Disclaimer: I do not, in anyway own the wonderful world of Harry Potter, or Charmed. I am just dabbling in the world they left for us. (Bunches of thanks to Blueowl for allowing me the honor of using their idea of aliases. The idea came from the story Dark Memories. Thanks again, Blueowl! Also please note that on July 21, 2009, this chapter was fixed of a few minor error's)

Chapter 49

The Knights of Salem

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Last Time:

His eyes flashed back and forth as though he were reading a message, his eyes growing wider with every word he read.

"Fawks!" Dumbledore cried out and not a moment later there was a flash of fire and the Headmasters familiar appeared on his shoulder; its black, beady eyes stared deeply into the his owners and with a soft thrill it vanished in another ball of flame, this time taking the aged Transfiguration professor with him.

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Dumbledore gave a heavy sigh as he surveyed the damage in front of him. The building he was looking at had been completely leveled. There had been no one inside when the attack had occurred; something which the Headmaster was thankful for.

With a wave of his wand; all of the items, that had been undamaged in the attack, soared towards him with great speed, landing softly at his feet. The items were few, but Albus Dumbledore knew that worldly belongings did not matter much to this family.

As he looked upon the items at his feet, a confused look began to spread across his face. There was one item that was missing from the pile that he knew should be here. After all, he had charmed the object himself. He was brought out of his silent stupor when a figure approached him.

"Headmaster, you asked to be notified when the people you wished to meet with were found and in your office."

"Yes, thank you Pomona." Dumbledore said, giving his Herbology professor a smile. "I trust I can leave you to finish up here."

"Yes sir. Although, what should I do with these?" She asked, gesturing to the small pile in front of them.

The Headmaster gave his wand another wave and the pile of items shrank down to half of their normal size. He then spelled the items into the ruck-sack he had just pulled out of his robes. "I will deliver them myself. I shall see you at breakfast tomorrow dear lady."

Nodding in understanding, the Herbology professor toddled off to help those who were still sifting through the debris. 'Those Aurors have no idea what they're doing. Scrimgeour must really be getting desperate.' Pomona mused. As she drew nearer to her destination, a stray thought found its way into her head. She turned around quickly, hoping to catch the Headmaster, but as soon as her gaze found him she saw his Phoenix perch itself on his shoulder and whisk him away in a ball of fire.

'Oh well, it's not that important. I shall ask him about it later.' She thought to herself. When she turned back around, to the direction of the Aurors, she let out an almighty shriek.

"Auror Tibbs, leave that poor gnome alone and give him back that radish."

-

Albus Dumbledore appeared, with Fawkes still perched on his shoulder, in his personal, hidden, room just outside of his office. With a thrill, the majestic red and gold phoenix disappeared in a ball of fire; leaving the Headmaster to gather his thoughts before the coming meeting. 'He has been disappearing at the most random of times' Albus thought to himself. It didn't really 'bother' him that his familiar, Fawkes, left him. In fact, this was becoming an almost daily ritual that his phoenix had taken up about a month into the summer holidays.

"Fawkes sure knows how to make an exit." Said the figure that was sitting in one of the armchairs, currently shrouded in shadows.

In a swift, fluid motion, that defied his age, he had his wand out and with a quick 'flick´ the darkened corner became illuminated with bright, twinkling lights which seemed to bounce off of the Headmaster and his wand which was pointed, with complete accuracy, at the intruders heart.

"Albus Dumbledore, you will lower your wand and get rid of these twinkling lights." The figure declared in a thick Scottish accent.

It was only after realizing who the owner of the voice was; that Albus Dumbledore lowered his wand. "Minerva, you mustn't sneak up on an old man like that. You could have given me a heart attack." The Headmaster said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I hardly think that you, the Great Albus Dumbledore, could be killed by such a method." Came the cheeky reply.

"My, my, Professor McGonagall, was that a joke?" the Headmaster replied with a smirk.

The Transfiguration professor composed herself and then said, "I shall have you know, Headmaster, that while I may be strict, I can crack a joke as well as the next person."

Albus stared silently at the Head of Gryffindor House, "My dear Professor, you are right, I do know." He paused momentarily at seeing the smug look that was currently spreading across her face, "In fact, was it not I who caught you out of bounds, and out after curfew no less, attempting to curse the Slytherins in your third year?"

The Transfiguration professor hung her head, defeated, a look of shock etched on her firm features. "Touché" She replied.

Dumbledore smiled at her. It was not often he saw that he saw the true Minerva McGonagall shine through the rough exterior she had created for herself long ago, but he considered it a rare treat, a treat even better than his lemon drops.

The war, with Grindelwald, had not been kind to her, or her family. She lost her mother in her fourth year of Hogwarts and her father passed on not a year later. After the death of both of her parents, being the oldest, she took up the mantle that was the McGonagall legacy. She cared for her two younger siblings, fraternal twins, Marcus-named after their father-and Marie-after their mothers' Grandmother. Gone now was the third year, who, enjoyed playing pranks on those who had wronged another unjustly. This also included her fellow Gryffindors. Oh she played continued to play the odd prank here or there, but they, the pranks, never had the smae flair that they once held.

"Albus…Albus, have you not been listening to a word that I have been saying?"

"Hmm…what, I am terribly sorry Minerva, my thoughts were lost to time for a moment there. What were you saying?" The Headmaster asked, focusing fully on his fellow colleague, and friend, as she stated her question to him once again.

"I asked you," She began with a sigh, "If you knew what you were going to tell your guests."

