Chapter Nine: "Magic Most Foul."

"So, this is bad," Nate commented.

Harry's eyes just shifted to the ceiling before he turned to addressed the Legends.

"One of the most dangerous wizards in magical history has a time travel device," Harry said. "Yeah, I would say that's pretty bad."

"So, what's the plan?" Sara asked.

"My plan is to slip in there, on my own, and snag the device before Riddle figures out what it is," Harry said.

"Oh, that's your plan?" Sara asked. "Because, you might have to go up against all of Voldemort's forces. On your own."

Harry sighed and pinced the bridge of his nose.

"Possible," Harry said. "Fine, a small team to have my back."

Harry thought about it.

"Okay, you can come Sara, because I trust you to have my back," Harry said. "And Charlie, you're abilities could be useful."

"I'm in," Charlie said.

"And I'll back you up."

John showed up and Harry looked at him. A moment of tension spread between the two before Harry nodded. All things considered, even if Harry was not the biggest fan of some of Constantine's decisions as of late, he would be capable enough to hold his own.

"I'll go too," Behrad said.

"NO!" both Zaris piped up at once, even though Harry was the only one who could hear OG-Zari.

"Not sure about this one," Harry said.

"Yeah, this is Voldemort, the biggest magical big bad who ever big badded," Zari said.

"Actually, he's more of a general nuisance, rather small scale in the grand scope of magic," John chimed in.

Zari gave John one of those looks as if to indicate he was not helping. John just shrugged his shoulders, as if to say he was sorry.

"Look, I'm the one who dropped the device," Behrad said. "I'm the one who messed up and now Voldemoert has a device, which he can use to rewrite the narrative of history. That's not good."

"It's not," Gideon agreed. "So far, Voldemort's only collected a few small trinkets. But, it will not be too long before he will figure out how to utilize the time courier to cause more damage on a massive scale."

"Well, those things do run out of power eventually, right?" Nate asked.

"Yes, providing Voldemort doesn't figure out to recharge it through magic," Ava said. "Which is possible. Although it will fry the thing eventually."

"Right, we do this, now or never," Harry said. "Oh, there's one thing that I need to make clear. His name is taboo. Don't say it."

"The real name or the stupid made up name?"Behrad asked.

"The stupid made up name," John said. "Right…call him Riddle or maybe the Dark Wanker if we have to talk about him."

"I like that second one," Charlie said. "It's fitting."

"It will be fine," Harry said. "I've got this under control….Sara…."

"Your dark lord, you lead this one," Sara said.

Harry nodded, and prepared to formulate a plan before heading off.

While no plan survived contact with the enemy, especially a Legends plan, Harry wanted to avoid contact with the enemy as much as possible. Some low level Death Eater grunts had been something they slipped plants.

"Is it possible we actually pull this one off?" Behrad asked.

"Don't jinx it!" Charlie hissed.

Harry stepped into the room and after a couple of spells to put the guards asleep, he noticed the time courier on the table. And then something rattling in the distance.

"YOU!"

Nagini rose up from the depths and she hissed angrily.

"Master, it's him, it's Po…."

John and Harry raced to gag the creature. However, a pop indicated the arrival of Voldemort.

"NOW!"

Behrad whipped the air totem out and blew Voldemort away. The loud crash sent Voldemort against the wall and the attack surprised in. Several of Voldemort's followers appeared, until John barricaded the door and blocked them into the hallway.

"You should have run while you had the chance Potter," Voldemort said. "You and your friends escaped Malfoy Manor, but you will not escape me this time."

So, that put a timeline on where they were. Harry did wonder what would happen if two different versions of the Elder Wand clashed in combat, but he was not going to put any number of his working theories to the test. Harry launched himself into the air, and made a movement to snathc the time courier.

"We're going!" Harry yelled while he put up a shield to block Voldemort's attacks.

"You're not going anywhere!" Voldemort screamed.

Harry activated the time courier, only to find it enveloped him and Voldemort into a strange warp.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Charlie asked.

"Someone tampered with the damn thing!" Sara yelled.

John tried to hold the portal open, only it sealed shut while sucking Voldemort and Harry through it.

Harry dropped down on the rocks and sent dust flying everywhere. Harry locked eyes onto his enemy who steadied himself.

"What did you do to this thing, Tom?" Harry asked.

