HARRY POTTER
AND THE DEATH EATER MENACE

Harry Potter and all associated characters and situations are the property of J.K. Rowling. I make no claim to ownership.

CHAPTER 1: Theodore Nott and the House of Seven Gargoyles

19 June 1993 at 5:00 pm
Nott Manor
Nottinghamshire, UK

A soft pop accompanied the arrival of Theo and his father at the family's ancestral manse. Lord Nott strode brusquely towards the manor house, but Theo paused and looked up towards the foreboding building. He had lived here continuously from the day he came home from St. Mungo's as a baby until the day he left for Hogwarts on September 1st of 1991, save for a few rare social functions. Indeed, had there not been an unusual number of children his age born into families politically allied with his own and with whom he was expected to hobnob, Theo might never have seen another child before getting on the Hogwarts Express. But he had been gone for almost two years, and Nott Hall seemed different. It was certainly as dreary as he'd remembered, but Theo now had the oddest feeling that it had ... shrunk somehow. Shrunk and become less imposing than it had been on the day he left for Hogwarts.

The gargoyles, however, were every bit as big and fearsome as he'd recalled. There were seven of the beastly things arranged at odd intervals around the house. Theo had seen gargoyles in books and knew what ordinary gargoyles looked like on Muggle structures. He'd actually been surprised to learn that they were usually mere functional ornaments – water spouts designed to funnel rain off of the roofs of medieval buildings and which had been decorated to look like deformed people or animals for aesthetic reasons. The gargoyles of Nott Manor, however, were statues with no functional purpose.

Well, no obvious functional purpose. Before she died, Theo's mother had warned the young child repeatedly never to play outside of the house without either her or Alex or one of the kinder house elves as chaperones or else "the gargoyles might get you." After she'd died and he'd gotten older, Theo eventually decided that there was nothing dangerous about the stone statues and that his mother wished him to stay in the house at all times for some other disturbing reason most likely related to his father. But Theo had become a wizard since leaving Nott Hall albeit only a young one, and his studies both at Hogwarts and under the brief tutelage of Lucius Malfoy had taught him to reexamine his childish assumptions.

The gargoyles were all identical. Each was a short but stocky four-legged beast that looked vaguely like a cross between a lion and a small bull with thick barrel chests and crooked horns extending out of a rough mane. He studied them now with senses that he'd not possessed when he left for Hogwarts and which he had only begun to refine. And those senses told him now that his earlier childish fears had been correct. There was magic in the seven gargoyles. Magic and hunger and also an inexplicable yet terrible rage that was only restrained by their stony natures.

"Theodore!" Lord Nott called out over his shoulder. "Don't dawdle. We have much to talk about."

Theo's head snapped towards his father in surprise, but the man had already turned back around and headed on towards the house. He honestly couldn't remember the last time his father had used his actual first name. Usually, it was "brat" or "little bastard" if not something worse. Theo picked up his trunk and followed after the older man, now studiously avoiding the gaze of the seven gargoyles ... if not their attentions.

Once the two were inside, Tiberius called for a house elf. "Rogo! See to young Master Theodore's trunk. He and I have matters to discuss in my study. Send refreshment when you are done."

The hunchbacked house elf bowed deeply and then silently limped over to Theo's trunk. The boy recalled that Rogo had once accidentally spilled coffee on Lord Nott's trousers during breakfast about five or six years before. The next day Rogo had a limp that hadn't healed in all the years since, and he rarely spoke again except when ordered to. But he'd also gotten a lot more attentive when serving hot beverages, so Theo imagined that his father thought it a fair exchange. There was a soft pop and both Rogo and the trunk were gone.

"Come along now, son," said Nott almost pleasantly as he strode towards his private study. After a moment's hesitation, Theo followed. Soon, they were situated in the Lord's study next to a roaring fire. At first, Theo (who had never been in this room before in his entire life) wondered why his father would have a fire blazing in his study on a hot June day, but as he came nearer, he realized that the flames were cobalt blue and that they seemed to emit coldness rather than heat. That explained why the room was cool, bordering on chilly. Or perhaps that last bit was the result of Theo's nerves. As he sat, Theo reinforced his Occlumency shields for perhaps the tenth time since first spotting his father at King's Cross Station. Though he felt confident that any Legilimens who casually reached into his mind would find only the dutiful thoughts of an obedient son, part of him still feared that he would never be able to fool his father with such lies.

Or that his father would think kindly of him even if he believed the lies were true.

"Shall we take tea, Theodore?" Tiberius asked with unnatural politeness. "It is, after all, the British Muggle's one indisputable contribution to proper society."

"Yes, please," Theo replied calmly. Tiberius said nothing else as he poured two cups for himself and his youngest boy. He did crook an eyebrow when Theo politely declined milk, sugar, and lemon all.

"Well, Dad," Theo thought to himself. "I don't know how you drink it, so I have no way of knowing where the poison is, now do I?"

Tiberius handed the cup over to his son, and the two drank in silence for a few moments until the older man spoke again. Relative silence, anyway – Lord Nott had a habit of slurping his tea.

"Now then, Theodore. It's been a long time since we've talked like this ... father-to-son. Tell me, how have things been at Hogwarts?"

"Oh, you know. The usual." Theo took a long sip of tea. "I was petrified by a basilisk, but I got better in no time. Other than that, it's been rather boring. Just studying and tests."

"But still leaving time for physical activity, I see," Tiberius said, completely ignoring the shocking news about his son encountering a basilisk. "Why I think you've grown at least half a foot since last I saw you!"

"Yeah, that happens to growing boys over the course of two years, Dad," Theo thought to himself while maintaining his outer shell of total placidity. "Our most recent DADA instructor, the one apparently responsible for all the petrifications, believed in physical fitness. Every weekday morning, most of the students had to rise at dawn for a regimen of exercise. Calisthenics. Running. Basic hand-to-hand combat. Even an obstacle course."

Tiberius nodded. "Your brother Alexander tells me that they have similar programs at Durmstrang. Personally, I've never seen the need for such nonsense. We are wizards. We have wands. Whatever sort of danger would we ever face that would call for Muggle brutishness in place of our magical birthright?"

"Uh-huh. I wonder if that attitude has anything to do with how you've gained at least two stone since the last time I saw you. You never could resist a second helping of dessert." Theo shrugged. "Lockhart wanted it. The Headmaster approved it. None of the students had any say in the matter. I suppose it could have been worse." He paused. "By the way, where is Alex? Shouldn't he be back from Durmstrang by now?"

"Alas, he was delayed by school business and took a later train. It seems your brother Alexander has been selected as one of the Durmstrang Sixth Year prefects and was required to stay behind for an orientation meeting. He is expected to arrive early Sunday afternoon." Theo actually smiled at his brother's good fortune while Tiberius continued. "Now, let us move on to the rest of your ... Hogwarts experience. How are your grades? How have the teachers been treating you? Well, other than the one that caused you to be petrified, of course. Have you made any friends? Or enemies? Any Mudbloods or blood traitors causing you any problems?" Tiberius paused to slurp up some tea. "I hear tell that some uppity little Mudblood tramp is first in your class! I suppose she must be simply awful! In my day, we'd have dealt properly with trash like that."

Despite his best efforts to occlude, Theo put his cup back onto his saucer with just a little too much force, causing them to clank audibly. Most Muggles would not have even noticed the sound, but Purebloods of Ancient and Noble Houses are taught the social graces practically as soon as they finish teething, and Theo couldn't help but grimace at the faux pas he'd made. He looked up at his father.

