Author rambling: I've been busy fixing up part one and two of this story and half of Part three. There are added scenes in part one (chapter 1) and the start of part three (Chapter 9). Neither make that much difference to the story line, more just a fix up than anything else.
xXx
"Come in," Harry called at the knock at his door and looked up when Albus Dumbledore entered. "Albus, how are you?"
"I'm well Blake," Albus said with a small smile, as he placed a black stone on the table in front of the other man.
Harry picked it up in interest and felt the magic under his fingertips.
"What's this?" Harry asked. "It's broken, whatever it is."
"Can you fix it?" Albus asked as he took a seat next to the man.
"Probably?" Harry replied. "Looks like a broken link or corruption."
Harry looked at it closer as he opened his mind to the magic of the stone, it was built on light magic as he looked into it. The charm work was perfect but the wards worked into it needed work. Harry gently picked up the wards and the charms and ran the magic over them, strengthening the ones that needed it, then he paused.
"These are the stones you use to call the Order," Harry said softly.
"They are," Albus replied. "Someone tampered with them."
"Yes," Harry confirmed. "I can see that. Do you want me to fix it or rewrite a different spell into it?"
"Different spell, if you can." Albus said.
Harry looked up at the other man still seeing the magic and could see the glow around him and the connection he held to the stone and the Order.
"You do know," Harry said softly. "If I took some time I could identify every member connected to this stone just by holding it and picking up the connection?"
Albus paled as the words sunk in.
"Do you also want me to write in a ward to stop a curse breaker from doing that?"
"Yes, my boy." Albus said softly. "Thank you."
"Okay," Harry said. "Just sit still and try not to say anything, unless I ask."
"Proceed, Mr Sun."
Harry gave the man a smile before closing his eyes and diving into the magic of the stone and picking up the connection to every Order member and was surprised by the man's network.
"No wonder you didn't mind losing Severus as a spy," Harry commented and he heard the other man snort.
Harry spread his mind out along the connections leading away from the stones, seeing them like a spider web leading off from the one stone in his hand as he picked up every person. He didn't look at the people as individuals due to the fact that he didn't want to know who was in the Order but he could have. He picked up Albus's light magic already on the stones and spread it out along the links.
"Can you add more magic to the stone? Light magic." Harry asked and held his palm out flat with the stone in the middle.
Harry picked up the added magic the Headmaster gave him and twisted it around the connections, he let the magic reel out and made sure not to add his own magic to the mix, since he didn't want to be connected to the network.
"That's enough," Harry muttered and the magic cut off.
He quickly crafted the ward he needed using the magic in the stone and frowned in concentration. It was always so much harder to work with magic that was already there, but he had worked with wards for a very long time and he very quickly had the spells in place, only using his magic to boost the power but not make any connections.
He grabbed the spell that was corrupting the stones and pulled it free and let it go to drift away as he wrote in another ward in its place.
"Please call the Order," Harry said softly.
"Call them here?" Albus asked.
"Just a general call I want to see if I can pick out the person that corrupted the stone," Harry explained as he held the connections. "I will block the call from going out."
Albus tapped the stone with his wand and Harry grabbed the call with his magic and followed it out to every stone. This was very advanced magic and he lost all concept of time as he followed every link. Just as he had started to narrow it down a loud bang startled him and he lost it with a curse.
He glared over at Severus before turning to Albus.
"I lost the connection," Harry said. "Sorry."
"Did I interrupt something?" Severus asked as he looked at the stone in Harry's hand. "Is that an Order stone?"
"Do you have yours Severus?" Harry asked.
Severus slipped a stone out of his pocket and handed it over. Severus's stone was a green colour unlike the Headmaster's black one.
"I'll see if I can pick it up better with two stones," Harry said. "Try not to slam a door this time."
Harry used the two links in the stones to search out the connection, he had been searching for before, but it was too fine a network until something caught his attention and he cocked his head to the side slightly as he focused in on the stone that had caught his attention.
"Malfoy Manor," Harry said with a frown.
"What's that, Blake?"
"There is a stone at Malfoy Manor," Harry said. "Should there be?"
"No."
Harry turned his attention to that stone, and tapped along the lines and they pinged out along the network until he focused in on the one coming from the Malfoy manor. He flicked the connections again and watched the waves they made and followed the one that felt like it was coming from behind the wards of Malfoy manor as he felt the blood wards bounce back to him.
