I apologize for the length of time it took to get this chapter finished but writers block along with exams ill grandparents and father with a snapped tendon means I didn't have the time I needed, I was also editing my earlier chapters for bad grammer, in the end I wrote out different sections of the chapter and then put them together. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I appreciate every single review and I apologize for not replying to some of them but for the reasons above time was an issue, hopefully its all sorted now though and I look forward to more reviews!

Also please look back to chapter thrity one, the phrophesy had to be changed as my original outline of the story has evolved- sorry x

Chapter Thirty Nine

'Draco what we are about to discuss is very important and I would appreciate you not lying to me,' Snape's tone carried with it a subtle warning.

The blonde teenager affected an expression of indifference but his eyes stayed sharp, following the potions master as the man walked to stand beside the desk which the headmaster sat at. In the corner at the edge of his peripheral vision Anton casually leant next to Fawkes' post, the defence teacher appeared unconcerned but as usual the air of quiet danger hung to him.

'I'm not quite sure why you need to talk to me,' Draco replied easily 'I'm not aware I have done anything warranting being involved in an important discussion.'

'Watch your tone,' Snape snapped 'just remember where you are.'

'My Father…' Draco began.

'Your Father is not here,' Snape ground out 'now dispense of the attitude and start listening.'

Anger flashed across Draco's face visible for a few moments before it was hidden behind the cool façade, it would take quite a few more years before the Malfoy heir could adeptly hide his emotions entirely or manipulate his expressions to those people expected, quite a few years in the service of a murderer.

'Now Mr Malfoy I would like you to tell me everything from when you obtained the potion from your father right up to the point when you poisoned Mr Potter.'

'That's all everybody cares about, Saint Potter and his gang of idiots.' Malfoy bit off 'excuse me if I don't join the fan club.'

'I won't ask third time,' Dumbledore said his tone suspiciously light 'now if you would please tell me everything it will certainly reduce the amount of trouble you're in.'

Silence dragged past, as Anton watched Malfoy didn't appear fazed until he saw the teen dig his teeth slowly into his bottom lip, they had him, it was only a matter of time now before they could crack him, this slow interrogation was something Anton was well used to and certainly well practised at.

'Draco, a question needs to be answered, and now would be an appropriate moment to do so.'

Malfoy's eyes slid to his head of house, 'I have nothing to say.'

'Oh I think you do,' was the softly threatening reply.

Malfoy drummed his fingers a couple of times against his leg before crossing his arms and avoiding looking both teachers, it appeared that he had utterly dismissed Anton's presence, a very valuable mistake.

'Let us start at the beginning then,' Dumbledore began 'now we know which potion was used in the beginning, a house elf described it, and after talking to Professor Snape he was easily able to identify it and recall that he had given your father a vial.'

Malfoy shrugged his shoulders slightly 'I'm sure whichever potion my father obtained can also be found elsewhere.'

'That is very true, but like all potion masters, Professor Snape left an identifiable seal on the vial, after receiving it from the kitchens the Professor recognized it easily.'

'Still,' Malfoy said casually 'nothing to do with me how it got into the kitchens.'

'Your family has house-elves does it not?' Anton asked withdrawing the lie detector that Moody had gifted to him and setting it on the table by Draco.

'Yes,' Draco said uneasily eyeing the object.

'Did or does your family own the house-elf Lichy?'

'No.' Draco said quickly, slightly too quickly, the silver contraption whirred and glowed deep red.

'Well well,' Anton drawled leaning in close to the boy 'I believe you just told a lie, so Lichy does belong to your house.'

Draco twisted his head and glared at his teacher 'so what if she belongs to my family?'

'You made her put the potion and then the Nightindrade in Harry's food didn't you?'

The boy didn't answer, visible cracks were beginning to show, his initial bravado had somewhat waned and it wasn't too hard for Anton to spot the dark sleepless bags under the Slytherins eyes.

