The Fawn Conspiracy

by Cassandra Y

Instead of being left on the porch of the Dursley's on the night of James and Lily's murder, Sirius Black takes his godson and remaining friend and goes on the run. When Harry Potter challenges Lord Voldemort the next time he's not the abused boy mentored by a manipulative old man, but a powerful wizard raised by his two dads and that has learned magic from all over the world.

23. Chapter 23

Harry wasn't used to Remus being gone so long on his wolf business. He was usually gone for a day, sometimes he'd not return for two days - maximum! - so that wasn't worth worrying about. Harry clenched his fists that were resting next to his thighs before breathing out the stress. This time however, Remus had been gone for four days and Harry was beginning to get worried. Granted when he ran off this time he chased after a pack of feral werewolves so maybe he should have been worried on day one? Harry let hiss through his teeth with another deep breath and tried to get his thoughts flow again. Sirius tried to play off his own worry, but even he was wondering if something had happened. Internally Harry huffed and, in an effort to keep himself from fretting further, strode through the stone hallways toward the courtyard on this fourth morning to meditate.

There weren't many kids outside in the later morning hours since most were in their classes with the few teachers that had been able to come through to help teach. Harry picked a spot beneath one of the ancient trees that grew next to the massive stone walls that protected the castle, some meditation would help ease his mind.

The time he could spend in meditation could radically fluctuate depending on his severity of mental anxiety. On a good day, he would feel refreshed and clear headed after only twenty minutes. On bad days, like today, and without interruptions, Harry could be still for days just attempting to calm his mind and submerging himself in the magic of the earth. As he sat down and got himself into a comfortable position he idly wondered how long it had been once he was able to relax into a good trance, when all at once his consciousness was pulled back up. His mind was agitated with a feeling like a ringing sound that seemed to be bouncing around his skull. Harry quickly snapped his eyes open and took in his surroundings, almost expecting to find the meddlesome Weasley twins trying to pull one of their tricks on him. However what he found was that his surroundings had not since he closed his eyes earlier. He then felt a strange - pulling? - sensation that seemed to be insistent that Harry's attention be drawn towards the entrance of the castle grounds.

Harry's mediation session might be over but there was something that could distract him from his missing dad. Shifting his hand placement on his knees, Harry decided that the compulsion to investigate the newest mystery was good enough if he couldn't meditate the day away. He closed his eyes again but instead of meditating he used his magic to reach towards the disturbance he felt. The heady concentration of latent magic of the castle grounds muddied his senses a bit since Harry was looking for something specific but he was able to push through to what he thought had caused the problem. There was a group of people, close to thirty individuals, making their way towards the castle on the pathway that Harry and his dads had originally been sprawled upon months ago. Harry focused more on the group trying to discern more about them, constant vigilance and all that Alastor related rot, when he felt something familiar.

"Remus!" Harry gasped as he leapt to his feet.

Harry wanted to run to his father directly and make sure he was alright, but the other people with him made him hesitate for a moment to reign in his enthusiastic reaction. He didn't feel anything amiss with any of the others, but the thick magic of the castle made any amount of accuracy in this situation increasingly difficult. By the time he was able to get a real sense of them through his magic they were nearly at the courtyard. So he would just wait for Remus here. Harry quickly pulled a small mirror from his bag and used his magic to feed an intent into the magical connection.

"Pup?" Sirius' face came into view in his mirror. "It's been a while since we've used these to talk. Especially since we're in the same castle," Sirius gave him a pointed look and a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, I'm still in the castle. Well, outside in the courtyard," Harry sighed in exasperation. "But I couldn't think of a faster way to tell you that Remus is back!"

"Wait, what? Really?" Sirius perked up and the mirror jostled indicating that the man on the other side had stood up quickly. "I'll be right there!" There were some murmured words behind him that Harry didn't catch over the mirror. "Oh, stuff it Andromeda. I'll argue vernacular with you later!"

Sirius' face disappeared and Harry was looking back into his own eyes. He couldn't help but chuckle at Sirius's concern for his wolfy friend. Harry tried his best to wait patiently, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet, but it was hard when every bone in his body wanted to run to his absent father. Sirius was just making it out of the castle when Remus and his group made it to the courtyard. Harry could see that his decision to let them come in on their own was a good one.

Remus was walking out in front of the group, head held high like a prancing horse, but his eyes were tired. Harry then noticed that his entire front down from his mouth was covered in old blood. Old, dried, and copious amounts of blood, Harry was sure Remus' clothes four days ago were not that shade of mahogany. Remus didn't seem injured however so Harry didn't let himself be overly concerned. The bloodied burlap sack he was dragging behind him however, THAT intrigued Harry.

The group nervously trailing behind Remus was thirty-two strong based on Harry's, now visible, count. Although 'strong' may not be the right word for the group. They were all werewolves and Harry could feel the wolf spirit circling them all, but Harry could also taste their fear and how brittle the Wolf Spirit's blessing was on all of them. There, surprisingly, were very few adults in the group and they didn't look like they had been in a scuffle with Remus. A few more young adults and mid to late teenagers were helping along the frightened smaller children that made up the bulk of the group keeping up with Remus. Remus, breathing out all the stress he was carrying and seeming to relax, stopped in the middle of the courtyard and the group following him stopped as well, giving him room. Harry and Sirius reached Remus at nearly the same time having stepped towards him when he had crossed halfway through the courtyard. Sirius kept his distance and allowed Harry to grab onto Remus with a fierce hug and a relieved laugh.

"Pup…don't. I'm filthy…" Remus tried to remove Harry halfheartedly, but he must have been very tired based on how pathetic his attempts were. Harry just ignored him and squeezed his dad and sighed in relief that Remus was home.

"We were just starting to get worried about you, you old dog," Sirius lied. Harry knew Sirius had been worried sick for Remus since he disappeared into the forest. Not like Harry was going to say anything in case his own loss of sleep was brought to the attention of the werewolf in the family.

"I'm fine," Remus chuffed, only mildly irritated with his son and pack mate. Having had enough solemn interaction for the day, Remus grabbed onto Harry's ponytail with his teeth and tugged it sharply. Remus sighed through his nose and pinched the bridge of it after cringing at Harry's surprised yelp. "Sorry pup," he murmured as he wrapped his arm around Harry. "I'm still coming down from a hunt apparently," the werewolf finished lamely.

"I'd say so!" Harry winced good naturedly as he gently rubbed the top and sides of his head.

"You're never this wolfy after your transformations," Sirius spoke as he took a close look at Remus' face, expecting some explanation.

"I've never been transformed for that long before," Remus slurred and almost drunkenly shrugged. "Took everything in me to make it back with the ones that didn't want to fight," He nodded his head to the group behind him.

Harry knew that Remus had kept his wolfy vigil and now that he, and the other wolves, were safe; his dad was going to crash. Soon. Remus looked dead on his feet, but he also knew that Remus would not leave the strays that followed him home defenseless.

"Dadfoot?" Harry waited for Sirius to look at him. "Help clean him up and get him to bed. I'll take care of the strays until the alpha can take over again."

Sirius nodded and coaxed Remus to let go of Harry and allow Sirius to take the tired wolf's weight on his shoulders just as Harry saw Minerva and Severus stride up to them.

"Remus?!" Minerva nearly screeched in distress, making Remus wince. "What happened to you? Are you hurt?"

"I am fine professor. It's not mine," Remus slurred. Harry almost laughed, Remus was one stiff breeze away from crumbling to dust and blowing away in the wind.

"Dare we ask what is in the bag?" Severus asked and looked like he'd rather not know the answer. Right, 'Death Eater', Harry reminded himself. Remus didn't respond, only dropped the bag onto the ground as he shrugged his shoulders. Several 'severed' human heads rolled out of the bag. Harry noted that they all looked to have teeth marks and jagged lacerations near the end of the necks. It wasn't hard to believe that Remus had killed them by going for their throats as a werewolf and didn't stop until he had ripped free the vast majority of musculature keeping the head atop their shoulders. Several gasps and the sounds of vomiting made their way across the courtyard alongside the sound of scampering feet. Oops.

"Ah," Sirius said calmly even as he looked upon the bloodied heads. "Looks like you caught up to Fenrir. Good on you mate," Sirius punctuated his statement with a very gentle punch to the wolf's chest.

"Is that really appropriate, Sirius?" Minerva scolded Sirius much like she did with the children. Briefly turning her attention to the school children watching and pointed towards the castle with a glare. Most of the kids fled inside at her look alone.

"Are you really going to suggest that Remus should not have killed Fenrir and mayhaps any other feral werewolves when presented with the opportunity?" Sirius asked both innocently and somehow sarcastically that could only have been inspired by Aunt Andy.

"Lord Black has a point, Minerva," Severus said as he scanned the faces that had rolled out of the sack. Minerva's head snapped to her fellow teacher scandalized. "As much as we would like to deny it, to ourselves or to the children, we are at war. Geniality is a luxury we no longer have," Severus motioned to the heads left untouched on the ground to bring them to her attention. "Like Albus, would you really wish for us to leave our enemies alive when we know what they will do if they capture any of us?" His eyes bore into hers once she finally broke her sight from the heads on the stone before her. "Or the children?" Severus questioned with a slight raise of his brow.

Minerva looked like she wanted to argue, but clearly knew that this topic was a lost cause, for whatever reason she identified. With a superior sniff of her nose the regal woman turned sharply and walked back into the castle with as much crisp agitation as her old bones would allow. Which was quite a bit more than other men or women her age would be able to conjure. Harry rolled his eyes as he picked up the bag by the bottom and allowed the last of the heads to roll out.

"I think I recognize a couple of those…heads from school," Sirius spoke as Remus leaned more heavily on him.

"Yes. Low level Death Eaters," Severus drawled. "Those little better than savages were stationed with the werewolves by Lord Voldemort as his eyes and ears within the Pack. Even working for him, the Dark Lord never trusted Greyback."

"Is that normal for him?" Harry asked as he used his foot to push the heads around to look at the foolish men that decided to get in his dad's way. Shaking his head he opened the sack and used his magic to put the heads back in it. There were kids around after all, Harry was going to make Severus scrub the stones clean of blood since he was responsible for the mess.

"The Dark Lord prefers to act as a dagger in the shadows. He prefers others to do all the little things that need to be done while spreading his mystique," Severus stated disinterestedly as he flicked his want to clean up the ichor from the stones. "It is, unfortunately, quite the effective strategy."

"That's not really reassuring Severus," Sirius said as he shifted Remus' weight across his shoulders and wrapped an arm around his waist to help the tired wolf walk before slowly escorting Remus into the castle.

Shrugging at the byplay with the former Death Eater, Harry absently called up his intent and used his magic to incinerate the burlap sack and the heads within it. He had briefly considered using the heads as fertilizer for his garden, but decided against it given the history of the people the heads were once attached to so burned the contents to ash and let the world have them.

Severus waited to speak until Harry was finished burning the sack. "I assume you are capable of taking care of your father's 'strays'?" He questioned as he motioned to the werewolves that were still standing awkwardly behind them.

"Yes, of course," Harry told him while trying very hard not to be offended by his words. "If you're heading back into the castle, can you please send out Ron Weasley?" Harry asked as he turned from the potions master to get a good look at the group of stray werewolves.

Severus nodded, internally more than a little ruffled at the dismissal, and followed after the others into the castle. Harry's inspecting gaze slowly turned attention from one member of the group to another, seeing now just how sickly they all looked even in their human forms. Internally he sighed at the magical community of Britain. Focusing Harry could feel that their Gifts were beginning to warp into what he felt within Fenrir, mange. He would need to talk with Remus to figure out a way to heal them. A tall order considering all the bad things going on in this society.

"Hello everyone," Harry greeted the group with a kind smile while keeping his distance. "My name is Harry Potter. My father, Remus Lupin, has brought you all here to keep you safe," Harry said as he looked at the kids.

"Harry Potter?" One of the adult women asked in a slightly trembling voice. "I…I've heard of you."

