The Lightsaber
By: Tellemicus Sundance & Fiori57
#23: Cloak and Dagger

Centre Point Tower, London
April 9, 1996

At roughly about the time that the Wizarding army and its three Giant enforcers were getting attacked outside of the Forbidden Forest, things were quiet and calm at MagiTech. Despite their new Pack being at war, most of the Lycans were not warriors. So, while the warriors of the various former Packs had gone with Sirius and Harry, the rest of them had stayed behind in London and continued working on their various jobs and projects. And there were quite a few of them that needed to be done. But that's not to say that all of them were content to whittle the days away like nothing was wrong.

"I'm soooooo booooored!" Ashley Felix whined for the umpteenth time this morning, idly fiddling with the cup of coffee in her hand.

She was in a secret underground hangar bay beneath Centre Point Tower, feet propped up on a nearby table as she slouched backwards in the chair she was in. She and Janet McLaren were in the employee lunchroom that was wedged into the corner of the hangar, eating a small snack as they enjoyed their 15-minute break. Things had not been fun for Ashley since she and Dudley had gotten back from their little joyride over the North Sea and the encounter with the UN armed forces. Mr. Black had punished her by putting her on janitor duty for three weeks.

While that might've been seen more as a slap on the wrist by most people, wizard and muggle alike, it was actually a very terrible job for a person with a Werewolf's keen sense of smell. What was worse was that she was sure that the Wizard-turned-businessman was the one who had released one of those awful Dung Bombs on the last day of her punishment and, given the terms of the punishment, she had to clean it all up without the use of magic! It—was—AWFUL! She was wrong of course, as it had actually been Remus behind it.

Ashley had thought that once she got off her punishment and allowed to get back to work, she might've been kept busy and entertained. But that did not seem to be the case, she just couldn't find enough things to do to keep herself suitably busy. When the business with the Centaurs and the looming war started up, she'd been among the first to volunteer but had been summarily dismissed with her previous 'battle action' working against her. Who knew that the Alba Pack Alpha was such a stickler when it came to such minor details as not following orders like that…? Okay, she knew why she'd been denied and she knew the importance of following orders when it was necessary. But this situation was quite different than the last one!

So, here she was. Trying to find a way to amuse herself by spending some quality time with her friend, exploring the recently built hangar, and inspecting the new line of aerial vehicles that MagiTech was planning on building and selling. Unlike their earlier models, these vehicles were clearly meant as pure cargo haulers. They were very large, able to store massive amounts of cargo in their underbellies with minimal fuss. And the best part was that they were designed for excellent fuel efficiency and long-distance travel, such as overseas flights. An ambitious new ship that was meant to phase out the slower deep-sea vessels that still sailed the oceans. Just looking at these new ships in various stages of construction was enough to get her inner-pilot giggling and squealing like a little girl, yearning to take them out for joyrides as well. Maybe she should apply to be the test pilot for the different ships?

"That's nice, Ashley," Janet said in response to Ashley's earlier comment, her voice distracted as she ignored the younger girl with the ease of long practice. Instead, she was focusing her attention on the tablet in her hands as she examined, adjusted, and corrected a series of complicated blueprints. "Keep it up."

Ashely rolled her eyes but bit back her initial rebuke. She knew what Janet was like whenever she got distracted from her work, especially when she was this deep into it. She practically became an irritable beast when it happened, no pun intended.

Glancing out the lunchroom's window as she resumed sipping her milk, she smiled slightly as her wandering gaze landed upon the small group of Centaurs. They were being led around the hangar bay by Mr. Remus Lupin, clearly giving them some kind of tour. Now there was a lone wolf with a history! Ashley was not sure if she was jealous or annoyed by all the incredible stuff he'd gone through. A Werewolf able to get a full Wizarding education at Hogwarts, managing to hide his lycanthropy (with help, admittedly) long enough to graduate. Then getting caught up in and living through the Dark War against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Returning to Hogwarts years later to become a professor. And now he was essentially the second-in-command of running the operations of MagiTech Industries alongside Mr. Black. The fact that he enjoyed a semi-personal connection to Harry Potter the Cleanser was just a side note to all of that in comparison!

'I hope I can lead as interesting a life as he'd been able to,' she found herself wishing earnestly.

A loud chime echoed through the breakroom, alerting everyone that their fifteen minutes had expired. Tossing her empty disposable coffee cup to the trash as she departed, she made her way towards her current work location. It was a small, stuffy office filled with monitors and computer screens. This was the duty she'd been relegated to for the duration of the war: surveillance of the Tower. It was a slow, boring, and thankless job. The most excitement she could expect from it was alerting security to civilians trying to break into the restricted areas of the tower, which happened more often than one would expect.

