Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Harry Potter or Oh My Goddess

The Ministry of Magic has an odd public image. On the one hand, the average wizard on the street would, when asked, tell you that the Ministry was full of "idiots and duffers" who couldn't pour water out of a boot with the instructions written on the heel.

On the other hand, the same average wizard would also be more than willing to foist more jobs onto the Ministry when it came to the social ills of the magical world. An evening spent at the Leaky Cauldron would earn an attentive listener no less than 30 "they oughta" statements, with no doubt left as to who "they" are.

More than one social commentator had discussed this conflicted view. Amelia Bones had no doubts as to where it arose from.

Too many people don't trust us to do our jobs properly, yet they are more than willing to give us more work rather than take on the responsibility themselves, she thought darkly as she strode determinedly towards the Ministry holding cells. Sirius Black had been retrieved from Azkaban late the previous evening, and had been under the supervision of trusted Healers from St Mungo's. The detrimental effects of long-term exposure to Dementors was well known, necessitating the involvement of people outside of the DMLE's chain of command.

Amelia Bones didn't like the fact that she was getting more people involved, but the DMLE's staff of Healers was more focussed on battlefield injuries and post-mortems. They would not be of much help when it came to treating Black. The problem was that as more people got involved, the chances of the press being informed increased.

I don't want the newspapers getting wind of this until I have everything ready to go, the Director thought to herself, I don't know how or why Black got sent to Azkaban without trial, but I cannot rule out the chance that somebody in the Ministry did it deliberately in order to keep him silent. Until the trial is ready to go, Black's status will have to remain under wraps.

Amelia slowed her pace as she neared the cell that currently housed Black. Two Healers were standing just outside the door, apparently comparing notes. Several Aurors were standing nearby, acting as an escort for the medical personnel in case the prisoner turned violent. Madam Bones cleared her throat gently as she came within earshot.

"Ah, Director, nice to see you again." The elder of the two, one Healer Patrick Cutteridge, said as he looked up with a smile. Amelia couldn't help but smile back. Cutteridge had been in her class and House at Hogwarts, they had been good friends then and remained that way. Thank Merlin for small mercies, I can trust Patrick to keep this confidential.

"Hello, Patrick. How are the children?" Bones said by way of greeting.

The Healer's smile widened. "Just fine. Alan has started his apprenticeship in Auckland, and Deirdre is looking forward to her last year at Hogwarts. She's been a Prefect these last few years, I'm not sure I can take the shame."

"I'm sure you'll be able to think of some ludicrous prank that will restore the family honour," Amelia said with a smirk, "now, if we can move on to the reason why you are here..."

The Healer nodded as his expression became slightly more serious. "Well, he's in a pretty bad way. It is obvious that he hasn't been fed properly while he was at that ghastly place. I feel a need to have another surprise medical audit of the place, the staff have been warned about treating the prisoners properly before. Beyond that, however..." Cutteridge trailed off, looking pensive.

Amelia tensed. "Is there a problem?"

Patrick sighed as he looked at a piece of parchment in his hands. "Yes and no. The good news is that, mentally, he's doing very well. Well enough that once his physical condition has improved, he should not require any time spent with a Mind Healer such as myself."

Madam Bones blinked. "That's better than I had expected. So what is the bad news?"

Both Healers turned and stared through the small barred window in the cell's door. "Not so much bad news as unexpected news. He's been in the company of Dementors for the better part of 8 years. His mental state does not reflect that at all. There's something else involved here which means that he has not been feeling the full effects of the Dementors. Either they didn't come near him very often, or he has some sort of natural immunity."

Rufus Scrimgeour had been lurking nearby, and looked over at the statement. "He was in the maximum security wing, along with the convicted Death Eaters. The Dementors patrol that section regularly, Black would have had one outside his cell door at least once a day if not more."

Cutteridge now looked confused. "I can't explain this. Something has shielded him from the Dementors, which is practically unheard of."

The Director of the DMLE decided to take control before her case got turned into a medical research project. "Whatever the cause, when will he be ready to stand trial?"

At this, both Healers looked surprised. "Trial? Is that why he's here?" The younger of the two asked.

"Yes. An inquiry from a member of the public made yesterday revealed that Sirius Black has never gone to trial or been charged. Consequently, from a legal standpoint we cannot keep him in Azkaban without allowing him his day in court. In regards to that..."

Both Healers had their attention focussed on the Director. "Yes, Madam Bones?" Cutteridge's air of familiarity had disappeared as he became aware of the gravity of the situation.

"Until we are ready to start the trial, Sirius Black's status must remain absolutely secret. I am not convinced that he wasn't put in Azkaban by political enemies seeking to keep Black silent. He might know things about the Death Eaters that some people wanted to keep secret. If that was the case, those enemies might still be in positions of power or influence within the Ministry. The system let Mr Black down once, I will not allow it to happen again. Therefore, nobody will know about this mess until five minutes before I produce him in court. Understood?" This last question was directed at the assembled Aurors as well as the two Healers.

There were nods from everybody. "Perfectly, Madam Bones. My team will keep their mouths shut or I'll have them in Black's old accommodations at Azkaban." Scrimgeour said seriously. The two Healers simply nodded.

