellaeon, despite the fact that he was now very drunk stared at Tom for a moment. "A Horcrux is made through a complex and dangerous Dark Arts ritual. I do not know too much about the actual ritual except that the destruction of another human's soul is necessary to transfer the part of the caster's soul into the Horcrux…"

Tom nodded and wrote down every last word. "Can more than one Horcrux be made?"

Pellaeon sighed. "It has never been attempted but if all of the Horcruxes are made at once I don't see why not. But the ritual is very draining on the caster and as the number of Horcruxes increases so does the strain on the caster's magic. It is not always beneficial to have more than one Horcrux as they have to be kept close together in order for the caster to be able to use all of his magical potential. Magic is after all connected to one's soul."

Harry felt himself being pulled back to reality as the memory faded into gray mist. He landed back in Dumbledore's office rather hard. His knees buckled slightly under the force of the impact, but he managed to remain upright. He took a seat and allowed the pounding in his legs to calm down and then increase and then calm down again. It was like having a burn or reoccurring pins and needles, hardly comfortable and not pleasant. Dumbledore was waiting patiently in his chair looking as tired as Harry had ever seen him.

"Did Voldemort ever make a Horcrux?" Harry asked. He decided the easiest way to get rid of the pain was by pushing through it.

Dumbledore looked up from his interlaced fingers. "That is the biggest part of my investigations. It had been a question of mine ever since I met Lord Voldemort after Tom Riddle's disappearance. Lord Voldemort was hardly recognizable as the handsome boy he had been when he left Hogwarts. It was not only on a physical level but also on a mental and magical level. Voldemort was more sinister and heartless than any normal human being could ever be. He was and is worse than any of the previous Dark Lords that have arisen over the course of history. That is when I began to consider the fact that Tom Riddle might have been desperate and foolish enough to separate his soul."

Harry nodded and Dumbledore stopped to allow him to speak. When Harry did not say anything, Dumbledore continued. "It became more apparent to me that Voldemort had made at least one Horcrux on the night he killed your parents. The fact that the magic had such a massive backlash proved to me that something was fighting against the Killing Curse that night. And then when Voldemort revealed himself in your first year, I became convinced that he had made a Horcrux." Dumbledore stopped and caught his breath. "It was at the end of your second year that I had proof that Voldemort did indeed split his soul. I also began to wonder if he had done even more. Even as Tom Riddle, he had been obsessed with becoming invincible, immortal. He even tried to become a part of the elite Enluuned, but thankfully he was turned down."

Harry frowned. "He knew about Magic School? The Academy?"

"Oh, yes. You see back then members of Wicca and wand magic was a lot friendlier toward each other than they became after Grindelwald was defeated. The switch of power from the American Ministry to the English Ministry allowed those biased against Wicca to separate the two societies." Dumbledore stated. "But that is a part of history that is not important to the here and now."

"You suspect that Voldemort made more than one Horcrux?"

Dumbledore nodded. "I believe that he made six Horcruxes. And luckily, one of them was destroyed."

"What makes you say that, sir?"

"The diary was a Horcrux; the Tom Riddle that you spoke to in the Chamber was actually part of Voldemort's soul." Dumbledore explained. "I believe he made a total of six Horcruxes because that makes the number of parts of his soul seven. Seven is the perfect number; it is a neutral number of significant magical value. Three is historically the number for good while five and six are the units of evil. Voldemort would have wanted to use a number that was magical but did not tie him to other side. He wanted to be his own person, a loner."

Harry opened his mouth to ask another question but there was a sharp knock on the door.

"Come in, Minerva." called Dumbledore.

McGonagall burst through the door followed closely by Snape and Leo. Dumbledore surveyed their red faces and rushed expressions and stood up. "What is going on?"

McGonagall straightened up. "There has been a warning given to the Resistance that Magic School is about to be attacked. Scouts have spotted a huge army of Dark forces approaching upon the School's plane."

Dumbledore place a hand on his desk. "Call the Order and prepare to set up a defense at Magic School. Also make sure that the rest of the Resistance knows what we are doing so that they can help."

All three adults left the office in such a rush that they did not even close the door. Harry stood up from his chair and watched Dumbledore waiting to be told what to do.

