Hello, hello! I don't even know how long it's been- DON'T tell me. I'm here to finish the story by Christmas. Here's hoping I will. I just hate leaving things unfinished, and since there's still people wanting to see how this ends, well… let's see, shall we?

Hit play!

Chapter 42

It was a shambles. Catastrophe. Calamity. But that wasn't the worst of it, in Minister Dawlish's book. The worst thing about it was that she had to stand there like she had when she was a pupil, and admit to it to the Headmistress of Hogwarts and her confounded foreigner DADA Professor both of whom she had explicitly disobeyed.

Isa Dawlish sat rigidly at the edge of her armchair, in Minerva McGonagall's office. This time no tea had been offered to her, no courtesy or pleasantries had been given to cut the heavy silence that reigned in the room while the two women waited for Nikos to join them for this meeting.

Minerva's features were stony, and she too was rigid and stern like a chesspiece, and just as immobile in her chair at her desk. Behind her, all the headmasters in their frames loomed and Isa was certain they glared, or jeered silently at her for being so foolish. Tears of rage burned behind her eyeballs. This humiliation was nightmare. She was Minister! She had, for once, all the cards in the game! Why hadn't she won? Why had she had to still have limitations, to not go for broke and win when she needed it so?

She wasn't sure if she was feeling rage or disgust, and for whom.

The polite knock on the door was soft, but such had been the silence in the Headmistress' office that it served to make Isa Dawlish flinch.

"Professor Galanos," Minerva called Nikos with pointed decorum. "Please join us. The Minister is here to explain the latest happenings."

Nikos entered and, though his expression was warmer than McGonagall's, it was closed and guarded too. Isa knew that they wouldn't again impart information they felt wasn't safe for her to handle- I can virtually see them getting ready to childproof all debriefings. Damn them to hell too! She gnashed her teeth, feeling helpless. She was foolish to assume responsibility for this; it had to have been attributed to one of her underlings. Why hadn't that portrait in her room advised her to do THAT, instead of pushing her to submit to Hogwarts like still being its student, bound by it and limited by it? Because he's never been in your service. She had a good mind to burn the portrait on her way back.

"Hello, Minister Dawlish," Nikos said. "I am sorry for your aurors."

"I'd say you should be. You withheld information from me; for that I am holding you specifically responsible!" Isa snapped angrily. Nikos frowned.

"I told you that you shouldn't order that raid, that it wasn't time yet; I told you that if you tried that, you'd lose your men."

"But you didn't tell me how I'd win. And THAT's what I'd asked for," she pointed her finger at the haggard looking man accusingly. "You didn't serve me-"

"I'm sorry; I don't think you've got the picture properly," Nikos' eyes flashed angrily now, although his voice remained calm. "Never have I ever accepted or been obliged to serve you, Minster. I am not your subject and I am not in your service. I am here as a courtesy, and not to you. My allegiance lies with the Athenian Pythia, not London's Minister- and as far as contracts go, my only one on this land has been signed with Hogwarts' Headmistress. Therefore, provided I don't break any laws on your soil, you have no power to demand anything of me. Pray don't insult me like this again."

"And don't blame him for your mistakes," McGonagall said in a hissing, cutting voice that was reserved for those she felt were especially reviling. "You sent your men to their deaths, despite being told it was going to be so by an auguror. You are the only one liable, and you know it."

Isa's hands gripped her stopwatch pendant tightly, so tightly her knuckles turned white and her palms' flesh hurt.

"I wanted to rid Britain of evil."

"You will end up serving it like the useful idiot you have been so far," Snape's drawl hung in the air as he entered his portrait with a flourish. Isa didn't reply. Instead she focused all her self control into regaining her voice.

"The public cannot know of this shambles before some good news has arrived to avoid a mass panic," she said, staring angrily at the floor.

"There will be good news soon," Nikos said soothingly. "But until then, you must be patient."