Switching the small fan on, she took her seat and started gazing at the monitors, familiarizing herself with the layout once again. There were several dozen customers loitering around the public sections. Research and experiments taking place higher up. A crowd of people walking through the underground emergency escape route. Janitors tidying up the upper lev—wait, what?!

Snapping her attention back to the monitor in question, she stared with wide eyes and dawning horror at what she was seeing. As a former member of the Greyback Pack, Ashley was easily able to recognize the majority of the crowd. She could not see who was leading them, but the fact was that they should not even know about that hallway! It was restricted and secret, known only to the Lycan employees. An escape route they could take if the Wizards ever caught wind of the Tower and tried to assault it. But while she did not see who was letting them inside, she did spot the one monster she loathed above all others.

Coming out of her shock, she scooted over to the computer. With one hand grabbing a holo-comm, she triggered the alarm with the other. A few moments after the flashing red lights and siren went off, her comm started beeping urgently. Activating it, she didn't wait for the image to fully materialize before she cried out, "Greyback! Greyback's in the Tower! And he's brought his Pack with him!"

"You're sure?!" Remus demanded, staring at her with dawning horror and realization of his own. "You're absolutely positive?! Where is he?! How'd he get in?! Are there any Death Eaters with him?!"

"I don't see any Death Eater robes, but he's in the north corridor, almost to the—" The two of the monitors suddenly died and were replaced by digital static. At the same time, her comm died. "Mr. Lupin? Remus?!"

A communications disruption like this couldn't be a coincidence! Looking back over to the monitors, she quickly found what she'd feared. There was someone up on the roof, crouched over and fiddling with the main antenna array. That sight drew a deep glare from Ashley, a feral snarl rumbling out of her throat. 'Somehow, Greyback got some of his men into Centre Point without anyone noticing until it was too late.' Quickly taking up her comm again, she plugged a small cord into it and then into the computer itself. Once inside, her fingers flew across the keyboard as she attempted to bypass the cut hardware. It took longer than she'd have liked. She was a pilot and a fighter, first and foremost dammit! She was not a technician or computer analyst or whatever.

By the time she'd managed to finally maneuver around the cut wires and reroute the signals to the secondary antennas, rumbling and explosions had started to flare up above her. Sparing a glance at the monitors again, she frowned as she saw what she expected, savage fighting taking place. On one particular monitor, she had just managed to watch as yet another explosion was set off in one of the public areas, killing Muggles and Lycans alike, shattering the reinforced windows, and sending clouds of billowing black smoke outside. Even without her enhanced senses, she could've heard that explosion and felt the faint tremors as the entire building and its foundations shook above and around her. Needless to say, that camera went offline rather quickly midway through the explosion.

Finally getting access, she switched her comm back on. "Remus?! You still there?!"

"What happened?!" Remus demanded, his hologram crouched next to a wall with a wand in one hand and a blaster pistol in the other.

"Sabotage! Someone's cutting our antennas! I don't know how much longer we'll have before they cut the secondary ones as well!"

"Dammit," Remus growled, thinking hard and fast. "Okay, I'm gonna contact Sirius. You, you go to the computer rooms and get the black box! Keep it safe and get it to Harry!" By black box, Remus meant the computer hard drive that all of MagiTech's truly top-secret and most potentially dangerous data and experiments were stored. Stuff that, in the wrong hands, hands like Greyback and his master, could have apocalyptic results. "Also, warn the Centaurs! Tell them to go hide in the Firefly and not come out until either I or Sirius says its safe!"

"What are you going to do, sir?" she asked.

"I'm going to try and slow down Greyback from getting any further into the Tower!" Remus said, his voice and expression flat and resigned as though already knowing that he was marching towards his death. But then his expression changed to that of resolution and his gaze sharpened again as he barked out, "Now go!"

"Yes, sir!" Ashley acknowledged, unplugging her comm from the computer and rushing out of the room. Luckily for her, the computer hardware rooms were close by to the security monitor office she had been in, only a couple of hallways distance. She covered that distance very quickly due to her partially transforming into her wolf-form. She paused only when she spotted a group of frightened Centaur kids gathered near the doorway from the hangar bay. Shifting back into her human-form, she barked out, "Get back on the Firefly! Greyback the Werewolf and his Pack are attacking! Do not come out until Mr. Black or Lupin say so!" She did not wait for a reply before sprinting off again.