"I'm not surprised. I've been getting that a lot honestly," Harry replied kindly as he brushed off her words and put his hands on his hips with a dramatic sigh. A few of the kids tittered a little and that was what he wanted really, to get them to relax a bit more.

"We can…stay here?" One of the smaller boys asked from behind a slightly older girl. "It's…ok?" He asked fearfully.

"Of course it's ok!" Harry replied happily, making the small children relax a little at his tone as he acted scandalized that they wouldn't be welcome.

"Oi!" Harry heard Ron call out from behind him. "Professor Snape told me you were looking for me?" He asked as he approached the group. "Who are these people?" He pointed to the werewolves. Ron must not have settled into his new abilities yet if he couldn't identify his fellow werewolves from a distance.

"Ron?" One of the older boys asked as he walked to the front of the group.

"Oliver?!" Ron replied excitedly. "What are you doing here?"

"Long-story short: I'm a werewolf now," Oliver pulled his collar down to reveal a scarred bite mark hidden on his neck down on his shoulder.

"Me too!" Ron replied by pulling his shirt sleeve up to show his own scar. Harry sniggered and some of the kids and a few adults did too.

Harry couldn't help but think of these two as wolf pups getting to know each other. Though he couldn't help but think they could do it faster if they smelled each other, Harry tried not to laugh out loud at the two boys sniffing at the other. Oliver introduced Ron to the other werewolves while Ron explained how things were going to be different for their kind because of Harry and Remus. Harry pretended to look interested in the conversation but stopped when something occurred to him. Remus' pack had expanded quickly and, while the next moon was some time away, it was coming all the same. It was going to be difficult to handle the whole pack of thirty-three transforming werewolves at once with only one wolf in control of themselves. Harry knew his father was a powerful werewolf, but even he was going to struggle to control so many pups. The more Harry thought about it, the more clear the solution became. He needed to write a letter.

Motioning the kids and the adults inside he led them to the hall so they could get some food and then he'd settle them into a separate area to let them get some rest. He made jokes and did his best to entertain the children for the time he had them under his care.

Remus ended up sleeping for nearly two days and was frighteningly fatigued for another two, waking only to be fed by Sirius. Ron and Oliver took over the majority of care for the werewolves, but took input from Harry when it was needed. Most of the other school teens kept their distance from the pack of werewolves, but others that had interacted with Harry, notably Susan and her group, were far less reserved and made the scared werewolves feel more at home. Everyone knew better than to treat anyone in the pack poorly lest they be on the receiving end of Harry's wrath.

Harry received a reply to his letter and quietly slipped out of the castle while Sirius was busy with Remus and the pack one morning. Draco was still sleeping, utterly useless as a wingman was his cousin. He used the teleportation room to go to a magically frequented port on the coast of France. It was a pleasant change to be able to get out of the castle by himself and Harry couldn't have been happier with his little trip, surprise included. He took the opportunity to walk through the various shops in the port town since he had made sure to leave a little earlier than the arrival of his guests. Nothing really caught his eye, but he enjoyed looking regardless.

As he wandered around the small town, Harry found the building he was looking for. It was a small and slightly decrepit building that magicals in these countries seemed so fond of. Inside the building there was an older woman sitting behind a desk and reading a book.

The woman glanced up to Harry before motioning to the dusty looking chairs on the other side of the room. "Sit down please. Arrivals will be in soon. " The woman spoke to him in french. Thankfully Sirius had insisted Harry learn some of the more common European languages during their odyssey.

"Thank you Madam." He replied in kind.

The woman nodded to him before turning back to her book. Harry sat down as instructed and took out a book of his own to pass the time until his guests arrived. It wasn't long before a door grew up from the floor magically and opened up. A stream of people entered the room through the new door and quickly exited the building out the door that Harry came in. It was typical that his guests were the last ones in the line, but Harry was in no rush and so he didn't mind.

Harry had not seen Camilla in person since he and his fathers had eaten at her diner in the States five or six years ago, but she was still as recognizable as she had been. Pale hair, pale skin, and pale eyes. So unlike his mothers and tribe, yet still so motherly. He did not recognize the man with her, but could assume from her letters and the familial resemblance that this was the brother he kept hearing about.

"Harry!" Camilla practically ran to him and wrapped him in a fierce hug. She pulled back sharply and took his face in her hands. "You've gotten so big!" She squealed and Harry could do nothing but smile at her infectious cheer. He'd spent one night in this woman's care but she felt like she was part of his family. Maybe that was just how she was? A bright, passionate, and caring woman who wanted to bring light and happiness to everyone she met. Harry idly lost himself in wondering if this what Lily Potter would have been had she lived beyond protecting her son from darkness.

"Cami. Please," The man behind her spoke with a longsuffering whine in his voice. "Leave the boy alone," Harry could taste the man's exasperation with his sister's behavior.

Camilla turned to her brother and with an exaggerated pout pulled Harry to her chest and Harry, taking the hint, gazed soulfully at her brother along with her, "I can't! Look how handsome he's become!" She giggled as her brother slumped in defeat and after squeezing Harry again she let him go and turned her attention back to him. "I bet you've become quite the lady killer like your fathers."

"Much to their shared chagrin, " Harry replied with a wink and a smirk, making Camilla's bearing snap as she laughed loudly at the boy.

Camilla turned to her brother with one hand and grabbed his hand and squeezed it, "This is my brother. Bartholomew Jedidiah Smith the Second," She presented her brother with a mouthful of a name and not a small amount of mirth.

"Oh god! Please stop introducing me with my full name," He quietly but frantically begged his sister who, as far as Harry could tell, was not going to stop anytime soon. Her brother turned to Harry, "Please. Please! Call me Bart."

Harry shook the man's hand while giving him a quick once over. He was built far more than the average man Harry dealt with, but Bart was a type of American Auror according to Camilla's letters. She described his job as being 'half tracking and half brute force'.

"That's quite the name," Harry drew out the first word into a hiss as he decided he just had to know the story behind such a name and not quite covertly asked about it.

Bart nodded sadly, "I am aware. I was named after our grandfather. He received many awards from several different countries during the war. Our mother wanted to honor him through me," Bart shrugged at the summation of his bearing such a pretentious name.

"I was named because it sounded pretty," Camilla whispered to Harry and laughed again when Bart rolled his eyes.

"Enough about us. Right now I have a rather anxious package that should probably be delivered before we continue further," Bart held up a strange looking container that looked like it had a metal grate on the front.

Harry nodded to Bart, "Of course. Let's get out of here." Harry led the siblings outside of the port town before he used his crystal to teleport them to the castle.

"Ooh, how fancy!" Camilla spoke in awe as Harry led them down the main hall to the courtyard. "You live here now?" She asked without looking at him, too occupied with looking around at the beauty of the castle.

"Yep! It's a really long story but it's kind of mine?" Harry started by popping the 'p' and then trailed off as he thought of how complicated coming to own this castle was.

"You'll have to explain it later. It sounds like a good story!" She replied with a smile and patted his shoulder gently.

Outside in the courtyard were many of the students. The werewolf pack was off to the side, still a bit shocked at their circumstances and continuing to separate themselves from the students. Generally speaking, there were equal levels of distrust on each side and immediately Harry felt his headache forming thinking about how he was going to try to figure out how to fix everything.

Harry stopped near the werewolf pack and waved grandly while raising his eyebrow to Bart, 'all yours old man'. Bart nodded and placed the strange container on the ground and then used his own magic to pull the container up and then out so it became much larger. Looking at it, Harry guessed he could put himself, the Patil twins, and Hermione in there and still have room to play a board game, or other things. Harry immediately crushed that line of thinking and thankfully no one was around to notice the blush on his face. Bart then bent down to pull the grate open before he took a couple steps back. By now, everyone in the courtyard was paying close attention to Bart and Harry. Harry glanced over his shoulder and saw Minerva and Severus standing by the stairs to the castle. He could assume that they were intrigued by what new bullshit Harry was up to. Apparently Harry was no longer a side show, he was the main attraction of the circus that was his family.

A dog large enough that it had to crawl out of the door of the container came out first. It had been a very long time since Harry had seen a Moonhound. This one was not one he recognized, so he could assume this was Bart's Moonhound 'Chesty'. Chesty, the small bear that all moonhounds resembled, looked around at his surroundings in a very calculated way. After a few tense moments he moved off to the far side of the container closest to Bart and another Moonhound crawled out next. Harry did recognize Emily, Camilla's Moonhound and Chesty's sister, immediately. Looking at Emily as she took in her surroundings in the same way as her brother had, Harry could see that while she was still a huge dog, she was slightly smaller than Chesty. Slightly, Harry chuckled internally. She was still a massive and beautiful creature. Emily moved off to the other side of the container from her brother as she and Chesty surveyed the rest of the courtyard.

They must have found whatever they were looking for, or not found whatever they were wary of. Emily shook out her whole body while Chesty laid down on the ground. Just before he laid his head down, he turned to the container and let out a soft yet deep bark that sounded like he was saying 'Boof'.

That was 'the signal', as soon as Chesty made the noise, a wild flood of smaller Moonhounds came thundering out of the container and ran straight towards the werewolf pack, yips, barks, and happy howls suddenly fractured the air as the pack of animals descended upon the werewolves with tails wagging so fast they could have been flying rather than running. Ron was knocked down at the knees and trampled by the flood of puppies, cries for help being ignored among the squealing and laughter of werewolf children. Harry would later deny that he had wet himself from laughing at the redhead. Each puppy worked its way through the pack, licking each person they could find, much to the delight of the smaller children. While the puppies were much smaller than Emily and Chesty, they were still the size of a standard dog and still built as solid as a small boulder.

"Pup?" Harry heard Sirius call out from behind him.

"Hey dads. We've got company!" Harry weakly responded as he giggled on the ground having lost his ability to stand from laughing at the pitiful whimpers of mercy coming from Ron who was now mobbed by three Moonhound pups all trying to lick his face. Ron's final pleas for help were made with his right hand slowly sinking into the mass of excited puppies.

"Hello boys!" Camilla called out with a wave having been laughing at the excited pups mobbing the poor red haired boy.

"Cami?" Remus asked after he took a moment to remember the face of the woman who greeted them and with a grunt, courtesy of Sirius' elbow in his chest, waved awkwardly as he and Sirius came up to the group. "What's going on here?" Remus asked Harry more than a little flummoxed at the absolute pandemonium. Sirius was practically vibrating and then there was a black dog in his place that leapt into the mass of dogs with a happy yip. A fine example of adulthood was Dadfoot.

"You've got a pack now, Mooey, and while you are a capable leader, you cannot handle so many young and damaged werewolves all on your own," Harry said as he climbed to his feet. He continued after he motioned to Camilla and her brother, "So, I wrote to Cami about bringing some Moonhound pups here to help." Harry surreptitiously cast a cleaning spell on himself and his clothes as he brushed himself off.

"That's…an amazing idea, Harry," Remus looked at him with a bemused stare. "I would have never thought of that."

Harry shrugged, "It just made sense. Not everyone is going to have their own Dadfoot to help them," Harry motioned to Sirius.

The duo watched the excited litter of Moonhounds and turned over to watch as Emily walked over to them and sat right next to Remus. Harry noted that her head came up to Remus' chest. Harry saw Bart turn to his sister, who pointedly looked away from him with a blush.

"Excuse me," Minerva effortlessly glided up next to Harry so she could stand next to him and take in the scene before her. "Harry. What are those creatures?"

"Allow me," Bart said as he walked over to them. Harry nodded to Minerva and waved his hand to indicate that Bart had the floor. Bart held himself high, likely drawing on the part of him that was 'official' and Minerva matched him. "Moonhounds are a magical breed bred between Silken Wolfhounds and the magical Mawbree. They're primarily used as companions to werewolves, but also do other jobs as working dogs, such as tracking and detection." He explained smoothly.

"Companions for werewolves?" Minerva asked cautiously, the information was new to her.