"You're different, Potter," Voldemort said. "More powerful than I remember…."

Harry deflected a barrage of curses back at Voldemort. Harry twisted in mid-air and landed directly behind Voldemort.

"It doesn't matter. Even in limbo, Lord Voldemort triumphs. AVADA…."

Harry levitated rocks and hurled them at Voldemort to stop him in mid-curse, while also trying to access the inner programming the time courier to bring it back to factory settings.

"I've beaten you everywhere, Tom," Harry said. "I'll beat you nowhere at all."

The portals opened up, with Voldemort sending a barrage of dark curses at Harry. The portals kept blipping back and forth and sending them all over time and space. The two kept firing spells at each other, but the ground made it unstable for either to grab a hold.

"HOW?"

"Magic," Harry said while knocking Voldemort out through one of the portals.

It most certainly sent them somewhere, but where was the question.

The immense pain shooting through his knees meant that Harry was still alive. He supposed. Voldemort rolled over, only to find several thick chains shoot from the ground and shackle him into place. And then he was put in some kind of magical containment field.

Harry found himself in a similar position and groaned. Suddenly, several robed figures started to chant something in Parseltongue. Only it was far more snake-like than even what Harry understood from the snakes.

"Potter, do you have any idea what's going on?" Voldemort asked.

"And here I thought these lovely people were friends of yours," Harry said. "We're in trouble."

"We've done it," one of the cultists said. "Praise the Dark Lord."

"Yes, if you are to praise me, you will release me, for I am the Dark Lord," Voldemort said. "Release me at once and I will make your end merciful."

"Oh, Tom, I don't think they're talking about you," Harry said.

"Great Kaiser, the spell of summoning worked," one of the cultists said.

"Yes," the one known as Kaiser said while hovering his hood.

"And here I thought you embraced your reptilian side," Harry said to Voldemort.

"Be silent," Kaiser hissed. "Yes, it is Harry Potter. And the pretender, the one who claims to be the Dark Lord. And yet, he does not have a fraction of the true Dark Lord's power…."

"I am Lord Voldemort, and you will speak to me with respect," Voldemort hissed.

"Really showed him there, Tom," Harry said.

"Silence, Potter," Voldemort said. "I'll kill you!"

"Sure, whatever you say, Achmed," Harry said while rolling his eyes. "And weren't you already trying to kill me to begin with. Doesn't really change the status quo."

"Both of you be silent," Kaiser hissed to them. "The power of two sworn enemies will bring the one true Dark Lord from his damnation."

"Tom, you're the Dark magic guy," Harry said. "What do you make of this?"

Voldemort grew somber when he looked at the scene.

"Potter, we're in serious trouble," Voldemort said. "These culists are going to…."

Magic pulsed from the bodies of both Harry and Voldemort. The two shook as magic pulled from their bodies and illuminated the temple.

"Tonight, Herpo the Foul will rise again!"

A rather old wizard raised up, even more snake-like than Voldemort or indeed Kaiser.

"Herpo the Foul!" Voldemort hissed in excitement. "The Dark Lord of Dark Lords…for without him there will be no others. Inventor of the Basilisk."

"Oh, so he's the one with the brainstorm where he hatched a chicken's egg beneath a toad," Harry said. "How does that work anyway?"

"If I knew Potter, do you think I would not have an entire army of Basilisks at my command?" Voldemort asked. "If nothing else, I could have replaced the one that you slaughtered in cold blood."

"That was self-defense," Harry said.

"She was misunderstood," Voldemort said. "But, this is the grandfather of dark magic."

"You can ask for his autograph later, Tom," Harry said. "In case you haven't figured out, Herpo is draining our magic to return to full power."

"Well, foil his plan," Voldemort said.

"Foil his plan?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Potter, foil his plan, you're the hero, aren't you?"

"What's wrong with you?" Harry asked.

"Oh, I see," Voldemort said. "You can't wait to foil my well-thought out and meticulous plans fast enough. But now, you can't even be bothered. I would think it would be a matter of personal and professional pride that you…."

"Tom, you have a taboo on your name," Harry said.

"Yes, Potter?" Voldemort asked. "When others dare speak my proper name."

"How powerful?"

"It should break all enchantments….are you really going to have a conversation about the taboo now when we're getting drained of all of our magic…."

