Ascend the Shadows

by usmcdevildog

When Tom Riddle successfully merged the British muggle and magical world, he mistakenly created the only problem that could stand in his way... an assassin named Harry and his best friend Davin Drakarn. Rated M for language, adult themes, and lots of violence. No superpowers, no slash, character deaths, and hopefully a lot of good humor.

8. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

...An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind...

~Ghandi

During the massacre of St. Giles church
Dumbledore's hideout
near Shirley Cottage

"My grandfather is alive", Harry asked in astonishment.

"And your grandmother. They will be over joyed to meet you", Dumbledore said with a smile. "If you like, I will send an owl and inform them. Although, in order to visit with them, you will have to get past the American embargo."

Harry remained speechless. He had family, blood relatives. 'Does it change my feelings towards the family I know and grew up with', Harry thought. He looked to Davin, his best friend for years. His brother in arms. 'Nope, it doesn't change a damn thing.' Harry tried to ascertain his feelings to having blood relatives, but he couldn't come up with anything. This new feeling was foreign to him.

Davin understood his friend's pain. He put his hand on Harry's shoulder and patted it in a brotherly way. All the people seated at Dumbledore's table remained silent as Harry came to terms with his emotions. It didn't take long, so Harry carried on with the conversation. "Ok, if you could tell him I'm alive that would be great. We will play the meet and greet by ear", Harry said slowly.

"Of course, Harry", Dumbledore replied in his grandfatherly voice. "For now, is there anything else you can remember or that you would like to share?"

"Not really", Harry said, "the earliest memories I recall, all revolve around training as an assassin."

Minerva looked at Harry, "repressed memories are not uncommon. Continue to look deep within yourself when you use your occlumency. You must have repressed them because you witnessed something too traumatic to cope with at that age. Meditation would help," she suggested.

"Your right of course ma'am, and I will do as you propose at my earliest convenience", Harry said sincerely. "While we are on the topic of the past, how did you become the 'Great Traitor' Mr. Dumbledore? I'm sure what we were told is not what actually happened, judging by your demeanor."

"Yes, well, that is a long story." Dumbledore took a deep breath and launched into his tale. "It started when your mother told me that Tom Riddle was running to be the muggle Prime Minister. As perceptive as she was, she figured out that Riddle used blackmail to get your grandfather to support his campaign. Joseph Evans, your grandfather, was also campaigning to be the muggle Prime Minister at the time. It was not long after my first disastrous meeting with Tom that your parents were killed."

"Your grandparents were inconsolable for weeks. They wouldn't even acknowledge our presence at the funeral and refused every visit we requested", Dumbledore said as he waved his arms to Sirius, Remus, and Minerva. "After a month or so, I was finally able to gain audience and your grandfather confided the details of the blackmail to me. The stuffed golden snitch that you remember was taken from you and shown to him as a warning. As a child, you never parted from that toy and he knew it. That is why he dropped out of the campaign race and supported Riddle."

"So my grandparents are non-magical," Harry asked.

"Correct, Harry. Joseph and Rose Evans are your mother's parents. Your grandfather was a very devout servant of Great Britain. One of the few who truly cared about his countrymen. That's why his support of Tom Riddle had every politician in wonder. After the election, Joseph and his wife left the country and has, till this day, remained anonymous. Your father's parents were both magical, but unfortunately passed away while James attended Hogwarts."

"Ok, so what happened between the you and Tom?"

"After he graduated from Hogwarts with full honors, he sort of disappeared. Until your mother said his name, I confess that I assumed that he was dead. After the first failed meeting with him, where he basically tossed me around his office, I contacted some friends and had them do a little investigation work for me."

"From what I had gathered at the time, Tom had been busy manipulating businesses, industries, and world leaders to amass incredible wealth. Being a magical, I became highly suspicious of his appointment as muggle Prime Minister and knew that it was only a matter of time before he set his sights on the magical world. When he did, I immediately ran against him in fear of a tyranny. The obstacle I had to overcome was his limitless wealth and his persuasive powers on the masses. Everything he did was planned with surgical precision."

Of course, Harry knew most of the history. So far, other than the story about his grandparents, he had learned nothing knew. But he found himself in rapt attention to Dumbledore's story. People always loved when the underdog wins the day, but in reality...the underdog was sitting in front of him.