"Her name is Hermione Granger. She's been first in our class two years running. And yes, she is generally believed to be ..." Theo paused for a fraction of a second to decide whether to use the word his father obviously wanted to hear. In his mind's eye, he saw Hermione's eyes and felt the warmth that was always in them and decided that his father could rot. "... a Muggleborn. However, there is some speculation that she is related to the Dagworth-Grangers, most likely through squibs."

"Really," Tiberius said almost languidly. "How interesting. I suppose that is why our dear friend Lucius Malfoy allowed her to tutor the children of his vassals, Crabbe and Goyle. Duncan and Gregory Sr. were both quite vexed about it and told me so repeatedly when they dined here."

Theo raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware that our House socialized with Lord Crabbe and Lord Goyle except when they were accompanying Lord Malfoy. If I remember correctly, you had previously described them as ... beneath us."

"Hmm. Yes. Yes, I did. Sour grapes, I suppose. You see, in retrospect, I think I was a bit jealous of the fact that Crabbe and Goyle were both vassals of our good friend Lucius Malfoy rather than myself. Even oafish buffoons can be of value if they can remember to vote which way you tell them to. Their five votes each added to my own bloc might well have moved the Wizengamot in a more ... convivial direction on a number of issues."

He took another loud slurp, causing Theo to wince slightly. "And speaking of our good friend Lucius Malfoy, how was the summer last which you spent with him? Did he treat you well?"

"Quite well, Father. He was a perfect host."

"I've no doubt. I'll wager he treated you as if you were his own."

Theo froze for just an instant. He knew his father had been toying with him since the moment he'd arrived at King's Cross, but there was definitely a hidden meaning in that last sentence that was lost on him. Slightly afraid that something important had just slipped past, he elected to say nothing in response, and after a brief silence, Tiberius shrugged his shoulders and moved on.

"But in any case, I now see that jealousy is a futile and unnecessary emotion. Even more so now in light of recent developments. Do you get along with the Crabbe and Goyle heirs?"

Theo nodded. "I've had no difficulties with them worth mentioning."

Slurp. "And Goyle's young ward, Amaryllis Wilkes?"

The boy hesitated. Harry had told him of Lord Goyle's plan to possibly marry Amy off to Tiberius Nott, a man more than forty years her senior, as part of a monstrous plot to somehow acquire the missing Wilkes fortune. Was this where his father was going?

"I haven't spent that much time with her to be honest. She's a year behind me after all."

Tiberius nodded. "And besides, I suppose so much of your time is monopolized by the Potter Heir, isn't it?"

"And finally now we stop dancing and get to the heart of it!" Theo cocked his head to the side as if contemplating the matter. "I would hardly say he monopolizes it, Father, but he is the Heir to an Ancient and Noble House, though obviously not one with which we normally associate. Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter each have their own circle of friends. I found Potter's both easier to enter and potentially more lucrative to House Nott."

"Did you indeed, Theodore?" Just a hint of coldness crept into the former Death Eater's voice, but Theo refused to be intimidated.

"Yes, father, I did indeed. Although there is no love between House Potter and House Nott, Harry Potter loathes his parents and has almost as much disdain for his brother, the Boy-Who-Lived. But he has been able to conceal that disdain for the most part, and now has influence over Lord Potter, who is also the new Chief Auror. Was I wrong to develop a relationship with him? Harry is a Slytherin, after all. Just like us."

Tiberius said nothing at first. He simply stared at his son with the ghost of a smile and an altogether disturbing gleam in his eyes. "Just like ... us, you say? What an ... interesting way to put it, my son. Perhaps sometime soon we'll have more opportunities to, shall we say, explore all our commonalities."

Theo said nothing. Once again, he thought that there was some subtext to his father's words that he was missing beyond the obvious one of their barely concealed mutual hatred for one another.

"But that comes later," Nott continued. "Finish your tea and then go up to your room and get freshened up. You said you had 'no difficulties' with Crabbe and Goyle fils. Perhaps tonight we can improve your relations with them. We'll be hosting the Crabbes and the Goyles this evening at eight o'clock sharp. Formal attire of course."

The boy blinked a few times as he processed this. "The Crabbes and Goyles are coming here tonight, Father? May I ask why?"

"Can not an old widower open up his musty old home to entertain two men who were once his comrades in arms, along with their families."

"Comrades ... in arms?" Theo said carefully.

"Well," Tiberius said with a nasty smirk. "That's how I choose to remember them. Comrades in arms from those awful, awful days when we were all three Imperiused into serving the Dark Lord. Totally against our will, as you well know."

Theo nodded at that but said nothing. After a few more seconds, he stood and bowed respectfully to his father and then left for his room. Once inside, he leaned his back against the door, closed his eyes, and exhaled heavily. Then, he surveyed the bedroom that hadn't been slept in for nearly two years. There was a faint mustiness to the room, but the house elves had dutifully kept it clean and free of dust. He passed into the en suite bathroom and washed his face. When he came back out, he noticed that his dress robes that had been in his trunk were hanging from the closet door, freshly pressed. He examined them briefly and then moved over to open the dresser which was already full of his Hogwarts clothes.

For several seconds, Theo stared down at the clothing which had also been in his trunk as if lost in thought. Then, he quickly opened the trunk and confirmed that it was completely empty. THeo hesitated, and despite his considerable Occlumency skills, he noticed that his heart was beating faster. Slowly, he reached down to the base of the trunk and tapped a particular knot in the polished pine with a rhythmic pattern. An invisible seam in the wood opened up to reveal the secret compartment in which he'd concealed his Notice-Me-Not ring, his poison detecting monocle, his Occlumency books, and all the other things which his older brother had given him without their father's permission to help protect him both from enemy's at Hogwarts and enemies much closer to home.

For nearly five seconds, Theo forgot how to breath. The secret compartment was empty, and all the magical items within were gone, presumably taken by Lord Nott's house elves when they emptied his trunk. Theo slid down to the floor with his back against the trunk and put his face in his hands.

That night ...

All things considered, dinner went surprisingly well. Tiberius insisted that Theo sit at his left hand at the long dinner table, but he had not been called upon to make much small talk with the grownups. After dessert, Lord Nott ordered Theo to lead the other children to the parlor and entertain them "with Exploding Snap or whatever you children play nowadays." The adults would retire to the Billiard Room for drinks and discussion. Once in the parlor, Theo led Greg, Vincent, Amy, and Drusilla through a quick game of Snitch Snatcher, a board game version of Quidditch. Over the course of the game, Theo discreetly gave Amy the signal Harry had devised and shared with his Slytherin allies that indicated he needed a distraction. After allowing Drusilla to win the first game, Amy announced that she needed to use the facilities and would Theo please show her where they were. Gallantly, he led the girl out of the room while the other three set up for another game.

"So where are we really going?" Amy whispered as Theo led her down the gloomy oak-paneled corridors of Nott Hall. She shuddered as she spoke – aside from being dimly lit, the walls were covered by the spoils of Lord Nott's many hunting expeditions. Among his other eccentricities, the man was an enthusiastic amateur taxidermist.

"We aren't going anywhere," Theo replied. "You are going to the loo, while I am doing some sneaking about. There's actual security that has to be bypassed where I'm going, and since you don't know this place as well as I do, you'd only get us caught." He stopped in front of a large door. "Here's the toilet. Spend as much time here as you think seems plausible. If I'm not here when you get back, head on back to the others and make up some excuse for me." He paused. "Tell the Crabbes that I've gone to get snacks. They'll buy that."

