Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter in anyway shape or form only the OC's.
A/N: Hello once again and welcome to another chapter of wolf, I have to say this chapter was fun to do and that I well to working mostly on this story for a while as I find myself employed and as such not as much time to work on stories but I well do the best I can so sorry in advance for any delays.
Now then I'm sure everyone is going to enjoy this chapter as the hunt for Horcrux's begin or the ground work is laid.
Enjoy!
Chapter 26: Shadows Offer.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN WE ARE BOTH ON DESK DUTY?" Harry yelled out as he looked from Amelia to Umbridge the latter having a large evil looking smile while the former looked like she wanted to strangle the latter, this all happening a couple of weeks after Albus' public talking to about how the war should be fought.
"The minister in all his wisdom has decided that the two of you have had a lot of excitement through training and as such decided to place you both on permanent desk duties until a later date." Umbridge says with a smile knowing that according to what little information the files gave on Harry and Tonks the pair were more than likely go slightly insane or crack being tied down to a desk.
"I don't like this order any more then you two do but orders are orders." Amelia states giving as sigh as she looked at the written orders that Umbridge had just delivered to her office earlier that morning.
"Oh we'll obey this order madam that doesn't mean we can't shout and complain about it." Tonks stated turning to leave only to stop when Umbridge gave her annoying little cough that was suppose to make everyone pay attention to her but really only made them want to rip her neck open with a spoon.
"Auror Potter, you are to hand over your Muggle side arm as it is an item beneath an Auror to carry, you have your wand and that is all any Wizard needs no matter what." Umbridge started with what she thought would be a smug smile only to have Harry give a laugh.
"This weapon is a legal secondary weapon, in case you may have forgotten all Aurors are allowed to carry a second weapon of their choosing on a list that is updated every ten years or so," Harry paused here as he looked at Amelia as if to make sure he had his information right carrying on when she gave a nod, "My secondary weapon is on that list and also has a secondary rule on it stating that I must have a Muggle Fire-arms licence which I have."
"I find that hard to believe given the fact that the Aurors are part of this Ministry and our current Minister doesn't like the level of Muggle influences within the Ministry at this time, now hand over that weapon." Umbridge growled out on realising that Harry wasn't going to do as she said like most others do within the building.
"No." Was Harry's flat answer before turning and leaving the room Tonks not even looking back as she followed her husband.
"I want that boy stripped of his badge and sent to Hogwarts as its clear he isn't old enough to respect his betters." Umbridge snapped at Amelia moving around to face the woman face on, her words however seemed to only have the woman raise her head and just look at her with narrowed eyes.
"That young man is a new husband and one of the best to leave the academy in case you have forgotten, that young man has provided proof that a new Dark Lord is on the rise and yet this Ministry does nothing, that young man has fought tooth and nail to gain the skills and reputation within this department and nothing you or the Minister can say or do will make me fire him and send him to a school that he is readily beyond their ability to teach." Amelia answered with a small sigh leaning back in her seat without breaking eye contact with the attack toad.
"I will not be told what can and can't be done within this Ministry, you will do as your told Madam Bones or I'll do it for you." Umbridge snapped back reaching for her wand the plan of placing Amelia under the Imperious to carry out that order going out the window however when a Shadow Wolf came out of the shadows to one side and Zarra flying in looking around for something.
"Ah that is what I felt a few moments ago." Zarra says flying down to look at the Shadow Wolf that wasn't Harry sitting to one side of the room now its head tilting to one side as it looked at the Shadow Mephit calmly.
"Zarra what on earth is a Shadow Wolf doing in my office that isn't Harry?" Amelia asks one hand resting next to the 9mm that had been rigged in such a way that no one could see it from the far side of her desk as she had a feeling that Umbridge might try something and getting a bullet lodged in her heart might stop any plans of attacking her.
"I'm just finding that out Madam Bones." Zarra says landing before the wolf and just tilting her head to one side giving off a sort of whispered language that most beings of the Shadow Plane know.
"You should be calling the Department of Dangerous Animals and having that thing put down." Umbridge snapped only to gasp when her own shadow rose up and pulled her into a strangle hold, Amelia could not help but smile a little at the image of Umbridge being strangled by a Umbridge shaped shadow.