"Ah…yes…well, you see, I was going to gauge the feeling of the room, test the waters if you will, before I said anything."

"You mean that you were going to perform your mind tricks on them." The Transfiguration head said, giving him a knowing look.

Albus Dumbledore had the decency to look, at least, somewhat shameful for abusing his powers the way he does. How she had figured out one of his greatest, not to mention most "secret", ability he could only speculate. "How you know about that, my dear professor is beyond me, however, I am curious as to how you got into my personal quarters?" He asked, curious as to how she had managed to bypass the wards he had placed there, personally.

"Why Headmaster, and here I thought you knew me so well…" The Gryffindor Head replied slyly.

The Headmaster gave a light chuckle, "Touché my dear, touché."

Smiling inwardly at her victory; Minerva McGonagall stood up from the chair she had been occupying and moved towards the door that was set on the far wall. "I shall leave you to your meeting as I have some things that I need to see to before I go to bed. Goodnight Headmaster."

"Goodnight Professor." Dumbledore replied, smiling to himself as he watched her leave, before he too opened a door; this one leading to his "public" quarters.

"Arthur, Molly, how good it is to see you both. And if I am not mistaken, this would be the…second time that you have both been here; all of us were much younger then…"

"Do you ever 'not' remember everything?" The Weasley matron began, "It was once, one time, that you caught Arthur and me out of bounds. And even then, I had permission to be in the corridors, I was a prefect after all."

"My dear Molly, I was simply referring to the last time we fought against Voldemort." Dumbledore stated matter of factly. "Although, now that you mention it, I do believe I have a vague recollection of the incident to which you were referring."

"Oh Merlin." Molly Weasley said exasperatedly as Dumbledore smirked knowingly.

"What is it you called us here for sir?" Arthur Weasley asked, hoping to move the conversation along before his wife turned Gryffindor Red from the blushing she was doing. Although, he had to admit, at least to himself, that he thought it cute when she blushed.

"Yes, thank you Arthur," Dumbledore replied, as he reached into his robes and pulled out the brown ruck-sack. "About two hours ago, your home, the Burrow, was attacked. The few items that are in this bag were the only things that we were able to salvage from the wreckage." After setting the bag on his desk, he leaned back and watched as Arthur took the bag with some trepidation.

"On a related note, I am sad to report to you both that your clock seemed to be destroyed as well. It was not among the wreckage, so I must assume that it was completely obliterated, turned to dust." Dumbledore said solemnly.

"Actually sir," Arthur began, "We recently had the clock transported from our home to that of a specialist for repairs. We have just not picked it up yet."

A flicker of surprise flashed through the Headmasters aged eyes, it was brief, but that flicker did not go unnoticed by the two, elder Weasley's. "I see," Albus began, "Although, you do know that you could have brought it to me. After all, I did fix it for you last time."

"No offence meant by this sir," Arthur Weasley said, as he diverted his eyes away from his old Headmaster, "But a few months after you fixed it, it started to act a bit funny; hence the need for a specialist."

"No offence taken at all." Dumbledore replied with somewhat of a false smile. He had been the one to charm the clock, to listen in on the younger Weasley's and Hermione Grangers conversations, after that first Order meeting that he had called them into, hoping to see if they really knew where Harry was and were just choosing to not betray their friend. This of course proved to be pointless. They had no idea where Harry had been hiding, though, if he was to be totally honest with himself, he was sure that even they would be careful not to divulge anything of importance if Harry had asked them not too.

"I must admit that I called you here tonight for two reasons, one, inform you about the state of the Burrow. And two, was to ask you if either of you had ever met a man by the name Caedmon?"

Molly and Arthur briefly met each others eyes, as though they were asking each other that same question silently, Molly shook her head and turned it back to face the Headmaster. "No sir, I am sorry to say that we have not." It was Arthur who gave the answer. "Why do you ask?"

Albus Dumbledore released the small breath that he had been holding; he had hoped that they did indeed know something, but it appeared that they knew nothing. "Surely Headmaster this is not connected to what happened at the Burrow." Molly Weasley stated.

"Actually Molly," Albus replied, with a shake of his head, "It has everything to do with the events that transpired at the Burrow…and Diagon Alley." He added as an after thought.

"What happened tonight Albus?" Arthur asked.

Dumbledore gave another sigh, he seemed to be doing that a lot lately, and thought back to the moment he appeared in Diagon Alley.

There was smoke everywhere, in some places too thick to even see through, and small fires could be seen eating away at some of the Alleys most famous shops. Albus Dumbledore, with a sad yet determined look on his face, put out a few of the fires that were closest to him with a quick wave of his wand. As soon as he put out the second fire, there was a sound of about a dozen 'Cracks' behind him. He turned around in one fluid movement, his wand pointed at the possible threat.

"Headmaster, it's just us," Remus Lupin exclaimed, raising both his hands to show that they meant no harm. "We got here as soon as we got the alert."

"What do you need us to do sir?" Came Professor McCreedy's raspy voice from somewhere in the middle of the group that had just appeared.

Dumbledore nodded and gestured to the buildings behind him, "All of you can start to work on putting out these fires, but stand vigil, for those who caused this devastation may still be closer than we think".

No sooner than he had said that; a swarm of Death Eaters spread into the Alley, looking at the Order of the Phoenix like an all you can eat buffet. There was a loud, mad-like cackle that rang throughout the Alley. "So the little pigeons have come out to play…what fun this is going to be!"

