Ascension Of The Scorpion Sorcerer

by Vorlon666

After the Events of his fifth year Harry is angry. Fed up with Dumbledore's lies, half truth and deceits, he will no longer allow anyone to dictate his life. He trains very hard and along the way makes some startling discoveries. He discovers who he is.

12. Hogwarts and the Scorpion Army

Chapter 11 "Hogwarts and The Scorpion Army"

DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

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That Evening at #12 Grimauld Place

Everyone but the aurors screamed and scrambled from the table as Kreacher head finished rolling. Molly Weasley was the first to speak.

"Albus, what is the meaning of this? What happened to Harry? Are all of his allegations true?" Albus who by now was sitting in his chair trying to keep his pounding headache at bay, answered.

"I don't know what has happened to Harry. With the evidence that we have gathered at his home in Privet drive, Harry has been very busy this summer. How he came about the changes we have just witnessed, we cannot say. It appears Harry has fooled all of us this summer!" Still seething with anger, Alastor spoke next.

"Why are you so surprised by his behavior? It seems that the boy has plenty of reasons to be pissed at us, but especially you Albus. I thought he was remarkably restrained, if it were me finding out this level of betrayal, I would have left a corpse behind." He was looking at Albus while talking, and everyone noticed Dumbledore cast his eyes downwards.

Dumbledore noticed that no one was speaking. He was sure that in his long life, he had lived through worse nights, however none came to mind. There was no other way now; he needed to explain his rational and why he made those decisions so long ago. If there was any chance of salvaging the Order, this was the only way. He knew that he would loose people tonight. He had taken far to many shortcuts to make some of the more law-abiding members comfortable with his actions. He finally found his voice and said.

"I know that some of you are in shock tonight. Before explaining everything regarding Harry, you should know that what was done was for the greater good of wizard kind. That has always been the driving force in all the decisions regarding Harry. Second, you need to remember that we are only human including myself. No one on this earth in infallible. So It began 17 years ago…ect. Finally, it appears that fates have decided to parry my plans."

After Dumbledore was finished with his explanation, Minerva found her voice. "Albus, lord knows that I have always had great faith in your decisions. However, I feel that you have not been seeking enough council where Harry enters the picture. I heard your explanations regarding his experience and training time. However, you never gave him a chance. How many 12 year olds do you know who have slain a 60-foot Basilisk and lived to tell the tale?" Minerva was not only addressing the headmaster but the rest of the Order as well. She continued

"Have you seen his OWL results? He is second overall in academics and won two governor's medal. How can you claim that he was not smart enough to train?" Hermione was pouting, and Ron looked even more jealous than he had ever been. Dumbledore looked at the room and said.

"I simply based my decisions on his earlier years Minerva. I suppose I should have waited for everyone's OWL's before deciding of whom to train, but what is done is done. With your help, I need to figure out a way to bring Harry back into the fold. It is obvious now that the evidence is in, that he needs to be trained hard and fast. I welcome any suggestions on how to accomplish this goal"

Everyone just stared and was lost in their own thoughts. Severus Snape broke the silence. "That little shit has obviously lied and hoodwinked everyone here. He forged the documents and made up a prophecy. Just like his father, he is trying to catch the limelight once again. What he needs is not training but a good whipping." He spat. Everyone was looking at him with their mouths opened. Moody answered first.

"Yah Snape, He was just so bored all summer, that for shits and giggles, he decided to lop the head of that slimy little traitor responsible for Sirius death. If I were you Snape, I would do everything in my power to stay the hell away from young Potter. If you go out of your way to piss him off, we might find you head on a pike at the gates of Hogwarts" he said with a malicious smile.

"Gee, those threats mean so much coming from a paranoid psychopath whose time as an Auror has long past." Snape spat.

For a man of his age, Moody moved with incredible speed and before anyone moved, Moody had his wand underneath Snape's chin and said, "Want to see what a has been Auror can do death eater!" Every Auror there had their wands pointed at Snape.

"Enough!" Dumbledore bellowed. "We are in real danger of splitting our forces here, we need to pull together, or we are doomed. The enemy is Voldemort and not ourselves."

Both Snape and Moody were eyeing each other. With a growl, Moody tucked his wand back in his holster and went back to his seat. Unknown to both men, Bill had been watching Moody with a calculating eye.

All this time Bill kept quiet. He found it particularly difficult to stay calm and not curse the old bastard for all it's worth. Bill had already seen the evidence showing the extent of Dumbledore's betrayal, however tonight Harry fully disclosed what the headmasters plans were and he confirmed it with his explanation, all the while stating it was for the good of the wizarding world.

If Dumbledore thinks that he can bring Harry back into the fold, he is highly delusional. Bill looked subtly at Fleur and Charlie, and they both read the same thing. They had made their decisions. They were solidly in Harry's camp. Tonight was more of the same from the old man. Dumbledore was just trying to salvage his leadership and salvage his blunders. Just as he had agreed with Harry, he would remain in the Order and gather information for their side.

Bill firmly believed in Harry's vision for wizard kind. For far too long, the status quo has existed and so many magical races had taken the brunt of all this unnecessary prejudice. His future wife was part Vela, and her ancestry had been relentlessly persecuted. He wanted a better wizarding world for his wife and future children. For this to happen Voldemort had to go, the House of Lords had to be disbanded, and the wizengamot had to be reformed along with the ministry. After this meeting, Fleur, Charlie, and him were going to his flat for a full debrief. Charlie was going to start training with Harry during the last two weeks of August.

His biggest heartache was a split within his family. Bill had already noticed a polarization in the camps. His mother and father would never break away from Dumbledore. Bill did not understand why they could not see through the old man. He had to find out where the twins stood in all of this. They had not said anything as of yet, but owing to their nature, they would not be too happy with the old man. They owed Harry a lot, for what he had done for them. Bill had no doubt that when the chips fell, they would not stand with Dumbledore.

Bill was brought from his thoughts when he heard Amelia Bones say, "Dumbledore, I am officially giving you my resignation from the Order of the Phoenix. We have laws in our society for a reason. You skirted many of our most sacred law in order to keep control of a boy who did not deserve these manipulations at your hands in the name of a prophecy made by one of the biggest charlatan in the business no less. Even if your intentions were to safeguard wizard kind, the ends do not always justify the means Dumbledore."

With that, she stood and left. Hestia Jones, Oscar McGregor, Loraine Tuttle, and Emery Stevenson followed her. Dumbledore watched them go. Before they could leave Dumbledore said, "I'm sorry you feel this way. I hope that you reconsider. Your skills and talents are invaluable to the light side. Please do not make an old mans mistakes stop you from making a stand for the light side."

Amelia replied, "Don't worry Dumbledore, we have no intentions of leaving the fight. We just need to find a more qualified leader." With that, they all apparated from #12 Grimauld place. Molly Weasley was the first to speak

"How dare they make such accusations? There is no one more qualified then you Albus, what ever is wrong with Harry, we will fix it." She said with absolute conviction. Bill just rolled his eyes and couldn't believe his mothers naivety.

Dumbledore replied, "Thank you for your support Molly. Outside of my predicament with Harry, has anyone gathered more information concerning this scorpion sorcerer and why was he at the Dursleys defending Harry? Severus, you were an eyewitness. What can you tell us?"

Severus looked at everyone with a sneer on his face and finally looked at Dumbledore," I was not able to recognize who he is headmaster. His was wearing a battle cloak with a hood that pretty much covered his face. I could not discern any facial features. As to his fighting abilities, that is another story. The battle happened so quickly, it was hard to follow. However, I can honestly say that he is utterly ruthless in his dealings with death eaters so far. He is using dark magic that I have never seen or heard of before. It is incredibly powerful that much is certain. He also seems to move with Vampire like speed. I have never seen a wizard move with such speed in battle. Finally, he is deadly with a sword. I noticed he was using a Japanese katana sword. He seems well versed in martial arts. As to his links with the former golden boy, only Potter can answer that."

Dumbledore thought about Severus words for a minute and replied, "What does Voldemort think about the scorpion sorcerer?"

Snape's face contorted as if he was being put under the cruciatus and seemed to recall some memories. After a minute Snape snapped out of his thoughts and said, "The dark lord is extremely edgy. I believe that he is afraid or this scorpion sorcerer. The dark lord is a master in the dark arts. His knowledge is beyond anything I have ever seen, and yet he does not recognize this scorpion's dark magic. He has already lost close to thirty of his servants to this scorpion sorcerer. My best guess is that he is afraid of him." Everyone looked quite surprised at this.

Within his own thoughts, Severus felt the Gods had blessed him two days ago. Had it not been for the scorpion sorcerer, and Potter's uncle. He might have been killed. They ended up providing him a viable excuse for his failure to get Potter. Two cruciatus had been his punishment. Not pleasant, but certainly better than death.

Moody was again the first one to speak out, " At least it's nice to see someone taking out the trash. He has done more in the span of three weeks then our entire order and the ministry combined. I say pin a medal on his chess, and hire him as a bounty hunter. One thing for sure, I would give my entire pension to see snake face and the scorpion go toe to toe. I'll wager snake face would be in a world of pain. Ether way, the longer this goes on, the harder a time Voldemort will have recruiting death eaters." Moody had a huge grin on his face fantasizing about that very possibility.

Tonks replied, " I concur with Moody, the scorpion has only been targeting death eaters and he seems quite fond of eliminating them. Either way he is helping our cause."

Albus frowned at the comments issuing from his ranks and finally said, " What if this scorpion is just another dark lord wanting to eliminate the competition." everyone turned towards Dumbledore, except Bill, Fleur and Charlie who just rolled their eyes.

Hermione finally decided to speak up and replied, " It would seem that until we can make contact or find out through third party who this scorpion sorcerer is, then anything we come up with is sheer speculation with no facts to back up anything. We could better spend our time concentrating on what we can control and influence. Could we perhaps plan what our next strategy will be regarding Harry."

Dumbledore turned his head to Hermione and his twinkle was somewhat back, even though the pounding in his head was still not letting up by much. He finally decided to adjourn the meeting until they could all sleep and get a better perspective. The evening had been quite trying. Dumbledore finally spoke out.

"Miss Granger has a valid point, however I do not think that we will achieve anything else tonight. I believe that some reflection is needed to properly establish a workable plan. I suggest that we adjourn this meeting and meet in one week's time. If there are no more questions, then I call this meeting over."

At this point Bill had narrowed his eyes, and though about what Dumbledore said. It wouldn't matter what they planned. Harry was never going to forgive them. He looked up at Fleur and Charlie and slightly gave them a nod of his head. They knew what it meant. With this, everyone began to filter out of the kitchen.

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Early that Morning at Zabini Manor

Blaise looked at his watch and noticed it was only 8:30 am. For some reason, he woke up early this morning and decided to do some light reading, and carry on planning for his sixth year. He made his way to the spacious living room and sat in his favorite chair. He was looking at the blue fire in the fireplace and started thinking about the events of his 5th year.

Umbridge and company had left a real sour taste in his mouth. Stupid Malfoy, how that boy ever was sorted into Slytherin is beyond him. The boy prances around like he's fucking Alexander the great, but has no discernible cunning or magical talents to support his bragging.

