A/N: Well, the surgery went well..., I suppose. Don't remember a blessed thing. All I recall was watching them cut the covering off my hand that they had wrapped it in after scrubbing it down, and then someone saying, "OK, all done."

Just that easy, folks.

Now recovery is a different matter. First of all, what it feels like when you leave the hospital and what it feels like five hours later are worlds apart, let me tell you. When I left the hospital I was thinking "Hey, this ain't all that bad." Five hours later I was thanking God for the foresight to have picked up my pain pills the day before.

They don't work, by the way.

But my parents, God bless them, took me in and proceeded to let me do absolutely nothing. Which was more frustrating than anything. I know it was for the best and all, but horribly boring. By Monday I was already working from home answering e-mails and trying to sort out problems without the help of my beloved database. Oh well.

Oh, and let me tell you, fellow non-ambidextrous people, you get use to doing things one handed REAL quick when you have to.

And as always,

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: All characters of the Harry Potter series (hereafter known as 'legal property') are the sole ownership of J.K. Rowling (hereafter known as 'owner of said legal property'). No infringement on any copyright of owner of said legal property of the legal property is knowing intended. Published by author (hereafter known as 'other') for entertainment purposes only. No monetary or personal gain was knowingly made by other with the publication of this story, which was based on ideas and characters created by owner of said legal property as they pertain to legal property. No plagiarism of legal property or of any ideas of the owner of said legal property was knowingly intended by other. This statement is fully transferable and is legally held binding for all chapters of the story Family Relations as they are presented under different chapter headings and titles for individual chapters.

: All characters of the Harry Potter series (hereafter known as 'legal property') are the sole ownership of J.K. Rowling (hereafter known as 'owner of said legal property'). No infringement on any copyright of owner of said legal property of the legal property is knowing intended. Published by author (hereafter known as 'other') for entertainment purposes only. No monetary or personal gain was knowingly made by other with the publication of this story, which was based on ideas and characters created by owner of said legal property as they pertain to legal property. No plagiarism of legal property or of any ideas of the owner of said legal property was knowingly intended by other. This statement is fully transferable and is legally held binding for all chapters of the story as they are presented under different chapter headings and titles for individual chapters.

CHAPTER NINE-PART B: HERSHEL BENNETT

Harry stared mutely at his uncle for several seconds. "Bo?"

"For the most part, Harry, Bo is fairly easy going. He just plain likes everything. Especially if its new. New people, new experiences, learning new things. He's like a curious child. I've never known him to hate anything or anybody. But I have found over the years that there's one person in this world that Bo dislikes. And that is Hershel Bennett."

"But I thought Bo didn't dislike anyone?"

"He doesn't 'hate' anyone. Harry." Orion corrected. "Bo dislikes people. Or more accurately, he has some people he likes more than others. But Hershel Bennett just seems a special category to him. He just genuinely doesn't like him."

"Why?"

"Again, I'm not really sure. I've ask him a few times what it is about Hershal he doesn't like."

"What does he say?"

"He says it's because Hershal is 'bad'."

"That's it? Because he's bad?"

"You have to understand, Harry. That's very unusual for Bo. Generally he only defines things as 'like' or 'dislike'. His personal feelings about something. Hershal is the only thing Bo has ever assigned a distinct moral judgment to."

"So what does he do that makes him 'bad'?"

Orion sighed again. "It's not what he does, Harry. It's what he did."

"Did?"

"Maybe more accurately, what he is. You see, Hershal Bennett used to be a wizard, Harry."

The teenager frowned. "'Used to be'? He looks like a wizard to me."

"Looks can be deceiving, or haven't you heard?"

"So if he's not a wizard, what is he?"

Orion paused as he looked at the ceiling. "That, Harry, is a very good question. And the answer is entirely dependent on who you ask."

Harry frowned deeper. Didn't the man ever give a straight forward answer to anything? "You said he's your uncle."

"He's 'sort of' my uncle, Harry. Didn't you ever have anyone who came around so often you just sort of 'made' them part of the family?"

Harry gave a short, derisive laugh. "With the Dursley's? You have to be kidding. For most people, one visit was enough."

"Well, what about Sirius when you were a baby? My understanding was he all but lived at your parents house."

"But I don't remember any of that. I only know what people tell me."

"Well, trust me then. Some people have relatives based more on 'occupational standards' than blood relation. And that is sort of what my uncle is about. I have no real blood relatives since my father is an only child, as was his father before him. But I always had an Uncle Hershal."

"So who is he then?"

"My father, Harry, was a member of the Ministry before the Unspeakables formed. But the branch he belong to was sort of the precursor of my Department. They were the elite of the Ministry's Aurors. The very best wizards and witches working in enforcing laws at that time. And much like the Unspeakables now, each member of this department had a partner. That person, for my father, was Hershal Bennett."

"Sort of like police in the muggle community."

"Very much like that. Except their job was to track down renegade witches and wizards. And when it came to getting the job done, there was no one better at bring someone in than my father and Hershal. They had the best record in the department."

"So what happened to him?"

Orion leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. "Sometimes, Harry, no matter how good someone is at something, they just aren't satisfied. And that summed up Hershal Bennett.

Hershel was a great wizard, make no mistake about that. He was as powerful as any wizard you'll ever meet. Even Voldemort had reason to be wary of the man."
"Did he ever try to go after Voldemort?" Harry ask curiously.

