Thanks to all the reviewers reminding me how much they like the story. I just kinda needed to get that out there. I'm a little surprised by all of you vehemently defending me. It's a nice surprise, though. Thanks, guys.

ANYWAY as for the Horcruxes, they're all gone. Thought I'd clarify that, since it's been a topic that people have had a hard time keeping track of in the past. Five out of the canon seven destroyed, Ravenclaw's diadem was never one in the first place [being a heavenly weapon and all], and the one in Harry got burned away [accidentally] by Gabriel shortly after Harry died. So Voldemort's gonna need to watch his back, if he ever shows up.

And believe me, this is just the beginning of the chaos. I have been building up to this shit for the last five chapters [ish]. I'm not gonna stop with just a Death Eater attack, some shaky loyalties, and a cliffhanger. What kind of writer would I be if I did that?

As a side note, I was listening to Seven Devils on repeat for like five hours straight while I wrote this just to get in the right mood. My sister would be thrilled.

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or Harry Potter.

Gabriel joined the group at the top of the tower silently and invisibly.

Dumbledore was near the largest window, which was really more of a balcony. Two brooms were propped up against the wall. Three Death Eaters - well, a Death Eater, a demon, and Theodore Nott - were standing several feet away.

Snape was in between them, as if caught in the middle of going over to join Voldemort's other followers but getting cold feet halfway through the motion.

Gabriel doubted that was what had happened.

"Just get it over with," The Death Eater growled. Nott's wand was trained on Dumbledore. Gabriel could make out a tremor in his arm.

"We don't have much time." The demon seemed antsy - it had probably noticed Gabriel's and Michael's presence downstairs. "Unless you want one of us to-"

"I'm doing this myself!" Nott snapped.

"Then hurry up!"

"You're not a murderer," Dumbledore said softly.

"How do you know?" Nott retorted.

"He's stalling." Snape sounded bored. "Finish it, Nott, or one of us will do it for you."

"I can do it!" He sounded like a petulant child refusing to accept a parent's help. Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"Taking someone's life is not nearly as easy as it seems." Dumbledore said. He sounded like a fortune cookie. "We've been here for quite some time, Theodore. You've had plenty of opportunities to kill me, but you haven't."

"That doesn't mean anything," Nott growled.

"I think it does."

"Oh, shut up already." The demon moved forward. "I swear, if I hear one more word out of your mouth-"

The Death Eater clamped a hand down on their shoulder. "Hold on-"

"Piss off!" The demon shoved the other away fiercely, sending them crashing into the wall. He spun back around to face Dumbledore, one finger stabbing at him threateningly. "You. I am sick of all this crap."

"This is my task!" Nott had spun around to face the demon.

"Here's some news, kid. I don't give a shit."

"You agreed to serve the Dark Lord," Snape said. "I doubt he'll be happy-"

The demon laughed. Loudly. And pretty much in Snape's face. "You think I care what your Lord thinks? I only came here because my real boss told me to. She could kick your arses any day."

"If you were ordered to join us-"

"I was ordered to see what was so special about you," the demon interrupted. "Hate to break the news, sweetheart, but we can all cause plenty of damage and chaos on our own. And I..." He turned back towards Dumbledore. "Am starting with this asshole."

"Would I be incorrect in guessing that you're a demon?" Dumbledore questioned.

"Just shut up already." Gabriel could see the demon's eyes flick black, and the started jump that Dumbledore hid pretty well. There was something off about the way Dumbledore held himself - like he was barely standing on his own. One hand was gripping the railing of the balcony.

"Stop it!" Nott shouted. "Avada-"

Gabriel stepped forward, and everything froze.

He frowned at the motionless people in front of him. Time had stopped, but he hadn't done anything.

The answer presented itself in the form of the figure that stepped out from a particularly dark shadow, cane tapping at the ground. "I certainly hope you weren't thinking of interfering."

Gabriel very nearly backed away. "I'm mostly worried about the demon." He tried to sound nonchalant. "Why?"

"You've changed quite enough things already just by being here." Death regarded the scene in front of them with a sort of detached curiosity.

"Yeah, you mentioned I wasn't supposed to be here last time," Gabriel said dryly. "What's so important that I don't change?"