"Excellent. Scrimgeour, once Black is lucid enough to understand what is being said to him, charge him officially. I'm not sure if there is anything on the books that could cover his betrayal of the Potters, but the murder of Peter Pettigrew and twelve muggles will be enough to get him into a court room and full of Veritaserum. Patrick, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to second you and your friend here to the DMLE for the foreseeable future."

Cutteridge sighed. "Can't be helped I suppose. We'll need some office space to work out of though, if I stay at St Mungo's there'll be too many questions asked."

"I'll get something set up for them, Director." Scrimgeour put in.

"Good. Inform me the minute that Black has been formally charged, and do it properly! I don't want any technicalities to exist at all for this case, it is already a dog's breakfast without adding more errors. Once that's done, I'll get a trial set up quick smart. You all know what you have to do?" There was a series of nods from all assembled. "Good. Then let's get back to work."

In Hinckley, daily life for the Norns was still far from any sort of routine. Some aspects were predictable enough - Belldandy still got up before everybody else did to prepare breakfast, though she had been joined by Harry again. After the morning meal, Keiichi had set off for his place of work while the sisters cleaned up the inevitable mess that was created by five people eating together.

Today was going to be a difficult one, thanks to the events of the previous evening and the little present that had been delivered to Urd's desk sometime between midnight and dawn.

Eir's report had caused a small crisis. Principally because it contained clear instructions on what the Norns had to do regarding Harry's scar. Instructions that the Norns felt might force them to step over the line between fixing the Prophecy and fixing the problems the Prophecy was meant to fix. Deitiies assigned to Prophecy field work always danced on that line, which was usually so fine as to be invisible.

On the face of it, the report had been simple. Harry's scar contained a fragment of somebody else's soul, which was sustaining itself using Harry's innate magic in a parasitical relationship. Eir was absolutely clear on the fact that this was an intolerable situation that had to be rectified immediately, for Harry's physical, mental and magical health. The Goddess of Healing was known for never making compromises when it came to her patients' health, and Harry was no exception.

The problem was that the Norns could only identify one possible person who could have somehow ended up with a piece of their soul stuck in Harry's scar. That person was Voldemort, the other subject of the Prophecy that they were trying to repair. Urd and Belldandy had both been worried that tampering with the soul fragment in any fashion might invalidate the Prophecy.

After some discussion and argument, Belldandy had organised a conference call between all three Norns, the current Director of the Prophecies Department, Eir and the Almighty himself. Eir's report was discussed, before the implications of the soul fragment were argued over.

Ultimately, Eir had gotten her way. As determined as the Prophecies Director might have been, even the Almighty tended to defer the determined Goddess of Healing when it came to medical issues. The clincher had been Eir's declaration that "if the Norns don't remove that bloody soul fragment, I'll go down to Midgard and do it myself". As nobody wanted to get in Eir's way should she actually follow that course of action, the Norns had been given the go ahead to remove the soul fragment.

That morning, Urd had woken up to be greeted by the sight of a Type 5 Soul Containment Vessel. Urd had never bothered to familiarise herself with the technology, but she recognised it easily enough. It was a fairly large piece of carefully cut pure quartz crystal, mounted in a golden decorative tripod that was engraved with numerous runes. The basic idea was that the quartz would contain the soul piece while the golden tripod would not only give it a stable support but would also act as an energy sink, providing the power required to keep the soul fragment stable.

This morning, however, brought with it the cold hard reality of the fact that they had to tell Harry about what was in his scar, and what it meant for him down the track.

Urd quietly approached Skuld while Harry was helping Belldandy put plates away. "Skuld, can you keep Harry occupied for an hour or so? Maybe show him what you've been doing with Sigel, introduce him to Banpei? I need to talk to Belldandy about something to do with his scar, and I'd prefer to not have Harry to overhear at this stage."

Skuld blinked at her oldest sister, before she nodded. "Sure, I can do that."

Urd smiled briefly in response. "Thanks. It looks like we've finished here, so go ahead and show him the world of technomancy..."

It hadn't taken much persuasion to convince Harry that Skuld's inventions were worth a look. Once the pair had gone, Belldandy looked at Urd questioningly.

Urd sighed. "Bell, we need someplace private to discuss this. How about we go to the church and talk. We can start drawing the mandala we'll need for the soul fragment extraction while we're there."

Belldandy simply nodded, and the two sisters made their way to the nave of the church.

"What is it, Urd?" Belldandy asked.

Urd looked worried. "You know more about soul magic than I do. I just wanted to check something. When we extract the fragment, will it be completely clean? I remember reading somewhere that there might be some sort of residue left behind."

Belldandy bit her lip gently as she thought the matter through. "You are correct. There will be some residual traces left behind, though the soul fragment itself will be unharmed. That residue should dissipate fairly quickly, though, so it is nothing to worry about."

Urd nodded. "OK. What type of residue are we talking about?"

Belldandy looked thoughtful. "Raw magical energy that has taken an imprint, for want of a better word, from the soul fragment. There is a small barrier of magical energy that separates the parasitical soul piece from Harry's soul, else the two would have merged. When we remove the soul fragment, that energy barrier will be left behind. It will retain the impression of the soul fragment for a time, before it eventually dissipates."

