Many thanks to those who review, I may not have gotten to answering all of those with questions, but there have been some rather hectic accidents in my family this last week that have consumed nearly all on my time, so it ought to be understandable. I'll also happily announce that I have started "Ultra Secret Project 'U'", which will be something not completed for an extremely long time to come, but something that may trump all my work in fanfiction combined... In any case, new chapter for you all! enjoy. ~F

Chapter Twenty Nine

Challenging the Plan

Darth Veneficus closed the communication from Lord Zhar with a small smirk on his face. The rebellious one had been eliminated, he who thought to question his master and put his ideals above that of the Empire. but sadly, Zhar's worries were dead on, if one Adept could feel such, what would stop others from thinking that their glorious Emperor could make mistakes or not be perfectly correct in his vision and tactics.

How dare they?!

The fools, who had not progressed nearly as far in the knowledge and gifts of the Dark Side as he, the Dark Sorcerer, the greatest Sith Lord in a thousand generations. He who would be Eternal, the Lord of the Galaxy and all that dwelled in it.

The communication devise shattered in his hand, shrapnel flying in all directions, lacerating his hand into a bloody mess. The pain was a thought provoking thing, not worth much of his consideration. He was harmed on a regular basis, be it by injury or the great power that he held within him struggling to exceed his mortal frame.

This was the problem that most Sith encountered when they reached a substantial level of Dark Side energy within themselves. The chaotic energies that they wielded started to eat away at their very being, killing them from the inside out. But Darth Veneficus would be eternal; he had great resources from his old life, the world that he had abandoned to secrecy after looting all that was valuable from it.

The blood stone, a giver of life, and unlimited wealth if one so desired it. Long had he held onto it, and long had he been using it, preserving the image that all the Empire would appreciate, but only as an afterthought. He did not fear becoming old and wizened, with lamp yellow eyes filled with power and hunger for more, but the degradation of the Dark Side would not be allowed to stop even him. From within his robes a small vial of blood red liquid appeared in a flash, flowing down his throat and into his system.

Idly, Veneficus watched the wounds on his hand mend themselves, the foreign objects lodged within forcefully removing themselves. Normally quite painful, to a Sith it was nothing more than a pleasurable tickle, etched with power that boosted him even further.

He had drunk the Elixir of Life many times over the years of preparing his Empire, when accident or other problems arose that threatened his body or spirit. Even within himself, he felt slight diminishments in his organs knit together, and other systems return to their full and perfect functionality.

But still he frowned. The degradation was starting to accelerate, ever so slowly, but even as he rose in power, so did it speed him to his own true death. He had limited time to achieve his goals, but for now the Elixir would suffice him, so long as it remained a total secret to anyone other than himself.

Returning his attention to the world around him, Veneficus allowed his gaze to be drawn by the personal galactic map in his quarters aboard the Apex. Powered by strong charms placed by himself and through the powers of the Star Forge implanted into every ship it produced, it allowed viewing of the positions and working of the rest of the Empire in real time.

While he had succeeded in clearing out many systems during the initial rush towards the south, the other parts of the galactic campaign seemed to be moving far slower, and thus they were to be expected, when the Apex and its fleet could cover twice the distance in the same time. Still, with the combination of the starting of a rebellion back at the home front, as well as the slower movement of the rest of his armada, it would be best for Veneficus to retire back to the rear lines and take up the reins of command once again himself, allowing another Adept or two to fall into place in the south to expand on what he had so quickly started.

Still, it was a disappointment that he himself couldn't continue to fight on the front lines, as any Sith Lord would want to. But such was the burden of leadership, and as Emperor, Veneficus presumed that he had absolute duty to make sure that everything was well in hand and under control.

So, with only mild disappointment, Veneficus opened the internal communication console. "Commander," he announced when the lead officer appeared on screen, "We are done here for the time being, set course back for Dromund Kaas, it is required for us to take the lead of this war once more, and allow another their opportunity to prove themselves in this section of the campaign."

