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Chapter Five

The Villians

Updated 4/11/2015

-o=o-

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Illyana were barely clear of the infirmary doors before they flew open again and Madam Pomfrey appeared, looking at them all quite severely, and Harry most of all. "Mr. Potter! Where do you think you are going?"

Harry turned to face her. "We have to talk to Professor Dumbledore. Someone is coming who could be very dangerous, both to the Green Lantern and everyone in school—we've got to tell him that!"

"You shouldn't be out of bed yet, Mr. Potter," Pomfrey said. She pointed toward the hospital doors. "Get back in there and lie down. I'll see that the Headmaster visits you as soon as possible."

"But this can't wait!" Hermione spoke up. "Professor—"

"Professor Dumbledore is not in charge of the hospital wing," Pomfrey overrode her. "I am. Mr. Potter, you need to lie down until you're better. Now please obey me."

"I'm sorry, ma'am," Harry said. "But this is more important." He turned and continued walking up the corridor, the other three students on his heels, and Madam Pomfrey stared at him with a mixture of outrage and admiration.

They had barely taken a dozen steps, however, before the Headmaster appeared at the other end of the corridor, followed by Professors McGonagall and Snape, and Minister Fudge. "Ah, Harry," Dumbledore said as he saw them. "I'm glad I found you—I would like a moment to discuss the events of the evening."

"I'm glad we found you, sir," Harry said, stopping as he and Dumbledore drew near to each other. He glanced at the other adults; Snape and Fudge's expressions were grim, and McGonagall looked rather unhappy, as if she were the bearer of bad news. Harry had a sinking feeling what the Headmaster wanted to talk about.

But it was McGonagall that spoke first. "Mr. Potter, we've discussed the matter of the ring and determined that it should be taken to the Department of Mysteries for further examination. I would like you to give it to me now." She stepped forward, her hand held out.

Harry took a step back. "There's something you need to know, first. The man I rescued told me that someone was following him to Earth, someone who was the most dangerous man in the universe." The adults looked startled by this — McGonagall gasped and Dumbledore's eyebrows rose, while Fudge looked at the professors in alarm. Snape merely looked as annoyed as he always did when Harry tried to tell the Headmaster something important.

"All the more reason for you to hand over the ring, Potter," Snape declared. "We will need to determine the ring's capabilities and see what it can tell us about this mystery man you say is coming to Earth — though that sounds like a wild story from an overactive imagination."

"It's not," Harry said firmly. "The ring told us all about him—he's from another planet that he tried to rule over as a dictator — the Green Lanterns stopped him and the Guardians exiled him to another universe, but he got a yellow power ring and he's back in our universe and attacking all the Green Lanterns."

Snape snorted derisively. "Obviously delusional. Potter, you may need some time in St. Mungo's. Hand over the ring."

"Harry, as Minister of Magic," Fudge chimed in. "I'm confiscating that ring as Ministry property and demand that you give up the ring immediately."

"You can't do that!" Hermione objected. "No one in the Ministry gave Harry that ring, and it's obviously not a magical object!"

"That doesn't matter!" Fudge snapped. "Potter's underage and as an orphan he is the responsibility of his legal guardian! Dumbledore, tell him to give us the ring!"

Harry stared at the Headmaster. "What — what is he saying, Professor?"

"Harry, it is true," Dumbledore spoke slowly, calmly. "When your parents died and Sirius was sent to Azkaban, I petitioned the Wizengamot to become your guardian." He gestured toward the Transfiguration professor. "Professor McGonagall became your alternate guardian should I be killed or become incapacitated. We want you to turn over the ring to Minister Fudge. You should not have to concern yourself about this person you believe is about to attack Earth."

"Hold on." Harry could scarcely believe what he'd just heard. "If you're my guardians, then why have I been living with the Dursleys for the past thirteen years?!" He voice rose to a shout on the final question.

"I've spoken to you concerning that matter," Dumbledore said. "Because of the blood protection living in your aunt's home provides you—"

"Aren't you the most powerful wizard on Earth?!" Harry demanded. "Isn't Hogwarts the safest place for me to be?!"