"We have a problem," Harry said softly. "Give me a second."
Harry carefully moved along the link towards the stone, keeping a look out for any type of magic that could trap him, before remembering that a lot of that type of magic wouldn't be common for a long time. He moved forward mentally until he stood in a room.
He looked around in interest but it was just a bare room with nothing out of the ordinary in it. He could feel dark magic close by and was sure that Voldemort was in the house somewhere and he pulled his magic closer to the link so that the man wouldn't be able to pick up on him. The room turned to grey tones around him as he pulled his magic back.
The Order stone was sitting on the table in front of him and he laid his hand over. He picked up the link to that stone and broke it but still held the connection. Suddenly the door to the room opened. He looked up into the red eyes of the Dark Lord and pulled back from the stone sharply.
Harry jumped back from the table he'd been sitting at and his chair crashed to the floor as the two wizards looked at him in surprise. Harry quickly lunged forward and grabbed the two stones and grounded the link he had picked up from the stone at Malfoy Manor and cut it off in the Headmaster's main stone.
"The Dark Lord is at Malfoy Manor," Harry said quickly.
Severus grabbed his shoulder tightly and Harry looked up at him.
"Did he see you?" Severus asked softly, thinking of when Harry had broken the dark mark.
"I don't think so," Harry replied. "I broke the connection with that stone before he arrived. You may not have had a spy headmaster. I think that the Dark Lord may have a curse breaker and an Order stone."
"Did you say he was at Malfoy Manor?" Albus questioned sitting forward in his seat.
"Yes," Harry replied with a smirk. "Very much at Malfoy Manor. Does that help you?"
"Yes," Albus replied with a smile. "Can you tell me anything else?"
"He had an Order stone and knew what it was," Harry said as he picked up the two stones. "He probably had someone corrupt the stones when Charmling let the death eaters in."
"Can you do what you did before to find out more?" Albus asked.
"Albus," Severus warned.
"No," Harry replied as he passed the black stone to Albus and the green stone to Severus. "I broke that connection. I do have something for you though."
Harry moved to his bedroom as Severus turned on the Headmaster and hissed at him. He picked up the cardboard box that had come in the mail a couple of days ago and moved back into the room. Severus was glaring at the old man while Albus just looked back at him mildly.
"Muggle listening devices," Harry said as he placed the box on the table. "There should be instructions in the box. I ordered these a couple of months ago and it's taken a while to get the approval for them."
Harry slid the box over to the Headmaster and locked eyes with the man. Albus's eyes were intense as they looked at him and Harry looked back mildly.
"It is up to Severus about whether he joins the Order, Headmaster." Harry said softly. "But just remember who will be pulling his ass out if something goes wrong."
"Blake?" Severus asked softly but Harry didn't turn away from the Headmaster.
"Yes, of course." Albus said with a smile. "Thank you, Blake."
"No problems, Headmaster." Harry said softly as he pulled back. "Would you like coffee?"
"Is there tea?" Albus asked as he opened up the box in interest.
Harry moved over to the kitchen and the moment was broken as Severus looked between the two men feeling like he had missed something.
"Coffee, Severus?" Harry called from the kitchen.
"Yes," Severus replied as he moved towards the table and had a look in the box as Harry made drinks for them.
xXx
"What was that about with the Headmaster?" Severus asked once the man had left.
Blake looked up from his coffee and looked him over.
"It is hard when you have two Generals," Blake said softly. "They both want to control the men under their command. When you have two armies it's fine, but when those armies overlap there can be problems."
Severus frowned as he looked at the other man.
"We are fighting two wars, Severus." Blake said softly. "Albus has been the head of the Order of the Phoenix for a long time. I walked in here as an unknown factor."
Severus eyes widened, remembering that day so long ago when he had thought those exact words and the suspicions that both the Headmaster and himself had had about Blake.
"I took away his top spy, a death eater in the Dark Lords inner circle." Blake said softly. "The night I told you not to answer the Dark Lords summons, you went against Albus's orders?"
"Yes," Severus replied and Blake nodded.
"I'd been here for less than a year and had already stuffed up his plans," Blake said mildly, as he sipped his coffee.
"He knew that the Dark Lord would rise again?" Severus asked.
"Yes," Blake replied. "We both did."
Severus looked at the man with wide eyes as more puzzle pieces sorted themselves out.