Urd nodded again. "I thought that was the case but I wanted to make sure. Now, I have a crazy idea to try on you, so keep an open mind..."

Belldandy looked at her eldest sister sharply. "What is it, Urd?"

Urd sighed. "As damaging as they were, the Blood Wards did provide Harry with a degree of protection from Voldemort specifically. That protection is now gone, for all that getting rid of those twisted Wards was a good idea. What I wanted to try was a variation on a Soul Ward that would have a similar purpose to the original Blood Wards."

Belldandy was startled. "Soul Wards are the blackest of magic! I can't believe you're proposing this seriously!"

Urd winced. "Not true Soul Wards, though they would be incredibly powerful. I mean that we use the residual magical energy left over once the soul bit is extracted and use that as the base to build a pseudo Soul Ward on. It wouldn't be nearly as effective, because no actual soul would be used, but it should be enough to set the ward up."

Belldandy looked at her sister in disbelief. Soul Wards were pretty much what they sounded like - magical protections that were fuelled by the sacrifice of an entire soul. They were the most powerful form of magical protection possible, but were considered anathema by the forces of Asgard due to the evil nature of their casting. Even the demons of Niflheim were reluctant to get involved, if only because damaged souls were not nearly as useful as whole ones.

This idea, though, of creating a Soul Ward without a soul..."How would you keep the ward powered? Creating it would use all of the residual energy."

Urd looked at her fingernails. "Have you noticed that Harry's scar is roughly in the shape of a Sowilo rune?"

Belldandy paused. "Now that you mention it, I believe that you are right."

Urd continued. "Once the soul fragment is gone, the scar will remain. My idea was to inscribe micro-runes in the scar tissue that would be the ward array, while also establishing the broader shape of the scar as a Sowilo rune that would act as an energy accumulator. That way the ward would be self-sustaining and would not draw on Harry's magic."

A look of understand dawned on Belldandy's face. "That makes sense. It also explains why you wanted to talk to me about this."

"Yes, you're the only one of us who could create the runic scheme required in that small a space. Especially as we want these to be so small you can't see them with the naked eye." Urd concluded.

Belldandy frowned slightly as she thought the process through. "So we would conduct Eir's soul fragment removal process first, and then follow it up immediately with the creation of this pseudo Soul Ward."

Urd nodded. "That was my understanding of how we would proceed."

Belldandy directed another sharp glance at her sister. "You do realise that this would not have nearly the power of the original Blood Wards, don't you?"

Urd shrugged. "It can't be helped. Besides, the Blood Wards I took down had warped to the point where any protection they offered might have caused some negative side-effects on Harry as well. Not to mention that I very much doubt that they were anywhere near as strong as they were when they were cast. This scheme should at least not hurt Harry, which is more than could be said of the previous protection."

Belldandy inclined her head in agreement. "Very well then. If you work with me, we can get the runes calculated for this ward. It should not take us very long working together."

"OK, sis," Urd said with fake cheer, "I'll follow your lead. We'll also have to figure out the addition to Eir's ritual, and how we can seamlessly mesh them."

Harry was amazed at what Skuld was doing. He was aware of robots from the occasional glimpse of some of Dudley's favourite TV shows and computer games, but Skuld...had built real ones?

They seemed to work, too. In Sigel's case, however, some bits worked better than others. Which was getting quite annoying.

"Honestly! How long does it take to fix a simple pair of legs?" The apparently young and female robot said. It was about the tenth time she had said that exact sentence in the past 25 minutes.

"Oh shut up. Legs are really hard, you know! Walking is very difficult to achieve!" Skuld said caustically. Harry could tell that the constant complaining was getting on her nerves.

In the background, Banpei stood as a silent sentinel, ready to supply whatever tool or spare part was needed at a moment's notice. It was his girlfriend that was being mended after all. Even if said girlfriend would dispute that label...most of the time, at least. Harry wondered about Banpei. Sigel looked human, even if she was slightly off somehow. Banpei, on the other hand, only paid lip service to human appearance. While he was bipedal, his head was overly large and completely spherical, with only a token image of a human face painted on (two eyes that were apparently cameras and a rectangle for a mouth). A cylindrical body, with arms and legs that were plainly mechanical. All of this was topped by a large metal version of a what Harry thought looked like a traditional Japanese straw hat. For all that he managed to portray an amazing amount of emotion in his simple movements.

"And yet you managed it twice before. Is the change of climate addling you or something?" Sigel asked bitterly.

There was a sudden flash as Skuld shorted something that should not have been shorted. "For the last time, a critical part went missing in transit! I'm having to jury-rig something to replace it, because I don't have the fabrication facilities I need to make a new one! So keep quiet and let me concentrate!"

Harry wondered if this "Artificial Intelligence" was really the great idea that science fiction made it out to be.

Urd leaned back from the table that she and Belldandy had been occupying for the better part of an hour. "I think that has it all. If we get started now, we can have everything ready to go for this afternoon."

Belldandy examined the pages of equations and notes that the sisters had produced. "Yes, that looks to be correct. The sooner we deal with this, the better. There is one thing..."