"Harry, it's not that simple—"

"Of course it's that simple!" Harry shouted. "Why should I trust you now when it's obvious you don't really care about me?!"
"Harry, that's not true—" McGonagall said, her voice desperate.

"I DON'T CARE!" Harry roared. He turned and pointed the other way. "Run!" he shouted, and Ron, Hermione and Illyana took off in the opposite direction, with Harry following them.

"Those foolish —" Snape's wand was instantly out as he cast a Stunning Charm after Harry. A green shield appeared behind Harry, blocking the red stunner bolt. The four students disappeared around a corner.

Snape started to give chase, but Dumbledore caught his arm in a surprisingly strong hold. "Do not go after them, Severus. If Harry is correct, we should make preparations to fortify Hogwarts' defenses from this unknown adversary he spoke of."

"You don't really believe him, do you?" Snape looked incredulous.

"For the moment, we cannot afford not to believe him." Dumbledore turned and strode away, followed by McGonagall and the Minister. Reluctantly, Snape followed.

After the hallway had emptied, a large black dog padded into it and up to the hospital doors. Sniffing the floor, it set off in the direction Harry and the others had run off in.

-o=o-

Azkaban, sitting grimly on a barren, rocky island in the North Sea, was a tall, three-sided building build of iron and steel, the only materials that could resist the destructive presence of Dementors, the primary guardians of the Ministry's prison for Dark wizards and other lawbreakers the magical British government deemed worthy of incarceration.

Today the structure was buzzing with the news that a new group of prisoners had been added to its ranks today — including, amazingly, You-Know-Who, the most famous Dark wizard of recent history, who had vowed that he would never set foot inside the building, willingly or unwillingly. That boast had been proven wrong this day as Voldemort was led down into the Command Center for processing and internment.

The Dark Lord spoke to no one as he was led down to his cell at the bottom of the prison, where he would be closest to the majority of Dementors who inhabited the nest at the bottom of the hollow center of the iron and steel structure. Even his own followers were ignored as he passed by cell door after cell door, though some of the prisoners still possessed enough clarity to understand who was passing by. The Aurors guarding his passage were taunting him cruelly, promising that his stay would be short, as Dementors did not care who they drained of their minds and magic. No one was a friend to a Dementor.

As Voldemort passed into his new cell, Sinestro landed on the top of the roof, near the portal all new prisoners had entered, into what would likely be the last place they ever lived. The tall Korugarian tested the magical wards guarding the building — they were surprising light compared to the school where Jordan had found sanctuary. Probing deeper, he found that most of the magic was concentrated below him, in the levels below the top floor.

Moving toward the hollow center, Sinestro found magical wards preventing objects capable of magical flight from working inside the shaft. The magic didn't affect his ring, however. At the bottom of the shaft were — things. Very dark, very evil things. Sinestro smiled in anticipation, but an attempt to communicate with the things produced no response. It was as if his ring sensed nothing intelligent about them.

What it did sense was, oddly, a source of energy. The things at the bottom of the shaft were reservoirs of fear and desperation, the very emotional energy that fueled his ring. If they could be returned to Qward and placed inside the Yellow Power Battery, they would increase its power many times over. That could be desirable if he found humans here worthy of a Yellow Ring.

The yellow beam of Sinestro's power ring reached out to the portal door barring entrance to the command center below. The door was locked, and the locking mechanism seemed impervious to whatever force the Korugarian threw against it. Some mystical energy was preventing him from breaking the metal. Sinestro smiled grimly. Just how wide did that mystic energy extend?

The door and lock couldn't be broken, but the metal roof surrounding the portal was not similarly enchanted. It was no wonder—the metal roof was nearly a foot thick. But against the power of Sinestro's ring it may as well have been cardboard. Great yellow claws formed, tearing into the roof and ripping out a section a dozen feet in diameter. Sinestro threw the torn-off roof over the edge and flew down into the room below.

The Aurors, taken unawares, nevertheless were quick to open fire on the stranger who had someone breached Azkaban. Stunners and other curses bounced off the protective glow of Sinestro's ring. The tall, red-skinned alien looked about the room, calmly assessing the threat level of the building's defenders. The magic bolts and flashes were ineffective against his shielding. When he shot a bolt of yellow energy toward one of the humans, however, it was stopped by an invisible shield of some kind, evidently erected by the human's magic. Their magic and his yellow energy, therefore, were at a stalemate.