Orion shook his head. "At that time, Harry, Voldemort was little more than an occasional nuisance. No one had any inkling of what the man would aspire to or eventually become. So at the time, Hershel took no more notice of him than the Ministry did. And that was very little. But while Hershel's power earned him a great deal of respect, it also earned him a great deal of fear. But Hershel didn't seem to mind that. He wanted to be feared, it seemed. He equated it with respect. Somehow, that idea seemed to factor in largely to what he has become." Orion added absently.

"But despite all of that, Hershel was never satisfied with his achievements. He was never good enough to meet his own standards of adequacy. He always felt he could be better than he was, but that life had somehow short-changed him."

"So what did he do?"

"Hershel felt that if life hadn't given him what he felt he deserved, he would just have to go out and get it for himself. For Hershel that was more power. And he saw that power in two things. One was in the Dementors. A creature so powerful it could possess a human's soul."

"And the second?" Harry ask quietly.

Orion turned his attention to the cat now napping in his lap. "The second was in my family's boggart."

Harry barely stifled a laugh. "A boggart? They aren't powerful. We're taught how to banish them by third year."

Orion turned back to him. How to explain without getting too into detail?

"And I told you," he replied, "Bo isn't your average boggart. He's much more sophisticated."

"How?"

Orion paused as he chose his words carefully. "Well, for one, Bo thinks for himself...mostly. Actually, he's more like at the level of a curious three year old. And he can do magic on his own. In fact, many of the spells I knew before I started school, Bo taught me."

Orion felt he had gone a bit too far as he quickly noted the teenager's curious stare shifting to the cat.

"I never knew a boggart that did more magic than simply changing into whatever you were most afraid of." Harry commented.

Orion sighed quietly. He should have known better than to think he was going to get off lightly with this explanation. The boy was like a dog with a bone. Once he got his mind on something, his curiosity wouldn't let go until he was satisfied with the answer. But Orion's mind suddenly grabbed onto the unsettling idea. One he hadn't given much thought to until just then. Sirius was planning on adopting Harry, and that could make him a relation in Bo's eyes. And if Bo saw Harry as a relation, the son of one of his potential hosts, he would likely also see the boy as a potential host as well.

And that could spell trouble.

Big trouble.

Orion's gaze settled on the boy across from him. Is this what his own father had felt like years ago, trying to explain to him what his future might hold? Trying to explain the potential danger of it to him?

And worst yet, would the boy pay any more heed to the warning than he had?

Orion shifted the cat off his lap. It landed gracefully on its feet and turned back to him with a questioning stare.

"Bo, go check on the others for me, will you? And you can stay for a few hours, all right? Have a good play with them."

The tower of robes instantly materialized in front of Orion, bouncing about as though suddenly very excited. Bo made several gestures which Orion watched, then nodded to him.

"All right. Till dinner. Then right back here."

The hooded head nodded quickly, then disappeared.

"Where did he go?" Harry ask as soon as Bo disappeared, trying to sort out the verbally one-sided conversation.

Orion seemed to momentarily search for an answer, but then smiled slightly. "Visiting." he replied. Getting to his feet, Orion walked over and re-seated himself in one of the wing-backed chairs by the fireplace, indicating the corner of the sofa closest to him to Harry. "Come and have a seat, Harry." he stated. "We need to have a talk."

Harry cautiously seated himself on the sofa cushion. "About what?"

"Several things I had hoped we wouldn't need to discuss. But my uncle's coming here has made it necessary."

"Things like what?"

"Well, for starters, like Bo." Orion answered, suddenly feeling that maybe this was for the best after all. Harry needed to know about Bo, and it would make explaining about Hershel much easier if Harry understood the background better. "Bo isn't, as I said, you're average boggart. And explaining a bit more about him may also help explain Hershel Bennett a bit better as well. You see, Harry," he started, keeping to the highlights and deciding to let the boy's curiosity tell him how deeply he would need to elaborate on things, "a very long time ago, my family came into possession of a magical power. A very strong one. At first this power had no corporal existence. It was just a magical force. But it managed to join with a member of the family at that time, who became a sort of host for it. Allowing it to exist almost as a person."

"Join?" Harry ask. "You mean it took over their body?"

Orion shook his head. "No. This force never exerted its own will over the person. It more or less just lived through them."

"So the person it was joined to got stronger magically?"

"That was one part of it, yes. The beneficial side. But there was a price to pay for this magical enhancement as well."

"Which was?"

"You couldn't use it."

Harry almost laughed. "Then what was the point?"

"The 'point', Harry, was that my family brought this force into existence, and we were, therefore, responsible for it. Without us, it had no existence. And abandoning it would have been cruel. It would have been like turning a child out into the world alone. It needed an anchor. Someone to guide it and keep it safe. Such is the responsibility of my family. And when the force was brought into existence, a decision was made who would be the host for each generation. The choice was made that the role would fall to each eldest male."

Orion saw recognition forming in the boy's expression.

"So," Harry stated, drawing out the word as he thought the information over, "since you're older than Sirius, this force came to you?"

Orion shook his head again. "No. The 'Power', as we called it originally, stays with a host until the host dies. Currently, that would have been my father."

"Would have been?"

"My father knew that there were certain physical dangers to the host, especially if they chose to use the 'Power'. And so he decided it was time to find a new vessel for the 'Power'. One that was safer for all involved."

Orion thought he could practically smell the smoke as the teenager thought over what he told him.

"You said your family originally called it the 'Power'." he commented. "What do you call it now?"

Orion smiled slightly. "Currently, Harry, we call it 'Bo'."

