I'm really really sorry for such a long delay! I'm putting up the part of chapter 14 I've finished right now. A big thank you to all who had reviewed, it were your kind words that kept me going!

Choice - Chapter 14: Counterfeit (Part I)

Harry felt breathless, for an exhilarating second, his heart leaped. And he had dared to hope that it was Voldemort. Yet even before the notion could develop fully into a rational thought, his common sense was back and he knew it couldn't be.

The man went on easily, as if not sensing Harry's shock at all, "I'm sorry for having to bring you here in the manner I did; but, you see, you do not remember me."

"Um…" Harry cleared his throat. "…but who are you?" he finally asked, feeling quite uneasy at the familiar tone the man took with him. Usually he would not have asked so stupid a question, but at present anything to divert his attention from the man's ever unnerving friendliness would do.

"Jasper Elphinstone at your service, your teacher and the Lord's ever faithful servant." The man bowed deeply, and somehow managing to pull it off as more elegant than melodramatic.

"What are you talking about? Are you a priest?" Harry widened his eyes innocently, letting his nervousness leaking through his voice. Is Dumbledore behind this? This is just crazy! Is he really a Death Eater? And what does he mean he is "my teacher?"

Jasper chuckled, "I am most impressed, but there is no need to pretend; I would never mean you any harm."

Right. Harry smiled shyly, "Oh I'm sorry, I'm just a bit nervous waking up confined in a room with a…er…stranger. Are you Sirius' friend?"

Jasper sighed, but he seemed amused, "You are going to keep playing until I show you some evidence of my loyalty, aren't you?" Before Harry could speak, though, he went on, "Will you hear my story? And I would also advise you not to activate that emergency charm you have in your pocket, it mixes badly with the wards I've set up here, I don't want you to feel nauseous."

Harry relaxed his hands and let the pin-shaped bauble slid back into his pocket. He supposed he shouldn't have expected anything less, but he must admit he was surprised that the other recognized it so easily. On all outward appearance, though, he continued batting his eyes at the man innocently, as if he had not heard the last part at all, "Look, I don't-"

Jasper waved his hand, "Let's just pretend that we've already had the I-don't-know-what-you-are-talking-about speech. You are held by force, and helplessly innocent. So now you are being forced to listen to my crackpot theory, no fault of yours at all, satisfactory?"

Harry made a noise.

Despite the fact the noise sounded suspiciously like something else altogether, Jasper seemed to have taken it as a consent. He sat down gracefully in front of Harry and stated matter-of-factly, "There is a memory charm on you."

"Mem- impossible!" Harry was truly caught off-guard this time. What was this man playing at? His memory problem had nothing to do with any charm… and how would that man know… He was either a very bad pretender with extremely good luck or he really knew something.

"As I said before, I'm one of your teachers, instructed by the Dark Lord to teach you in all that he deemed important," the older wizard went on, as if oblivious to Harry's outburst, "There, why do you think I can predict your moves so easily back in the garden and just a few moments before?

Voldemort had taught him, and kept him a secret…no Death Eater knew of his existence. Every spell he knew he learned from the Dark Lord himself or the books… Harry thought frantically. Then the magical clasp had him firmly in grip again, and he automatically replied, "But that's not important…"

"Ah, a most ingenious spell! I've never seen a memory charm more clever than that! How would its victims suspect anything if they always dismiss thoughts concerning the matter as trivial?"

Harry eyed the man carefully; he was not making sense at all. And then it hit him: he was standing before a man who had apparently kidnapped him and he just dismissed the identity of the other as unimportant! A memory charm, did he say? Then it must be of the cleverest kind. For Harry could feel no gaps in his memory, the charm must have a remarkable way of doing its job to accomplish that. "So you know what is wrong with me," he said carefully, not saying anything that would incriminate himself if this indeed turned out to be some insane ploy of Dumbledore's.

"Oh, yes, and I have the remedy as well - part of the remedy anyways."

"You can break the memory charm that you claimed to be on me?" There, he could claim childish curiosity later if this Jasper really were Dumbledore's man, after all, who wouldn't be curios about his own memory?

"Break it? No, I'm no longer a full-powered Elite - a small sacrifice I had to make. No matter though, I think I can at least make it possible for you to think over the things I have to say rationally, instead of dismissing anything upon hearing. That would make our conversation rather…difficult." He then chuckled as Harry stared at him wide-eyed.

As the man reached over, Harry, to his credit, did not stir. He stood still as Jasper murmured something and he felt a ring of magic he had never felt before loosen around his head. "Well?" mustering his courage, he urged the man to get on with his story.

The older wizard started again, "I am one of the Elites assigned to teach you all that you should know when Master first brought you back to the base, and later on responsible for your strategy lessons in particular."

Harry pondered it silently and decided the information the man could potentially offer was worth getting a bit more daring for, "Prove it."

Jasper seemed as if he had expected this all along, he went on to describe some of the lessons they had, the furniture of the rooms, and so forth. Harry was growing more and more astonished by the second and finally cried out just as Jasper said "…and you used to share a pack of Spanish Gold-"

"WHAT?" Harry had yelled then.

And Jasper had looked like a boy caught in the act of some mischief, "Oh dear, pray remember not to tell Master about that."