"Theo," Amy asked tentatively. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"

He smiled wanly. "Amy, we're the blood traitor children of Death Eaters. When are we not in trouble?"

With that, he headed off around the corner and then paused long enough to twist a wall sconce. A small door opened in the wood paneling, and the boy darted inside. Quickly, he made his way through the nest of secret passages in the manor, deftly bypassing the alarms Tiberius had put into place. Soon, he was standing in front of a glass window that overlooked the billiard room. Or at least, it was a glass window from the side Theo was facing. From the perspective of those on the other side, it was a rather lurid moving portrait of Acteon being transfigured into a stag and then ripped apart and devoured by his own hounds as punishment for surprising the goddess Diana as she bathed. As Tiberius had happily explained to Theo years earlier, the moving painting had been commissioned by the former Lord Decius Nott back in the mid-19th century to celebrate a successful hunt. The "model" for Acteon was a poor Muggle who had been hunted down and killed by Decius and some of his friends prior to the ban on Muggle Hunting, and the portrait was drawn from Decius's cherished memories of the event. From Theo's side of the painting, the poor Muggle's death was only a faint after-image repeated over and over again, which he did his best to ignore as he watched and listened to the scheming of his father and the other four Death Eaters who had come calling to seek his favor.

20 June 1993
8:00 a.m.

Theo had risen at dawn, as was now his practice, for a brisk thirty minute jog around the grounds. As he ran, the boy reached out with his magical senses to get a feel for the placement of the estate's wards. He couldn't tell what each ward did, but during his brief tutelage with Lord Malfoy, he'd learned to tell where wards were and how to identify any that were physically dangerous. He was mildly surprised to note that the estate did not appear to have any wards that could instantly incapacitate or injure intruders as Malfoy Manor did. Instead, there only appeared to be alarm wards although, of course, it was always possible that those alarms could trigger some other magical effect that was beyond his perception. His magical senses were still quite weak, and he'd not had a chance at Hogwarts to refine them since there were just too many wards at the school for a beginner to make sense of.

He returned to the house, got a quick bath (Lord Nott disapproved of showers as being "Mugglish"), and then went down for breakfast which was served in the main dining hall where the formal dinner had taken place the night before. Then, Theo had sat at his father's left hand. This morning, they were at opposite ends of the long table more than twenty feet apart.

"Good morning, Theodore!" Tiberius said jovially as Theo entered. The greeting actually startled the boy – Tiberius not had never wished him a good morning in his entire life. He took a deep breath and smiled as cheerfully as he could manage.

"Good morning, Father," he replied easily as he took a seat. There was already a plate in front of him with half of a grapefruit on it. Theo sighed. One of Tiberius's few quirks that could be considered merely annoying rather than horrifying was his insistence that everyone in the household eat the same three-course breakfast every morning: half a grapefruit, a plate of scrambled eggs and sausages, and a strawberry blintz for dessert. When the boy had arrived at Hogwarts, he'd actually been amazed at the diversity of breakfast foods available, since he'd assumed everyone else in the world ate the same thing every morning as well. Silently resigning himself to a summer of breakfast monotony, he sliced into the grapefruit with his spoon.

"Did you enjoy your time spent with your schoolmates last night, Theodore?"

"Yes, Father. It was quite enjoyable. Did you have an enjoyable time with the parents?"

"Mmm," Tiberius said around the huge chunk of grapefruit that filled his mouth. "Enjoyable and profitable." He reached for a napkin to wipe away the grapefruit juice that had dribbled down the side of his face before continuing. "It seems that Duncan and Gregory Sr. both see more advantage to joining my camp than remaining in Malfoy's, particularly since the fool has apparently become a Muggle-lover. I always thought he was weak ... him and his spawn." Tiberius gave Theo a funny look at that.

"There have been rumors that Lord Malfoy was no longer able to afford to pay the Wizengamot dues for their Houses. Something to do with his divorce from Draco's mother."

Tiberius barked out a laugh and then attacked his grapefruit once more with gusto. "I've no doubt. Poncy fool never deserved a woman like her."

Theo looked up in surprise but resisted the temptation to ask his father about his sudden appreciation for Narcissa Black, opting instead for safer ground. "If Lord Malfoy is truly unable to pay for his vassals, do you plan to swear them to House Nott?"

"In time," he replied. "Their oaths to House Malfoy are still valid through the end of the year. In January, though, heh-heh, we'll see some changes I wager."

"Yeah, Dad," Theo thought to himself as he picked at his breakfast. "Including a marriage announcement!"

The boy was still sickened by what he'd learned the night before while spying upon his father's meeting with the other Death Eaters. Goyle was really going to do it! He was really going to sign off on a marriage contract between Amy Wilkes and Tiberius Nott, in exchange for a lump sum payment of half-a-million galleons to House Goyle plus ten percent of whatever eventually gets recovered from the missing Wilkes fortune after Tiberius had sired a son with his child bride. Except that the Wilkes fortune apparently wasn't missing after all – all the Death Eaters at the meeting the previous night knew that whatever Erasmus Wilkes had left behind was contained in an impregnable vault somewhere beneath the ruins of Wilkes Manor, but it was only accessible to whoever held the title of Lord Wilkes ... though apparently Regent Wilkes might have just as much access if the next Lord Wilkes was an infant.

It took all of Theo's emotional self-control to resist his urge to hex his father. Not that it would do any good, as the man was a skilled duelist and also protected by magical defenses built into the manor house itself while he was on the grounds. The one bright spot was that the Death Eaters believed that Lucius Malfoy would likely oppose the marriage while Goyle remained his vassal, which meant that Harry had until January of 1994 to work one of his patented Potter miracles.

The two Notts made idle chitchat as they finished their respective grapefruits. Rogo cleared away the dishes and then brought in the second course on two covered plates. The elf removed the cover from Lord Nott's plate, and he tore into a sausage aggressively. Then, Rogo placed the other covered plate before Theo, and as the boy picked up his knife and fork, the elf pulled the cover away. But there was no food on the dish.

Instead, there was a silver ring, a brass monocle, two books, and several other minor magical trinkets – in short, everything that Alex had entrusted to his little brother and that the boy had kept hidden in the secret compartment of his trunk.

For several seconds, the room was silent save for the scraping of Tiberius Nott's knife and fork as he calmly devoured his eggs and sausages. "How's your breakfast, son?" he finally inquired in a cold voice.

Theo leaned back in his chair and looked his father squarely in the eye. For a second, the boy expected some kind of Legilimency attack, but nothing came. As he'd suspected, Tiberius had never had the patience or self-control to learn the art. Indeed, Theo suspected that Tiberius didn't even know any Occlumency beyond the bare minimum he'd needed to conceal his status as a Death Eater.

"Well, Father, the grapefruit was alright, but the second course doesn't look like it would be very filling." As casually as he could, Theo wiped his own mouth with his napkin and then placed it on his lap. As he did, he carefully moved his hand towards the wand in his pocket. He needn't have bothered. Rogo snapped his fingers, and the wand flew out of its resting place, hovered in the air for a few seconds, and then gently floated down to the serving tray to join the other magical items. Theo glared at the crippled elf who merely shrugged.

Tiberius snorted cruelly. "Now then, Theodore. I find myself with a mystery to solve ... and a punishment to levy. I see two possibilities. The first is that you stole these heirlooms of House Nott from your brother to whom they had been entrusted, a crime that demands harsh punishment. The second is that your brother gave you those heirlooms for your own use. That seems unlikely to me, of course. Alexander did ask me if he could give you some of those objects when it was time for you to go to Hogwarts, but I expressly forbade him from doing so. Still, if he defied me..."

