AN: There seems to be less work to do in these later chapters which is a good thing I suppose.
AN: Next chapter of Mark of the Reaper should be out tomorrow or Saturday at the latest.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland, 10/15/1975, 19:21
Albus Dumbledore had started gathering followers for his group that he had dubbed, The Order of the Pheonix. He had been sensing a problem in the wizarding world for years now but the attack last summer had been the deciding factor to start the order. He already had a small group of close friends. that met regularly after the incidents a few years ago but now he was bringing in a lot of new members. The order had gathered over forty members since the solstice attack but he was already thinking about recruiting new members.
Which was what Albus was debating right now. The headmaster was unsure as to whether or not he should send an invitation to Hogwarts' new tutor.
It was true that the board of governors had forced upon him but Mr Black had turned out to be a great boon to the school. According to the staff, the students that Mr Black was tutoring had shown marked improvement across the board in their core classes.
The fifth and seventh years were really taking advantage of having the one on one help in classes that they had been struggling in for years. He had also seen a dramatic improvement in D.A.D.A, despite Professor Cambell being a very competent instructor.
Albus was actually a bit disappointed in himself for not hiring a tutor before now. The students seemed to respond well to the personalized teaching method and he was seriously considering hiring Mr Black as a full-time staff member.
On the other hand, Albus didn't really know much about Hadrian Black other than that he was a powerful wizard.
Lord Black had gone over his head to get Hadrian employed. Thankfully, the man seemed to be very qualified for the job he was hired to do but it still galled the headmaster at the way Hadrian became a staff member. This was his school, he would decide who taught here!
Besides the way Hadrian was hired, the headmaster's main concern with Mr Black was that he had no idea where the man stood regarding the current conflict brewing in the Wizarding world.
True Lord Voldemort had been quiet for the last few months, but Albus was under the impression it was merely the calm before the storm.
There were rumors amongst some of the European countries that a sizeable group of giants, were currently migrating west toward France. If that were true, it was very possible Tom had plans to utilize them for his future attacks.
Giants were excellent battering rams that few if any wards could stop, and they were very intimidating on the battlefield.
But back to the matter at hand, could he really trust Mr Black enough to bring him into the order?
Albus just didn't know,l. The man had formidable occlumency shields and the fact that he had married into one of the darkest families in Britain left Albus indecisive as to what to do.
He would keep a close eye on Mr Black, if he found he could trust him l, then he would have a very useful Ally. The man was a very capable wizard after all.
/C.o.t.R\
Seaside Cave, Unknown, England, 10/22/1975, 23:14
Exiting the cave he had been modifying for the last few months, Lord Voldemort was convinced he had made his Horcrux completely untouchable.
The seaside cave was only accessible during the low tide, he had cast a ward over the passage that would cancel a bubblehead charm halfway through the cave if someone thought themselves clever enough to try and bypass the natural protections already in place.
Once in the antechamber, the wall required an offering of blood to access a small door in the cave wall that entered the main chamber. It would take someone with great skill to find where the door would appear and would take even more skill to figure out how the door opened.
The main chamber was his crowning achievement, weeks upon weeks of carving Runes meticulously into the walls and floor of the cave. He had made the room massive, pushing the expansion enchantments to their absolute limits. He then had to bring in enough water from the ocean outside to fill the lake that he had molded into the floor of the cavern.
Finally, he added anti-transportation wards, an anti-travel ward (to prevent the use of brooms, carpets, etc.), and a spell that made the darkness inside the cavern denser and prohibited light from shining very far into the cavern.
The cavern as it originally was had a large pond with a small island in its center. there was a narrow ledge off of the cave wall that went around the perimeter of the pond with a low stone ceiling. Voldemort had kept the island and the ledge their original size and expanded everything else exponentially.
Now the pond was the size of a large lake that was hundreds of feet deep and the ceiling was over a thousand feet high and couldn't be seen from the ground no matter how much light one used.
The final outer defense had been to make inferi by the hundreds. Most of the corpses had been sourced from graveyards throughout Britain, but there were still quite a few he had personally killed.