"My only hope of stopping Riddle's ascension to Minister of Magic was getting behind the old traditionalists that favored blood purity and nobility." Dumbledore continued. "Even though I didn't support their views, quite appalled by them actually, I relied on their support to keep Riddle away. Once again, I failed." Dumbledore thought about that era in time and breathed deeply. "We all lost someone during that period. Lily and James, Minerva's sister, Gideon and Fabian Prewett. I don't have concrete proof of the Prewett brothers deaths though, only suspicions. They were found mutilated in a parking garage near a campaign rally. Splinching accident, they say."

Harry's eyes widened, his heart rate quickened, 'OH SHIT! If I confess, will they still let us go or will they imprison us', Harry thought. 'I did want I was assigned to do.' Dumbledore continued to talk about the campaign and how he was always a step behind the new Emperor. After a minute, the astute old man picked up on Harry's lack of attention.

"Forgive me, Harry, but are you alright," the old man asked, "you lost all color in the face my boy."

Harry briefly looked into Dumbledore's eyes and looked down again. He tried thinking of the possible scenarios that would happen if he did or did not reveal his secret. He looked to Davin and mentally sent a "be ready" to him.

Harry cleared his throat, and with trepidation in his voice, he spoke without meeting anyone's eyes. "You must understand, that when we are assigned a task, we rarely get any background information. Our Father determines if we get that information and sometimes tells us how to do the assignment. Refusing an assignment is not an option if we want to live. I'm sure Davin has told you why he carries those scars and can not speak."

When nobody answered, Harry continued, "Davin had his tongue cut out when we were kids and was tortured for months because he made too much noise during a training exercise. So imagine what would happen if we refused a task..."

"I didn't know their names, only their faces and what my objectives were." Harry finally looked around and met Dumbledore's and Mr. Weasley's eyes. He didn't have to confirm what they had already assumed, but Harry put it in words anyway, "I killed Gideon and Fabian. They were my first of countless tasks that I had to complete."

Harry waited for the room to go into an uproar. He waited for wands to be drawn and spells cast in anger. For what seemed like hours, Davin and Harry waited on pins and needles for a reaction. But none came. Surprisingly, Dumbledore and Arthur actually thanked Harry for telling them. Harry could see the pity and sorrow in each of the occupants eyes. But he had long past the feeling of guilt for the murders he had completed. He accepted having his victim's faces haunt him as penance for his crimes.

Ginny and Bill Weasley did not take the news as well as Arthur. Not only were Gideon and Fabian their favorite uncles, but they couldn't get past the fact that Harry murdered them. "Why are you thanking him", Ginny screeched and broke down into tears.

"What you did to them...I seen their bodies...you don't deserve to be standing here", Bill said angrily.

"Your probably right", Harry said solemnly, "I've pray for forgiveness every time I return home. But like I said, if I wanted to live I had to do as I was told. No exceptions. No excuses. And failure is not an option. If we ran...we would be hunted down and most likely mutilated before they slit our throats. This is the life we live", Harry looked into Ginny Weasley's tear soaked eyes, "there wasn't any sunshine and kittens for us growing up sweetheart. Only training, death, and more training."

The others at the table started to say their opinions but before the decibel level opened up to say anything incriminating, Harry hollered over top of them, "THIS mission is the exception. Our little fight outside only went that way because I wanted to make contact...peacefully if possible. The only reason why we are even having this conversation is out of MY own curiosity to a lost identity. My orders are to kill you," Harry said looking at Dumbledore, "and any who collaborate with you."

Harry calmed himself and raked his hands through his jet black hair, "look, this is new for me...for us," he motioned at Davin. "All of the people we train and live with are orphans...or have been orphaned. We all secretly wish to know our real parents but we suppress it because it doesn't do us any good to dwell on the past. Sirius...I don't know, he seemed too sincere when we met in his office. Right from the start, he made me believe he knew who I was and it peaked my interest."

Taking a deep breath, Harry looked around the room, "If it is any consolation to you, they put up a good fight. They didn't suffer from the wounds that you seen, I had to do that afterwards to simulate the splinching accident", Harry said looking at Bill. "I puked for about an hour before I went back home."

The occupants in the room remained quiet for a moment. Some remembering their lost loved ones. Others, like Dumbledore, Minerva, and surprisingly Lillian, were feeling pity for Harry and Davin.