The man gave every appearance of careful consideration, but Theo wasn't fooled. This was a prepared speech.

"Alexander is my Heir Apparent, and the law bars me from properly punishing him for all but the most serious of infractions. But defying a direct order not to mishandle family heirlooms?! That is something for which the law would allow me to properly chastise him for his disobedience despite the protections of his Heirship. And I would chastise him most harshly for defying me in this manner."

Tiberius tilted his head and smiled. "You've experienced such chastisement in the past when your misdeeds have forced me to take up my fatherly duties, Theodore. Which made a greater impression on you? The lash? Or the cane?"

Theo said nothing at first. He simply reached out for his water glass and took a long sip before offering a reply. "Well, the cane certainly left bigger scars, Father. But speaking hypothetically, what would you do if I said it wasn't Alex but me? If it turns out that I stole these heirlooms without Alex's knowledge and that he is guilty only of not telling you because he was afraid of how you'd react? What sort of punishment would I receive? Hypothetically, that is."

The man's smile broadened into a grin. "If you were to confess, Theodore? Why in that case, your punishment would be ... nothing at all." He paused. "Well, certainly nothing physical at least."

Theo's eyes widened. "Oh really?" he said almost sarcastically. "No punishments? That's a bit of a switch for you. You also said 'harsh' punishment just a second ago. And I recall you being rather enthusiastic at punishment whenever I did something you didn't like. After all, you've only hated me since the day I saw you MURDER MOTHER!"

Tiberius's expression seemed almost amiable at that accusation. "Oh that's not true, Theodore – I hated you long before then. But, I am being quite truthful. You see, stealing family heirlooms is a crime serious enough to permit me to do what I've wanted to do for a long, long time – kick you out of this family for good."

"What are you talking about? You could have disinherited me any time you wanted!"

"Disinheritance is not enough, you little bastard!" the vile man spat. "When I die, Alexander will claim the Lordship, and he would have the power to reinstate you. I want you gone forever. And if you were to ... confess to the crime of stealing heirlooms, I would have the right to expel you in a manner that no future Lord Nott could undo. You would cease to be Theodore Nott and instead would become ... Theodore No-Name, at least until you could persuade some other foolish wizard or witch to adopt you into their family. Or perhaps you could persuade someone with a respectable background to marry you. That Mudblood you're so enamored with, perhaps. Either way, it would be no concern of mine."

"You really expect me to believe that you'd just let me go once I'm out of the family? That I should expect you to refrain from trying to kill me once I give up my name?"

Tiberius scoffed. "What makes you think your last name can stop me from killing you now? There are more than enough Wizengamot members who share my views and would never tolerate the Lord of an Ancient and Noble House being punished in any way, but certainly not over the death of a rebellious second child who had become an unrepentant blood traitor. But I am being quite truthful in this – once you're no longer a Nott, I swear I'll take no further action against you. Indeed, I will summon our solicitor and swear an Unbreakable Vow promising that I will never intentionally seek to harm you and will never deliberately command others to do so in exchange for a confession of your crimes against House Nott. Your inheritance from your mother's dowry will pay for your Hogwarts education with a little left over for living expenses. Other than that, you will walk out of here with your wand and the clothes on your back and nothing else, and Alexander will be unable to provide you with any further assistance in the future. But you will be free of me. And I of you."

Theo sat quietly. More than anything else, he wanted to talk to Harry Potter or at least Blaise Zabini right now. His Occlumency kept him calm and focused, but his particular strain of cunning didn't lend itself to legal maneuvers.

"If I confess as you want, what's to stop you from having me arrested and prosecuted?"

"The legal process that will see you stripped of your name – Sanctumen Ultimo is its formal name – is considered a punishment that trumps all others where the Noble Houses are concerned, but if you wish, I will also state in my Unbreakable Vow that I will never seek legal redress against you for anything you may have done before today."

The man smiled again, just as cruelly as before. "Of course, all this is conditional on you being the one who stole those heirlooms for your own use. Alexander will be home tomorrow. If you have not confessed, I will ask him whether he was the one responsible and see what he says. Perhaps he'll confess in order to save you. Perhaps he will blame you regardless of the truth to avoid punishment. Perhaps he'll choose one of those options after an hour or so on the rack... with you in attendance as witness. I do hope that all my old equipment is in good working order. It hasn't seen use since ... since I was under the Imperius and the Dark Lord forced me to torture Mudbloods and blood traitors. Against my will, as you know."

Theo closed his eyes and centered himself. From the day his mother died until the day Harry Potter called him a friend, there had been exactly one person in the entire world who had cared about him. The rational part of Theo's mind was screaming that there was some trick or hidden trap he couldn't see because he lacked the knowledge of legal process to identify it. That even with an Unbreakable Vow, there would still be some way for his father to hurt him or maybe even murder him. But the emotional side of him simply didn't care, because the worst thing that Tiberius Nott could do to Theo would be to kill him, and he would rather die than watch his brother Alexander be tortured just for trying to protect him.

"I want to know what the Vow would say before I agree to anything. That and what you want me to say in my ... confession."

Tiberius reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out two rolls of parchment. "As it just so happens..."

A few hours later, Nott's solicitor, an unusually tall and disturbingly pale man by the name of Mortimer Renwick, had come and gone. Theo had actually been surprised to see the man out and about during the day, as he'd only ever visited the Manor before at night and Theo had always suspected Renwick to be a vampire. He would file the official paperwork on Monday morning, along with a copy of Theo's confession which the boy had been required to write with a blood quill. It had been a long and detailed confession, which was why Theo's left arm was now wrapped up with gauze bandages through which some fresh blood could still be seen. The fact that Theo caught Renwick staring at his bloody arm and licking his lips did little to reassure the boy that he was not, in fact, a vampire.

Once the documents were filed, Theo Nott would officially become Theo No-Name in the eyes of Wizarding Britain, though the solicitor advised that some of the initial effects would be triggered immediately upon Lord Nott signing the paperwork. After Renwick left, Theo had been "allowed" to pick out some clothing he could take with him (specifically one set of casual wear plus some extra underpants) out of Lord Nott's "generosity." Said clothing, along with the boy's school uniforms, books, and supplies, was unceremoniously tossed into a beaten old trunk pulled down from the attic, one which was not remotely as nice as the trunk he'd used for his first two years at Hogwarts. Theo had also been permitted entry to the kitchens to make himself a sandwich before leaving, but no house elf was permitted to help him. Which was fine with Theo as he wouldn't eat anything prepared by a Nott house elf anyway if he could avoid it.

Just after noon, Theo walked out the front door lugging his battered old trunk behind him. Then, he stopped short and took in the scene. All of his clothing and personal possessions except for what was now in his trunk was in a big pile in the courtyard in front of the house. The picture of Theo's late mother that had hung in his bedroom was perched on top so that he could see her sad face. Tiberius stood next to the pile, and as soon as Theo came out, the man smirked contemptuously before aiming his wand at it. "INCENDIO." As most of the boy's worldly possessions went up in flames, Tiberius sauntered over to him before aiming his wand at the trunk and shrinking it down to pocket size. Theo bent down to pick up the trunk before pocketing it.

"Consider that the last favor I'll ever do for you, Theo No-Name."

"And, ironically, also the first. I don't suppose transportation to ... anywhere other than here is in the cards?"

Tiberius reached into a pocket and flipped a galleon to him. "You're still a wizard, boy. Once you're outside the wards and on the main road, you can call the Knight Bus." Then, from another pocket, he withdrew Theo's wand and handed it over.