He had set clear instructions for the inferi to attack anyone who touched the water, and to not attack anyone who used his boat. Then he had commanded them to inhabit the lake, they were the guardians of his Horcrux.
With the outer defenses complete, it was very simple to enchant a boat to remain invisible and submerged in the lake until magic was channeled into its chain, which would also be invisible and suspended a foot from the ledge over the lake. The boat was enchanted to only transport one adult wizard at a time, it would travel on its own accord directly to the island and then back.
It was also simple enough to create a stone pedestal and basin in the center of the island. He enchanted the basin to only empty if someone drank its contents and would hold his Horcrux submerged in the draft of waking nightmares. This potion had a side effect of making one who drank it terribly thirsty, besides the obvious terror-inducing hallucinations it caused of course.
Which would trigger the inferi when the drinker of the potion succumbed to their thirst and drank from the lake.
His final touch had been to make it impossible to conjure water on the island, he used a drought ward which would affect any liquid not in the basin.
Turning into a smoky form Voldemort flew out of the passage over the water, he would not swim the passage that was for the hapless idiots who were trying to steal from him. He kind of hoped someone would try since he didn't have a chance to properly test his defenses.
With Reaper out there he had to rush his plans to get all his horcruxes in place. They needed to be somewhere safe as they were his fail-safes, his way to cheat death.
Voldemort landed on the rocks below the cliffs, he had plans to make for Halloween and he would not be thwarted in delivering his message to the wizarding world this time.
/C.o.t.R\
Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley London, 10/22/1975, 23:45
Long-Blade was awoken from his sleep by an urgent message from his nephew Grip-Hook who was charged with watching the map to see if any of the soul anchors had changed location.
Long-Blade was at first rather annoyed about his awakening, but he quickly got over those feelings when Grip-Hook told him that two of the dots had left Nottingham at eleven o'clock to a location that one of the dots (Voldemort) had been visiting for months now.
Approximately five minutes ago, one dot returned to Nottingham and the other one was left at the previous location.
Springing into action, Long-Blade was dressed and walking to the cart that would take him from his dwelling deep under Gringotts and up to the surface, he made it to his office in record time.
Sitting behind his desk Long-Blade filled out a slip of parchment and slid It into a slot in his desk and waited for Smash-Nose to answer his call. He didn't have to wait long before Smash-Nose charged into his office looking very annoyed.
'What is the meaning of having me woken at this hour, can't a hard-working Goblin get some rest around this infernal place!?" Smash Nose ranted in his native tongue.
"We have located another one on the map," Long-blade said as he slid the map to smash nose.
"Oh?" Smash-Nose questioned his earlier annoyance vanishing as soon as he saw the map.
"Indeed. Your team is to go to the location and recover it immediately," Long-Blade stated.
"We will leave within the hour, It will be recovered." The goblin confirmed and left to get his team ready.
Long-Blade sat at his desk and waited as the team got ready to leave. Thirty minutes after the team left for the location, they had to call in backup, and an hour after that they had to call in more backup.
One more summons came in an hour later, and a hazardous disposal team was called to the location.
In total it took over a hundred goblins three hours and fourteen minutes to retrieve the Horcrux.
Tom Riddle's untouchable cave kept his anchor safe for a little over four hours.
It was all thanks to Bellatrix LeStrange storing a Horcrux in her vault at Gringotts and basically giving them a way to scry out the rest of them. She probably helped more to bring down Voldemort than anyone on the other side, talk about Irony.
/C.o.t.R\
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland, 10/23/1975, 19:05
Harry had just finished Tutoring charms this evening. He only had two seventh years and to be honest, they didn't really need his help with the subject. Charms was an easy subject to grasp for the most part, and Flitwick was an excellent teacher.
The only thing these students really needed his help with was nonverbal casting which was required for all N.E.W.T classes.
Actually, now that he thought about it, that was the number one thing the seventh years in all the wanded classes needed help with. After all, they were smart enough to get into N.E.W.T classes so they obviously understood the subjects quite well.
Harry was currently heading to Gringotts, he was making his way through the corridors and occasionally passing a student or two along the way.