"He was trying to bring you under his control?" Severus asked. "That's why he wanted a contract with you and this school."
"Albus is a good man at heart, Severus." Blake said softly. "But he is also a Commander. Don't forget that about him…or me."
"You told him you were from the future." Severus stated with a frown.
"I did," Blake said with a smirk and a glint in his eyes.
"When you approached him about the Council?" Severus said slowly.
"Correct," Blake replied.
Severus smirked as Blake gave him a grin.
"Please tell me that you were sorted into Slytherin?" Severus asked softly.
Blake smirked even more and gave him a wink.
"Nope," Blake replied.
Severus gave a bark as he looked his lover over as the other man sat back in his seat.
"You should have been," Severus drawled.
Blake gave a laugh and Severus smirked back in amusement.
"Albus has to learn to play nice," Blake said softly. "He not only has me here, but also the vampire now and he can't get rid of either of us."
"Why would he want to?"
"Sorry, wrong words." Blake amended. "We don't fall under his command, except him being our boss. I made a deal with him Severus."
"What deal?" Severus asked sitting forward in his seat.
"I will look into Graham Simpson and let him deal with the Dark Lord," Blake said softly. "It was the best I could give him."
Severus frowned.
"He does care about you Blake," Severus said softly and he watched in interest as Blake stilled.
"Yes," Blake replied. "And I am sure he knows who I was in this time as well, but it won't help him. I am not the Harry Potter he needs."
Severus shivered at the man's words as he looked into the man's green eyes.
xXx
Harry adjusted his blue tie in front of the mirror before standing back and running a brush over his short hair, not that it really needed it, as he shrugged his shoulders to let the suit jacket sit better and brushed a hand down his black dress pants. He stepped out into the main part of his rooms when he heard the door slam loudly.
He paused when he saw Severus standing there dripping something onto his floor and scowling. The other man's eyes widened when they saw him and he raised an eyebrow in question as some type of slim slid down his face.
"Second year potions?" Harry asked in amusement as he looked at the other man.
"That girl!" Severus growled as he moved towards the bathroom. "She is already excelling Longbottom!"
"And the reason you are dripping slime on my floor and not in your own rooms?" Harry questioned as he crossed his arms.
"You are a curse breaker," Severus snapped back. "You work it out!"
"Ah," Harry said as his first cleaning spell failed but his fourth spell worked well enough as Severus stalked passed him and into the bathroom leaving a trail behind. "Do you want me to stop in at your classroom on the way out?"
Harry stood in the bathroom doorway as Severus had a shower and casually flicked his wand at the mess on the floor and the man's clothes. They would still need a wash but at least his spell got most of the slim off.
"Where are you going?"
"Interrogation at the Ministry."
"What!" Severus squeaked and stuck his head around the shower door. "Why are they interrogating you?"
"They aren't." Harry replied, as he picked an empty potion's vial from the man's robes and washed it in the sink. "I am contacting an interrogation."
"Who?" Severus asked as he stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel.
"Mr Charmling," Harry replied as he half-filled the vial with water and held it up for the other man. "What do you reckon? Does that look like Veritaserum?"
Severus smirked as he wrapped a towel around his waist.
"I could just give you the real deal," Severus drawled.
"Where's the fun in that?" Harry asked, as he slipped the vial into his jacket pocket. "I should be back in time for dinner. I'll stop by your classroom on the way out."
Severus grabbed his arm as he went to turn around and Harry gave him a dark look and he quickly released his arm as Harry rubbed his jacket to make sure it didn't wrinkle.
"Blake?" Severus said softly.
Harry flashed him a grin with a glint in his eye.
"Oh, god." Severus moaned. "I know that look."
Harry barked a laugh as Severus stepped back.
"See you tonight, Severus." Harry called over his shoulder.
xXx
Harry sat back in his seat in the Auror Department Interrogation room with his lawyer beside him and a short nervous man in one of the seats on the other side of the wooden table. Harry looked up as the door opened and Charmling was pushed into the room with two other Aurors in uniform. The man's eyes widened when they saw him.
"Mr Charmling," Harry greeted with a smile. "Have a seat."
The two Aurors roughly pushed him into a seat and the man placed his cuffed hands onto the wooden table, his eyes locked onto Harry.
"Please unlock the handcuffs," Harry requested. "Mr Charmling, I believe you know your lawyer, Mr John Smith, and the man to my right is my lawyer Mr Michael Boulder."