"Thanks," Theo said sarcastically. He turned and looked down the cobblestone driveway. It was about a quarter-mile to the massive archway that marked the entrance to Nott Manor. On either side were tall trees, part of the large forest that surrounded the manor house.

"Well, you'd better hop to it," Tiberius said. "It's a long walk to the main road after all. It's good that you've taken up physical exercise... like a good little Muggle-lover, I suppose." He turned and walked up the steps towards the front door as Theo started down the lane. But then, the former Death Eater turned and called out to his former son.

"Wait!" Theo turned back towards his (ex)father. "Whatever else I am, Theodore No-Name, I am a Nott, and we come from a long line of sportsmen and hunters. It would be unsportsmanlike of me to simply let you leave without advising you of two details. First, I swore an oath that I would never intentionally try to hurt you. Now that you are disowned pursuant to the rite of Sanctumen Ultimo, I no longer need to hurt you intentionally. Your future suffering is assured ... by operation of law."

Theo stared at the man but refused to give him any satisfaction by asking for any further explanation. He supposed he'd find out soon enough what Tiberius meant. "And the other thing?"

Tiberius smiled like a predator. "It does not contravene my oath never to intentionally hurt you if I simply remove my protection from you and allow events to take their natural course. You are no longer welcome in my home, Theodore No-Name. And Nott Manor has ways of dealing with intruders." Then, he turned and stalked into the manor, while Theo's attention was drawn to a cracking sound from the roof above.

As Theo watched in horror, three of the stone gargoyles slowly came to life and turned their heads down to stare at them, a low bestial growl coming from each.

Behind the boy, there was a quarter-mile-long private road that led to the front gate. He had no idea how fast the gargoyles could move, but he felt certain they could run him down on a straight path. The boy's face took on a determined expression.

"Good thing for me I've been trying to figure out how to escape since I was seven!" he thought to himself before taking off away from both the house and driveway and towards the much closer tree line. Behind him, Theo heard three massive thumps followed by the sound of the stone gargoyles in pursuit. Ruefully, he realized he'd been right – the gargoyles sounded remarkably fast for heavy stone constructs.

Luckily, the woods surrounding Nott Manor were dense but also relatively free of predators, whether magical or no. Within seconds, he was into the forest. He risked a glance over his shoulder and was gladdened to see the gargoyles had slowed down since they were too big to duck around trees and hop over obstacles as nimbly as an athletic twelve-year-old boy. Theo gave a silent thanks to Gilderoy Lockhart (or whatever the former DADA professor was calling himself today) for eight months of fairly intense physical education. However much disdain Tiberius Nott had for physical exercise, Theo had been near the top of the Second Years for the PE class, and his time spent running obstacle courses served him well today.

In less than five minutes, a breathless Theo found what he was looking: the fifteen-foot-tall stone wall that marked the physical boundaries of the Nott estate and also the boundary of its wards. And if his memories of this place were correct, less than twenty feet beyond the wall was a public road. The boy's face and arms were full of scratches from the brambles he'd barreled through, and his clothes were torn and muddy. But he was nearly free ... if he could get over the wall before the gargoyles caught up with him. Theo ran towards a nearby tree whose heavy branches actually extended up and over the wall. Behind him, there was a crash as one of the gargoyles smashed its way through a hedge bush. He climbed as fast as he could and had just made it up onto a strong branch when the gargoyle leaped at him, missing his foot by inches. Snarling, the beast stepped back and then ran at the base of the tree, slamming into it with its great bulk. The tree shuddered, but Theo held onto the branch with a death-grip and did not fall. The gargoyle slammed into the tree a second time, then a third. The last blow actually made the tree shake and creak a bit. In the distance, Theo could hear the other gargoyles approaching.

The gargoyle started backing away from the tree for another go, and Theo saw his chance. He took a second to balance himself and then ran forward along the thick branch. Just as it started to give from his weight, he jumped and successfully grabbed hold of the top of the wall with both arms. He pulled himself over and dropped to the ground, giving out a pained yell as he twisted his ankle on the landing. A second later, the wall shook as the gargoyle slammed into it from the other side. Theo quickly pulled himself up and hobbled on one good leg towards the nearby road. If the wall truly marked the boundary of the wards, then he was safe.

Unfortunately, it did not. Or perhaps the gargoyles were simply capable of pursuing intruders beyond the Manor's wards. Either way, the gargoyle's forearms and head suddenly came over the top of the wall, and the massive beast struggled to pull itself over and continue the pursuit. Desperately, Theo staggered to the far side of the road as the gargoyle finally got past the wall. It was less than forty feet away, and running away was no longer an option. Theo pulled his wand out of his back pocket. Harry had given him a wand holster as a Christmas present, but unfortunately, it had gone up in flames not fifteen minutes earlier. He held his wand at the ready while the gargoyle prepared to strike. The creature took two slow steps towards Theo and then broke into a running leap.

At the last possible second, Theo thrust his arm out with his wand sticking straight up in the air. Suddenly, there was a flash of light, a squeal of brakes, and a deafening horn, as a purple three-decker bus appeared from nowhere to slam into the gargoyle at incredible speed. The impact hit the gargoyle head on, and it flew down the road, shattering into pieces. Theo peered around the front of the bus and back towards the wall. The heads of the other two gargoyles appeared over the wall as they took in the destruction of their brother.

"One down! Six to go!" the boy yelled out triumphantly. Then, he pulled himself up the steps of the bus. A flustered conductor helped the injured boy up.

"Um, welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or, ah, wizard. My name is Stan Shunpike and, ah ... what the hell did we just hit?!"

Theo took out the galleon his father had given him. "No idea, but they seem to come in threes, so I suggest you get us moving before the other two come after us."

Stan paled at that. "Alrighty-then. Where to?"

"Longbottom Manor, Lancashire."

"And your name?"

"Theo N..." Theo froze. While he knew that he was no longer a part of the Nott family, he'd started to say his former name out of reflex ... and was surprised to find that he no longer could. The words "Theo Nott" simply wouldn't come out of his mouth.

"No-Name," he finally said in a very quiet voice. "Theo No-Name."

"Hmm," replied Stan. "Does that have a hyphen in it?"

Longbottom Manor
Lancashire
6:00 p.m.

Exhausted from the days events, Theo relaxed in a comfortable overstuffed chair in the parlor of Longbottom Manor and tried not to wince as Andromeda Tonks rubbed a healing ointment into his sprained ankle. Although she and her husband Ted shared the duties at their small clinic, she was the one who had specialized in pediatric healing. Also present were Lady Augusta, Neville, and Harry. The latter two were a flurry of emotions: relief that their friend had made it to Longbottom Manor safely but also sadness and fury as Theo shared the tale of his adventure. He'd arrived an hour earlier, beaten and exhausted but free, and he'd immediately and formally requested sanctuary from Augusta and Neville, which they were quick to grant.

"The ointment should fix your ankle on your arm by morning, young man," said the healer. "And the Murtlap Essence will have healed all the cuts from the blood quill. And by tomorrow , I'll have a regimen of potions ready for all the other things that have been done to you over the last twelve years for which you've never received treatment."

Theo smiled. "Thank you, Healer Tonks."

"I still can't believe he made you use a blood quill to write a whole confession!" said Harry angrily. "I had to sign my name with one once. That was enough!"

"Yeah, but enough about my sad, sad life," said Theo. "What are we going to do about Amy?"

"Relax, Theo," Harry said. "We've got time ... and options. Artie and Hestia are working on possible solutions, and you yourself said we've got until next January. I promise you, we'll save her."

