First, I stand corrected. There will be 7 parts to this prologue, not 6 as I first thought. I could not fit in a key scene into the main story, so I will plug it into the prologue (part 6). Second, I apologize for the delay. I had this part written out a while ago; but between my uncontrollable need to revise things to death and work obligations, it took lot longer than hoped. Good news is that I already have the next 3 parts drafted.

This part takes place the morning after Parts 1 and 2 and serves to flesh out who the mysterious man introduced in the last part and what his role is. It was tough for me to write, so be kind, LOL!

As an advanced wrong, the next three parts will be very dark with two of the chapters earning their 'M' rating. You are forewarned.

Feedback is always appreciated

Hope you enjoy and thanks to JKR for letting me share her toys.

Early in the morning before the black of night releases it grasp on the ancient castle, a gaggle of second year Slytherin girls briskly make their way to the Great Hall for breakfast, gossiping all the way. "Did you hear about the fight last night? I heard that Pansy, Greg and Professor Carrow were taken to Saint Mungo's."

"Of course! Zacharias is in the hospital wing eating out of a straw while Blaise doesn't remember the entire week." The second girl responds with an air of superiority. After pausing a moment to look around, she lowers her head, auburn hair falling to the side, and whispers. "It was that blood traitor bitch! She led an entire team of former Aurors and escaped with that idiot Longbottom."

The third girl shakes her head, her black hair knotted tightly to her oval face. "Aurors, please! It was her and a handful of other Gryffindor boys. And she was killed!"

"She wasn't killed, Cleo!" The second girl swipes her red hair air out of her face. "Who do you think was making that horrible racket in the dungeons this morning?"

"That was her, Victoria?" The first girl pales, her skin nearly matching her natural, platinum blonde locks as she remembers the screams that woke her up long before dawn.

"Of, course, Elizabeth!" Victoria shouts in exasperation. "My Father told me that the Ministry will no longer tolerate what she and those ruffians are doing here. I only wish that Longbottom did not escape so that both of pieces of filth could be taught a lesson."

Cleo's green eyes twinkle in sadistic delight. "I hope she gets what she deserves!"

"I don't know." Elizabeth sheepishly looks down at her feet. "We heard her screaming and Bellatrix laughing all night. How can they do that to a sixteen year old girl?"

Victoria suddenly rounds on her friend and hisses. "Keep your mouth shut and your thoughts to yourself unless you want to spend some quality time with Bellatrix, too."

"Let's go get breakfast." Cleo declares in a haughty voice. "Afterall, we have Dark Arts for two hours today. We'll need all of our energy to practice the imperius curse on Gryffindor first years and mudbloods."

Elizabeth nods in agreement while hiding her tears. Weakness, even from a twelve year old girl, is not tolerated in the Noble House of Slytherin. As she follows in the wake of her housemates, she turns her to wipe away a stray tear and is startled to sense movement nearby. After a moment, she decides that she truly does not want to know what lurks in the shadows and hurries off to catch-up with her classmates.

A few moments later, a shadow breaks away from the alcove that the girl peered into. Silently, it glides towards the end of the corridor before stopping to face a towering stone statue of a regal figure, wand pointed in righteous anger, looking down in contempt at some unseen threat. "Might is right," the shadow whispers sending the guardian sliding to the right before it partially sinks into the ground in subservient gesture.

Quickly, the wraith ascends the circular stairs slowing down just enough to knock rhythmically on the wooden barrier at the top. The door yields only a fraction before the cloaked figure slips past a dark voice slithering out from the void, "enter."

Once the door is closed, the man drops his hood revealing an angular face encompassing dark brown eyes. He wears a short, trimmed, jet-black goatee, which contrasts with shining diamond-stud earrings and a white shark tooth held firm by a thin, black rope around his muscular neck. His long, wavy black hair is sternly pulled back into a pony tail that is held together by a thin, silver wire charmed to move like snake. With a tap of his wand, the matte black cloak he is wearing fades into a midnight blue hue with faint red and white stripes - the hallmark of a United States government official. Under the robe, the man has on a simple, black oxford shirt over khaki cargo pants and think, military-grade dragon-hide boots. He is slightly taller than average for a man, but his uniform cannot mask the imposing broad shoulders, thick arms, and powerful legs of a professional athlete.

The Headmaster's office is shrouded in darkness with pale green lights illuminating a few select corners. The man unties his hair and combs his hand through it, drained after a after a long, grueling night. "Snape, I do not have the time for your theatrics. You know I can see in the dark, anyway."