It was on the third floor that he was sidetracked by raised voices and then the unmistakable sound of spellfire.
"Potter you leave us alone!" roared a very irate Lily Evans.
She was currently standing between a scowling Severus Snape and the Marauders, her green eyes were narrowed to slits and she was glaring murderously at James Potter.
"Why are you out here all alone with Snivelus?" James demanded, a hint of jealousy in his tone.
"That's none of your business, Potter! Now leave or I will hex your bits off!" Lily told said in a deadly calm voice.
Sirius rolled his eyes and sniggered at her threat, ratcheting her ire up a few more notches.
"Please, we outnumber you two to one, don't make threats you can't back up, Evans," Sirius said, a knowing smirk playing on his lips.
Lily cast a spell at James in the blink of an eye making said boy's eyes widen in surprise. Sirius who was standing to James' left lazily intercepted the spell with the tip of his wand before swatting it back, nailing Snape in the face with it.
James watched on with glee as Snivellus collapsed to the floor, letting out an agonized scream as yellow puss-filled boils sprouted all over his face.
Lily raised her wand to strike again when it was pulled from her hand much to everyone's surprise.
Lily followed the path her wand flew through the air and met the emerald green eyes of Professor Black staring into her own.
Harry had just rounded the corner and came upon five students facing off, well three onlookers and two facing off. One student was sprawled on the ground, he was whimpering his face hideously disfigured by boils.
Realizing he would have to deal with this, Harry Summoned the aggressor's wand into his hand, bringing the confrontation to a stop.
"Mister Lupin Take Mister Snape to the hospital wing," Harry said looking at Remus.
"Yes, Professor," Remus nodded before he began to clumsily help Snape to his feet.
"Mister Pettigrew, go and bring Professor McGonagall here immediately!" Harry commanded, Wormtail nearly tripping over himself to carry out the order.
Once the three students he had dismissed were gone, Harry waited in silence, while the other three students fidgeted nervously.
"Professor I didn't mean-
Lily began before she was cut off.
"Save it, Miss Evans, I am not your head of house," Harry stated bluntly.
Lily opened her mouth to reply before she heard another stern voice cut in.
"I however am, what happened here, Hadrian? Why did you summon me here rather than bringing them to my office?" Minerva McGonagall asked somewhat testily.
"You have my apologies, Professor McGonagall. I admit that I don't really know the protocols here at Hogwarts for this type of thing. I asked for your presence here because another student was just sent to the hospital wing, he was hexed by one of these three. When I arrived on the scene, Miss Evans was about to hex either Mister Potter or Mister Black so I sent for their Head of house to sort this out," Harry explained concisely.
"Who was the student that was hit with the spell, Hadrian?" Minerva asked, her nostrils flaring as her eyes narrowed at her three lions.
"Severus Snape, he was hit with a boil curse in the face," Harry replied, noticing his mother looking down at her shoes after he said this.
"Which one of you cast that spell on Mister Snape?" McGonagall demanded in a voice of barely suppressed fury.
"I did professor but I was aiming at Potter, Black deflected my spell at Severus," Lily said timidly.
"You were going to hit Mister Potter in the face with boils?! That is a ridiculous excuse Miss Evans and you a prefect, no less!" McGonagall snapped.
"I think I'll just leave this with you professor, I have a meeting at the bank to get to," Harry said excusing himself.
"Very well Hadrian, I will inform you when they are to serve detention with you and for how long," Minerva told him in dismissal.
"Detention?" Harry asked warily.
"Yes, you caught them so you can oversee their detention," Minerva said matter-of-factly.
"But surely one of the other staff members would be better suited for the task," Harry protested.
"Nonsense, all you have to do is find creative ways to make them suffer. You'll take to it in no time," Minerva assured him.
"Very well, a good evening to you all," Harry said feeling a bit perturbed at the way this had played out.
"You as well, Hadrian," Minerva said cheerfully before rounding on her students.
Harry watched as all joviality left her features as she began dressing Lily and Sirius down
Deciding he had been here long enough, Harry continued making his way out of the castle.
'Fuck! I didn't want to have to oversee detentions!' Harry thought to himself as he started descending the grand staircase.