"Oh, plenty of things." Death said. "I couldn't possibly list them all. Well...if I felt like wasting time doing so, I might." He gave Gabriel a knowing look. "The more you regained your power, the more you've changed. Just ask Adam. He's staying with you, isn't he?"

Gabriel didn't even want to know how Death knew that. "I was referring to right now, specifically," he clarified. "You're here. Something big is happening. Why make sure I didn't change it?"

Death rested his cane steadily on the ground.

"Albus Dumbledore is going to die."

The way he said it, it was an uncontestable fact.

"I wasn't going to stop him from dying."

"You were going to stop the demon," Death pointed out.

"There are three other people here who could do the deed." Gabriel glanced between the four frozen occupants. Nott's face was frozen into panic, the syllables of the curse still on his lips. "Or three, at the very least."

"You've already inadvertently put off my meeting with several of the people in this world," Death said. "I felt it necessary to step in before any other pivotal events were skipped."

Gabriel frowned. "Like who?" He couldn't see how he'd accidentally saved anyone.

"Sirius Black, for one." Death listed them off. "Nymphadora Tonks. Fred Weasley. And plenty of others. Just because you haven't pulled them out of the way of any curses does not mean that you have not, however indirectly, stopped them dying when they otherwise would have."

"So...you're mad because I'm fucking up your schedule? I thought you had reapers to deal with stuff like this." Gabriel said. "Escorting people on and all that."

Death fixed him with a slightly sterner look. "For the important deaths, I come in person. Now? Yes, I would have a reaper deal with them."

"Okay then." Gabriel stepped backwards. "I was planning on getting rid of the demon and seeing where this mess went. I don't care if Dumbledore dies, honestly."

Death raised an eyebrow at that. "Even considering the effect it might have on the magical community? I thought you came up here to save him."

Did Death keep track of wizarding politics or something? "Don't care," Gabriel replied. "It's not like it's my problem. He might be an idol, but that doesn't mean I like him." Dumbledore's death would be a huge symbolic victory for the Death Eaters, but honestly the man kept so many secrets.

And Gabriel had hardly forgotten about the Dursleys.

"Hm." Death seemed to evaluate him for a moment, then looked away. "If you say so."

He vanished, and time sprang back into motion.

The demon backhanded Nott before he could finish the spell, sending him stumbling across the tower. A curse shot off Snape's wand and hit the demon in the chest.

All he did was glare at Snape. "You want to play dirty?" He snarled. "Fine."

Dumbledore hadn't moved from his position, only confirming Gabriel's guess that he had been hurt in some way. Nott was staggering back to his feet, wand swinging up to point at the demon. "Stupe-"

The demon's hand lashed out and Nott went flying. Snape turned, wand steady in his hand but it wasn't pointed at the demon-

"Avada Kedavra!"

So Death had been right after all.

Dumbledore went toppling over the railing.

Gabriel barely waited until he'd disappeared before the edge before grabbing the demon. The latter barely had enough time to look shocked before Gabriel's Grace flared, white light streaming out of their eyes and mouth.

The empty vessel dropped heavily to the ground. Gabriel straightened his shoulders and looked up from it.

Snape and Nott both had their wands trained on him. Nott's hand, surprisingly, was no longer shaking.

"You're too late," Nott said, seemingly taking a vicious pleasure in the words.

"Bitch, please," Gabriel shot back. "I've been here for the last twenty minutes. You think I can't make myself invisible?"

"Why are you here?" Snape asked warily.

"Maybe I wanted to see if you'd do it." Gabriel smirked at Nott. "Apparently not."

"I don't have to justify myself to you," Nott retorted.

"You say that, but you're the only one here worried about justifying it." Gabriel watched with satisfaction as Nott stiffened at the accusation. "I couldn't care less who you kill."

"Then why bother coming at all?" Snape's wand was still unerringly pointed at Gabriel's heart.

"I already told you." Gabriel said. He glanced pointedly at the wand. "What makes you think that's gonna do any good?"

"There are some spells that will work on even your kind." Snape's voice was quiet, but not quiet enough to hide the fact that he was bluffing.

"Yeah?" Gabriel crossed his arms. "Prove it."

Snape took him up on the offer.

Gabriel ducked the curse, clicking his fingers together. Snape's wand yanked itself out of his hand and threw itself over the railing.