"I'm sorry you had to endure this life Harry...and Davin." Dumbledore's eyes had a sheen to them while Arthur Weasley had tears running down his face. Arthur looked to Harry, "I know that was hard to admit, and I thank you."

Harry nodded his head and asked Dumbledore to continue with his story. "After Riddle became the muggle and magical leader of Britain, I asked the International Convention of Wizards to intercede. The world hates Britain because Tom went through with merging the two worlds without their consent. Immediately international trade stalled, leaving or entering our country was prohibited, and then the Americans began blockading our oceans. I assisted in gathering information for a few task groups to reclaim Britain and it failed. My associates and I were labeled traitors and we went into hiding."

"And your group ended up splitting because of idealistic differences...",Harry interjected. When Dumbledore looked surprised, Harry continued, "I know because most of them became rapists and thugs." Dumbledore seen a white flash in Harry's eyes as he spoke in his deadliest voice, "I hate rapists and thugs."

Dumbledore, unnerved, cleared his throat, "yes, well...we were met with hard times and they lost their way. I would like to guess that living as a criminal for so long they ended up seeing themselves as criminals. From there they spiraled down a path that we", Dumbledore gestured to those around him, " could NOT follow".

" So, we remained underground, so to speak, and just moved on with our lives. We were fortunate enough to find this abandoned mansion to claim as our home. Been here ever since."

The group talked hours later about their countries recent history, training, and nonsensical topics. Eventually, a late night snack and wine was passed around while the conversation turned to lighter topics...like little Harry as a toddler.

Minerva spoke up after laughter from a previous joke winded down, "I remember one day at Hogwarts, your father was attempting to change your nappy in your mother's office." The aging professor giggled slightly and tried to give a description of the typical Hogwarts classrooms. "Professors have an office up a small staircase within the classroom. I sat in on your mother's class as an assistant to show the seventh year students some advanced charms magic. Well, during the class we hear furniture being turned over and your father yelling your name to 'come here'. I went up to see what the issue was and watched your father chase you down. After he caught you and cleaned you up...", Minerva started laughing, "you jumped up and ran out of the office starkers." The table started laughing thinking that the story was over, but the old professor kept going. "You ran down the steps and ran right past the class so fast that everybody did a double take."

"Your father ran past me telling your mother that he had everything under control as he ran out to catch you. Your mother dismissed the class and ran after your father. It was about time to dismiss them anyway for lunch. Anyhow, They almost caught you on a staircase within Hogwarts that moves on it's own. They were stuck waiting for it to return while you continued to the great hall."

Dumbledore stopped laughing enough to take the story over, "I was seated at my normal spot at the professor's table watching small groups students pour in for lunch. The next thing I knew, I heard this child's voice singing. When I looked up, Harry was stark naked dancing and singing, 'you can dance if you want too, you can leave your friends behind'." Dumbledore lost it and laughed until tears formed at the corners of his eyes. The other members of the table followed suit.

Sirius elaborated on the background history saying that his grandfather showed him a movie called Bio-Dome that had the actors dancing and singing the same song. For a short while, it was Harry's favorite movie.

Harry was slightly red in the face by the end of the story. The wine had loosened him up a little bit. When everybody was still laughing at the story, Harry felt a slight mental pull and a strange feeling within himself. Looking internally, Harry recalled the feelings involved in Minerva's story. He pushed further hoping to learn about his childhood. Fleeting images passed blearily through Harry's eyes. He seen images of his father, a younger Sirius, and then his mother. Harry grabbed hold of the memory with everything he had, as he did so, it was as if the flood gates were opened.

Within seconds, Harry recalled running naked around Hogwarts. He remembered his father and Sirius playing games with him near a giant lake. He remembered his mother kissing him on the cheek and telling him that she loved him. Harry embraced that memory and held it.

Davin noticed that his friend stopped laughing and looked at his direction. He became a little concerned when he seen tears roll down Harry's cheek. Davin patted his friend on his back which drew the attention of the others.

Lilliana, watched as Harry appeared to come to terms with his parents deaths. Admittedly, she was perturbed at the dark haired assassin for easily beating her in their duel. But as the night went on, and she talked (mentally) to Davin, and later heard Harry's story, she began to feel sorry for him. For both of them. For some reason, she felt a little nervous around Harry. Not from physical harm, but from infatuation. She berated herself constantly during the night when she caught herself staring at him. When he wasn't talking about fighting, Harry's green eyes had a mischievous gleam to them. His smile made her weak in the knees. She caught her mother's gaze more than once and knew she had been caught 'drooling' over him.