'Why the silence?' Anton asked quietly 'is it because you'll be damning yourself if you do answer, whatever you say will reveal the truth.'

'You don't understand,' Draco's voice was strained.

'I don't understand what?' Anton pressed 'understand how you could willingly poison a fellow student?'

Snape's eyes darkened and Anton looked to him asking him silently if he wanted to speak, the man shook his head and Anton returned his attention to the Slytherin.

'Well?'

'You don't understand,' the teen repeated 'my father…' he trailed off a slight fear ebbing into his tone 'you don't understand.' He finished.

'Then make me understand.'

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

'Headmaster, I was wondering if I could ask you something?' the two men were left on their own in the office while Snape returned Draco to his dormitory.

'Of course you may Anton,' Dumbledore gestured to the now empty seat in front of his desk 'what is it you need to know?'

'From what I've learnt over the years I take it that you have some knowledge of the magic of mind blocks.'

'Mind blocks?' the older man said curiously.

'Some…information, has been brought to my attention and I know you did some research on them.'

'Of course that was some time ago,' Dumbledore said thoughtfully leaning back in his chair 'there were a number of dangers in performing mind blocks that were not considered when they were first tested.'

'Such as?' Anton asked uneasily, after all he had a mind block protecting his childhood memories set by Dumbledore himself just like Rhoan, Gia and Ofelia, what could be the dangers and why hadn't they been told.

'Behavioural patterns began to deviate from what was considered normal for those individuals, some were minor such as slightly depressive tendencies or unusual amounts of happiness, risk taking was another major factor, some of the witches and wizards took unprecedented chances and a few did not live to see the error in their actions, of course this was only a very small number, two in every hundred at most and after a couple of months their behaviour levelled out and returned to what it was like prior to the mind block.'

'You said some were minor,' Anton pointed out 'what about those that were not minor.'

'Ah yes the unlucky few,' Dumbledore sounded grave 'you must remember this was all researched over two hundred years ago, before my time, trials then were not so closely monitored by St Mungo's, it allowed for more oversights.'

'For instance…?' he pressed unsure of whether he wished to hear the rest.

'A person's whole outlook on life was altered, where once compassion and understanding ruled, hatred and anger took hold. Changing an individual entirely, family and friends were forgotten, relationships ignored, kindness dismissed. Power was their aim, pure power, with no one standing in their way. Needless to say the ministry was forced to step in.'

'They were stopped then?'

'There were three of them, one was killed by a group of dark wizards who did not take kindly to the idea of a new leader, another was stopped by Aurors, they had hoped to subdue the witch and remove the mind block, regrettably she was killed during the fight, the third was held in Azkaban awaiting healers to remove the block, their was a mistake and dementors delivered the kiss before they could be stopped.'

'So you don't know if they can be restored to their previous mindsets?'

'Without it ever being tested I cannot say,' Dumbledore shook his head.

'The three affected did they cause much damage?'

'A couple of murders, assaults, and the like, but they were luckily not particularly powerful and therefore saved the wizarding community from three potential Voldemort's, seeking power is one thing but having the skill to achieve your goal is another matter entirely.'

'But if one person had enough intelligence and enough drive originally…?'

'Then they could well find themselves competing with Voldemort for the highest ranking place in power,' the headmaster paused, his eyes closely fixed on Anton 'my dear boy, am I to assume that your sudden interest in mind blocks comes from the fact you have one on your own, or that Miss Rengrag has one placed on hers?'

'Not only her, but Rhoan and Gia also had them.' Anton replied his voice quiet.

'Then taking the logical step am I also to presume that I was the foolish wizard who was responsible?'

'There wasn't any other choice,' Anton answered 'they were placed to protect our younger memories and hide our true identities, however the Death Eaters perfected a spell that attacked childhood memories, it devoured them totally before seeping into newer ones, by the end all that remained of the person was an empty vessel, Voldemort either killed them, gave them to his servants or used them for his own uses. The blocks protected us, it made it easier for us to fight them, for a time at least.'