"As you wish your majesty…" Commander Jhect replied, before the entire ship started to turn in space, sensed by the immense power of the Lord of the Sith, and initiate the opening of the Hyperspace tunnel that would transport them back to the Sith capital.

As much as Veneficus felt it was a waste of his precious time, it would seem that he needed to spend a deal of time in the Sith Palace for now, and actually rule in the open, allowing the nobility of the Empire to see and mingle in his presence, reestablishing his public relations with his subjects and eliminating any causes for doubt in his abilities or foresight.

It was still a disappointment, however, that he couldn't trust his people to run a simple set of commands for less than a month of his own absence, but such was the backbiting nature of the Dark Side, much as he should have expected, rather than assume that fear of his wrath would suffice to keep them all in line for so short a time.

Such was simply not the case, it seemed, and the Emperor prepared himself to contend with the political dancing that would be requisite of him once they arrived at the capital of the Empire. It was going to be a most grueling amount of work, something that none, not even a Lord of the Sith, would desire to put up with, when there was so many more important tasks to be done with.

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Luna wasn't terribly sure what just happened. At one moment, Colin was alive and fighting them like a madman, then the next Leon had rushed in and, without placing a finger on the older wizard, Colin had collapsed screaming to the ground, and died in short order.

What had made the least amount of sense was the massive burst of the Dark Side at the exact moment that the wizard fell, all seeming to escape from the small pendant that her Padawan now gingerly held in his hands. "What is it, Master?" Leon asked, looking somewhat troubled and slightly sick at the innocent looking item he held.

Snapping out of her daze, Luna scrutinized the amulet, now cracked straight down the middle, which the boy held aloft by the metal chain that had once held it around Colin's neck. "I cannot be sure," she said, not wanting to believe what she was sensing. The item was a combination of magical enchantments, as well as the ancient workings of the Dark Side. There had also been multiple signatures applied to the devise, advertizing that more than one Force user had operated and worked on creating the pendant. But it still left more questions than answers.

"For now we should bring everything, including the body, back to the Temple for examination. We need to find out everything we can about Colin and who he received orders from."

Leon nodded, and together they started gathering anything that had fallen from the wizard when he had collapsed, but there was little that wasn't firmly strapped to his body, which made the job significantly easier, allowing Luna's mind to wander. Why did she feel so off about this? Could it be the look of shock and horror that had crossed Colin's face as he thrashed upon the ground, the utter sense of deep betrayal before the moment of death which claimed him?

It felt off that the Darkness, Veneficus or Harry or whatever one wished to call him, would throw away the boy that had so willingly flocked to his side so long ago. But if it was all to be connected, and even then the boy was pure evil, could he have been plotting this very moment, when that same dedicated servant would be cast aside as a distraction?

After returning Colin to their ship and setting the body in a controlled environment to preserve it through the flight back to the Temple, Luna set the Jedi shuttle to scan for other ship readings, hoping that she might find the vessel that brought the wizard here as well.

Surprisingly, there didn't' seem to be any attempt to disguise his presence, as the ship was located quickly, in a wide clearing on the far side of the village. Luna winged their shuttle over to it, and together the pair of Jedi made their way to the foreign starship. Cautiously, knowing the dead wizard's clear paranoia for anyone interfering with his work, Luna worked to disable any potential anti-theft systems that might try to prevent them from boarding and taking their time looking about the ship for any more clues.

She was, impressed with the complexity of the system. Not only were there many locks and sub routes in the power and defense systems, but magic had been added to the layout, making it nearly impossible for a non wizard to even access the ship, let alone disable its many fail-safes and traps. Colin had taken every means to protect his secrets, but in the end Luna was able to grant them both entrance to his ship.

Ascending to what appeared to be a main central room; Luna paused to take in the near sterile cleanliness of the interior of the ship. Colin's handiwork no doubt, being meticulous to keeping his camera clean when he was a youth, and now every piece of technology that he used as an adult. They stayed together, just in case one found something that only the other would recognize, and went from room to room, searching. In a cargo hold there were many empty cages and other bindings that may have at one time restrained his child prisoners, but it was currently empty, which gave Luna both relief that no more children had been stolen, but worry as to where the first batch had been taken.