Minerva watched Isa, leaning back in her chair. She was enraged that this …person had been obtuse enough, or overconfident enough to do something so undeniably stupid as going against an arithmancer's predictions on a whim. She didn't trust her. What if she was corrupt? Or worse, just inane? Was this how you were feeling when dealing with your share of ministers, Albus? Was this why you ended up being so secretive about everything you sabotaged your own self more than anyone else? She sighed.

"Minister Dawlish," she said as she sat up in her chair and knit her hands on her desk, "I cannot hide from you that what happened has troubled me greatly. I do understand your fervor, but it did cost the lives of many worthy men, and possibly will mean more effort on our part in order to defeat Isis and Osiris…"

"You don't need to rub it in," Isa said angrily. "I realize that well. It shall not happen again; I won't be able to deal with the publicity if I slip up again. I will… be far more careful of my decisions in the future. And of course my agreement to cooperate with you in this… fight against evil stands."

"Osiris has used the aurors you sent him to feed," Nikos said bluntly. "At this time he is potent, and Isis even stronger than he is. You can't afford to send him any more fodder to boost his strength, or eventually he will become all powerful- and neither you nor any of us will be able to stand against him and Isis. Is this clear, Minister?"

"It is," Isa forced herself to say. She hated to do it but she could see it; and she couldn't afford to ignore it again. Bide your time; you will get what you want. She got up. "Is there anything else?"

"We will inform you when it is time, of how to defeat this new menace," Minerva got up as well, raising her chin as she glared in warning. "Your complete cooperation as of now shall be greatly appreciated."

/

Harry was dead set on helping Rasmus create the potion he needed, and to free his bloodline from the bond to Osiris. Goodness, he could understand the young Snape perfectly. He knew exactly how it felt to be linked to the personification of all evil, to be the reason it could still cling to the world, take lives, destroy, maim and murder. He wanted to help Rasmus be freed of it, exactly like he himself had stopped being Voldermort's horcrux. It had required him to die in order to do it; and in his heart, Harry knew it really was a fluke that he lived after that.

He feared that a Snape might not be as lucky; that if it came to dying to be free of a bond to evil, whatever that had been, however innocent of the situation, a Snape would have to die and stay dead, just like Severus had been. He pursed his lips together as he walked from aisle to aisle in the library, doing his part of the research for Rasmus' potion. Maybe if I somehow manage to save your son from this fate, I will repay you, he thought of Rasmus' father. Though there was no wizard's debt binding Harry to Severus Snape, he always felt that he owed the lonely black clad man more than could ever be repaid.

Until now. Now, maybe, he could do something for Severus Snape that he would really need, even beyond the grave.

And that's why Harry studied as he hadn't studied before, following Hermione's directions and Rasmus' notes as much as possible.

"How's it going?"

He almost jumped at Rasmus' voice. How could he be so silent?

"I didn't hear you approach," he said with a little smile.

"Clearly," Rasmus' eyes twinkled in amusement as he drawled, so much like his dad, but unlike him in the same time. Despite everything, Rasmus' voice held no venom. "Well, it is a library."

"I'm making some headway, I think," Harry said quietly. "I found this; I'm sure it can be the Warding Agent you will need for a potion to protect against something as powerful as Blood Allurement." He handed Rasmus a small book titled Tutela Obviam Malum. Rasmus arched an eyebrow, impressed.

"I didn't know you could read Latin, Harry."

"I can't," Harry smirked. "But I do know a pretty good translation charm. Look here- there's a way to cast spells so they will be absorbed in potions. Your potion needs a powerful shielding agent and I think with a bit of practice I can nail that by making a spell absorb into the potion Hermione will make you."

Rasmus frowned.

"For a spell that powerful you'd need nothing sort of a Patronus."

Harry smiled smugly.

"I'm …kinda good with the Patronus spell. Didn't your dad ever tell you that about me?"

"He tended to focus on things he could despise about you," Rasmus chuckled as he handed the book back. "Let's go tell the others, then!"