As she was barging into the computer room, she found herself face to muzzle with another familiar monster. It was Baxter of the Alba Pack, a vagabond who was rumored to have sympathies for the Greyback Pack. And she knew immediately what he had been up to as soon as she'd opened the door. The scent of fresh blood was heavy in the air. His muzzle and fangs were still dripping with it, and blood was splashed upon his clothing in random places. There were two bodies lying upon the ground behind him, slashed and torn apart with all the savagery of a beast. One of them was Janet, her best friend! She took all of this in within the split second it took for her to recover from bumping into him.

"TRAITOR!" she roared, her clawed hand flashing upwards and grabbing ahold of his jaw. His surprise at her sudden appearance and unexpected attack was all the opening she needed for her to flash-transform into her wolf, bury her own fangs into his exposed neck, and rip his throat open. She bounced away from him as he collapsed on the floor, dropping a black data box as his hands shot up to his gushing neck. His eyes were wide open, staring at her with anger, fear, and incomprehension before the light rapidly faded from them. Ashley only spared him enough thought to spit out the large chunk of his flesh that she'd torn out as she rushed to Janet's side, returning to her human self.

"Janet! Janet!" she cried, scooping up her friend and trying to shake her awake. But one look at the glazed over eyes of her friend told her the obvious, Janet was already long dead. Grief welled up in Ashley instantly as tears flooded her eyes. Janet was as much a mother to her as she had been a big sister figure, having never known her parents and not having any siblings. And now, she was gone!

Throwing back her head, she let out a long, anguished howl. Her voice echoed off the walls, but went completely unheard by the others several floors up who were in the midst of a terrible battle.

CEO Suite, Centre Point Tower

Landing in his suite, Sirius hurriedly looked around to make sure he was alone, which he was. His personal chambers were specially warded and locked down by both magic and technology to prevent intruders from entering. As he was doing this, he could hear and feel the vibrations of explosions and the fighting taking place in the lower levels. Outside his suite windows, he could see a plume of smoke rising up out of a destroyed window from further down and also faintly hear the sounds of sirens as cop cars and policemen were racing towards the scene. 'This is gonna be a bloody nightmare to deal with afterwards,' he realized with a heavy sigh.

Putting that depressing thought to the back of his mind, Sirius rushed over to a series of monitors near his apartment's door. Looking over them, he got a basic idea of what was happening and none of it looked good. The bottom three levels of the Tower were utterly trashed with the bodies of Lycan employees, cloaked attackers, and Muggles lying upon the ground in random areas, usually in pools of their own blood. Between levels 10 and 13, that was where the majority of the fighting seemed to be concentrated right now. But what he was seeing was somewhat distressing and a little strange.

It looked like all of the Lycans were in their wolf-forms and were fighting each other. Not all of them, since there were a few who were still in human-form so they could more easily use some of the MagiTech weaponry. But the distressing part was that he could not recognize any of the attackers because of their wolf-forms. Where was Fenrir Greyback? Where was Remus? And, if his darkest suspicion was right, how did the remainder of the Greyback Pack get Cleansed? Something was not right here.

Shaking his head again, he refocused on the monitors and quickly found where the Centaur refugees were hiding. It seemed that they or someone had been smart and had them all gather inside the same transport ship that was docked in a secret underground hangar they'd constructed. While most of the Centaurs were just young children and elderly ones, there were a dozen warriors with them and all of them seemed to be guarding the entrance to the hangar and the transport ship itself. 'Good, one less thing to worry about.'

Looking back at the fighting, he frowned at seeing that it had progressed up to Level 14 in his distraction. 'Dammit, no more time to waste!' Turning, he opened his door and rushed for the elevator. As he was moving, he brought up his holo-comm and typed in Remus's number. "Remus, it's me. You there? Where are you?"

No answer.

Frowning, he tried again. "Remus? Speak to me! Where are you?!"

No answer again. Forcing himself to not to jump to conclusions, he entered the elevator and hit the level 15 button. It was a very tense ride down for him, watching as the levels slowly dropped until he reached his desired one. Racing out before the doors were even fully open, he found the level to be in a state of panic and confusion. Lycan employees were running about, some in their wolf-forms, others were yelling at one another for whatever reasons, and a few others were even in the process of starting to get into a few brawls.

"LYCANS!" Sirius yelled, his voice cutting over the din with some effort. Thankfully, his shout managed to garner the majority of their attentions. "Now isn't the time to panic! We need to organize a proper defense! Does anyone here know how to fight and lead?! We need some volunteers and leaders to help coordinate! Come on, people, chop-chop!"

After a long moment of hesitation, the Lycans soon set about organizing themselves into a semi-feasible defense. Sirius set them up around the stairwells and elevators, appointing the calmest among each group as squad-leaders whenever there were not any volunteers to lead. With some grumbling among them, the Lycans did as told and prepared to fight, aiming wands and blasters down the stairwells and at the elevators as needed.