"Now you let that woman go or Harry is going to be upset with you even if he doesn't like her." Zarra says sharply to the Shadow Wolf who bowed its head after a few seconds and let go of the control over Umbridge's shadow the toad like woman gasping for breath and going for a wand as she turned to face the Wolf.
"Put that down before she decides to kill you outright," Came Harry's voice as he entered the room calmly looking down at the Shadow Wolf who sat up and just looked at him in joy even moving forward and licking his face when he went down to his knees.
"You know who this is then Auror Potter?" Amelia asks leaning forward and even getting up to see the young man gently pat the wolf on the head.
"This is the Alpha female of a Shadow Pack that is in the service of Szotfrin as messengers and such, I did give her the name of Rose back when I was still stuck and she often helped out by looking after me the first few years as a Wolf." Harry paused here with a small smile as he leaned forward and pulled the larger then average dog sized wolf into a hug, "She became the closest thing to a mother I ever had."
/ Hello pup, I see you have grown strong and going by your scent found a strong mate to, when do you plan on building your pack? / came the telepathic message to Harry's mind from Rose as thanks to her service to Szotfrin he had granted her this little gift as unlike many of her kin Rose liked to integrate with the normal plain.
"In time we well have children Nurse Mother but that won't be for a few years yet I would think." Harry says softly with a smile sitting against the wall of the office Rose moving to lay her head down in his lap neither of them paying the two witches in the office any mind.
/ That is a good thing young one as having pups shouldn't be taken lightly. / Rose sent back just looking up at Harry with her shadowy blue eyes.
"I have a feeling you didn't just come here to check up on me Nurse Mother, so what can a packless one do for someone of your stature?" Harry asks softly running his fingers through the jet black fur of Rose's back.
/ Szotfrin sent me with a message for you, he has information on the so called Dark Lord Voldemort and wishes to offer it to you in person and also talk about the price for this information. / Rose stated calmly to Harry not paying the two witches any mind as they tried to follow the one sided conversation.
"And what on earth could a being of his power want from me for this information I wonder?" Harry asks himself more than Rose, getting to his feet he looked at Amelia with a small smile, "Madam Bones I have received a summons from the only other person I can respect and follow the orders of, if you don't mind I request the rest of the day off to meet with him."
"You will do no such thing Auror, in fact you are going to take that animal to the Department of Magical Animal Control and have it put down for attacking a Ministry official of my rank." Umbridge snapped off only to have a stunning spell fired into her back as Tonks stepped into the room.
"Sorry madam but I had to shut her up she was giving everyone a headache from all the complaining." Tonks says calmly stepping over the large woman now out cold on the floor.
"Understandable Auror Tonks and don't worry about her as I'll take care of everything," Amelia says looking over at Harry who was now on his feet and standing calmly next to Rose, "Auror Potter you have permission to take the rest of the day off to find out this information and know that if this information can help in the fight against Voldemort that I am prepared to help pay any price asked for it."
"Madam." Harry says snapping a quick salute to his boss looking at Tonks for a moment before pulling her into a quick hug and kiss, "Don't wait up for me dear and hold down the fort while I do this, hopefully I won't be too long."
"You better not be as I don't want to go to bed tonight alone." Tonks whispers back before stepping back to stand next to Amelia who just gave a nod to Harry as he transforms and vanishes into the shadows, Rose only a step behind him.
Both women took a moment to look at the shadow before looking down at Umbridge and Zarra who had remained silent throughout all of this, "I better get back to work." Tonks whispers softly a moment later as she leaves the office Amelia only nodding before waving her wand over the large woman.
"And I better get this mess sorted out." Amelia says giving Umbridge the memory of giving Tonks and Harry their new desk jobs but nothing beyond that, after sending the woman on her way Amelia just leaned back and let the quiet settle around her silently thinking and hoping that Harry came back with information that would end this war before it really began as she didn't want her niece growing up into a war that should have been settled long ago.
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Harry followed Rose deep into the Shadow Plane far deeper than he had ever been as the humanoid Shades and other creatures of power that lived in this place started to appear around them all of them, many of them having the same cold or shadowy blue eyes that Rose has, this acting more like a marker than anything else.