Slytherin are ambitious, calculating, and cunning. Plans, within plans brought about by subtle yet ruthless manipulations are the key traits that true scions of Slytherin house aspire to master. Those are supposed to be their leading traits, but Malfoy seems to have inherited none of it. The boy telegraphs his plans as if he was holding a gigantic neon sign. Working in the shadows seems to have eluded him. He consistently goes out of his way to confront Potter and the Gryffindors'. Bloody git ends up loosing almost every time.

Slytherin house definitely got the end of the stick when it comes to the talent pool for his year. Theo Nott is the exception. Lets see we have Crabbe and Goyle, who share at best two neurons between them. Anyone whose vocabulary consists mainly of grunts is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Then we have Parkinson and Bullstrode who follow Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle like a bunch of sycophant. Blaise couldn't imagine being in an arranged marriage with either one of them. He would have to take the sleeping draught potion, and be fully horizontal to shag either one of them. Then there was Daphne Greengrass and Alicia McNair who were nobody really. They were unremarkable for so called purebloods.

Blaise was starting to think that there was a serious problem with the I am a pureblood mantra. Granger was a muggle born witch but she was in the top intellectual ladder of the school as well as being a powerful witch. She was certainly a lot more powerful then many of the so-called purebloods. The same question always came up in his mind. Blaise was always wondering which banner to go too. Most Zabini's just stayed neutral and didn't bother with the idiotic factions currently struggling for power. Dumbledore was a manipulative egomaniac. He stood for status quo and the current ministry. The ministry itself was corrupt to the core and there was no doubt that the current minister was a moron. So many ancient wizarding traditions had been outlawed under his tenure. Any one with a modicum of power was suspect of being an evil wizard. If they had their way, eventually the only spells being allowed to cast would be scourgify and stupefy.

The other side was no better. From all accounts, the dark lord was a megalomaniac who revelled in torturing his supporters as much as muggles. He just wanted power for power's sake. He didn't intend to make their world better. Lets not forget that a one-year-old baby already defeated him. Granted, Potter is no ordinary wizard by any means. If half the story's about him are true, then he could possibly be one of the most powerful wizard to attend Hogwarts since Dumbledore. He had apparently faced Voldemort 5 times, with the latest incident at the department of mysteries. Potter and his underground defense group had been responsible for the capture of twelve death eaters. If a bunch of students could do that to the dark lord's forces what did that say about the maniac himself. No Blaise thought, following that barbarian was not an option. Maybe the best strategy he thought was to just stay neutral for now.

Blaise came out of his thoughts and was absently looking at his family tapestry when he roamed over his immediate family, and something caught his eyes that made him come off the couch in a hurry. He went closer to the tapestry and one name was burned into his mind. Blaise dropped his glass of orange juice to the ground and yelled "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?"

By that time, the whole house was awake and his whole family came rushing down to the living room to see why Blaise was screaming at the top of his lungs. His father Michael Zabini was the first to reach him with his wand drawn out and said.

"What's going on?" His father bellowed. Blaise just pointed at the family tapestry where Xiana's name was. His father followed his son's direction and what he saw had him completely bewildered. He finally managed to say.

"What in the name of Merlin, has your sister gotten herself into." By that time Blaise sister, Brianna and his mother Xenna had joined them. His mother was the first one to get her self under control. She was the first one to speak.

"Why are you yelling like a Banshee in heat?" His father answered his mother.

"Our oldest daughter apparently got herself married to Harry James Potter?" His mothers jaw nearly dropped to the floor and his twin sister's eyebrow were near her hairline. At that point, everyone began talking to each other at the same time, trying to understand the event that had rocked their family to the core. At that moment, the main fireplace roared to a large green flame and Xiana's head poked through.

Xiana managed to put in a floo call to see if she could talk to her mother first. Deep down she knew that her parents would be shocked. Not only had she not consulted them on her choice of husband, but also she had not invited any of them to her wedding. Xiana made the call and met her mother. Looking about she found her entire family in the living room. This was unusual as it was early in the morning and most of them should be sleeping. Looking at her daughter, Xenna Zabini took the call and said.

"Darling, it's so good to see you. We were all looking at the family tapestry and noticed something quite peculiar involving you in fact. I was wondering if you were planning to visit us. We would very much like you to come over and talk with us. I know you are still angry, but we only want to talk to you." Xiana thought about her mother words, and finally answered.

"I'll be seeing you at 1:00 pm this afternoon. There are many things to discuss. I may be mad at you, but never forget that I love you." With these words, they parted ways until the appointed time.

In the meantime, the rest of the Zabini family was still in a state of shock trying to understand how a Zabini could be married to a Potter. One member of the family who was not talking very much and seemed to be lost in thought was the head of the Zabini household. Michael Zabini was a Slytherin and by definition learned from past mistakes. Only a fool failed to learn from their mistakes. He had already lost a son due to his stupidity and he was not about to repeat the same mistake with his oldest daughter. Every day since Xoran's death, he blamed himself for the unfortunate event. He had already estranged his oldest daughter, he would do anything in his power to avoid driving her away.

Michael failed to see the expectant looks from his family as he was busy sorting his own feelings concerning his oldest daughters marriage to the boy-who-lived. Truth be told, he had no real objection to her marrying Harry Potter. Working on his case a while back, he had discovered how well off the young man was. Harry Potter was more than financially capable of taking care of his daughter. There was also the undeniable fact that the young man was a magical powerhouse. Harry Potter, had taken on the dark lord more time than anyone alive in the wizarding world, and was still breathing and kicking. No one had stood up the dark lord so many times and lived to tell about it. The only fault that he found with the young man was that he was far to close to Dumbledore for his taste. Dumbledore was not some one that inspired trust in him.

Michael was going to wait and hear his daughter out this time. He decided to stop the arguing and said, "All right everyone, please calm yourselves. We will get our answers when Xiana shows up at the appointed time. Until then, lets have proper breakfast and get on with our business." Everyone nodded and went about their activities.

At 1:00 pm, every Zabini member was sitting in the main living room looking at the fireplace. Suddenly a huge green fire erupted and Xiana Zabini casually walked out the fireplace. Blaise noticed that she was wearing what appeared to be a charcoal grey Basilisk robe with a hood. Her long black hair cascaded around her shoulders and she appeared very regal. Blaise was the first to notice the poise and confidence that she displayed. Her current demeanor was very different from the last time he saw her at his older brother's funeral. Xiana looked radiant. Blaise took a furtive glance at his father and noticed that he too was deep in thought.

The moment that Xiana was out of the fireplace, her parents came over and gave her a hug. She did not know what to expect, but was glad that her parents welcomed her with such passion. The Zabini's were not known to be a very demonstrative family when it came to emotions, but right now, it really felt as though they had really missed her. Xiana was the first to break the ice.

"Mother, Father it is nice to see you again." She turned to her siblings and was tackled by her younger sister and brother. They just stood there for about a minute until her mother caught her by the shoulders and spun her. Her mother was now fiercely hugging her. Finally, her mother Xenna managed to say.

"Love, its so good to see you. I have been a worried sick about you." Her mother looked at her with a stern mouth. Xiana knew that she had worried both her parents with her lack of correspondence, but she also felt that their time apart was good. Finally, she found her voice and said.

"I am sorry about worrying you all, but after Xoran's death I needed some time alone. I can tell from all your faces that you have many questions you would like answered and are dying to get started. I know that by now you have all been alerted to my new status by looking at the family tapestry. I want you to know that I am not here to beg forgiveness for my new status. I will answer your questions as comfortably as I can." Xiana looked at her family and noticed that they were all waiting for her to continue.

"I can tell from your faces that you are wondering why I am now a Potter. Well before you judge him, you need to know who he really is, and what he means to me." Her brother Blaise was the first to speak.

"Xiana, I can't imagine that you know who Potter is but I do. He is nothing but Dumbledore's puppet. I have known him for 5 years now and I know that he doesn't think for himself. He is the bloody golden boy and tool of Dumbledore." He spat.

Xiana looked at her brother with her sapphire eyes burning, and he seemed to quail under her stare. She finally found her voice." Blaise, I have known Harry for a lot longer than a few weeks. I need you to understand where I come from and why I did what I did. " Xiana looked at her mother and said.

"Mother, I need all of you to understand what has happened this summer, but to do this I will need the family pensive. Could you get the pensive please." Her mother looked at her eyes and could almost see her daughter's plea. Xenna immediately got up and went to fetch the family pensive. When she came back, she deposited the object in front of her daughter.

Xiana looked at her family and said, " I know that you hear the Potter name and have all of these pre-conceived notions, however I want to set the record straight. I am sure that you have been following the newspaper and have heard of the scorpion sorcerer. After you view my memories and feel what I feel, you will understand. Before I show you anything, I need all of you to take a wizards oath that what you are about to see will never be revealed to anyone but the family. If you do not agree I will leave for ever."

Xenna looked at her daughter and knew that she was telling the truth. They had everything to loose today. Xenna looked at the rest of her family and noticed the look of shock on their faces. She knew what was at stake. Anyone breaking their oath would become and instant squib. Her request was the biggest binding wizarding contract there was. Her daughters respect for her family was at stake here and the last thing she wanted was a repeat of the events that led to her son's death. She finally found her voice and said.

"I Xenna Zabini swear on my blood that I will never reveal what I am about to be shown. " The rest of their family followed. Xiana was satisfied with their oath. She put her wand to her temple and pulled a large silvery strand from her mind and let the memory float in the pensive. She repeated the procedure another six times. She told her family to go in and when they were finished, she would answer all of their questions. After what must have been forty-five minutes, her relatives began making their way out of the pensive.

Blaise looked like he had run a twenty-mile marathon, her sister had the biggest calculating look that she had ever seen on her, and her parents looked completely shocked. Her father was the first to recover.

Xenna was looking at her daughter's eyes and finally found her voice and uttered, "I just want you to know that I hold no grudge towards your union. I know that you were terribly hurt when your brother was killed. Fate intervened on your behalf love. I do not know Harry so I cannot comment on his character. However, I do trust your judgment, and that will have to be enough for now. "

Xiana took that moment to look at the rest of her family and noticed a look of bewilderment, fear, and respect. Her gaze finally settled on her father. At the same time, he looked up and gazed into his daughter's eyes, which were so much like her mothers. After several seconds, he straightens himself and smiled at his daughter.

Michael Zabini was many things, but he was no fool. He realized from her memories how much she loved her husband. Michael had to admit that the Potter heir was pretty much what he wanted in a son in law. He was brave, loyal, ruthless and obviously had the cunning of a true Slytherin. Michael also understood that young Potter was not really 16 years old. Due to his training, he was closer to 20. From Xiana's memories, he had witnessed the battle in France. Michael was quite shocked to see how his new son in law had dealt with the dark lord's minions. The ferociousness of Harry's attack and the dark magic he used, compelled him to firmly believe that a true split had occurred between Dumbledore and him. The supposed leader of the light would never have thought him such magic. His new son in law was nobody's fool. It seemed that a new front had opened up in the war.