"Why have you attacked the Alley Bellatrix, what is there for your master to gain?" The Headmasters' strong, demanding voice called out.

"And look, it is the leader of the pigeons, the Dodo bird, still trying to fly are you Dumbledore?" the mad voice of Bellatrix Lestrange rang out again, sending shivers down the spines of everyone present, including her fellow Death Eaters. "Your time on this wretched planet is drawing to an end old man; soon you will be joining the ranks of the dead."

"Death is but the next, great adventure my dear. Something which you might never get to experience, it is after all, our choices that define us and show us what we truly are. And you my dear... are evil." Dumbledore retorted.

Bella just sneered and waved her wand, sending a stream of sickly-looking green spells careening towards her old Headmaster. This action sent everybody in motion, the duel for the Alley had begun.

"So Bellatrix Lestrange led the attack on Diagon Alley, how does that explain the state of the Burrow?" Arthur Weasley asked, not sure where the Headmaster was going with this.

"Please, be patient, I am getting there." The aged Headmaster began. "Once Bellatrix shot off her spell, chaos reigned in the Alley. Jinxes, Charms, Hexes and of course the Unforgivables were all exchanged, of course the Order did not use the dark curses, but we did have to use more force than usual. Thankfully no one was hit with the death curse, but some came quite close, I included. But then something happened, something I had never seen before."

"I still do not see how this has anything to do with the Burrow or this mysterious person, Caedmon, I believe you called him."

"Molly, trust me when I say it has everything to do with it." Dumbledore explained. "Now, where was I?"

"You saw something you had never seen before." Arthur answered, as he pulled his wife closer to him, putting an arm around her in the process.

"Ah, yes, thank you Arthur." The Headmaster replied with a smile.

"So there I was, in the heat of battle, fighting relentlessly with Bellatrix. I almost missed it, but the motion and the light drew my eyes.

"Shimmering blue lights swirled at the end of the alley way and then seemed to blow away, leaving behind a mass of blue cloaks. Battle distracted me of course, but I did my best to watch. I did not know who had arrived or how." The not knowing bothered him, chaffed him somewhere deep down. "So I watched. I watched as the leader of the unknown group, or at least who I gathered to be the leader, motioned to those behind him."

Quickly, the first line began to run down the alley toward the fray. Their cloaks were midnight blue and long, more like tunics, with haphazard cuts at the bottom rather than any real hem. The ends flowed around their knees as they ran. The middle of the tunics cinched with wide, black and silver rope belts. Their hoods hung close about their heads and faces, all eyes were hidden in darkness as though it was charmed to be that way. They were all wearing the same calf-high black suede boots, but some had only black leggings under the tunic while others wore pants tucked into their boots.

The most striking pieces of their uniform were the gauntlets. Frankly, the entire uniform looked thrown together, but the gauntlets were something else entirely. Finely crafted and obviously powerful, their black and silver gildings shone in the moonlight as if giving off their own faint glow. As the first line neared the battle, each person withdrew a wand from some secret place within one gauntlet.

Wands!? Dumbledore narrowed his eyes at the newcomers. He knew what those were.

"The wave of blue tunics broke onto the embattled crowd and spells began to fly. A red streak hit a Death Eater square in the chest. After seeing this, I turned my attention back to the fight, extremely satisfied that the tide had turned in our favor."

Albus Dumbledore looked at the two figures sitting in front of, both of whom seemed to be lost in the tale that the Headmaster had just painted for them. "It does not end there." Albus said, picking back up where he had left off. "The battle did indeed turn in our favor; we caught the majority of the Death Eaters. However, the high ranking ones escaped knowing that their defeat was inevitable. This, I am sad to say, includes Bellatrix; she is slippery that one. But I am confident that we shall apprehend her one day."

"But what about the Burrow and this Caedmon fellow; you keep talking about the Alley and the fight, but not about my home. If you do not get to the point Albus Dumbledore…" Molly Weasley left the threat hanging in the air. She was coming to the end of her rope, and the Headmaster was not being helpful at all in giving them the information that he said he would.

"Albus," Arthur Weasley began, "As you can see, my wife is getting restless. I must insist that you finish your tale or we must leave as there are things that we still need to accomplish before we turn in for the night."

"Yes, I do apologize. Now, it was after the battle and we had all of the Death Eaters rounded up that he approached me…"

-

"Well, Mr. Potter, I suggest you get yourself to the Great Hall. I do believe that your friends are already there and waiting for you."

Harry nodded solemnly and looked up at the Headmaster and said, "Yes sir, thank you, I will get there as soon as I can. I hope that what you need to check on goes smoothly. Goodnight sir."

"Goodnight Mr. Potter."

Harry just shook his head. While this random encounter with the Headmaster, which Harry acknowledged as true randomness, he could not help but think of all of the other times that Albus Dumbledore had either called for his presence or "randomly" met him outside of the Room of Requirement, in effort to speak with him. He did somewhat admire the Headmasters persistence.

He was one corridor away from the Great Hall when he felt a slight vibration on his left hand. Looking down he saw the stone that was laid into his ring, was pulsing a violent, dark purple signifying that there was a massive battle going on that needed reinforcements. Closing his eyes, Harry tapped into the rings magic and sent out a school wide message, only to those in the KoS, to get with their house contact and meet him in the Sanctuary immediately. Harry quickly ducked into an alcove just off the corridor he was in and orbed down to the Sanctum to wait for the rest of his team to show up.