In another room, they found scrap metal piled in many places, looking as though it had been assembled and blasted apart with spells, or riddled with blaster bolts, or detonated with explosives. Colin had been highly trained in what he did, frighteningly so, and Luna was almost certain if not for whatever had happened to cut him down so quickly, that either the wizard would have escaped, or possibly managed to kill one or both of the Jedi.

Then, in a personal room, they found many suits of additional armor, much like what Colin had been wearing, along with a plethora of gadgets and other magically created tech weapons. The question was whether the boy had managed to manufacture these himself, or if he had a secret supplier, and if that was the case, who and where were they? Luna suspected the Empire, but naturally had no proof to back that theory up, however likely it was.

Finally, in the cockpit of the ship, amid the controls and other piloting systems, the Jedi found what they sought. An activated Holocron sat amid the controls, glowing faintly with the powerful crystal that had been placed within. "This is how Colin was able to seek out so many children so quickly," Luna surmised, taking the Holocron back and stowing it away. "The Sith must have helped him activate it, and therefore they have the children secreted away out of our reach for the time being."

"So we simply take everything back to the Temple?" Leon asked, and Luna nodded.

It was all that they could do for the time being. "Hopefully someone there will be able to go over everything with an analysis droid or two and create a clear and decisive picture of what was going on before we engaged Colin, and then we might find some clues hidden among the answers," she said, throwing a lever with the Force and powering up the engines of the ship.

"You think you can fly this back to the Temple while I take the shuttle?" she asked, and the boy smiled back at her.

"I think so," Leon said, looking pleased at the responsibility.

The trip back to Coruscant was quiet, having the Jedi ship to herself, which was not good for the many thoughts swirling without answers in Luna's head, but she steeled herself to wait out for the Temple investigators to do their work over Colin's body and ship. They had not failed to come up with some viable information in the past, so there was no reason to believe that they would this time.

Then there was also another hunch that she had in the back of her mind. Colin had always been close to Harry Potter when they were young, as well as Draco Malfoy. Wasn't that same boy now also on Coruscant, doing something within the government of the Republic? Due to her many missions so close together as of late, she had not paused to take too much note of the change of politics in the Galaxy, so they thought it would be prudent to investigate Draco when he had the next opportunity, to feel him out for any connection to this matter.

Allowing the shuttle to touch down inside the Temple, Luna watched as her Padawan masterfully brought Colin's ship to a stop within the spacious area set aside for investigation. Leon had mentioned briefly a knack for flying and Luna was pleased to see that the boy had developed a true skill that would greatly benefit him as a Jedi. There was so much more to life as a protector of the Republic then just Lightsaber forms and Force techniques, so Luna had done everything she could to encourage the boy to step out and find things that he felt confident at, and grow in these same talents.

Summoning a medical gurney, Luna loaded Colin's body upon it, and covered it with a shimmering white cloth to prevent onlookers from seeing exactly what it was, for their own privacy more so than anything else. The body needed to go to the medical area for examination, especially for an autopsy. Luna was greatly concerned with how Colin had died, and the abruptness of it.

Once there, she glanced around, spotting the sectioned off area where Master Coven still lay, unmoved from her coma-like state within the Force. the energy was swirling around her, so all in the Temple knew that she still lived, but it was unknown if or when she would return to them. this saddened Luna greatly, to see her old mentor and friend in such a state, but also galvanized her resolve to solve as much of the mystery as she could so that Master Coven could help in finished off the Sith once and for all when she returned. There wasn't really an option to believe otherwise at this time.

"Ah, Miss Lovegood, you've returned," Professor Trelawney said, entering the medical wing and spotting her immediately.

"Greetings Professor," Luna replied, smiling. She had always enjoyed the few classes of Divination that she had attended before she was forced to leave the earth, and had a certain fondness for the Professor as well.