"You…" Charmling started to say then trailed off as he rubbed his wrists.
The two Aurors stood back on either side of the door.
"Are alive?" Harry asked , as he took a sip of his coffee mildly. "Feel free to have a drink, real coffee this one."
Charmling took the cup in his hands and took a couple of sips, his eyes still wide, as they looked at him.
"Good thing I am still alive, Mr Charmling." Harry said softly, as Charmling's lawyer looked like he would rather be anywhere else. "Or you would be up on murder charges instead of attempted murder. Now, I have a couple of questions for you."
Charmling sneered and said. "I have said all I wish to."
"Ah," Harry said with a smile and placed the glass vial on the table. "But the up side to having a lover that's a potion master to access to all sorts of neat potions."
Charmling's eyes widened.
"You can't do that!" Charmling's lawyer squeaked.
"What?" Harry said with a smile. "Place a vial on the table?"
Harry turned to Mr Boulder.
"I don't know a law against it," Boulder said tonelessly.
"But," Charmling's lawyer stuttered.
"Now, Mr Charmling." Harry said as he looked over at the other man. "I already looked at your Auror file. Nothing much there, I must admit, so I started to look elsewhere. Are you not going to drink the rest of your coffee, it is very good?"
Harry gave a grin as he picked up his own coffee while Charmling just looked pale.
"No," Charmling replied shortly.
"What a waste," Harry said mildly as he opened a file on the table. "So, the muggle police department had more to say about you. It's a shame that the Auror department doesn't cross check these things. I do however."
Harry looked up at the pale face of Charmling.
"Anything to say Mr Charmling?" Harry asked gently. "Because I'm getting sick of hearing my own voice."
Charmling glared at him in answer.
"Very well," Harry said. "Now, this file was a lot more interesting and I'm sure a psychiatrist will find it very intriguing as well. Still nothing to say Mr Charmling?"
"I have nothing to say to you," Charmling snarled.
Harry tapped the vial.
"Just a matter of time really," Harry said casually. "I'm just waiting."
"I'm not telling you anything," Charmling snapped, sitting forward in his chair.
"Why would you need to," Harry replied. "I have your file here, I then decided to pull your father's police record."
Charmling paled and stuttered, "But you can't do that!"
Harry calmly placed his Department badge on the table next to the potion vial and Charmling's eyes widened even more.
"I think," Harry said calmly. "You will find that I can."
"Bah!" The man yelled and swiped everything off the table. Harry held his hand up as the Aurors went to step forward.
"Why did you stab me?" Harry said softly, into the silence.
Charmling stared at him with wide eyes.
"You are a Dark Wizard!" Charmling snarled.
"I am, that is hardly a secret." Harry said calmly, then sat forward in his chair. "And yet I wasn't the one that let death eaters onto the grounds of Hogwarts."
"You waste your power!" Charmling snapped as he glared at Harry, rage in his eyes. "Leashed by Dumbledore! And bound to that traitor!"
Harry sat back in his seat calmly.
"At their beck and call," Charmling hissed. "Such a waste of dark power."
"So," Harry said. "What did the Dark Lord offer then?"
"Your power," Charmling snarled and the two Aurors gasped. "He said if I killed you with that silver knife, he could give me your dark magic!"
"And why would you want that?" Harry asked in interest.
Charmling deflated at Harry's tone and just stared at him.
"Why would you want my dark magic?" Harry repeated without any emotion in his voice.
There was a glint in Charmling's eyes and Harry wasn't sure he wanted to hear the man's answer.
"I tried other ways first," Charmling said as he glared at Harry.
"To take my dark magic away?" Harry questioned calmly, the Aurors shifted uncomfortably at their post.
"Yes!" Charmling growled. "But that overgrown bat had gotten there first!"
"So, the Dark Lord offered you a different way," Harry said blandly.
"Yes!" Charmling confessed then seemed to remember where he was and looked around with large eyes. "But you can't use this against me!"
"Why is that?" Harry questioned. "You have answered all my questions without coercion, spell or potion. In front of two lawyers, two Aurors and a member of the Department of Mysteries."
Charmling's lawyer groaned as Harry smirked.
"But," Charmling stuttered and looked down at the potion vial on the ground and picked it up.
"The up side to having a lover that's a potion master," Harry said with a dark smirk. "Is he always has an empty potion vial on him."