"I'm getting to the point where I foil his plan like I foil yours, dunderhead," Harry said. "Shove it….VOLDEMORT!"

The taboo enchantment was thankfully powerful enough to break the containment unit. Just saying Voldemort's name was powerful enough to break them free.

Then, Voldemort blasted Harry back to the ground.

"Herpo the Foul," Voldemort said. "I admire your work."

Herpo's eyes locked onto Voldemort.

"We will be unstoppable if the two of us join forces," Voldemort said. "Let me prove to you how dangerous I am by slowing torturing this hero. CRUCIO!"

Harry just rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth.

"Potter, you're making me look bad," Voldemort said.

"I'm sorry, Tom, was I supposed to fake it for you?" Harry asked. "I don't even do that for women if they are mediocre."

"Who is this foolish wizard?" Herpo asked.

"Merely a pretender," Kaiser said. "A child."

"I am the heir of the noble Salazar Slytherin…his blood runs through my veins…."

"Actually, my blood runs through your veins after you stole it in a dark ritual," Harry reminded him.

"SILENCE!"

Herpo used his snake staff to blast Voldemort to the ground. Voldemort screamed in agony.

"Oh, he's not faking it, is he?" Harry asked.

"A pretender and a child indeed," Herpo said. "But, you will be a snack for me once I devour you of all of your…."

Harry interrupted Herpo in mid-sentence by slicing his arm off and thus forcing him to drop the staff. Granted, his arm grew back slowly.

"Well, we're in big trouble," Harry murmured. "Tom, get to your feet."

"You interrupted him when he was giving his monologue?" Voldemort asked. "Rude, Potter."

"Yeah, you're delirious, we need to get out of here," Harry said.

"Stop that…."

The portal opened and a large gust of wind sent the cultists scattering. John appeared.

"I don't know what you got yourself into this time," John said.

"Oh, you know, just chilling with my good buddy Tom, and getting almost killed by the godfather of dark magic," Harry said. "Oh, and I cut his arm off…."

Herpo rose up, the power of his staff summoning shadows from the area.

"Portal's open, we got to go," Charlie said. "Herpo the Bloody Foul, are you serious?"

"That's his godfather," Voldemort hissed in a hazed tone.

"Right, you're going in head-first for that one," Harry said.

And with that, Harry blasted Voldemort through the portal. The combined forces of Harry and John toppled the stones down to bury the cultists.

Or at least slow them down.

"And this just keeps getting worse and worse," Charlie said. "Not sure why you brought him aboard."

"Because," Harry said. "It would have been far worse if I had left him at Herpo's mercy, things would have been far worse."

Behrad hung his head in shame for a second.

"This is all my fault," Behrad said. "If I hadn't been neglectful of my time courier…this wouldn't have happened."

"You couldn't have known," Harry said.

"So Herpo's another encore," Sara said.

"Actually, one of his cultists are," Harry said. "At least one and not more. And now, they brought his master back."

"Oooh."

From the bed, Voldemort rose up, with some extremely shaky movements. He reached for his wand. Harry braced himself for whatever he would do.

"Did someone get the number of that Hippogriff who attacked me?"

Voldemort could barely light the tip of his wand, which caused the Legends to all breath a sigh of relief.

"You beat me, didn't you, Potter?" Voldemort asked. "That's why things are so different. In your past, in my future, you beat me. That's why you're older and more experienced. And now…I don't have any magic."

'Within the next forty-eight hours, your magic should return," Gideon said. "Although, another minute under Herpo's hand, you would have been a squib."

"In another minute, you have been snake food," Harry said.

Voldemort just responded with a crisp nod, before he looked about the Waverider, and appeared to be rather impressed, smiling when he combed over every inch of it.

"This is impressive," Voldemort. "Extraordinary….this is…."

"Don't touch that!" Sara yelled.

"Just…."

"Don't touch anything!" Sara told him.

"Tom, don't try her," Harry said.

Voldemort held his hands up in surrender. Without any magic, he had to play nice.

"So, this Herpes, what are we dealing with?" Zari asked.

"Herpo…Herpo the Foul," Voldemort said. "And he has a very storied history. Created the Basilisk. He created numerous dark spells. He may have had a hand in creating the dementors. He's been around since ancient Greece, although there are many believe his original form was the snake in the Garden of Eden. Without him, the noble bloodline of Salazar Slytherin would not be around. He's inspired many dark wizards and many dark lords, and without him, I could have not survived my unfortunate encounter with Potter on that one Halloween night. But, regardless, Herpo has shaped more magical history than any other wizard in existence."