He did not have to wait long before everybody appeared with their contacts. Having not traveled that way before, there were a few that looked a bit ill. "Everybody line up according to your house now, this is not a drill." Harry called out. There was pandemonium at first, but it was soon dealt with by each of the house contacts.

"Harry mate, what is going on?" Ron asked as he stepped closer to his best friend.

"Let me address everybody, I only want to do this once." Harry said matter of factly. After creating an echoing bang with his wand, Harry stepped up to address those in front of him.

"Thank you everyone for responding so quickly. Tonight, on my way to dinner, I received an alert that Diagon Alley was under attack. Over the summer and during this term, I placed tiny little beacons at certain places in the Wizarding community that would alert me if it were under attack. So what I want each of you to do now is line up as fast as you can in fron of your house contact. They will be passing out our uniform that we will be wearing so that we are not recognized. They are not finished by any means, but for now they will have to do."

"Harry," Hermione began as she came to stand next to him, while everyone else was getting their uniforms situated, "I think that you should keep certain years back, if only to keep them safe."

Harry nodded in agreement and then turned to announce the decision that had just been made. "To keep the casualties to a minimum, I want everyone in the third and fourth years to stay behind."

There were more than a few protests at this. The majority of them wanted to go and protect the Alley, however, there were also those who agreed with Harrys' decision and were yelling at those who did not like the idea of being told to stay behind.

With a quick shake of his head and a wave of his wand Harry got the attention of everyone again. "Now listen, it is my decision and it is two-fold. On the one hand, I want those years here so that they are safe from the battle. My second reason is that those of you who stay behind have to head off any questions about where we are if a professor asks."

"Oh my goodness Harry, what if the professors question them about our absence and are still not satisfied, surely they will send someone to investigate." Hermione exclaimed, shocked that she had not thought of this possibility when they left the castle.

"Actually, I did have an idea about that, but it would be a real stretch, and even then there is a chance that it might not work." Harry said trying to calm her down somewhat. "For it to work I am going to need, Dobby!"

"Master Harry Potter sir called Dobby?" the Elf asked, as it popped right next to Harry.

"Yes, I did, though it is just Harry, so you can stop all of this 'Master' nonsense." Harry began.

"Harry we don't have time for you to try and convince him otherwise." Hermione said sternly.

"Sorry," He replied, "Dobby, I needed to now if you and the other Houselves would cover for us while we go and help clear out Diagon Alley of Death Eaters?"

Dobby's eyes grew wide at Harry's asking for his help, "Oh, Harry Potter sir is too kind, asking for help from poor Dobby. He really is a great Wizard." The small elf exclaimed.

Harry couldn't help but smile at Dobby's antics, "Dobby, I am kind of pressed for time, and I really need to know if we can count on the other Houselves?"

"Oh yes sir, they all is liking Harry Potter sir. News of your greatness and of your kindness to all magical creatures and of the power from which you were born. All you is needing to do is let them know of what you's be needing."

"Thank you Dobby, this helps out a great deal. Everyone, we are about to be joined by the Houselves who have agreed to help cover for us. Just stay still while they work their magic." Then turning back to face the little elf, Harry said, "Dobby, if you will."

Dobby beamed, if at all possible, even brighter than when Harry asked for his help. "I's be needing every single, available Houselves to me at once so that you may assist the Great Harry Potter!" Dobby called out in a high squeaky voice and not a moment later there were at least three dozen 'pops' signifying the arrival of the Houselves. "Elves, Harry Potter is needing cover for he and his friends when they be needing to leave the castle. Let us help the Great, Wonderful, Powerful, Kind, Great…"

"Dobby, I think they get the picture." Harry said softly to his little friend.

"Courageous Harry Potter as he protects those who be needing protection. On the count of three…two…one…now"

All at the same time, the three dozen elves 'snapped' their fingers and the result of them letting their magic out was instantaneous. All along the outside wall there was a slight sheen of magic that could be seen as it spread, stopping at random intervals and then picking up again where it left off. "Dobby, what is going on?" Harry asked, kneeling down next to the little elf.

"Harry Potter will just have to wait and see," The small elf said with a smile, "It is being almost over." And not a second after Dobby gave Harry an answer the elf magic stopped and there, standing all along the wall were exact replicas of those who would be helping to defend the alley.

Harry, along with everyone else, gazed in awe at the magic that had just taken place before their eyes. Houselves were looked down upon and thrust into slavery, but if the Wizarding populace knew exactly how much power these little creatures held inside of them……they would think twice before treating one unjustly. "That is amazing Dobby, all of you, thank you." Harry said loudly, so that every elf could hear.

All at once, Harry got received a reply from every elf, "We is happy to serve you Harry Potter!" And then they all simply vanished, Dobby being the only elf to stay behind.

"Is there anything else you's be needing sir?"

"No, Dobby, what you have done here this evening has been more than enough. Thank You." Harry replied, giving the excited elf a hug.

"You's is truly great sir," Dobby began, "You's also needs to know that house elf magic will last as long as you are in need of it. Only once all of you's is back in the castle and in your dorms will it wear off. But…"

"What is it Dobby?" Ginny asked.

"Oh it is nothing Harry Potters Lady Weezy. Dobby just thinks it best to be sending the clones to bed Miss. That way no one's will be saying anything." And with a 'snap' of his fingers, Dobby sent all of the clones, that lined the walls, to their respective beds, before he too popped out; but not before giving Harry one last smile.