Michel also knew from his daughter's memories that she had also learned a lot of dark magic. Michael knew that knowledge was power and protection. Harry was obviously well versed in the dark arts and other magical arts. He wanted Harry to train Blaise and Brianna. If they needed to take, an oath of loyalty then so be it. He had one more request to make of his daughter before he gave her his blessing. He noticed the rest of the family looking at him to say something.

"Xiana, before I give my blessing to your union, could we please witness your marriage ceremony?" Michael said.

Whatever Xiana had expected from her father that was not it. He was calm, cool, and collected. She also noticed a slight smile at the corner of his lips. Maybe deep down he was not disappointed with her after all. She decided to show them her marriage ceremony. She knew that she had made herself believe that they did not deserve to take part in her wedding ceremony, however she never said that they could not view the ceremony. She looked at her mother and noticed a very anguished look on her face. One look at her siblings and she recognized the same look in their eyes. She finally took her wand and pulled out her memories of that evening. When she was done, she said.

"I believe that you might also find this very interesting." She said with an amused look on her face.

They all approached the pensive and on the count of three, they all touched the silvery mist and entered her memories. After about thirty minutes they all came back out and noticed her mother and sister were crying. Her father and younger brother had a look of pride on their faces. To her shock, her mother who was always cool and reserved came rushing towards her and grabbed her in a fierce hug. To her surprise again, her sister was next, and then her father and brother. They finally broke apart and her father said.

"Xiana, I give you my blessing. I think that Harry will make a fine addition to the Zabini family." He had a huge smile on his face. Xiana finally let go of the tears that she had been holding. She had wanted so much for her family to accept Harry. Her mother was the next one to speak.

"Darling, your ceremony was beautiful. You sure stuck it to the ministry and their stupid decrees. Those bastards are slowly killing our most sacred rituals. I for one am glad that you went against decree and revered the old ways. The ancient ones would be proud. "

Her youngest brother spoke next, " Xiana, do you think that Harry will be going back to Hogwarts? Malfoy and his gang are planning something for him. I don't know what, but that stupid Malfoy has been bragging to anyone who will listen on how he is going to put Harry in his place."

Xiana turned to her brother and gave him an evil grin, " Don't worry Blaise, it's Malfoy who is in for a surprise." The reason that Harry is going back to Hogwarts, is to find kindred spirits who are willing to be part of an army that is going to fight Voldemort and then Dumbledore and the ministry. Harry believes that the time has long past for real changes to occur in the wizarding world. He despises the blind prejudice and dogma that permeates our world. He is out to make some real changes believe me."

Blaise listened to his sister and made up his mind. He looked her in the eyes and said "Xiana, I want you to know that I now consider Harry part of the family. Although I never took the time to get to know him before now, he needs to know that his back is covered in Slytherin house. Therefore, I will formally make a wizards oath that I will never betray Harry and will fight by his side when the time comes."

Xiana was surprised but pleased that her younger brother would do this. She knew that a wizard's oath was the most binding of contract. She went to her brother and gave him a hug. At that point, her sister spoke up.

"Xiana, obviously I don't know Harry. However like Blaise said, he is family now, and so I will take the oath as well. I will most likely be put in Slytherin house this year, and with the war coming, it is imperative that family sticks together. I will take the oath, but I would like you to talk to Harry and ask him if he could train us in the dark arts as well."

Xiana replied, " Don't worry, Harry and I have already planned ahead if you two wanted to join us. First thing if for you all to come to my new home so that you can get better acquainted with Harry. We will make it a feast. You will also meet Remus Lupin, Harry's last link to his parents. He is quite fond of him. He used to be a Marauder. I'll be leaving you a portkey that will activate next Saturday. We have lots of planning to do. Father, I believe that Harry would like to consult you on the affairs of the Wizengamot."

Her father replied, " I be glad to offer any assistance and information that he needs"

"Thank you, she said softly." She went to her father and kissed him on the cheek.

To her surprise, her parents also took the wizard oath to not betray and fight on their side when the time came. With that Xiana stood up and collected back all of her memories from the family pensive. She then took out a dark ring encrusted with black diamonds. She gave it to her father. She told them that it was a portkey that would take them to Potter castle. With that done, she took out her wand and tapped her wedding ring, she instantly vanished without a sound, to the shock of her family.

Blaise noticed his sister's wand and wondered where she got it. It was beautiful. Blaise looked at his father and he could tell that he was thinking the same thing.

---

That evening back at Potter Manor, Xiana was sitting outside on the gazebo enjoying the warm evening air. The gazebo overlooking the sea had become her favorite place to come and relax. She reflected on her meeting with her family and was very pleased that they had blessed her union to Harry. Deep down she had missed her family, and was glad to have them back. They had obviously been shocked to learn the real Harry Potter. She could see the respect that her father now had for Harry. She was pulled from her musing when she saw her husband apparate back with Remus Lupin.

Xiana had learned about Remus during one of their memory sharing sessions. Before a union, it was encouraged for both the future groom and bride to share their most intimate memories. This helped to forge a very strong bond early on in their union. She knew that Remus Lupin had been one of his father's best friends. She also knew that Lupin cared a great deal for Harry. In actuality, Harry considered him family. She could do no less.

Harry and Remus ended up apparating on the western grounds of the castle. Remus was quick to recover, and had a look at Harry's true ancestral home for the first time in his life. James had never mentioned it. He probably did not even know that it existed. His first expression was one of awe. This place was huge. The grounds had beautiful trees and a nice pond with a small waterfall. The trees as far as he could see were holly, willows, and red oaks. There were many flowerbeds lining the walkways. He saw Harry turn around and Remus turned himself to see what was happening when he noticed a person approaching. She was tall with long silky raven black hair cascading around her shoulders. She had the most startling sapphire blue eyes he had ever seen. She was very beautiful Remus thought.

Remus immediately recognized the person approaching them. He turned to Harry and said, " I'm sorry Harry, but even your memories do not do her justice. I must say cub, you have real taste in women."

Harry looked at Remus with a silly grin on his face and said, " I have to agree with you Moony. I don't know what she saw in me, but I'll take luck any way I can get it. Maybe it's fates way of making it up to me for the last 16 shitty years of my life."

Xiana was upon them and Harry grabbed her in a fierce hug and a passionate kiss. They broke apart and Xiana smiled at Remus and said, "Welcome home Remus." She then went up to Remus and gave him a hug and a peck on the cheek.

At this point Remus had tears in his eyes. He hugged her back. He could feel the unconditional acceptance from her. He broke from his hug and said, "It's good to finally have a home."

Harry then turned to Remus and echoed his wife's sentiment, "Remus, this is where you belong. This is your home. I have included a special place in the castle for your transformation. This place is safer than Hogwarts, believe me. " Remus looked at Harry with mist in his eyes.

Remus couldn't help feeling that even though so much had been lost earlier that evening, he had gained a lot more. He was back with his cub, he was in a safe place that he could call home, and best of all he no longer depended on those backstabbing Order of the Phoenix fuckers. How dare they use the Phoenix as their symbol. After what they had done to Harry, and how Dumbledore was going to sacrifice James and Lily's son for the so-called greater good had been the last straw. He would never forgive them for the way they had treated Harry. Next time he saw them, there would be hell to pay.

They all went back to the castle discussing their ordeals and taking notes. Harry was more then happy when he heard how his extended family had accepted his union to Xiana. Her whole family was eager to talk to him and train. It never hurt to have more allies. Xiana had arranged for her family to visit next Saturday. The fact that the Zabini family were a well-known pureblood wizarding family and had a very extensive network of ministry and business connection would go a long way in further understanding the key players in the wizengamot. Voldemort was just the start of what he felt he needed to do. When Voldemort was finally taken care off, then he would turn his attention to the rest of the wizarding establishment. Real changes needed to happen and he was going to try his hardest to make that happen.

When they reached the castle, Harry and Xiana decided to give Remus the grand tour and assign his room. Remus for his part could not believe how good the castle looked. The woods, tiles, and marbles were exquisite. The Potter Library was huge. Everything was warm and welcoming. His own room had it's own bathroom and a small library with office. Remus couldn't conceive that this was all his. They then visited the dungeons and he saw his transformation room. It was well designed and had lots of comfort. Remus felt very content. When they were done with the castle, Harry decided to show him the trunk Manor. They went back onto the castle grounds and reached the trunk by the pond. Remus remembered seeing this trunk in Harry's memories back at Grimauld place and knew that it was a unique design.

When they reached the inside of the trunk, Remus was floored, he couldn't believe what Harry had done. Seeing the look on Remus face, Harry went and got his builders book and showed him the theory and how he had created such an expanded living environment in a trunk. After perusing Harry's manual, Remus simply could not form a coherent sentence at the moment. Harry decided to show him the entire trunk and showed him the room where Odin's eye was kept. He told him about the wards that he had installed and preceded to key Remus to every room except the warding crystal room and where Odin's eye was kept. When they were done, they made their way back to the castle where a late supper was waiting for them. Once again, Dobby and Winky had outdone themselves.

When they were done with supper, they retired to the living room to begin planning training sessions, and how they were going to recruit at Hogwarts. Harry filled Remus on all of his training to date. He told him of his plans on how he was going to take the fight to Voldemort, and how he planned to eventually restructure the entire wizengamot and the ministry. He explained how he desired on buying back lands from muggles and build more wizarding enclaves for all magical creatures.

Remus sat and listened to everything Harry had to say. He was very impressed with the level of details he had put into his plans and saw room for improvement. Finally, Harry asked him to look at his plans and see if they could be improved. Remus not only had a home, but he had a job that would be crucial to the reformation. Remus found his voice and said.

"Harry it would be my honor to be a part of your team. I will go over everything and detail where necessary. I promise to leave no stone unturned. " Harry looked at Remus with a huge grin and clasped him on the shoulder.

The next day, they all woke up late and fully rested. Harry told Xiana and Remus that he was going out to do some errands. He had some specific stops to make and once that was done, he would concentrate on training his new generals. He told Remus to take the time and get acquainted with his new home. Xiana had some errands to run herself. She told Harry that she was heading to London to do some shopping. Harry didn't think it to unusual, and told her he would meet her later for supper. With that, they both left to complete their affairs.

---

Harry decided to go to Diagon Alley first. He needed to see a Mr. Ollivander and keep a promise. He made sure that he was wearing his Basilisk battle robes and cast an elusion charm to make the scorpions disappear. Harry then cast the same charm on his face. The last thing he needed was to meet some member of the Order of the Phoenix. He had seen quite enough of them for a while. When he was done concealing himself, he apparated to Diagon Alley common apparition nodes. He made it there without a sound, and proceeded to Ollivander's.

Within twenty minutes, Harry had reached Ollivander's wand shop. He stepped up and opened the door. He walked inside and noticed that no one was around. Of course, he knew that Ollivander was probably analyzing him from one of his shops corners. True to form, after what seemed like 5 minutes of waiting around the dusty shop, Ollivander made himself know. Ollivander looked carefully at the stranger and finally with a smile on his face said.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, what can I do for you today. Surely your wand in working properly?"

Harry looked a little shocked at first that he had been recognized so quickly. The shock faded quickly however and Harry decided to play the game properly.

