As a reminder, you can find MORE of this on my SubStar (dot adult slash KajaWilder), it's posted up past chapter 110 there... And if you guys haven't seen an update in at least a week, please let me know! I have a busy life, and I get distracted and forget things. This story(as well as ZpoW and PTaL) are supposed to be updated WEEKLY!

And if you're just interested in discussing things with other readers, of course, you can go to my DISCORD here: h- t_ t_ p-s -: -/ -/ -discord . g-g / N9yDA8t6Cw (taking out hyphens, underscores, and spaces of course).

Note: Sorry it's a bit late, I had a D&D session go quite long and I was too tired to post it last night. ZPoW should still be coming today though. :)

EDIT: OMG. You guys! I had this ready to go last week but forgot to actually apply it to the story, so, really, REALLY, if you think I missed some- say so!

Chap. 80: Blizzard

High overhead, bells began to ring.

As their sound was magically carried to every nook, cranny, and far corner of the school grounds, Harry felt the magic of the castle ripple around him, at a level of force and potency comparable to the waves that had been unleashed when Dumbledore had been dismantling the protections around the Gaunt Hovel.

Hermione, with her head still buried between Luna's legs, winced and cried out in pain, clutching her eyes, "It's too bright!"

Lyra, her half-Japanese throat still convulsing around Harry's dick, immediately popped up off of him with a loud slurp, already shifting into her true form as the Succubus Lilith.

It was a good thing, too, because Harry's own reactions would have seriously hurt him if she'd still been deep-throating him. He jumped sideways off the couch, his hands already pulling up and trying to close his trousers around his still-wet member while, without wand or spell, his wand hovered in front of him in easy reach, and heat-waves began to roil around his left hand even while it fumbled with his belt, "An attack," Harry gasped, "That's the school alarms tripping- we're going into lockdown mode."

Luna proved herself equal to being one of them with the speed she prepared herself too, her wand flicking in the air to levitate herself and Switch her clothes back onto her body in near-perfect arrangement, before following up with Hermione's, and proceeding to conjure a blindfold for the other girl, "Does that help, Hermione?"

Harry stopped half-way to the door, worried about his girlfriend's sight, before she sighed in relief, "Oh, thank Heavens- yes, it does Luna, thank you. That... The magic, it was just- It was very intense, like looking into the sun for a moment."

"Magium Sybbilis can have downsides I suppose," Lilith murmured, her violet-pink eyes shining as she cast them about at the walls and ceiling, "I'm not sensing any particular fear or anger yet, but- wait... there's something... masked? No... I don't know, it's strange, Master. There's emotion there, and definitely of those types, but I can't pinpoint it exactly and it feels... strange."

"Strange in what way?" Luna asked for him as she assisted Hermione to her feet.

Lilith frowned, "I… It's… muted, like the actual intention is hidden behind a mask of deadened emotion. Hermione, I know it'll probably hurt, but can you sense anything strange in the Castle's magic?"

The bookworm pulled her blindfold off for a moment, squinted, winced, then put it back on, "It's still very bright. The magic is protective, I'm sure you're right that it's the school's protective enchantments and wards, but I'm not sure how much use I'll be if I can't see."

"Would some sunglasses help?"

"They might, if they aren't conjured," she replied, allowing Luna to guide her after Lilith and Harry toward the door.

It burst open before they reached it, revealing several worried faces, not least of which was Ginny, who had done the opening itself. She, Pansy, Daphne, Astoria, and Tracey all had their wands drawn, but as Harry entered the common area of the quarters at a rush, the others made way to reveal Ron was at the main door, watching it, instead, "What's going on, Harry?" the ginger asked, "Any idea?"

"No, sorry Ron," Harry answered quickly, then turned to the group at large, "Stay here. Stay safe. I'm going to the Hospital Wing to ask Dumbledore wha-"

He was interrupted by another large peal of the bell, before Professor McGonagall's voice rang through the castle just as loudly, "All students, return to your Dormitories at once. Prefects, return with them, perform a standard roll-call and report to your Head of House. All older year students, that is fifth and above, will assist younger students to safety. The protective enchantments of the School have been breached, and there is a known Dark creature of some sort within the grounds. For your own safety, do not engage the creature if you see it. Flee, and seek help. Teachers, assemble in the Great Hall. I am enacting the Turtle protocol."

"Turtle Protocol," Daphne asked for most of the rest of them, Harry included, "What's that?"

"Don't know," he grunted, "but I'd guess it's a shelter-in-place plan. Full lockdown of the school, based on the magic that just went by, maybe. It's..."

He tried to feel outward, extend his senses as Lilith had shown him how to do during the battle at King's Cross, but he could only get a powerful sense of who was nearby. His more distant friends like Neville, Hannah, and Katie, among others, were blocked by some sort of static field that returned only a hazy non-answer, "It's like there's radio interference, Hermione."