Urd looked over at her sister. "Yes?"

Belldandy turned fully to face Urd. "How do we explain this to Harry? He will be curious, and I don't want to abuse his trust by misleading him. He's had enough of that already."

Urd looked pensive for a moment. "How about we tell him the truth? Maybe not all of it, but there's not a lot that he isn't actually ready for right now."

Belldandy looked worried. "Are you sure?"

Urd nodded firmly. "Yes. Better to get this out of the way early. Besides, I doubt that those idiots who had him before told him the truth about his parents, so we need to explain that much anyway. That will require us to tell him about how they died, and how he got that scar. He deserves that much, even if we hold off on the entire story until later."

Belldandy appeared to think the matter through, before she nodded in agreement. "Very well. Let us draw out the mandala in the church hall, and we can then explain things to Harry over lunch."

Urd nodded again, before she stood up. Grabbing a piece of chalk, she looked at their working area and sighed. "This is going to be the most complex mandala I've ever drawn without Yggdrasil support. We'd better cross-check to make sure we don't make any mistakes."

Belldandy returned the nod, before she picked up her own piece of chalk. The two sisters quickly went to work, inscribing runes, circles and lines on the floor.

In Skuld's room, there had been some success. Skuld had jury-rigged one of Banpei's spare parts to get Sigel's legs working, which had pleased the young robot immensely. Now Skuld was explaining to Harry the finer points of the features she had built into her robots, including the important things like rocket-punch hands. Eventually, Harry broke in with a question.

"Are Sigel and Banpei magical?"

Skuld looked shocked, while both Sigel and Banpei managed to look offended. "Of course not! They are pure engineering and software, I don't cheat using magic for my creations!" Skuld said in an affronted tone.

Harry raised his hands in a defensive manner. "Sorry! It's just that I've never heard of anybody developing robots even half as good as these before, and I think it would have been well known if they had. I thought they might be under that Statute of Secrecy you were talking about earlier."

Skuld looked worried for a moment. "You're right, they are far in advance of the state of the art. And there just might be some magical stuff built in that I did unconsciously. It is better to treat them as being covered by the Statute, so don't talk about them to anybody outside of our family. OK?"

Harry glanced at the two robots that had taken on pleading postures. "Sure. I doubt anyone would believe me anyway."

The conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. Skuld went over to open it, revealing Belldandy.

"Lunch is almost ready. Would you like to help me with the soup, Harry?"

Harry nodded. "Sure!" Cooking with Belldandy was fast becoming a favourite way to pass the time.

Once lunch had been served, Urd decided to get the ball rolling.

"Harry, we've got some important things to discuss. It all relates to your scar. Some of it might be a little upsetting, so please tell us if you don't feel up to it."

Harry paused. "Am I in danger?"

Urd looked thoughtful, while Belldandy shook her head. "Strictly speaking, no. That scar has something in it that isn't good for you, but it won't kill you or anything serious like that. But it is something we want to address, and we need to explain why." The oldest sister explained.

"OK then," Harry said simply, "I guess I'm as ready as I'm ever likely to be."

The sisters glanced at each other, before Belldandy began. "Harry, do you know anything about your parents?"

Harry looked down at his lap. "Uncle Vernon said they were dead-beat drunks who died in a car crash."

Urd's eyes narrowed, while Skuld's hands clenched into fists. "Right, well here's one bit of advice: ignore just about everything you've ever heard from that useless idiot. No, Harry, your parents were heroes in the truest sense of the word." Urd stated firmly.

Harry's eyes widened. "Heroes?"

"Yes, Harry," Belldandy replied, "real heroes. Over a decade ago, there was an evil wizard who was trying to conquer magical Britain. He called himself Lord Voldemort, though his reign of terror was so great that most people feared to speak his name. Your parents were amongst those who were brave enough to fight against Voldemort and his followers, and they did so very well."

"So well, in fact, that Voldemort targeted them personally." Urd continued. "After you were born, your parents decided that they couldn't fight Voldemort and keep you safe at the same time. So they went into hiding, using magic to conceal themselves from their enemies."

"Sadly, it didn't work. Voldemort found your parents and attacked your home in Godric's Hollow," Belldandy said with a sorrowful look, "even then your parents only thought about your safety. Your father fought Voldemort personally to buy your mother enough time to get away, unfortunately he was killed."

Urd picked up the thread again. "I must say that there were no witnesses to all of this, so a lot of it is guesswork. We do have a lot of evidence to support our guesses, though. What we do know is that your mother could not escape for some reason, and so she did her best to protect you instead."

"What did she do?" Harry asked in a small voice.

"She created what are known as Blood Wards to protect you from Voldemort," Belldandy said, "these are powerful spells of protection that can defeat almost all known magical attacks. Sadly, they come at a great cost."

Urd leaned forward and looked Harry in the eyes. "She gave her life to power those Blood Wards, Harry. She gave her life to protect you. It was an incredibly noble and courageous thing to do. And it saved your life."

Harry looked up a bit. "How?"

Belldandy resumed again. "Voldemort's favourite spell was something called the 'Killing Curse'. It lives up to its name, as it does nothing but kill and cannot be stopped by conventional magical protections. When he cast it on you, however, the Blood Wards your mother cast on you managed to reflect it back on to him. He was killed by his own spell."