Charmling snarled and lunged at him but the two Aurors jumped forward and grabbed him before he could reach Harry.
"You will be happy to know," Harry said, as Charmling struggled. "That your plan would never have worked. No one can take my dark or light power away from me."
Charmling stopped struggling in the hands holding him as his eyes widened.
"Yes, Mr Charmling." Harry said, and sat forward in his seat with a smirk. "You may call me a Dark Wizard but I am just as much a Light Wizard as well."
The Aurors sat him back into the seat and stood just behind him with a hand on either shoulder as the man just gapped at him.
"Yes," Harry said softly. "Now, does the name Graham Simpson mean anything to you?"
Charmling just looked at him blankly.
"Okay," Harry said and looked at the two Aurors. "I'm done."
"You waste that power!" Charmling hissed. "Held on a leash! Bound by a traitor!"
Harry sat back in his seat as Charmling was dragged from the room yelling and screaming. He was sure that no one would think the man innocent anymore as his yells echoed back to them as the man was led through the Auror Department.
"Well," Harry said as he looked over the mess on the floor. "That was enlightening…and a waste of time."
"Should help our case against him," Mr boulder said. "We will be in touch Mr Smith."
Charmling's lawyer just looked lost as he looked around, before grabbing up his brief case and leaving the room. Kingsley came in and stood in the doorway.
"He is still yelling," Kingsley said. "What was in that police record?"
Harry sighed and with a flick of his wand everything cleaned itself up and jumped back up onto the table and Kingsley stepped forward and opened the police file. Harry slipped his badge and the potion vial back into his pocket.
"Relation to the Riddle family," Harry said softly. "Still don't know why he was after dark magic. I would say that the Dark Lord went looking for someone in the Ministry when Albus couldn't find a Defence teacher and since Charmling was an Auror-"
"Is that all Blake?" Boulder cut in sharply.
"Um, Yes." Harry said with a grin. "I was just thinking out loud, Mr Boulder. Thank you."
Boulder gave him a nod and headed out the door, leaving Kingsley and Harry alone.
"He was just another person drawn to a Dark Lord," Harry said sadly.
"I must admit," Kingsley said softly. "I didn't see it coming. He's a nice bloke and a good Auror."
"Oh, well." Harry said as he got to his feet. "No harm done. We sorted it all out in the end."
"Blake," Kingsley said and grabbed his arm. "He stabbed you. You almost died, that is not 'no harm done'."
"Everyone I care about are still alive," Harry said softly. "I call that a win."
Kingsley held his stare.
"Even if I had to pay the price," Harry whispered.
Kingsley released him like he had been burnt and Harry gave him a sad smile.
"Good afternoon, Kingsley."
"Afternoon, Blake."
xXx
Severus looked up when the volume in the Great Hall dimmed slightly before picking up again in hissing whispers. Blake stood in the doorway in his suit as he leaned on his cane casually. He saw a couple of seventh year girls giving him looks as the other man moved into the hall.
"He looks dashing all dressed up in his adult clothes," Dracka announced, making Minerva snort. "Now if only we could make him look like a wizard instead of a muggle."
Severus smirked as he watched his lover and he wasn't the only one, he was gathering a bit of attention as he limped towards the Head Table and Severus wondered if the other man even noticed.
Blake stopped on the other side of the table and placed a half-full potion vial on the table in front of Severus. Dracka swiped it off the table with a smirk aimed towards the potions master.
"What's this?" Dracka asked.
"Veritaserum," Blake replied with a smirk. "Please try some."
Dracka quickly placed it back on the table like it might bite him.
"What did Charmling have to say?" Severus asked.
"Oh," Blake said casually. "He was disappointed that I am bound to an overgrown bat and that Albus holds me under a tight leash."
Minerva snorted into her coffee as Albus chuckled. Blake ran his fingers around his collar and pulled at his tie.
"I don't know, Albus." Blake said turning to the man. "I think you collar is getting a little loose."
Blake loosened his tie and flicked it over his head before placing it before the Headmaster.
"I think it needs resizing," Blake said with a wink and walked away.
Dracka barked a laugh as the others watched the man in amusement. Albus passed the tie to Severus with a twinkle in his eyes.