"Bo?" Harry exclaimed, his mouth dropping open.

Orion frowned a the boy's reaction. "You sound surprised."

"Well, I thought you had turned this 'Power' over to Hershel Bennett. I mean, you said he was a very powerful wizard. Maybe even more so than Voldemort. I thought maybe your family had turned the care of the 'Power' over to him. That he was now the host."

"I'm sure Hershel would have loved nothing better."

"Does he know about the 'Power'?"

Orion nodded. "Yes. But not many others do, Harry. Please keep that in mind. Our family's goal is to protect Bo. Not abuse him in what he could do for us."

"Protect him from what?"

"Bo is a force of magic, Harry. And a very powerful one."

"A boggart?" Harry ask in surprise.

"He's not just a boggart any more, Harry. Stay with me, please. Don't get ahead of the story. Now true, Bo is a boggart in the physical sense. But joining him with the 'Power' elevated his status to the equivalent of a very precocious three year old. Emphasis on the word 'very'. Now, in regards to what Bo needs protecting from, try thinking of it this way; suppose the Ministry got wind of any of this? A powerful 'tapable', force of magic. Pure magic. How do you think they would react to that?"

Harry didn't need to think about it very long. "They'd want to use it."

"The word you're looking for, Harry, is 'exploit'. And that's just what they would do to Bo. Exploit him for their own gains. And it wouldn't be hard. Bo is very naive when it comes to peoples true motives. As I said, he's little more than a big three year old, and just as trusting. He stays with us because out in the world he would literally be nothing more than fodder for any one wanting to abuse him. My family brought him into existence and it's our responsibility to see he's protected."

"So if Bo is the host for the 'Power', where does Hershel Bennett figure into all of this?"

Orion leaned back in his chair. "That's a bit longer story." he sighed. "As I said, my father wanted to find a new vessel for the 'Power'. But in order to do that, he would have to separate Bo from his current physical host. Something he knew he couldn't do on his own."

"But why did he want to put it anywhere? Why not just...dispel it?"

"My father never wanted to 'get rid' of the 'Power' in the physical sense, Harry. He understood the 'Power' was a sentient being." Orion frowned briefly at his own description. "Well, it was sentient anyway. And so he could never justify what he would have termed 'killing it'. But he wanted it...free of the family...as much as he wanted the family free of it. He wanted to allow the 'Power' to experience more of an independent life, not just live vicariously through the whims of its host. To learn to live in the world since it was, more or less, stuck here. And in order to do that he had to come up with another host. And he came up with one idea after another about how to do it. All of which he shared with only two people. My mother was one. And the other was..."

"Hershal Bennett." Harry supplied quietly.

"Exactly. My father talked all of his plans over with Hershal concerning the 'Power'. And that was how Hershal found out about it's existence to begin with. The problem was, that as my father talked to Hershal about it, he never noticed how interested Hershal was getting.

Hershal simply could not understand how my father could consider 'throwing away' such an opportunity. To separate himself from such an intense magic and place it at the hands of basically...a three year old. The issue was the point of a great many arguments between them. Hershal often told my father that if he simply wanted another host for the 'Power', to use him. He would gladly accept being the new host. My father told him that it wasn't possible. That the 'Power' could only be passed from father to son in our genetic line."

"But then how could he use the boggart? He's not related to your family."

"No. But when you think about it, Harry, what is the genetic structure of a boggart like? A creature that can become anything for all intents and purposes. Living or non-living. My father believed the boggart's genetic code was so loosely woven to begin with, that a simple transformation at the time of the transfer was all that was needed to make it successful. And based on the results, he was right.

But Hershel never stopped thinking about all the potentials of the 'Power', or what that much consolidated magical energy could do for him. All of which my father out-rightly refused to accommodate him in. He tried to explain to Hershal that it was his intention to never use the 'Power'. That he understood all too well the dangers involved in such a decision.

And for a while Hershal seemed to understand and lose interest it that area. Instead he became nearly as fanatical as my father in finding a way to place the 'Power' in a new host. They worked for weeks on different spells. Making small adjustments here and there until they finally devised a spell that was able to accomplish their goal. Hershal was as excited at the success as my father.

But for very different reasons."

"What reasons?"

"Hershal knew he could never pursued my father to use the 'Power' for Hershal's own goals. But someone else...someone not as sophisticated...someone basically with the mind of a three year old, was far easier to manipulate. And now with the

'Power' successfully separated from my family, Hershel began to turn his attention back to his own plans.

Long before he began working with my father on placing the 'Power' in a new host, Hershel had been working on a project of his own. For years he had been trying to learn a way that a wizard could better control the Dementors. Or even better, harness their powers. Hershal felt he was very close to a breakthrough, but felt he needed a stronger magic to complete the final phase of his research. And now he had found one."

Harry's eyes grew wide behind his glasses. "He used the 'Power'?"

Orion frowned. "He manipulated a poor, hapless creature barely able to understand the world around it."

"What did he do?"

"One night, when I was about 10 myself, my family went out for the evening. While we were gone, Hershel came over to the house. He was one of the very few people who could apparate directly into our house. Or to be there when no one else was at home."

Orion paused as he glanced at the slowly dieing fire in the fireplace. "When we came home, the first thing my father noticed was that the door to the cellar was open. This was absolutely never allowed in the house since Bo's creation. As a boggart, he seemed to like the cellar well enough. And in his disoriented state, he simply stayed down there. My father, at the time, felt it was the best place for him until Bo was more oriented to things and my father was able to think of a better way to keep him safe while allowing him to explore things on his own.