Urd reached over and gently touched Harry's scar. "This scar is the only legacy of that. You are the only person in recorded history to have survived the Killing Curse. And it was all thanks to the actions of your parents. As we said, true heroes."

Harry's eyes watered, and a few tears trickled down his cheeks. "Thank you for telling me."

There were a few moments of silence, before Harry spoke up. "So, what is in my scar that worries you?"

Urd looked grim. "We got some odd readings when we scanned it the other day. We called an expert, who managed to identify that there is some foreign magic in your scar. We think it comes from Voldemort."

Belldandy had adopted haunted look. "It is a piece of a soul, Harry. A foreign soul, not your own. And it is somehow lodged in your scar, acting as a parasite on your own magic."

Harry was horrified. "I have a piece of Voldemort's soul in my scar? How?"

Urd shrugged. "We don't know how. My theory is that the reflected Killing Curse fractured his soul somehow, and a piece of it lodged in the fresh magical wound on your forehead, giving you that scar."

Belldandy leaned over and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. "However it got there, it is unhealthy for it to remain. Urd and I have spent the morning working out a ritual that will remove the soul fragment and store it somewhere safe."

Harry's heart rose at the news. "You can remove it?"

Belldandy nodded. "Yes, this afternoon if you want. The sooner the better, I think."

Harry did his best to look resolute. "Please, do this ritual. I want that soul piece gone."

"OK, we'll do it right after we clean up." Urd said as she started to stack plates. "Let's get moving." As they all stood up, Belldandy handed Skuld a small stack of paper.

"Skuld, this covers your part in the ritual. Please note the additions that Urd and I have made at the end of the original process, we'll explain what they do later."

Skuld glanced through the notes. It was complicated, and easily one of the trickiest rituals she had ever been involved in...but she could do this.

It wasn't like she hadn't done harder things in the past.

Albus Dumbledore was frustrated. Again. It was becoming an all too familiar feeling for the old wizard.

He was not entirely inexperienced to feelings of frustration. He often felt them when Minerva complained about Severus again, or when the Wizengamot could not come to a decision regarding the perennial issue of cauldron regulations, or even when the latest version of the Marauders (there were some in every generation) came up with something truly innovative and hard to stop. Such as the time that Charlie Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks had successfully created a charm that turned all the cauldrons in the Potions Laboratory into cauldron cakes. The complication had arisen when it was discovered that bringing a new cauldron in resulted in a similar transfiguration. Then the staff discovered that this was an unexpected feature of the prank, and that the inventors had no idea as to how to go about stopping the whole effect...

It had taken Flitwick the better part of a day of constant work to bring the Laboratory back to what passed for normal. It had taken the culprits the rest of the year to work off the detentions.

The latest source of frustration was different. Mostly because it was persistent and outside of his power to stop.

Those damn Odinsdotter sisters continue to stymie every move I make!

Of course, the most recent set-back suffered by the Supreme Mugwump was not due to any deliberate act by the Odinsdotters that had been intended to thwart him. He had sent inquiries to his contacts in Norway to look into the background of the sisters, hoping to find something that would allow him to challenge the adoption of Harry.

What he received from the Scandinavian country was less than useful. The Odinsdotters were a family in good standing, which meant that they paid their taxes and did not have any sort of criminal record. The sisters were apparently known for their work with wards - which went a long way to explaining the bewildering scheme that he had seen erected in Hinckley - and their devotion to social causes. The middle sister, Belldandy, had apparently worked as a volunteer in an orphanage during the break between her 6th and 7th years at the Norwegian Magical Academy. The eldest sister, Urd, was apparently a genius with potions, having invented two new pain relief brews during her 7th year. These had earned her an instant apprenticeship with a noted Norwegian Potions Master (Albus recognised the name from several publications he was subscribed to), but the apprenticeship was cut short as Urd qualified as a Potions Master in her own right...in a little less than 18 months.

It was a record. Even Severus Snape had taken three years to fully earn his Mastery, though in his case he was juggling his duties as the newly appointed Potions Professor of Hogwarts with his studies.

Belldandy herself had managed to earn a Charms Mastery after two years, though as she did it independent of an apprenticeship and in a foreign country to boot, it was quite the achievement. The youngest Odinsdotter sister, Skuld, had apparently been pursuing her magical education via home schooling since she moved to Japan to be with her sisters, but she had received nothing but Outstandings in her OWLs.

That might be a possible avenue of approach, Albus thought to himself, if Skuld applies to do her NEWTs level courses at Hogwarts...no, that's unlikely. She's been home-schooled into perfect marks and the family apparently dislikes me, so she probably won't come here.

In all his years, Dumbledore had never come across such an impeccable family. There wasn't a single skeleton in the closet. That meant that the Headmaster had no handholds to use to get Harry under his control again.

The Chief Warlock mentally summed up his current options. Force is out. The Minister is out. The Order, sadly, is out. The law won't help me. Nothing short of full disclosure of the Prophecy to the Ministry will get Harry away from the Odinsdotters at this juncture, which would probably scare them overseas and will tip off Tom and his followers.