"I think you would have better luck than I would, my boy." Albus said to the younger man.
xXx
Harry stared at the black cube on the dining table, which was holding some papers down as he looked over some first-year files. He had yet to work out what the cube did which was another annoyance. None of the first-year students jumped out at him and none of the other teachers had passed him a file for a new student so far.
Harry tapped his pen on the table. Normally he would have gotten at least a couple of new students but so far this year, nothing. There were a few students that had been pulled from the school, mostly in seventh year or in Slytherin but it hadn't made much of an impact to the school population. A knock sounded on his door and he was glad for the break.
"Come in," Harry called.
Dracka stepped into the room, looking over the table.
"Dracka," Harry greeted. "Please tell me you have a new student for me?"
"Ah," Dracka said, stopping. "Am I supposed to?"
Harry sighed and leaned back in his seat.
"I was hoping for some new students," Harry explained. "Fresh blood and all."
Dracka grinned at the other man and took a seat at the table.
"Does your table always look like this?" Dracka asked.
"No," Harry replied. "Sometimes it's worse. I swear that Severus's fingers twitch every time he sees the table like this."
"Where is Severus?" Dracka asked looking over the files.
"Ry blew up a cauldron," Harry said with a smirk. "Severus has already remined me that I owe him 20 Galleons."
"He charges you?" Dracka asked in surprise.
"It's up to about a one thousand and twenty-five."
"Mr Potter that bad at potions?"
"Ah," Harry said, rubbing his neck. "I may have 'borrowed' a couple."
"Ha!" Dracka laughed.
"What did you want?" Harry asked with a grin.
Dracka pulled out a file and placed it on the table.
"Ah," Harry cried grabbing up the file and flicking it open. "Blaise Zabini?"
"The boy has vampire blood in him," Dracka confirmed.
"Ha!" Harry smirked. "I knew it!"
Dracka eyed off the cube on the desk. "What is that thing?"
"What's what?" Harry asked looking up from the file.
"That thing," Dracka said pointing at the cube.
"No idea," Harry replied. "German ministry gave it to me in payment years ago."
"It has light magic in it," Dracka said, eyeing it off.
"Really?" Harry asked picking up the cube but he couldn't feel or see anything.
"It's soft but there."
"Do you know what it is?"
Dracka shook his head. "It looks like it pulls magic in but besides that I have no idea."
"Oh well," Harry replied. "One day…so how are your classes going?"
Dracka groaned. "Let's just say that Dumbledore isn't paying me enough to teach seventh year Gryffindor and Slytherin classes."
xXx
"Mr Sun."
Harry turned at Draco's voice and gave the blonde a smile.
"Mr Malfoy," Harry said as he moved towards the Slytherin. "How are you? How is your mother?"
"She's well," Draco replied, looking nervous.
"Did you want to talk in my office?" Harry asked in concern when the boy didn't say anything more.
"Um," Draco looked away.
"Come on," Harry said with a smile and walked off down the hall with the Slytherin following behind.
"Your griffin," Draco suddenly blurted as Harry went to open his office door and he paused.
Harry gave a chuckle and moved towards his rooms instead and opened the door. Draco stood nervously in the doorway as Harry went in. Severus looked up from his book to see Draco standing in the doorway.
"Come in, Draco." Harry called over his shoulder. "Leave the door open."
"Have a seat, Draco." Severus said with a smile as he put his book to the side. "How's your mother?"
Harry smirked as he slipped into his office attached to his room and hunted around for the gold griffin as Draco and Severus spoke quietly in the other room. It looked like the thing had wandered off again and he cursed.
"Draco can you call it?" Harry called out. "I can't find it."
When silence only greeted him, he ducked back out of the room.
"Can you call it?" Harry repeated. "It's wandered off."
Severus snorted and sat back in his seat as he crossed his ankles before him.
"Maybe you should you check the greenhouse?" Severus drawled and Harry paled.
"Oh, god." Harry muttered and rubbed his head. "I can't face Professor Sprout again."
Ry, Ron and Hermione looked through the open door into the room.
"Hey, Dad." Ry said with a smile. "Why is your door open?"
Severus sighed.
"Come in you lot," Harry called as he moved to the bedroom to look for the griffin.
"Blake," Severus warned.
"What?" Harry asked. "Did you find it?"
Ry paled and backed up towards the door, with Ron and Hermione looking after him puzzled.
"What did you lose, Mr Sun?" Hermione asked.
"Is it something that we want to find?" Ry asked his father and Harry grinned.
