Chapter 20

A Fly on the Wall

A/N: Inspired by DZ2. And I just realized that Nagini still needs to be dealt with…my mistake.

Lord Voldemort felt a sudden drain on his magical powers as ten Dark Marks disappeared at Hogwarts. He did not know the cause yet, however.

"Wormtail!" he hissed. "Give me your arm."

Peter Pettigrew stepped forward and knelt before him hastily, baring his human arm. Voldemort tapped the Dark Mark to summon his followers. It was a powerful summon to every member of his inner circle.

He looked at the Death Eaters that gathered immediately. Eleven of his most powerful servants were missing. He had already given up on Severus – it was a pity, really, for he was rather powerful and his potions had always been handy – but the boy had been too soft on Lily Potter, and it was not really surprising that he had taken to protect her son. Still, Voldemort had hoped that Dumbledore would build Harry Potter in the image of James Potter, so that Severus would hate him as much as he had hated his rival. That would have ensured that the Potions Master remain by his side. But now that Severus had betrayed him, he who had freed him from his dirty Muggle father and given him a purpose in life when the boy had been shunned at Hogwarts…the boy that was a fellow half-blood…he had to die. He would kill the man himself, Voldemort decided, for he had always had a soft corner for the Potions Master.

However, there was a more urgent issue at hand. The Malfoys, Crabbes, Goyles, Notts and Parkinsons were missing. How was this possible? All of them could not possibly have defected, could they? All his Death Eaters knew he could punish them through the Dark Mark. Severus had an unnatural pain threshold thanks to his abusive Muggle father, but these pampered purebloods did not know pain, and a half-hearted Cruciatus was usually enough to bring them in line.

He tapped Wormtail's Dark Mark, seeking the ten missing Death Eaters with the intent to punish them. He found…nothing. There was nothing, no sign of them or their link. This could only mean two things – either they were dead, or their Dark Marks had been removed. A sudden fear gripped him. Dumbledore could not have killed them, could he? The senile old wizard certainly had the power, but he was also soft. He would not kill. Mycroft Holmes' image suddenly floated into his mind. That man most certainly could – in fact, he could easily order massacres without batting an eye. But Holmes was a rational creature, he thought. Would it benefit the man to murder ten influential purebloods? The alternative was even more frightening. Could it be possible that they had managed to remove the Dark Marks from his servants? Frantically, he sought out Severus' presence, only to come up with nothing yet again. Was Severus dead, too? He shook his head. The last time he had seen Lucius, the slippery aristocrat had been bragging about his son's achievements and had mentioned Severus, the boy's Head of House. No, Severus was alive and well, it seemed – and it could only mean that someone had removed his Dark Mark. And if they had removed one, they could have removed more. Could it have been…Harry Potter? No…he was Harry Potter Holmes now, wasn't he? Had they done a blood adoption to enhance the child's magical prowess? It was the only possible explanation for an average boy doing such powerful magic…

Another thought entered his mind. The boy was a Parseltongue, Wormtail had told him. Was it possible he had unwittingly created a living horcrux when he had tried to kill off the Potters twelve years ago? Could Harry Potter's powers have come from himself? If that be so, the boy would be able to control or erase the Dark Marks to a certain degree, just like himself. But that would also mean that the boy was connected to him, and just like he could access the boy's mind sometimes, the boy could do so as well. Could he have learnt about the horcruxes, too? Did the boy have enough sense to remain silent or had he gone blabbing to Holmes and Dumbledore? For Voldemort did not doubt that both Holmes and Dumbledore would immediately realise what he had done…and the moment they did so, they would set out looking for the horcruxes and destroy them.

Lord Voldemort let out an angry bellow and shoved Wormtail away. "Go to Hogwarts," he ordered the rat. "Find Severus and kill him. Bring me the corpse."

Wormtail trembled, afraid. "My Lord, but I…"

"Silence!" Voldemort roared angrily. "Have I not given you a powerful magical arm? What is the use of giving you such a weapon if all you do is cower in fear at my feet?"