My mother took Sirius upstairs, but I followed my father down into the cellar.

We found Hershel laying at the bottom of the stairs with Bo standing over him. My father immediately assumed the boggart had attacked his friend. He grabbed Hershel and rushed back up the stairs, pushing me in front of him as we went. Once we got to the doorway my father quickly placed a charm on the cellar that sealed it completely. Bo couldn't have gotten out if he had wanted to anymore."

Orion stared more forlornly at the fire. "Poor Bo." he commiserated. "As if things weren't confusing enough for him, now he found himself a prisoner in a silent cell."

"What do you mean?" Harry ask.

Orion focused his attention back on him. "Before this happened, my father hadn't just banished Bo to the cellar. He was still, in a sense, the 'Power's' host. Still it's connection to the physical world, just not the main one anymore. He tried to help Bo understand what had happened to him. To have the 'Power' understand where it was now and why. He had spent hours with him, trying to ease some of the fear he felt in the creature. In a matter of few months he had made great progress with Bo. Bo was, in fact, with my father much as you see him with me. Once he was let out of the cellar for short times to wander the inside of the house, he would literally prowl the house looking for my father. He hated being separated from him. He was like a young child away from its parent. Once he found my father he wouldn't let him out of his sight until my father would put him back in the cellar. My father said at those times he used to make a horrible, wailing sound. Like a child crying. He simply didn't want to be alone. He often told my father being in the cellar by himself gave him a feeling he didn't much like. One that didn't hurt physically, but hurt all the same.

In short, he was lonely.

And then the incident with Hershel happened, and my father misread all the evidence. He was sure something had gone very wrong and Bo had attacked Hershel. So, deciding the spell had somehow gone wrong and Bo wasn't to be trusted any longer, my father turned the cellar into a prison. And worst than that, he wouldn't allow anyone to go into it any longer, and Bo wasn't allowed out.

For days he wailed in the cellar. But my father seemed to turn an absolute deaf ear to it all. He never even mentioned the poor thing by name anymore.

He simply ignored him."

"So what happened to him?"

"A few weeks after this, I ventured down into the cellar. I knew about Bo, of course, but only in a distanced sort of way. I knew he was a magical creature that my father kept in the house...or now kept in the cellar. And I wanted to learn more about him. So I slipped into the cellar one day and went down the stairs."

"Did he attack you?"

Orion laughed at the suggestion. "Hardly. He came up the stairs like an eager three year old running to it's big brother. He tried so hard to communicate with me. But I had no idea how he talked to my father, and he seemed frustrated that I couldn't communicate with him."

"How did your father talk to him?"

"I'm not sure. They just always seemed to understand each other. But whatever it was, I didn't have that connection to Bo. So we developed a different way to communicate. A series of gestures that meant something only to us. Bo was an excellent learner. He was so eager to just connect to someone again he patiently sat and learned every hand signal I taught him. Some were actual sign language symbols. Others, things I made up. But over the next few weeks we learned to talk to each other. And through our newly formed language, I learned a great deal about my new friend.

But shortly after that something happened that changed everything, and the relationship I had with Bo changed forever."

"What happened?"

"My acceptance letter from Hogwarts arrived. I was going away to school."

"How did that change things between you and Bo?"

"I didn't look forward to going to Hogwarts. I was a very frightened 11 year old facing a great unknown. I'd never been away from home for months at a time, and I didn't relish the idea one bit."

Harry smiled slightly at the thought, imaging the man who likely faced everything from curses to hexes as a daily occurrence being afraid to leave home.

Orion seemed to practically read his mind.

"Don't smirk." he stated. "I was eleven years old."

Harry quickly schooled his expression. "So then what?"

"Well, like any frightened child, I went to talk things over with someone I trusted, and who I felt wouldn't laugh at me."

"Like a boggart?"

"Like a friend." Orion corrected. "And yes, I went to talk to Bo. Bo told me he could devise a way that I didn't have to go to school alone. That he could go with me. A simple spell he knew that would allow him to leave the cellar."

Harry broke in suddenly. "Wait a minute! If he knew a spell to leave the cellar, why didn't he use it to escape?"

"Because the spell had to be spoken by someone else. He could teach it to me, but I had to speak it for it to work."

"Oh."

"What Bo didn't tell me was all that the spell would actually do. I thought it was simply a spell to allow him to cross past the magical barriers my father had placed around the cellar."

"But?" Harry reasoned there was more to it than that.

"But the spell had nothing to do with the barriers. In fact, it didn't affect them at all. What it did do was to allow the 'Power' to possess the person who spoke the spell."

Harry sat up suddenly on the sofa. "He made you a host for the 'Power'?" He asked.

Orion shook his head. "No. No spell can do that that I'm aware of. What this spell did was made me a channeler for the 'Power'."

Harry frowned. "So how is that different from being a host?"

"First off, there can only be one host. At the time, that was my father."

"But what about the boggart?"

"The boggart's corporeal body, such as it is, is merely a 'house' for the 'Power' to live in. The host is the 'Power's' anchor. Without the host, the 'Power' would cease to exist."

"So what does a channeler do?"

"Just what the name implies, Harry. I can channel the 'Power's' magic. All of it or just part of it. Whatever I choose. In fact, I believe what I became that day in the cellar was the very thing Hershel was trying to accomplish."