"I guess we will continue this lesson another time, Harry." Dumbledore went to a stand-alone closet and pulled out his battle robes. "Go and gather your friends. Head straight to Magic School and do not wait for orders from McGonagall or myself. Between you, Ron and Hermione, you should be able to set up a defense until the Order can arrive. Do not let Gideon talk down to you or take control of the situation. He has no authority over members of the Council!" Harry nodded and left the office shutting the door. "Even ones as young as you and Wyatt."

Magic School was in complete chaos by the time Harry and his friends arrived as an advance-help for the Order. Students were running around trying every which way to get out of the School before the battle started. Teachers were desperately trying to maintain some kind of order and failing miserably. Harry and Wyatt set off to find Gideon and ask him to use the loudspeakers. The Power of Five would remain at guarding the five entrances to the center entrance room. Chris, Draco, and Ginny went in search for students and staff. Everyone was being directed into the entrance room. Uur, Osric, Ron and Hermione went in the opposite direction as Chris's group. Caleb was standing near his older brother trying to convince Brendin that he could be helpful.

Harry waved his hand in front of him and the doors to Gideon's office burst open. Gideon was sitting behind his desk staring at a mirror, which showed the approaching army. Wyatt flicked his wrist and the mirror exploded.

"What the hell was that, Wyatt?" Gideon stood up. "That was an antique."

Wyatt waved his hand nonchalantly at the pieces of mirror. "I'll charm you another one. Right now we need access to the School's loudspeakers."

Gideon frowned. "What use will those be?"

"If you haven't noticed," Harry snapped, "your School is under attack! If we're to have any chance of winning this battle we need everyone in the School to calm down and head to the center entrance point."

Gideon pointed to the old microphone sitting on his desk and started to leave. "One more question, Gideon." Wyatt approached his father's former mentor. "Why are all the entrance and exit doors locked?"

Gideon smiled. "A defense mechanism of the School. If an attack occurs, the School shuts down portals so that the enemy cannot enter."

"So surely there is an override code," Wyatt spoke more quickly the suspicion in his voice seeping away. "Since that isn't helping in this attack. We might be able to get all the students out of here before the battle starts."

Gideon shrugged. "You'll have to ask the gnome who designed the School's security systems." The Elder left the room before Wyatt could ask another question.

"Something is wrong, Harry." Wyatt whispered.

Harry nodded. "Not now, Wyatt!" Harry spoke into the microphone, "ALL STUDENTS AND STAFF PLEASE REPORT TO THE CENTER ENTRANCE ROOM. THE SCHOOL IS UNDER ATTACK, I REPPEAT, THE SCHOOL IS UNDER ATTACK. PLEASE REPORT TO THE CENTER ENTRANCE ROOM." Harry turned the microphone off. "Let's get back there before Kyle an Brendin are overwhelmed."

Harry spotted the gnome Chris described. Gideon seemed to have disappeared altogether. "Sir, is there a way for us to get the students out of here and let the help in?"

The gnome spoke in a squeakier voice than Flitwick. "You have to turn off the protection ward down in the blood magic sector. There should be a big lever that you push down and the portals should all reopen."

"Thank you, sir." Harry turned around to find Wyatt. He spotted Wyatt comforting a young first year girl. "Wyatt, there is an override. I'm going to take Chris with me and turn the ward off. Can you direct the traffic out? Keep as many of the professors as possible but I'm sure most aren't really prepared to battle so…"

"I know how to direct a battle, Harry. No need to baby me." Wyatt said quickly. "You go do whatever you have to do; I'll be fine here."

Harry nodded and went in search of Chris. He and Chris rushed down the main corridor that led to the English section of the school. From there they took a left and entered the black magic sector. Here, students learned to tell the difference between black light, and dark magic. The older students also took a course in black magic rituals or blood magic. Harry stopped in front of the first blood magic chamber.

"Now where?"

Chris shrugged. "I'm guessing it isn't in one of the chambers so it must be in this corridor. You take the right wall, I'll take the left."

The two searched the wall and were about to give up when Harry picked up a surge of magic emanating from a green tile in the wall. Harry touched the tile and the tile slide up to reveal a whole set of levers and buttons.

"Well, that complicates things." Chris said. "All the labels are in symbols. We're never going to figure this out in time."