"Moonhounds are well known in America to help werewolves through their moon transformations. It's rare that a werewolf doesn't have at least one Moonhound, since the adoption costs are covered by the magical government," Bart tilted his head in a calculated way. "Don't you have something similar to that in Britain?" He asked with a false innocence.

Minerva narrowed her eyes as she caught the quiet jab. "No, we don't, but that's hardly surprising considering who runs things in Britain."

"The failings of a society to protect its most vulnerable individuals is everyone's fault," Bart bluntly stated. His tone was dripping with dark memories and simmering anger. "There's a reason it took a foreigner to start the changes you all so desperately need."

"Harry was born here!" Minerva argued.

"But not raised here," Bart retorted. "No, instead he traveled the world and gained much needed perspective."

"What right do you have to judge us?!" Minerva growled. It had very little intimidation effect on Bart. He didn't fear Britain's citizens or reprisals. He was a foreign auror on authorized leave to travel overseas with Moonhound pups, accompanying his sister.

"I'm a werewolf myself and these are my people that are suffering," He emphasized as he shifted to now directly glare at Minerva. "I will do whatever Harry allows me to do in order to make things better for them. It's all authorized through the ICW anyway," Bart spoke in a low growl and a toothy grin.

"At the risk of sounding simple," Severus muttered behind them. "Why does Harry's opinion matter to you…as an American?"

"I'll sooner listen to Harry and his fathers since they clearly have more sense than the rest of you," Bart dismissed the comment and turned his attention back to the pups and the werewolves.

"You dare…" Minerva began to say something Harry was sure she thought would be threatening.

"I do dare!" Bart raised his voice to speak over her. Chesty stood up from where he was lying and trotted over to stand next to Bart. He stood still and quiet, but his mere presence was enough to intimidate the professor. "I will do whatever is necessary to protect those that need protecting. Regardless of where I'm from," He added with a growl that made Remus smile and he clapped his hand down on Bart's shoulder. The men broke into supportive smiles and an unsaid camaraderie passed between them.

Minerva fumed impotently but had no reply to that. Severus quietly nodded but stayed silent behind them, observing.

"Now that we've got that out of the way," Harry stated with cheer. Minerva shot him a glare, but he knew she was only projecting onto him as a 'weaker target' for her frustration. Harry was unimpressed. Oheo gently chuffed under his skin in amusement. "Well Bart, let's get you and Camilla a place to rest while the pups get to know their new pack," He motioned to the werewolf pack that were currently all sitting on the ground and loving all over the Moonhound puppies, who were clearly loving all the attention. Ron was being napped on by one of the larger pups. Ron was also asleep, or otherwise unconscious.

It was a few days of getting to know Bart and Chesty, reacquainting himself with Camilla and Emily, all while enjoying Minerva's messy attempts at apologizing without actually using the words 'I'm sorry'. Harry was enjoying himself as much as he could while his skin was starting to itch from being cooped up in the castle. He spent some time with Hermoine and she was making small but significant progress in feeling the living magic in the world. He was impressed, the young woman had really tried to understand and apply his words. The Patil twins hovered during meals or even came to spend evening tea with him in the Study. The three enjoyed the quiet and talked about the rest of the family in India. Harry was sure the girls felt the same kind of penetrating warmth and happiness he felt in his chest when they were together. Having gotten a bit peckish Harry was wandering his way to the kitchen to get some food when Draco appeared from a doorway and grabbed his shirt roughly with two fists.

"Harry!" Draco whispered harshly as he forcibly pulled Harry into a small room that looked to be used to hold a mountain of cleaning supplies and dust.

"Draco?" Harry queried good-naturedly, his cousin's behavior intrigued him. "How can I help you?"

"I'm losing my mind, Harry!" Draco hissed. "My family is driving me up around the bend and I need to get out of here!"

Harry cocked his head, his smile slowly spreading as his desperately frustrated cousin amused him, "You know you're a big boy and could have snuck out without me."

Draco let go of Harry's shirt, recomposed himself to offer an elegant shrug, "Where's the fun in going without you?"

That comment made Harry's gleam in the light of the closet. It seemed like his uptight cousin was beginning to loosen up. Excellent. "Alright dear cousin of mine. To where shall we sally forth?"

Draco thought silently and the amused Harry waited. "How about going back to Hogsmeade? I think it has the most options densely packed together for easy, and quick, plundering," He slowly suggested. His words gained more confidence as he spoke his idea out into the world.

"Hogsmeade? That's the village we popped out of Hogwarts castle, yes?" Harry asked as he drew back on his memory.

Draco nodded and confirmed Harry's words, "It's that small village outside of Hogwarts. It has a lot of amazing little shops. I'm sure you'll find something you like there." Draco nudged Harry's shoulder with something akin to a pureblood punch. "You might even find a secret or two!"

Now Harry liked that thought. He couldn't deny that he was of the same need for getting free considering he was being cooped up for so long. Harry both pitied the other kids not being able to attempt to run free and could admit a small jealousy at being able to just be content to be so passively accepting of the normal day to day routine. Harry nodded to Draco. "You've convinced me, shocking I know. Grab whatever you need. I'll meet you in the Room."

Draco smiled brightly and nodded quickly in response. He was gone before Harry even turned to the door, which made him laugh. Harry walked down to the Teleportation Room slowly. He didn't have to grab anything since he was always ready for a quick exit. He passed Bart standing in a doorway.

"You look like you're up to no good, " He said with a smirk. Enough to tell Harry he didn't disapprove.

"You know how it is. Family is a great thing to have until it becomes stifling," Harry explained with a shrug.

"Ain't that the truth. I love my sister but getting together with the rest of my family is just…the worst," Bart nodded his head.

Draco met Harry at the Room not long after, earning another smirk from Bart as he passed. Harry noted that Draco was wearing a thick jacket.

"Are you cold?" Harry asked as Draco grabbed a crystal.

"No, but Hogsmeade will be. It is January after all," Draco looked down at Harry's clothes with a judgemental look. "You'll get quite cold."

"We have magic, Draco," Harry replied only a little bit indignantly. "Do you people forget that or something?"

"We aren't all as nonchalant as you when it comes to our magic use," Draco put on his aristocratic airs and looked down his nose at his cousin.

"Because that's been working out so well for y'all," Harry replied with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms.

"Silence you savage," Draco said with feigned venom. "Some of us have better things to do than summon butterflies and flowers to impress all the girls."

"Well one of us needs to get laid and I don't see you doing anything about it," Harry snarked and the look of shock on Draco's face at his blunt retort was priceless. Once Draco was able to recover and clear his throat before he sighed heavily to avoid further embarrassment before Draco pulled on the crystal's magic to send them to Hogsmead.

The two reappeared behind a well maintained wooden building. Everything around them was covered with either snow or Christmas lights, magical ones. Draco was right that it would be cold and so, without giving his cousin the satisfaction of seeing him do it, Harry cast a warming spell on himself. Harry followed Draco out into the main street, finding new and potentially exciting shops all around them with only a few strange looks from the people who were out during this time of the day.

"That's Hogwarts there," Draco pointed to the large castle in the distance. Harry thought it had a certain ominous look to it now that he was looking, but it didn't seem all that impressive. The ruins of Machu Picchu were far more interesting and they came with the added bonus of a giant mythical snake hiding inside them. "Where would you like to visit first?" Draco asked and pulled Harry out of his thoughts.

"Let's see…" Harry mumbled as he looked around them at the many shops. One store sign caught Harry's eye, the sign for the Hogs Head Inn. Its sign was a large boar's head behind the words. Harry remembered seeing it when he was scrying with the Black Pearl.

"See somewhere you want to visit?" Draco asked over his shoulder as he tried to follow Harry's eyeline.

"The Inn," Harry nodded his head towards the building. "I had a vision about that place some time ago. Fancy a pint?" Harry said with a mischievous grin.

Draco sighed heavily. "Great fucking Merlin, Harry. Can we at least visit Honeydukes before you completely derail this trip? I need to get some chocolate to bribe our Aunts and Nym so they don't kill me when we get wrapped up in something crazy. Again," Draco was already exasperated with Harry's antics and he hadn't even done anything yet.

"Of course! I can go anytime before they close," The last thing Harry wanted to do was ruin his cousin's trip. Or at least prevent them from getting bribery options. Harry cringed a moment when he thought of what the twins would say if they heard he went out and didn't bring them some chocolate too. "Great idea, chocolate, we'll need a bit of it I think," Harry said as he pushed Draco to Honeydukes in a panic.

Harry followed Draco down the snow covered stone street to the shop Draco had mentioned. Inside was stacked full of more types of candy than Harry had ever seen. Draco must have seen the wonder on Harry's face.

"Have you ever been in a shop like this?" Draco asked softly somewhere between amused and surprised.

"I've been in shops that had candy and other confectionery, but nothing like this!" Everywhere Harry looked, there were new and interesting sweets.

"We are quite serious about our sweets," Draco huffed. "You look around and grab anything that looks good to you. I'll grab a few of my favorites that you can try later. I'll meet you at the counter."

Harry looked around the shop, finding a few products that seemed interesting, though he was grown enough to admit that a lot of these products were entirely too foreign for him. A good rule he learned in his travels was not to eat something you weren't at least mostly sure what was in it, he thought as he eyed the 'Cockroach Clusters'. Sirius ate something he didn't know what it was and had to spend much of a long stretch of travel between towns covered in itchy sores that Harry couldn't heal. Draco met Harry at the counter after some time and paid for their items, Harry had picked out a few things to try and then a veritable mountain of generic caramel chocolate for his Aunts and his other girls. Oheo was laughing and deep in his mind he could have swam in her amusement.

"What next, Draco?" Harry asked as he grabbed an innocuous enough looking jelly bean from a box that Draco offered to him. He quickly spit it out and made a face, making Draco snort loudly in amusement. "That was absolutely vile!" Harry exclaimed as he gagged on the aftertaste.

"Yeah. I probably should have warned you about Bertie Bott's, but it's a lesson that everyone needs to learn on their own," Draco said, yet his smirk said he would be more than willing to 'forget' again.

Harry took a sip of an incredibly sweet drink that Draco had insisted they buy and Harry didn't hate it. "You didn't answer my question Draco. Where do you want to go next?"

"Eh, no use putting off the inevitable any more than we already have," Draco groused slightly as he motioned to the Hog's Head Inn.

"We don't have to go just yet. I don't want to ruin your trip so quickly," Harry tried to appeal to Draco.

"Oh, don't worry about that, Harry. I got my sweets and got out of the castle for an afternoon," Draco waved a lollipop between them and then popped it back into his mouth. Harry and Draco walked down the street to the Hogs Head Inn. Harry pushed open the door and held it for Draco but his cousin shook his head and didn't enter.

"Draco?" Harry asked at the door.

"Go on without me. Whatever you need in there does not involve me," Draco shooed Harry from where he was now leaning against the building content to sip on his 'Butterbeer' and enjoy another confectionery.

Harry nodded to Draco, respecting his decision to not get involved with whatever waited for Harry inside. The Inn's interior was warm, but that was about the only positive Harry could readily see. He'd been in many Inns, Bars, and Pubs much like this one and there wasn't a single one that didn't have some kind of hidden trouble waiting in the shadows. Not having a better idea of where to be, Harry walked up to and sat himself at the bar. Though looking at the grimy state of the countertop, Harry wondered if he should have sat somewhere cleaner, like the floor.

An older man with a long white beard walked up to him with a deep scowl that Harry guessed was a permanent feature of his face. This, Harry recognized, was the man Harry had seen in his vision and just looked into the man's blue eyes and raised one eyebrow, letting this old man make the first move. The man silently placed a drinking glass and a decanter of an amber liquid in front of him. The man watched Harry with a calculating eye as he poured a healthy amount of the amber liquid into the drinking glass before sliding it to Harry with enough force to nearly slosh the liquid out of the glass.

A part of Harry cautioned him to not drink liquids of unknown origin due to the likelihood of being poisoned, it sounded distinctly like Mooey, but the other part reminded Harry that he was more than capable of combating most poisons these people would have access to. Also, it was just plain rude to reject a drink offered by the proprietor of any establishment. Harry grabbed the glass and drank it down in one mouthful. Harry immediately regretted that action as the amber liquid burned all the way down to his stomach.