Harry replied, "Yes, Mr. Ollivander, my Old wand is more then adequate, however I promised you that I would come back when I was able to fashion another wand. So here I am ready to fulfill my promise to you." With those words, Harry pulled out his new wands and laid them on Ollivander's workbench.

Harry also warned Ollivander to look at his wand but to not pick it up, due to the powerful recognition charms put on the wand. He told him that if he picked it up, he would feel a backlash equivalent to a crucio spell.

Ollivander looked at Harry with a grin on his face and approached the bench. He immediately saw that the wand was like nothing he had ever seen. One thing for sure, Ollivander fancied himself an artisan first. What he saw in front of him was nothing short of a work of art. He peered closer and determined that the wand it self was made of some type of metal. How in Merlin's name could this be. Every bit of theory he knew about magical focusing device said that only wood would work properly. Finally, after what seemed like five minutes of thought he looked into Potters fathomless green orbs and said.

" Mr. Potter, you have me at a lost. I cannot for the life of me figure out what this wand is, or how it works. Could you please elucidate the workings of this contraption."

Harry listened to Ollivander and resisted the urge to laugh aloud. No he supposed, to an old wizard steeped in old magical theory, he had no doubt that Ollivander had no clue as to the workings of his new wand. He finally decided to take pity on the old wand maker and pulled out a piece of Naquadah, and threw it at Ollivander who caught the piece and gave the material an in depth visual analysis. Harry noticed Ollivander's confusion, and decided to explain.

Harry said, "What you are looking there is the basis material for my new wand technology. I am sure that in your apprenticeship you must of read about your ancestor Marcel Ollivander and his theory on wand making?"

Ollivander answered, "I seem to remember reading about his theories, but I assure you that they were proven to be a failure. "

Harry replied, " I assure you that his theory was quite sound. Before I show you how my new wand works, I need to ask you for a wizard's oath that you will not reveal this information to anyone. I am not trying to be rude sir, I just need to take extreme caution with whom I share this information. "

Ollivander smiled, adjusted his glasses, and answered, " Mr. Potter, for information such as this, I am willing to do just about anything. I will take the oath." With that, Ollivander carried out with his magical oath. When it was complete, Ollivander turned back to Harry and asked him to continue.

Harry smirked and replied, "Ah, my dear Mr. Ollivander I assure you that your ancestor was most definitely right. If you have a demonstration room, I would like to show you the merit of his theory. The reason it never worked was that no one had the means to fully follow his instructions. His theory stated that if ONE wizard or witch was able to fully charge a crystal shaft with their raw magical energy, then the crystals would act as a powerful focusing lens that was one hundred percent compatible with a wizard or witch magical signature. The material you have in your hand makes it possible to fully charge the crystals because it acts as a magical energy amplifier. "

Ollivander brought Harry to his testing room. In the north end wall, there was a 10 X 5 X 2 solid granite wall for testing spells. Harry pulled out his wand and explained to him step by step how he had made his new wand. He then told him that he was going to use full power on his reducto spell. He positioned himself about 20-feet from the target. He centered himself and said Reducto. Immediately the spell came out of his wand amplified a hundred times and struck its target true. The wall was completely obliterated. A normal wand would have simply caused a small hole in the wall.

For his part, Ollivander just stood there with his mouth opening and closing. To say that Ollivander was shocked would be the understatement of the year. When he was done staring at the rubble that used to be his wall, he jumped up and down as if Father Christmas had come early. He finally calmed himself down and turned towards Harry.

Ollivander said, "Do you remember what I told you when you first came to my shop? I told you that you that we could expect great things from you. It looks like you are well on your way to fulfilling those expectations. This discovery on wand making is easily an order of Merlin third class. I wanted to ask you if you would allow me to make those types of wands."

Harry raised one of his eyebrows and said, " My dear Mr. Ollivander, I will allow you to make these types of wands, but only to a select group of people of my choosing. You understand that with Voldemort's return, I need all of the advantages that I can get. I promise that you will have a significant clientele. Due to the blood runes involved in the wand making process, they must be activated on a full moon. I will supply the material and the location of fabrication. I will give 20 galleons for every wand made. When the war is over, I will consider leasing the technology to you to build as many wands as you want. Of course, the core material is hard to come by, and I will have to provide it to you for a fee. Does this arrangement suit you?"

Ollivander was giddy again and said, "The arrangement is more than fair Mr. Potter. I agree to make the wands to those you deem worthy and will use your process. I would only ask that you stay with me during the first wands I make for you, as you are the expert with this new wand making technology."

Harry answered, " It will be my pleasure sir." With that he told Ollivander that when the time was right he would be back sometime after school to give him a portkey. With that business done, Harry went back out into Diagon alley and found himself a quiet alley where no one was present. He pulled out a map of England and located Cambridge University co-ordinate and apparated there. He looked around to get his bearing, and made his way to one of the local pubs the Free Press. According to his sources, it was a popular senior watering hole.

Harry hoped that his Internet contact was real. His second major task for the day was to meet his underground contact here. He made his way to the men's rest room and looked around to see if anyone was there. Seeing no one, he pulled out a matchbox size folder and enlarged it. When Harry was done, he made his way out of the restroom and went back to the corner table as he had been instructed to do. A server came over and asked him if he was interested in something to drink. He told him that a pint of McEwen's would be fine. He looked at his folder and reflected on what it contained.

Since discovering his talent for seeing magical signatures and energy flux, he had been pondering how to use this talent to better understand the unforgivables. One of the distinguished challenges to the wizarding world right now was the unforgivables. There were currently no known counter spell to AK and Crucio. This was strange since most other curses had some sort of counter shield. Harry read a passage on his muggle physics books about wavelength and natural oscillating frequency. He found out that muggles used electronic instrument to measure and analyze real time frequency.

Harry bought a Frequency spectrum analyzer and after a very frustrating learning curve found how to apply it to measuring magical energy. With Xiana's help, they ended up firing every spell that they knew including the unforgivables. These spells were repeated many times over. They ended up damaging many recording head. During their experimentation, they must have destroyed over 120 heads.

After spending roughly $30,000 pounds on his experiments, they had complete frequency records of all the spells they knew. There was a reason for doing this. The more experimental data they had to work with, the more accurate the mathematical models would be. It didn't matter if you were dealing with wizard or muggle mathematics. Mathematics was the universal language that glued all of the sciences together.

Harry figured that since magic was a very refined energy, it could be measured. Anything that could be measured could be mathematically broken down. He took roughly a year in flux time to record, categorize, and break down the individual frequency into mathematical equations.

He figured that if he could mathematically understand the various frequencies making up a spell then he could find the inverse functions of those frequencies, which would give him the counter spell. Harry started on this project and realized very quickly why no counter spell had been developed for the unforgivables as of yet. A spell could be made up of anywhere from 30 to 140 individual frequency patterns. Amazing enough each frequency was made up of 30 independent variables as represented by the regressed polynomial. These variables represented emotional strength, transfiguration element, charm element, position of the moon, stance, light spectrum element, raw magical power, ambient natural magic strength, …ect.

An inverse frequency had to be mathematically deciphered for every frequency making up a spell. In the case of the unforgivables, they consisted of a 120 frequency for crucio and a maximum of 140 different frequencies for Avada Kadavra. Each of these frequencies was made up of a 30th order polynomial. To figure out the counter frequency to these spells would require 1.5E83 manual calculations to arithmetically decipher the spell. No magical person could possibly carry out these calculations manually in their lifetime.

Who ever figured out the unforgivables must have been one of those idiot savants or a certifiable wacko. That person must have been an arithmancy genius. Harry knew his own limitations, and realized that muggle know how could perhaps help wizard kind once again. Muggle science was very advanced, and this is where their computer savvy would come in handy. Harry came up with the idea to hire some muggles to write a software program that would help break down spells and find their counter. If the software was accurate, then all he needed was a fast computer to carry out the repetitive calculations.

Two weeks ago, when he was surfing the Internet he came across a web page describing cyber hackers. He figured out how to contact them. Harry did some more research, and found out that hackers were an elite group of people who wrote very harmful codes to disrupt regular muggle government and industrial activity.

Harry figured that these were exactly the type of people he was looking for. They were discreet, operated in the shadows and had the potential brains to figure out his problem. Harry figured that they should have the brainpower and know how to design a custom software program.. There were many challenges that they would have to overcome. The hardest part would be to figure out the wand's geometric pattern. The software needed to distinguish if the counter spell was a charm, jinx, curse, or a combination of the above. Harry's cover story for the muggles designing the software was going to be that it was for deciphering ancient languages. They wouldn't know the difference because the spells they were working the equations from were Latin, Scandinavian, and Sumerian.

Harry thought it was a long shot, but he had nothing to loose. If it succeeded, it would give his troops a tremendous advantage. Most of wizard kind had such a distaste of muggles, that using muggle strength to solve some of their problems would never occur to them. Thank god, he had no such prejudice he thought. Yes, he had a bad experience with muggles in the form of his aunt and uncle, but he knew that not every muggle was like them. Harry looked down at his watch and was beginning to worry that his contact wouldn't show up. Finally, Harry noticed some one wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, which had red Greek letters Phi, Gamma, Theta on the front. He was also wearing dark denim jeans and black doc martins.

The man approached him and said, "I am lost at sea?"

Harry answered "Seek the north star Sirius. "

The man sat down, and turned his back and nodded towards the northeast corner of the pub and another figure started making his way to their table. That person turned out to be a girl. She too was wearing a black sweatshirt with a hood on. She sat at the table and pulled off her hood. She had dirty blond hair with deep brown eyes. Her face was plane but Harry could clearly see the intelligence behind them. The first person did the same thing and Harry noticed that he had black hair and deep blue eyes.

They looked at each other and Harry used his legiliments ability to read their thoughts. He read that they were very serious about this job, and that they needed funds very bad. He found out that they were both working on their computer science PhD. Satisfied with his scans he reached out with his hand and introduced himself. The woman introduced herself as Terminal Reboot, and the man called himself Techno Mage. Harry raised his eyebrows at the man's cyber call sign. They were both members of the hackers group Root Access. They both sported earrings and Harry could tell that they had real attitudes.

Harry not wanting to waste any more time finally said, " I'm glad to be finally meeting you. I have a job that requires some discretion and I came across your group in cyber space. I got the idea that maybe I could hire your group to code me designer software. Money is not an issue, however I need you to look at the math involved and tell me up front if you can do this or not. I do not wish to waste your or my time."

The man looked at his notepad, and his various frequency recordings. He and the girl exchanged his notes back and forth. They were muttering all sorts of mathematical and computer jargon that left Harry feeling like a second rate.

After what must have been 20 minutes of close examination, Techno Mage said, " Well from what I can see, these are fairly complex math series. It will take some time to develop the satchel codes. It will probably take four to six months to code and debug the software with a four people team."

He looked into Harry's eyes and said," I'll have to ask you for half the payment up front."

Harry replied, "How much do you want upfront?"

The man replied, "That will be sixty thousand pounds up front and another sixty thousand when the software is complete. Take it or leave it."