Harry had almost forgotten that part of the story. "Whatever did happen to him?" he ask.

"Ah, back to the main point." Orion agreed. "I told you I managed to formulate a language that I used to talk to Bo."

Harry nodded.

"Once Bo could 'talk' to me, he was full of questions. But the most persistent ones seemed to revolve around why was he consigned to the cellar and where was my father? He didn't understand why my father seemed so angry with him and why he wouldn't talk to him anymore.

Well, I wasn't sure either. All I knew was what I saw and what I heard my father saying that day he found Hershel in the cellar with Bo standing over him, accusing the boggart of having attack his friend.

I relayed all of this to Bo, telling him I assumed my father was angry because he had attacked Uncle Hershel.

At first Bo was confused by what I told him. I tried over and over to explain it to him. But he kept telling me I was wrong. I wasn't saying things right. Finally I got tired of fighting words with him and I simply ask him if I was wrong, what was right?

Bo then told me a very interesting story.

He said that the only person who ever came down in the cellar was my father. He would come down to talk, or listen, or to take Bo upstairs to let him look around the house, which he enjoyed most of all.

But one day, someone different came down the stairs. Someone Bo didn't recognize. But the person also wasn't alone. Bo said that the person brought with them a bad feeling."

"A bad feeling?" Harry ask.

"It took me a while, and a lot of questions, to understand what Bo meant by that too. I finally made out that the person was Hershel, and that apparently the 'bad feeling' he had brought with him into the cellar was a Dementor. And believe me, if there's one thing Bo dislikes as much as Hershel Bennett, Harry, it's a Dementor."

Harry didn't find that overly surprising until he thought about it. Bo was supposedly a boggart. Why would he dislike Dementors? "Do they effect him like they do everyone else?" he ask.

The Unspeakable turned a thoughtful stare to the ceiling again. "I don't know for sure. I don't think so. I think he just doesn't like them.""

"But how could Hershel control a Dementor that well? Sirius said that even the Azkaban guards had trouble sometimes controlling them."

"Hershel had been working on new ways to control the Dementors. Some of his methods were rumored to be very successful. But he never shared them with anyone. He said he wouldn't until his work was complete.

Apparently it was part of his work that allowed him to contain a Dementor and bring it into our house that night."

"Why would he want a Dementor with him?"

"That was what I wondered. As I said, as I continued questioning Bo I figured out the 'bad feeling' he kept referring to wasn't just a feeling, but a 'thing'. A physical presence. Bo said it was a creature he had never encountered before, but one that he didn't like. I ask Bo what the creature was, but he said he didn't know. That he had no name for it. The problem was, that in our sign language, we had no word for Dementor either. So Bo had no word to tell me for the word Hershel used to call the creature. Bo went on to tell me that Hershel had told him he wanted him to give him the powers that the creature possessed, and then get rid of the creature.

Unfortunately, Hershel made two very serious errors in his demands. One, you have to be pretty specific with Bo when telling him what you want him to do. Especially if its something new that he hasn't done before. And second, Bo would never kill anything. Good, bad, or indifferent, he simply will not kill. Least of all as indiscriminately as Hershel had told him to."

"So what happened?"

"Bo told me that he simply did what Hershel had ask, as best he could understand it. And what Bo understood was that Hershel wanted to be like the Dementor."

Harry thought for a moment before he turned back to his uncle. "Bo turned him into a Dementor?"

Orion gave a soft laugh. "No. He did worse than that."

"What could be worse?"

"Bo said the only way he could figure to give Hershel what he was demanding, was to merge the two."

"Merge them?"

"Merge them." Orion confirmed. "Each became a part of the other. And in part, Hershel got exactly what he ask for. He now has all the powers of a Dementor. The problem is, he has all the powers of a Dementor. You see, Hershel wanted a Dementor's power, but not its side effects. What he got was both."

"So he's basically...a Dementor."

"He's a Dementor that thinks, Harry. Who has the powers and capabilities of a very powerful wizard. And I can't think of anything in this world more dangerous than that."

"So what happened then?"

"Well, to make a long story short, my father found out I had been visiting Bo in the cellar and things went from bad to worse for poor Bo. My father, still operating on the assumption Bo was some deranged creature, forbade me to ever go down in the cellar again. He knew about the spell I performed because as a result, the 'Power' was able to escape its prison through me. My father was furious. He accused the 'Power' of manipulating me. Of attacking me as it had Hershel. I tried to counter his accusations against Bo. I told him what Bo had told me. I told him the whole story. Everything that happened since that fateful day. About Hershel coming over to the house, going down into the cellar. I told him what Bo said Hershel ask him to do and the result. I told him about the spell and why Bo had taught it to me. All of it.

I expected my father to laugh at me. To call Bo a liar. But to my surprise my father listened very attentively to every word I said. When I finished my father forced the 'Power' to release me, then he led me out of the cellar and shut the door. That was the last time for a very long time that I saw my friend."

"What happened to Hershel Bennett?"

"Aside from a drastic personality change? Quite a bit. And none of it good. Hershel had been a very outgoing person before Bo performed his spell. As cheerful and pleasant and friendly a man as you would ever want to know. He was handsome, rich, and ran a very successful business. But overnight it seemed he became very dark and moody. His temperament was unpredictable at best and everything around him seemed to start to fall into decay. It seemed that everything a Dementor was reached out of him and wrapped itself about everything near him. His home went from being one of the grandest homes you would ever see to looking more like a haunted house. His business went all but bankrupt because he couldn't keep employees. No one wanted to work for the man anymore. People, in fact, couldn't stand to be near him."