"Oof!" Harry grimaced as his stomach soured and he coughed a bit at the very dry sensation that scorched him. "That was a lot more powerful than I was expecting!" Harry looked up at the man, who's scowl had not changed. "I wouldn't mind another though," He said with a smirk and a cough with just a hint of smoke wafting from his lips.

The man's scowl finally broke into a slight smirk. "You are not who I was expecting," He spoke in a gruff voice that sounded as old and weathered as he looked. "Wait here," He commanded before melting back towards a room behind the bar. As Harry watched the man walk into a back room he contemplated if it would be poor etiquette to pour himself another cup of the drink, but had decided it probably would when the man reappeared holding a plain wooden box in his hands.

"My brother, Albus, gave this to me shortly before he died. Had very specific instructions for me regarding it," The man placed the wooden box on the counter in front of Harry. "I'm pleased you finally showed up, Harry Potter." He spoke low and quietly, clearly in an effort to keep their conversation private. Harry could feel his hackles raise at the sound of his true name for a variety of reasons. "Now get out," The man motioned harshly to the door behind Harry.

Harry sighed as he rose from his chair. "Thanks for the drink," Harry said as he placed the box in his bag. The man nodded softer this time.

Harry left out through the door to where Draco was waiting. "Done already? No fires or fights? No kidnapping Britain's upstanding citizens?" Draco seemed genuinely surprised.

"Not this time, it seems. Just a cranky old man wanting to give me a box," Harry shrugged.

"Was it Aberforth? He's Albus Dumbledore's brother," Draco spoke conversationally. Then Draco's eyes narrowed and he leaned in just a bit to Harry, "Is that Firewhiskey?"

"Albus?" Harry asked mostly to himself and ignored Draco's second question. He'd heard that name a lot from his fathers after they left India. They were afraid of his power and what he might want with Harry.

"Yes," Draco said heatedly, upset at being ignored. He shoved the lollipop into his mouth before speaking around the sweet, "What's in the box then? Must be something important if it's coming from Dumbledore, either of them."

Draco pushed off the building and followed Harry back down the road. "I don't know," He shrugged and gestured to his bag at his hip, "Haven't looked in it yet."

"Probably for the best that you wait. Without the audience," Draco motioned around them. "Let's go to Stitches and Hey!" Draco yelled suddenly.

Harry looked over to where Draco was walking next to him and saw that a rather scruffy looking man with dirty, mismatched clothes and a dirty face now had a very firm hold of Draco's arm.

"Was wondering when you were going to show back up," The man practically purred in a self-satisfied way, his partially glazed eyes racking over Draco and Harry before he tugged on Draco's arm, "Boss wants to see you."

"Your boss?" Harry asked, sensing that Draco was too tense to speak hearing about the 'Boss'.

"Yeah…" The man slurred. "Lord. Voldemort." The man enunciated slowly, like they were dim children.

Draco tensed further and Harry could practically taste his anxiety. This name was somewhat known to Harry though, he remembers the conversation with the Patils and the other Hogwarts teens and the face of the man that he saw when he was divining with the Black Pearl. Lord Voldemort, as far as Harry was concerned, was an evil little man that had delusions of grandeur and the big evil that he was destined to fight. As long as this man lived, Harry would never be able to live his life as he wanted.

"Why does he want Draco?" Harry asked diplomatically.

"What's it matter?" The man growled limply at Harry. "The boss wants him and the boss always gets what he wants." He bared his teeth at Harry like it was supposed to be a threat. "Least we won't have to go far. He's at the castle now."

Draco tried to pull away from the man, but was unsuccessful. Harry decided he had heard enough and that they needed to cut their trip short. He was also pleased that their trip getting ruined was not done by Harry's actions or something related to him but rather something involving Draco.

Harry silently cast an anchoring spell on Draco, then quickly took the two steps needed to get in close to this man and banished him into the tree behind them. The tree stood didn't give much to Harry's relief, but the grubby man's back did. The dirty guy slumped down the trunk and then fell to his side in the dirt still breathing. Harry grabbed Draco's other arm while releasing the spell.

"Good trip, but you pick up the worst admirers, Draco. Too bad it's almost past your curfew, time to go," Harry told the blonde and tried to break the tension with a few jokes. Draco nodded shakily and holding up the crystal pulled on the connection to get them 'home'. They reappeared in the Teleportation Room at the castle. Draco took a few shaky breaths before turning back to Harry with a silent plea in his eyes. "Let's go to the tower. We can speak privately there," Harry suggested.

Draco nodded and followed Harry down the many hallways and through the dungeon to the workshop tower where they knew no one else would be able to enter or listen through the door.

Draco fell into the study chair bonelessly and covered his eyes with his arm, "What do you think that was all about?" He asked as his voice quivered just a bit due to the adrenaline dump.

"I'm not too sure, Draco. If I had to guess, it's probably something related to your father," Harry said as he leaned against the desk next to his cousin.

Harry glanced over and saw the red-eyed Gwas had entered the room and was looking intently at them standing next to a teapot, that Harry could tell from the steam, was fresh. Two matching tea cups next to it on a silver platter. Harry bowed in thanks to the Gwas, who returned the bow, and took the platter over to Draco. Draco looked up to Harry with a grateful smile.

"My father is dead," Draco's voice was empty of any or all emotion. "Why would he still be affecting my life so much when he's gone?" Draco asked Harry.

Harry sighed as he poured the tea out of the teapot, "Unfortunately, it will be difficult to escape your father's shadow."

Draco looked down at the cup Harry placed in front of him. "I'm not even an adult and there is so much hanging over my head," He wiped angrily at a lone tear that escaped from his eye. "How am I supposed to move forward? How am I supposed to be my own person when my father's sins will be held against me?" Draco demanded of the world his fear igniting into a hot anger now fueled by indignation and frustration.

Harry knew this was a delicate situation. He needed to help Draco through this rough patch in his life, but Harry could only think of himself. He had known for as long as he could remember that he was destined to fight some 'great evil' to protect pretty much everyone in the world. He had enough information to know that evil was the self anointed Lord Voldemort. His whole life had been dictated by the actions of that one man and he would only ever be truly free when the man was dead for good. Or Harry himself died, he supposed.

"One day at a time," Harry told Draco. "It's going to be hard, but as long as you push forward and prove to everyone who you actually are, it will get easier. Anything else is an unacceptable outcome that you refuse to accept."

Draco smiled briefly at him, "Well, I guess we should stop moping and see what Dumbledore saw fit to leave you for after he died," Draco motioned to Harry's bag moving the conversation from Lucius Malfoy and his family's tainted reputation.

Harry nodded, pulling the wooden box out of his bag and placing it between them. Harry pulled on the lid, which came off the bottom completely, and set it aside. Draco sat up a little bit more to get a better look inside.

Inside the box was some kind of incredibly old-looking, black fabric. Harry gently touched the fabric and noticed that other dark colors simmered faintly, It looked highly reminiscent of spilled oil. When he reached into the box to remove the fabric out completely he felt solid objects inside the fabric. Harry carefully pushed his fingers along the edge of the box until he found the fold in the fabric. He gently pulled it up and unfolded the fabric looking for the objects that were folded inside it. There was a piece of parchment folded neatly and Draco picked it up, underneath the letter was revealed a wand with some large bumps along the length and a gaudy looking ring with a large gemstone.

Draco handed Harry the paper without even peeking inside to see the text once he saw the salutation on the front of the parchment. Curious, Harry thought, who would have left Harry a letter? Albus Dumbledore? Draco examined the fabric closer while Harry began to look over the letter.

"This has to be an invisibility cloak," Draco announced. Harry looked up to see Draco flipping the fabric back and forth, showing the fabric and thereafter covering his arm with the cloak, Draco's whole arm inside the fabric disappeared.

"That's quite interesting," Harry said, but he was never really impressed with invisibility cloaks. Glamour magic was far more effective at remaining unnoticed around people. Harry went back to the letter while Draco pulled out the wand with large bumps along the shaft.

The letter was written in an overly flourishing script and signed by Dumbledore. It was brief, but telling. According to the letter, Albus Dumbledore had tried to find a way to end Lord Voldemort once and for all, but failed when he was cursed by a ring he found in Voldemort's old family home. Harry would have thought that an old and wise mage would know to not put on strange jewelry in old homes, but whatever. This country was, quite honestly, the worst. Harry had learned that their mages were much the same as their country, useless.

The letter continued with how Dumbledore tried to delay his death, but couldn't. He did everything he could to continue the fight, but knew it was much too late. Albus wondered, in the text of the letter, if he should have continued his search for Harry, Sirius, and Remus instead of abandoning his pursuit of them on the docks of Chile. Harry was pleased that he had given up. Harry huffed to himself as he read the letter, Harry's life had been one mess after another since he got 'back' to Britain and an old man who thought he knew best meddling in his life would have made Harry's calm fracture dramatically.

Dumbledore described the items in the box as the 'Deathly Hallows'. Harry remembered that name from a book, the story of the 'three brothers' his fathers really enjoyed and read to him when he was younger. They didn't believe it was real, but Harry's experience told him that there was probably a seed of truth in the story. Harry wasn't convinced that Albus was correct though as far as this Deathly Hallow business. Not at a glance anyway. The cloak belonged to Harry's biological father, James. Dumbledore had 'won' the wand in a duel decades ago, and the ring was the one that cursed him to die. Tragic really.

Harry glanced up to observe Draco as he was holding up and looking over the ring. It appeared to no longer be cursed to kill a handler. The letter stated that the curse on the ring was removed, so it was no longer dangerous. That would have been a terrible thing to leave as part of this gift basket so Harry was glad of that. Harry's eyes were immediately drawn further up and over Draco's shoulder when he noticed a figure come through the wall and move to stand behind Draco observing the boy who was in turn observing the ring.

Harry recognized the fabric of the cloak first the being was wearing. It was the same fabric as the cloak in the box sitting on the table in front of him. The being wore their hood up, though there was no face inside of it that Harry could perceive. There was nothing inside except the inside of the hood but the cloak held form as though being worn by a body. The figure leaned over Draco's shoulder, appearing to watch Draco look over the ring and scan the other items on the table.

"I'd suggest putting that ring down cousin. Letter says it killed Dumbledore," Harry told Draco calmly as not to give away that Harry was unnerved at all by the beings appearance. Draco's eyes got big before he quickly put the ring back in the box and went back to intently drinking tea.

The figure straightened up behind Draco, towering over the unsuspecting boy. The hood moved up, indicating to Harry that whatever being inside the cloak was now looking at him. The being raised its hands, which Harry noticed were covered in gloves made of the fabric as the cloak. It motioned to the box with the various strange items and then gently motioned to Harry. It then nodded once and turned gliding back through the wall that it came though initially.

Harry wanted to bang his head onto the table between them and Oheo trilled soothingly under his skin, singing a calm melody in the back of his mind. It was yet another interaction with yet another otherworldly being that left him with more questions than answers. Oh rejoice brothers, fate was undetermined. Harry internally sighed as he let the tension from the visitation ease from his muscles, he was becoming quite blasé with these encounters.

Turning his attention back to the letter, it ended with Dumbledore thinly begging Harry to use the Hallows and possibly use the children of Hogwarts to defeat Lord Voldemort once and for all. The end is what angered Harry the most. Use children to fight a war? Was everyone in this country out of their goddamn mind?!

Harry conjured a brilliant white flame in his hands and burned the letter in his rage, Oheo's purring agreement soothed him slightly. It didn't do anything to temper the fire growing in his chest.

"Harry?" Draco asked timidly having seen the hardening of Harry's face and the spontaneous conflagration of Dumbledore's letter.