Harry sat there and gave them each a piercing glare and finally said "No problems." Harry had an amused look on his face. He looked around the pub to make sure that no one was looking and pulled out the money and handed it over to them. The state of shock on their faces was priceless. Earlier that day he had converted eighty thousand pounds from galleons in case this problem presented itself.

Harry gave them a muggle postal address, so that they could contact him if they needed some clarification. He used the post office located two blocks away from the Leaky Cauldron. Harry also set up a meeting with them for November 24 for an update on the software. Harry knew that from their minds that they would not try to cheat him. For one thing, they enjoyed challenges, and looked at his problem as just that. Second thing was that they were strapped for cash, so they were not going to pass up on the additional sixty thousand pounds. They now knew that he meant business, and so they were motivated. Satisfied about his new arrangement, Harry left and found himself in the back of the pub. He looked around to make sure that no one was there and apparated back to Potter castle.

---

By the time he got back to the castle it was nearly 3:30 pm. Harry went to his trunk manor to make sure that everything was properly organized for when Luna, Neville, Bill, Fleur, Charlie and Remus showed up. They were going to jump start their training prior to school starting. His first priority was to teach them Occlumency and Dark Arts 101. A great part of their training would include dueling, advanced combat and transfiguration charms. If time permitted, he would include battle strategies and tactics. All of them had taken some vacation time to attend camp active pain.

In the meantime, Harry needed to develop better ways to incorporate his ancient dark arts knowledge into battle strategies. He also needed to devote some time to developing better communications between his key members. Owls were nice, but quaint. Wizard kind needed to get up to speed on modern communication. The problem was Hogwarts and to some extent his own castle. The powerful wards interfered with muggle electronics. The ambient magical energy tended to fry some of the more sensitive part in muggle electronics.

Harry figured he needed to find better insulator and filters for the electronic. He was going to devote some time to the problem. He made sure that he bought four more iceboxes that are magical. With all of the days spent in training and his tutors, he needed to replenish them. He bought an Italian, Greek, French, and English meal plan. Harry had developed a taste for a variety of different foods. He then decided to go check his potions lab. He needed to make more Naquadah blood potions and some bone strengthening potions. Harry figured that he would share many of his secrets with his friends but not all of them. Sun-Tzu always said to always keep a secret or two in you back pocket just in case.

Meanwhile, Xiana was in the bathroom reading the muggle instruction on the box. She had stepped out earlier and had gone to London to do some shopping and went to a muggle drug store. She knew that tomorrow Neville and Luna were coming for training, and Xiana did not want to go into flux time if she was pregnant. Xiana initially planned to wait for her period, but circumstances had forced her to find out sooner. Truth be told, she knew in the back of her mind that she was, and just wanted to confirm it. After about 20 minutes, the little stick turned blue. She repeated the experiment once more time and the stick turned blue again. Xiana had a big smile on her face and was ecstatic.

Well flextime was out of the question for her. She did not want to tell Harry right away, she wanted to tell the whole family at the same time. She needed to find a good excuse to stay at the castle while Harry was training in flux time. She needed time to prepare to receive her parents anyway. She was also going to ask Dobby and Winky to help her fix the bedroom connected to their master bedroom and turn it into a nursery. She also needed to keep up with her dueling. No animagus transformation until the baby was born. Xiana was starting to get a feel on how much her life was going to change. She made sure to banish her pregnancy test kit and left the bathroom. She did not notice that she was humming a lullaby to herself.

Harry finished up with his preparations, and made his way back to the castle. It was nearly 6:00 pm and Harry needed to wash up and get ready for suppertime. He made his way to the kitchen and found Dobby and Winky happily preparing supper. Dobby was the first to notice Harry and came running and tackled him at the knees. Dobby said

"Oh, Master Harry Potter Sir! How is you day going Sir?" Shortly after Winky came running and curtsied to him.

Harry couldn't help smiling at the both of them and lowered himself to their level and said " How are my two favorite elf's in the world doing today?" They were both so emotional, and Winky replied

"We are doing fine master, we is so happy to be bonded to great wizard Harry Potter sir."

Harry replied, " I am the lucky one, I have two wonderful addition to my family." By now both elf's were balling. They were strange creatures elf. When they were done with their display of emotions, they both smiled and went back to preparing supper. Harry shook his head smiling and made his way to the library and met up with Remus.

Harry said, "Hey Remus, how was your first day of exploration?"

Remus turned around and smiled when he saw his cub, "It was fantastic Harry, you did a great job on this place."

Harry replied, "Well I had an awful lot of help from Dobby and Winky and from by better half of course." He said with a grin. Remus just chuckled.

Harry then said, "Well I think it will be time for supper real soon. Hope you are hungry, if I know these two, they will make enough for an army."

Remus replied, "Don't worry cub, I'm famished. I ended up skipping lunch, I was so engrossed by your library. My God you have some rare tomes in here."

Harry answered." Yah, I have barely scratched the surface on some of them. Well now that I am in my true home, and magic is not considered a dirty word, I'll be able to get through all of these tomes in time. Come on let's go to the living room."

When they got there, they met up with Xiana and chatted about their day. They had an aperitif and Winky came into the living room to let them know that supper was ready. Once again, they had a wonderful supper, followed with dessert. When they were done, Xiana told Harry that she wanted to stay in the castle until her parents came over.

She explained that she wanted everything to go smooth, and wanted to redo some decorating. Harry thought about it and decided that his meeting with his in laws was indeed important. First impression counted for a lot. Harry told her that she was not going to miss out much, because she knew all of it. He did ask her to continue with her martial arts and some spell casting. She kissed him soundly and told him not to worry.

He hated that one thing about flux time. There was no way for her to contact him while in flux. He didn't like the fact that he was going to be away from her for a whole month, but he needed to get his army started, and for that to happen he had to start with well trained officers. Harry made sure that her wedding ring was keyed to the other trunk Manors just in case something went wrong while he was training. Harry had full confidence in his wards, but it always paid to have extra insurance.

Harry bid good night to Remus and went to his bedroom office to work on a training schedule. After about an hour of revising and formulating plans, he was satisfied with his schedule.

August 23-29 Odin's Months

5:30-7:00 am Physical training running for 30 to 45 min, work on a set of muscle arm, then chess, arms, legs…est. Include 30 min of Tai Chi

7:00-7:15 showers

7:15-8:00 am Breakfast

8:00- 10:00 am Martial Arts /Body Magic/Normal Apparition.

10:00-11:30 Dark Arts Theory/ Practice (Necron's Books)

11:30- 12:00 launch

12:00- 1:00 pm Dueling Transfiguration

1:00- 2:00 pm Dueling Charms

2:00-4:00 pm Dueling Practice

4:00-6:00 pm Battle Strategies/Muggle Science

6:00-7:00 Supper

7:00-9:00 Occlumency/ Medical Potions (alternate every other day)

9:00-11:00 Leisure time. Do as you please.

Harry figured that the next seven months in flux time would be sufficient time to bring his inner circle to a respectable lethal level. They would become quite competent in the disciplines he had outlined. Next full moon, he would make sure that they have brand new wands attuned to their magical signature. Harry went to bed and was soon followed by Xiana.

Harry nestled his wife to him and fell into a blissful sleep. He woke up early and went for his usual physical exercise. When he was done, he showered and went down for a large breakfast. He met up with Remus, Bill, Charlie, and Fleur. Xiana showed up shortly after and they all sat down to a large breakfast. Harry was a bit sad, he would not see Xiana for a month. They finished breakfast and Harry gave Xiana a long passionate kiss. She told him that they would see each other soon and to train hard.

They all left for the trunk manor. Once inside, everyone was settled into his or her respective room. Not long after they came down, they heard the portkey room activate and went to greet Luna and Neville. After mutual greetings, Harry showed them to their rooms and they got started on their training.

28 weeks later Odin Time

Harry woke up and everyone had already left the trunk manor. Bill, Charlie, and Fleur had gone back to work, and Remus was going back to the castle to relax. Neville and Luna went back to Longbottom Manor. These last seven months had been truly spectacular. His inner circle was now very proficient Occlumens. Harry was very proud of them, they were now truly lethal. They had mastered the books of Necron. Harry had thought them some very simple parseltongue magic.

Now that Neville's block was removed, he had made astounding progress. He was now easily the best dueler of his inner circle. He had even beaten Remus. Luna and Neville had spent most of their free time at night studying their sixth and 7th year NEWT level courses. They had made extensive use of his potions lab. Since there was no slimy greasy git bothering Neville, he had spent a considerable amount of time learning potions the proper way. Harry had stepped in when Luna could not. They were nearly finished with their seventh NEWT material.

Harry had made plans for when they returned to Hogwarts. During the weekends they would all portkey to his trunk manor by the lake and they would flextime the weekends. By the end of September, Neville and Luna will have finished their 7th year NEWT material. The idea was for all of them to write their NEWT next spring. Harry knew that he would be bored out of his skull going back to Hogwarts, but he needed to be there to recruit and train his future army.

Going to Hogwarts would also provide a front for his excursions. No one knew that he could apparate out of Hogwarts. He planned to be very active in disrupting moldy warts plans this coming year. He needed to keep the snake disorganized and prevent him from gaining in strength while he trained his army. In any case, Harry was sure that the final battle would occur at Hogwarts. He planned to devote most of his class time into figuring out how to dispose of Voldemort for the last time.

He planned to use Neville and Luna a lot to train the others. He needed them to become teachers to the new recruit. In fact, most of their coming year would be devoted to bringing the next batch of scorpion soldiers up to speed. Harry had read extensively on muggle warfare. If one thing was drilled into his brain, it was the need for an expertly trained army. An all-volunteer army sharing your ideals and not co-hersed or forced to agree with you was going to be their strength. Moldy shorts army was mostly made up of scared conscript. This is why Harry needed his officers free of schoolwork and devote as much of their time to teaching and training.

By next spring, Neville and Luna would be more than ready to write their NEWT. Harry planned to write his before Halloween. He was going to keep this little bit of information from the old bastard and the ministry for as long as he could. Harry knew that eventually everyone would find out who the scorpion sorcerer was. When the war was over, he needed his NEWT to function in the magical world. Therefore, that little bit of administration had to be finished.

Another good thing to come out of these last seven months Harry thought, was the fact that he had discovered a way to make electronic work with magic. His discovery came from his muggle warfare and physics books. Large magical concentrations such as Hogwarts create a continuous broadband, of high-intensity, short-duration burst of electromagnetic energy. The electromagnetic pulses consist of a continuous frequency spectrum. Most of the energy is distributed throughout the lower frequencies between 3 Hz and 30 kHz. These stray frequencies are enough to induce harmful voltage and current spikes in muggle electronics.

Muggle army buy specialized communication that have advanced metallic and filters shielding to protect against harmful EMP. Harry only needed to find a company that tailored to muggle army's and buy communications from them. Harry figured his best bet was to target low-key American company. They were a lot easier to access then European ones. He would make his search before he went back to Hogwarts. Harry finished packing his clothes and made his way back to the castle.