In point of fact, Harry already had a plan in place to rescue Amy Wilkes from her impending forced marriage (and likely her subsequent murder). It was, however, a risky and wildly Gryffindorish plan that would sacrifice most of his long term agenda and also potentially trigger a national controversy that would make Jim getting outed as a Parselmouth seem inconsequential in comparison. Which was why he was grateful that he still had seven months to come up with a less explosive alternative.

"I'm kinda more interested in what your father did to disown you," said Neville. "I know it's possible to disown a family member, but I've never heard of way that can't be reversed."

"Likewise," said Andi. "And I have some experience in this matter, seeing as how I spent several months as 'Andromeda No-Name' before Ted and I got married. Theoretically, the next Lord Black could reinstate me, but since that's most likely going to be Narcissa's boy, I'm not holding my breath. Anyway, the first few months of my expulsion were near the end of my last year at Hogwarts, and it was not a pleasant time in my life. But I survived it, and so will you. You have a good group of friends who will support you and, as I understand it, no hostile family members attending Hogwarts. I was in school at the same time as Narcissa ... and Tiberius."

"Fath... Tiberius and Narcissa Black actually went to school together?" Theo asked. "He, um, talked about her with ... well, unusual fondness, for him at least. Which, honestly, is something I never imagined him capable of. Did they ever ... date?"

"Oh, it was all so long ago, but I do think they went to Hogsmeade together a few times. That all ended when our father signed her up for a betrothal contract."

"With Lucius Malfoy?" asked Harry.

"Actually, she was supposed to marry Cassius Malfoy, Lucius's older brother. He died in an accident in ... '75 or '76, I think, and somehow Lucius ended up marrying her instead. Poor fellow. They never did get along when they were at school together. Divorce is quite rare among wizard-kind, but I'm not at all surprised to see it in their case."

Harry said nothing but simply absorbed that insight into Lucius Malfoy's personal history.

"Were there any other ... complications from losing your family name, Healer Tonks?" Theo asked while trying unsuccessfully to conceal his nervousness. "Tiberius hinted that ... that I might suffer from being called Theo No-Name."

"Trust me, Theo," she said authoritatively. "It doesn't hurt in the slightest to be disowned from people who hate you and who you hate back."

Theo smiled wanly. "Yeah, but he said it wasn't just a disownment. It's something special that has to be filed with the Wizengamot tomorrow morning." Theo closed his eyes and summoned up the memory. "Sanctumen Ultimo, he called it. Do you know what that is?"

Andi shook her head no, but then she and the three boys were startled when Augusta Longbottom dropped her tea cup to the floor and stared at Theo in shock.

"Theodore," she said intently. "This is very important. Do you mean to say that when your father disowned you, he did so pursuant to the Ultimate Sanction provision of the Inheritance Act?"

Theo looked at her in surprise before stammering an answer. "He never said anything about the Inheritance Act or gave the English translation. He just called it the Sanctumen Ultimo. Why?"

But Augusta didn't answer. She was already up and briskly walking towards the floo. A dash of floo powder later, she was practically yelling into the fire. "Podmore Residence, London."

"Gran, what's going on?" asked a suddenly nervous Neville, but the woman shushed him. Seconds later, Artemus Podmore poked his head into the flames.

"Augusta? What's wrong? Is it something with Harry?" he asked.

"No ... at least not directly, although I'm sure he'll be very interested in what you have to say. Please come through. It's very important"

Three minutes later, Harry's solicitor was seated across from Theo, listening to the boy's story with a grave expression. Then, he turned to the group and explained the history of the Sanctumen Ultimo, the Ultimate Sanction.

In 1588, England was attacked by an alliance of wizards and Muggles from Spain led by Duke Estaban de Cortez y Slytherin, the most powerful and influential descendant of Salazar Slytherin alive at the time. The invasion was repulsed by a combination of Muggle seamanship, wizarding weather-manipulation, and copious amounts of luck. While the British victory was a source of immense national pride to the Muggles during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the Wizengamot took a more jaundiced view of what had been the most serious magical attempt to conquer the nation since the time of William the Conqueror. Their fears were exacerbated by the fact that there remained several British wizarding families, including four who held seats in the Wizengamot itself, who were openly descended from Salazar Slytherin and who were suspected of divided loyalties, if not actual treasonous intent. After much heated discussion, the Wizengamot eventually passed the Inheritance Act of 1588 which enacted sweeping reforms to the process by which Heirs to Wizengamot families could eventually claim their family seats. It also required the various Slytherin-descended families to disclaim their heritage, take new family names, swear allegiance to Wizarding Britain over all other nations ... and expel any family members who refused to comply. To facilitate this last requirement, the Sanctumen Ultimo was added to the Act to ensure that no descendant of Salazar Slytherin nor any other wizard whose heritage threatened the body politic would ever be able to make use of his family's resources in the process.

"But ... the Notts aren't descended from Slytherin," Theo said in confusion. "Are we?"

"We have no way of knowing, but it doesn't really matter," Artie said. "The Ultimate Sanction was not limited to Slytherin families even though that was the reason for its passage. It can be used against any member of a family with a hereditary Wizengamot seat whose Lord judges that family member guilty of treason or any other action which if left unchallenged threatens the survival of the family."

"Treason?! All I confessed to was stealing a few minor family heirlooms! And I didn't really even do that!"

Artie sighed. "I'm sorry, Theo, but the statute ... doesn't actually define what sorts of crimes can be used to justify the Ultimate Sanction. The Inheritance Act was passed in a time of national panic and included many clauses that in retrospect were ill-advised. The only thing that has prevented misuse of the Ultimate Sanction for the past 400 years has been social convention. And for the most part, that's been enough. There were about a dozen wizards from Slytherin families subjected to the sanction in the immediate aftermath of the law's passage, and no more than a half-dozen in the four centuries since, all of whom were wizards and witches who'd already been sent to Azkaban for serious crimes. I don't think it's been invoked at all in over a hundred years, and I've never heard of a Wizengamot Lord using it frivolously out of sheer spite towards a family member, but ... I'm afraid nothing in the law actually forbids that."

"How bad is this, Artie?" Harry asked. "What will the effect on Theo be?"

"At its fundamental level, it works sort of like an Oath of Enmity except that it targets an individual with a social curse levied by the Wizengamot rather than calling upon the personal magic of a family head."

"An Oath of Enmity," Theo said. "Like what was going on between the Weasleys and the Malfoys." He shook his head and sighed deeply. "In other words, Alex is going to hate me for the rest of my life. Okay. I ... I can deal with that. Just so long as he's safe."

Artie looked at the boy with profound sadness and then shook his head. "Theo, I'm ... sorry, but ... it's not just your family."

Harry's eyes narrowed at that. "Go on, Artie."

"It's like a curse of enmity, but it affects everyone in your former family, plus all their vassals." He took a deep breath. "Plus everyone with whom House Nott has sworn a reciprocal oath ... and all of their family members and vassals. It's like ... a web of hatred that connects to every wizard who's connected to your former house via a magical oath of any kind, no matter how indirect. And since House Nott is an Ancient and Noble House..."

Silence fell on the room. Theo leaned back against the chair and closed his eyes.

"We ... the Notts have reciprocal oaths with everyone who has a Wizengamot seat," he said quietly. "The whole world's going to hate me."

"Theo, come on," said Neville. "That's not true. You'll always have a place here with use. Isn't that right, Gran?" He turned back towards Augusta but was shocked by the stricken look on her face. "Uh, Gran?" He asked again more nervously, but it was Artie who answered.