Harry smiled, "Okay, now that we have that taken care of, I think we have taken enough time to get ready. Everybody that is going to the Alley, please locate your house contact and grab a hold of them and stand behind me. We are going to let those Death Eater scum know how we feel about them and their 'Masters' need to attack our world. We are the Knights!" And in a swirl of shimmering blue lights, the Knights of Salem vanished.

They appeared at the end of the Alley way, in a mass of shimmering blue lights, their cloaks billowing in the non-existent wind. 'Wands out' Harry called through the rings link. And together, in one, swift movement they withdrew their wands from the hidden clasp on one of their gauntlets. Once again, taking advantage of the rings link to everyone's mind and passed along a message-

"We are on the defensive only, that means protect those who need it. Do not engage the enemy if can be avoided. Those that are directly behind me, go to the Order, your task is to defend them at all costs. We don't want to lose anyone here tonight. I will be going to help The Headmaster out. Nobody should have to fight Bellatrix alone.' And with a gesture of his hand, those who were behind Harry, the first line, began to run down the length of the Alley and towards the Order of the Phoenix; the rest of the Knights fanned out throughout other parts of the Alley that needed to be defended.

As Harry ran to the Headmaster, he kept his eyes, as much as he could at any rate, on the rest of the Knights of Salem. They were holding their own pretty well, although, Harry saw that he would need to cover a better shield charm once they had their first official training day. As he drew closer to the heated exchange between Headmaster and former pupil, he saw a jet of red light slam into the chest of a Death Eater. 'Ginny, I said do not engage!' Harry called through their link.

'Harry, if we don't engage then we are going to lose. We need to shift the balance of power otherwise Voldemort will get his hands on the Alley. And we all know what that would mean. So excuse me if I take down a Death Eater or two.' Ginny replied.

Harry gave a sigh, 'Knights, pair up and only one of you use offensive spells while your partner does the defending.' "You know, Lestrange, it is not nice to pick on the elderly." Harry called out as he threw a Reducto curse at her, surprising Dumbledore in the process.

Bellatrix sneered as she deflected the curse away from her. "And who do we have here? Did the Dodo bird call for his parakeet?"

"Let me guess, you're making bird jokes because he is the leader of the Order of the Phoenix?" Harry questioned mockingly as he threw another curse at the mad woman, whilst have to deflect one that she had sent towards him. "Kind of lame, don't you think?"

"I don't know who you are, but I should warn you sir that it is not a good idea to antagonize her. She is known to be quite volatile." The Headmaster warned the newcomer that fought beside him.

"Thank you for the warning sir and it shall be noted, however, Bella isn't volatile, because she is a coward." Harry said in attempt to egg her on.

"I am no coward!" Bellatrix screamed, wildly throwing a curse at Harry, which missed him by a foot……or two.

"Oh, come now Bella, can I call you Bella? We both know that the only reason the Dark Lord keeps you around is because…." Harry stopped mid-sentence because he had to dodge a pale yellow light that Lestrange had thrown at him.

"Because of what………What is the reason that the Dark Lord keeps me around?"

Harry smirked evilly, "You know, I would tell you, but I will not soil my mouth with the words that would be said when naming off the reasons. So you are just going to have to live with the fact that I do indeed know that reason he keeps you around." He glanced over at the Headmaster, who had taken a brief respite, since Harry had drawn Bellatrix's attention away from him, and gave him a knowing wink. The Headmaster nodded and flung one of the most powerful stunning spells he knew.

" Stupefy Exilio Maximus"

Bellatrix, seeing that defeat was imminent, started to reach for something within her robes. After pulling out a small, round object she gave the two wizards an evil smile. "I so wish that I could stay, but I am needed elsewhere." And with a small 'pop' Bellatrix Lestrange was gone. At seeing their leader use the emergency portkey, they too left in a swirl of magic.

"Well that was invigorating." Harry said as he stretched his back and put his wand away.

"I must say stranger that I am glad that you showed up when you did. I may be good, but I am getting on in my years. What is your name again, I did not catch it" The Headmaster said as he extended a hand to the unknown figure.

"That is because, sir, I did not give it. But we did just fight a battle together so I guess that does warrant a name, only my first name of course." Harry said with a smirk. "My name is Caedmon, and I am the founder and leader of the Knights of Salem."

"Caedmon…hmm… that is an interesting name, not one I have heard before. It is a pleasure to know you."

"And you sir. Your battle against Grindelwald is of course legendry."

"I just did what I could to preserve the greater good." The Headmaster said beaming.

"Indeed." Harry's replied.

The Headmaster was about to respond when two, 'Other Knights?' Dumbledore asked himself, approached them. "Ah, two of your people I gather." The Headmaster stated out loud.

Harry/Caedmon nodded, "That would be correct. I would like to introduce to you……"

"Attillo" the male figure said with a nod.

"And my name is Astrid. It is a pleasure to meet you." The female figure said with a slight smile.

"Astrid and Attillo, the pleasure is mine. I watched your battles and might I say, you both know your stuff."

"It is an honor to be praised by one such as you." Attillo commented.

"Easy there Attillo, down boy." Caedmon said with a smirk, still looking at the Headmaster. He turned around to face both Astrid and Attillo and said, "If one of you could locate Nikita and then both of you round up the other Knights we need to be going." After receiving two nods in understanding, Harry turned back around to face the Headmaster.