"You'd better get that," Gabriel said, and threw out his hand.

Snape went crashing backwards. The railing obligingly bent itself out of the way at Gabriel's prompting. There was nothing to stop him following Dumbledore down.

Gabriel turned to Nott.

The boy was white-faced, wand held in front of him like a shield.

Gabriel grinned sharply.

"I'll give you a five-minute head start."

Nott turned and ran.

Death Eaters were running out of Hogwarts.

Someone must have spread the word that they'd succeeded. They were abandoning battles and ignoring the students. Only those who tried to stop them got cursed or hexed.

They had spilled out onto the lawn, making for the gates. If they managed to get past those, they could teleport out. The wards only went so far.

Of course, that was only an option if no one had locked the gates.

And Muriel had gotten there first.

The bottleneck of Death Eaters was hard to see unless you got close. Their black cloaks and robes blended into the blackness of the night around them. The gates reflected the firelight oddly. There were torches fixed to the fence on either side, guttering in the wind that whipped across the lawn. Muriel stood just on the other side of them, keeping them shut and invisible to all of them but Gabriel.

"I'll make this easy," Gabriel called out. The Death Eaters closest to him turned around, wands out. "Anyone who's a demon can come out and stop hiding, and those of you who are still human might actually make it through this." The dense crowd made it harder to pick out who was a demon and who wasn't. That was the only reason Gabriel asked, really.

"You're outnumbered," one of the masked figures sneered.

"Am I?" Gabriel yanked the man's wand out of his hand without moving and cracked it in half. He stepped forward slowly, grinning at the sudden fear he could see. "There's more of you, sure. And you're going to need every single man you've got to have a hope of defeating me."

He was barely a foot away from them now, but no Death Eater made a move to attack or curse him. Gabriel wasn't hiding his presence. The demons in the crowd would be able to sense 'archangel' clear as day.

"No takers...?" Gabriel grinned again, just as viciously as before. "We'll do it the hard way, then."

Before he could do anything, someone snapped their fingers.

Flashes of fire bursting from random people's orfices told him exactly who it was, even if Michael's presence hadn't been obvious as soon as ne landed. Gabriel turned to face nem, scowling. "I had it taken care of."

"Showing them your true form is not 'taking care of it'," Michael said. The Death Eaters - any who weren't possessed - had merely collapsed, unconscious. Michael hadn't even landed before ne'd done it.

"What, like you care what would have happened to them?"

"This close to the school? It wouldn't have been just them."

Damn. Gabriel had forgotten about that [well, more like conveniently ignored just how big his true form was].

Muriel joined them, the wind ceasing somewhat. Gabriel had guessed that that had been her - it had been blowing too forcefully away from the gate to be anything else. "What now?" She asked.

"We meet back at the castle." Michael's eyes were on Gabriel. "They found Dumbledore at the bottom of the Astronomy tower."

Muriel sucked in a sharp breath. "He's not-"

"Do not get on my case about this." Gabriel held up a hand in warning.

"You had one job, Gabriel."

"First off, I don't take orders from you anymore, or did you forget that?" Gabriel snapped. "And if Death himself shows up and tells me to not interfere, I'm not going to fucking stop it from happening."

Michael went from startled to impassive so quickly that anyone but Gabriel would have been hard pressed to notice the first expression. "Fine," ne said grudgingly. "Snape's down there, too. What did you do, kick him off?"

"Something like that." Gabriel moved around Michael, walking back up towards the castle. He brushed a hand over his shoulder, cleaning off the blood from where the demon had stabbed him and fixing the tear in his jacket.

"Snape?" Muriel questioned.

"He had it coming."

Neither of them asked for clarification. At least they could give Gabriel that much.

They ended up regrouping in the Headmaster's office - or Headmistress's, now that McGonagall appeared to have taken over. Hermione and Balthazar had been called in from wherever they'd been, the former looking a bit shaken and the latter impassive as Michael had been.

"I'm guessing you didn't get there in time," Balthazar said dryly.

"Got held up a little by Death Eaters on the way," Gabriel replied. His eyes slid to the portrait of a snoozing Dumbledore that hung directly behind McGonagall's chair. "You guys work fast."