Harry looked up to his cousin, seeing the slight fear in his eyes and Harry's rage cooled to a low simmer in his chest. How could Harry ask someone like Draco to fight in a war they were intentionally kept woefully unprepared for? Why should these children be made to suffer even more for a society that made them suffer in the first place? Fight for the hope that after the war might be better for them with most of the same people in power? This old man wanted to throw Harry in front of this evil man whether he was ready for it or not, because 'prophecy'. Only because of Sirius' rash action fifteen years ago was Harry saved from whatever fate this dead old man had decided for him.

Harry reached into his bag before answering Draco. He pulled out the Black Pearl that he had scried with and used to find the information about the pieces of Voldmort's phylacteries. He had been cleansing the items the stupid man had been using to hide the pieces of his soul. Harry had already found so many and he knew where the last two were. With his mind made up he cracked the egg open and released the piece of evil kept captive inside for years.

"Get your big boy pants on Draco. We're ending this," Harry declared as he placed the egg shells back into his bag. Oheo scampered around his body and wrapped herself around Harry's heart, her presence much more close to his mind now and Harry could feel her nervous energy at his words.

Draco jumped up from his chair, a wild look in his eyes, "Hang on! Let me change my shoes!" As he dropped his tea and scampered to his feet.

Harry looked down at Draco's shoes and realized that the shoes he was wearing were very nice and utterly unfit for battle. "Yeah, ok," Harry snorted in amusement. "We'll stop by the bedroom to change and then head out," Harry stated as he and Draco walked out of the tower together.

"Just the two of us?" Draco asked not a little fearfully. Draco could fight, sure, but he was not good at protracted combat scenarios.

"I'm sure we'll pick up a few more bodies on our way out the door," Harry shrugged without changing his pace. His jaw firmed with each step he took back towards the living portion of the castle.

Harry and Draco walked to the family bedrooms so that Draco could change his shoes, though he did end up changing all of his clothes. Harry also changed into his sturdier dueling clothes that had many defensive magics to protect him in the coming battle, Harry did a final check of himself and tightened down any loose straps for his battle gear. With their clothes changed, Harry and Draco headed to the Teleportation Room.

"Pup?" Remus called out from the Study as the two boys passed.

"Yes dad?" Harry stopped to answer but didn't turn his attention away from the teleportation room. Harry was focused, he could almost see the end of his years and years of bullshit that had been laid down before him.

"Where are you two going?" Remus asked, clearly suspicious just from the look of the two boys.

"We're going to storm the castle," Harry replied simply. Remus leveled a stern look at them.

"A different castle," Draco motioned around them with a single finger. "Specifically: Hogwarts?" He questioned as he looked at Harry who nodded with just the slightest movements of his head. "Hogwarts," Draco confirmed when Remus turned his glare to him instead of his black haired son.

"Why are you 'storming' Hogwarts?" Remus asked slowly as his hands clenched tight enough that drops of blood seeped and dribbled onto the floor.

"We snuck out earlier to go to Hogsmeade," Harry said, still without facing Remus. "A man there grabbed Draco and said that Voldemort wanted him," Harry now leveled his own glare at Remus as he finally turned to look at his werewolf father. "You and Sirius may not be able to accept it, but I've known for most of my life that I needed to fight some 'great evil'. That evil I now know to be one Lord Voldemort. I am done living in that man's shadow while harboring refugees from his reign!" Harry snarled at the wolf with such hatred that Remus cautiously took a step back from his son before he shook his head clear.

Remus' glare softened, "You can't fight him with only the two of you."

"Watch me," Harry dared. Oheo's growling adding to his own thundering heartbeat.

Remus wanted to argue, he really did. But he was smart enough to know that once Harry set his mind to a task, nothing was going to stop him from completing it. And to be completely honest, Remus could feel something in the air, anticipation.

"We're family. We're going with you," Remus made his own declaration and pointed at his son to stay before he turned to walk to their family room.

"Go right ahead, but I won't hear anything about my methods," Harry nodded and then glared over his shoulder at Remus in warning. This was going to be a war, all of Harry's cultivated 'priestly nice guy' was hung up in his closet. Harry was going to bring the light of the Morning Star down on the Dark Lord's knives in the dark and burn away all the corruption his presence left in the British Isles.

Remus nodded begrudgingly and ruefully, "When have I ever said anything about your methods?" Harry was just about to say something sarcastic when Queenie crawled out of his bag and buzzed loudly. "Except for anything involving those bees." Remus sighed tiredly as he scurried off to find himself some armor for himself and Sirius.

"If you're going, I'm going," Bart announced from behind Harry and Draco. Chesty was sitting next to him like a silent gargoyle. Harry nodded and crossed his arms waiting.

"You're an American. Can you do that?" Draco asked, taking the moment to ponder the actions of an 'outsider' doing policing actions on foreign soil.

"I'm not joining the fight. I am merely monitoring a werewolf in a tense situation," Bart nodded to where Remus had walked off before summoning his travel pack and pulling out his Auror armor and gearing up. Harry was sure everyone knew he was using it as a cover, but he didn't care and even smiled at the man's use of politics. Whatever he needed to do to keep his job while performing his duty, Bart was a champion.

"So we're doing this?" Sirius asked from behind them standing alongside Remus the two securing the last loose bits of their 'dangerous job protective equipment'. "We're taking on Lord Voldemort and his army of fanatics? With the…five of us?"

"More than enough," Harry stated dismissively. "Now are we going?" He asked and turned around to look at the gathered group of men that was going to walk into the battleground with him.

Remus sighed heavily as he stretched his arms and twisted his back to get any kinks out before the fight. "I can't believe I'm agreeing to this, but you're right Sirius," Remus looked over his shoulder to Sirius. "We've been on the run for so long. Even now, we've been hiding."

"I would like to go outside without having to look over my shoulder or have my wand at the ready," Sirius added wistfully.

Harry led his little group of freedom fighters to the Teleportation Room. Queenie quickly crawled back into Harry's bag after she affectionately rubbed her antennae over his face and buzzed quietly against his neck. He could sense her getting her drones ready, knowing that Harry might need their help soon. Oheo curled tighter around his chest and she pulled herself mentally closer to Harry as she observed what Harry was thinking, feeling, and planning. She'd not been able to truly show off her abilities and she couldn't wait to get 'off the leash'.

The little group arrived in Hogsmeade just as the sun was beginning to set. The little town had cleared out for the most part, but there were still some disreputable characters milling near the Hogs Head Inn, some stumbled with drinks in their hands and some just glared at them. Harry could assume the latter were Voldemort's lackey's. A dirty looking man with one eye closed approached them.

"Eh there, Black. Been a while," The man slurred with a crooked smile at Sirius while he fumbled with his wand before pointing it at Sirius.

Sirius didn't say anything in response to the man. He simply sent the man flying with an unspoken spell and a quick flick of his wand. "I never did like that man," Sirius muttered. "Fuck, we really are doing this?" Sirius questioned Remus.

Remus nodded to his old friend, "Yeah…yeah we are. Time to lock down the ol' emotions mutt."

Harry understood where his fathers' hesitation was coming from. They were storming a castle with unknown defenders and possibly an entrenched army waiting for them with five mages and a couple of magical creatures. Harry was not concerned in the slightest. He knew that these second rate mages were no match for him, Oheo, or his fathers, Bart too probably. Draco was the family scribe.

"We should have brought more people," Draco said to Harry. It was clear his nerves were beginning to get to him as he clutched his wand tightly and while his posture was rigid and alert, he was nervous.

"Like who?" Harry asked in amusement as he led the group up towards Hogwarts castle. Harry idly wondered who Draco had in mind that could possibly be able to add to this assault.

"The other kids?" Draco suggested, but recoiled when he saw Harry's immediate reaction of snapping his attention directly to Draco and leveling a glare.

"We are not bringing children with us!" Harry growled at his cousin, but quickly tempered his rage as he continued moving up the pathway. "I will not consent to children being trained to become soldiers when it's not necessary. We. Are. Enough." Harry bit off in finality.

"I agree," Bart spoke up. "Let the children be children, while they can. I'm trained to fight so I will," he said as he shrugged his shoulders and kept his eyes on their left flank.

"I'd point out that you yourself are a child Harry," Remus stated with a fond look at his son, "But you're so much more than I could ever hope for. You're absolutely right. I know you're going to save us. And maybe we'll even get to help," Remus finished with Sirius standing next to him, nodding with glistening tears in his eyes as he looked at his son that he loved so much.

Harry nodded back to his fathers, unable to find any words to give them. The group was able to move towards Hogwarts without any further issues with the local rabble. No doubt the other degenerates that had been milling about had sent word to their boss, so there was no need to be sneaky during their walk to the castle. As they walked down a long bridge over a drainage ravine on their way to the castle, Harry could admit that the feel of the castle was pretty impressive up close. It was no Aztec temple of course but it was nice.

Once they neared the end of the bridge, they could see quite a few people wearing long black cloaks standing along the castle walls on either side of the large open doors. Arrayed along the courtyard and out in front of the walls. A bald man wearing all gray was standing at the top of a wide staircase, the maniacal grin plain to all with eyes.

"Ah! I was not expecting guests today, but they are always welcome!" The man in gray announced loudly enough that Harry assumed he used a spell to project his voice further. He grandly bowed as if genuinely welcoming the contingent. Harry's group of unlikely raiders stopped just as they entered the large courtyard. A few more people filtered out of the castle and stood on either side of the man in gray. "I, Lord Voldemort, do bid…"

"Yeah, yeah," Harry yelled out with his hand up and swiped at the air as if to dissipate his words like so much smoke. As much as Harry wanted to have some fun with this stupid man that split his soul into so many pieces, there was personal business he needed to attend to first. Voldemort sneered and his wand hand twitched at the disrespect. "Point of order, is there a Barty Crouch Jr. here?" Harry projected his voice across the courtyard like the Dark Lord.

Voldemort's face very distinctly filtered from angry at being interrupted, to incredulous at having one of his subordinates called out, to absolutely livid at being brushed off. However he reigned himself in and looked over to a man standing next to him. The younger man was wearing the black garb like everyone else, but looked younger than most of the others. That man, Harry assumed, was Barty Crouch Jr. who adjusted his long robes before taking a step towards Harry. "Aye. I'm Barty Crouch Jr., but I don't know you," He responded to Harry with an oily drawl.

"To be completely honest, I barely know you. But I know what you did to Neville Longbottom," Harry spoke in a cold tone and he flexed his hands at his sides as he glared at Crouch.

Barty Crouch Jr. and the crowd began laughing loudly and jeering, but Harry noted how Lord Voldemort didn't join them. He was watching Harry with a critical eye.

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do about that then? Send me back to Azkaban?" Crouch said with a superior grin.

"Not exactly Junior," Harry growled low. Only the ones near him could hear, but it seemed like Lord Voldemort knew Harry was going to do something as he had taken another small step back from Barty, though it was unlikely he knew what Harry had in store for this murderer.

It wasn't often Harry dipped into the darker side of magic, but he felt now was as good a time as any to really pull out the stops, as it were. He summoned an orb in front him about the size of a basketball. The orb itself was black, churning with a dark hunger and swirls and eddies of crimson and orange. The group in front of him were still laughing and jeering about the Longbottoms and Azkaban, but they wouldn't be laughing for much longer. Once the orb was stable, he stabbed the orb with his right hand and shoved his arm up to his bicep into it.

Across the courtyard, a portal opened above Barty and between him and Lord Voldemort. The murderer looked up to it, a smile still on his mouth as he made to mock the disk of magic. That was until a gigantic, leathery, red skinned, claw-tipped arm thrust out of the portal and grabbed onto Barty's right shoulder, claws digging into his chest and shoulder. His smile quickly turned to a scream of horror and pain as Harry thrust his other arm into the orb and another portal opened on the other side of Barty with another devilish arm that came out and latched onto his left shoulder. Harry grinned mischievously as he locked eyes with Voldemort. Harry started to pull his arms out of the orb, but it took him a lot of effort. With a snarl and a mighty wrenching motion he tore his arms free from the orb, the devil arms created by Harry tore a screaming Barty Crouch Jr. apart in an incredibly gory mess as the claws tore out bits of his chest and blood rained down on the area. Barty Crouch Jr. screamed until his body rapidly lost too much blood from the hole in his chest and his severed arms.

