Thanks to everyone who has made it this far into the story. I am absolutely amazed that over 70 people actually want to be updated on this silly fan fiction idea of mine. Any and all suggestions are requested in reviews, as I am doing this for you so we all can have fun and enjoy this together. Thanks again.

Chapter 9 - Nearing the Conflagration

In the deepest bowels of the ministry of magic there are men and women who do the work muggles have always feared about witches and wizards. The department of mystery's scientific division grew out of the ancient order of magical folk determined to find the outer limits of magic. There they tested every item discovered for its magical properties, determined what syllables could result in entirely new magical incantations, and did the dirty work the Ministry didn't want to reveal. In the science division's central chambers sat a blindfolded group of six men and women, waiting for the next round of questioning. Veritaserum had not been authorized for use since the last war, so even the department of mysteries needed several months to make more.

Broderick Bode came up with a syringe filled with the clear liquid and began with the two burly men on the far left, returning them alone to consciousness and injecting the truth serum. After 10 minutes of useless blubbering, Bode restunned the senior Crabbe and Goyle. Next was the teenage boy, identified as John Dolohov, son of the imprisoned death eater. His information exposed that the plan was to take Potter and Malfoy to hideout the death eaters had used during the last war in the North Sea. Next came the scrawny fellow whose only identifier they could find was an underground signifier "The Rat". He was a Russian drug addict who had been hired as extra muscle, and was seemingly not an actual death eater. The woman was Emma Macnair, Walden Macnair's wife. She had never been under suspicion, even during the past war, and that seemed to be the case here. She did not have the dark mark anywhere on her body, and the serum proved she had been under the imperius curse.

The last one was the only ones that Bode considered likely to give any useful information. His name was Perseus Black, a distant cousin of the discredited black family of England. Perseus had been living in the countryside alone since the dark lord had been defeated, but now they would figure out exactly what this man was doing

"So Mr. Black, can you tell me what you were doing at the Hogwarts express on September 1st?" The grey haired man looked groggily at Bode.

"I was trying to make sure that you couldn't find me out. The Carrows convinced me. Narcissa is my third cousin, and I worked with her husband extensively during the war. She would definitely have known about me."

"And so, you wished to take Potter and Malfoy to your North Sea base? And where is that exactly? Young Mr. Dolohov was uncertain as to the exact location."

"Yes, it is on the mainland island, Shetland. Northern tip. Disguised in a large cave, with powerful magic defending it."

"And so you admit to being a death eater Mr. Black? "

"Yes. I never took the mark, but I always supported the dark lord. All of the Blacks did, of course. Except Sirius."

"What was that?" Bode wasn't sure what he just heard. "Sirius Black has been imprisoned for 11 years for serving You-Know-Who."

"Hah!" Perceus croaked out a sore laugh. "I've been chuckling about that for more than a decade now. Sirius was a damn blood traitor the entire time! And you bastards locked him up and let me go free? Where's justice there, eh? I was rich, Sirius gave up his birthright and wealth. That's the way of the world."

"Thank you very much Mr. Black. That was quite interesting indeed."

At Hogwarts Castle

Harry went down to breakfast that November already feeling the buzz of a castle on edge. At 11:00 there would be the second Quidditch match of the year. Harry had missed the first match between Gryffindor and Slytherin as he had been bullied into finishing a major essay for History of Magic with Hermione while Ron went to watch his brothers play.

"Best game in the world Harry." Ron said as they made their way down to the pitch. "Shame Gryffindor lost to those effing snakes last match. Fred and George blame Wood for failing to find a good seeker. He had to put Alicia Spinnet on Seeker duty while that little shit Cormac McLaggen got the replacement chaser position.

"But in the end, it's better for us. We're Ravenclaws." Harry mentioned.

"Yeah, but there's my house, and then there's the family house. I'm still going to root for Gryffindor over Slytherin, but I'm still rooting for Ravenclaw overall." Ron said while pointing at his blue and bronze scarf.

"I'm so excited that I got everything done on time this match. "Hermione said, pulling her thick earmuffs over her ears. Her hair had grown a lot since they'd met, but her hair was still too short to adequately cover her ears. "I read that the game takes influence from all across Europe."

"Yeah, but the only real Quidditch is English. Have you seen the Irish? If they win the next world cup I'll eat this scarf."

The pitch was packed with the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff fans being the most crowded. Slytherin was mostly rooting for Ravenclaw just to spite the Hufflepuffs, but Harry could see the first years that hung around Malfoy readying to boo both teams. The Gryffindors just seemed ready to enjoy the show and cheer on whoever seemed to be giving them the best show.

Harry looked down to see a beaming Cho standing on the pitch with her team. She was a chaser for the team, and looked positively tiny compared to the rest of the team. She was the only second year on either team, and was intensely proud of herself. He had been talking to her last night about her first match, and had blushed when she asked him to cheer her on.

"Look there!" Ron pointed down at the tall girl standing next to Cho, who was currently rubbing Cho's head in an affectionate way. "There's the captain, Brengwen Jones." She was a bronze haired tan girl that swaggered about on the field. "She's Gwenog Jones' youngest sister. Fred says she's a devilishly good seeker."

The Hufflepuff team looked a mostly boring lot; Lots of stout boys and girls. Even Harry with his terrible sports knowledge could see how this was going to go. When the match began Harry felt that rush of excitement he had never had while watching sports, but had heard so much about. Now he had a group who he felt was an extension of himself playing out there, instead of an extension of Dudley.