"Wow, that's quite the history lesson," Nate said.

"Thanks," Voldemort said. "I always wanted to be a teacher. Being a dark lord was only my second choice. But Albus Dumbledore crushed my hopes and dreams."

"Yes, yes, Dumbledore does that," Harry said.

"And not to cut the history lesson short, but we have another problem," Gideon said.

"Herpo wouldn't be idle for long," Voldemort said. "Especially given he always preferred the big and grand plans."

"Well, flooding Britain with snakes would qualify as a grand plan," Gideon said. "And there's a strange energy coming from…."

Harry and Voldemort peered at the screen and came to the same conclusion.

"Stonehedge," Harry said

"Yes," Voldemort said. "The mystical reserves in the area can cause him to summon demonic entities which he may use to swarm the world."

Voldemort took a second to gather his thoughts and he came to one conclusion.

"So, Potter, it appears we have a temporary truce, until we take down a far more dangerous threat," Voldemort remarked.

"Yes," Harry said. "We do."

Harry did not like it, at all, but he had few choices right now.

"Ava, have you been recording this entire time?" Sara asked.

"What?" Ava asked. "A dark lord talking about another dark lord is podcast gold."

"A word."

Harry and John moved off to prepare. John walked right next to Harry and decided to ask him the question.

"Do you think trusting Riddle is a such a good idea?" John asked.

"Absolutely not," Harry said. "In fact, it's one of the worst ideas I've ever had, and I fully expect the knife to be plunged directly into my back the very second Herpo is no longer a threat and Voldemort has his powers back."

"So, why do it?' John asked.

"Because, Herpo the Foul is entirely on another level," Harry said. "I can't believe Astra thought it was a good idea to bring him back or anything remotely connected. But, when we put Herpo and his followers back into the ground, we're going to have a talk about this."

"What?" John asked. "What have you been doing?"

"I've been Astral projecting down to Hell and talking to Astra," Harry said.

"And you've been keeping this quiet," John said. "It's a risk that you're taking…."

"You're the last person to be talking about risks," Harry hissed. "But, I'm not going to talk to you about this. Not right now."

"Right," John agreed. "We're going to deal with the unholy snake demon and then worry about what you're doing."

The Legends are mobilized, alongside Voldemort. A sentence which Harry never would say. It would take everything they had to take him down.

"We strike hard, we strike fast, we show no mercy," Harry said. "And I put Herpo back into the ground."

"And I'll have Potter's back," Voldemort said. "I'm not letting anyone kill him before I have the chance."

"That's…sweet?" Nate asked, but he was uncertain.

"Twisted is more like it," Behrad said. "Alright, let's do this."

"And soon, they will learn that the foolish child, who they cannot even speak the name of, will be a minor annoyance compared to the might of Herpo the Foul."

Kaiser, along with the rest of Herpo's cloaked minions stood at the edge of the circle, their master standing in the center. The chanting grew even more intense and unnerving.

"I don't thinks so."

Sara, wielding the sword of Genghis Khan, stepped in front. Behrad used a blast of wind to scatter the minions, while the Legends charged the robed cultists.

"They've cleared the line," John said. "We've got to get to the center."

"And those are about the welcoming committee I expected," Harry said.

"To your right," Voldemort said.

Hideous snake demon monsters appeared at the center. John's spell rose up to protect the Legends from their advantage.

"Bow down before the Dark Lord," Voldemort hissed.

"We do not bow to a pretender," one of the snake demons hissed.

"Then, you will burn!" Voldemort shouted.

A beam of purple light shot through Voldemort's wand, his powers returning. He ripped one of the snake monsters in half.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry viewed Sara stabbing one of the cultists in the chest to take him down. Harry and Voldemort stood back to back to deal with the snake monsters.

"There's a lot of these."

Harry and Voldemort blasted them back, when suddenly the air got cold around them.

"He's flattening my barrier," John said.

Herpo rose up and sent John flying back. He landed on the ground. Voldemort turned his attention to Herpo the Foul, who conjured a black ring and hurled it at Voldemort. Voldemort screamed when the ring wrapped around him.

"I'm going to have to learn that spell!" Voldemort yelled in between screams.

