Prisoner Exchange

Dumbledore was for the first time in a long time, lost for words. Never in all of his years would he have expected the innocent and kind hearted young man he once knew as Harry Potter to put Hogwarts and its students at such a risk. Granted, he had subdued him and taken him prisoner in his office, but still he believed that they would be able to talk it out peacefully, and should all else fail, he would obliviate the boy and set him back to how he once was.

Now however, it was too late. The 'Star Destroyer' as Lord Black called it, was looming over the castle, casting a shadow over the entire area and deafening the residents of Hogwarts with its siren. Turning back to the young man with a look of panic on his bearded face, he strode towards him, his usual calm demeanor forgotten.

"Aries" He began, putting emphasis on the name to ensure the young man that he remembered it. "I implore you, call off your friends. There is no need for violence here! This is a place of learning, not a battlefield!"

Aries for his part simply grinned at the Headmaster. "Don't you think you should have thought about that before attacking me, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore, in his panic, withdrew his wand and pointed it at Aries, who simply widened his grin.

"Really, Dumbledore? You are going to attack me whilst I am unarmed, knowing that I am the only reason that my ship has not turned the castle into molten slag?" He said in an amused voice. He shook his head at the Headmasters' foolishness. "There will be no violence should I be allowed to leave unmolested, Headmaster. To keep me here however would be foolish, and would invite needless bloodshed."

Dumbledore studied Aries through his half moon glasses, a calculative look on his face. "I cannot let you leave my boy. You took the lives of several people today, Death Eaters or not. You are treading a dark path and I refuse to let another Dark Lord rise from the ashes of my mistakes."

Aries scoffed "You speak as if you have a choice in the matter. Not to worry, you shall soon see otherwise." As he finished speaking, his holocommunicator began to bleep from his utility belt. "Now I do believe that General Royce would like to speak with you, Headmaster."

Dumbledore looked slightly confused at the name, not having met this particular Imperial. Taking the holocommunicator from Aries, the young man indicated a button on the side which the Headmaster then pressed, causing the image of General Royce to appear in his immaculate uniform. Plenty of noise and screams could be heard from the Generals side. As if on cue, the General turned and looked at Aries, who nodded at the man, before looking at the Headmaster.

"Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, I presume?" He asked.

The Headmaster nodded. "That is me. And who may I ask, are you?"

The General drew himself to his full height, standing straight and clicking his heels together smartly. "I am General Kori Royce of the Imperial Army, and commanding officer of the 4th Army. Now, I see that you have my Lord as a hostage in your office. I am afraid that I must inform you that the Empire finds this simply unacceptable. Release him at once, and your students and faculty shall be spared."

Albus Dumbledore froze at the words. He had not expected the threat of violence to be doled out so casually, as if it were an everyday occurrence. Clearing his throat, he decided to test the waters, as it were.

"How would you accomplish that, when everyone is safely in the castle?"

The General simply raised a sceptic eyebrow. "Oh really? Did you perhaps forget that a good portion of your faculty and students were still in Hogsmeade after the attack on Lord Black?"

Dumbledore's face paled at that, he had indeed forgotten that fact. He had been so distracted with everything going on and with the actions of Aries that he had forgotten about everyone down in Hogsmeade. He would later learn that they had taken refuge inside the Three Broomsticks during the attack.

As if to emphasise the General's point, the image switched to one of several dozen students grouped in the centre of town, surrounded by the white clad soldiers he had seen at Headquarters, Stormtroopers, he remembered. The General's voice woke him from his thoughts once more.

"You have thirty minutes to release Lord Black unharmed through the main gate of the castle. Should you breach the time limit, a student shall be executed at random every five minutes. Your time starts now, Headmaster Dumbledore." The holocommunicator switched off, leaving only silence in the office. The Headmaster, for his part, stared in abject horror at where the image just disappeared.

Aries on the other hand by now clicked his tongue loudly. "Tick tock Headmaster. The clock is ticking."

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It took ten minutes for Aries to be released and for him to exit the castle, being welcomed by an honour guard of Stormtroopers outside the main gate. Dumbledore had been unwilling to put any of the students at risk and had released Aries more or less right away. Turning back to the castle, Aries cast a Sonorus charm on himself and cleared his throat, ready to speak.

"Attention, students of Hogwarts. I am, for those of you that don't already know, Lord Aries Arcturus Black, formerly known as Harry James Potter. For the short time that we have been back at school, I have met with several of you to discuss possible alliances, business and many other things. I would like to formally invite both those of you I have met, and anyone else who wishes it, to join me. For you see, Wizarding Britain has become stagnant, it is decaying! It is obvious for all to see. I intend to change that, starting today. Join me, and find your place in the Empire, and you shall find power that even Albus Dumbledore could only dream of! For those of you willing and resourceful enough to find your way out of the castle, you shall be found and collected by my men. Think carefully on your decision!" Cancelling the Sonorus charm and turning to the Stormtroopers, he gestured for them to leave, heading down to Hogsmeade.

He had been informed that his forces had taken no casualties except for two stunned troopers, whereas two villagers and an off-duty Auror from Hogsmeade had been killed. He knew now that the cat was out of the bag, and that it wouldn't be long before the entirety of Wizarding Britain would be after him. Not that he particularly cared anymore, considering the forces he had at his disposal. And yet it annoyed him, as he wished to gather more strength before making a move.

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Aries had to admit, he was impressed. He had expected a few of his allies from school to escape to join him, five or six people at most. He had not expected thirty. His wife had already met up with Imperial forces in the area and boarded the Star Destroyer to safety. Josephine Rosier had led out a group of Slytherins including Theodore Nott, Tracey Davis, Blaise Zabini, Lily Moon and most surprisingly of all, Draco Malfoy. Not to mention quite a few fifth and seventh years.

Out of Ravenclaw, Lisa Turpin had brought Terry Boot, Anthony Goldstein and Mandy Brocklehurst, and a few fifth years he did not know.

Unsurprisingly, there were no Gryffindors or Hufflepuffs. He didn't imagine any of them would join him realistically, and if he was completely honest he wasn't all that bothered. In his time back at Hogwarts, he had slowly gone from finding Hermione and Ron irritating to outright loathing them. He could not understand how he put up with them for so long. Whilst he could acknowledge that they had been there for him at times, they had also led him into many situations that could have been avoided in the first place.

After his forces had collected all of the 'escapees', they were quickly herded into transports and brought up to the Star Destroyer, ready to make way back to Jupiter's orbit. Aries smiled to himself. He now had the beginnings of a new Sith Order, just as Lord Kallig had instructed.

As for those who didn't quite cut it… well, they were always in need of Imperial Casters.