Wormtail nodded anxiously and Disapparated.

The Dark Lord turned to his other Death Eaters. "It appears several of your numbers are missing…" he said coldly.

No one dared say anything.

"Bring me Lucius," he snarled at Avery.

Avery nodded nervously and Disapparated.

Lord Voldemort took a seat on his throne. Nagini slithered up to him and rested her huge head on his knee, as if begging to be petted. Voldemort almost smiled fondly and stroked her smooth scales with his skeletal fingers.

"Stay close to me, Nagini," he hissed softly. "You must not die."

"Yess, Master," she replied.

He closed his eyes and attempted to locate his horcruxes. To his dismay, he found none. Lucius had told him the diary was destroyed, but the others – the ring, the cup, the diadem, the locket…he could locate none. This could mean only one thing. Dumbledore knew what he had done, and he had teamed up with Holmes and systematically destroyed his soul-vessels. Desperately, he reached out to Harry Potter's mind – at least they could not have destroyed the part of his soul that resided in the boy without killing the boy. He smiled as he connected with the boy's mind.

Harry felt a niggling presence in his mind during Double Transfiguration and immediately threw up his Occlumency shields. Unfortunately for him, a powerful Legilimens like the Dark Lord could not be contained by his meagre shields, and Voldemort broke through them easily, laughing manically.

Harry was prepared for it, though. He knew his shields were weak, and Sherlock had taught him the distraction trick perfectly. As soon as Harry determined it was indeed Voldemort in his head, he pushed memories of the Dark Marks he had erased with such ease at the intruder, just as Mycroft had told him to do in case Voldemort tried to access his mind. Voldemort watched with growing disbelief as he watched Harry break ten Dark Marks at once. Next, Harry shoved his memories of destroying the horcruxes one by one at Voldemort. Panicking, the Dark Lord dug deeper into Harry's psyche, hoping to at least find the piece of his soul. There was no sign of it, however. Angry and afraid, Voldemort attacked.

Immediately, the residual shields left by Sherlock, Mycroft and Emrys flared up and pushed him out. Harry collapsed on his desk, breathing heavily, and Sherlock's bees appeared around him instantly. Ron and Hermione knelt around him, anxious, as Professor McGonagall stopped the class and made her way towards them.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Voldemort. Get Uncle Emrys," Harry gasped, and passed out.

Professor McGonagall summoned her patronus, but the silvery cat was barely out of the door when Emrys burst into the classroom and picked up his unconscious nephew. "Don't worry," he said to Ron and Hermione. "He's going to be perfectly all right with a little rest and will join you at lunch." He pulled Minerva aside and spoke quietly to her for a moment before leaving with Harry cradled gently in his arms.

Far away from Hogwarts, Voldemort fell from his seat with a cry, suddenly afraid. How could a child be so powerful? Were the rumours of blood-adoption true after all? One of his Death Eaters had suggested it, for the Holmes family, though extremely powerful, had always separated themselves from the Wizarding World and lived with the muggles. For them to return so suddenly, en masse – along with two more rogue wizards who had abandoned the Wizarding World and were now companions to two of the Holmes brothers…it was suspicious, certainly. He recalled Mycroft Holmes' protective stance when he had spoken of his nephew – unlike that insane muggle Jim Moriarty, Voldemort had immediately seen the true Mycroft Holmes. With a shudder, he recalled how easily the man had cast aside the Killing Curse.

He would need to expedite his plans to acquire the Deathly Hallows. Too bad the ring had already been destroyed by the boy…but even if it was no longer a horcrux, the ring of resurrection should still work fine. Where could Holmes have hidden it? First, though, he needed the Elder Wand. He had an idea where it could be, but he needed to confirm it. As for the Invisibility Cloak, from Wormtail's ramblings, it was probably the one owned by James Potter and had apparently been in his family for generations. Demiguise fur certainly did not last that long – there could be other enchantments, but he would look into those later. Wormtail said Dumbledore had given to the boy for Christmas when he entered Hogwarts. It was probably still in the boy's possession, for the sentimental fool would have presented it to the boy as a memento of his dead father. Lord Voldemort stood up, determined. He would be the Master of Death.