He had specifically sent for McGonagall so she could deal with their punishment and somehow it got dumped into his lap anyway!
Harry wished that he could have ignored the fight and kept walking but unfortunately he had signed a contract upon taking the position as a Hogwarts staff member. The contract stipulated that he was to do all within his power to protect the students, even from each other. He was to uphold and enforce the school rules and report any students violating said rules to their head of the house.
So he couldn't very well ignore the situation!
Six students were fighting in the bloody hallway, if he had looked the other way he probably would get a reprimand for dereliction of duty or some such.
So he had stopped the fight and tried to pass the buck to someone else, but it seemed his old professor saw right through his motives.
As a senior member of staff, she was his superior and had stuck him with watching over the detentions. McGonagall was always a sharp woman, and he really wasn't surprised she didn't fall for it, that thought made him chuckle to himself as he stepped out of the front doors of the castle.
Finally making it to the gates, Harry disappeared with barely a sound as he pondered ways to make Sirius and Lily suffer for the trouble they had caused him tonight.
/C.o.t.R\
Gringotts, Diagon Alley, London
Harry appeared at the steps of Gringotts, and after asking a teller to escort him to Long-Blades office, was soon seated across from said Goblin.
"Mister Black the time for us to figure a way to retrieve the Diary from Malfoy Manor is almost here," Long-Blade said as he reached into his desk and pulled out a gold locket.
The locket was very familiar, the pendant was the size of a chicken's egg with an ornate 'S' formed out of tiny emeralds on the face of the locket.
"The locket of Salazar Slytherin," Harry muttered as he eyed the locket with satisfaction.
"We retrieved this last night from a seaside cave that was absolutely covered in fresh enchantments. The cave was also infested with nine hundred thirty-four relatively fresh inferi."
"All the pieces have now been cleansed, so we would like to have you retrieve the diary over Christmas, which according to the Malfoy account goblin they are to travel to France for Yule," Long-Blade said, having completely ignored any pleasantries and gotten down to business.
Harry loved that about goblins, they didn't like to beat around the bush.
"Very well, I will need one of your wormholes and at least a rough layout of the Manor," Harry replied.
Harry had only been inside Malfoy Manor once before and he didn't know the layout very well. He wanted to be in and out and it never hurt to prepare.
"Done, you should know there are wards inside the manor. They will be triggered if you cast any wanded magic. You will have to rely on stealth until you can reach the Lord's study. Once there, you can disable the wards inside the house and work at your leisure," Long-Bade finished before sliding him the blueprints of the home and the wormhole he requested.
The wormhole looked like a two-foot-long wooden pipe about four inches in diameter.
Placing the items in the inner pocket of his robes which had a small undetectable extension charm on them, Harry rose to his feet.
"I will send word when I am planning on retrieving the artefact, have a good evening Long-Blade," Harry said simply.
"You as well Mr Black, Gringotts appreciates your assistance in this matter," The goblin said before going back to the ledger he had been working on when Harry had arrived.
Harry left Long-Blades office without another word. Goblins were not a race that held any concern for pleasantries and Harry wished humans would adopt this philosophy.
Harry abruptly leaving his accountant's office would be considered rude to wizards, but to a Goblin that was proper etiquette. Time was money, and wasting time was thought to be poor manners.
/C.o.t.R\
Little Hangleton, England, 10/26/1975, 23:05
The meeting had wrapped up and Voldemort had just dismissed his servants. He had been using his muggle family's manor home to meet with his death eaters since the late sixties since it was basically disposable should their meeting location ever be found. He would usually stay at his wealthier servants' manors in their guest wings. As of a few months ago, he was residing at Nott Manor
He originally was staying at Malfoy Manor which was far more luxurious and appealed to his love of grandeur. Once he entrusted Abraxus with his diary, he was forced to move to another location.
After all, he was dispursing his Horcruxes to keep them away from him and safe under varying protections all over the U.K.If the unthinkable should happen and his body was destroyed, he didn't want his anchors to be in the same location as himself and risk them being discovered.