"Tomorrow morning," he said in a grim voice, "Nott's solicitor will fill the papers sometime around 9 a.m. Shortly thereafter, every member of the Wizengamot, all of their families, all of their employees, and even anyone they've loaned money too will all be affected. When any of those people even think about Theo, they will immediately feel an overpowering sense of dislike. They will distrust everything he says. They will believe any negative stories they hear about him and discount any positive stories."

"You mean they'll act towards Theo like Muggles do around me," said Harry bitterly. Artie looked at him in surprise. "It's okay, Artie. Everyone here knows."

Artie had an almost pained expression on his face. "I see. Well, you're right. The reactions will be similar, although we have checked you for magic similar to this, and your ... condition is not related. And I don't think the Ultimate Sanction will likely trigger any violent responses against Theo, just gestures of contempt or dislike." He turned to Neville. "And yes, Neville, as Heirs to Ancient and Noble Houses, you and Harry will both be affected. Your Heir's ring won't protect you, Neville. If anything, it will make the effect more pronounced. Harry will be less affected because of his Occlumency training, but even then there will be problems."

"Such as?" Harry said in a clipped voice. Artie looked back to him and was mildly startled. The boy's eyes looked ... greener than usual.

"Ahem. Well, with your level of Occlumency, it would be possible for you to block out the imposed feeling of enmity, though it would likely be exhausting to do so constantly. However, those who can resist the effect and who choose to associate with Theo for extended periods of time will also eventually become subject to the enmity albeit in a lesser form. If you maintain an open friendship with Theo at Hogwarts, eventually your fellow students who are affected will look upon you the same way they do him. The safest course would be to publicly feign a dislike for him while keeping your continued friendship a secret. And if your friendship came out, it might be something your father could use against you."

"Harry..." Theo began, but Harry interrupted without even looking towards him.

"What about teachers at Hogwarts? Is there anyone who won't be affected? Surely Dumbledore won't start to hate Theo because of this."

"Teachers and staff will not be affected, as Hogwarts is shielded by its treaties with the Wizengamot and the Ministry. I imagine Muggleborns will be unaffected, as will most Halfblood students whose parents are neither Ministry employees nor bound by oath to any Noble House. Ministry employees and their families may or may not be affected depending upon their department. Healers are immune, since their oaths are to provide healing regardless of personal feelings about their patients. Likewise solicitors like myself."

"So how do we end it?" Neville interrupted angrily. "Lord Nott talked about adoption or marriage..."

"Yes," said Andromeda. "That is how I was able to take Ted's family name."

Artie shrugged. "Marriage would do it, I suppose, but both you and your prospective spouse would have to be over the age of seventeen and also have the approval of your spouse's head of house. Adoption could theoretically be done faster, but not just anyone can adopt Theo under these circumstances. As a practical matter, only another Noble family could do it, and they could only avoid falling under the Sanction if a member of the family owed Theo a life debt or if some comparable level of oath magic was in play."

"Theo saved my life," said Neville firmly. "And we've already offered him sanctuary."

"Neville," said Augusta gently. "While you may feel that Theo helped to save you back during your first year at Hogwarts, the actual requirements for a true life debt were not satisfied. You don't actually owe him a life debt. I'm sorry, but we cannot simply ... adopt Theo." She looked over to the other boy sadly. "No matter how much I would like to."

Theo smiled at her. "I appreciate that, Lady Augusta."

"Would the Sanction survive the death of Lord Nott himself?" Harry asked in a cold voice. A hush fell on the room as everyone turned to look at him. After a few seconds, Artie coughed softly into his hand.

"Yes. Yes, I'm ... afraid it would. Short of the two procedures I've outlined to secure a new name for Theo, the effects of the Sanction will last for the rest of his life and be passed on to any children he has. Historically, most people subjected to the Sanctumen Ultimo eventually fled the country rather than spend their entire lives as ... untouchables."

At that moment, there was a sudden flair of light from the fireplace and a voice called through.

"Longbottom Manor!" Theo's eyes widened in recognition and surprise. "This is Alexander Nott of House Nott. With your permission, I'd like to come through to see my brother."

At Theo's request, Lady Augusta quickly allowed his brother through. Though Theo had talked about him often, this was the first time Harry had seen the older Nott brother. A Sixth Year at Durmstrang, Alex looked like a taller and fitter version of his brother, though he wore his hair short, almost in a buzzcut, compared to Theo's shaggy moptop. He was still wearing part of a Durmstrang uniform when he came through the floo and bowed to Lady Augusta.

"Your ladyship, I hope you will forgive my forwardness, but I fear my time may be short. Might I speak to my brother alone. I swear on my fam... on the honor of my school that I will give all due respect to your hospitality."

Augusta nodded at his self-introduction and then directed the two brothers to the nearby library. As soon as they were gone, Harry went over to speak with Artie who argued quietly with him for a few minutes before they heading to over the floo themselves. To Neville's surprise, they were going to Potter Manor. Meanwhile, Andromeda stood lost in thought for a moment before heading through the floo herself to the Tonks Clinic.

Minutes later, when Alex and Theo were alone, the older boy pulled his sibling into a tight embrace. Finally able to relax his self-control for the first time in days, Theo broke down and wept into Alex's chest.

"I'm sorry ... it's all my fault! I sh-should have hidden those things better. I'm so sorry, Alex."

"Shhh, Theo! Stop that. It's not your fault. It's all mine, not yours!"

Theo looked up at the other boy. "How can it be your fault? You weren't even there!"

Alex stepped back with a sad expression. "Theo, Father's known that I gave you the ring and the other heirlooms since last summer."

Theo could only stare, dumbstruck.

"He demanded the ring back last July when you were at the Malfoys. He needed it for something. Still don't know what. But when I couldn't produce it, he knew I'd given it to you and demanded that I tell him what else I'd given you." Alex ran his hands through his thin hair. "We had a big row over it. Finally, I gave him an ultimatum."

Theo did a double-take. "You ... gave him an ultimatum?"

Alex nodded. "I was confirmed as Heir Apparent by that point, and in another year, I'll be of age. I told him that if he didn't leave you alone, I'd go to the DMLE and denounce him as a Death Eater. Say I had proof that he'd faked being under the Imperius. We went round and round and finally ... we cut a deal." He looked down at the floor, his face flushed with shame. "I'm just sorry I wasn't clever enough to make it a better one."

The younger boy stared at Alex in confusion. "What kind of deal?"

"We swore an Unbreakable Vow. He was supposed to leave you alone. He wouldn't hurt you. He wouldn't disown you. He wouldn't do anything to interfere with your Hogwarts education." Alex blinked away his own tears of frustration. "The oath he swore to you this morning? There wasn't anything in it that he hadn't already sworn to." He shook his head ruefully. "It was all my fault. If I hadn't pushed so hard, he'd have never started looking for a loophole and never found that damnable Ultimate Sanction!"

Theo stood very quiet, almost without breathing. The knowledge that the elder Nott's Unbreakable Vow from this morning was meaningless was less important than what else Alex had said. "You both swore an Unbreakable Vow? Alex, what did you swear? What was your part of it?"

The boy sighed loudly. "Luckily nothing too bad. So long as he doesn't try to harm you, I'm bound not to reveal any family secrets. I can still talk to you for the time being because ..." he drifted off.

"Because he'll continue thinking of me as family until tomorrow morning." Theo thought ruefully. "What else?" he asked urgently. "Tell me!"

"Nothing worth mentioning," Alex replied.

"ALEX!" Theo practically yelled. Finally, Alex shook his head.