"Mr. Black!" one of the Lycans called out as he approached the last stairwell. Sirius vaguely recognized the man as a former Greyback Pack, that shaggy black hair and animalistic gaze in his eyes were quite hard to forget. "The attackers are all Lycans of the Greyback Pack. I know, I recognized a few of them before I got up here!"

"They're Lycans?" Sirius asked, his gaze snapping to the man inquiringly. "As in 'controlled transformation' Lycan?"

"Yessir!" the Lycan said, nodding his head rapidly. "I—I don't know how they got that way, but it is them!"

"Don't worry," Sirius said reassuringly as he opened the stairwell door and stepped through. "We'll hold them off. Just keep the stairway secure. I'm going down to help the others!"

"Yessir!" the group acknowledged even as he started making his way downstairs.

He was on the next landing down when he noticed that the man from before was still following him. Seeing Sirius's quirked eyebrow, the man shrugged as he said, "You're the CEO. You'll need a bodyguard in that mess down there." Sirius seriously considered sending the man back upstairs, but in the end his self-preservation instincts kicked in and he nodded in acceptance.

The next level down (Floor 14) was a clusterfuck of noise and battle. Grabbing his wand in one hand and a blaster pistol in the other, Sirius started casting spells as soon as he saw a pair of Lycans attacking one another. His Stunner spell hit the back of the wolf that was noticeably not wearing the shredded rags of a MagiTech employee. After the mongrel collapsed unconscious, the standing one pounced and tore the throat of the downed Lycan out. Standing back up, it gave him a brief glance before turning and roaring across the din. Whatever that meant, the battle had momentarily paused as several of the Lycans stood up, poking their heads up over the various cubicles and research tables to look around.

Not giving the strange event much thought, Sirius waded forward into the chaos, casting spells and shooting his blaster where he could, and trying to find other MagiTech employees to rally. Through it all, his self-appointed guardian followed after him in wolf-form, throwing tables and desks about at any aggressive Lycan that was foolish enough to try and approach.

An especially loud roar echoed out over the din of battle, bringing all within hearing range to a complete halt. Standing at the top of the nearest stairwell from the floor below, there was a large black werewolf with streaks of grey within its scraggly fur and mane. The posture of the creature and the bloodthirsty gleam in its eyes were all that Sirius needed to see to know that this was Fenrir Greyback, in his true form. With all the dominant grace of a long-time Alpha, Fenrir stalked forward onto the floor, barking and snapping at any Lycans that seemed ready to start up the fight again as his gaze swept across the floor. When his gaze landed on Sirius, they narrowed dangerously and Sirius tightened his grip on his wand.

With no apparent effort or pain, the monstrous beast shifted and shrunk back into human-form. Dressed in his usual ragged black cloak and clothes, Greyback crossed his arms imposingly across his chest. As soon as his vocal chords had reformed properly, the man gave a feral sneer at Sirius as he started walking forward. "Well, well. If it is not Mr. Sirius Black, in the flesh! The founder of this abomination you call a company. it is a pleasure to meet you again."

"Greyback," Sirius growled. "What are you doing here? Where's Remus?"

"Your pet Lycan is dead for all I care," Fenrir said, waving his hand dismissively.

For a moment, Sirius's instinct to attack spiked dangerously high, a potent desire to avenge his possibly-fallen last best friend. He wanted so desperately to attack, to avenge Remus! And, in the past, heck even a few months ago, he would've jumped on that instinct without any further thought. But long hours of discussion and training and practice with Harry had taught him the value of waiting, of focusing his emotions into something else. So, with a newfound self-control that would've surprised many who've known him, he managed to push aside that instinct and growl out instead, "Do you realize just how much attention this fight is going to be attracting for the Muggles down below? And in broad daylight!"

"Like you're one to be preaching the values of the Statute of Secrecy with where you're standing!" Fenrir snapped back, snarling like a savage beast just seconds away from attacking again. "You think you're so much better than me—than us, you pureblood filth?!"

"I have lost a lot of respect for the Statute," Sirius admitted easily. "But even MagiTech does not come out and blatantly do magic in front of the Muggles! Why do you think we're as successful as we are?!"

"Yes, that's another thing we have to talk about," Greyback said, glaring at him. "MagiTech. What a truly remarkable empire you've built on the backs of us Werewolves! Well, now, we're taking it back!"