Meanwhile Remus was busy putting some books back into the library and was thinking back on his last month in flux time. Remus never realized how much magic he was oblivious too until he started studying the dark arts. Along with his study, he had become a much better duelists and fighter. Remus was confident that he could now take on three fully trained Auror and not even break a sweat. Remus knew that he had always been very talented at defense. He always took pride in his dueling abilities, until he started practicing against his cub. If Remus were honest with himself, he would admit to being very awed at Harry's powers. No matter how hard he tried, Harry could whip his butt, in no time flat. Lily and James would be so proud of their son, he sure was.

Remus recalled one defining moment of Harry's powers. Just two weeks ago, Harry wanted to know where everyone was in his or her dueling capacity. He had everyone gather in a circle and proposed that they all duel against him. Remus thought that he had a death wish. Looking at everyone, he saw a look of anguish on their faces.

Remus knew that Harry was an exceptional dueler but what he saw that evening would stay marked in his head forever. All six of them formed a circle around Harry. Remus could tell that even Neville seemed to believe that Harry had bit off more then he could chew. Harry began by telling everybody to throw everything they had at him. He told them to show no mercy. Harry counted down and when he reached zero, everyone shouted all forms of curses at him. Some were extremely dangerous, but Harry didn't seem to have a care in the world.

What came next was a ballet of the assassins. Harry moved with such speed and grace that it seemed that he was possessed. Using the weirding way, Harry moved with the speed of a vampire and the strength of a werewolf. He was jumping, kicking, and uttering curses that were toying with them. Remus himself managed to cast six curses at Harry before he went down. He was the fourth opponent to go down that night. The last person to go down was Neville. After fifteen minutes of hard core dueling, Neville ended up stunned. Last man standing was Harry. After many counter curses and healing potions. Everyone was back on their feet and shaking their heads.

Harry had several cuts and bruises and his left forearm and right leg. They both looked black and blue, but he was still last person standing. Remus never realized how powerful Harry was until that duel. Looking around all of the other faces that night, he knew he was not alone thinking that. With all of their training, they knew that they could match a pack of death eaters any day, however fighting Harry was a very different scenario. Remus now realized why that battle in France was no mere fluke. For the first time in a very long time, Remus now held hope that there was someone one who could finally match Voldemort and potentially beat him. With these thoughts in his head and a big smile on his face, Remus went back to the library and picked out ancient tomes on arcane magic.

---

August 29, Longbottom Manor

Meanwhile back at Longbottom manor, Neville and Luna were sitting at a nice table in his grandmothers' greenhouse. They were of course discussing all that they had leaned from Harry these last seven months. Neville couldn't believe all of the changes he experienced. Neville now felt that he had come into his own. Harry made him see that he was not weak and timid. Harry believed in him, and that had been all that he needed to find his path. He owed Harry so much, they had become very close friends these past seven months.

Neville knew that this year was going to be special. A reckoning was coming and a lot of old, scores would be settled one way or another. Harry had shared his vision for a new wizarding world, and both Luna and him believed in his vision of a new wizarding world. He wanted to bring true equality and freedom. Harry wanted to establish a new system of governance, based on true democratic ideals, both the wizengamot and the ministry needed to be burned down for the new system to take effect.

He looked at Luna, his girlfriend for over five months now. Neville had already admitted to himself that he loved her. Yes, Luna was eccentric, however that just made her interesting not loony. Truth be told, she was one of the most intelligent, and caring person he knew. He was afraid for her, but he couldn't help it, loving someone made you feel that way. The best way for them to come out of this war alive and well was to keep doing what they had started. Learn how to fight, and fight to win.

One thing that Harry had drilled into their heads was to show no mercy in battle. Neville knew that he would never reach Harry's level of dueling, but then again he was in a class by himself. Their last duel against him had certainly proven that. The speed, power, and dueling finesse that he had shown them were inspiring. Neville couldn't help admiring Harry. Harry was the bravest, most loyal person you could have at you side. He was also extremely intelligent, cunning, and ruthless.

Neville considered Harry like the brother he never had. Their circumstances were so similar. Their parents had been best friends. Voldemort had taken their parents away from them. They had both been ridiculed by the wizarding world. Most people thought that he was a weak wizard with no discernible talent. These same people thought that Harry was a deluded, attention-seeking brat. Oh, yes he thought, the wizarding public. These bastards are worse than death eaters. They are spineless cowards who can't fight for themselves, thus putting people in position to fight for them, and then at the end of the day, getting rid of these people once they outlived their usefulness, or when they feel threatened. It was time to get rid of all these spineless shits he thought. Neville made a solemn promise to be with Harry at the final battle, his own honor demanded no less. Neville was brought out of his musing by Luna when she uttered.

"Neville? Are you O.K, you seemed angry for some reason?" Neville looked up into Luna's silver blue eyes and smiled. Neville replied

"Sorry love, I was just thinking about all the hardship Harry and I have had to deal with." The last was said in a sad tone.

Luna looked at her boyfriend, stood up, and went to sit on his lap. She looked up at his cinnamon eyes and said "I know what pain is love. I saw my mother die with my own eyes. Remember that there is a balance in the universe. Eventually fate will smile on us also, if not then Harry will kick fates ass for us."

Neville laughed at that and replied "You are right love. Harry is stubborn enough to bend fate I think." They then kissed passionately before they broke apart. They spent another hour holding each other talking about Harry's plan for recruiting and how to best avoid any suspicion from the headmaster. They both agreed that using the chamber of secret was a brilliant idea for training. They kept talking until Luna had to go back home. They would see each other on the Hogwarts Express. They didn't need to take the train now that they could apparate by map. One of their missions was to gage the waters with the other students. Try to find out what their opinion were regarding the ministry and Voldemort. One person they needed to talk to was Ginny Weasley.

August 29, 4:00 pm Headmaster Office Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

An outsider looking into the headmasters' office would have noticed an elderly man with a very long and white beard pacing around his office. In fact, this man had been doing that a lot this past week. People who knew him would say that he had aged a lot this past seven days. The man doing all the pacing and muttering to himself was none other than the proclaimed light wizard Albus Dumbledore.

Albus was looking at Fawkes deep in thought. He was trying to find a way out of his current mess. He had lost his pawn. It would take a miracle to get it back. One of his main problem was that he didn't know wither the boy was dark or not. Truth be told, Albus was still trying to figure out how Harry had managed to apparate out of his anti apparition wards. He had put an awful lot of his power in the anti apparition field, yet the boy had simply slipped through them like a hot knife in butter.

Albus was a very frustrated man lately. The only weapon capable of defeating Voldemort had managed to wiggle out of his grasp, and managed to develop a major independent streak to boot. Albus had been shocked at the boy's ruthlessness. He knew that their was a risk that he would be caught at some point, however he never planned on strategy being found out this soon. The boy held some very nasty cards over his head.

This could not continue, he had to find a way to discredit the boy someway, without driving him even further from his sphere of influence. The problems with the boy were not his only pressing problem. There was this Scorpion Sorcerer running around killing people as if it was the most natural thing in the world. This wizard could pose a very real threat to his influence and power. He had to find out who it was and put a stop to him somehow. The Order of the Phoenix had to be seen as the guardians of the light.

Well one problem at a time Albus thought. He needed to get Harry back under his influence. He now knew that the link between Harry and Voldemort was completely severed. His headaches were certainly a testament to the boys mind magic. He needed to make the boy believe that only he could give him the training he needed to defeat Voldemort. There was no doubt in his mind that the boy was powerful. He was powerful enough to challenge him eventually. The best way to contain Harry was to eventually play Fudge against Harry. In time, Fudge could be fed some false information about Harry planning an eventual take over of the ministry. The man was so paranoid concerning the boy-who-lived that he would do anything to contain him. Perhaps a trial for murdering Voldemort would be enough to put the boy in Azkaban.

The first step was to find a way to make the boy drop his lawsuit on him. Maybe he could make the boy attack one of his teacher. Severus would certainly go along with his plan, if it meant tormenting the boy. Perhaps a set up was needed. Attacking a teacher was punishable by expulsion. Surely, the boy would do anything not to be thrown out of Hogwarts. After all, in the wizarding world, one needed their NEWT to hold any kind of position. Albus kept thinking and plotting long into the night.

---

August 30, Potter Manor

The Zabini's were gathered in their living room holding on to the portkey that their daughter had given them. They were going to visit their daughter at Potter residence. Michael let everyone know that this was a formal affair, and that nothing but their best turn out would be tolerated. The Zabini family was a very prim and proper family. Ancient customs and protocols had to be followed according to the occasion at hand. Michael looked down at his watch and counted down. He finally said.

"Hang on everyone, portkey is activating. "

The portkey activated and they all managed to land on their feet. The first thing that Blaise noticed was that they were some where on the cost of England. The second thing he noticed was how big Potter's residence was. Currently his family were standing on a beautiful terrace, and as he looked up he noticed Potter castle. It took an awful lot to impress the Zabini's but as of now Blaise could tell from the looks on his family's faces that they were truly impressed with the Potter estate.

Michael looked at the path and noticed both his daughter and Harry walking together holding hands. Walking behind them must have been Remus Lupin. Xiana was wearing a beautiful black robe with sapphire trims decorated with silver runes. Harry was also wearing a beautiful black robe with emerald trims also decorated with silver runes. Harry's uncle, Remus Lupin was wearing a sky blue robe with an emerald trim and silver rune inscribed on the trim.

Michael had to admit that a picture of Harry in a pensive did not do his son in law justice. Michael could tell that the lad was over six feet tall, he was very well built and carried an air of charisma about him. Michael knew that this was not a man to be intimidated.

Blaise for his part noticed his sister and his brother in law coming along the path. God, Potter looked different he thought. The closer they got to him, the more he could feel the man's aura. There was definitely an aura of power about the man. He was a lot taller and built than he remembered in their last school year. His hair was jet black and was tied in a wavy ponytail that stopped between his shoulder blades.

The most striking feature about the man was his eyes. They were emerald green and seemed to be shining like a neon sign. He went to his mother and in the pureblood etiquette he kissed her hand and welcomed her as Lady Zabini. He then went to his twin sister and kissed her hand. Next came a formal handshake with his father using the formal greeting. Finally, Harry faced him and extended his hand while uttering the traditional greetings. Blaise was impressed by his knowledge of wizarding etiquette and his formality.

Michael was the first to speak, "Harry, it is an honor to meet you. I and my family would like to extend our thanks for your hospitality."

Harry smiled and answered, "My home, is your home. It pleases me greatly to finally meet you all. Xiana has told me so much about you. It is an honor to welcome the most noble and ancient house of Zabini."

Michael replied, "It is an honor to accept the warmth and hospitality of the most noble and ancient house of Potter. " Both man came face to face and formally greeted each other by clasping each other's forearms. Harry introduced Remus to all of Xiana family members and they slowly made their way to the castle.

Harry explained the history of Potter castle. He told them about the renovations and the landscaping of the grounds. He explained the different protection mechanism safeguarding the castle. They entered the castle, and Xiana gave her family a tour of her home while Harry and Remus followed close by. It was obvious that her family loved his home. Her mother who was very gifted in the arts, knew style when she saw it. Xiana's mother absolutely loved the obsidian columns throughout the castle.