"My dear, there is good news that had arrived in a most unexpected way," Trelawney said, catching Luna attention. "Professor Severus Snape had turned up, apparently escaped from some Imperial compound. No one is sure where it is, but he has given us a lot of information about the Sith Empire and their hierarchy, as he was effectively given all the information he could desire while imprisoned by them."

"That seems like a rather foolish move on the part of the Sith, to allow a prisoner to learn all about their methods and their governmental structure." Luna responded, growing slightly suspicious. She had not disliked the Potions Master for any reason, but the situation seemed rather, convenient.

Still now there was much for them to investigate while the ship and Colin's body were being scoured for clues, so that was something to be grateful for.

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Diábolis grunted as he slashed down another fanatical servant of the Baran Do Sages. When they had first advanced up the ziggurat to bring death to these monks, he had presumed that it would be a most simple task. How wrong he had been. The Baran Do, while not a fully combative group, making them far different from either Sith or Jedi, nevertheless they were still powerful Force users, with many disciples that did indeed train in many varied combat styles. And with the threat of their home and culture being destroyed, all clinging to their nonviolent tendencies were dropped immediately, and the most powerful warriors that the Sith apprentice had yet faced were unleashed.

Naturally, against the full power of the Dark Side, each one was defeated in short order, but due to their numbers as well as their skill in battle, they were slowly wearing down the entire attack force. Battling from the front doors, now high above them, Dass'in, Diábolis and their group of commandos were now drawing nearer to the great meeting place for the most powerful of the leaders of the Sages, and the devaronian Sith could feel a wellspring of the Force building therein. Whatever awaited them was not going to be pleasant or simple.

It was odd to think that even outside of the twin orders of the Jedi and Sith that there were indeed powerful Force users that could rival the leaders of either, not that any of these held a candle to the power of the Emperor, but more so in respect to the numerous Jedi. Still, he had his commands, and they would be carried out, or Diábolis would die in the attempt.

And he had no intentions of dying this day.

Turning another corner, the Sith attack group found their way blocked by a gauntlet of bo staff wielding combatants, and the corridor ending at a massive wooden door, behind which the powerful collection of Force energy was building.

One glance between himself and the Kel-dor Darksider told Diábolis all he needed to know. They needed to get there and stop the sages from their ritual as quickly as possible, or they would face even greater problems in the future.

Dashing ahead of the rest of the attack group, saber spinning wildly, Diábolis lashed out at each defender as he came in range. Their simple wooden staves stood no match for the cutting power of his weapon, and the guardians fell quickly, one after another as the Sith mowed his way toward the doors.

Just as he was about to reach them, with a resounding crash the doors shattered from within, and with a howl of raging wind Diábolis was thrown backward as a literal storm erupted in the corridor. The troopers immediately locked their stances and stood their ground, even as everything not pinned down to the ground went sailing toward them, including the weapons and bodies of those that Diábolis had just slain.

Bracing himself against the gusts of wind, Diábolis started back toward the door, anger filling his being with the raw power of the Dark Side. There was a deafening bang, and the winds were forced back as another power fought against them, and the Sith turned to see Dass'in channeling the power of the Force as well, creating a powerful windstorm of his own to push back against that coming from the room ahead.

It wasn't able to stop the winds completely, but it gave the troopers enough of a reprieve to surge ahead and together the group pushed its way into the room. The winds died as soon as they crossed the threshold, but the storms seemed to intensify regardless. Six Dorians awaited them, although it seemed that the room could hold easily four times that many, which was cause for frustration. Most of the Sages must have escaped.

"You were warned to never return to this place, Lath Dass'in," one of the Dorians said, his voice raspy over the crackle of the storm that brewed over their heads.

Diábolis carefully studied the entire scene. The six were spread around the room, sitting comfortably in what he presumed would be their usual seats, in the act of meditation, and above them all grew a darkening storm cloud. He knew from Dass'in and their own Imperial intelligence regarding the world that the Sages had particular powers over winds and storms, able to generate and control them at a whim. And these were clearly masters of their order.