The brutal act silenced the whole group of people including their leader. Lord Voldemort watched Harry with a look of mild irritation and mounting intrigue.

"We're going to need to have a talk later about your methods," Remus muttered next to him as he continued to scan the group for any sneak attacks.

"Don't be too hard on him, Moony. Not like that monster didn't deserve it," Sirius commented without a care as he surveyed the Death Eaters arrayed before them.

"I'd have made him suffer a lot more for killing a kid," Bart said, never taking his eyes off their enemies. Next to him, Chesty stood taught like an arrow ready to be released growling loudly as he eyed the closest Death Eaters.

"With that…little display out of the way," Lord Voldemort attempted to regain his control of the conversation, but Harry could see how much it had affected him to see a young man who looked like he should be in Hogwarts nonchalantly pull apart a grown man with magic. "I believe it is time to introduce ourselves. I am Lord Voldemort," He bowed dramatically, finishing his interrupted introduction from earlier.

"Logan Hunt," Harry replied, his hands on his hips and staring at the Dark Lord of Britain.

Lord Voldemort looked at Harry with a critical eye from his position at the doors to Hogwarts and studied the young man that was taunting him. "I'm not so simple that I do not know who I am speaking to…Harry Potter," He spoke with a sneer. Harry looked over at Remus and all he did was sigh and shake his head in defeat.

"Forgive me. I thought we were using our fake names Tom Riddle," Harry replied and, even at this distance, he could see his eye twitch as the Dark Lord's body seized at that hated name. A discarded and buried past that he had no use for.

"How dare you address me, Headmaster of Hogwarts, in such a manner!" Lord Voldemort hissed, making more than a few of his followers flinch as the magnified voice carried the drawn out 's' due to his parseltongue.

"More like the Headmaster of Hogwash," Harry retorted. "This curriculum is absolute shit! What are you teaching anyway?!" Lord Voldemort's face twisted into a snarl filled with dark intent and fury. Sirius failed to stifle a chuckle next to him, his son was just like James.

"I am the Headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Heir to Slyhterin, conqueror of Death itself, and the only rightful Ruler of Magic!" Lord Voldemort spat with malice. The listening Death Eaters rallied at his titles and the crowd cried out triumphantly in support of their Pureblood champion. Harry could only roll his eyes and threw his hands out to each side as he took one step forward towards Voldemort.

"Is that really all you've accomplished?!" Harry yelled back, silencing the crowd as his voice boomed over the courtyard. Harry was honestly disappointed. For a nemesis Harry just couldn't believe that this man thought he was such hot shit when he had done so very little. "'Oh I kill babies in their cribs, look at how awesome I am!' Murdering people doesn't make you powerful. It was the weakest act one could commit with magic and is deplorable." Harry mocked.

"And just what have you accomplished? Child?" Voldemort dared the young man.

Harry knew that it was childish of him to lower himself to Voldemort's level of boasting, but he was, apparently, dealing with children anyway. And honestly, what would a little boasting hurt just this one time? This nemesis thing might be interesting if he played along, right?

"I am a Son of the Six Nations," Harry began grandly as he reached for the feather tied to the leather hair tie holding up his ponytail, "Son of Adsila and Talise, and Grandson of the Great Seer Hausis. Son of Lord Sirius Orion Black III of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black," Voldemort and a few other Purebloods scowled at that and for a moment glared at Sirius Black who was standing beside Harry. Sirius waved with a smile. Harry however continued his address, "Son of the Alpha of the Wolf Tribe of Britannia, Remus Lupin. Son of Lily and James Potter, Heir to the Most Ancient House of Potter and magical inheritor of Myrddin Emrys," Harry stepped forward again and the magic in the air of this challenge between sorcerers was heavy. The Death Eaters took an involuntary step back as Harry took his forward, eyes not leaving their fixed point on Riddle's own red, slitted eyes. Harry raised his arms as if he were supplicating a deity as he bellowed his words into the quavering opposition, "I am the first mortal to be judged worthy by the Scales of Anubis and granted entry to the lost Library of Alexandria in over two millennia. I am the Mother of the Ancient Atlantean Dragons," Oheo's presence roared in his mind as he spoke of her kind and unknown to Harry his form shimmered with white fire briefly, "I am a Quetzalcoatl of the Morning Star and the Vassal of Death!" Harry lowered his hands and pointed directly at Voldemort with his left hand. "Now I ask you! Just what have you achieved, Conqueror of Death?" Harry roared in the man's face.

Bart whistled very quietly and with wide eyes turned his body until Remus was just barely in his view, "Just what the fuck do you people get up to here?" Bart muttered.

"Not us," Draco answered, completely exasperated with his cousin. "Just him."

Voledemort however did not take this challenge well and sneered at the boy before him."Those titles mean nothing here!" Voldemort shouted back, his frame shaking in rage from the obstinate boy. Dark wisps of magic sharply drifted around Voldemort as his anger continued to boil.

"They mean more than your worthless accomplishments!" Harry was past caring about controlling his anger and was feeding on Oheo's shared disgust for the man and her own loathing of his presence. Harry's body was taunt and rigid and every so often motes of white cinders would briefly flare from his body and rise in the air over him before burning into nothing.

"I will show you what I have accomplished!" Voldemort promised and then he touched the castle wall he was closest to and hissed, his other hand making some motion with his wand that Harry couldn't puzzle out even if he had cared at the moment.

There was some commotion and screaming from inside the castle as several more supporters ran out of the large doors. Voldemort's oily smile didn't falter as the people pushed past him. Something was coming, but Harry couldn't guess as to what. From behind Voldemort, an incredibly large, vicious looking snake appeared from the doorway and headed right for them as Voldemort stepped forward to the top of the stairs into the castle to give the monstrosity space to squeeze through the doors.

"Kill them!" Voldemort's eyes gleamed in malicious amusement as he hissed to the beast in the language of the snakes.

"Fuck!" Sirius exclaimed as he dropped his eyes to the ground and took a step back. "That's a Basilisk!"

Before the Basilisk got fully through the castle doors, Oheo scampered across his chest and up his neck to the open skin on the back of his neck, she leapt off of Harry's body completing her transformation into her larger young adult form and stood facing Voldemort and his Basilisk before Harry and in the front of the group. She roared loudly and cast a special shield spell in front of her that looked like a multicolored shimmer that fell to the ground as Harry staggered from her sudden appearance and Draco quietly reached out a hand to steady him. Voldemort's smile however finally faltered.

The basilisk charged at the group but seemed to focus on Oheo, but she was ready for it. The Basilisk had worked through the doorway and coiled up its tail underneath it as it swept its gaze across the dome, Harry absently noted that there were at least three Death Eaters that had carelessly snapped their attention to the basilisk and immediately fell to the ground dead. The snake abomination hissed cruelly as its body tightly coiled and it lunged at Oheo quickly, but Oheo was faster. The cream dragon dropped to the ground and waited for a moment as her legs flexed and when the basilisk was above her before she snapped upward and grabbed onto the snake's neck. Oheo used her lunge and long body to drag the body through the air and into one of the castle walls, two unfortunate Death Eaters crushed under the two titans of muscle and scales. Using her magic and agility the twisted her body outside of the coiling serpent and used the motion to twist her whole body and tear through its scales and sinew. With one final flick of her head, Oheo finished tearing out the snake's throat and the creature thrashed violently as it attempted to right itself and beat back the instinctual panic but its death throes only persisted for less than a minute before the body stilled. Oheo bit back down on the back of its head, coiled her body and used it to whip the corpse out of the courtyard and towards the forest. The crowd before them looked terrified and a few murmurs began from what they had just witnessed. Even Voldemort looked shaken as his eyes flicked to the corpse of the basilisk to the dragon that had killed it. Oheo roared again and took off running to the castle, using her magic to run on the air above the people that were now obstacles she bounded up the air until she came to a terrace and forced her way into Hogwarts.

Voldemort looked back to Harry who was clicking his tongue and looking up after Oheo and her ascent. Voldemort quickly pulled down his occlumency to reign in his emotions and with the mind art shield in place when Harry met his eyes again he couldn't quite discern the look on Voldemort's face. Behind his barriers however Voldemort was struggling to comprehend what he had just witnessed. Harry however was a trained fighter and knew not to let up now that he had his enemies at a disadvantage. Reaching into his bag he felt the hum of the staff he'd been working on and pulled, his staff with antlers and the talking skull fastened to it revealed until Harry held it in two hands above his head.

"Here we fucking go!" The skull screeched in demented merriment as Harry spun the staff several times above his head as he pulled on the magic in the world before slamming it into the ground in front of him. The skull cackled maniacally as a magical grass from the dirt and stone in between Harry and Voldemort taking up a partial sphere around Harry's group and spreading halfway across the courtyard. It grew in front of everyone gathered until Harry could just barely see over it. "Well, come on you limp cocks!" The skull taunted the opposition and then laughed again, chittering on the staff.

Voldemort seemed apprehensive about the suddenly grown grass but he also wasn't alone. He motioned to his group and a few of the obviously lower ranked individuals ran into the grass to get to Harry and his group. The fire that one cast burned only a small patch and the cutting charm that another used only sliced about half a foot of the vegetation before it lost its magical potency, the only way through the grass was to run through it. Those few individuals made trails in the grass that the gathering could see as they ran, but only those outside the grass noticed the other trails moving towards them from the opposite direction, that is, until it was too late. The Death Eater in the lead was the first to be pulled down with barely a noise. The second one saw the first go down before being yanked to his knees with a yelp before it became a gurgle and silence. The others followed quickly with screams and a sudden cacophony of clacking and chattering bones until there were none left alive in the grass. The Death Eaters, including Voldemort, looked at the grass with various levels of horror.

"Aw. They got smart too fast!" The skull said disappointed as it still cackled in amusement.

"Then let's change up the game, Dr. Grant," Harry spoke conversationally to the skull as he plucked up the staff and spun it again from his right to his left over the grass causing it to rapidly wither and die, turning to dust.

As the grass died, it revealed what was lurking in the depths. A dozen bone constructs that Harry had made to look like the Utah Velociraptor all turned to look at Harry's enemies in unison. Each bone raptor was splattered with blood and many had strips of flesh hanging from their teeth or stuck to the claws on their feet. On the ground were the bodies of the Death Eaters that were sporting gashes and torn throats a few had been disemboweled and their intestines had been dragged out of them and strewn about the courtyard. With a quick whistle from Harry all of the bone raptors surged forward taking off in different directions at a blinding speed. What followed was absolute chaos. A few people tried to attack the constructs, but that only made them targets for the creatures. Many more, including Lord Voldemort, fled into the castle for cover. The raptors, quicker than any other necromantic skeletons that those purebloods had ever seen, swept into the lines of the standing Death Eaters and used flanks and distractions as well as speed to make short work of the opposition.

"What. The. Hell. Are those?!" Draco screeched as one of the constructs pounced on a Death Eater and began tearing at their neck with its teeth, the screams shortly silenced by a few gurgles before the body slumped and the raptor searched for a new target.

"Utah Velociraptors," Harry replied simply as he attached his staff to his back with the skull reduced to a laughing ornament as it swung back and forth. Draco looked incredibly lost. "Dinosaurs?" Harry said as he looked over at his cousin when the blonde didn't say anything. Draco's expression didn't change. "Haven't you ever watched Jurassic Park?" Draco shook his head in confusion at watching a park. "Ugh. We're going to have several movie nights to get you caught up."

"Right," Said Sirius, a little unnerved by the fact that so far his son was responsible for killing at least a dozen, if not more, magicals with very little effort. "No time like the present, I guess." Sirius tried to sound nonchalant, but his voice still quaked having seen what Harry was really capable of.

"You all can do what you want. I don't care. I'm going after the leader," Harry declared as he started towards the doors of the castle.