"Afraid, are you my friend?" Snape hisses out of the shadows above.

The man impatiently sighs before marching up the stairs behind the Headmaster's ornate desk and enters a small library. "Yes, I'm afraid, Snape, and you're a fool if you're not, too. "We're both playing a very dangerous game based on the plans of a dead man."

"You have no idea how dangerous this 'game' is, Ambassador Sanchez, and I have been playing it since you were diapers!" Snape spits out as he whirls around.

The Ambassador crosses his arms over his chest. "Can we save the 'who has a bigger wand' debate for another time?"

"You do not give me orders, here, Ambassador!" The older man growls back.

Without breaking eye contact, the shorter man grunts back. "I am not one of your students, Headmaster, cowering at the mere sight of your pretentious black robes rolling into a classroom."

"Yes," Snape smiles. "We all know how no one can cower you, Ambassador. Just ask Arthur and Gwendolyn Monmouth from your last visit to Hogwarts."

Snapping his mouth shut with an audible crack, the American replies with a vicious grin. "Sure, Snivellus, right after you tell me how it feels to have Lilly Evans shackled to a bench in the dungeon with la perra a diablo and that mongrel Alceto working her over."

"Why you!" Snape snarls as he lashes his wand at his ally and fires off a red flash faster than any normal man can react.

Blessed with natural reflexes and the beneficiary of advanced training, the Ambassador is not a normal man. Without a thought, he blocks the curse with a magically reinforced, dragon-hide forearm gauntlet while his own black, sleek wand ejects from his forearm holster into his left hand. "OK, Professor, let's get this over with."

For several minutes, the two dark figures dance, trading attacks and parries on the balcony. Not a word is spoken. The portraits watch in silent awe from their canvasses at the display of skill and power, only to shout when a stray or deflected spell forces them to flee their frame in fear. The Headmaster draws on his superior knowledge of magic to keep the younger, more aggressive man out of hand-to-hand range as he has no doubt who would win that contest. Suddenly, the American back flips over the railing and lands firmly on the ancient desk leaving parchment and trinkets scattered all over the floor.

For the first time since the duel began, Snape pauses long enough to smile and looks down in victory at the man below him. "I have the high ground, Eduardo, it's over."

"No, it's not." The American smiles in return while launching a red stunner at the feet of his opponent.

The spell, instead of harmlessly impacting the stone ledge, reflects off of a broken piece of mirror that Eduardo dropped there on purpose with one of his 'misfired' spells. Snape is able to project a shield charm in time; but, the redirected bolt slips between the edge of the shield and the stone floor. The victim of hundreds of spells in his life, including ones far more dangerous and painful than a simple stunner, Snape recovers quickly; but, not quick enough from the blow to his jaw. Once he regains his bearings, he is already bound in unyielding black chains, hanging upside down over the center of the room.

Picking up the headmaster's wand off the floor, Eddie looks up tiredly at his co-conspirator. "Let's talk."

"How dare you!" The Headmaster bellows. A bored flick of the wrist from the man below him forces him to fall silent, his mouth still moving violently.

Eddie watches the man's face turn an ugly shade of purple, whether it be from anger or the blood rushing to his head, Eddie does not care. Mumbling in a strange tongue, his wand floods the room in layers of thick, gray, odorless fog that enshrouding everything but the two men in the eye. Satisfied, he plops down on a padded bench across from the mahogany desk and pulls out a Quidditch themed magazine from a nearby shelf. Flipping through the pages, he laughs. "Not even the Dark Lord can save the Chudley Cannons."

"Fine," Snape rasps from above several minutes later. The American looks up and, after moment of observation, lowers the Headmaster down to the ground. "You have my wand. You can untie my arms."

Raising a dark eyebrow at the man, Eddie shakes his head negatively. "Snape, I have over a dozen items on my person that can distract, injure, and even kill a man. And I am not even a Potions Master."

"Very well, Eduardo." Snape inspects the man closely as he sits down in his chair, arms tied uncomfortably in front of him. A flash of respect races across his face for a second, before the sneer returns. "Last night, Ginny Weasley and two, currently unknown students, broke into the dungeons attempting to rescue Neville Longbottom. While she was successful in rescuing her friend, we cut off her escape route and she was captured."

"I know." Eddie nods towards Snape's exposes forearm, which is wrapped in gauze.

"Ah," Snape starts as the pieces fall into place in his mind. "I see. The Carrows and the rest of the staff were wrong to believe that you were brutalizing Ms. Weasley during your unending detentions with the Gryffindor hellion. You were actually training her, imparting some of your legendary skills."