"So what happened?"

"Hershel lived like that for months. He seemed, for all intents and purposes, to consign himself to living like a man whose only luck was bad. My father had tried to see him several times, but Hershel had always refused. My father would go to his house, but Hershel ignored his knocks. He tried to apparate inside, but Hershel blocked that as well. He literally had shut himself off from everyone and everything.

One day, my father went to the house and tried again to apparate inside. This time he surprising was allowed in. He searched the house for a full hour before he found his old partner sitting alone in one of the furthest rooms of the house. My father said the man looked like a living skeleton. Like a man who hadn't eaten for days or even weeks. Fearing for his health, if not his sanity, my father brought Hershel back to our house.

But the minute the man was inside the walls of our house, Bo suddenly went nuts down in the cellar. We had never seen him get so...active. I guess 'violent' is a better word. He tore around the cellar like he was being chased by something. A place he had lived in for months he suddenly seemed terrified to be in. He literally ran at the barriers trying to break out. It wasn't until I went to see what was wrong with him that things got settled in more ways than one. On seeing me, Bo barreled up the stairs. But he stopped a few feet from the barriers. He begged me to come down the stairs. To stay with him. Not to leave him alone.

Well, I always had a soft spot for Bo, so I figured a few seconds holding his hand and talking to him wasn't too much to ask. My father was settling Hershel into a room upstairs and I could use the time to figure out what was bugging the boggart, so to speak.

Well, the second I was past the barrier, Bo sprung into action. He leapt at me, enfolded himself around me, and that was the last thing I remember.

But my father told me what happened after that in great detail, punctuated every so often with comments about my being to gullible.

As soon as I left the cellar, or more accurately, Bo, my father says I headed straight for the stairs and apparently right to the room Hershel was in. My father says I stopped at the door, just staring at the man in the bed. My father, realizing something was wrong, ask me if I was all right. Apparently at that moment, Hershel reached up and laid his hand on my father's arm.

My father says the next thing he knew I lunged at Hershel, screaming just sounds at him. Pulling him away from my father.

My father thought I had lost my mind. He said all I did was slap at Hershel and scream at him and try to pull my father away from him. Then he realized I wasn't angry, I was acting more afraid. Afraid Hershel was going to hurt him.

My father grabbed hold of me and dragged me out of the room. He said by the time we reached the cellar he knew exactly who he was dealing with. Not his son, but a potentially demented magical force.

My father once again separated Bo from me and forced him back into the boggart. Bo immediately began his out-of-character behavior again. Running about the cellar and throwing himself at the barrier. My father brought me around, at the time I was pretty much out of it, and had me talk to Bo; to find out what was wrong. Whatever connection they had had, it wasn't apparently functioning with Bo in his present state. Bo frantically conveyed that my father had to stay there with him. He had to stay away from the creature upstairs. That it could seriously hurt him if he didn't let Bo protect him.

My father waved off the concern and had me tell Bo Hershel was a friend and meant no one any harm. That all Bo was feeling was the results of the wrong Bo had done to his friend.

My father should have listened to the boggart."

"But why would Hershel want to hurt your father? I thought they were friends."

"Hershel Bennett was my father's friend, Harry. This...creature...cared for nothing and no one but itself. In truth, maybe Hershel knew all along what he was becoming. That those first dark days were just a prelude. I often wondered if when my father found him in the house that day that leaving him there wouldn't have been a kindness. If the man didn't know what was happening to him and decided to take matters into his own hands once and for all."

"He was trying to kill himself?"

"The only way he could. The only thing the Dementor didn't understand was his need to eat. So Hershel decided to simply stop. By the time the Dementor figured out what he was doing it would be too late.

But my father intervened and unwittingly saved his friend's life when that was the last thing Hershel wanted.

Apparently, he took it as a personal affront and decided to strike back at my family, just as Bo tried to warn my father he would.

For three days Hershel simply lay in his bed. He didn't seem to sleep at all, but he ate whatever was brought to him.

Unfortunately, when he decided to strike, he again miscalculated horribly in his plans and chose as his first victim the last person he should have picked to cross wands with."

"Your father?" Harry ventured.

Orion solemnly shook his head. "My mother. Apparently Hershel felt she was the more logical choice, seeing her as the weakest member of the two people he sought the most vengeance on. I don't know that Hershel ever targeted Sirius or I in his plan for revenge. But he definitely was intent on making my parents pay for what was done to him."

"But why? They had nothing to do with it."

"Hershel didn't see it that way, Harry. I can't even say for sure how his twisted mind was working at that time. All I can suppose is that he saw my mother and father as directly responsible for what he had become. And so perhaps thinking to deliver a damaging blow to my father before challenging him directly, Hershel thought to kill my mother first. His mistake."

"Your mother escaped?"

"Mum whumped him one." Orion replied with no small amount of pride evident in his voice. "Oh, she gave him the obligatory opportunity to withdraw before she dealt out a sound thrashing. Mum's tough, but she's fair.