"Are you sure that's wise, Harry?" Remus asked softly as he gently placed a hand on his son's shoulder. As much as he knew in his heart that Harry was more than capable of taking care of himself, he couldn't help but fear for his son's safety.

"I'll be fine. Watch the others and make sure no Death Eaters get in or get out," Harry gently ordered his father. Remus nodded and pulled out his wand with a hard look on his face.

"Ready Sirius?" Remus asked his old friend.

"Just like old times!" Sirius replied after shaking off his son's ruthlessness and with a large smile and twirled his wand between his fingers before he scanned the rest of the courtyard. Harry smiled at his fathers. They tried so hard to be good, responsible adults, but deep down, they were still troublemaking youths. But that was enough thinking of his fathers. He needed to pursue his target into the castle.

Most of the followers were too busy with his raptors to pay Harry or his group much mind at all. A few turned to him, poised for attack, but they were quickly swarmed by Queenie's many children that had surged from the bag at his hip. Screams of horror and pain echoed around him as the bees that were swarming Harry flitted off when they sensed someone trying to hurt Queenie's familiar. The small insects lost in the fading evening became very easy to see when they suddenly became nearly a foot in length and stung the Death Eaters. Many of the fighters decided that the chaos was no longer worth it and made moves to leave. Few succeeded without being swarmed by Harry's giant bees or the remains of Harry's raiding party.

Inside the castle was…ok. He'd been here before for Draco but hadn't been able to sightsee. Harry was intrigued by the many pictures that hung in the hallways and the other distinctly European aesthetic amenities, but the rest was quite dull. The castle was dark and gloomy and Harry kind of liked that atmosphere. Once he was finished taking in the sights and hearing the occasional scream from where some of his bees had swarmed a Death Eater, he felt around the ambient magic for Voldemort's magical signature. He needed to find this man and finally 'fulfill his destiny' and be done with this stupid country!

Harry huffed in frustration. Following the trail to Voldemort was quite difficult. This castle was teeming with so much raw magic and latent magic from the young kids occupying it that it was surprisingly difficult for Harry to pick one small trail out of the veritable cascade of magic. Harry felt very much like a bloodhound trying to follow one person's trail during a village festival. He would try to follow the 'scent' and walk down random hallways before realizing that the trail had not gone down that way, AT ALL, before backtracking and trying the next one.

Harry did not have to worry about any of the various fighters that were still about. Queenie had joined him as soon as he entered the castle and perched herself on his shoulders and was sending out her children to swarm anyone that came near him with a satisfied vibration of her wings on Harry's neck. Harry ran his fingers down her delicate wings every time her children helped the fight. While he didn't enjoy putting his bees in danger, he did quite enjoy watching them defend their hive so viciously.

Harry came to a 'T' junction that was filled with the noise of battle. He looked down the left side and saw Oheo half through a stone wall, writhing violently as many of their enemies threw spells at her flanks. Harry smirked as he watched their ineffective attacks bounce harmlessly off of her scales and right into their comrades. Harry reached out to her and gently prodded her mind, sending concern for her and if she needed his help. He nearly fell down laughing when her return thoughts amounted to 'I have an itch on my butt but I'm looking for something. I'll deal with the rats later'. Nodding to his little dragon girl Harry pulled the staff to his hands and formed two more raptors and sent them down the hallway to guard Oheo despite her insistence she was fine. He worried.

Harry continued down the right hallway once it was clear that Oheo could handle herself and with backup Harry was sure in her safety so as to leave her to her hunting for one of the last phylacteries. As he walked, he felt the place on his chest that once had the henna tattoo begin to burn. He had learned once he reunited with the Patil twins that the henna was magical and would alert the wearer to anyone or anything that meant them harm. 'Weaker ward of protection' was certainly not all the henna was when Grandma Patil had given it to him. Also explained why Padma and Parvati's aunts and cousins were a little apprehensive that he received it when it was historically reserved for women only. The burn intensified as he walked so he kept his guard up. A sudden movement from a doorway he was passing caused him to flinch and cast a stasis spell on the movement. He turned to look and found a gigantic snake caught in his spell, frozen in mid lunge. Its maw was wide open, showcasing its long fangs that had drops of venom on the tips. With an unhappy huff at almost being ambushed Harry used his magic to probe into the creature's magic and mind to see if he could find its master or their tether that he could follow.

The snake's mind was nothing like what he was expecting. Harry had expected vague animalistic instincts to hunt, feed, breed, and fight. But what he found were fractured memories of a human buried deep in the snake's mind. Angry and curious Harry probed further. This was no ordinary snake nor a snake enhanced with human level intelligence with rituals. He had read of people called 'Maledictus' in his books. People born with curses cast on their family, usually generations before. A terrible practice in many parts of the world to curse a bloodline for the revenge of one generation. She also had a piece of Voldemort inside of her that had smothered any remaining parts of her former humanity. Now she was nothing more than a mindless servant of her Lord. Voldemort's implanted soul shard had consumed her soul during the ritual years ago. There was nothing left of this woman to save. With a flick of his wrist he severed her spinal cord, killing her instantly. He lowered her body to the ground carefully, making a mental note to come for it later and perform rites for her. It was the least he could do for one that had lived such a tragic life.

"A shame but for the best," The talking skull whispered uncharacteristically solemnly. Harry nodded as he pushed her body to the side and out of the way.

"Nagini!" A voice screamed out.

Harry turned to the source of the outburst and saw Voldemort standing at the end of the hallway, a look of fury on his face and his wand spitting angry green sparks as he glared down the hallway at Harry.

"Oh ho ho! Look what we found!" The talking skull yelled out in its more characteristic maniacal glee.

"How dare you!" Voldemort yelled at Harry as he snapped up his wand and pointed it at Harry.

"How dare you!" Harry retorted as he stood and bladed his body so that his left side was directly facing Voldemort and lifted his open hands up in front of him.

Harry was going to say something more but was cut off by Voldemort throwing a bright green spell at him with a loud incantation. Harry wreathed his body in the magic of the world around him and stepped forward and used his hand to bat the spell away like he had done countless times before, but this time the result was different. The sickly green was deflected but the magic surged violently as he touched it. It was like the spell was trying to grab ahold of him and rip something away from him. The magic reached out and slashed the back of his hand and forearm deeply when he redirected it. Harry looked down to his hand with a hiss of pain as it registered in his mind. The deep wound was now bleeding heavily, and resisted Harry's innate ability to close the wound. Queenie crawled down his arm, buzzing furiously as she gently produced some kind of gel and delicately applied it over the wound. Once she had covered the wound Queenie turned her attention to face his attacker and buzzed long and loud. All of her children began to flood out of Harry's bag, ready and willing to defend Harry. The swarm grew to a hallway spanning black curtains of bees that made the air vibrate with the furious buzzing of the entire hive under Queenie's command.

Voldemort stumbled back a couple steps, a look of fear on his face, before he turned to run down another hallway. First the boy had been hit by another killing curse and had only received a gash. That spell had never failed him except with this one boy! Second, not only had he just killed Nagini with nothing but a look, he didn't even dodge the curse Voldemort sent at him, he slapped it away! Voldemort quickly tried to formulate a plan as he left the boy behind him.

Queenie's children stayed with Harry as he gave chase. Harry tried to use another healing spell on his wound, but it was difficult for him to heal. This was a wound made by incredibly malicious magic and he didn't have the time to heal it properly. Queenie continued to gently lick at his wound, using her magic to help his own magic to at least apply the gel and whatever else she could to try to cover and close the wound to stop the bleeding.

Harry turned the corner that Voldemort had run around and turned directly into the path of the same bright green spell. Before Harry could even react, several of Queenie's children flew in front of Harry, popping into their larger form to take up the space; they were hit by the spell instead. They fell to the ground with hard thumps, unmoving.

Harry looked up to his target once more. He was standing there, wand pointing at Harry's heart and a wild look in his eyes. Harry however could faintly hear his mother's pleas for mercy, her cries to spare Harry, to take her instead. Harry's mind briefly thought back to his time hatching Oheo when he could remember seeing his mother and her warm touch. Her warm loving smile and her words of how much she loved him. As Harry looked at the killer of his parents and butcher of families across the United Kingdom Harry's eyes steadily began to glow, the stunning emerald that his eyes usually were becoming a neon bright shimmer. "You don't get to keep killing like this anymore!" Harry, too calmly, called over the buzzing storm of furious insects. Voldemort uttered some spell and a black mist surrounded him. The mist suddenly took off into the air, seemingly taking the man with it. "You think you can run from me?!" Harry yelled again.

Harry could feel the magic Voldemort was using. It was malicious, and it was weak. Harry grabbed onto the spell with his more powerful spirit magic. His magic threaded itself through the weak magic of the spell until Harry's hold was unbreakable. Voldemort turned to fly down out a nearby window, but Harry's hold wouldn't allow that. Harry yanked with his grip holding Voldemort, pulling the man and his spell back onto the hard stone. The black mist began to dissipate around the caster who was shifting himself to a kneeling position and then back to his feet with a small stagger as he unconsciously held his head with his free hand.

"How…? How can you do that?!" Voldemort asked breathlessly as he staggered to the wall and used it to hold himself up as he eyed Harry.

"I'm sure you'd love to know, but you don't get to," Harry replied. It was then that Oheo had been able to touch his mind with her own. A feeling of her satisfaction of burning the last bit of Voldemort's soul and a small sheepish feeling of accidentally burning a bunch of other magical items in the room she was in filtered through Harry's mind. Voldemort tried to sneer at Harry, but it was hollow. He turned to run again, but Queenie was faster. She buzzed harshly and her drones immediately responded by flying past Voldemort and creating a wall with their now larger bodies. Voldemort raised his wand to attack them, but Harry was not about to let that happen a second time.

"Your rampage ends now!" Harry bellowed in triumph. He was tired of innocents dying just because they got in this madman's way.

As Voldemort raised his wand to the insects Harry gathered up his magic and blurred forward to get in close to the man. Voldemort turned to face him as he felt the build up of magic, a look of pure fear on his face.

Good. Harry thought cruelly. You deserve this fear.

Harry finished his blur and smiled into the shocked face of Tom Riddle. Harry's left hand slapped Voldemort's wand hand upward and away from his babies. He jabbed his hand against Riddle's chest, palm flat against the ribs and used a bone breaking spell to pulverize the bones immediately into powder underneath his hand. Harry flattened his other hand and drove the tips of his fingers forward and added piercing and cutting magic to slash open the man's chest. Voldemort staggered before falling backwards onto the floor gasping in pain and grasping at his chest as Harry's rapid spell action suddenly flooded his body and he screamed as he dropped his wand and clutched at the tear over his heart. Harry stepped towards the Dark Lord where he had fallen and stepped over his body and looked down at the man now gasping between his feet. Harry wove his magic around his right hand, delighted at the look of horror on Voldemort's face as Harry knelt down over him. Harry wanted his magic to pierce and the magic sharpened on his fingers and with a savage smile he thrust his hand downward, wrist deep into Voldemort's chest. The man grasped limply at Harry's arm, but the drones were quick to fly to his arms and restrained them as they stung at him. Harry rummaged a bit as he got his fingers digging through irrelevant soft tissues as he grasped his prize and yanked out Voldemort's still beating heart from his chest.

"Well, would you look at that?" Harry spoke with a smile as he looked upon the beating heart in his hand. He decided he'd be repulsed by the blood running down his arm later. "You do have a heart!" Harry looked down at the man that altered his life so much and saw nothing more than a pathetic old man gasping like a guppy. Pathetic really.

Harry swept his left hand into the blood running down his right arm and quickly used his fingers to draw anchoring 'life' and 'pain' Aztec runes on Voldemort's forehead. Having set those Harry used that hand and with a swipe and a cutting spell severed the arteries and veins connecting the heart to the body. With a wink to the rapidly paling Riddle Harry stood up and walked a few steps away from where Voldemort lay. He used the wet blood to draw an Aztec ritual circle on the stone floor. He had to be careful to get the symbols right for what he wanted to achieve, but Riddle was indisposed so there wasn't really a rush.