"I must apologize, it is getting late and…" And for the second time that night, his train of thought had been cut off. This time however, instead of an evil woman throwing curses at him, it was the slight vibration coming from his ring. At seeing the stone in the center of the ring pulsing red at regular intervals, his face drained of all its color. Thinking quickly on the spot, Harry used the ring link to call out to his girlfriend and two best friends.

'Ron and Ginny, I need you to get the other Knights and get them to the Sanctum. Hermione you're with me.'

After noting the three nods, Harry turned his gaze back to the Headmaster. "I am sorry to interrupt you sir, but we have a problem."

"What is it Caedmon?" Hermione/ Astrid asked, looking concerned.

Before answering, Harry looked over at the place where all of the Knights were gathered. After he saw them disappear, he turned back to the group of Order members…and Hermione and told them of the newest threat that would need dealing with before any of them got any rest.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, I must ask you not to question what I am about to tell you as we must act. Suffice it to say, I have many ways of tracking evil and their attacks. I have recently developed a Ward, or rather a Beacon of sorts that alerts me when there is an. And right now, this very moment in fact, there is an attack happening just to the West of Ottery St. Catchpole."

At hearing this Albus Dumbledore also paled, uttering two words-

"The Burrow!"

-

The Dark Mark; it was the first thing that Dumbledore, or anyone else who accompanied him, saw when they arrived to the Weasley home. That and that the state of the Burrow; it was all but leveled. Instead of the looming structure it had once been, there was now only one floor. And even that looked as though it would collapse any moment.

"Maybe," An Order members' voice broke through the silence, "Maybe, they were not here when the attack happened."

"I hope you are right Pomona." Dumbledore replied. "Could you go to Hogwarts for me and try your hardest to contact them. If by chance you do get in touch with them, then please, let me know immediately." The Herbology professor nodded quickly and grabbed her personal portkey, activated it and was promptly whisked away to Hogwarts.

"The rest of you may leave, though Remus if you could so me a favor." The man in question stepped forward, knowing what the Headmaster was going to ask. He needed to alert the ministry; namely the Minister. Remus gave a brief nod before he too vanished into thin air. But not before he gave Caedmon-Harry- a knowing look; that was completely missed by the Headmaster. Harry knew that look as he had seen it enough on his Uncle Vernon's face when he had "supposedly" done something wrong. It was a look that said 'We are going to talk about this later'. He did not know how, but he did know that somehow Remus had worked out that it was he, Harry, under the guise of Caedmon. Harry gave a small nod as he watched one of his Fathers best friends disappear.

Hermione wasn't the brightest Witch of her age for nothing, because she too had noted the quick exchange between the two men. She stepped closer to Harry and gave him a slight nudge in the back to which he responded to verbally. "I know."

"I'm sorry Caedmon, did you say something?" The Headmaster asked, coming out of his thoughts.

"I did sir. I must apologize once again, but Astrid and I need to be heading out. What happened here tonight is going to be a lot of paper work. And we still need to brief those who were not able to come with us tonight of the events that transpired." Harry replied.

"Of course, I understand. I want to thank you for coming when you did, it is greatly appreciated."

"It is no problem sir."

"I would like to, on behalf of the Order of the Phoenix, issue a formal invitation to join our group so that we may combine our efforts in combating this evil in our midst." Albus Dumbledore said, as he stood to his full height, offering his hand as he did so.

Harry just looked at the offered hand. He was a bit disappointed that his Headmaster would offer someone he just met an invitation to join the Order. There was also the fact that while at school, Dumbledore would question him at every turn. Where had he been during the summer, what he was doing now, using magic as force when trying to get him to "listen to him for the greater good".

"No sir, I am sorry, but on behalf of the Knights of Salem I thank you for offering. You see, we are our own group and to be quite honest, you just met us. While you saw us helping you in the field, you still have no idea who we are or who we really represent. For all you know, we could be a rogue group that is serving another master; which I assure you that we are not." Harry stated.

"We too are trying to preserve the "Greater good", but our focus is not just the Wizarding World here, but instead we choose to help the world; as cliché as that sounds. Thank you again for the offer; I do believe that we shall be seeing quite a bit of each other. And as though it had been rehearsed, both Harry and Hermione vanished in the same manner in which they arrived in Diagon Alley; in a swirl of shimmering blue lights.

Albus Dumbledore just stood there, hand still outstretched, looking at the spot the two Knights of Salem had left from. He continued to stand there and didn't even bat an eye when the Auror's showed up and attempted to take charge. Never, in a long time at least, had he been turned down in the manner that, this Caedmon person, had done. The slight jab at his, Albus Dumbledore' s, lack of vision at the bigger picture- 'We choose to help the World' Caedmon had said- was unsettling to say the least.

This was only one of the thoughts that were swimming through his head as he surveyed the damage in front of him. After a sigh and a wave of his wand all of the items that had been undamaged in the attack soared towards him and landed softly at his feet. He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't even notice the resounding 'Crack' that announced the arrival of via apparition.

"Headmaster, you asked to be notified when the people you wished to meet with were found and in your office."

"Yes, thank you Pomona. I trust that I can leave you to finish up here." The Herbology professor nodded and watched as the Headmasters' phoenix perched itself on his shoulder and whisked him away in a ball of fire.

-

Harry, Ron, and Ginny were sitting in the Sanctuary going over the problems that they had encountered in the battle for Diagon Alley. "It just seemed disorganized at times." Ginny stated, before taking a swig from her butterbeer.

"I agree with Ginny." Ron agreed.