To say Hershel left after that would be redundant, but he did. He fled right back to his crusty old house. For days my father heard nothing from him. He tried to get him to talk to him. Trying to help his one time partner to the end. But Hershel refused to even open the door or to even speak to him aside from telling him to go away. A month later my father went again to see him and came home with the most remarkable news. He said the whole house was completely changed. It stood now in more than its former glory, the walls cleaned, the windows repaired and the grounds immaculate. The house could have been front cover material for a dozen different magazines. But my father said even that was a poor second to the change in the man himself. Hershel greeted my father at the door looking every bit as he had before the accident. Even better. The man was the picture of health, wealth, and good fortune. But he still regarded my father down his nose like a poor second relation. He told my father that he had indeed been wrong to blame our family for what had happened to him. That the fault was not ours, but the thing he has ever since referred to as 'that creature'."

"Bo."

Orion gave a slight nod. "My father tried to point out that none of it was really Bo's fault. That he did what he was told.

Hershel didn't see it that way...none to surprisingly. To do so would have been to place the blame on the only remaining person in the whole fiasco. Himself. And Hershel could never do that. His conceit runs far too deep to allow for such an admission. So he's turned all of his hatred and angry and sense of injustice on the one person who can't really defend himself. Bo."

"Has he ever tried to hurt him?"

"Who? You mean Hershel actually attack Bo? Several times."

"What happened?"

"Well, Bo is still alive...sort of. I mean, he's hard to define as alive to begin with. But you don't need to worry about Bo, Harry. He can more than defend himself against Hershel. Especially if Hershel does something uncharacteristically and monumentally stupid, like try attacking Bo when my father is around."

"Why does that make such a difference?"

"My father is the current host to the 'Power', Harry. He is perfectly capable of manipulating that energy better than anyone. Bo is only handicapped when my father or I aren't around. Then he only has himself to rely on for decisions. And lets face it, a three year old doesn't always make the best choices. In fact, I would worry more for his opponent than for Bo in those circumstances. He tends to be a bit...unpredictable."

"But why does Hershel Bennett want me?" Harry ask, remembering the discussion he had heard in the foyer. "He doesn't even know me."

"Hershel Bennett answers to no one anymore, Harry. He doesn't have to. Even the Ministry leaves him alone. And as such, his motives are his own. As are his schemes and his plans. As for why is he interested in you? I can only guess at that. He knows about you. A very young, but very powerful wizard in your own right. Hershel would undoubtedly love to tap into your magical ability for his own uses."

"Tap into?"

"One of Hershel's many talents, Harry. He can take your magic and use it against you. You throw a spell at him he can throw it back at you, but as something else. Power for power, he can manipulate and reshape your own magic and control it. My advice is to just stay away from him if you can. If he comes to the house and I'm not nearby, you call for Bo. Bo can handle Hershel just fine. If neither of us is available, for heaven's sake, don't try to use magic against the man. It like trying to fight fire with fire, and you'll end up burned."

"But why doesn't he effect Bo?"

"I didn't say he doesn't effect him, Harry. He just doesn't effect him like he does regular people."

"Why not?"

"I'm not really sure. Although I have theories. I mean, what is a Dementor's power, Harry? They control you through the worst memories you have. They are, in fact, something like boggarts, except they not only incite fear, they feed off of it. The more afraid you are, the better they like it. But you see, Bo isn't afraid of anything. So he has no 'bad memories'. To him life is just sort of one long, happy adventure. So my best advice to you would be try to avoid Hershel and try to entertain Bo. He so loves people who are entertaining."

Harry sighed to himself. "Great."

"Advice you can put to use starting now." Orion stated, getting to his feet.

Harry quickly followed him out the door and into the foyer. "Now?" Harry ask. "Why now?"

Orion grabbed a cloak out of the closet as he turned to the teenager. "Because
I have to go out for a few hours."

"Out?" Harry ask. "But...but Bo isn't here. You sent him off somewhere. So you can't leave." Harry added quickly, feeling measurably better about being stuck with his uncle than the boggart.

But Orion simply turned his attention to the foyer again. "Bo!" he called in a loud voice.

Harry's hopes plummeted as the tower of robes reappeared almost instantly, just as quickly launching into a series of gestures. Harry expected Orion to answer the boggart's gestures as always, but instead he remained silent, responding in the same quick hand gestures, leaving Harry with the suspicious feeling he was being purposely left out of the conversation.

After a few moments, Orion turned back to Harry. "All right, Harry. Bo understands he's suppose to watch you until I get back."

"What did he say?" Harry tried to ask innocently, hoping for some useful information.

"He's just disappointed that he had to come back so soon." Orion answered. "I told him he could stay away till supper. Having to leave sooner than I said just sort of upset him a little."

"Upset him?" Harry cried in alarm.

"Just a little." Orion patted him on the head. "Try to be entertaining, will you?" And with that the Unspeakable disappeared.

Harry stood for a moment staring at where the man had been standing, then slowly turned his gaze to the tower of black robes, which seemed to be staring down at him expectantly.

"I can play wizard's chess." he offered with as much confidence as he could muster. "But that's all you're getting out of me."

In an answering gesture the boggart reached out a hand and lightly patted him on the head.

Harry sighed to himself as he turned and headed for his room. "I'll get the board."

The next morning the whole incident seemed to Harry to have been forgotten where his uncle was concerned. Orion informed him over breakfast that he was going into the office that morning and that he would be back in the evening. Fairly much the standard of what Harry's days had been since arriving at the house.

But the following morning the routine changed abruptly.

Orion came into Harry's room and opened the curtains, letting the sun shine in and illuminate the whole room in the warm sunlight.

"Harry. It's time to get up." Orion announced. "You have to hurry and get packed."

The word caught Harry's attention immediately. "Packed?"