The young man leans back and rolls his neck. "She's alive."

"Yes, for now," the Headmaster agrees. "But, you may have taught her too well. Not only did she seriously injure Amycus and four loyal students, she also embarrassed the entire Ministry. They want her blood now."

"Zacharias' face hit my boot." Eddie chuckles, "and I may have used a little too much power on that memory charm with Blaise. I've never been good with mind magic."

"You had a busy night, Instructor Sanchez." Snape takes an inquisitive breath. "In the condition I saw them in, I was wondering how they got out of the Chamber of Secrets before we arrived."

"Don't ask." The younger preempts the Headmaster's next question. "Except for Longbottom, the other two had their masks on and I did not ask, nor did I want to know who they were. It's safer that way."

Snape studies the Ambassador, not to attempt to read his mind as that would be a fruitless venture; but, to gauge him as a man instead of a student. "You have clearly learned a lot since you were a sixth year exchange student here. Brash and headstrong, I thought that the Hat made a mistake in placing you my house. Now, I see the cunning and drive. The hat was right. Still you were fortunate that Dumbledore took pity on you as you two shared a common failure in your youth. Saved you from a long, long stay in Azkaban."

Slowly, the former student nods. "We both have sins to atone for, Professor, we both have other's blood on our hands."

"True, but what about Longbottom?" Snape changes direction, not willing to further dwell on his own past.

Eddie bites his lip. "He's safe. The Order will get him out of Hogsmeade in a few days after the heat dies off. The loyal bastard did not want to leave his friends; but, he's dead the next time he steps inside the castle. He knows that."

"I am glad we agree on one point." Snape snaps. "But, that does not explain why you trained Ms. Weasley. You knew it was dangerous."

"Snape, Ginny was going to do what she was going to do." Eddie closes his eyes as a smile and a frown compete for attention on his face. "I would stand a better chance of controlling Mother Nature than her. All I could do was provider her with the tools that could help her survive this cursed war."

Snape nods in acceptance before he commands. "Besides untying my hands, what are you going to do next, Instructor Sanchez?"

"In due time, Headmaster," Eddie mumbles. "I can take the Carrows and maybe them and Yaxley together; but, I can't take all three and Bellatirx together."

"They are the least of your concerns, Eduardo," Snape corrects. "The Dark Lord will be arriving tomorrow to oversee Ms. Weasley's interrogation and trial personally. It seems that Bellatrix has learned that Mr. Potter share's his father's taste in redheads."

"Carajo!" The American spits out paces the room to calm down. "Veritaserum?"

"I had no choice." The Headmaster replies.

Eddie responds with no anger in his voice. "I know."

For a moment, Snape looks almost human for a moment as he is run over by a feeling of déjà vu. "If Ms. Weasley must be sacrificed for the greater good, then that his her destiny, Ambassador."

Leaning forward, Eddie grinds his teeth. "I won't sacrifice a kid, Snape."

"You cannot sacrifice yourself for one student, Eduardo. Too many lives depend on you." Snape bites back. "Just like how I have to live under the heel of this lunatic, kill the man I respect more than my own life, all so that Mr. Potter, if he is indeed the 'Chosen One,' can fulfill his destiny."

"I'm not a big believer in destiny, Snape." Eddie grunts.

"Dumbledore gave you this mission for a reason, eleven-hundred reasons, Instructor." The Headmaster hisses. "The Carrows fear you. The Dark Lord needs you to open the door for him to the States. Without you, things will be far, far worse here at Hogwarts."

"I know." Exasperated, Eddie lowers his head, the weight of the world on his shoulders. "I need to think my way through the maze, no power my way through."

Caught off-guard by the random remark, Snape grunts a response, "what?"

"Back home in Michigan, my Mom used to magic a corn maze for my brother and I to play in when we were little." The young man smiles at the innocence of his youth. "My little brother, Alejandro, would spend hours working his way through. Me, after an hour, I would get frustrated and just blow the thing up."

"I fail to see how that is going to help." Snape responds in a condescending voice.

A tired smile crosses Eddie face as he stands up and flicks his wand at the Headmaster. "I need to think of a plan, Snape."

The Headmaster rubs his arms to get the circulation flowing once again. "You cannot do the impossible."

"I can try, Professor, I can try." He replies, leaving Snape's wand on the desk. Just before he crosses the threshold, he asks quietly over his shoulder. "Do you think either of us has a chance to survive this, Severus?"

"No."