Harry knew his emerald green eyes was going to give him problems if he should get separated from Rose as he knew that one of the other Shadow Dragons marked all of her servants with her eye colour just as Szotfrin marked his people with his eye colour.
Harry had wondered for a time how the Dragons marked there followers by changing their eye colours to match their own, but figured that unless he was willing to become the servant of one he would never know.
After a good hour of following the Shadow Wolf who found him when he first changed scared and hungry long ago Harry came to a stop when they entered an area of the Shadow Plane that looked like some great desert, the sands being a dark shade of gray to the black skies over head, the only thing that wasn't gray within the whole plain being the sun which was a soft white colour.
Looking behind him for a moment Harry saw nothing but rocky terrain and the odd tree the creatures of the area watching him closely but not moving to attack given his escort and the other Shadow Wolves that had formed a protective ring around the pair.
"He's waiting for you out in that desert Harry, I can't lead you to him as that was his orders but I'll be waiting for you here for the return trip to the light plane." Rose says softly sitting down while looking at Harry with a small nod.
"Thank you Rose and know that if you ever need a safe place to have your next litter of pups please come see me and I'll give you that place." Harry says pushing his head into her side in a wolfish way of saying 'thanks' and 'love you mum'.
"I may take you up on that offer sooner then you think my little stray, now go it doesn't pay to keep Szotfrin waiting." Rose says her head angled to just look down at Harry with a small smile like upturn of her upper lip.
Giving a nod to Rose and the large Alpha male that had been sitting off to one side Harry started into the desert his ears and eyes being kept open and alert for any trouble or sounds of something approaching him.
Harry had only just moved from beyond the sight of the rocky ground he had travelled though to get to this place when the ground gave a shake a large foot print appearing just in the sand ahead of him as a pair of deep blue eyes opened up just above where the print was.
"So little one you did come, I'm surprised I thought I would have had to send my whole pack of Wolves to get you given how independent you are." A deep voice says softly from where the eyes were, "Welcome to you Harry Potter last of the Potter line and husband to Nymphadora Tonks."
Harry looked at the eyes for a moment before giving a nod sitting down and saying calmly, "I thank you Szotfrin for the invite and you should know that I would answer the call of any of the Shadow Dragons."
"Ah yes your view of serving all of the Shadows and not just one of the Five an interesting choice in life I must say." Szotfrin voice says coming off rather calmly as the eyes came down a little more to be more level with Harry's own, "I must say I can't wait to see what that brings in the future as the other four are always plotting to take each other and even me out."
"I'm surprised they don't ally together or some of them do and then try to take out some of the competition." Harry commented calmly sitting there without any trance of fear as he knew that Szotfrin wanted him for something and as such he didn't need fear death at this Lord of Shadows claws.
"Ah and there you hit another interesting topic, we are all to chaotic to form any stable alliances as you can guarantee that the moment one shows weakness or an opening within our own defences then our so called ally well strike against us and a large scale fight well quickly start." Szotfrin states calmly back the eyes moving back up to their full height.
"What do you say we get down to business as you didn't summon me just for political talk of the Shadow Plane." Harry states back, sitting there watching the eyes of one of the most powerful beings within the magical world.
"Indeed young one and thank you for the reminder I do tend to go off into tangents from time to time." The deep voice says back Harry getting the feeling that the great dragon was making himself comfortable a moment later as some of the sand started to shift around.
"I called for you here because I have information on that fool of a Dark Lord your world is fighting at the moment, but information isn't free so let us first decide what you will pay me for it." Szotfrin calmly comments the eyes just watching Harry closely while waiting for him to start offering a price for the as yet unknown information.
Harry regarded Szotfrin's eyes closely for a moment before saying while taking a seat on the cool sand, "What is this information before I even offer you anything for it."
"Ah, good, one who asks questions before blurting offers off," An amused chuckle coming from the still invisible dragon across from Harry. "I offer the answer to how he survived that night when your den mother and father died and I offer all the information dealing with that survival."
"And what would you call an equal or preferable trade for this information?"
There was a few moments of silences on this question from Harry as dealing with a shadow dragon was both a games of politics and knowledge in general as Szotfrin had to give an answer now that didn't give away any information that could lead to the information he was offering in the first place.