Harry reached out and touched the metal plate that sat behind all the button and levers. He watched the labels bleed together and start to form words in English. He kept his finger on the metal as he read through the labels. He stopped on a label above a tiny black lever. He pulled it and nothing happened.

"Try again, Harry." Chris stated.

Harry frowned and started to read the labels again when he felt the familiar presence of Dumbledore enter the School. "It worked. Lets go."

Chris grabbed Harry and they orbed out and back to the center entrance point. The Entrance room was a lot less congested. Most of the students left or were walking through the three doors that were wide open. Harry spotted Leah and Michelle standing back away from the doors watching their friends leave the School. Harry went over to Wyatt.

"Where's Dumbledore?"

Wyatt waved his hand and shut the three doors. "He's outside helping to direct the formations of the first line of defense. He told us to do our own thing and help the Resistance where we could."

"Any sign of Gideon?"

"Yeah, he appeared with my dad. They're both out in the front lines as well." Wyatt spoke with some contempt. "Most of the professors decided to leave just like you said. Only about half of those who actually teach something to do with magic, telekinesis or empathy and the like stayed to help fight. All of the students left except for Michelle and Leah."

Harry nodded. "Well, it could've been worse."

"Yeah," Wyatt started to walk out of the room, "I just thought they would want to stay and protect their home."

"Not all magic users are so ready to die, Wyatt." Harry joked. "Some are just here in order to learn how to hide their powers."

Wyatt nodded. "The Academy arrived soon after Dumbledore. The Enluuned look like they'll put up one hell of a fight."

"Well its time to go find out how much of a fight we have." Harry pushed open the giant door that led to the outside of Magic School.

The outside of Magic School was a shock. The sky was a brilliant glaring blue without sun or clouds. The ground was completely flat with no trees or landmarks of any kind. What made matters worse, the gravity was half that of inside the school or on Earth which made Harry trip and fall in slow motion as he wasn't used to the weightlessness. The color spectrum was cut in half or at least that is what it seemed like. There was not a single inch of yellow, red, or orange. The School was made out of bricks that were dark blue with a touch of green and it was making Harry sick.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it." Wyatt whispered. "It's the effects of having a plane created purely through the force of magic. Things, except the gravity thing, will become normal in a few minutes."

"This is terrible!" Harry brushed the hair off his forehead. Slowly though, everything righted itself. And a bright yellow sun appeared directly above them; the School turned a dull gray and the green flowers became yellow daisies.

"Tiropeso." Harry whispered and he felt his normal weight return. The spell simply removed the time it would take him to get used to the lack of gravity. He spotted the growing dark mass approaching from over the horizon.

"Let's see if we can cause a bit of confusion amongst Voldemort's ranks shall we?" Wyatt whispered.

Harry nodded. "I'll follow you."

Wyatt disappeared in a burst of orbs. Harry closed both eyes and he also disappeared. They appeared amongst a group of sunscreen-lathered vampires. Harry stuck out his foot and tripped on vampire before punching another he then disappeared and reappeared in a crowd of Death Eaters. Wyatt was next to him in a Death Eater's disguise. Harry did not transform his "Jedi" robes into the black uniform of a deatheater but made sure that the hood shrouded his face. Wyatt pulled out a potion vial and threw it up in the air. Harry directed it into the ground with enough force to shatter the vial. A sickly green smoke billowed up from the spilt potion and the Death Eaters and demons downwind of the cloud started to gag and cough. Harry and Wyatt Apparated out before anyone could pinpoint who caused the disruption.

"I wish I had some of those pellets Fred and George developed." Harry said when they reappeared behind the defense lines.

Wyatt nodded. "Those would have come in handy but would have given us away."

"Voldemort's here." Harry changed the subject. "I sensed him searching for me."

Wyatt became more serious; his smile disappeared. "Does that worry you?"

"Of course it worries me." Harry verbalized. "I'm not ready to face him."

Wyatt squeezed Harry's shoulder. "You've held him off before; you can do it again."

The battle ensued and both sides started to take losses. The Resistance was able to get a large number of their injured off the battlefield since they had whitelighters. But Voldemort called in darklighters, which made it more difficult for the whitelighters to get in and out of battle with the injured. Ash Goth and Voldemort injured and killed numbers of fighters in single blows. Sandra and Leah's dad, Professor Hall, took on Ash Goth together.