"Harry?" He heard Draco call out as he used his more nimble right hand to ensure his ritual runes were correct.

Harry briefly looked up to see his cousin with two of Queenie's children on his shoulders, Draco was turning very green as he looked down at the cut open Tom Riddle on the floor. "Don't worry Draco. I'm almost finished. I'll explain in a bit," Draco nodded absently even as he looked like he was going to be sick as he gazed upon Voldemort's writhing form.

Harry quickly completed the circle and, after a brief check of his work and a nod, Harry placed the magically beating heart in the middle of the circle. He recited the ritual incantation in Nahuatl, the ancient language of the Aztecs and let his demand for justice be found in this land. As soon as he spoke the last word, the beating heart burst into bright silver flames and the organ began to beat faster. Distantly, he could Voldemort begin to thrash wildly while making pathetic noises.

The heart continued to burn until it was fully consumed by the fire. The ashes of the heart drifted up into the air and after the last of the heart was burned the ash cloud flew to Voldemort. It flew back into the hole that Harry had made and started to work. Voldemort began to thrash as he screamed and clawed at his chest, the gaping wound being torn open further by his own fingers. Soon enough his chest burst into the same flames that had consumed his heart and from the cavity that was his chest the fire began to consume his body even as he continued to hack up blood as his throat tore itself open from his screams. Harry glanced at Draco, seeing the abject horror written across his face. The drones were busy trying to sooth him with their wings and antennae.

Voldemort's body was finally consumed and the ashes burst up exactly as they did with the heart and split into numerous trails that went in separate directions. Harry calmly watched them go, knowing his fate was now fulfilled and using the ritual would see much justice meted out.

"What did you do?" Draco whispered in horror. Harry heard and turned to his cousin.

"I'm ending this movement, once and for all," Harry explained simply as he reached up to stroke Queenie's antennae.

"By turning Voldemort into ash?" Draco asked softly, any louder and Harry wondered if he'd vomit.

"That was the first step, yes," Harry expounded for his cousin as he pulled out a cloth to wipe the blood off his hands and arms. "This is an Aztec punishment ritual meant to use the leader of a movement to kill the leader and all of their followers, thereby ending the entire insurrection movement," Harry looked up to Draco's horrified face. "The Aztecs may have an incredibly brutal civilization, but they created very effective ways to end problems at the source," Harry shrugged. Draco nodded numbly, but his head snapped to one side once the screams started echoing down the hallways. He looked back to Harry with silent questions on his lips. "You saw what happened to him?" Harry pointed to the dark charred mark left on the floor where Voldemort had burned up and Draco nodded slowly. "That is now happening to all of his willing followers," Harry finished as he tossed the cloth aside and burned it.

"Willing?" Draco asked a little less pale and a little more in control of himself.

"Well, sure," Harry said absently, "five thousand people will join one organization for five thousand different reasons. You can't say everyone who joined Voldemort did so willingly." Harry shrugged again and let out a heavy sigh as the Death Eaters wailed into the darkness all around the castle. "This ritual is a lot more effective at plucking those honest few out while punishing the willing followers of the Dark Lord Voldemort."

Draco nodded again even as he flinched at the screams that continued to filter down the hallways and through the windows to them. Harry motioned for Draco to follow him back to the entrance as he opened his bag in his two hands so Queenie's children could return to their hive. Queenie buzzed affectionately against Harry's jaw before joining her children in his bag. Harry gestured and had Draco lead them back to the entrance of the castle even as the screams of their enemies were beginning to die out. Harry stopped to make sure he collected the bodies of the bees that had protected him and placed them in his bag, a sad warmth thinking of them.

"Mr. Potter? Mr. Malfoy?" Minerva called out from a classroom doorway. "What are you doing here?" She asked on the edge of frantic as she rushed out to them and quickly scanned the hallways for anyone that might see them.

"We've ended this purity war on the shores of Brittania," Harry replied as he grabbed her frantic hands and stilled them by holding them tightly in his own. Harry looked into her eyes to hold her gaze and give her a moment to center herself, "How are you and the remaining children?"

"The children were evacuated as soon as you showed up," Minerva fanned herself, shocked at Harry's words and disbelieving that something like that could just be over. "The only ones left should be the staff," She sounded a little breathless.

"The fight is over. Come with us Minerva," Harry told her as he let her hands go and began to walk again towards the castle doors.

Minerva followed them quietly as they walked, her head on a swivel as she looked around for threats or evidence of fighting. Draco grabbed onto Harry when a Death Eater ran towards them from another doorway. Harry wasn't concerned. A trail of ash was coming down the hallway right at the man.

"I'll kill you for my Lord!" The black garbed man screeched wildly as he charged at them with his wand held like a knife.

Minerva stepped forward but Harry's arm came up to prevent her from stepping in front of the cousins. Watching the trail of ash as it hit him in the center of his back as the Death Eater ran at them. He stopped his advance to scream as his torso began to burn to ash from the impact point. His chest turned to ash as Harry's ritual burned him from the inside out. The skin and other soft tissue burned out first and the ash drifted up into the air leaving the bone structure for a moment before it too was burning. The ash ritual burned the Death Eater until his corpse fell to ground and became smaller and smaller as the ash remains collected above the victim's body. The ash then trailed off to its next target as the ritual was following its purpose.

"Harry, is that because of you? What did you do?" Minerva questioned the raven haired hellion a little more shrill than she may have intended.

"Guilty! It was me. Honestly, who do you know that uses Aztec blood sacrificial rituals in this country?" Harry responded incredulously. He would not allow anyone to mistakenly believe his cousin had anything to do with this.

"I think we need to have a discussion about your methods, Mr. Potter," Minerva declared tiredly. As much as she wished that she could lay the blame on Remus, Sirius or James, this behavior could only be attributed to one person: Lily.

"Well, you'll have to get in line. My fathers' have dibs," Harry responded with a smirk.

Minerva sighed with a nod before falling in behind the two boys. Harry knew that there would be many lectures in the days to come, but he was more than happy to bear them. He had his whole life ahead of him anyway. He could spend a few months listening to useless lectures.

Harry noted the amount of ash burns in the stone floors they passed. He knew that the ritual would not be completed until every last Death Eater was dead or judged, so there would be many more deaths in the coming days that no one in this country would be able to explain nor stop. This ritual was a godsend.

"Minerva," A shaky voice called out from behind them.

They turned to see Severus staggering after them, clutching his left arm to his chest. There was blood running down his right hand and soaking into his robes.

"Severus!" Minerva cried as she ran to him. "What happened to your arm?!"

"I'm not sure," Severus said as he reached for her and she helped him to sit propped up against the wall. "I heard screams so I went to investigate. I thought Death Eaters might have found whoever had invaded Hogwarts. Then some…ash hit my arm and it began to burn like I was on fire," Severus managed to force the words through his gritted teeth, clearly still in pain. Minerva shot a look over her shoulder at Harry.

"Oops?" Said Harry without a hint of remorse. "Yes, that was also me," Harry confirmed as he used his magic to stop the bleeding in Severus' arm and conjured up strips of cloth to wrap the damaged flesh in. It was going to take more to heal this wound, like his own slashed arm that was still aching under Queenie's gel.

"But it didn't kill him like the others," Draco noted as he looked nervously over Professor Snape.

"The ritual is meant to end a movement by killing its leader and their followers. It won't kill those that joined unwillingly or sought to remove themselves from the cause. Cause pain as a recompense for joining and being part of it? Sure, but the magic is to judge the heart of those that it touches and give according to their heart," Harry explained as he tied off the bandage and stood up letting Minerva and Draco check over the potions master.

"Why'd it destroy my arm then?" Severus asked with a more steady voice.

"I believe it's because of the sigil you had on your arm. The ritual destroyed the magic used to create it," Harry surmised. Having seen the arm as he wrapped it and the huge pieces of it was now missing in a strange pattern. Like the magic and its tendrils had been burned away. "Unfortunately, it seems like the magic had entrenched itself in your arm, so it took large portions of your arm with it when it was removed," Harry shrugged. The man was still alive, which was certainly telling of the man's desires.

Severus stared down at his arm in wonderment. "I no longer feel Lord Voldemort's dark presence within me," Severus looked to Harry, a look that Harry would never be able to read in his eyes. "Thank you for removing that evil from my life, Lord Potter. I am forever in your debt."

Harry didn't know what he was really saying but chose to worry about it later. "You're welcome, Professor Snape," He replied.

The group pulled the man to his feet and continued to the entrance, though Harry stopped for a brief moment to allow his bees to retrieve Nagini's body and store it within his bag. Minerva and Severus gave him a questioning look, but remained silent. Outside in the courtyard, they found Remus talking to Bart while Chesty and Padfoot were playing. Rather Chesty was holding Padfoot under his front paws and laying on him.

"Is everyone well?" Minerva asked as they approached.

"We're all fine Professor," Remus answered first.

"The fight was… boring really," Bart added. "Once those strange ash trails appeared, it was over." He shrugged.

"I used Voldemort's heart to kill his followers. Well…" Harry motioned to Severus. "Most of them, anyway."

Everyone looked down to the ground when it suddenly became colorful. Minerva shrieked loudly when she looked up. Harry looked up and was filled with relief when he saw Amaru, tail coiled around the top of one of the castle's spires and with his wings stretched out. They caught the moonlight and colored everything under him. The snake was using magic to project the colors down on Harry and his group.

"The dawn of a new day, heralded by the morning star," Harry spoke softly, feeling inspired by Amaru's display.

Amaru shifted and slithered off the tower and gently glided down to the group, landing with a soft thud for such a massive creature. Harry had forgotten just how large Amaru really was. His size dwarfed the Basilisk that Oheo killed by several times.

"I can not remember the last time I had such a capable priest," Amaru preened.

Minerva grabbed onto Harry's shoulder far sharper than necessary. "Harry?" She asked with a shaky voice.

"You don't need to worry, Minerva. This is Amaru. A Quetzalcoatl I met in Peru," Harry explained as he smiled up at the great feathered serpent.

"Ah. So it was you he met when he snuck away to Machu Picchu," Remus said and Amaru nodded his large head.

"You don't seem too concerned with any of this Mr. Lupin," Minerva's very breath was airy as she looked upon the great snake.

"Between the dragon, the bees, and all the weird things that happened around Harry?" Sirius popped up from the ground and back into his human form next to Minerva. "We've long become desensitized to the crazy," Sirius spoke with a nod at Remus.

Minerva turned to Severus. "What else is out there that has been hidden from us by our government?!" She asked with a shrill edge to her words. Severus could only shake head.

"Honestly?" Harry spoke up, getting hers and Severus' attention. "A lot." Harry reached out to hug Amaru as Oheo gently alighted next to the group.

The cream dragon bowed her head to Amaru who returned the gesture before hissing to his young priest, "Home awaits young one." Harry nodded and stepped back. He motioned for the group to gather up. Oheo touched her snout to Harry's neck and she slipped back onto his skin. Amaru, with as much as smile as he could give, began to fade into the moonlight as motes of tiny rainbows broke from his body.

With a quick flick of his arm he pulled the transportation crystal and crushed it in his hand. Myrrdin's castle pulled them back to its embrace and the group appeared in the Teleportation room none the worse for wear. As Harry stepped into the hallway his chest burned hot and Harry immediately turned around looking for whatever it was that wanted to cause him harm. As he did, two voices called out to him. Harry turned very slowly as he faced two very angry Patil twins.

"Harry Potter," Parvati started.

"Where. Have. You. Been?!" Padma finished for her sister with a hiss. Both sister's eyes were narrowed so far that Harry was sure they could see through him and were reading the guilt for every bad decision he'd made in his life. Padma's hands were on her hips and her right foot tapping in agitation. Parvati had folded her arms under her chest and tapped her left foot in time with her sister. Panicking he reached into his bag and pulled out two bars of chocolate covered caramel. Carefully he held them up for the girls to see.

"Chocolate, ladies?" Harry asked as sweat beaded up on his forehead.