Xenna loved how the marble tiles, wood finish, and the colors of the castle were perfectly blended together. After spending an hour touring the castle, they made their way to the living room for some refreshment. Blaise looked at Harry in a completely different light. His sister had done very well, for herself he thought. Looking into her eyes, it was evident that she loved Harry with deep passion. He looked over at his twin and then his parents and he could tell that they were as impressed as he was. They were called to supper by Dobby and Winky.

Everyone enjoyed the supper. Xiana's father broached the subject of the wizengamot with Harry. Michel said.

"Harry, Xiana told me that you wanted to find out about the inner workings of the wizengamot, and who the key players are, is that so?"

Harry replied, "Yes sir, I need a better education on the inner workings of the wizengamot in order to properly carry my plans."

Michael raised an eye brow and with and inkling of what was coming replied, "What plans would that be Harry."

Harry knew that he had to pick his words carefully. Harry wanted to see what their true feelings were regarding the policies of the wizengamot and the ministry. Harry looked straight into Michael eyes and said.

" The one with the power to vanquish the dark lord approaches…and the dark lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the dark lord knows not…ect." When Harry was finished, Xiana's family was rendered speechless. Seeing that no spoke, Harry continued.

" You see sir, I know that when the time comes, I will defeat the dark lord. The problem is what do we do after he is defeated. I have no doubt that Dumbledore in conjunction with the ministry, will find some way to incarcerate me, because they will fear me. They will object to my methods of fighting the dark lord and label me an evil wizard. " Harry could see that they were absorbing his words, but no one dared speak while he was talking, so he continued.

"Sir, you should consider the fact that peace could not be achieved even by helping the Ministry. What happens after that? Should we find it in ourselves once again to help the Ministry rise up again over Voldemort? Deep down, I know that our efforts would be useless Sir, because these people are already too corrupt to build anew. The system is already rotten. The system has become a huge maw that feeds on corruption, prejudice, and fear. Under the current system, even If we ever achieved peace, that peace would be short-lived as the Ministry whose duty is to uphold it doesn't even care for it, thus it would only spark new troubles, new factions of discontented and unsettled people. Even if you put new leaders, it would be futile, as the system would eat these leaders. There are too many temptations in the Ministry, Sir. They would give in, one way or another."

Harry took a sip of wine and continued with his speech, " Is that the government we want to uphold Sir? Do we fight to the death, and leave the fruits of our success to weak and incompetent fools? " Harry looked to his audience and decided to leave them with his last thoughts, before the debate started. He looked at Xiana who gave him a slight nod to continue. Harry finally finished by saying.

"If we truly desire things to change, it must be a total change. We must abolish the old system and build anew, a much better one. A truly democratic system. We'll clear away the apathetic, the ungrateful ones, those people who would condemn you when all you did was fight the dark and obtain revenge. The Ministry and the people have proven their ineptitude for good governance hundreds of times Sir. They betray people just to save their own skin. They must learn from this mistake. Moreover, I'm afraid by fighting for them the way Dumbledore is doing, they won't learn anything. It must be learned with pain to ensure that the message if fully understood by the masses. Otherwise, history will only repeat itself."

It was Brianna, who spoke first, "Harry, how do you plan to fight Voldemort and the ministry at the same time. Surely your resources would be spread far to thin."

Harry smiled at her and replied, " My plan it to steal Voldemort's resources, and use the proceeds to usurp the wizengamot. I will use their own sins against them. You see, like any other army, Voldemort needs some sort of financial support to raise and maintain his army. They do not all fight for him out of the goodness of their heart. Part of the plan I have is to seek and take his financial centre. I know that some of the purebloods that are following his banner are rich, however even they do not have enough resources to bribe all of the spy's that work at the ministry. No, he must be getting his financial acumens from somewhere else. This is what I am going to find out this fall. This will be part one of the plan."

Blaise had a very cunning smile on his face and said, " It's a pity, you were not a Slytherin Harry. You would have made my house proud." Harry looked at Blaise and with a wicked grin replied.

"It is better this way Blaise. The old fool will never suspect that a Gryffindor has that level of cunning. Just so you know, the sorting hat wanted to put me in Slytherin." They both laughed, along with the rest of the family.

At that point, three things happened, both Blaise and Brianna told Harry that they had taken a wizards oath to follow him and watch his back. They also wanted to be trained in the dark arts. Harry welcomed them as family and allies. He told them that he planned on setting up the weekend during school days in flux time for training. The second thing that happened was that Michael agreed with most of what Harry said, and agreed to help him with the wizengamot. He would provide a detailed portfolio of all the wizengamot members. Xiana delivered the last and most important news of the night. She told the family that she was with child. The whole table erupted in cheers. Harry had tears in his eyes. He ran around the table and gave her a big hug and a kiss. He finally said.

"That's why you didn't want to come into flex time, you suspected that you were pregnant?" By this time, her whole family along with Remus came over to offer their support. Xiana's parents were very happy. It was Blaze who uttered the first words.

"Damn Potter, you don't waste any time do you?"

Harry replied, " Well you know what they say, no time like the present." Harry had a thousand questions for Xiana, but they could wait until tomorrow. He wanted to savor this gift tonight.

Michael spoke up and said, "Well it's getting late, and we should be getting back to the manor. Harry I'll be keeping in touch through Xiana. Don't be afraid to get a hold of me if you need anything."

Harry replied, " I won't Sir. Blaise, Brianna, I'll be seeing you at school."

With that, the Zabini clan took the floo back to their home. Xiana, came over and grabbed Harry in a big hug and said.

"Thank you love, for making this a very successful family gathering." With that, Harry gave her another passionate kiss and said.

"Anytime love. Well I think it's time to get some rest, because I don't mind telling you that I am knackered. Good night Remus."

Remus smiled and said "Good night you two. See you tomorrow."

Although quite fatigued, Harry still had a hard time falling asleep. He was going to be a father. This summer would go down as the biggest change of his life. He was much more secure in who he was and what he wanted. The news about his wife's pregnancy was even more impetus for him to make sure that he lived to see his children grow up. He felt his wife snuggle up to him, and the warmth of her body finally allowed him to fall asleep.

---

September 1

Harry was looking at his watch, and noticed that it was nearly 5:30 pm. He decided to apparate into Gryffindor tower, and makes his way to the great hall just before the first years arrived. There was no way he was going to stay in at Hogwarts for this school year. Late last nigh, Harry apparated to his favorite spot by the lake at Hogwarts and secured one of his trunk manor there. He then set up the complex parseltongue wards that would hide and protect the trunk manor. These included blood wards, elusion charms, perimeter alerts, and other nasty surprises for the uninvited.

To only way to reach, the trunk was by trunk-to-trunk floo or using his specialized way of apparating. Harry made sure to include normal anti apparition and portkey wards as part of the trunk defenses. His elf's had just finished his seventh trunk, and he place that one in the Potter castle library so that Xiana could travel from the castle to the lake undetected. Now that she was pregnant, the only safe way to travel for her was by floo.

The other bit of administration that Harry completed yesterday was to put an order with a company called Spy Links Ltd. They specialized in military communication and surveillance equipment. He placed a special order for cell phone, tracking bugs, and infrared detectors. Part of his plan involved gathering intelligence inside the castle.

Every one knew how to install listening charms and how to counter them. Harry figured that no one would think to look for disguised muggle electronic equipment. For one thing, they could not be tracked using magic, because using magic did not create these items. Therefore, they had no magical signature to track them by. The other reason for using this equipment was that everyone believed that muggle electronics did not work at Hogwarts due to the ambient magic, therefore no one would think to look for it.

Harry just hoped that his theory was sound, otherwise he would be taking much greater risk getting his information. The stuff would take four weeks to be delivered. He gave the company his storage address. He would ask Dobby to go pick up his order when it got to England.

Meanwhile, on the Hogwarts express, Neville and Luna were doing everything in their power from loosing their temper and hexing Hermione and Ron into oblivion. Hermione and Ron were trying to turn people against Harry by character assassination. They both believed that Harry was turning dark for killing Kreacher and attacking the headmaster. Finally, Neville's patience broke, and bellowed.

"Harry is not the traitor, you are the fucking traitors. You are the ones who deceived him. You are the ones who went behind his back. Fuck me, the headmaster tells him that he was going to sacrifice him for the good of the wizarding world, and you expect him to just nod and agree to it. Oh, sorry you didn't expect Luna and me to know this little bit of knowledge did you. Yes you see we were fortunate enough to see that particular confrontation though his memories in a pensive."

By then both Hermione and Ron had turned white as sheets, but recovered quickly enough. Hermione replied, " The point is, he killed for no reason. No one is denying that what Kreacher did was wrong, but that is still no excuse for killing the elf. We are better than that. Death eaters kill for no reason. When we stoop to their level, we become just like them. If Harry can kill so easily, then he is no different than a death eater." She said the last bit in her know it all tone as usual.

Neville sneered at the both of them and shot back, "Gee, it must be nice sitting in your white ivory tower, waxing philosophy while REAL soldiers are preparing to fight this war. I wonder if you would still feel the same way, if you saw death eaters' rape, torture and kill your mother. I wonder if you would still stand on your light pedestal if those same death eaters raped and sodomized you. In case you haven't read your history, check back on the last war with Voldemort. The light side was loosing badly until a one-year-old baby put an end to it. Dumbledore is not the right leader for this war."

Ron finally spoke up and said, "Oh, and I suppose we should all follow the recommendation of the squib here since he has fought so many wars, and defeated so many dark wizards. Gee Longbottom go back to your house plants, and let real wizards and witches deal with the tough issues."

Neville pulled out his wand so fast that Ron didn't even have time to react, and yelled flipendo. The spell was cast with such fury that Ron was lifted off his feet and smashed his head against the back wall of the cabin. He fell down in a heap dazed and confused. Neville hissed.

"How is that for a house plant loving squib, you dick head. Name your time and place prat, and I'll show you this squib's power." Luna put a calming hand on Neville, because the air around him was starting to crackle. Luna managed to say

"Let's get out of here of here Neville, the air is really starting to get foul." They both left the compartment to go talk with some Ravenclaw's.

Ginny who had been in the compartment with them was just stunned. Her world was crashing like a house of cards. Harry was estranged from the Order, and he hated Ron and Hermione. Even Neville and Luna were fighting with her brother and Hermione. She was so confused, she didn't know whom to turn to anymore. She clearly understood why Harry was breaking away from Dumbledore and the Order. If she were in Harry's shoes, she would have reacted the same way. One thing for sure, although she did not voice her opinion, she did not agree with her prat of a brother. She needed to talk to Bill. He always gave her good, sound advice. First thing she would do this week is owl Bill to meet her. She was brought back from her musing when Draco Malfoy and the goon squad showed up.

Draco entered the compartment and found the weasel in a heap, the mudblood fawning over him and the weaslet lost in space. Draco smirked and said

"Well, well, well! Look boys, the mudblood has finally understood her position in the wizarding world. She is on her knees, before a pureblood. Good to see you are learning your place bitch. The weasel here probably knew we were coming and fainted. So where is Potty, I haven't seen him anywhere. Oh, let me guess, he is probably hiding from the dark lord."