But now, she worried for him. Davin patted his friend in a brotherly way but Harry didn't respond. The air within the room became thick with magic. The hairs on the back of her neck started to raise up in warning. Her father jumped out of chair and swiftly walked over to Harry. He told the other occupants to leave quickly in case he couldn't bring Harry back. 'Back from what', she thought leaving the room with her mother.

As they passed the threshold of the room, a static-like discharge cracked in the air, 'accidental magic', Liliana thought.

Harry fell out of his chair and laid on the floor as the mental block he applied to his own memories unraveled. He laid on his back staring at the ceiling as Dumbledore and Davin tried to check him over. But Harry didn't realize it, a traumatizing memory took hold and it wouldn't let him go. He laid transfixed on the image of his father and relived the night his parents were murdered.

********oooo********

The glow from a nearby fireplace illuminated his father's face. The office, now known to Harry as his mother's office, was basking in the warmth of the fire. James had just finished tickling and wrestling with Harry when he walked through the shadows to retrieve another toy. They had been having fun all day with uncle Siri until he left for the night. Harry remembered smiling at his father's back in anticipation.

In the background, he heard his mother tell James that it was coming up on Harry's bedtime. "Yes dear", he called back to her. Harry knew that he wouldn't listen though, his father would continue to play until his mother laid down the law. Harry heard a quiet 'toot too' from an animated train his father rolled to him. James used his wand to propel the toy around Harry prompting him to giggle and attempt to catch it. When Harry's hand hit the end of the caboose, it stopped and turned into a teddy bear.

Harry giggled uncontrollably as the stuffed bear danced around him. Harry's mother hollered again at James to put the baby to bed, but they were both having so much fun. Lily watched them from the bedroom with a warm smile on her face. She loved watching her boys play, but it was getting late. She started walking towards them as the teddy bear was transfigured into a balloon that slowly ascended to the ceiling.

Harry watched the balloon rise in the air, he absentmindedly heard his mother's footsteps coming when the balloon silently exploded into multicolored sparks of light. Harry clapped at his father's finale while the fireworks settled down on the floor around him. But something caught Harry's eye at the corner of the ceiling. A shadow loomed there, it was difficult to decipher as it moved beside his father.

James felt the presence, he lunged through a shadowed part of the room to protect his son. His senses on high alert as he felt a stinging sensation on his throat turn to blinding pain. Instinctively, he put his hand across his neck and seen blood spurt on the floor in front of Harry. 'Harry!' He couldn't make it to his son, he couldn't move, dizziness took over and he collapsed on the floor.

Lily screamed when James fell. She seen her husband's blood already soaking the floor around him. She screamed his name and prayed to God that he would be ok. Though she knew it wouldn't be. Harry was crying in the distance. She knelt down and looked into James' eyes as the lights within them started fading . He pointed to a spot in the shadows. Then his head rolled away from her lifelessly.

Lily jumped up and pulled out her wand. She cast spell after spell incoherently at any shadow that caught her eye. Her aim was off due to adrenaline and agony of her beloved's death. She cast revealing spells, stunning spells, and cutting spells while spinning around and tracking the shadow. Her eyes caught movement in her peripheral vision, 'got you now you bastard', she snarled in her head. She moved her wand towards the intruder, a devastating curse on her lips, when she heard a menacing buzzing noise coming towards her. Almost like a giant hornet buzzing straight at her.

Then she felt it. Four cold objects pierced her chest, but she didn't feel any pain. She stood stock still as her blood flowed down her blouse and trickled onto her trainers. A million thoughts ran through her head as her body started getting cold. Harry's life was at the forefront of her mind. Tears clouded her vision as she thought of her only son.

Speaking of little Harry, he had walked over and buried himself at her thigh. She looked down at him as her body failed her. She dropped to the floor next to her husband, her eyes still looking at Harry until she passed away.

Distraught, Harry screamed for his parents as their murderer advanced on him. Harry felt a light stinging sensation on his skin. So consumed with anguish, he didn't notice the man come out of the shadows and peer down at him. Harry screamed for his parents to wake up and shook their dead bodies to comply. Harry kept trying to wake them and finally looked around for help; only he caught sight of the perpetrator.