With the meeting having concluded he was confident Halloween would be a success. The Giants had been placed in a close location to Hogsmeade and were ready to be sent into the village.
Walden McNair had truly done an admirable job of recruiting twenty-two of the behemoths and had been promoted into his inner circle as a reward for such a feat.
Voldemort had also replenished his ranks with purebloods from Eastern Europe who had a deep hatred for muggles and disliked mudbloods nearly as much. They were mostly Graduates from Durmstrang Institute, a school which specialized in .artial magic and taught the dark arts from the fifth year on. They may be a little green now, but he was positive they would prove their worth over time.
Voldemort had also personally set up anti-transportation wards around the village that he would raise just before they commenced the attack.
He would personally be there this time and would make sure that this Reaper did not ruin his plans again. He could not afford to lose face in front of his servants, especially the new ones.
He would show the Wizarding world his might and crush any who opposed him... even the Reaper.
/C.o.t.R\
Evans Farm, County of Durham, England, 10/30/1975, 20:15, 1975
Harry was sitting in his office as he went over the blueprints of Malfoy Manor. He was quickly realizing just how massive the manor really was. It had twenty-five bedrooms, two formal dining rooms, a ballroom, a two-story library, a full dungeon/wine cellar in the basement, and god knows how many parlors sitting rooms, drawing rooms and whatever else!
This search was going to take a long time even with his specialized horcrux detection spells.
His thoughts were interrupted by Andromeda as she came into his office and took a seat on his desk, sitting directly in front of him.
Harry looked up at her deciding not to comment on the fact that her perfect bum was now planted on his blueprints.
Considering the nightgown she was wearing, Harry wasn't about to complain about the blueprints.
She was dressed in a very short nightgown that came to about halfway down her thigh, it was blue and sheer thin, leaving very little to the imagination. Being this close to her, Harry could tell that she had nothing on under it. As if this wasn't distracting enough, she was rubbing her bare foot against his thigh, steadily moving it toward his crotch.
"We need to talk," she said in a husky voice that sent his pulse racing.
Harry shook himself from staring at her shapely legs and looked up to meet her gaze, noting that she now had a serious expression on her face, sobering Harry up very quickly.
"What about?" Harry asked looking concerned at her sudden change of demeanor.
"I'm pregnant again," she stated simply, watching him closely.
Harry sat in shock thinking furiously, they already had proven the potion doesn't work all the time, So he wasn't really surprised. The timing however was awful as the war had just started. Harry didn't know where or when the next attack would be, but he knew for sure it was coming.
Still, he couldn't help but smile, he loved the two children they had now and couldn't be happier to have another.
Coming back to earth he dragged Andi into his lap and claimed her lips then he spoke voice edged with excitement.
"Well, I had better think about us getting a bigger house," Harry chuckled before he kissed her again.
Andromeda was a little nervous about how Harry was going to react and hadn't expected him to be quite as pleased as he was.
"Your really okay with having another child?' she asked sounding very surprised.
"Well, the timing is awful, but that's just more incentive to get this war wrapped up, I am very happy to have another child, scared but happy," he told her earnestly.
The thought of having another child terrified her in a way, seeing as what was going on in the wizarding world. They would face this together as they had everything else, for so many years now.
They may have started as two lonely people drawn together by different circumstances, but now she was very much in love with the man who had taken care of her when she was at her lowest point and had built a life with her she couldn't have believed possible.
Harry stood up with Andromeda held to him and carried her to their room. She was obviously worried about having another child and Harry would make sure to ease as many of her worries as he could.
She was his wife and he hadn't really understood how much he loved her until she had told him about being pregnant with Ignotus and insisted on them marrying, not that he put up much of a fight. Now he couldn't imagine his life without her.
He had to finish this war soon. There was no way he would let that monster live in the same world as his children, he loved his family more than anything and would watch the wizarding world burn if it would keep them safe.
Yes, he would kill Voldemort, and he would raise his family in a world they could live happily without fear of being attacked in a peaceful village or worried about monsters coming in the night.
'Voldemort the Reaper is Coming for you!' Was Harry's last thought before Andromeda demanded his attention.