"You are both right," Harry said, nodding in agreement, "But this was our first battle as the Knights and personally I thought they did well enough."

"But well enough won't cut it Harry, not in a full out battle with his forces or even him. Tonight we got lucky that the Death Eaters underestimated us, mainly because we were an unknown entity. We won't be as lucky next time." Ron said matter of factly.

Ginny sighed, "Look, we've been going over the battle since we got back. So how about we change the subject to something a little more pleasant."

"What do suggest we talk about?" Ron asked.

"Oh, um," Ginny paused, biting her lip. In truth, she had just said what she had on a whim. "Okay, here's one. Where's Hermione?"

"Um, Ginny, Harry already told us…when we got back. Don't you remember?"

"Huh? Oh right. I'm sorry." Ginny replied, hanging her head.

Harry laughed inwardly, "It's okay Gin, it has been a long night for all of us." He said as he thought back to his conversation with Hermion.

"Hermione, I need a favor." Harry said after the swirling blue lights had deposited them in the Room of Requirement.

Hermione gave a sigh, "Harry, it has been a long night and all I want to do is take a long shower and go to bed." She said as she lowered her hood.

"Come on Mione, it won't take too long and if you do this for me I will be in your debt." Harry pleaded, also lowering his hood.

"Fine," She huffed, "But you owe me big."

"Thanks Mione, you're the best." Harry said with a smile.

"Just don't let Ginny hear you say that." Hermione replied with a smirk. "Anyway, what is it you want me to do.?" Harry, grinning evilly, told her exactly what it was he wanted her to do.

Hermione's eyes widened with every word Harry said, "You want me to do what?!" She exclaimed, looking at the boy she considered a brother. The smirk on his face had grown and there was now a slight gleam in his eyes.

"Oh, you are going to owe me big time..."

"So she is going to be back soon?" Ron asked expectantly.

"She said that as soon as she was done she would come to the Sanctuary." Harry replied trying his best to placate his best friend. He chanced a look at Ginny and what he saw her doing made him smile. She was shaking her head, and when she saw Harry looking at her she sent him a knowing look. This made Harry smile even wider.

All of a sudden there was a slight shimmer of magic next to the fireplace which the three friends knew was there bushy haired friend. However, once the shimmer of magic had stopped, it was not Hermione that stood before them. Instead it was the imposing form of-

"Professor McGonagall!" Ron exclaimed as he toppled backwards in his chair.

Ignoring the still sputtering Ron, she turned her gaze to the laughing form of Harry Potter. Over the Holidays Harry had asked them to still consider him as Harry Potter, not Halliwell, until the whole Voldemort mess was over with. He had explained to them that it would cause more trouble than he wanted to deal with.

"That is the last time I am doing you any favors Harry. Do you know how many professors stopped me on my way here? Then there is the fact that I had to duck into a broom closet, taking Professor Flitwick with me, when the real McGonagall around the corner of the corridor we were in….It is not funny!" Hermione/McGonagall huffed, setting her hands onto her waist.

Harry had been holding his laughter in when she had appeared, giving Ron a scare, but when she had gotten to the bit with the Charms professor he had begun to laugh out loud. "You pulled Flitwick into a broom closet?" Harry asked in between laughs.

"It is not funny Harry Potter. I think I gave him a heart attack." Hermione breathed as she plopped down into a nearby armchair. "Harry, could you please take this charm off, I think Ron is about to have a meltdown."

Harry nodded and 'snapped' his fingers. There was a swirl of white lights and the form of Minerva McGonagall melted away, leaving a, still tired looking, Hermione. "How did it go?" Harry asked sitting back.

"Well, there is really nothing to say," Hermione replied, making herself comfortable. "He didn't even ask questions about us or the Knights. In fact, the only thing he really wanted to know was how I or rather McGonagall got into his personal quarters."

Harry smiled evilly. It had been a rather 'spur-of-the-moment' decision that he had made. During the Christmas holidays, his mom, Piper, had started to teach him some magic that not even his Mother or Aunts practiced. It was the art of Silent Spell casting. This brand of magic was not the type of silent casting that Harry and his friends were currently being taught. It was during breakfast one morning that Harry decided to test this new skill. And needless to say…it worked. So now, Albus Dumbledore was having his movements tracked. 'And the funny thing is' Harry thought to himself, 'is that he has no idea.'

"I did however find something out." Hermione said with a smirk.

This revelation brought Harry out of his silent musings. "What is it?" he asked.

"Well," Hermione began, "It turns out that our resident Head of House, used to be quite the prankster when she was younger."

Harry, Ron and Ginny's mouths hung open from the shock that this information brought. "Are you sure?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, he gave no other details except…" Hermione answered, trailing off.

"Except…except what Hermione?" Ron asked, bouncing on the edge of his seat expectantly.

"Well, it seems that the Headmaster caught her in her third year trying to prank the Slytherins."

"Oh the twins would love to get their hands on this information. I'm sure they would pay big Galleons for this information." Ron said with a gleam in his eyes.

"They would, but do you know what information they would pay even bigger Galleons for?" Ginny asked smirking. When she was met with three shaking heads she continued, "They would love to know what pranks she played on the snakes." After Ginny's declaration, the four friends spent the rest of their time in the Sanctuary having a good time, laughing at what they thought the twins would do with such information. It wasn't much longer before one of them spoke up, saying that they were calling it a night. When Ron had begun to give her grief she explained.