Sirius frowned even deeper at that. Greyback may be a beast, but he was an admittedly cunning beast. There was something going on here. He was too sure of himself. Glancing around subtly at the Lycans, he could not help wondering why they weren't moving. Why were they just watching this? "I may be the CEO, but I am not the owner. MagiTech is an equal opportun—"

"SHUT UP!" Fenrir yelled, surprising Sirius into silence. "This company is no longer yours. It belongs to us!"

"Us?" Sirius asked, shifting his stance very slightly in preparation. "Us as in who? Is all of this for Voldemort?"

"He sent us here, yes," Fenrir acknowledged, nodding his head. Then his feral sneer grew in size as he continued. "He wanted us to destroy this place as soon as we could. That magic and technology should never be combined. That such a thing would be an abomination to magic that must be cleansed immediately from the world." Here, Greyback paused to look around the tower in a symbolically appreciative gaze. After all, this floor and many of the ones below it had been trashed beyond recognition. Returning his attention to the lone Wizard, he continued, "But I look around at this wondrous place and I realize that it would be a terrible shame to destroy it. So, I'll be taking it, for the glory of the Greyback Pack and Werewolves everywhere!"

"You're…rebelling…against your beloved master?" Sirius openly gawked in surprise at that revelation. He could've never anticipated Greyback ever doing such a thing!

Walking forward slightly and coming to a halt only a dozen meters from him, Greyback grinned at Sirius's expression. "Surprised? I truly wish I could see the face of Lord Voldemort when he realizes the same!"

Finally, Sirius could no longer hold himself back. "MagiTech is not yours and it never will be!"

Just as he was swinging his arm to cast a silent curse at the new Lycan, a large clawed hand slammed into his unguarded back. The impact knocked the air from his lungs, shredded his clothes and left deep gashes in his back, and caused him to drop both his wand and his pistol as he was sent flying forward. Crumbling to the ground in a graceless heap at Fenrir's feet, heaving for breath, Sirius looked behind him to stare at his attacker. It was his self-appointed bodyguard, the former Greyback member, who'd attacked him!

"You understand now, don't you?" Fenrir asked as he knelt down in front of the wounded and defenseless Wizard, sneering down at him. "Did you really think my Pack would abandon me so easily? Once a member of my Pack, always a member of my Pack. I've been keeping a very close watch on you ever since your dear little godson and you started building this company." Standing back up, Fenrir started pacing around the Wizard, like a predator preparing to go in for the kill. "it is remarkable, really, just how much influence your little Sorcerer has gained in certain circles and parties. And as much as I hate to admit it, I do owe the boy a great debt. He has done more for Werewolves in a month than generations of Wizards have done in centuries."

Sirius slowly pushed himself up off the ground into a kneeling position, his bleeding and wounded back almost causing him to scream in agony as he moved. Thankfully for his pride, he was just able to hold back the screams, instead coming out as groans.

Greyback ignored his struggling victim as he continued his little victory speech. "He has given us what we've always sought: control of our true selves, pride in our heritage, and now a small but powerful industry to which we'll reap trillions in wealth."

Gasping, Sirius finally found his voice again. "Harry…will not…let you and…this betrayal…stand! He…will come…and he will…take you down!"

"Let him try," Greyback declared. "We know how to fight against Sorcerers now."

At this statement, Sirius glanced up at Greyback as he finally came to a stop just in front of him, his back to the Wizard. 'What does that mean?'

In answer to Sirius's obvious but silent question, Greyback reached behind the folds of his cloak and grasped something from his belt. He swung it out dramatically to the side, giving Sirius a brief glimpse of a poorly-built and cobbled together black handle in his grip. Then, with an eerily familiar snap-hiss, a lightsaber flared to life. It was a barely-stable crimson shaft with two notable smaller projections at the hilt forming a crossguard.

After months of seeing his godson's perfect blue blade that seemed to represent him as a good person, what Sirius now saw was something else: a killer's weapon, an executioner's fetish of choice. Fenrir spun around, raising his lightsaber high and delivering a powerful vertical strike. Red light, refulgent and cutting, ripped across and through the kneeling and betrayed figure of Sirius Black.

Location: Unknown

The next thing Sirius knew following the mind-searing agony of his body getting chopped in two pieces by a plasma blade was that of weightless disorientation. He opened his eyes and spotted a hand held out towards him, which he grasped and was pulled up to his feet. Who he saw when he was pulled upright froze him in surprise.

It was his brother James! Standing next to him was his best friend Remus, smiling in greeting. There was also the beautiful Lily, his uptight and proud brother Regulus, and many others of his past and present who had recently and long since died. They were all gathered together in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, chatting and celebrating. Almost immediately, Sirius was swept up in the joyful reunions, passing stories and enjoying the company of those he'd long lost.