There is nothing for it, I'll just have to wait until Harry comes to Hogwarts. Miss Urd did suggest that Harry would likely attend. Once he's here, I can get his trust and guide him down the correct path.

Any further thought on events to come were interrupted by his fireplace flaring with the arrival of a Floo call. "Chief Warlock Dumbledore? Are you there?"

"Yes, Madam Bones, I am here. What can I do for you?" Albus replied, wondering why the Director of the DMLE was calling him directly instead of sending an owl.

"There will be an emergency meeting of the full Wizengamot tomorrow at nine in the morning. Regulations require me to inform you of this directly in person or by the Floo, as you will be required to be present in your role as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot."

Dumbledore blinked. An emergency meeting, called this quickly? What in Merlin's name could be going on? "I shall be there for the meeting. May I ask what the matter of concern is?"

"I wish I could tell you, Chief Warlock, but I am afraid that there is a certain level of operational security involved." Amelia Bones stated briefly. "I cannot discuss this over the Floo. I'm sure you understand."

Albus nodded. "Only too well, Madam Bones. I shall see you tomorrow, then."

"Thank you, Chief Warlock. Farewell."

The Floo connection ceased abruptly. The Headmaster turned away from the fireplace with a puzzled look.

An emergency meeting? That will set a upset a lot of people, lords don't like it when their schedules get disrupted at short notice. I do hope that whoever called it had a good reason, else I will be spending a lot of time over the next few days soothing ruffled feathers.

Deciding that the matter could wait until the next day, Dumbledore returned to concocting various plans to gain Harry's trust once he was at Hogwarts.

When Harry entered the old church, he saw a large and highly elaborate circular diagram on the floor. It had been drawn using chalk like the one he had been in before, but this one was significantly more complicated.

In the middle was a seven pointed star formed of straight lines drawn from point to point, the centre of which was just large enough for a person to lie down in. The star was enclosed by a double circle which formed a band around the entire diagram. Inside this band was a long string of incomprehensible symbols, which Harry assumed were runes of some sort.

More runes had been drawn in various parts of the star's many internal shapes. Harry noticed a large crystal mounted on some sort of gold support that had been placed in a five sided area just "above" the central area. Three diamond shaped areas that were "left", "right" and "below" the central area were conspicuously free of any runes. Finally, candles had been placed at the seven points.

Harry looked at Belldandy questioningly. She squeezed his shoulder gently. "This mandala will allow us to remove the soul fragment and place it in that crystal. Unfortunately this process will be extremely painful for you, so we have reworked the ritual a bit. The first thing we will do is send you to sleep so that you will not suffer during the ritual."

Urd gave a reassuring grin. "Think of it as a magical general anaesthetic. You'll just go to sleep, and when you wake up it will all be over. Hopefully you won't feel any pain this way, but your scar may ache when you wake up."

Harry nodded, before he looked back at the...mandala, as Aunty Bell had called it. "Do I stand in the middle again?"

Belldandy nodded. "Yes, though you should lie down for this. Be careful to not step on any runes or lines as you get there, as you might break the mandala."

"That shape in the middle of the star is called a heptagon, incidentally. We will be in the unmarked diamonds you can see." Urd drawled with a lazy grin.

"OK," Harry said quietly, "can we start now?"

Belldandy nodded again, as Urd's grin grew. "Certainly. Just lie down in the centre, and we will begin."

Harry gingerly tip-toed his way to the centre of the mandala. Once he was lying down, he gave a quick thumbs up to his cousins.

"That's fine, hold it right there. Just relax, Harry, once we start you should fall asleep very quickly."

Harry waited, and then heard...singing. His cousins were singing in a language he didn't understand, but it didn't matter. It was beautiful music, and he could feel it carry him away...

At the Ministry of Magic, Amelia Bones stepped away from the Floo in her office with a satisfied smile. Sirius Black had regained lucidity very quickly for a man who had been keeping company with dementors for almost eight years, resulting in Scrimgeour laying charges earlier that day. Well, Black had been lucid enough to be charged, at least.

Amelia had then called for a full emergency meeting of the Wizengamot. Emergency meetings were rare, and were intended only for the most serious crisis situations. The non-trial of Sirius Black technically did not count, but the Director wanted surprise on her side. She was hoping that Black's testimony would help her find out who might have conspired to have him imprisoned without trial, and she didn't want her star witness to suffer any "accidents" that might arise should the nature of the Wizengamot session be circulated in advance.

Madam Bones suspected that some of the Death Eaters who had been pardoned due to "being under the Imperius" had arranged for Black to be locked away in Azkaban to prevent him from testifying. She hoped that Black knew enough to get some of those bastards in Azkaban with their former colleagues - she hadn't believed the Imperius excuse at the time of the Death Eater trials and she didn't believe it now.

With luck, we can get enough out of Black when he is under the influence of Veritaserum to get more of the bastards in prison. Black had actually agreed to be questioned while under the influence of the truth potion, which had surprised the Aurors handling the case - no other Death Eater had ever taken the potion during the trials, and the Wizengamot had no power to force a prisoner to take it. Or at least it chose to not have that power - technically, the Wizengamot could compel any person on trial before it to take Veritaserum, but that required a vote. Apparently the members of the Wizengamot didn't want to set a precedent for forcing the truth potion, probably because they were all worried that it might be them in the prisoner's dock at some point in the future.