/

Half of Nikos' mind was on Rasmus. Though he kept telling himself that surely, Rasmus wouldn't do anything stupid, anything foolhardy, that he was too smart for that, his heart wouldn't cease to worry. He needed to talk to him again, he needed to review those notes again, he needed to see what Rasmus was doing- but he couldn't.

Adeline Gaunt took precedence; he had to find the Key of Wind- he had to be quick, before more devastation happened, before Isis and Osiris gained more power, before they felt strong enough to attack to take his grandson again. If he was fast enough, maybe, just maybe whatever Rasmus was hatching as a plan in his mind would be irrelevant, maybe Nikos would make everything safe in time.

He needed the Key of Wind for that; and for the Key of Wind, he needed Adeline Gaunt.

So when Isa Dawlish left via floo Minerva sent for Adeline, calling her away from her class and he had to wait there, with the Headmistress, instead of going to see how his godson was doing, that he wasn't doing anything… anything that his mother or father would do. He rubbed at his temple. He was tired, he was distressed and he was worried.

And Minerva could see it, watching the Greek wizard fidget in his chair, and she sympathized. She wasn't sure what to do- talk or give him his space? So much had happened in such little time, and he had shouldered a frighteningly large part of it. She was thankful he had, but wasn't sure how to help him feel the brunt of it less.

"I am pretty sure the minister won't be a problem anymore," she ventured. "If anything, she cares about her public image too much."

"Yes, maybe," Nikos agreed absent mindedly, rubbing at his eyes. "Maybe now with the Key… I will be able to pull Isis and Osiris back to Greece with me, and deal with them there, along with my people. They will follow the Key's trace."

"You plan on leaving Britain?" Minerva was surprised and disappointed. She had hoped he would complete the term, at least.

"Just me," Nikos said, and he looked at her with eyes that were powerful and wary. "Can I count on you to keep Rasmus here, when I do? He will be safe here, while we deal with the prime wizards in Greece. We've done so before and our Hypate has dealt with Isis very efficiently. In fact she was thought to have killed her. This time we'll just make sure the job is done irrevocably."

"Of… of course, of course I'll do that Nikos," she said earnestly. "But surely I can offer you more help than just that!"

"No; that's the only thing I ask of you… just keep Rasmus here." Nikos said as if that was a great feat to achieve.

And then, Adeline Gaunt entered, watching the two wizards with alertness. Nikos stood up and smiled at her.

"Hello, Adeline. Are you ready?"

"If our agreement stands," Adeline said, though she knew that Nikos had made an Unbreakable Vow with her regarding his promise to take her to Greece if she wanted it. Nikos smiled and nodded towards Salazar's portrait.

"Cross my heart," he quipped, pulling his wand as Minerva stood to the side to allow him and Adeline to walk up to the portrait.

Salazar Slytherin looked at Adeline with smug approval, and she looked back at him with the same glance of superiority stemming from mutual understanding.

"You're going to reveal our secret to him?" he asked the girl.

"Yes," she said. "He's good enough."

"Hmph," Salazar glanced at Nikos who tilted his head a little cheekily but said nothing, waiting in expectation.

And true enough, Adeline drew in a breath and begun to hiss and slur in the eerie language that was Parseltongue; and so did Salazar's portrait.

And before Nikos' eyes, the secret to the Key of Wind's location was revealed, and he marveled in appreciation of the sheer cunning of one of Hogwarts' Founding Fathers.

Salazar Slytherin, you truly were a brilliant man.

/

And that's it for tonight! Tomorrow, more. Saturday at the latest.

Also another question for you: I am a VERY old school fanfiction user. Most of these new bells and whistles FF has are alien to me. Do you mind terribly if I still answer comments here, like we used to do back when we had to? If you do, I'll abstain from it.

Anyway, I am really looking forward to your thoughts on this. I am really writing it just for you guys, so tell me what you think. It's been some time since I last wrote any fanfiction, and fantasy at that; so I'm curious if this is at all boring to you, or it's still interesting