Feeling a forlorn gaze upon his shoulders, Sirius stopped and looked off to the side. He saw his godson Harry staring at him through the windows of the Hall, tears falling down his face but with a small smile at finally seeing his godfather truly happy again. After a moment of staring, Harry stepped back and faded away. Sirius smiled in understanding. He would see Harry again, when it was his time.

Down below the Tower, the moment that Sirius Black had died had been sensed by the sole mystic among the Centaurs. That mystic would call the warriors back to the ship and, after informing the recently-arrived Ashley Felix of the event, the transport ship would lift off and fly out of the secret hangar mere minutes later. It was a choice that saved all of the Centaurs' lives from the ravenous appetite for death and blood that would soon consume the Greyback Pack.

Standing back up properly from his hacking position, Greyback hefted up his weapon and cried out, "Starting today, WE WILL NEVER BE SLAVES AGAIN!" Around him, all 'former' members of his Pack roared in victory. The other Packs wisely backed down. They were not fighters and they were not as in touch with their wolf-forms' instincts as the Greyback Pack was. They would ultimately lose the fight if they continued, especially since most of their best fighters had gone north to fight for the Centaurs.

Thus was the new company of WolfTech Industries formed.

Forbidden Forest

He felt it. It was like someone had taken a mallet and swung it at the very center of his being with all their strength. He could feel it as the familiar aura of his godfather's magic and presence was decisively ended in an abrupt and brutal manner. He could feel it as Sirius's magic vanished from his body, along with his life force, and get swept up to join the currents of ambient magic that filled the world with life around him. He didn't know who had killed him. He didn't know how he'd died. And he couldn't do anything about it.

"Harry? What's wrong?" Dudley asked from where he was seated nearby on a log, eating a small piece of venison jerky. His food was momentarily forgotten as he watched his cousin flinch and recoil all of a sudden, as though he'd been hit by a bullet in his back.

"Something…bad has happened," Harry gasped out, fighting to get control of himself. He had fallen to his knees and was panting, the pain, the pain of feeling Sirius's death. It was so strong, so raw! "Something is happening back at MagiTech."

"How do you know?" Dudley asked, curious. He knew his cousin was powerful, but to sense something happening all the way back in London from all the way up here in northern Scotland? That was a great deal more than he thought Harry was capable of. "What's happened?"

"I…I don't know," Harry said, looking away, unwilling to admit the one fact he did know. "But it's…it's something very bad."

It was around midday and the majority of the Lycan and Centaur warriors were camped out on the edges of the Forbidden Forest, within sight of the Hogwarts grounds. The previous battle had ended not even half an hour ago and all of the fighters were exhausted. The adrenaline had died done and now stress, fear, relief, and many other feelings and emotions were at work. Seated near Harry and Dudley was also Hendrick and Bane, both of whom had been among the battle and in command of small skirmish squads themselves.

"Do not let yourself get distracted, boy," Hendrick said from where he was counting his remaining ammo clips. "We still have a job to do here. If you focus on something else, you'll make a mistake here that could be fatal. If not to you, then to someone else."

"And the Wizards will likely be sending their army against us again soon," Bane said, wiping his lightpike's staff down of blood that had somehow gotten on it.

"You sure?" Dudley asked, looking somewhat confused. "We just finished the fight and everyone's exhausted, even them!"

"Which is also the best time to send in the reserve forces," Hendrick pointed out. "it is a standard battle tactic, if the commander is anywhere competent or smart. Let the main force batter the enemy, wear them down. Then, when they think it is over and are trying to rest, catch them off guard by sending in a fresh attacking force that you'd been keeping in reserve just in case."

"Fudge is an idiot," Harry said quietly, his eyes closed as he forced himself to ignore the pain and focus on what was happening in Hogsmeade. "But…I sense that you're right… The Wizards are gathering again… They're preparing for another assault. And…"

"What is it, boy?" Hendrick asked, looking at Harry as he trailed off with a deepening frown.

"There's something strange going on," Harry admitted, looking very uneasy. "I think Fudge's people have found a way to neutralize my Sorcery and are going to try and use that against me."

"How so?" Bane asked, looking interested and somewhat confused. "There should be no way of being able to do such a thing. Sorcery is fueled by the magic of the world itself. It is limitless in its power and potential."

"But not in a dead zone," Harry said, opening his eyes to look up at the Centaur leader. "What if…What if they found a way to create a barrier that could isolate and drain the magic of an area?"

"No!" Bane barked sternly, looking downright furious at the very idea. "They cannot! To do so could have dire consequences on the world around us! Nothing could grow, nothing could live, in such an area!"