"Yaxley!" he called.

The man stepped forward. "Bring me Ollivander," he said. "Alive."

As soon as Yaxley Disapparated, he turned to his remaining servants. "Go to Azkaban," he ordered. "Bring me all of my incarcerated followers!"

Greyback knelt before him. "My Lord, may we take reinforcements?"

Voldemort smiled and tapped the werewolf's Dark Mark. Instantly, all active Death Eaters appeared.

"Take all the cavalry you need," Voldemort said. "I want every single one of my captured Death Eaters to be free!"

He held out his hand and a wooden staff flew into his waiting palm. He waved his wand and it glowed. He threw it at the werewolf.

"Gather around," he commanded. The Death Eaters did so, and vines grew out of the staff, branching out so that each Death Eater could touch one. "Portus," the Dark Lord said, and the Portkey activated, taking his followers to Azkaban.

At the Hogwarts infirmary, Harry woke up, drenched in sweat. He looked around wildly, and his eyes rested on Emrys sitting on a chair next to him.

"He's sent almost all of them to Azkaban," Harry said urgently. "He made a giant Portkey and…"

"Breathe, Harry," Emrys said gently, rubbing his back.

"But…they'll free the jailed Death Eaters…"

Emrys hushed him. His eyes glowed gold and Harry felt better immediately.

"Thanks, Uncle Emrys," he said gratefully.

Emrys smiled. "Wait for a few minutes, would you? Sherlock and Mycroft should be here shortly, and you can explain it to all of us at once."

Harry stared at him. "They are coming here? Why?"

Emrys smirked. "You know them. They worry."

That brought a shy smile to Harry's face. It was nice, he thought, having proper guardians who cared for him. The Holmes family might be unusual, but they were certainly better than he could ever have expected. He had never imagined having a proper father – let alone indulgent uncles and doting grandparents. He used to dream of a proper family when he was a child…but by the time he was eight, he had grown out of it and had come to accept that no one would take him away from the Dursleys or love him.

His morose thoughts were broken when the infirmary doors were thrown open and Sherlock strode in, his trademark coat flying behind him. Mycroft entered at a more leisurely pace, followed by John and Arthur.

"What happened?" Sherlock demanded.

Harry told them everything he had seen, and how he had utilized his Occlumency lessons.

Sherlock ruffled his hair affectionately. "Well done," he said. "I'd prefer it if you could put up full barriers, but how you deflected Voldemort was very clever."

Harry blushed. "Uncle Mycroft said I should do that if he got into my head, to show him those memories."

Mycroft beamed at the child, clearly proud. "Very well done, indeed, nephew mine."

"I almost feel sorry for the Dark Lord," John said, smiling slightly. "That must have given him quite a fright."

"But what do we do about Azkaban?" Arthur asked. "Shouldn't we stop the attack?"

"I informed Dumbledore when Harry woke up and told me, so let that old coot take care of it," Emrys said. "We don't need to get involved with everything directly, do we?"

"True," Mycroft said, rubbing his chin.

"And some people need to stay back at Hogwarts," John said. "Didn't Harry say that Pettigrew was sent here to get Severus?"

Harry looked up anxiously. "We need to warn Professor Snape."

"Don't worry," Emrys told him. "Victoria is with him. Besides, do you really think a man of his calibre would be defeated by a rat?"

Harry shook his head. "What about Mr. Malfoy?" he asked instead.

"I believe they are traveling at the moment," Mycroft said. "In any case, they have been given an emergency Portkey to a secure location."

"Nagini is still alive," Harry said. "She is the last horcrux, isn't she? Do we have to kill her?"

"Are you feeling sorry for the snake, Harry?" Emrys asked.

"She's the same as me, isn't she?"

Emrys ruffled his hair. "No one is the same as you, Harry. You are a unique, delightful child, and that's why we love you." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I get your point, though. If we can return her to an ordinary snake-state, we will try for that."