'A truly horrifying vision,' Dumbledore grimly stated 'were there any other behavioural changes?'

'Not that I think were related to the block, after all our friends were being killed with alarming alacrity, often there was barely enough time to bury them let alone mourn, I think Rhoan the most suffered with depression, maybe it was because he had more family to lose than Ofelia or I, I'm not saying we didn't struggle, but you saw my memories, in those last few days there was an air of utter hopelessness.'

'But now we have the chance to prevent that future,' an apprehensive expression fixed on the older mans face 'this spell, was it a new invention, or is it a forgotten curse?'

'Relatively new,' Anton drummed his fingers idly on the armrest of his chair 'the creator was an elderly witch, she discovered the spell a number of years ago and when the war was at a deadlock she sold her discovery, it tipped the balance irreparably.'

'If that is the case then we need to obtain the spell and destroy it,'

'Rhoan and I are already looking into it, give us a week and we should have the spell in our possession,'

'Then I trust you and your brother to keep us safe in that respect,' Dumbledore conceded 'in the mean time I will be researching more on the history and experiments on mind blocks.'

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

'There's a chance of what!' Rhoan exclaimed 'you have got to be having a fucking laugh.'

'There's only a chance,' Anton shushed him looking around the muggle café they were sitting in, he signalled to the exit 'lets go somewhere else, just in case.'

'We're speaking in code,' Rhoan muttered impatiently fiddling with a pack of sugar 'we're surrounded by muggles, and we've cast the muffliato.'

'You and I both know that codes can be deciphered,' Anton hissed 'muggles can be wizards and charms aren't fool proof.'

'Spare me the lecture,' Rhoan snapped as the pack split open 'I'm just concerned that we turned our best friend into a homicidal megalomaniac.'

'Yes because there were a lot of alternatives, we had in fact a whole range of options to choose from while our allies brains were being turned to mush.'

Rhoan scowled at the mess littering the plastic table cloth before turning and pulling a brown folder from the satchel hanging off of his chair 'about that,' he passed it to his brother 'these are the details of the witch.'

Anton raised his eyebrows as he leafed through the contents 'and no one will notice this is missing?'

'She's not important yet, no one will be looking at her, for anything.'

'Well they're sure as hell going to be looking at her body.' Anton's eyes found the address at the back of the folder.

Rhoan smiled pensively 'hopefully anyway.' He watched as Anton's eyes flickered over the information on the page 'are you needed back at the school?'

'It's the trial tomorrow,' he replied absently 'we need to both be there to give evidence.'

'And to make sure no one starts any trouble.'

'That as well,' Anton smirked as he looked up from the report 'that means we've got all night to get things done, unless of course your new boss needs you back?'

Rhoan drained the last of his tepid tea, stood up and swung the bag over his shoulder

'We need to get a move on, we can hardly do anything dressed like we are.'

Anton looked at his brother's scruffy jeans and thick woollen coat which blended perfectly with their surroundings and then at his own similar dress, he was as comfortable in muggle garb as he was in his battle robes though he missed the comforting weight of his sword. They hadn't however wanted to take the risk of any wizard, light, dark or Order affiliated overhearing what they had wanted to discuss.

'Meet me in Hogsmeade at eleven,' he instructed before cancelling the muffling spell 'we can go from there.'

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

It was pitch black when Anton and Rhoan met up, and it had begun to rain.

'What are you looking so cheerful about?' Anton joked earning himself a glare.

'In order to get out of the house without Sirius realising I was about to murder someone…'

'With good cause,' Anton cut in helpfully.

'Yes with good cause,' Rhoan grimaced 'but I had to pretend I had a date.'

'What?' Anton laughed 'why?'

'I'd promised I'd baby-sit Teddy and then when I had to change that Sirius was curious about what I was doing instead and you know what he's like when he gets his teeth into something.'