Harry pondered, trying to still his nerves. There was no mistake that this man was Voldemort's close servant then. Taking in a breath he asked the question he wanted the answer for above all, "Why weren't you at the Manor when, when the…other Death Eaters came?"

"The Manor?" Jasper had looked surprised.

"Riddle Manor? The base? Ring any bells?" Harry went on, what was this man playing at? Surely if he were a top Death Eater he would have known…

"Riddle Manor!" Jasper had exclaimed, looking scandalized, "Think about it; do you really believe Master would have chosen that as his base?"

Harry bit back a biting resort as he realized Jasper was right. Riddle Manor would be quite obvious to those who knew who Voldemort had been…and he for a fact knew the Dark Lord hated everything about the Riddles. But, but - with a start he realized that it probably was one of the things the charm had done to him, making him think that such were the case. Yet…"why was I there then?"

"That I have no idea," Jasper answered lightly, pulling over a chair and settling into it comfortably.

Harry's blood boiled. How could he dismiss that so lightly? Did he have any idea what he had to go through? With clenched teeth and a cold fury, he asked, "So you did not see fit to look for me until after all these years? Where were you the first few days? The first few weeks? My dear teacher?"

Jasper seemed unaffected by the venom in his voice, but he let go of his flippant air and fixed Harry with his now sober eyes. In a low voice he replied, "But we were trapped. Trapped in the base, not knowing what was going on, with only a few inkling to guess from, uncertain of Master's fate…" he put a hand over his eyes, "It was terrible times…and then, of course, some started to have ideas of their own."

Harry did not speak; uncomfortable to see the emotions in the other's eyes. His fury had certainly passed, but that didn't mean he trusted the man before him. And why would Voldemort's most important followers be trapped and Harry himself at the Riddle Manor if what Jasper said were indeed true? And how did he know of the memory charm, surely it must have been placed by Dumbledore or... Harry's blood ran cold as a thought hit him, with low voice he asked, "It was him, isn't it? Voldemort placed that charm to me…" Of course he knew it was stupid of him to expect the Dark Lord to confide in him completely, but he had always thought that he had the other's trust. Biting his lips, Harry tried to swallow down the bitter taste of betrayal: no rushing into conclusions this time, Voldemort must have had a reason.

"Of course," Jasper stared at him, "You were the one who asked the Lord to make no exception of you. It would have been the same with anyone who was not an Elite. It was Master's part of the bargain. No one was to know of us outside the base. Since you are always in the base, it did not really affect you. And then we all expected you to become the youngest Elite there ever was until… things interfered." At that the older man had looked at Harry strangely, a thinly veiled emotion in his eyes, "You were quite his little heir, you know…"

With a start Harry realized it was a mixture of envy and admiration that he saw in Jasper's eyes; and wryly he wondered how much Voldemort's faithful followers must have wanted his position. Voldemort's heir… It startled him to hear the phrase, as he had never thought himself as such, for he was sure the Dark Lord would not have willingly tolerated an heir. So even Jasper did not truly know what Harry was…Or was Harry the one who did not understand? He sighed, weary at all the revelations. With first a memory loss and then a memory charm, he no longer knew what to believe, or whether what he thought to be true was even real. What he wanted to do now more than ever was to take a nap and forget about it all. With a sign he focused back on the present and asked, "So what other things you have to say to me other than my past?"

Jasper's expression had sobered, too, "Not the best of news, I'm afraid. There is a plot against Master among the highest ranking Death Eaters."

"Indeed?" Why wasn't he surprised? Doesn't Voldemort just have the best taste in choosing followers? "I assume they are of the Elites I can't remember?"

Jasper nodded, "The real plotters, yes. There are lower ranks involved, but I'm not sure if they really understand what they are doing." He paused momentarily as if to organize his thoughts, "Isidore, the leader of the Elite Circle, had always been an ambitious man…he ordered us to stay in the base with no outside connection at all after we first realized something was off. He had always used excuses and acted secretively. But recently his activities had grown more careless and frequent…"

"And he is why you are no longer an Elite," Harry guessed.

The older man laughed at that, "Quite true, except he, well, overestimated his power over me – which is quite typical of him, mind I add. By banishing me he gave me the power to disobey his orders of staying in the base, and apparently he did not weaken me enough for the memory charm to take effect on me. You could say he made my job a lot easier."

"I see…" Harry relaxed a bit despite himself at the other's jovial tone. So he was right, the Death Eaters were plotting something - it wasn't for Voldemort. Suddenly he jumped up. "You said there are lower ranks involved…does it include the Malfoys?" before Jasper could answer, he went on impatiently, "Yes, of course they are part of it…" Abruptly changing topic, he asked in one breath, "How long has it been since you took me from the Black Manor?"

"No more than five hours…"

"Five!" Harry paced about impatiently, running a hand over his hair, "It couldn't be too late yet; he could still be at work…you must bring me back! We'll talk later, but I mustn't let Sirius get suspicious. I know something was going on in Hogwarts, I must be able to go back unsuspected!"

TBC

A/N: Again, I'm really sorry for the extremely long delay. I felt that it'd be best if I put the first part of the chapter up first, the rest will hopefully be up soon as well. (Review Responses will be coming with the rest of the chapter)