Finally, Ron managed to get to his feet and said, " Malfoy, I really don't have the patience for your crap today, so why don't you just take your little ferret face out of here and blow like the wind, before we are forced to really hurt you."

Draco sneered and said, " The day you can take me on, will be the day your pathetic family becomes rich and powerful and your fat sow of a mother looks like a female again."

Ginny had a look of pure fury and before Ron could retaliate, she bellowed Tangere-Secum at Malfoy. Malfoy never saw it coming and due to the short distance, he was hit with the spell and fell to the floor in excruciating pain. Ginny sent a bludgeoning spell to his testicles. She then said

"Malfoy if I were you, I wouldn't go bragging about the worth of your family. The whole wizarding world now knows that your daddy is nothing but a slimy, filthy death eater who cowers before the dark lord."

Draco was unable to utter one single sentence. He was too busy trying to breathe. When he managed to stand up, he succeeded in saying, "This isn't over. You will all get yours this year, mark my words." With that, he left with his two goons. Everyone took a seat and said nothing. The atmosphere in their compartment was fairly strained. Ginny couldn't help thinking that this year was going to be very interesting.

Finally, the Hogwarts express reached Hogmead's station, where carriages pulled everyone towards the castle, except for the first years, which were going by boat across the lake. They all reached the castle and made their way to their respective table. Hermione looked at her watch and noticed that it was now 6:15 pm. Harry was still nowhere to be seen. Maybe if they were lucky, he decided not to come. His presence could only split the light side. This year was going to be very difficult she thought. Gryffindor house was going to be tested in their loyalties she was sure about that.

Meanwhile at Potter castle, Harry was checking himself one more time. He was wearing charcoal black pants with an emerald silk shirt. In his right ear, he was wearing a black scorpion diamond earring. His hair was hung loose, and cascaded in a wavy pattern to the back of his shoulder blade. His bangs were cut short, and his trademark lightning scar was visible for everyone to see. He was no longer shy about showing his scar. It was a reminder of who he was. Remus came in, gave him a hug, and told him to be careful.

Harry made sure that his katana was properly secured to his back. He decided to wear his basilisk robe and made sure to cast an parsel magic elusion charm on his robe to hide the scorpion emblem and his sword. He did not want Dumbledore to find out who the scorpion sorcerer was just yet. Another reason for wearing the basilisk robe was that everyone knew they were expensive, and if one thing he knew about the jealous prat was that he hated being reminded that he was poor. He was acting a bit childish he knew, but sometimes it felt good to pull on a scab and watch it bleed. Xiana came down and kissed him soundly. She then said

"Don't let Dumbledore get to you love. Control that temper of yours. I'll see you later tonight at the trunk manor. If you have a chance say hello to my siblings for me."

Harry smirk and said, "Don't worry, I'll be on my best behavior most of the time. Not having to deal with Snape anymore, should greatly improve my temper. If I get a chance I'll say hi to Blaise and Brianna" With that he stepped back and apparated to Gryffindor tower. He walked out of the portrait and made his way down to the great hall.

Dumbledore was sitting at the head table watching, the student settling themselves at their tables. One particular student he wanted to see had not arrived yet. Everyone was seated at their tables when a tall dark haired person walked in past the great doors and began to slowly make his way to his house table.

Every one turned to see whom that last person was coming into the great hall. The majority of the students had not seen Harry since June, so the person whom they knew as Harry Potter left most of them speechless. Many of the girls had lust in their eyes, and many of the males looked envious. However, everyone who was trying to describe the boy-who-lived that night could agree on one thing. They could all feel the powerful magical aura that was emanating from him. His eyes were glowing a deep emerald color. It seemed as if a lightning storm was going off in his eyes. The boy-who-lived looked very powerful indeed. Every girl in the hall was giving him an appraising look.

Blaise who was sitting at the Slytherin table, was talking with Theo Nott when his brother in law walked into the great hall. Blaise had to stifle a laugh at the women's reaction to Harry. If they only knew his true status, they would be devastated he thought. Blaise had to admit that Harry could put on a good show. Blaise knew that the show of power was aimed far more at the professor's than the students. Harry wanted them to see that he was easily their equal. Blaise carefully turned his head to get a better look at Malfoy and had to fight very hard to keep his composure. Malfoy's eyes were as big as dinner plates. He could tell that he was not expecting Harry to look so imposing. If Malfoy only knew what was coming down the pike.

Harry made his way to where Neville was sitting and sat himself down. He looked at the professors, one by one until he met Dumbledore and gave him a slight sneer. His gaze finally locked onto Snape, and Harry gave him a very evil looking smirk. Snape just sneered back at him. Harry could tell that Hermione and Ron were looking at him, but he couldn't care less.

The door swung open once more and a tall, black-haired witch in blood-red robes stood there. McGonagall had a very stern looking face. Hagrid showed up and said " The first years professor."

"Thank you Hagrid." She replied. She took over and led the first years to front of the great hall where a lone stool stood with a had sitting on top. One thing that was immediately apparent was the fact that one of the student was considerably taller than the rest. Dumbledore suddenly stood up and yelled quiet. The chatter instantly died down.

"Before we begin sorting our new first years, we will be sorting an exchange student from Durmstrang. She will be entering her six year with us, and I would like to extend my best wishes for a great year to Miss Brianna Zabini." The rest of the Hall politely clapped their hands.

Everyone was now staring at the Hat. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the had twitched and a rip near the brim openened wide like a mouth and the hat began:

Listen to my warnings Last Year You did not

Betrayal, Jealousy, Mistrust was your creed

Now the Sleeper has awakened

The ancient powers will be unleashed

Your world as you knew it will be no more

The Fates have spoken, paths have been set,

Three visions will clash, the Old, the Present, and the New

Behold, the one with the power to vanquish the Old and the Present is among you

Thus, I warned you, as the battle of the age will come

Come they will with fierceness not seen in ages

I neither predict no side will suffer the worst nor lost

As you, all heed not my advice last year

The time to unite is over

As the time to choose has come

Choose wisely

As one side will seek to eradicate the blood of new

While the other, eradicate believers of change

The last eradicates all who stand against the golden path

One Winner takes all, let the rivers of blood flow.

Everybody is shocked beyond belief after hearing the hat's song. It was 'different' as nobody could really decide on the appropriate words. Harry had a completely new respect for the hat's powers of perception. After the hat's song, many eyes in the great hall had turned to look at him. Harry managed to look at Dumbledore and saw that his eyes were narrowed on him. After what must have been a minute . Professor McGonagall found her voice and called "Brianna Zabini"

Brianna walked to the stool and sat down, the had was lowered unto her head and within seconds proclaimed Slytherin. Brianna turned to Harry and smiled. He smiled back and she made her way to the Slytherin table where her twin hugged her.

After the sorting ceremony, Dumbledore got to his feet. He was beaming at the student. "Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. As you all know Lord Voldemort has returned." Some people screeched at the mention of the dark lords name. Dumbledore continued

"I assure you that we at Hogwarts, have taken every precaution imaginable to ensure your safety." Harry snorted at that last comment. McGonagall must have heard him because she looked at him and her lips were nothing but a pressed white line. Dumbledore continued

"For your safety, the forbidden forest is strictly out of bounds to all pupils, and a few of the older students should do well to remember that. I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for his or her house teams should contact Madam Hooch. Thank you for your time."

As usual, once the speech was done, the fest started. After an hour, everyone had their fill and the Prefects were given their marching orders to escort the first years to their dorms. Everyone began filing out of the doors. Harry was near last began making his way towards the library, when Malfoy and his two goons suddenly came out behind one of the columns to face Harry. Draco spoke first.

"Well boys, it seems that Potty is back with us once again. Are you still shedding tears for the mangy mutt. Aunt Bella just loves telling us how she got rid of the blood traitor. Gee Potty, your record is impressive. It seems anyone getting close to you just seems to die off. You have what, four confirmed kills. Damn I'll bet the dark lord would love to recruit you. It doesn't matter, I mean to keep my promise to you for putting my father in jail."

By now Harry's eyes were glowing like green coals, and He hisses back, "Sorry to disappoint you Malfoy, but unlike you, I don't make it a habit to kiss and grovel at the snakes robe. As for pureblood purity, if your two squib goons are to be any indication. Then I am sorry to say that your future world is doomed Draco poo." By now a crowd was gathering around the group. Harry decided to get a rise out of him. He began circling the trio, but paid particular attention to Crabbe and Goyle my making a show of examining them up and down. Harry finally said.

"If you so believe in your blood purity, then you can explain what happened to Crabbe and Goyle. Whom I like to commonly refer to as Crabs and Boyles. Gee, with faces and names like that they should be poster boys for venereal disease. I'll bet they can barely generate enough brainpower to walk and talk at the same time. I mean all we ever hear out of them is grunts. I suppose when you are forced to keep intermarrying between cousins, you can certainly expect to limit the gene pool." By now Crabbe and Goyle were sneering and cracking their knuckles.

Many people were struggling not to burst out laughing. Draco was by now glaring at the boy-who-lived. Harry saw him reach for his wand. What happened next, Draco would never know, as Harry moved with such speed and ferociousness. Before Draco could register what was happening, both Crabbe and Goyle had been knocked out and were bleeding profusely from the nose, and as for him, he was being held by throat with a powerful grip, and his feet weren't touching the ground. His wand was laying below him on the ground.

Harry upon seeing the wands being drawn had acted in accordance with his training. He had smashed Crabbe and Goyle with an elbow hit to the kidney, the temple, nose and a knee to the face. Within three seconds, both were knocked out. He then used the weirding way and attacked Malfoy. Once he had secured him against the wall, Harry hissed.

"Listen here you albino fuck. I will no longer tolerate you and your bullshit. I'll tell you right now, you are nothing but a walking corpse, I so look forward to torturing your sorry ass, and you have no idea. Now if you don't want to hasten your status as a corpse, I would strongly suggest that you leave me alone. Don't worry, we will meet up soon enough. After all, casualty of war has to start some where no?" He finished his last sentence with a vicious kick to Malfoy's groin. He then cast Merda- Effrenousing wandless magicIt was a simple spell to cast at any rate. Suddenly a disgusting wet sound was heard, and some people began gagging from the smell emanating from Malfoy. Draco had just soiled himself in front of everybody. The smell of wet excrement was overpowering. Harry took this time to make his escape. Shortly after, Professor Flitwick and Professor Snape came over to see what the commotion was all about.

Professor Snape, was the first one to reach Draco. Looking at Draco with disgust on his face, he pulled out his wand and cast several scourgify spells at him. Snape looked at Draco on the ground and said, "Who did this?"

Draco replied in a pained voice, "Potter Sir." It was Blaise who spoke just loud enough for everyone to hear, including Professor McGonagall. "Professor Snape, Draco was the first one to start it sir. Potter was minding his own business, when Draco decided to torment him."

Blaise could tell that Snape was not happy about someone from his house defending a Gryffindor. Meanwhile, Harry had just apparated to the chamber of secret. Looking around, Harry knew that this was going to be a long night.