Harry, the non-memory version of Harry, looked into the man's face as it poked out of the shadows. Harry knew this man. He should, the man that killed his parents had also raised him. He taught him how to manipulate the shadows to remain unseen. He taught him how to do battle magic, throw knives, fight hand to hand, and weapons fighting. It was Father Jacobs.

Harry's memory ended when his toddler version screamed in rage at the person that hurt his mother and father. The last he remembered was a rising pressure within himself that was violently unleashed.

********oooo********

Dumbledore and Davin were still hovering over Harry as he became aware of his surroundings again. His heart was beating in his chest so hard that it hurt. Sweat poured off his face and soaked his clothes. He brought up his right hand and noticed it was shaking as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Are you alright Harry. What happened", Dumbledore asked.

Harry didn't answer him. Thoughts were still invading his mind, only not as vivid. Davin became even more concerned for his friend when he started whispering to himself. "He killed them. How could he? Why didn't he tell me? Why keep me alive?" Harry questioned everything he knew about his mentor, Father Jacobs.

Then, like being doused with a bucket of cold water, rage took over. Dumbledore and Davin were zapped when Harry's accidental magic started flowing off of him in waves. They jumped back when Harry swiped at their hands and stood up. He looked at Davin, his bright green eyes were clouded with fury, "I'll going to kill him." Harry turned away and headed towards the door simultaneously summoning his weapons and wand.

Davin looked helplessly at Dumbledore and started to follow Harry out of the dining room. Before he could leave, Dumbledore grabbed Davin's shoulder, "Davin, I just wanted you to know that you have friends here. If something happens, apparate to the clearing the portkey took you. Please bring him back", Dumbledore implored Davin.

Davin nodded his head and quickly left to catch up with his friend. He opened his mind and tried to communicate with Harry, "where are we going?" He wasn't sure if he got through to him, Harry's mind felt like a violent hurricane of madness. He was able to decipher that they were going to attack Father Jacobs. He wasn't so sure on the killing part, I mean, Davin knew they were good. But...he didn't think they were that good.

Lilliana ran up to them and asked what was going on. Harry didn't even look her way, he was too determined to get out of Dumbledore's wards and murder his mentor. That left Davin to open a connection to her, "we are going home for a min. Don't worry, I'm sure we will be back soon." Davin tried to be optimistic, but he knew Lilliana picked up on his worry.

"Do you need help or anything?"

"No it's best if you stay here, I'm sure we will be back", Davin told her.

Lilliana slowed her pace and wished them luck. She hollered out for them to be careful as they both apparated back home.

********oooo********

Harry and Davin knew something was wrong as soon as they appeared from their apparition. They were bounced back several hundred yards due to the anti-apparition charm from Riddle's ward casters. The whole area near their home was lit up by the flashing lights of emergency vehicles. Instinctively, they ducked down in the darkness and assessed the scene. Police, rescue, and fire vehicles cluttered the streets and road sides. A misty fog suffocated the surrounding field combined with a burning smell that stung their nose.

'What in the holy fuck', Harry thought. His previous thoughts of murder and vengeance wiped from his mind. His only thoughts were of his home. From their position, they couldn't really tell what had happened. "Stick to the shadows", Harry whispered, "let's move up to the castle."

Davin nodded. They took off in a crouched run, alert for anybody that might spot them. They ran up to the houses near the castle and jumped the waist high wall. When they got to the crumbling castle, Davin cast a levitating charm on Harry so he could ascend to the top. In return, Harry preformed the same charm on Davin.

They walked to the edge and peered at where their home used to be. Their eyes widened in shock at the destruction. Other than the lack of their church, the dead bodies that littered the ground astounded them. Smoke still poured out of the crypt entrance as fire crews steadily poured water into it. Aurors and other members of the Department of Defense either patrolled the area or maintained crowd control.

Harry took note of the weaponry and uniforms some of the people wore. "SpecOps and Aurors, mate. We missed something big", Harry whispered. "We need more information, stand guard up here and I'll ask around in that crowd over there", Harry pointed to the street.