Getting the emergency meeting organised had taken the better part of the afternoon, as she had to personally inform the Minister and Chief Warlock. She had then taken the precaution of notifying each and every member of the Wizengamot. She would need at least 30 out of the 50 members to attend in order to have a quorum. The fact that this meeting of the Wizengamot had been called as an emergency technically required all members to attend, but creative excuses for non-attendance were not unheard of. As any punishment for non-attendance was set on an individual basis by a vote of the Wizengamot, there was no real way of enforcing members to actually show up.

Amelia was sure that tomorrow would see a full sitting. The vague nature of the business to be put before the Wizengamot would spark their curiosity if nothing else. Now she just needed a prosecutor, as she was damned if she was going to let anyone other than herself be the judge for this case.

The three Norns were reaching the most difficult stage of the ritual that would remove the soul fragment from Harry's scar. Singing in perfect harmony, the sisters now had their angels out and singing in unison to add extra power. World of Elegance, Holy Bell and Noble Scarlet were all fully manifest with their host goddesses Urd, Belldandy and Skuld as the song directed magical energy around the mandala.

Harry would never know the true majesty of the event, as he was by that stage firmly asleep and would not wake up for several hours. Sound muffling charms on the church walls, doors and windows prevented the sound leaking out. This was necessary, as the sounds of three goddesses and their angels singing in harmony is to normal music what a full strength Veela allure aura is to a Barbie Doll.

The music, however, was purposeful. The Norns could see Harry's scar apparently open in a fashion not unlike a zipper, leaving it an angry red that was weeping blood. The singing changed note slightly as the scar finished opening, and now the true battle began.

Eir had known that the soul fragment would be firmly attached, and that it would take some considerable effort to get it out of Harry. She had planned this ritual to hit it with everything the three Norns and their angels could give, yet do so with the subtlety of the finest surgeon's scalpel. This required the incredibly elaborate advanced preparation, especially as Urd and Belldandy had decided to make their own addition to the process.

The song took on extra intensity, and a black smoke started to appear from Harry's now open wound. It started to coalesce just above his forehead, and writhed in a lifelike manner. Minute by minute, the smoke came out steadily, and a small cloud formed over Harry's face.

Suddenly there was a burst of smoke from Harry's wound, smoke so thick it seemed to be the consistency of ink, and the cloud over Harry seemed to shrink on itself. The Norns' song changed slightly again, and the black amorphous shape seemed to be forced away from the supine boy at a snail's pace.

This apparent game of tug-of-war continued for several minutes, as the blackness that was the soul fragment was pushed away from its former host. It was being driven towards the crystal vessel, slowly but steadily.

Finally, the cloud was barely six inches away from the crystal. There was sudden change in note from the goddesses, with their angels singing a descant. The fragment of soul was abruptly sucked into the crystal, which promptly changed from its pure clarity to a black, smoky colour.

The singing changed again, though it was now a more urgent melody. Golden light appeared at the top of Harry's opened scar, apparently growing from the top down. At a scale too small to be seen by the naked eye, runes describing a specific ward of protection were being etched into the scar tissue that had once surrounded the soul fragment, their very creation sucking in the last of the energies that had the imprint of Voldemort's soul.

Finally the intricate sequence of runes was complete, and the whole scar seemed to glow a golden colour for a brief moment. Then the scar closed in on itself, reversing the "zipper" effect that had marked the start of the soul removal. Once the wound had closed itself up, it pulsed with a golden light for one final moment before returning to normal.

The Norns finished their singing, bringing their music to a harmonious conclusion. As soon as the last note died away, all three slumped slightly. Their angels looked at them slightly worriedly for a moment, before they withdrew back into their hosts.

"That was one of the most tiring things I've done since...well, ever." Skuld declared. "Can I have some ice cream?"

"You've earned it, squirt," Urd said tiredly, "I think I'm going to go and finish that last bottle of sake I brought with me from Japan. Guess I'll have to find out if the local spirits give me as much of a boost."

Belldandy gently walked over to Harry, and inspected the scar closely. It had changed colour, and was now much paler, though it was still obvious to anyone who looked for it. "It appears to have been a success." She cast a quick detection spell, and relaxed as the results appeared. "The ward has been successfully established too. Your idea has been a success, Urd dear."

"What idea?" Skuld asked.

"I'll explain later, kid," Urd said as she walked over to the soul container. "For now I need to store this someplace secure until we can figure out what we're going to do with it."

Belldandy gestured and Harry's body floated up off the floor. "I'll put Harry to bed. Hopefully he'll wake up before dinner. In the meantime, I think we all need to rest."

Urd glanced at the mandala that still decorated the floor. "We need to clean this up fairly quickly. Skuld, can your tin can take care of this?"

Skuld was too tired to start her usual argument with Urd, and just nodded. "Sure, Banpei is running at one hundred per cent. He'll have this place cleaned up in no time."