'Like a dog with a bone, so…' Anton smirked 'then what?'

'I panicked and told him I had a date.'

'That doesn't sound so bad,'

'I told him four hours ago and he's done nothing since but make jokes about what I'm going to wear, where I'm going to take my mystery date, as if I have a clue, and also I've been quizzed about my sexual orientation, my taste in food, and the rest.' Rhoan shook his head dejectedly 'on top of that I had to sneak my battle clothes out of the house because they're not exactly date wear!'

'Sounds like it was fun,' Anton said ignoring the glower coming his way.

'I've practically got to bring a girl to Sirius so I can prove that I'm straight!'

'Well you can't blame him for being confused,' Anton grinned 'not many people would peg you for a straight man, I think it's the hair.'

He narrowly avoided the clout that was heading his way,

'Well you're one to talk Mr Highlights.'

'Hey don't blame me for being able to carry off red highlights and not have people quiz me about whether or not I like men or women.'

'People don't bother asking because they just assume you're gay.'

'Hey!'

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

'Are you sure this is the right place?'

'You had the address.' Anton muttered.

'Yeh, but next you'll be telling me his evilness lives in a cottage.'

They were crouched down hidden in the shadow of a collection of bushes, Anton's eyes flickered up and down the street, Rhoan was right to be sceptical. It was an image that would have felt comfortable in a fairytale, each brightly painted house had a small picket fence and a tiny garden overflowing with colourful plants, no rubbish littered the street and all the windows were sparklingly clean.

'There's a muggle repelling charm,' Rhoan whispered 'third house along, the yellow one.'

'I see it,' Anton replied 'whoa, adjust your eyes, now that house fits the stereotype.'

Using his eyesight Anton was able to see past the charms that coated the house, beneath lay a much altered view, the previously cheerful paint was cracked and peeling, the windows were layered in thick grime and the garden was filled with plants that would have been easily found in Snape's storeroom.

'Bingo.'

-=-=-=-=-=--=

Anton was crouched on the roof, they had been able to bypass and cancel a lot of the spells protecting the building, he leaned over the edge to watch as Rhoan hung off of the roof avoiding the spells they hadn't managed to negate. Rhoan had gone first so could break open the second floor windows, though both of them were fairly competent with cursebreaking Rhoan had more experience thanks to Bill and so it was safer that he started.

A crack in the garden had them both freezing, a Death Eater stood in the back garden, if he looked up he would easily spot Rhoan, both held their breath as the person stalked to the door and knocked, no answer came so the Death Eater banged more impatiently on the door, he turned to look at the land behind him and Rhoan pressed himself as far against the wall as possible without becoming part of it. Anton was protected if need be by his necklace, his brother had nothing.

Anton pointed his wand at the Death Eater in preparation as its head tilted slowly upwards.

The back door banged open and the Death Eaters attention snapped to the witch in front of him.

'You're late!' she screeched.

'The Dark Lord is anxious to know if you have finished the curse.' A mans voice spoke.

She beckoned the him inside exclaiming loudly about revealing things which could be overheard and slammed the door behind them.

Rhoan let out a low whistle 'I thought we were gonners.'

'Me to,' Anton breathed out 'you nearly done?'

'One…second…' Rhoan replied, there was a click and the window swung open 'there we go.'

-=-=-=-

They crouched at the bottom of the half rotten stairs, there were three doors off of the hallway, one led to a kitchen, one to what looked like a workroom filled with potions, sheets of paper strewn across surfaces, heavy books and odd potion ingredients.

The third door was partially closed but they were still able to hear the voices from within.

'The spell is works witch?'

'It's been ready for a while,' was the cackled reply 'I'm just making sure I get what I want.'

'You can prove it works? The dark Lord will not be pleased if it does not.'

'I have used it on this man,' the witch answered 'his mind no longer exists, he will obey my every command including the command to kill his daughter, he is a wizard so you can see it definitely works on the magical mind.'