Sinestro's ring, however, could do more than create energy constructs. It could instill fear. Sinestro pointed his ring at the nearest human, who was frantically hurling spells at him. The ring flashed and the man froze. Fantastic, horrible images danced before his eyes. "No!" he shouted. "That can't be! My family is dead! NO!" Dropping his wand, the man fell over onto the floor, curling into a ball.

As other humans went to his aid, Sinestro exposed their greatest fear to each of them, causing them to pass out, to shriek in terror and begin cursing everyone else in the room, or to turn their wands on themselves. One human shouted "Expecto Patronum!" causing a silver animal to appear and run toward the tall alien, but it could not penetrate his shield. The human quickly succumbed to his own fears and the silver animal disappeared.

With all of the human guards thus incapacitated, Sinestro used his ring to locate the human named Barty Crouch, who had been placed in a cell near the bottom of the building. Phasing through the floors of the building, Sinestro entered his cell, finding the human slumped in a corner.

"Human," Sinestro said, using his ring to translate from his standard Korugarian language to the human's. "Why are you here?"

Crouch's eyes were hooded, almost unseeing. He had heard the strange being speaking to him, but the Dementors had already drained him of whatever happy thoughts he might have had before arriving here. "Human, speak!" Sinestro demanded. A beam from his ring enveloped Crouch, lifting him off the floor and holding him upright. "Why have you been brought here?"

"Found — out," Crouch said in a disjointed voice. "Potter found me. Figured out — who I was. Not that smart. I had to help him all year. He shouldn't have figured it out." He was looking at Sinestro without seeing him, as if he were speaking only to himself.

"Pah," Sinestro spat. "You are not worthy. Where is your master, the one they call Voldemort?"

Crouch's head jerked up. It was the first real sign of life he had displayed. "You dare speak his name?! The Dark Lord rules us all, do not speak his name in vain —"

"No one rules Sinestro!" the alien growled, shaking Crouch like a rag dog. "Do you hear me, you filthy human?!" He threw the wizard back into the corner and flew into the corridor outside the cell. "Hear me!" he shouted, his ring amplifying and transmitting his voice so that it carried throughout the prison. "I am Sinestro! I seek the human called Lord Voldemort! Make your presence known to me!"

For long seconds there was silence. Then a voice shouted out, "Here I am!" Other voices followed. "I'm here!" "Over here, it's me!" "I'm the one you seek!"

Then a high clear voice spoke. "I am Lord Voldemort," it said, and Sinestro detected truth in those words, and those words alone. Flying to their source, he entered a cell on the very bottom level of the prison, finding inside a tall, pale man with snakelike features. The man was standing tall in spite of the Dementors that slowly drained him of life and vitality. But they could not steal his happiness, for he had very little to be happy about even before being brought here.

"What do you wish of Lord Voldemort," he said to the tall, oddly-shaped being standing before him.

"How would you like to rule this world?" Sinestro asked him.

-o=o-

Harry and the others kept running, going higher and higher in the castle, until they reached the seventh floor. "Where are we going?" Illyana finally asked, as Harry slowed to a walk to catch his breath.

"I—" Harry stopped, breathing heavily. The Rennervate spells Ron and Hermione had cast on him had given him some energy, but he wasn't completely recovered. "I don't know." He looked at his fellow Gryffindors. "Back to the common room?"

"They'll come looking for us there," Hermione disagreed. "We need somewhere they won't think to look."

"Fred and George know every inch of the castle," Ron suggested. "Maybe they know someplace."

That made Harry think a moment. "Good idea," he agreed. "But we don't have to drag them into this." He held up his hand, the ring on his finger glowing bright green. A green beam shot off down the corridor.