Ash Goth let out an ear-shattering scream that struck fear in everyone around him. A couple of Elven privates died of heart attacks then and there. Sandra was the first to recover and shot purple lightning at the wraith Dark Lord. Ash Goth caught the attack in his metal glove and squashed it in his fist. He laughed before drawing out a tiny reed, which he blew into. Sandra pulled out a tiny needle that hit her in the neck. With in seconds Ash Goth vanquished the Elder with a single fireball.

Hall rushed in to take Sandra's place. He was able to force Ash Goth to back up with a combination of telekinetic shoves and energy balls. He pulled out a small sword and charged. Ash Goth blocked the sword with his forearm and shattered Hall's sternum with a punch of his other hand. Hall fell back clutching his chest. Ash Goth advanced on the teacher and was about to deliver another blow when an energy dart pierced his upper arm.

Ash Goth stood up and screamed in anger. The energy dart burst as a wave of pitch black washed over Ash Goth's arm. He advanced on the thrower of the dart, Leah.

"You will pay for that, little girl." Ash Goth hissed. He tossed a fireball at light speed at Leah, which froze a millimeter in front of her.

Brendin threw his hands out in front of him again and caused Ash Goth's metal glove to explode. "Back off!"

Ash Goth did not back off; instead he drew his hood back and revealed the empty space where his head should have been. Brendin covered his eyes when the light that bounced off an invisible crown shone into his eyes. Ash Goth rushed forward and aimed a punch at the blind boy's head. Brendin surprised Ash Goth by side stepping the charge and knocking the wraith down on to the floor with a punch to the back. Brendin's entire right arm went limp after it touched Ash Goth's back.

"Silly boy." Ash Goth got up. "Don't you know that touching me causes that part of your body to slowly enter my world. It starts with numbness and slowly your arm will turn invisible."

Brendin started to breathe a bit harder. "Fire, wind, water, light, send this demon from my sight!"

Ash Goth started to laugh. "That spell is useless against me. You don't have the power to banish me, not without the Power of Five…" Ash Goth stumbled backward as if a speeding bus had hit him.

"Fire…wind…water…li—light…send this de—dee…demon from my si…si…sight!" Brendin was staring to struggle to breath. His fingers were becoming transparent.

Kyle appeared beside him. He grabbed Brendin's arm and it came back to life. "Fire, wind, water, light, send this demon from my sight!"

Ash Goth stumbled back again this time he struggled to get back up. He fired two energy beams from his palms as a distraction. Brendin and Kyle dodged the beams but could not stop Ash Goth from reaching Professor Hall. Ash Goth raised his steel boot and slammed it down on Hall's face. He did it again before disappearing in a burst of flames.

Brendin, Leah, and Kyle rushed over to Professor Hall. Leah turned away and Brendin wrapped his arms around her. Kyle bent down and felt for a pulse. Brendin looked quizzically down at him and Kyle shook his head sadly. Leah started to cry. Kyle touched the body and it disappeared.

"Get her out of here, Brendin." Kyle stated without emotion. "She can't fight anymore."

Brendin nodded and started to lead Leah back into the School. Kyle, on the other hand headed in the opposite direction into the heat of battle. He vanquished two demons before either demon realized that he was behind them. The third demon put up a bit of a fight but he pulled out an explosive potion and threw; it landed in the demons mouth and the demon exploded into ash. Kyle joined in a battle with a giant Harry was already fighting.

Harry moved his wand in a complex motion and the giant tripped over an invisible rope. Kyle conjured up restraints but the giant broke out of the restraints. Kyle had to dive out of the way of the giant's fist. Harry appeared beside him.

"You don't know any more powerful restraint spells do you?"

"Nope." Kyle fended off the next punch with a telekinetic shove.

"Where are Ron and Hermione?" Harry regrettably conjured up a fire shield and cringed at the giant's yelps of pain.

The giant did not stop attacking even after being burnt. She eventually caught Kyle by the leg. She dangled Kyle upside down and grabbed the other leg and was getting ready to rip the boy in two. Harry desperately whipped out his wand and slashed it horizontally. The giant dropped Kyle as one of her legs was cut to the bone. Kyle landed on his feet albeit heavily. The giant lashed out again this time getting hold of Harry. Harry in self-defense aimed his wand and jabbed in the direction of the giant's throat. The giant stopped, dead in a second. The spell caused her windpipe to collapse of she died of suffocation.