Davin assisted Harry off the castle wall and watched him silently move up to a crowd watching the scene. Davin kept an eye on Harry as well as for any possible survivors on the battlefield. As medical personnel took bodies off the field, he tried to determine who they were. He wept as they took them away. His family, his whole life was destroyed…and he was watching the aftermath.

Harry silently crept up and started to mingle with the crowd. He caught a few comments about the Earth shaking for almost half an hour. He wormed his way to the front and asked a gossipy looking woman what had happened.

"Oh my, it was awful. The Emperor himself uncovered a hideout full of traitors that were plotting on blowing up half of England." The woman laid out her story of the events. Harry suspected that she had told it at least twenty times and didn't appear to tire from it. She told him how there were several explosions, and the ground rattling, and the property damage around the area. She said that the Emperor was going to make a statement soon about the incident.

She looked away for a moment to look back at the scene, still chattering away. Harry used the moment to walk back into the crowd and disappear by the time she looked back at where he used to be. He walked a little ways away and ducked into a shadow to cast a disillusionment spell. Harry went back into the field and slowly crept along the road and watched as a lone Auror was walking his way.

Waiting for the right moment, Harry snatched the man off his path from behind, pulled his head back and put a knife under his chin. "I shouldn't have to tell you to keep quiet, right", Harry whispered in the Auror's ear.

The man nodded his head in acknowledgment. "Are there any survivors," Harry asked.

The Auror hesitantly shook his head 'no'. The knife to the Auror's throat sagged a fraction of an inch. Harry couldn't believe that everybody he had ever known had been killed. "How", Harry croaked out, unable to keep the emotion out of his voice.

The Auror whispered, "the Emperor blew up the church and then sent Fiendfyre inside the compound. A group came out onto the field but they were cut down. The Emperor made sure that there was no where to go."

"Where are they taking the bodies?"

"The Emperor had them sent to a casualty collection point to identify them. It's not far, a rock quarry a few miles East... on the right side of the road. Please, don't kill me. I won't say anything", the man pleaded.

Harry, distraught by the death of his adoptive family (even if it was a forced adoption), started pressing the knife further into the man's throat. "No...you won't say a damn thing", Harry half whispered, half sobbed. The Auror tried to struggle as Harry's knife penetrated deep from under the chin to the back of man's skull. When the blade didn't go any farther, Harry twisted it for good measure.

Harry used a Locomotor spell and raised the body above grass level to transport it back to Bowes Castle. Once at the far wall, he used wandless magic to move the man's arms and legs to resemble a crucifixion and cast a Petrificus Totalis on him. Then he carved the Emperor a message on the Auror's chest before he attached him to the wall.

Davin climbed down from his lookout in time to see Harry pointing his wand at the crucified Auror. Davin was going to ask why Harry killed the man when blood started seeping out of the body and coated the wall. After a second, Harry had the bodily fluid form into a heart and cross that ran the length of the body.

Davin read the message that was carved into the Auror and realized what Harry was doing. He was declaring war on the Emperor. Harry had used the Auror's body and blood to paint their symbol, the symbol of the assassins, to let Tom know that there were survivors. And they were coming.

When Harry turned to him, Davin opened the link, "we could have easily just walked away. They think we are all dead."

"They burnt them alive brother. Then mowed them down with fucking machine guns." Harry took a deep calming breath. "Your right, we could have just left. I came here to kill Jacobs anyway. But I fully expected to be judged by our brothers and sisters for killing him. They slaughtered our family...even if we were taken from our birth parents, we still grew up and bled together. This", Harry pointed to the battlefield, "deserves retribution. Are you with me, brother?"

"You know I am", Davin said instantly.

They grabbed each others forearms in silent resolution. "They took the bodies to that small quarry down the road, let's get them back and bring them to the medical tent we set up."

Together, they left the aging castle and apparated to a field overlooking the small quarry. Flood lights and tents were set up with rows of cots under them. Doctors and medical staff went to and fro cleaning and identifying dead bodies. Aurors were stationed at the road entrance while several SpecOps members patrolled the area.

Harry and Davin watched the bustle of activity and tried to find a pattern for them to exploit. They didn't want to kill the medical staff, but the others were fair game. In total, they had about fifteen combatants they had to deal with and an equal numbers of non-combatants. Harry kept tabs on the pair of roving solders and decided to deal with them first.