A loud clank indicated one of the minions dropping. Harry really hoped the filed would be cleared as he turned to face Herpo the Foul.

"Today, you die," Herpo said.

Herpo conjured an army of snakes. Harry dodged their venomous fangs and located the source of the magic. Herpo was going to crack open the center of the Earth and overrun it with snakes. Harry sent a beam of light at one of the center rings and kept it on.

"You can't…."

"Don't tell me that I can't," Harry said. "Because, I'm Harry Fucking Potter! And I can!"

Harry exploded the center stone which caused a magical backlash. Several of the snakes burned in the flames and Herpo had been launched back. Harry noticed Kaiser rushing at him. Harry dodged the man's attack and sent him flying into one of the jagged pieces of metal.

Then, Harry took out Rosier's Hell Wand and sent Kaiser flying back.

Another explosion rocked them all. Harry staggered a few steps forward. Herpo raised his staff prepared to blast him, but Harry rushed in and grabbed the staff before shooting the beam upwards into the air. Harry knocked Herpo down to the ground.

Suddenly, Harry had been caught off guard by an intense stabbing pain. Harry's vision blurred. One of Herpo's snakes lashed out and bit him in the face.

Sara dislodged it using the Sword of Genghis Khan, but not before Harry staggered.

"Are you okay?" Sara asked while grabbing Harry's arm.

"Peachy," Harry slurred. "I'll be fine…just give me a moment to…catch my bearings."

"Tonight, you die."

Harry turned over to face Herpo the Foul and his insidious laugh. And funnily enough, in the battle, Harry noticed Voldemort slipping into the background and he activated one of the stones.

"Not bad for a child," Voldemort remarked.

The energy blast started to suck Herpo's cultists and creatures back to where they came.

"You will pay for this!" one of them yelled.

Harry took the Sword of Genghis Khan from Sara and stabbed Herpo through his chest. The impact of the blast sent Herpo flying through the portal.

"Everyone hang on!" John yelled. "That thing is going to suck us through as well."

The Legends held on, with the struggle very real. Harry made a movement to shut down the portal. Only to realize that Voldemort stood on the pedestal above them, with the Staff of Herpo the Foul in hand.

"The power is mine," Voldemort said. "This is the end Potter. I will destroy your past self and you will cease to be."

"And here I was waiting for the other shoe to drop," Harry said. "Good luck with that….Voldemort!"

Saying the name activated the taboo and destroyed the enchantment which held Voldemort up. It also cancelled the enchantments on the tempo.

Snatchers arrived this time, but Harry swiped the staff from Voldemort and froze them as they arrived. He then froze Voldemort as he rose.

"I won't forget this, Potter!" Voldemort hissed.

"Oh, yes you will," Harry told him. "Ava?"

"Right here," Ava said.

Ava handed Harry her memory flasher.

"It's a pity I can't kill you right here," Harry said. "But, I'll save that pleasure for past Harry."

"You will…."

Harry flashed the memories of the past few days away, along with those of Voldemort's snatchers. He then opened the portal to send them back to the Riddle House, while also making sure the portal to the netherworld was shut.

The Legends all dropped to the ground.

"Well, that sucked," Behrad said. "It will teach me a lesson to keep ahold of my Time Courier at all times."

"Always be prepared, I say," Nate said. "And that's the sound of a temple collapsing."

Sure enough, the temple around them was about ready to collapse.

"Back to the Waverider!" Sara yelled.

Behrad activated his fortunately repaired time courier and they ported onto the Waverider just seconds before the temple would come crashing down on them.

Harry studied the timeline. Well, there was a lot of good news. Voldemort was back on track to being defeated by Harry's past self a few weeks from now. The weird events outside of Stonehedge are attributed to one of Voldemort's failed schemes, and Voldemort punished his snatchers for failure, when they believed they had Harry in their grasp.

Oh, Harry wished he could have celebrated a bit more. But, he felt completely and utterly wrecked. He almost collapsed against the bed.

"Never saw you this bad," Charlie said.

"Herpo's not an ordinary enemy," Harry said.

"And you got bitten by one of his snakes," Ava said.

"It will be fine," Harry said. "Once the Phoenix tears finish purging the venom, it will be fine. It's not my first time being bitten…by a big bad snake."

"You sure you're okay? "Sara asked. "Because, you're slurring your words."