"You were all fools for throwing me from your midst," Dass'in replied, equally calmly, stepping forward and brandishing his weapon, "and now you side against my Master, the great Emperor that will lead this Galaxy into a new age…"

"A new age you say?" another of the Sages spoke from across the room, "You visions have been blinded by hatred, Dass'in. Tell us how one once so wise and calm has turned from sound reason to madness?"

Fury flew from the Dark Side Kel-dor in waves, he reached a hand toward the offending Sage, and lightning burst from his fingers, blue-white and crackling. From overhead, a thundercrack sounded as a massive bolt of pure white electricity shot down and intercepted the attack, grounding it into the stone floor beneath them and rendering it useless.

"Your powers have weakened as well since you were forced from this body, Sage Dass'in. Whatever you were promised by these Sith, it has not manifested itself as of yet, has it?" the lead Sage spoke, eyes still closed and body completely still, all of them focused on channeling their storm.

"You know nothing of power, locked away from the rest of the Galaxy on your world, striving to see a future that you will no longer be part of." Dass'in shot back snidely, and Diábolis was surprised to see the Supreme Prophet of the Dark Side so riled. Normally the Dorian was the most level headed of any Darksider that the devaronian had met, but clearly even he had his triggers, and his own people were apparently one of the greatest of these triggers.

"As you had been told by this body before, power is not to be an end all, and to seek it for its own purpose is a waste of one's life and talents," another Sage replied, and Diábolis could feel the anger radiating from Dass'in's body.

"I suppose," the Supreme Prophet said, forcing himself to be calm, "that we are eternally destined to disagree. But regardless, I have my orders from the Emperor, and you must all die. Troopers!" he said sternly, turning to the commandos, "kill them!"

Even as the soldiers raised the blasters however, a deafening blast of wind and lightning exploded downward, knocking them all backward and shielding the Sages from their attacks. Dass'in seemed to expect this response however, and threw himself between the storm and Diábolis, weaving the Force as a massive shield that buffered the winds and electricity over and around them, giving precious seconds for the rest to regain their footing.

"Attack!" Diábolis ordered, hurling his Lightsaber twinblade into the chest of the nearest Sage, impaling the Dorian through the heart, and making the body slump to the side even as the weapon was summed back to the Sith Lord's hand.

The troopers opened fire, and while their shots were mostly deflected off the raging lightning or their aim distorted by the howling wind, one by one the Sages fell, until only three remained. Only then did the Kel-Dor monks react in a physical manner, opening their eyes and standing to their full heights. "You may damage our Order this day, servants of the Sith," they said as one, "but the cost will be greater than you know."

Together they raised their hands, and the air exploded with pure white lightning, which struck the shield around Dass'in, shattering it with the combine fury and drowning the Supreme Prophet in a sea of sparking electricity. Acting swiftly, Diábolis leapt at the central figure, even while a pair of commandos put blaster shots into the chest of the Kel-Dor on either side.

Diábolis swung viciously from left to right, the electricity flow halted abruptly as the head of the final Sage fell from his shoulders, and rolled out of sight. Diábolis couldn't detect the scent of scorched flesh due to the breathing mask he wore, but it was safe to assume that the Supreme Prophet had sustained quite fatal injuries from that last desperate move of the Sages.

"I…I s-shouldn't have b-been surprised tha…that they'd d-do something like t-this…" Dass'in said feebly, laying exactly where he had fallen, with smoke rising off his body from where the bolts had struck him down.

"Get a medical capsule, immediately;" Diábolis said to the nearest commando, but Dass'in ranking coughs causing the trooper to pause. "It's already t-too late for that… m-my Lord… I am… dying…" he rasped, chest heaving to get some small amount of the precious gasses that the being needed to survive. "Lord Feyd h-has been trained w-well… He will make an effective… leader…" and before another being could react, the powerful Dark Side Dorian shut his eyes, and expired.