"The griffin," Harry replied. "It's walked off."
Ry paled even more as he stepped out of the room.
"Bye, Dad." Ry called over his shoulder.
Ron and Hermione shared a look.
"Have you tried summoning it?" Hermione asked and Severus snorted.
"You can't summon it," Harry said from the bedroom. "It's glass. It reflects spells."
"You two should probably leave," Severus said mildly to Hermione and Ron.
"Yes, sir." The pair said as they left, closing the door behind them.
Severus and Draco looked over when they heard a bang and a curse from the bedroom. Draco's eye caught on a glint of gold as the griffin poked its head around the office door and looked around. Draco pointed it out to Severus.
"Blake," Severus called over his shoulder.
The griffin looked over at his voice and then it saw Draco and bolted over with a squeak.
"Oh, you found it." Harry called as he came into the room. "Well Draco, enjoy, it's all yours."
Severus paled as the griffin landed on his godson's hand.
"Is that safe, Blake?" Severus asked.
"What?" Harry asked, as he came back into the room. "Why wouldn't it be?"
"Well," Severus drawled. "It did tear through some death eaters and grow to quite a large size."
"Nah, it's perfectly safe." Harry said with a grin. "It's mostly out of magic now anyway. Never know, Mr Malfoy. It might save your life one day."
Severus and Draco shared a look as the griffin rolled onto its back with its legs in the air on the boy's palm.
"Why does the glass not cut?" Draco asked in interest.
"The beak does," Severus muttered.
Harry laughed as he moved towards the kitchen.
"It feeds off magic, so it needs to be around people and magic to charge up, you could say. Would be pointless if it cut you every time it moved." Harry called back. "It took over a year of absorbing magic to grow to the size it did and I boosted it with as much magic as I could as well. It's only dangerous in its other form…well except for its beak. Could never work that bit out."
The griffin had jumped up onto the lounge and curled up on the back of it and fallen asleep while Harry made a coffee. He casually scooped up the figurine up in his hand as he moved back into the room and held it out to Draco.
"I, Blake Sun." Harry said with a wink at the boy. "Pass this onto Draco Malfoy."
The magic settled around them as Harry dropped the griffin into the boy's open hand. The griffin opened an eye and looked up at him before curling back up.
"And all the responsibility that entails," Severus muttered.
Harry barked a laugh as Draco looked a little pale but his grey eyes glinted as he looked down at the griffin in his hand.
xXx
Harry placed another file on the pile to the left of him. He frowned down at the table in puzzlement. He had been working through reports from Dracka about Graham Simpson's movements and the attack on Dracka's Coven without any luck. He was trying to find a connection between the man and Voldemort but nothing was jumping out at him and he was getting a little frustrated.
His mind just kept coming back to the attack, it was too well funded and worked out for the level that Simpson should be at. The man was nothing special, yes, he was a powerful wizard, but he wasn't a Dark Lord and he hadn't gone through any rituals to increase his power and yet had three giants at his disposal and other dark creatures including vampires.
Harry tapped his pen against the table as he read through a file written in German from the Ministry of Magic over there. Why did Simpson leave the country to attack the Council in France? Nothing made sense. Harry knew nothing about the man, he was unknown factor in this war and it scared him.
"Come in," Harry called at the knock at the door.
Dracka walked into the room with a few more files in his hand.
"Thanks," Harry said taking the files.
"Form my spies in Germany," Dracka said as he took a seat. "As far as we can tell Simpson has gone to ground."
"After the attack on the Council?" Harry muttered. "How did he have so many people and creatures at his disposal? Why did he attack the Council?"
Dracka just shrugged his shoulders as he sat back in his seat. Harry looked through the reports. Both men glanced up as Severus came through the door. He took one look at the files scattered across the table and went straight to the kitchen while Dracka smirked after him.
Harry picked up his phone sitting on the table and dialled the Headmaster.
"Albus Dumbledore," The Headmaster answered.
"Do you have those files on the Dark Lord's movements before he was reborn?" Harry asked.
"No," Albus replied. "I'm still compiling them together. I have the files of his movements after he was reborn. I was going to bring them down to you."
"Thanks, Albus." Harry said hanging up.
"Do you think there is a connection?" Dracka asked as Severus moved back into the room with three mugs.
Harry tapped his pen a couple of times in thought.