"Drag them into this?" Ron repeated perplexedly. "You know they love this kind of stuff! Look at everything they've been into this year with Bagman, and trying to get into the Tournament, and—"

But Ron's words trailed off as the beam returned, carrying at its end a large piece of parchment. The parchment flew into Harry's hands and he pulled out his wand and tapped it, saying, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

Patterns began drawing across the parchment, forming a rooms, halls and stairways, along with secret and common passages. Dots began appearing, dots with a person's name next to each of them. "Oh, of course," Ron said, smacking himself on the forehead. "The Marauder's Map!"

"Right," Harry nodded. "I hope we can find someplace in the castle where nobody goes." He held out the Map so everyone could look at.

"This is the entire castle?" Illyana asked. "It's bigger than I thought."

"Eight floors," Hermione said, a little haughtily. "It has 142 staircases in it."

Illyana regarded her with an even stare. "Fascinating," she said, in a clearly sarcastic tone. She turned back to Harry. "So anything jumping out at you?"

"No," Harry said glumly. There didn't seem to be any place in the castle devoid of moving dots. "There's no place on the Map we can go."

"So what do we do?" Ron asked. He looked at Hermione.

She looked back at him, mildly annoyed. "Don't look at me, Ron. Maybe we could hide in the kitchens with the house-elves."

Ron looked interested at that. "I could use a bite about now," he admitted. Hermione sighed in exasperation.

"Oh, look!" Illyana suddenly pointed down the corridor. "A doggy!"

The large black dog that had followed them from the hospital ward padded up to them, its tail wagging. The dog looked up at Harry with something like a grin on its face as Illyana stepped over and began petting it. "He's so cute!" The dog's tail wagged even harder.

"That's not a dog," Ron said. "That's — ouch!" he stopped talking and began rubbing his side where Hermione had elbowed him.

"It's okay, Sirius," Harry said, gesturing to Illyana. "She'll keep your secret, too."

"What secret?" Illyana asked. She took a step back as the dog's form suddenly shifted, becoming a tall, dark-haired man with thin yet handsome features.

The tall man smiled at her. "I'm Sirius," he said.

"Me, usually not so much," Illyana retorted. "Serious, that is."

"Illyana, this is Sirius Black. He's my godfather," Harry said. "I'm glad you're here," he said seriously, to Sirius. "I've got this ring —"

"I know, Harry," Sirius broke in. "I was waiting in Dumbledore's office to see you after the Tournament when he came in with McGonagall, Snape and the Minister. I turned into Padfoot and sat in a dark corner while they discussed taking the ring from you." He shook his head angrily. "Bloody Snape! He kept insisting you were too 'unstable' to use the thing! He needs taking down a few pegs."

"There's bigger problems than Snape," Harry informed him. "Someone's coming here to kill Jordan, the man that had this ring. Jordan told me the man was the most dangerous person in the universe, and this ring gave me information on him. He's got a ring like this, but it uses yellow energy instead of green."

Sirius was staring at the ring on Harry's finger. "Where does this green energy come from?" he asked.

"I have no idea," Harry said. He hadn't thought about it until Sirius's question. "I thought it was inside the ring."

"We still have to find someplace where they won't find us," Ron reminded them.

"Any ideas?" Harry asked Sirius. "I've got the Marauder's Map here…"

Sirius thought for several seconds. "I can't think of anyplace offhand. Maybe one of the house-elves would have an idea."

"I don't think the house-elves like us much right now," Ron said, giving Hermione a hard look. "Hermione kept knitting caps for them, so they've all stopped cleaning Gryffindor Tower because of it." Hermione glared back at him.

"I can think of one elf who might help," Harry said, then called out, "Dobby!"

There was a soft crack and a small, oddly-shaped humanoid appeared in front of Harry. It had enormous ears and tennis-ball sized eyes, and was clothed in a pillowcase and about a half-dozen knitted caps on each of its ears. "Dobby is coming at Harry Potter's call," the elf said happily, bowing until his nose almost touched the floor. Extraordinarily, all of the caps remained on his ears as he bowed.

"Dobby, I have a question," Harry said. "We need to find someplace in the castle where we can stay without Professor Dumbledore or the other teachers finding us. Or anyone, really, not even the ghosts. Do you know anyplace like that?"

"Of course, Harry Potter!" Dobby said happily. "Dobby knows just the place sir can use!"