"As much fun as it has been tonight, hanging out with you all, I really want to go to bed. And I really want to take a shower." Ginny said, stretching as she stood.

"I'm with Gin." Harry agreed as he too stood up. "I could really use a shower as well."

"Actually Harry, I was hoping that I could speak with you in private." Hermione said, sending him a look.

"Sure," He answered, curious as to what she wanted. Turning to Ginny and Ron he asked, "I'll see you at breakfast then?"

His best friend gave a simple, "Yup" before he vanished.

Ginny smiled and gave him a small peck on the cheek and said, "You bet" before she too disappeared in the same way her brother had.

Once Ron and Ginny had left, Harry turned his attention back to Hermione and asked, "So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Hermione just stared at Harry, who had been one of her best friends for six years. "Well," She began with some trepidation, not sure of how to broach the subject. She had promised herself over the Holidays that she would never ask Harry. It would just not be right…or fair to ask something that big of him.

"Hermione" Harry prompted.

"Okay look," Hermione said, effectively breaking the promise she had made herself, "Tonight you asked me for a favor and I said that you would owe me…"

"…Big, yes, I seem to remember something to that effect." Harry said with a smiled.

"Well I'm calling it in now; the big favor you owe me."

"Hermione are you okay? I have never seen you so…frazzled before."

Hermione gave a sigh, 'I just need to say it. If I don't…' She shook her head of those thoughts. It was not something she wanted to think about. She gave another heavy sigh and looked her friend in the eyes.

"Harry, I need a favor…"

-

'Well it certainly took long enough' Albus Dumbledore thought to himself as he set his quill down. He had been up for several hours now, writing out his reports of the events that had taken place just before dinner. With a wave of his wand all of the reports promptly vanished from his desk, leaving it clear, 'Until the morning' he mused. He loved being the Headmaster, but the paperwork...

As he was standing up from his desk when he had a thought ram into him so hard that it nearly knocked him back into his seat. "Why hadn't I thought of that possibility before?" He asked out loud as he threw some floo powder into his fireplace. When the fire had turned green, he called out the name of the person he wanted to speak with.

"Minerva McGonagall!"

There was a moment while nothing happened, and then there was an image spinning in circles in the dancing, green flames. "What can I do for you Albus?" The Transfiguration professor asked sternly, she had been asleep after all.

"My dear, I apologize for the lateness of this call, but this is an emergency."

If she was not awake before, she was now. Alert in her eyes, she asked, "What happened? Is it a student? Is someone hurt?" concern evident in her aging voice.

"Oh, it is nothing like that my dear. I simply needed to know if there were any students that were not accounted for. Were there any students that were not in the castle this evening that were supposed to be?"

Minerva McGonagall's concern turned into anger in an instant. "No Albus, everyone was here. Everyone from every house was present, either in their rooms or at the Library. Well, everyone but professor Sparks, but she went down to Hogsmead. She said she was meeting someone there."

"Try to remember Minerva, it is very important. Was there anything out of place tonight?" The Headmaster pushed.

"Albus Dumbledore you loon," McGonagall exclaimed, "It is three o'clock in the morning and you are worried that there was a student out of the castle…."

"Was there?" He pressed again.

"No, for the last time. There was nobody, no student, out of bed or the castle. Now if you don't mind, I am going to go back to bed." And with that, the green flames, that had been dancing back and forth, went out.

Albus Dumbledore sighed, he had been sure that he was onto something, but his Deputy Head had said that there had been no one out of the castle. 'So if Mr. Potter is not this mysterious Caedmon…then who is?' he asked himself as he too got ready for bed.

Far off, in another part of the castle, Harry Potter-Halliwell smiled as he drifted off to sleep.

-

"It's-odd, what they're calling themselves. At least they fight well, so the reputation will stay properly fearsome." Rune said as he sat down on the roof and pulled an apple from one of the deeper pockets of his trench coat. He munched as he watched the blue ocean of fighters crash into the battle below.

Spore snatched away the apple. In his hand it shriveled into nothing. He dropped it and let it slide down the shingles and out of sight.

Rune frowned. "What'd you go and do that for?"

"No eating at a time like this," Spore said, not looking up from a curiously ornate watch on his left wrist. "We could be called on at any time." He glanced down again at the battle below. He knew all to well the identities of the blue clad strangers. "In fact, I hope we're called on soon. I should be down there."

"You worry too much, mate," Rune said. His trained eyes scanned the battling forces.

"Hello, there we are!"

"What?"

"There's the guy you've been tailin'? I can tell, the way he moves his wand and the… well, the other stuff… not quite your everyday Wizarding magic is it? Just like you said."

Spore peered down. The uncontested commander of the blue clad forces had pushed the furthest into the battle. The flanking forces he'd sent around the outside were also pushing in. They were winning.

"So then you agree?" Spore asked.

"Well," said Rune, getting up and standing beside his partner and best friend, "I know I like what I see, but can he deliver?"

A/N: Well here it is, the longest chapter to-date. I spent the better part of a month trying to figure out how to get it out of my head and down onto paper. But as you can see, the chapter is done. A lot happened in this chapter, which is probably why it took so long for me to write. I know I only posted a month ago, but to me it seems longer. Maybe because of all I had to sort through before i got this wonderful piece of work. I hope you liked it...I know I do. But anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter because there is something that is going to happen that might just shift the tide of the war for the greater--or possibly for the worst....Like I said, stay tuned. ----Oh and don't forget to check out my new poll that is posted in my proflie!

Mudbloodpotter