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Lord Anguis felt a small brush of the Force, and looked up just in time to see Lovegood approaching the outer door of his office. Suppressing the inner rage at finally being face to face with his Master's greatest threat, Drakis Malfay came to the front and smiled as the Jedi Knight entered the Supreme Chancellor's office.

"My, what a surprise, please come in Master Jedi, what can I do for the Council today?" he asked, feigning ignorance of her identity and rank.

The eyes of the strange Gryffindor seemed to flash slightly with some moderate amount of understanding, or contemplation, but the woman spoke with the air of one holding a great amount of prestige. "Surely you do recognize me, Draco Malfoy… of Slytherin house at Hogwarts School. I'm more than aware that our dearest Professors made a visit sometime before now and got acquainted with your new position and duties."

False smile plastered to his face, Anguis seethed. "Ah, yes, Knight Lovegood was it… formerly of Gryffindor? My, my, time really has simply flown by for us, and just look at the all wondrous changes it has brought. You, a Jedi, and I myself leading the glorious Republic that we mutually seek to defend."

"Yes," Luna said, sounding rather unconvinced by his performance, but Anguis felt that was at least to be expected. She knew who he had accompanied, and that was likely the route of questioning that she would go to.

"Any chance do you have an idea of what happened to others from our old school days?" Lovegood started, and Drakis waited patiently, Anguis inwardly smirking at the plan coming as he had guessed.

"Namely Colin Creevey of course…"

That sent a small shock through the Dark Adept's core. "Creevey?" he said, inwardly scrambling to think of a way to deny his knowledge of the assassin. "I do not believe that I've seen him since the Terran's departed from earth. Was he among our group at that time?"

Luna narrowed her eyes the tiniest degree, and the Chancellor of the Republic felt that she indeed suspected something more. "No, it seems that was not the case, as Hermione has no memory of his presence at all, and she rarely leaves the world our people colonized."

Spreading his arms in a act of transparency, Drakis continued, "Then I am sorry that I cannot be of further help to you, but I have little memory of that little tag along since our days at school. And even those were less than pleasant. He was little more than a hyper, wide-eyed fan of the Boy-Who-Lived, was he not?"

"Speaking of Harry Potter," Lovegood said, her own smile stretching across her face slowly as she spoke, "have you seen or heard anything from him either?"

The desire for Anguis to reveal himself and kill the obnoxious girl spiked momentarily, but he quashed it down and contorted his face into a small frown. "No, I can't say that I've heard anything from Harry since we all left earth together. Once New Terra was started to be colonized he took off with a small ship to explore the Galaxy, only occasionally bothering to return to speak with Granger… but never me… then once I got into the work here as our representative in the Republic, I've heard even less about his occasional appearances on New Terra." He said slowly, being completely truthful.

He indeed had not made contact with anyone by the name of Harry Potter. Harry Potter had died within the first week of him knowing the boy back in Hogwarts, replaced by the true persona of Lord Veneficus, the Eternal Emperor of the Sith. But naturally Lovegood had not asked that question, so it was extremely easy to latch onto the weakness of her question and school his emotions to fit the subject.

If she was disappointed in his sincere answer, the Jedi Knight did not show it. "I see, perhaps another visit to New Terra would prove most effective in helping gain information regarding our mutual enemy."

"I wholeheartedly agree, my dear Jedi friend," Drakis replied, once more in totally truthfulness. The Sith Empire was just as much his enemy as the Jedi; both obstacles in his path to becoming the full ruling power in the Galaxy.

Just then, the communication devise imbedded into the Chancellor's desk pinged, and Anguis sighed in relief internally at the break of their session of answer seeking. "I greatly apologize," he said to Luna, "but the work of the leader of the Republic cannot be halted for even a moment, and I really must take this. It has been a pleasure to see you again however, and you are most welcome to return any time you can spare."