"I want six items from your world that I will tell you about later are to be brought to me this on your word as a being of this plane and I will tell you his secret."
"And that is all you want, six items and nothing else is going to be required for this information, these items aren't going to involve living people or creatures I hope."
"Yes and no my little friend but you won't know until you give that oath."
"As long as I don't have to bring a human or other intelligent creature into this place then I don't see why not." Harry stated back standing back up on all four legs as he stated clearly. "I Harry James Potter the Lone Wolf of the Shadow Plane promise to bring to Szotfrin the Shadow Dragon six items of his request in return for information on how Voldemort survived the night he marked me with my scar as well as all other information dealing with his survival of that night."
"A good choice of words young one, a good choice." Szotfrin says calmly Harry getting the feeling that he was moving a little to sit more conformability now as the eyes moved ever so slightly. "Now then the information I give also holds the information on the items I want in return for this information, so isn't that convenient."
"If you say so," Harry returned with a sight huff just knowing that nothing was convenient when dealing with someone of Szotfrin age and knowledge.
"I do don't I, anyway he survived because the Fool split his own soul over seven items five of those items I want just so I can torment him all the more when you drag him into this plane the seventh he made by mistake and it is lodged in your scar, that one I'm willing to remove for you free of charge and even start the spell that will drag his soul to this place, it has been a long time sense I had a plaything of his arrogance."
"Then remove it once you tell me the other six items and their location." Harry stated back head tilted to one side having had a feeling that his scar was something like Szotfrin said it was a long time now.
"Very well then, a locket of the Slytherin might chance to be found in the Londinium den of one who is close to you. A goblet of Hufflepuff might perchance to be found deep within the vault of the insane servant, and a ring of Slytherin is known to rest in the den whence this saga began, there where the blood of the evil Fool rests. The Diadem of Ravenclaw, ye should seek that which you seek and cannot be found within the place you seek and cannot be found" An evil glint appeared deep in blue orbs. "The last the Fool guards, precious pet, legless and evil, minds linked, evil begetting evil."
"That is only five not counting my scar Szotfrin and you said he split his soul seven times what is the final item." Harry states cataloguing all of the information given to him within his mind knowing he had to remember it so that he could write it down when he got back.
"If you hadn't feed his diary to the Shadows already I would ask for that to, anyway his main soul is still in his body as if he didn't have a soul within that body it would quickly decay and die, you're to bring him to this plane once all of his Horcruxes as he calls them are brought to me he has dared to try and control someone of my power in the past and as such he must be punished, being my plaything for a few million years should be more than enough." Szotfrin says his voice growing darker and heated the more he spoke of what Voldemort had tried to do in the past.
"Then we have a deal and you have a fragment to remove right this minute." Harry states back moving closer to the eyes as they seemed to spark with amusement.
"I did indeed promise to remove that didn't I, very well then hold still a moment and then I'll have Rose as you call her carry you back to where you came from." Szotfrin states calmly a single long black claw coming visible long enough to touch the location of Harry's scar under the fur coat.
Harry didn't know what happened next only that he was suddenly assaulted by blinding pain from that area a small chuckle being the last thing he heard the sight of a black wisp of smoke being the last thing he saw.
Szotfrin looked down at the wolf before him still breathing calmly and just out cold for now, "You are an enjoyable one to watch but soon I'll have a new toy to play with in this Fool of a Dark Lord." Szotfrin finished with a nod of the head off to one side as Rose came into view, "Take him back to his mate my dear friend and see to it that all of those items find their way back to me bring them yourself if you have to."
"It shall be done my Lord and thank you for removing that problem from his scar." Rose says softly taking a hold of Harry by the back of the neck and starting to pull him back towards the upper reaches of the Shadow Plane knowing that members of her pack was watching over them.
Szotfrin just gave a chuckle as he looked at the wisp of smoke that was a part of Voldemort's soul or the Fool as he called him, "Now then let's get started on binding you to this place and prevent anyone from being able to summon you back to the world of the light,"
The wisp of smoke seemed to try to get away but Szotfrin held it in place with his magic an amused smile seemed to spark within his eyes at the fun he could have with the whole soul once it was within his reach.
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