"Alright, looks like we can take out the roving teams pretty quickly. Then we'll get the road guards. While I do that, make some portkeys out of rope. We will tie them to the body bags or whatever and send our people out", Harry decided.

Davin nodded and pointed at two SpecOps teams indicating that he would take them out. Harry moved out to intercept the others.

'For special forces, they sure act like newbie security guards', Harry thought. He watched as the SpecOps teams walked the perimeter with perfect distance between each team. Looking down into the semi circle gorge, Davin set up on one side while Harry positioned himself on the other. Both cast silencing charms on themselves and used a charm to obscure their silhouette.

Harry transfigured two knives from his needle laden wristband and watched as the closest team walked past his elevated position. When they were far enough, he took off at a sprint and launched into the air. His timing was perfect as he soared towards the unsuspecting solders below in the quarry. Harry let his momentum drive his knives deep into the base of the their neck's. The guards instantly fell face first since Harry had used them to break his fall.

Harry pulled out his knives and stabbed the solders on the side of their neck's to ensure death. Without pausing, he took off at the next group fifty yards ahead of him. Within seconds, Harry had run up and taken them out the same way as the first group. Again, he took off and came upon the last group. He seen Davin sprinting towards them as well. Fifteen feet from their targets, Harry opened his mind, "take the left", he instructed.

Just as Harry plunged his blade into another solder's spine, propelling them forward, Davin stuck the other man in his jugular and had landed the opposite way. The sentries were taken out with such precision and timing that it even surprised Harry. If only a little bit, they knew they were bad asses after all.

The two assassins nodded to each other before starting their next task. Harry melted into the shadows and approached the road guards. They were grouped together laughing and joking with each other in front of their pitiful looking vehicle gate. 'Hell, we could have shot the others and these assholes wouldn't have even known', Harry thought.

Harry brought out his kusarigama and released the sickle-like blade with the a press of a button. The chain was unsnapped and disregarded so it wouldn't make noise as he moved. He wouldn't need it anyway, this was going to be quick and easy. He then wordlessly summoned four needles from his wrist band and wandlessly transfigured them into his black kunai knives.

Ready to fight, Harry took off at a full sprint towards the white vehicle gate. He jumped and threw the throwing knives with his left hand at the unsuspecting group. To maintain fluidity, Harry spun with the force of the throw as he jumped off the gate. Three guards caught a knife to the neck while the forth knife found it's way into an eyeball. The spray of blood distracted the unharmed guard long enough for Harry to come out of his spin and use his right arm to back hand him. The kusarigama penetrated his skull with a sickening 'smack'.

Harry left the kusarigama embedded in the man's skull as he turned to deal with the guard that, amazingly enough, was still standing with the knife in his eye. He planned on hitting the knife farther into the guys brain only to realize that the man in question was already slowly falling onto his back. Dead. 'Fuck I'm good', Harry thought.

He retrieved his kusarigama and canceled the transfiguration on the knives. After cleaning the blade with a guard's shirt, he sheathed his weapon and took out his wand. Silently, he moved the bodies into the ditch before going back to Davin.

His friend had several pieces of long rope laid out. As Harry walked up, Davin had just finished casting the spell to turn them into portkeys. 'Ready to get the rest', Harry asked telepathically.

When Davin nodded his head in affirmative, Harry laid out the plan. "There are five medical people per tent, so what I'm going to do is distract the furthest group while we simultaneously hit the other two with stunners." Again, Davin nodded 'ok'.

They moved closer to their targets as Harry cast a spell to conjure a giant python. The twenty foot long snake was mentally instructed to go to the furthest tent and scare the shit out of somebody. While it was slithering in the dark, the two assassins picked the order of their targets. Then, they waited for the scream.

Instead of a girly shriek, they heard a manly "holy shit" along with metal trays falling. The diversion worked perfectly. The assassins sprinted out of the darkness and cast Stupefy spells in rapid succession. Doctors and nurses from two of the tents dropped to the ground unconscious before they knew what hit them. By the time Harry reached the third tent, Davin had taken out two of the nurses.

"Kevin", a third nurse yelled just before Harry dropped her. Her scream alerted the remaining two medical staff to Harry's position. Their eyes grew wide with horror right before Harry's stunning spell hit them as well.