"Of course, your Excellency, I will gladly take you up on that offer." Lovegood said, rising and partially bowing to him, although her face showed none of the warmth that other Jedi had given him before, before departing his office. Only when she had fully left his office did the smile fade away, replaced with a determined frown.

Now he understood why Veneficus was so determined to eliminate every connection to their mutual past as he could, to stop things like Lovegood from becoming uncontrollable wild cards.

Finally turning his attention to the reason for his suitable interruption, Drakis sighed once again. A committed headed by the Senator of Alderaan had arrived, wanting to discuss terms for their controlled dial back of military spending once the war was concluded. The blasted peace-loving fools wanting nothing more than this war to end as soon as possible, so that everything in the Republic to return to what it once was. Not to mention their continual hints that Anguis should voluntarily step down from office the moment the war ended was simply insulting. Still, better these fools that he could talk circles around than Lovegood and her preconceptions and demanding questions.

Beckoning the secretary to send the delegation in, along with a small luncheon for them all, the Chancellor fo the Republic resigned himself to more tedium and boring meetings that would accomplish nothing in the long run. The war would progress, and the Senate had no control, not like Anguis and Veneficus did at the least. It would last so long as an enemy stood between them and total control, and whether that took months or years, Anguis cared little.

He had determined that he would live to a ripe old age well into the hundreds of years, and given his designs to alter the Republic, he would be ruling the governmental body for the entirety of that long and productive lifespan. Until then however, he had to tolerate these fools, who thought his term would only expire once the war ended and he was not reelected into office. Schooling his face once more, he smiled as the doors to his office opened once more. "Senators, please come in and have a seat, refreshments…?"

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Leon had heard many things about the legendary Potions Master of Hogwarts School, from both Luna and the other teachers that had been there at the same time. Still, it was far different being in the man's presence, and still more to watch the master at work preparing different concoctions in the great black cauldrons, their vapors of many colors rising steadily into the air.

The man had actually returned to the concept of teaching, taking a large number of those that had been liberated from the school along with the Professors and resuming their lessons from where they had left off. As this magic did not require the use of a wand, they had no problems making the attempts at learning the subtle science and exact art as Professor Snape explained it. even a few of the Jedi were also present, some participating for the enjoyment of learning something new, others just out of curiosity were watching from the sidelines.

"Weasley!" the man shouted across the room, "I see that several years of separation from schooling hasn't softened your thick head, pay more attention to what you are doing rather than those around you, we are guests in this place, and it would be extremely disrespectful to damage the architecture with a detonated cauldron!" he sternly commanded, before stalking away, the large black cloak that he wore snapping in the generated air from the swiftness of his stride.

Passing several more cauldrons, each having been given separate instructions of what to produce, the Master of the Potioneering art nodded time and again as he saw what he desired out of their work, especially from those that were Jedi trying their hand at the concept. Leon was there as well, assisting Ist as the Bothan took extreme amounts of note for her historical synopsis of the art, but he found himself enjoying the technique that the man taught them, from the various methods of preparing the strange ingredients to even how one could stir a liquid differently with only a few subtle flicks of the wrist.

Professor Snape came to their mutual cauldron that they were working at, trying to make something called a boil cure potion, apparently an extremely simple one used to instruct children on the basics of Potion making. The only question that Leon had was what a boil actually was. Jedi rarely got sick, and only those learning to use the Force to heal ever learned about diseases and other medical terminology.

When he had asked this question however, the man had given him a look that had sent shivers down Leon's spine. Professor Snape could be truly intimidating, but he had relaxed when another Padawan had explained the situation to him quickly, although he didn't answer the question Leon had asked.

The door to the well ventilated classroom slid open, and Leon saw his master stride in, looking somewhat pleased with herself. Leon presumed that her meeting with the Chancellor had gone as well as she had expected, if not more. "Professor Snape," she called, attracting the man's attention from another cauldron that he was examining closely, testing the consistency of the liquid, "Could I have a quick word regarding some matters outside of the Temple?"