The three Norns returned to the house, satisfied with a job well done. Harry's unconscious body trailed behind like a tethered balloon.

Sirius Black the Third was confused. He had been minding his own business in his cell at Azkaban, transformed into his animagus form to keep the worst effects of the dementors at bay (the fur coat was a bonus) when his sensitive ears had picked up the sound of approaching guards.

He had changed back into his human form by reflex more than anything else, before he realised that it was not time for a meal. This was baffling, as the human guards avoided the high security wing like the plague thanks to the regular dementor patrols. If they weren't feeding the prisoners, they were elsewhere in the old fortress.

Bafflement had turned into complete bewilderment as the approaching footsteps revealed themselves as being Aurors in full uniform rather than the normal guards. Being taken out of his cell for the first time in years and then escorted off the island had resulted in unconsciousness setting in.

The events that had immediately followed his departure from Azkaban had passed in a blur. He vaguely recalled answering some questions that seemed to be of a medical nature. What was a lot clearer was the moment he finally woke up enough to become aware of his surroundings.

It was obvious that he wasn't in his old cell at Azkaban any more, though trading one jail for another didn't seem to be much of an improvement. Shortly after self-awareness had returned, he had been visited by more Aurors. This had been another surprise.

He was actually charged with murder. Apparently somebody had finally discovered the hole in the paperwork. Sirius would have expressed his total amazement had he not been demonstrating a rare example of thinking before he said anything.

He had leapt on the opportunity to testify under the effects of Veritaserum the instant it had been offered, which had startled the Aurors. Apparently they weren't used to such a...cooperative prisoner.

Now he just had to wait for his trial. He'd gladly own up to his past mistakes, just so long as somebody tracked down the rat and put the traitorous bastard six feet under. In the meantime, he had a visit from his barrister to look forward to.

For the Norns, the rest of the day had gone by fairly quietly. The sisters had gone off to their rooms to individually pursue their favoured way of regaining energy quickly - Belldandy had gone to sleep, Urd had drunk the last of her sake (a quantity that would give even the most seasoned human drinker chronic alcohol poisoning) and Skuld had eaten enough ice-cream to keep Florean Fortescue employed for a year. Belldandy had tucked Harry into bed before she had retired to her own room, and he had spent the better part of the afternoon asleep.

Eventually, Keiichi's return home roused the inhabitants.

"Are you alright?" Keiichi asked his fiancée with a concerned look on his face.

"I am fine, I was just a little tired out from the ritual we used to heal Harry earlier," Belldandy stated. It had been agreed by the Norns that the existence of Voldemort's soul shard would be kept on a Need to Know basis, and currently Keiichi didn't Need to Know. "I am more concerned about him. How are you feeling, Harry?"

Harry rubbed his scar gingerly. "It aches a little, but I've had worse. It is already getting better, I can tell."

Belldandy looked relieved. "That is good to hear. Keiichi dear, it is a little late to try and start cooking right now - can you please organise for some food to be delivered?"

Keiichi blinked. He had no idea what restaurants around here would deliver. "Ah, sure, is pizza OK?"

The sisters nodded, while Harry looked intrigued. He'd never been allowed to try pizza before. The smell of it when the Dursleys ate it (while he was locked in his cupboard, usually) had always been so tempting though...

As Keiichi went in search of the Yellow Pages, Urd turned to Skuld. "Little sis, you'll need to get your training gear soon. Have you sent away for it?"

Skuld knew that Urd was talking about the training simulation suite. "Not yet, I'll do it tonight. Just one question - where do I install it? We don't have the space inside this house."

Belldandy spoke up. "There is an old shed in the garden that we don't need. I was going to ask Keiichi to remove it to make room for more plants or maybe a greenhouse, but maybe you should rebuild it into something you can use for your training equipment."

Skuld looked enthusiastic. "That shed is quite large, I should be able to incorporate a lab for myself as well..."

"Whatever, squirt, it is your project. Just get it done soon, OK?" Urd stated. "Tomorrow we'll have to discuss the outcome of today's ritual. Speaking of which, Harry?"

Harry looked at Urd. "Yes?"

"Make sure you don't tell anybody about what happened with your scar and what was in it. Absolutely no one, not even Keiichi. It is very important that this remain secret. OK?"

Harry nodded. "OK." What was another secret on top of knowing about magic?

At that point Keiichi re-entered the room. "The pizza is on its way, they said it should take 30 minutes. Shall we prepare?"

Later that evening, Urd had retired to her room and was generally making preparations to sleep. She had just finished tying her hair back when she noticed a note that she had left for herself as a reminder. She gently slapped her forehead.

"I keep forgetting this." Calling up her terminal, she quickly filled out a materials request form. "Something else to talk to my sisters about tomorrow. This job just keeps adding layers..."

Author's notes: Yes, I just went there. I'll see your Blood Wards, and raise you some Soul Wards. *insert evil laugh*

The elapsed time from Sirius Black being charged to going to trial is very short, but that's because Amelia Bones is bypassing the usual bureaucratic process and railroading things to a fast conclusion.

Many thanks to all the good people at Caer Azkaban who helped me with Brit picks and general proof reading. Thanks to the rest of those that helped as well.