"We're going to Hogwarts." Orion answered. "You have an hour to pack and have breakfast. There's a special floo connection that will be waiting for us then to transport us safely to Hogwarts without detection or interference."

Harry sat straight up in his bed. "Hogwarts?" he cried with excitement. "We're going to Hogwarts!"

"Not if you aren't ready in an hour. Now get up and get dressed. Tets has breakfast waiting for you."

"Why are we going to Hogwarts?" Harry ask as suddenly a list of questions came to mind. "Are we going to see Sirius and Arabella? Is that where they've been staying? Are we going to stay there now?"

Orion sighed to himself as he listen to the assault of questions. "An hour, Harry." He reminded the excited teenager. And with that he left the room.

Harry didn't need any prodding. He was out of bed, had his breakfast, and packed his few belonging in a time frame that had him sitting down in the foyer for nearly a half hour waiting for his uncle.

When Orion finally came into the foyer, Harry could hardly keep still anymore. But it only took him a moment to notice his uncle wasn't alone. Walking just behind the Unspeakable was a second man, not much older that Harry could tell, but who look just as serious. The man overshadowed Orion be a good three inches, and whereas Orion had long black hair that he kept usually pulled back at the nape, the other man's was more of a dark brown with hints of blond in it. He was just as powerfully built and if possible, looked even sterner than his uncle.

"Harry," Orion said by way of introductions, "I'd like you to meet my boss, Orin Bale."

Harry shook the man's hand.

"So, you're young Harry Potter." the man said in a deep voice that matched his expression. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Potter."

Harry simply stared at the man in poorly mask awe. This man was the head of the Unspeakables.

Ron was going to be so jealous.

"Well then, let's get this show on the road, shall we?" Bale commented, rubbing his hands together. "Are we all ready, Black?"

Orion turned his stare to his nephew. "Ready to go, Harry?" he ask.

Harry turned his attention to the head of the Unspeakables. "Are you coming to Hogwart's as well?" he ask the man.

The man favored him with a small smile. "I'm just one of the conduit, Mr. Potter. one of my other agents is on the other end to close the loop."

"Loop?" Harry ask. "I thought we were traveling by floo network."

"We are...sort of." Orion answered. "Though its really more of a tunnel this time. Directly connecting one place to another. A direct, sealed, magical corridor. No matter what, no one can penetrate it."

"Well, they can certainly try." the other man stated, sounding to Harry like he half hoped someone would. "But you have me covering one end and Jackson covering the other. No one will stop this trip."

"All ready then, Harry?" Orion ask again.

Harry nodded.

"All right then, lets be on our way."

Harry watched as Orin Bale deftly produced his wand and instantly conjured a large fire.

In all his time at Hogwart's, Harry had never seen anyone handle a wand quite the way that this man did. As elegant and well-honed as each move was, there was also a powerful, unsettling feeling behind it. As though the man could weave a spell to entertain a child or deal out a curse at an enemy with the same eloquent moves. And never once change his expression while he did so.

"Be quick about it, Black." Orin stated. "Past time you should be on your way and Jackson will be getting cranky with the wait. Don't like dealing with cranky agents."

"I swear, Bale," Orion commented, directing his charge towards the fire, "some days you treat like we're children and you're just the babysitter."

Bale shrugged at the comment. "Long as it pays the same, I don't much care what they call my position."

Orion cast the man one last look as he stepped into the fire behind Harry. One that clearly spelled out his concern centering around all that was waiting for them at Hogwart's.

As soon as he emerged from the fire, Orion quickly handed Harry's single bag over to the other agent and directed Harry through a large open doorway.

"The Headmaster is waiting for us, Harry. We'll be stopping by his office first. Then you'll be shown to the room you'll be staying in, all right?"

"Will I get to see Arabella and Sirius?" Harry ask eagerly.

"All in good time." Orion answered, "First, we don't want to keep the Headmaster waiting."

Harry allowed himself to be directed to Dumbledore's office without further questions, which he felt would be useless anyway. Orion's answers left a great deal to be desired already, and Harry didn't think they would get any better.

Finally arriving at the door to the Headmaster's office, Harry knocked softly on the door.

Dumbledore's voice answered him. "Come in, Harry."

Q&A

Family Relations

MasterLupin:

While Harry is curious about his new family, I don't know that that curiosity will have any dire results. But heavens, that's certainly not to say the potential doesn't exist. I mean, look at what you have: Grandparents who are retired Aurors, an aunt who's a Deatheater Elite, and uncle who's an Unspeakable, and a one-time live-in uncle who's a Dementor. Lot of potential there.

Silverfox:

Hermione would definitely have been an interesting house guest. One wonders how she would have responded to Bo. Or Bo to her, for that matter.

Purely coincidence, but my favorite cat is also a small black one; a little feral female runt that I have had for over 17 years now. She is my baby.

True, Bo did offer to undo the spell and Hershel refused, so he has no real reason to be angry at Bo. But something you have to understand abut the very enigmatic Mr. Bennett. He is rich, powerful, and to-die-for sexy. The man seems to sort-of have it all, (with the exception of that one little problem he has of being a Dementor). But even that isn't Hershel's biggest problem. That category is filled by the fact that Hershel has a slight problem accepting responsibility for his own actions. And worst, he's essentially accusing a three year old for his own mistake.

But, in Hershel's defense allow me to say, he really didn't know what he was facing. I mean, he had little to no interaction with Bo prior to this. Therefore, he had no idea at just what level the boggart operated mentally. Had he known, he would likely have been more careful how he worded his request.

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