"But I think they have," Harry said. "I've been feeling a large such area in the village for the past few hours." If Bane had been angry at the idea before, he looked absolutely apocalyptic now. "But I think they're using it to hide something or someone in it. But who or what, I don't kn—gah!"

Waves of magic suddenly crashed into Harry. He could feel it as a bright new beacon of Sorcery suddenly lit up his magical sense. Then, with no time to adjust the sudden appearance, another emerged. And another, and another, another, and many more began to flare to life. As these waves of raw magic slammed into him like a tsunami, Harry collapsed upon the ground, grabbing his head to try and cradle it against the sensory overload he was experiencing.

Dudley and Hendrick jumped to his side to try and help him, but were unable to do anything more than ignorantly ask what was happening. Bane, on the other hand, could feel what was happening, albeit very faintly due to his lack of training in the mystical arts. Alas, the most he could feel was something akin to a throbbing pain in his being as so much magic washed over him. Nothing like the raw agony that Harry was feeling.

"What's going on?!" Dudley cried out, trying to be heard over Harry's cries of pain.

"Sorcery," Bane hissed, glaring hatefully into the distance towards Hogsmeade. His statement quickly caught Hendrick's attention. Seeing the obvious question, Bane answered before it was asked, "It seems that the Wizards have created their own Sorcerers to match young Potter."

"…How many?" Hendrick asked, looking both outraged and discouraged. He knew, at least in part, just how much more powerful a Sorcerer was in comparison to a normal Wizard, and where a Lycan stacked against such a being. In the few spars they'd had in the past few months, Harry had always come out the victor against 5 to 1 odds, and he had clearly put no true effort into it. If the alliance had to face off against even 5 such beings, they'd be horribly outmatched and easily overrun.

"Fifty," Bane said grimly.

Hendrick's face fell as his hopes vanished.

Three Broomsticks, Hogsmeade

"Fascinating," the Head Unspeakable said, his voice practically purring in excitement. "Truly fascinating!"

Resting upon the table in front of him was one of the recovered weapons that the Lycans and Centaurs had been using in the earlier battle. He believed that this particular weapon had been the one used by the newest Giantsbane. But that fact was a mere footnote to what had truly caught his attention, which was the strange glowing blue potion that was filled within the small detachable cartridge and a chamber at the base of the firing barrel.

As a Potions Master, the Unspeakable held a vast knowledge of all publically known and quite a few forbidden potion recipes. He could list off the ingredients needed for any particular potion off the top of his head in a heartbeat. And he could recognize the effects that a particular potion had on the user and easily guess which potion had been used. But, for all of that knowledge, he had never come across such a strange potion as what he was seeing here or could have the killing effects that it apparently possessed.

Tentatively picking up the strange and unfamiliar weapon, he held it up and pointed it to the side. Looking up next to him, his assistant held up his wand and cast a stasis field just ahead of the weapon's muzzle. Once in place, the Head Unspeakable awkwardly pulled the trigger. The recoil of the weapon was slight, but it still caught him off guard, causing him to drop it back onto the table out of surprise. But he quickly ignored it as he focused upon the captured bolt of raw magical energy that was now hovering menacingly in midair just ahead of him. From just a glance, it was quite clear that the energy bolt was struggling mightily against the magic that was holding it stationary.

"Marvelous," the Head purred, stalking around the bolt, his wand waving to and fro as he cast numerous diagnosis spells upon it. "Incredible! How could a bunch of untrained Dark Creatures be able to produce something like this without us even noticing it beforehand? The research into this must've taken years with countless failures and attempts! How could they even fathom being able to utilize this energy in such a manner?"

"From the rumors I've been hearing," his assistant said. "It might've been the Potter boy who originally created this. He did somehow discover a way of creating a sword of pure magical energy after all. And if he's truly a Sorcerer, perhaps he was just able to…conjure up the recipe through some…grandiose…Sorcery ritual?" Even as he said it, the assistant's hesitance in his own theory was obvious.

"Maybe, maybe not," the Head said neutrally. "But one thing is certain. We will have our work cut out for us in creating new shield charms to defend against this magic."

A loud knock on the door drew their attentions before the door started opening without invitation or acknowledgement. Outside stood a grim looking female Auror with long brown hair. Though her hair was different, likely unconsciously reflecting her mood, her face was easily recognizable to the Unspeakables, who made it their business to observed and study such strange magical anomalies as her. Smiling in greeting as he moved over towards her, the Head Unspeakable said, "Auror Tonks, to what do we owe this pleasure?"

"Minister Fudge has just sent out his 'Specter Knights' and the Aurors," she said bluntly, her exhaustion and anger obvious in her voice. "He requests your presence at the 'forward observation post' to 'witness history in the making' as he put it."