"It may be kinder to kill her, though, if you kill her master," John said.

The infirmary doors swung open again, and Severus stormed in. "What happened to Potter?" he demanded. "Minerva told me he collapsed." He thrust a caged rat at Mycroft. "I found this lurking around." His eyed turned to Harry and narrowed. "You look a bit peaky. Did the Dark Lord attack your mind?"

Harry nodded slowly and grinned at him. "The Occlumency lessons paid off, Professor. I deflected him."

Severus rewarded him with a small smile. He turned to Mycroft and raised an eyebrow.

"I am certain the Ministry will be pleased to take this wanted criminal off your hands, Professor," he said with a smirk. "I believe there is quite a reward set aside."

Severus blinked. "Do you have any idea where the Headmaster has disappeared with Black and Lupin?"

"Azkaban, I believe," Mycroft replied. "It is under attack."

Severus sighed. "I should go and help."

"No," Sherlock told him firmly, much to everyone's surprise. "You must stay here and protect the school. I am certain when Avery is unable to locate the Malfoys, he will attempt to break into the school to get the son."

Severus' eyes widened in shock. "All right. One of you need to explain to me exactly what happened."

"I'll do that while we walk back to your next class," Arthur volunteered. "I'll keep an eye out for the boy."

"Thanks," Harry said. "I don't want Draco to be hurt. Or the others…"

"We will take care of it, kid," Arthur said firmly. He turned to Snape. "They're all in the same class, right?"

Sherlock's predictions were accurate. Avery could not find Lucius, so he attempted to kidnap Draco – he was too terrified to return to his master empty-handed. He found Severus and Arthur waiting for him instead.

"You traitor!" he hissed at Severus. "You betrayed us!"

Severus bared his forearm. "I no longer serve the Dark Lord, and neither does Lucius," he declared. "Harry Potter Holmes – a mere child – has broken the Dark Mark as easily as plucking a flower. There is no merit to aligning myself with a half-blood hypocrite spouting erroneous delusions of blood-purity."

"How dare you?" Avery snarled, raising his wand.

Severus and Arthur were much too fast for him. In less than a minute, he was magically restrained, caged and delivered to Mycroft.

"Could you spare a house-elf to deliver these vermin to the Ministry?" Mycroft asked Severus. "I would rather not waste precious time with my nephew on such trivial matters."

"Yes, of course," Severus said immediately. "Dobby!"

Dobby appeared with a loud crack.

Wormtail, who was back in his human form, stared at Harry. "The rumous of blood adoption were true, after all. You look nothing like you used to."

Harry shrugged nonchalantly and the three Holmes smirked.

"You is a bad rat," Dobby said, wagging his finger at Wormtail.

Mycroft knelt and spoke to the house-elf quietly for a while, with Dobby nodding eagerly, eyes sparkling. When he stood up, Dobby grabbed the cages and disappeared with a crack.

"What is blood adoption?" Harry asked curiously.

"Illegal blood magic," Snape said.

"We haven't performed any illegal blood magic," Emrys said quickly. "Don't worry, Harry."

"But Uncle Mycroft said once that I am included in his "blood" relatives," Harry said, frowning.

Sherlock chuckled. "Very clever, Harry."

Mycroft and Emrys laughed softly. "What we did is not illegal," Emrys said. "Rest assured."

"But you did blood magic?" Harry asked. "I actually have Holmes blood?"

"We share blood through ancestors anyway," Emrys explained. "We just tagged it with Sherlock's force majeure magica and added a little blood to magnify it. It is not illegal – it is simply impossible for most people, so no one has ever thought of it."

"We just wanted to ensure there wasn't even the slightest chance of you being taken away from us on any technical grounds," Sherlock said quietly. "There are no side effects except that you are able to access our magic a little more easily than normal families – but that is also because of the force majeure magica."

Tears dripped down Harry's cheeks. Alarmed, Sherlock grabbed his hand.

"What's wrong?" he asked anxiously.

Harry shook his head. "Thank you," he said softly.

6 | 6