"Why didn't she just give up?" Harry took off his tattered brown robe. He had a white t-shirt and jeans underneath.

Kyle shrugged. "No use feeling guilty now, Harry. Here come a group of demons."

Harry and Kyle stood back to back as they battled off demon after demon. No matter how many demons they vanquished, more filled the gap in the surrounding circle. Harry and Kyle started to tire.

"MALTRICE!" Harry yelled in frustration. A bright light exploded out of his wand and the demons in the circle vaporized, leaving nothing behind, not even ash. Harry took a deep breath. "Thank you Osric."

Kyle pointed toward the school. "Let's fall back for a bit. I'm beat."

They both headed back behind the defense line and allowed their magic to recuperate. Kyle took a drink of water provided by a gnome and Harry accepted a sliver of some fruit from a nymph.

Harry sat down and tried to calm his mind down. "This is a bit more draining than I expected it to be."

"How many vanquishes?"

Harry counted them up in his head. "A hundred or so. Most of them were of lower level demon."

"Leah's father is dead," Kyle stated, "so is Sandra."

"What do you think is going to happen because of that?" Harry asked. He couldn't get emotionally involved yet; the battle was still raging on.

"The Elder may very well shut down Magic School."

Wyatt sat down next to them. "It may have larger results than just him shutting down of Magic School. The Elders have never been ones to take the loss of one of their own lightly. They may pull out of the war all together."

Osric appeared behind Harry with him a rush of wind. "Gideon is in trouble. He is battling Voldemort."

Harry got up and Wyatt touched him. They both appeared a few meters away from the battle.

"…Why are you doing this?" Gideon asked.

Voldemort laughed. "Things change." Voldemort waved a pale finger and Gideon collapsed on the ground. Voldemort closed his hand in a tight fist and Gideon's face slowly grew pale as he clutched his chest.

"He's stopping Gideon's heart from beating!" Wyatt exclaimed.

Gideon went limp before anyone could make a move and Voldemort finished the Elder off with a fireball. Harry charged throwing all his power in a telekinetic shove. Voldemort went flying five meters before smashing down into the ground. Voldemort rose up like a snake and jabbed his finger at Harry. Harry rubbed his shoulder but he could not move the arm without excruciating pain. His shoulder had been dislocated. Wyatt waved his hand and a mound of dirt flew at the approaching Voldemort.

Voldemort glared in the direction of the dirt and it dropped to the ground. The dark wizard then focused his glare at Wyatt. Wyatt shook violently before exploding into tiny orbs. Voldemort barely moved his hand but he froze the orbs before they could reform. He also froze an unsuspecting Osric.

"Well, Harry, I was wondering if you'd have the courage to come and face me."

Harry sneered right back at Voldemort. "I wasn't about to let you get away with all this destruction!"

Voldemort laughed. "This is just a taste of the chaos I can cause, the pain I can inflict. You just wait and see."

Harry motioned as if he backslapped Voldemort. Voldemort fell to the ground. Harry threw a fireball at Voldemort but the attack was simply absorbed by the shield Voldemort placed around himself. Voldemort made his hand stand perpendicular to his arm and pushed out from his chest. Harry cringed as he felt and heard a number of bones snap and break. Harry pulled out his wand and cast Sectumsempra with all the power he could muster. Voldemort tried to stop the attack but had to instead dodge it.

"I'm impressed, Potter." Voldemort chuckled. "I thought you'd be above using such ugly and gruesome spells."

"Shut up, Voldemort!" Harry screamed.

Voldemort tried to respond but instead he flew backwards. He got up and sneered at Harry before disappearing in to the shadows. Harry unfroze Osric and Wyatt. They just got their bearings when they heard an explosion from the direction of Magic School. They orbed back and Harry's breath caught in is chest.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Harry yelled. He forced the same message into the head of every single fighter on the magical plane. "Voldemort is destroying the plane!"

It was a mad, chaotic retreat for the light forces.

AN: Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I enjoyed writing it; I just love writing Voldemort. He is almost as interesting as Snape. Please read and review.

Next Chapter - The death of an important essential character is coming up and the light scrambles to piece itself back together.