"Just a little bit," Harry said. "I'm better than I was when my head was on fire."

"Oh, that's reassuring, Mick said.

"At least I got Herpo's snake staff," Harry said. "Not a hell weapon, but extremely powerful. And we all should get some rest, so we can find the Loom."

"And destroy it," Charlie added.

Harry walked off, trying to hide that he needed to use the staff to hold himself up. Oh, he had a headache, which thankfully was a lot less worse than it was.

"Hey, Harry?"

Harry stopped and turned to Behrad.

"This could have gone a lot worse," Behrad admitted. "Because of me. Look, I know all of the great things you did. I heard about them from Zari when growing up, and you could be great. I even stole my family totem when I had the chance, because that is the sort of brazen thing Harry Potter would have done."

"I would have at your age," Harry agreed.

"You're bleeding," Behrad said.

Harry brushed against his face. Sure enough he was. Harry magically cleaned the wound and applied a bandage.

"Snake gotta be a bit worse than I thought," Harry slurred. "Phoenix tears should get it later….I just need some rest to recharge."

"Right, rest does the body good," Behrad said.

Harry cleared the area of the bedroom. He dropped the staff against the bed and with another couple of steps, he collapsed, face down onto the bed.

Just need some time to recharge. He used a lot of magic dealing with Voldemort and Herpo. A good night's rest, a shower, and some breakfast would put Harry back on the right path.

In her office, a bored Astra Logue threw darts at a pink dart board, which greatly resembled the toad-like face of Dolores Jane Umbridge. Each pain scream made her smile.

Suddenly, Harry manifests in her office and folded his arms.

"Problem?" Astra asked.

"Herpo the Foul," Harry said.

"One of the worst, with even more fanatical followers," Astra said. "What are you doing bringing him up?"

"You tell me, you're the one who sent up Kaiser, one of his more notorious nutjob followers," Harry said. "And he ended up resurrecting Herpo."

"That's impossible," Astra said. "I might have his coin…and a few of his cultists…including Kaiser but…."

"Astra, please tell me you didn't do anything this foolish," Harry said.

"I didn't!" Astra yelled.

"Because, after that impulsive action with John and the coin maker I…."

"Look, I'll prove to you it's right here."

Astra moved to the vault and took out a box. She had quite the collection of soul coins.

"Snape, Umbridge, Pettigrew, my three favorite torture victims…too bad Vernon just won't die," Astra murmured. "Oh, yes, Manson, Dahmer, Bundy, Napier….Riddle….Kaiser…Herpo…where are you….DAMN IT WHERE IS IT?"

Astra shuffled through the coins and found absolutely nothing. She must have misplaced it. There was no question about it, she had to have misplaced it because otherwise.

Astra tore apart her safe and her entire office.

"Someone stole it!" Astra yelled. "They will pay….they will…."

Astra's anger faded when she noticed the wound on Harry's face.

"What's that?" Astra asked.

"It's a snake bite," Harry said. "It's fine. We have a serious problem if someone has been stealing those coins and sending up Encores without your knowledge."

"It's not fine," Astra said. "Because, if one of those hell snakes bit you, that's the opposite of fine. Because, their venom is…."

Harry fell back….breathing heavily. He could not keep the Astral projection together that long. Harry breathed heavily.

Well, that was interesting. A soft knock on his door brought Harry out of his thoughts.

"Come in," Harry said.

The door opened and it was Nora.

"I'm going to do it tonight," Nora said. "Let Ray down gently over dinner. It's not fair to him and it's not fair to me…not fair to anyone. And Constantine's graciously let us use his house."

"Well, what a better place to exorcise demons," Harry said. "Should have done this a long time ago."

"I know, I know, I've been putting it off," Nora said. "Not really fair to either….your face?"

"What about my face?" Harry asked.

"It's…that doesn't look good at all," Nora said.

"Just a little snake bite," Harry said. "I've had worse….although we might have worse. Astra's not the only person bringing up Encores. And I need to get to the bottom of this."

Try as he might, Harry could not reestablish his connection to Hell.

"You really should get someone to look at that," Nora said.

"Later," Harry said. "This is more important."

Still, whatever spark Harry had, it was gone. The fact there was another threat sending up Encores was rather, unsettling to Harry for numerous reasons.

To Be Continued In the Next Chapter.