"I see," the Unspeakable said, nodding his head as he and his assistant moved over towards the door. "Well then, let's not keep him waiting."

BOOM!

The loud impact of energy into the far wall caught all three of them by surprise. After glancing back over towards the blackened and smoking impact area, the Head turned to look over at his assistant. The honest look of surprise in his body language was enough to tell him that his assistant had not consciously dropped the stasis field around the energy bolt. The energy must've somehow managed to eat itself free of the stasis field and then just continued on its original course unimpeded. Despite the frightening implications of this, the Head Unspeakable couldn't help but shiver as excitement started running through him again. "Fascinating!"

Wrenching his attention back to the Auror who was now leading them out of the pub and towards the large and elevated pavilion that had been erected in the past five minutes, he couldn't help asking, "Tell me, Auror Tonks, if the Minister has launched a new strike against the enemy, why aren't you among them? …Sympathies for the Dark Creatures and their new Dark Lord, perhaps?"

"No," Tonks snapped, her tone every bit as biting as the frost of winter. "I just see this entire conflict as pointless and a waste of time. The Centaurs had done nothing that they haven't done in the past before, new weapons and allies aside. And yet we're now marching into their lands to permanently wipe them out? I will not be a part of this genocide any longer!"

"Strong words for a strong opinion," the Head said neutrally, looking over at her calculating hooded eyes. It would seem that the spell hadn't taken root with her. Why was that? "Just don't let any of the Minister's followers hear them. You might draw unwanted attention from them."

"Duly noted," Tonks said dismissively as they arrived at the pavilion.

As the two Unspeakables entered it, Tonks couldn't help but sneer up at it in disgust. Whoever had designed and built this thing had the fashion sense of a medieval tyrant, it was more strongly reminiscent of a castle tower than a pavilion, in Tonks' modest opinion. Shaking her head, she moved off to the side to get a better view of the marching Auror forces as they were heading towards the Forbidden Forest yet again. From her point of view, she could see a rather obvious difference to the formation that the Wizards were moving in than the previous two times.

In the first march, they had moved in almost single file, arrogantly assuming they'd meet no resistance until they actually reached the village outskirts itself. Ironically, it was thanks to this that the causalities of that first day had been so relatively low. The second time they had attempted to enter the forest had seen them actual battle formations and columns, rows upon rows of Wizards lined up in close proximity to one another, separated by the three lumbering Giants who'd accompanied them.

Now, with just over half of their original number remaining, they trudged forward in perhaps the sloppiest formation she'd ever seen. They were not in straight and even rows anymore, simply walking alongside one another in two large clumps that equally divided their forces. In contrast, standing tall and marching proudly in the center of these two unorganized clumps was a group of fifty people, who she strongly suspected were the missing Aurors from the Department, Fudge's so-called 'Specter Knights'. They were in cloaks of dark cream, hoods up and over their hair, faces hidden behind identical cream-colored masks, and all moving with the coordination of highly-trained and dangerous warriors.

Tonks hadn't been close enough to them to really make out any particular details in any of them when they'd first appeared from a random room in the Three Broomsticks. But she had been just close enough to get an eerily familiar sensation of magic breezing over and around her as they moved past. The sensation was strikingly similar to Harry's newfound Sorcery presence. But where he was warm and comforting, these masked Knights were cold and fear-inducing, moving with a purpose that promised bloodshed.

Suddenly the entire Auror force came to a halt, staring ahead at the forest. And Tonks could see why as a small, cloaked and armored figure calmly walked out of the trees and onto the Hogwarts grounds for the first time since his expulsion. In the distance, she could hear faint echoes as the numerous Auror captains and commanders began ordering their forces forward and to circle around the approaching figure. The Knights remained where they stood, not moving even as they too were encircled by the Aurors. Tonks watched as the small figure reached up and discarded his cloak, revealing the armor clad form of Harry Potter as he drew and ignited his lightsaber in preparation.

'Whatever happens next,' she realized with a sinking feeling in her stomach. 'It ends here and now.'

(Author's Note) Heheheheh, I may have gotten some inspiration from Littlefinger's betrayal of Eddard in Game of Thrones and the World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor cinematic for what happened with Sirius. I wonder how many of you saw that coming? Not many, I'd wager.

So many things have happened and so many are happening. The end of the war is coming, and probably with a different conclusion than you'd think. Granted, I'm still trying to work out the details, but I know what I'm aiming for! Hopefully the next chapter will be out as quickly as this one came, and twice as long!

And finally, huge thanks to my friend Fiori57 for helping me to get the scenes at MagiTech just right.