'I think now would be the ideal time to attack,' Rhoan eyed the door.

'On the count of one…'

-=-=-=-

They burst through the door giving the people inside no time to react.

Anton sent a stunner at the Death Eater who crashed into study table he was standing next to. Against one wall was a large man well over six foot, his eyes were blank and no expression or emotion was visible on his face.

'Kill them!' the witch screamed seconds before Rhoan stunned her 'kill them all!'

The man broke into action he lurched drunkenly across the room, a tiny scream came from a dark corner and Anton whipped round fast enough to see a tiny girl in a stained nightgown no older than three or four staring at the man.

'Please stop!' she cried hopelessly 'make him stop!'

Anton set off a stunner and the large man fell frozen to the floor, it lasted less than a second before he was staggering upwards making his way across the room again. There was only one way of stopping him, nothing else had worked in the future, and by looking at the mans cold dead eyes reflected back were the eyes of all the others he had seen affected the same way.

Anton raised his wand and the same time as Rhoan.

'Avada Kedvra!'

He folded to the floor, this time he didn't get back up.

Quiet sobbing filled the room and Anton knelt down next to the small girl.

'Shh, don't cry. What's your name sweetie?'

'Cassie,' she whispered her dark eyes glistened with tears and her black hair was matted around her face 'did you make them go away?'

'No one's going to hurt you,' Anton held out his arms and the girl wasted no time in burying herself in them sobbing obviously relieved that someone, anyone had come to take her away from the witch.

'Is Jamie asleep?'

'Jamie?' Anton asked looking at the dead man 'is he Jamie?'

She nodded, so he wasn't her father then.

'Yes sweetie, he had to go and sleep with the angels.'

Rhoan came to stand next to Anton and he held out a sleeping potion to the child.

'Cassie,' he said gently 'I need you to drink this for me.'

She looked at him distrustfully 'why?'

'Because we need to leave this place,' Rhoan replied 'and you need to drink this so we can do that.'

After Anton had lain the sleeping girl on an old recliner he looked at Rhoan,

'What are we going to do with her?'

'Leave it to Dumbledore to figure it out,' Rhoan offered 'he'll make sure she's ok. But now we need to sort these two out.'

=-=-=-=-=-

The middle age witch glared up at the two elementals from the chair she was attached to her short red hair sticking up wildly, the veritaserum that they'd poured down her throat was working extremely well but it was beginning to wear off not before though she'd told them that she and the Death Eater were the only ones who knew the spell and the only copies were sealed in the house.

'I will cast it on you!' she managed to burst out.

'You could try,' Rhoan shrugged 'but it won't work.'

'Lets get her back to Dumbledore,' Anton yawned 'we've been at this for over an hour.'

'We need to cast the curse first.'

Anton nodded in agreement the 'curse' was designed so the victim could not speak of, write about, or reveal a certain sentence or word no matter how hard they or anyone else tried.

After they had cast it they stunned the witch and tied her up for good measure, they did the same to the Death Eater, Rhoan floated her out of the house along with the body of the wizard and picking up Cassie he went outside to wait for Anton to finish up.

Anton went to every place the witch had mentioned and set fire incinerating everything in range, thought he witches research may be useful they wanted to chance that it ever got into the wrong hands. After making sure all the notes were burnt Anton summoned as many high power fire balls as he could and sent them all over the house, they crashed into walls, set fire to curtains and furniture and began to burn powerfully. Taking one last look at the inside of the house and collecting the body of the medium level Death Eater he went outside to join Rhoan.

Also thank you to lisa who left a lot of reviews heavily laden with critisism, I said constructive critisism not a load of complaints about my story, also if you are going to leave all those reviews at least leave an email, or are you afraid I'll reply?

Thanks to everyone else, I hoped you liked it, sorry again about the wait x

Luv SpikyStar x x