"That's all of them", Harry said looking around. His eyes met Davin's and they both smiled in triumph. Unfortunately, it was short lived. The pair just so happened to be standing around the corpse of their leader, Father Jacobs. Harry instantly felt mixed emotions about the man. The fact that he was most likely his parents murderer infuriated Harry. But looking at the wounds his mentor had suffered...Harry felt something else. He looked at the scorched skin on the Father's left arm that licked the cheeks of his face. Numerous gashes of all sizes and depth. A broken forearm, countless abrasions and of course the eight inch diameter hole in his chest.

Harry noticed a lump sitting near his mentor's head. Upon further inspection, Harry realized that it was Jacobs' heart. Sickened, saddened, and still generally pissed off, Harry allowed himself to be sucked into the whirlwind of emotions. Harry didn't know if he should still be mad at Jacobs or save it for Riddle. Both had taken away his parental figures. Either way, Harry felt cheated.

Davin shook Harry out of his reverie and handed him a rope, 'work now, mourn later', he said. Without any acknowledgment, Harry got to work tying the rope around the body bags or body parts of his fallen brothers and sisters. When it was done, Davin returned to Harry, 'ready to go?'

"Not yet", Harry said. "Go ahead and I'll catch up. I'm going to leave our Emperor another message."

'We're not splitting up, I'll help.'

"Ok", Harry relented. "Start bringing the guards bodies over to that clearing."

For twenty minutes, Harry and Davin crucified all of the guards bodies and arranged the poles from the medical tents into the shape of a crucifix. They magically tied up the medical personnel to each other by their left hand and foot and positioned them in the shape of a heart. The giant human assassins emblem was completed when Harry turned the ground within the heart dark red.

Afterwards, the last of the assassins each bowed their heads, "Forgive us Maker for we have sinned in the name of vengeance." Then they grabbed hold to the ends of the rope they turned into portkeys and prepared to leave. Davin left first taking half of the casualties while Harry cast a fire suppression charm around the area where the helpless medical staff were laid. Before initiating the portkey, he set fire to all three tents to alert the authorities. 'Game on', Harry thought.

********oooo********

Davin and Harry arrived at their medical station that they set up the day before they found Dumbledore. They didn't expect to use it but they never thought the area would end up being the final resting place of their brothers and sisters. Row upon row of rocky mounds of pale yellow rock set up in a traditional military fashion. Only, there was one headstone that rested in the middle of the formation instead of many.

Harry transfigured a stone to resemble the assassin emblem, complete with a dark red ruby, and inscribed Father Jacobs' name to it. Underneath, Harry also added "Death stalks us all from the shadows."

While Davin fixed the medical tent to sleep in, Harry continued to stand in front of his mentor's grave. Thoughts went through his mind a mile a minute. 'Why train me, why didn't he just kill me? Why show me his most guarded secrets', Harry thought. Round and around, Harry couldn't come up with a reason for his life to be spared other than for irony's sake.

Davin startled him out of his thoughts when he felt his friends hand grip his shoulder.'You know, he favored you the most out of any of us. Drove us all barmy', Davin chuckled nostalgically. 'Come to think of it, I remember we asked about his last mission. I remember the look on his face, I took it as shame since he said that he failed it. But...since your revelation, I think it was remorse. I don't think he meant to kill your parents. That kind of explains why he took you under his wing and taught you more than he did the rest of us. I believe that he felt like... he owed it to you...for taking that life away from you.'

Harry felt the tears involuntarily squeeze out of his eyes and slide down his cheeks. Davin's insight struck a nerve. Come to think of it, Harry also noticed that look of remorse when he asked about the Father's last mission. He took away one life, Harry Potter's life, and replaced it with another the best he could. Harry didn't hear Davin walk away to give his companion privacy. For what seemed like hours, he just stood there in front of the headstone and mourned for the man he thought of as a father figure.

Exhausted, both physically and mentally, Harry walked back to the makeshift camp that Davin set up for them. The sun was starting to peak over the horizon, 'It's been a helluva day', Harry thought. Before entering the tent, Harry had a final touch to add to the grave site. He pointed his wand in the grass and concentrated. White lilies sprouted from within the mounds of his brothers and sisters in the shape of their emblem. A lone red rose stood in the center to signify the ruby.

With the sunrise saturating the area with warm colors, Harry couldn't help but to admire the beauty of his friends final resting place. Satisfied with the send off, Harry finally laid down and fell asleep.