"I don't know," Harry said quietly. "He seems to have gotten too much support too quickly."
"Could the Dark Lord have supplied it to split our attention?" Severus asked.
"Do you think that the Council would have been able to hold back the attack without our support?" Harry asked Dracka instead of answering Severus as he thought through the man's question.
"We would have put up a good fight," Dracka said with a toothy grin.
"So, that's a no." Harry answered for him. "So, Severus you might have a point maybe it was a distraction or to see how we would react…or even to see if we would honour the Treaty. If the Council had fallen it would have left a lot of groups scattered as well, which a Dark Lord would have enjoyed coming along and picking up."
"You think the Dark Lord was testing us by sending Simpson to attack the Council?" Dracka asked.
"Bit of a stretch?" Harry asked, sitting back in his seat.
"Possibly," Dracka replied.
Harry turned back to his files and reports as Severus and Dracka moved over to the lounge. The two men's quiet conversation calming him as he read through the new reports from Dracka. He nodded at the Headmaster as he came in with the files Harry wanted. Something wasn't making sense to him.
"Professor Quirrell," Harry said suddenly.
"What was that, my boy?" Albus asked.
"Professor Quirrell," Harry said turning to the other men. "He picked up the spirit of the Dark Lord. Do you know where he was when he did that?"
Albus sat back in his seat thinking.
"Somewhere in Europe?" Albus said slowly. "Severus?"
Severus nodded in agreement, which didn't narrow it down any in Harry's mind.
"This was before Ry started school," Harry said voicing his thoughts. "So, his spirit could have been floating for a while. Do we know when Simpson was exiled from the states? Was he born there?"
"He first appeared in Germany in the late eighties," Dracka replied. "He didn't start making waves until later."
"Albus," Harry asked softly. "Would you be able to look into whether he went to school at one of the magical schools in America?"
"I can do that," Albus said with a smile.
"You don't have contacts in America, Blake?" Severus asked in interest.
"Um, not really." Harry said distracted. "They are a little closed when it comes to magic. Only worked at the Gringotts branch a few times and they only reluctantly gave me those contracts when they couldn't find a master curse breaker there to do the work."
"Do you think that Simpson may have come across the Dark Lord's spirit?" Albus asked.
"I don't know," Harry replied. "I just have a feeling that there might be a connection."
"That is concerning," Dracka said.
"None of the files here say that either man have met or even corresponded." Harry said throwing his pen down in frustration.
"What makes you think there is a connection?" Severus asked.
"The fact he had three giants," Harry said grabbing one of the files of the battle. "He had too much support. Before the battle, your spies Dracka report that he only had a few people following him and yet when he attacked the Council he had three giants and vampires on his side. Not to mention the number of wizards and witches."
"Do we know why he attacked the Council?" Severus asked.
"Nope," Harry said. "And with that curse breaker he would have gotten through the wards I placed if I wasn't there. Did the Dark Lord make a move while we were fighting Simpson, Albus?"
"Not that we are aware of," Albus said rubbing his beard in thought.
"Then Charmling went straight for me before he tried to kill you Albus," Harry said thinking back. "He took me out first. He knew to act quickly."
Severus paled at Harry's words as the image of the bleeding body of his lover laying lifeless on the stones of Hogwarts came to his mind
"He knew you were the biggest threat," Dracka said quietly.
"Exactly," Harry said. "He knew for his plan to work, he had to take me down, not only first, but fast as well. He didn't go for you Severus or McGonagall or even Flitwick. He went straight for me and took me out before I could react."
"He must have known about the battle," Dracka said slowly.
"Or it was your classes, Blake," Severus added in.
"Maybe," Harry replied. "I'm leaning more towards him knowing I took out a giant and boosted the wards and yet when I questioned him he didn't react to Simpson's name."
The three men sat back in their seats as Harry tapped his pen against the table.
"If they are working together," Albus said slowly. "Simpson would have to be taken out before Voldemort."
"That," Harry said, pointing his pen at the Headmaster. "Might be the point."
"He is just a wizard," Dracka said darkly.
"That we know of," Harry said in agreement. "He is not a Dark Lord, I would have felt it that day of the battle."
"But if he has come into contact with the spirit of Voldemort…" Albus said slowly.
"He may know how to take that next step," Harry finished for him, which was a sobering thought.
The last thing they needed were two Dark Lords working together against them. It could bring down the magical community and not just in Britain.