While watching Cho score her third goal that match Harry thought about what must have happened to the Dursleys after he left. He supposed the extended Dursley family must have buried them, their corpses cried over by the likes of Aunt Marge. Imagining being here at Hogwarts instead of having to stand there with her made him smile all the more, even as Vim came by to watch.

"So what's the point of this human game again?"

"Put that red thing through the hoop things at either end, and catch the golden thingy." Harry answered him while keeping his eyes trained on a hufflepuff chaser being hit off her broom by a bludger, and Cho catching the quaffle. He hadn't the time for Vim today.

"Very specific Harry. Vim may be a bit strange but you can try to explain the game to her." Hermione turned to the Shinigami, trying to see if her kind words were having an effect.

"The only thing I don't understand is why they aren't killing each other. I think you'd get the red thing through the hoops faster if no one was trying to stop you."

Hermione looked aghast. "Forget I said anything."

The match went on for another hour, until Brengwen made a quick dive. The entire crowd stood up to watch the Seeker's final descent, but a few seventh years in front of Harry made it impossible for him to see what was happening on the ground. A few seconds later he heard a massive mixture of joy and anger, followed quickly by a cold feeling creeping over his neck.

The crowd quickly quieted down disturbingly fast for people enjoying a victory, which was followed by the first screams. Harry could feel the air turning even colder than it had earlier, felt his hands and face start to freeze. He tried to look down onto the pitch but too many people were smarming around now, with some trying to get a better look and some people trying to leave the stadium as fast as possible. It was then that he looked up and saw twenty cloaked figures headed straight for Vim. As they approached he was certain that these were the dementors he had been told about, but how had they gotten onto the Quidditch pitch?

That's when the screaming started. He felt as if his mind was going to split from the noise, and he passed out of consciousness as he saw Vim fighting the figures, tearing one of the cloaks in two with her long claws.

Harry's eyes opened to the now familiar hospital wing, and Cho, Ron, and Hermione standing above him.

"Oh thank god you're awake." Hermione said, clutching Harry around the neck. Madam Pomfrey came forward with a steaming cup of hot chocolate and told him to drink it down fast.

"Hot Chocolate is wizard magic?" Harry asked skeptically. "Or are you just being a good host?"

"Shut your trap potter, your lucky to be aware at all after a dementor attack. And lucky to not have been trampled at your size. Chocolate combats the depression and cold of the dementor's attack. The marshmallows are for fun." Despite her intensity, she had a soft side hidden below.

"You should have seen the frenzy after you went out, Harry." Ron said, moving closer to Harry's face. "Dumbledore was furious that the dementors got onto the pitch. Said it was because they could smell all the excitement."

"That wasn't even the craziest part!" Cho interrupted. "When those dementors that swarmed right above you started to get torn apart! I'd never even heard of something like that. Everyone's wondering what happened."

The trio looked aside awkwardly. Harry took a large gulp of hot chocolate before stating, "So what's everyone think happened? Everyone's safe right?"

"Well that's just it, isn't it, " said Hermione. "Everyone seems to think it was… you."

"What?" Why couldn't the school just stop paying attention to him? He had enough trouble being the boy who lived.

"Well, you were the only one to actually faint mate." Ron said, clapping his shoulder. "And they did die right above you."

"But we all know that's ridiculous, right Ron?" Said Cho, looking at him dangerously. "I'm sure the teachers will figure this out soon and no one will bother you anymore. And if they try, I'll just have to beat them up." Cho flexed her strong chaser's arms. She may have been a small girl but she was very athletic.

"That won't be necessary Cho. But thanks." Harry smiled at her again.

Madam Pomfrey returned shortly and ushered Harry's friends out. Harry had slept for hours and it was already 8 at night. Remembering the match at the last minute, Harry screamed out at Cho. "Congratulations on the game Cho! You really nailed them!" Cho turned back and gave him a quick smile and a thumbs up before she left the hospital wing.

When Vim finally arrived above his bed. It was nearly midnight, but Harry needed answers.

"You do realize that you've made me the talk of the town?"

"Who, me? I thought you'd be glad to see me." Vim flew down and took a bite out of one of the chocolate frogs by Harry's bedside table. "I had to fly halfway back to London to get the last of those buggers to stop following me. They really seem to want to take a bite out of old Vim."

"What did you do to the one's at the pitch? I saw you tear one of those dementors in half before I fainted. I was reading with Hermione about them while we were searching for information about you. The only spells about dementors are for repelling them, not killing them."

"How should I know? All I know is they feel like slime and maggots wrapped in cloth, and they think I'm some sort of feast."

Harry thought about this for a time while Vim lounged around. He thought about all of the information he knew about dementors, which he admitted was probably not enough to get a B- on a serious test, but might be enough to at least hazard a guess.

"Vim, what is your body made of?"

"Hmmm." She seemed to think of that harder than she usually did. "Not really sure. We can't die from physical wounds, and somehow I get the life energy from the Death Note, but not much else."

"Maybe Hermione will have a better idea. Clearly there's something about Shinigami that make dementors love you. Perhaps she'll be able to take a skin sample or something."

"What?!"

Harry ignored her pleas until she got bored and they both fell asleep. Harry wasn't overly concerned, and the chocolate helped him sleep quite soundly.

In the third floor corridor on the right hand side

"So this is the "magnificent beast" Hagrid was so proud of."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Come forward, young one."

A pale body with silver hair moved silently forward, holding the diary. The eyes were glazed over, and the feet moved robotically.

"I will take care of this creature exactly one week from today. I will be taking care of some quick arrangements out of the school. In that time I expect there to be 7 attacks to lead everyone off of my scent. Do you think you can take care of that?"

The 11 year old body smiled.