"It's an automatic process." McGonagall's lips were a thin line. "I don't suppose you saw who did it."

Gabriel linked his hands behind his head. "There's a reason Snape followed him down."

"Snape?" McGonagall said incredulously. She looked, suddenly, just as shaken as Hermione. "Snape? But Dumbledore always trusted him."

"I didn't," Gabriel said, "but maybe that's just me."

"I assume he became a Death Eater for a reason," Muriel said. "It's hardly surprising. Wasn't there a phoenix in here?"

McGonagall glanced at the empty perch with the rest of them. "Fawkes," she agreed. "I don't know where he's gone. Now that Dumbledore is..." she faltered for a moment, then continued. "Dead, I doubt he'll return."

"Being down a phoenix is hardly worrying," Balthazar said. "Especially since between the four of us, we've essentially decimated whatever forces Voldemort had, possessed or not."

"Possessed?" McGonagall repeated. "Do you mean to say that there are more angels in play?"

The shocked and mostly offended stares seemed to convey how Gabriel and the other three thought about that better than words could.

"Excuse me?" Balthazar was staring like McGonagall had just cussed them out. "You think any of us would ally with someone like him?"

"You said possession-"

"Demons can possess people, too," Michael said curtly. "And with them, consent isn't an issue. Your Order could be at risk just as easily as any of those Death Eaters."

"I wasn't aware angels asked for consent," McGonagall said.

"We have to," Muriel said. Her expression still came across as did she seriously just say that. "Demons do not. They take whoever they want as a vessel."

"What happens to the person being possessed?" The question came from Hermione. "I know with Gabriel Harry died, but...what about the rest of you?"

Simultaneously, Balthazar and Muriel looked down at themselves. Michael just shrugged. "I'm a different case," ne said. "I was human. This body's mine entirely - it doesn't really qualify as a vessel."

Muriel was the only one who reacted [with poorly veiled surprise] to that statement; she was the only one who hadn't known how Michael had gotten involved with the Voldemort mess.

"And the two of you?" McGonagall pressed, looking at Balthazar and Muriel.

Balthazar just shrugged. "Dead," he said. "I just took the first vessel I could find. It's really about who's capable of holding you and less about aesthetic, you know?"

Muriel nodded, though Gabriel had a feeling she was just agreeing with the second part. "It's possible to stop a possession, you know" she said. It was only a vaguely subtle attempt to change the topic. "With demons it can be trickier, but there are still methods."

"Like what?"

"Hexbags," Gabriel muttered, making Michael splutter. "What? Don't give me that. They work!"

"'Hex' bags?" McGonagall questioned. "I will assume those aren't what they sound like."

"It's a witch trick," Gabriel said. "And by witch I mean the stereotypical, blood-and-bone kind. I've known a couple. There are more permanent ways, though. All the hex bag does is stop demons from finding you."

"Not being able to find you is a pretty good deal, considering the permanent one is a tattoo," Balthazar added. "Doesn't seem your style."

"I'll decide what my style is, thank you," McGonagall said. "Where did these demons come from?"

"We don't know," Michael said. "They're not very common on this world. Gabriel and I have been trying to figure out how they're getting here, given that they haven't been able to until recently."

To her credit, McGonagall didn't visibly react to the implication of multiple worlds. "Why ally with Voldemort, then?"

"Because they enjoy causing chaos?" Muriel suggested. "Demons are volatile and violent by nature. Allying with Voldemort gives them an opportunity to do that and plenty of willing human helpers."

McGonagall nodded, closing her eyes for a moment. "We can discuss this later," she said, opening them again. "I must meet with the Heads of House to discuss what to do next." It was a clear dismissal.

Gabriel let his hands fall to his sides. He meant to speak up, but Muriel tilted her head and beat him there.

"Castiel's arrived."

McGonagall frowned. "How do you-"

"Bit late," Balthazar commented over her. "Where's he at, then?"

"In the village, he says."

"I'll go," Gabriel quickly volunteered. Anything to get out of the castle for a little while.

Castiel was near the edge of Hogsmeade, regarding the village with a thoughtful frown. He inclined his head in greeting. "Gabriel."

"Hey, bro. You missed all the fun."

"We were tied up in other matters," Castiel explained. Gabriel assumed 'we' referred to Sam and Dean. "There was an issue with a demon."