"Like I said, nothing important. You know that father's insane, especially when it comes to the Dark Lord. He's convinced that You-Know-Who will come back from the grave someday and lead the Purebloods to glory. It's all rubbish, of course. Dead is dead. I even asked Headmaster Karkaroff about it one time – it's not common knowledge, but he was a Death Eater in his youth – and he was emphatic that the Dark Lord was dead for good. So when Father demanded it in exchange for his oath to leave you be, I swore that if the impossible happened and the Dark Lord returned bodily, I would swear allegiance to him and take the Dark Mark."

Alex shook his head and laughed at the absurdity of his father's demand. "Like I said. Nothing worth mentioning."

Theo could only stare speechless with horror at his older brother who had unwittingly sold his soul on Theo's behalf and gotten nothing to show for it.

An hour later, it was time for Alex to say goodbye. Harry and Artie had returned from Potter Manor after less than twenty minutes, and whatever had happened left Harry mad enough to spit nails. Soon after, Andromeda also returned, with Ted Tonks along for the ride. Alex gave Theo one last hug before he left and whispered one last farewell.

"Just remember. When we see each other again, the Sanction may make me act terribly towards you, but remember – it's not me. In my heart, Theo, I will never stop loving you."

Then, Alex Nott wiped his eyes and stepped back through the floo to Nott Hall. He would never recognize Theo as his brother again.

The rest continued to talk until well after midnight. After a long private conversation, Ted and Andromeda Tonks announced that they would take in Theo for the summer. As Ted was a Muggleborn and Andi was disowned from her House, neither would be affected by the Sanction. They could not formally adopt the boy, but so long as their fostering was kept quiet, they would suffer no adverse reaction from putting a roof over his head. They would return to Hogsmeade tonight and prepare a room while Theo spent one last night with Harry and Neville.

21 June 1993

The Tonkses returned for Theo the next morning and transported him back to their clinic-slash-home for the summer. Augusta, suddenly no longer hungry, excused herself, leaving Neville and Harry to finish their breakfast in relative silence.

"So," Neville said after a few minutes. "We never got round to talking about it last night, but what happened when you went to Potter Manor."

"Nothing," Harry spat. "Literally nothing. James said that he's sorry, but there's no legal options to prevent Tiberius from using the Sanction against Theo. He did promise to talk to Pettigrew and see if there were any legal hurdles they could throw up to stop the Nott-Wilkes wedding. And while I may not care for Peter Pettigrew very much, he is a good lawyer. He may be ... sketchy but it's not like he's a Death Eater or anything."

Neville nodded and ate his breakfast in silence for a few minutes.

"What?" Harry finally said. Neville looked up at him in surprise. "You want to ask me something but are nervous about it. Natural legilimens, remember?"

The other boy made a face. "That's going to get annoying, I think." He played with his food for few seconds before speaking again. "Last night ... what you asked Artie ... about whether Lord Nott's death would end the Sanction... How serious were you?"

Then, it was Harry's turn to play with his food for a while. "I ... dunno. If it would save Theo from ... well, what I've had to live with for my whole life, then yeah, I think I would try to arrange Tiberius Nott's death." He looked up nervously. "Do you think ... less of me for saying that?"

"No, because it's a moot point. But Harry, I remember what you asked me back in First Year. About how you wanted me to be a compass for you. And I take that seriously. Jumping straight to murdering somebody as nearly your first thought? Your compass is a little worried that you might be heading in the wrong direction."

Harry nodded but said nothing. After all, he did ask Neville to act as a moral compass for him. And he still thought he needed one. Intellectually, he understood that a boy of his age shouldn't be thinking about the practicality of murder as a way to achieve an objective. And yet, he'd been ready to kill Draco in First Year and been prevented by a minor miracle from killing Ron Weasley in his Second. He was a Slytherin being groomed to become the Prince of Slytherin, a position for which ruthlessness was an essential trait. And he was now being mentored by two former Princes, both of whom had body counts of their own. But he still recalled what Dumbledore and Scrimgeour had said as well. That killing changes a wizard. And Harry feared that such changes might be irrevocable.

"My compass ... should relax. Killing Tiberius Nott wouldn't help Theo at all. It might even make things worse for him ... and for me. Anyway, I'll ... think about what you said. Thanks Neville."

Neville smiled and returned to his eggs and toast. A few minutes later, Harry shuddered involuntarily and looked around the room.

"What?" Neville asked.

"I dunno. Felt weird for a second. Like that Muggle expression. 'Somebody just walked over my grave.'"

Neville made a face. "Muggles have weird expressions."

Harry sighed. "I suppose so."

The two were silent for a few more minutes. Then, Neville grew thoughtful. "So are you going to try to stay friends with Theo now? No matter what the cost?"

"Absolutely. We'll try to stay discreet about it, I suppose, but I don't turn my back on my friends. And you?"

Neville said nothing for a while, and Harry studied him casually. "I dunno," Neville said. "I mean it's awful what happened to him. But when all is said and done, Theo's still the son of a Death Eater. Who knows? Maybe Theo has that kind of evil inside himself. You'd expect that from someone who was raised by Tiberius Nott, wouldn't you?"

Harry bit on a piece of toast and chewed it slowly. He felt a strange coldness creeping into the pit of his stomach. "Maybe?" he finally said noncommitally.

"I mean, yes, I do owe Theo for telling me about what Remembralls did back in First Year. But was he really helping me out of the kindness of his heart? Or was he trying to manipulate me somehow? Maybe I should wait and see how everyone else reacts before I commit to staying his friend. What do you think?"

Harry swallowed and looked over Neville's shoulder at the clock on the wall. It read 9:05. The Ultimate Sanction was in effect, and it had already twisted Neville's feelings and emotions.

"If that's your decision, Neville, I respect it," Harry said in a quiet voice. But his inner voice said something very different.

"Death Eaters," he thought furiously. "I really hate Death Eaters."

40 DAYS UNTIL AZKABAN

And we're back! The next chapter will be posted on Friday, September 16, 2015. "Hermione Granger and the Revenge of the Black Hand," in which Hermione, Blaise, and Gunther take in the sights of Tuscany, and I get dinged in reviews by people who've actually been to Tuscany and can point out my mistakes.

AN 1: I have good news and bad news. The good news is, my work load has greatly increased which means more money in the bank. To be honest, I originally started working on this project out of boredom during a period of underemployment, so this is a nice change. The bad news is, my increased workload will, for the foreseeable future slow down my progress on The Death Eater Menace. I will definitely not be abandoning this work, but I don't think I can commit to weekly updates for the foreseeable future. Instead, I'm shooting for 10-15k updates every two weeks. If my writing schedule improves and/or I get more free time, you'll see more updates.

AN 2: The first several chapters will deal only peripherally with Harry, but they will establish aspects of the Wizarding World through the eyes of his friends which will definitely affect him later. That said, I actually had to significantly rework my outline for DEM because it was looking less like a Harry Potter story and more like a "Marauders reminisce about the old days for six chapters" story. I have come up with a framing device that will hopefully allow Harry to experience and possibly even interact with those memories of yesteryear. We'll see how it goes.

AN 3: Also, against my better judgment, DEM will include time travel shenanigans. It won't be the same kind of time travel shenanigans we saw in Prisoner of Azkaban, but it will be there and I'm nervous as hell about it. Wish me luck.

AN 4: As of this date, I have updated the first 7 chapters of POS. If you have a moment, take a look. I decided against sweeping changes because I thought that would undermine the later plots, but I think I've improved the dialogue to make it less clunky.