The man looked like he wanted nothing to do with the interruption, but nodded stiffly, allowing the rest of potion to pour back into the cauldron with a quick word of 'too runny,' and started to walk toward Luna. Leon made a decision and after checking that Ist was indeed watching their cauldron, darted after them, joining his master's side with a small smile.

After the door to the classroom shut, Professor Snape spared Leon only a single glance, before focusing on Luna, "I figured that this one was your student. The similarities are almost frightening." He deadpanned, and Leon flushed slightly. Was he truly so much like his master had been when she was younger?

Luna however, found the statement to be complementary, and smiled, "I wouldn't have Leon be any other way, personally, but that's not the reason I called for you. I just wanted to make you aware that Draco Malfoy is here on Coruscant, serving the Republic as its chancellor, or Head of State…"

"It would be like Malfoy to pursue politics like his father…" Snape replied coolly.

"That's not all, I have reasons to suspect that his is an integral part of the problems we are facing concerning the Sith Empire, as well as the intrusions at the Temple that I'm sure you've heard in passing over the week or so that you've been with us."

"It's been mentions by a few of the Padawans, but little else," Snape affirmed with a small grin.

"Don't tell me the big, bad dungeon bat is learning to like the peace of the Jedi Temple is he?" Luna teased, earning a scowl from the man. Hastily continuing, Luna cleared her throat. "Still, I know that Draco is at least aware of Colin Creevey, or at least his last mission before he encountered Leon and myself, and fell due to a dark artifact he was wearing. The Jedi researchers are able to discover little about it, as it was created with a mixture of the Dark Side and several strong curses and hexes, so I was hoping to borrow your expertise with the Dark Arts to examine it, when you have time naturally. The classes you are offering is a great delight to many of the Jedi, and useful to those who lack wands yet. We're still waiting for a shipment from New Terra to arrive with their resident wand maker. Apparently the man has had a lot of work recently with wands breaking while working on creating the fleets for the Republic."

"I'll see what I can find out," the Potions Master agreed, looking at the Jedi Knight to see if there was anything else she had need of, but Luna simply smiled and walked away, leaving Leon and the man alone.

"She has changed greatly from being here," the reserved man said to no one in particular, "much more focused and mature, with a confidence that I had never expected from her, I'd have to say you are most fortunate to have her teaching you."

"Thank you…" Leon replied, darting back into the makeshift classroom when Snape gestured at the door. He also entered a few moments later, and everything with the class proceeded as if the interruption had not happened.

Still, Leon had a newfound surge of respect for the old Potions Master. He seemed like he was a dark old bitter man, but he truly cared deeply for the subject he taught, and the safety of those he was teaching.

Spending a few moments between adding ingredients, Leon paid careful attention to the movements of the Professor, and was surprised by what he saw. While it could openly appear that the man was taking pleasure in hovering around those students that he chided the most, he was actually taking many careful precautions to be nearby just in case, without actually interfering with their learning process, some he corrected with merely a gesture, a few others with a word or two, and some he just let make the mistake, all based on what turned out to be that persons learning style.

It was rather fascinating, that the man was such an expert on the human mind that he could learn so much from only a few hours in a room of over two dozen, and be able to tailor his teaching to each individual personally. The only one that seemed to not benefit from this was Ronald Weasley, but the middle aged man seemed to have some sort of mental block when it came to anything in a cauldron, and Snape had almost completely given up actually instructing him, just worked on preventing any sort of accident.

This reinforced Leon's presumption that these wizards were indeed more than they seemed, and once again he found himself questioning if they were really that different from Jedi in and of themselves? Sure the Force was strongly different from their magic, but still, they way they moved and acted, guiding their own spheres of influence much as the Jedi tried to guide the Galaxy as a whole, were they really all that dissimilar?

He'd have to confer with Ist at a later time and see what the Bothan Padawan thought about his theory. He just hoped that it didn't turn into a lengthy documentary that had to be recorded for placement in the archive. Leon wasn't sure how he'd handle his own words and voice being recorded for future Jedi to hear and learn from. He was only a Padawan right now after all.