"Join the club," Gabriel said. "There were a shit ton of 'em up here and I can't figure out how they got across worlds."

"Here?" Castiel frowned again. "That...may explain what the demon we were dealing with was talking about. She said there was some plan in action."

"Crowley's?"

"I get the feeling she wasn't referring to him."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Great. Are we talking contender for Crowley's place?"

"Most likely," Castiel agreed. "If they have enough power to send demons here, then whoever they are, they won't be content with him on the throne."

"Fabulous," Gabriel sighed. "As if we didn't have enough problems already."

"Speaking of Crowley," Castiel began, "he actually asked to meet with Sam and Dean."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "Just them? Can't be good."

"I didn't think so either, but they seem to think he has valuable information." Castiel looked exasperated. "They already agreed to his terms, despite the risk."

"Probably could have guessed that." Gabriel made an eh face. "What are you bringing this up for?"

Castiel hesitated. "I was hoping you might be willing to go with them instead."

Gabriel pulled another face. "Come on, Castiel..." They don't even like me!

"Crowley doesn't even know you're alive, he won't have archangel wards up," Castiel pressed. "I won't be able to join them even if I wanted to. Crowley's too paranoid to not ward wherever they're meeting. It's obviously a trap. They only agreed to go because Crowley claims to have information on Cain."

That caught Gabriel's attention. "What about Cain?" He hadn't forgotten how Cain had stabbed him after Gabriel had forcefully returned the Mark.

"He's been..." Castiel sighed. "We don't know. All we've been able to find out is that something big is happening, and he is somehow involved."

Fan-fucking-tastic. "Fine," Gabriel sighed. "Where are they?"

Castiel rattled off an address. Gabriel was already looking, wings spreading to give himself the necessary leverage to travel between worlds.

This was gonna be just fantastic.

Both Crowley and the Winchesters jumped when he arrived, the demon staring and posture stiffening.

"Don't mind me," Gabriel said, smirking at the King of Hell. "I'm just here to chaperone."

"How the hell did you get here?" Dean demanded.

"Rude, Dean. It's like you don't want me here."

"You said you weren't going to bring any bloody angels," Crowley hissed. "This is not how synergy works!"

"We ain't got synergy-"

"Actually," Gabriel interrupted Dean, ignoring the outraged look. "I heard the invitation was only Castiel-exclusive, so I thought I'd drop by. Y'know, to guard against demonic chaos and all that?"

Crowley looked both furious and slightly panicked, which only confirmed the idea that he'd been planning something else.

"Cas told you where we were?" Sam's brow wrinkled. "Why?"

"Oh, I dunno, 'cause you were meeting this guy without any backup?" Gabriel gestured at Crowley. "He was all worried. It was adorable."

"As much as I love to discuss Castiel," Crowley said, "I'm afraid I'll have to cut this meeting a bit short."

"Whoa, you're not going anywhere." Dean stepped forward, a Kurdish knife in his clenched hand. He did look a bit threatening, probably more so to Crowley. "You haven't told us jack squat since we got here, and now you wanna bail? No way."

"You said you had information on Cain." Sam's jaw was set. He was glaring at Crowley. All he needed was a knife to play with to complete the 'menacing' ensemble. "You went to pretty big lengths to get us to come here. Sent demons to give us the message."

"Yes," Crowley snapped, "but that was before I knew you had a bloody archangel on your side! I thought they were all dead!"

"What, did I ruin your little trap?" Gabriel asked. "Too bad for you, then."

Crowley opened his mouth to speak when the room shook.

Gabriel glanced around warily, seeing the Winchesters do the same. He hadn't sensed any demons in the building powerful enough to do that, and it hadn't been Crowley.

"What the hell was that?" Dean demanded.

"No," Crowley muttered, seemingly not hearing Dean. "No, not now, they're not supposed to be here yet-"

"Who did you call here?" Sam had gotten an angel blade from somewhere.

"Your worst nightmare," Crowley snapped back. "And they're not going to be happy to see an archangel. Congratulations, we're all dead."

The doors at the other end of the room blasted open.

A figure strode through, eyes locking onto Gabriel and narrowing into black slits.

Gabriel's stomach dropped.

Knight.

Ehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehee...

Review, please?