"That makes sense," she murmured, more to herself than to Harry he thought, "It's just another part of the spectrum, so it might well behave the same way- it's why it seems so intense to me, too, I think." With an annoyed hiss, Hermione tore off the blindfold again, then forced her eyes open. They burned and watered, but she kept looking around, and they shone golden as she forced herself to look at the enchantments that were suddenly so much more powerful than she was used to, "Yes... yes, I think that's right. It's a masking charm to keep hostile creatures from finding targets, if I'm right. Which means we're operating somewhat blind, but so is whoever, or whatever, is attacking the school."

"Malfoy?" Pansy asked quietly, "Is he...?"

"I don't think so," Harry shook his head, "I doubt he'd be brave enough to come back to be honest. The Death Eaters, maybe, but Dumbledore seemed confident he had that Vanishing Cabinet thoroughly taken care of. And I don't sense Voldemort around."

Tracey and Daphne flinched, but the two Weasleys, Hermione, and to his surprise Pansy and Luna, did not so much as bat an eye this time when he mentioned the name.

"You might not, Master," Lilith reminded him offhandedly, gesturing at his forehead, "if he's as blocked off as we think. It's also possible that when you retaliated, it burned off the little that remains in your scar."

"That would be bad, then," Hermione added, "because it would mean we can't use that connection to track Voldemort anymore."

Luna had a counter-argument though, "Occam's Razor suggests that it may simply be the wards interfering. Harry is powerful, and wise, but he is not infallible, and he may simply be too inexperienced to make sense of the connection he may still share through the new interference."

"We can argue about it later," Ginny huffed, "Ron and Hermione are supposed to go to the Gryffindor dorms, and count the students. But I'm buggered if I'm letting these four go to the Slytherin dorm!"

Harry wanted to make a joke that Ginny could get buggered whenever she wanted to, and indeed enjoyed it , but felt, somehow, it would be in poor taste, so he simply nodded, "Alright, then. Ginny, use your ability, the sneaky one, and go with Ron and Hermione. Stay with them. Help them out as needed, the Gryffindors will be looking to you three and Neville for leadership. Daphne, Tracey, Pansy, Luna, you're with me."

"Wh- What are we going to do?" Daphne asked, sounding quite as terrified as he might expect. But she, like her girlfriend and his other lovers, had her wand out in a mostly-steady hand.

"We're going to the Great Hall. Dumbledore won't miss out, even injured, so he'll be there. Even if I have to escort him myself. Actually- Lilith, can you take him there, or help him, and we'll meet you ?"

"Absolutely, Master, even if I have to Thrall the Healer."

He shuddered. Madam Pomfrey was nice, but he didn't want to think about the gray-haired woman that way, "Er, only if it's absolutely necessary, please."

"Right. Good thing I got a good lunch just now. I have a feeling this is going to be a long day."

The Slytherin quartet, Luna, and Harry spent a minute more making sure they had a small stock of Hermione's and Pansy's already-brewed first-aid potions, but the Succubus had already phased right through the solid walls despite it taking far more of her own magic than it normally would with the protections in place, and the three Gryffindors dashed down the hallway outside at full speed, one of them completely invisible to the vast majority of the populace.

Then Harry led his group out into the corridors toward the Great Hall, four of the least-likely people he ever would have expected to, one witch younger than even Luna, and to his surprise he found there were few others he would rather have at his back.

Despite the danger he knew he was hurtling toward, despite the danger to the school at large, this time he felt no fear. There was only rock-solid determination not to let Voldemort and his cronies have their way again.

Not this time.

There was chaos outside in the halls. Students ran this way and that, calling out for friends, but at least the majority of the red-and-gold ties and trim were following the direction Ron and Hermione would have taken. Not their usual route to Gryffindor Tower, with the various secret and hidden passageways they had learned courtesy of the Marauders Map, but the public hallways and stairs.

The map which Harry quickly unfolded as he led the way without needing to look up toward the Great Hall. For most of the year, this had been a path he took two or three times a day, and it was as well-worn into his memory as his feet, so he didn't exactly need to keep a head up aside from to keep from running into other people. He spotted Katie first, already on the seventh floor and just about to the Fat Lady. As Quidditch Captain, she held the same status as the prefects in most cases, and as a seventh-year, most of the other Gryffindors would be looking to her anyway. At least, thankfully, he knew his occasional lover had a good head on her shoulders.

Hannah and Neville were, of course, together, and he watched them stay that way until Neville had escorted the Hufflepuff Prefect to her own Common Room, before sprinting on his own up the stairs toward the main hall. No doubt, he would be heading not for the Gryffindors' assigned meeting space, but the Great Hall.

Neville Longbottom, after all, was far from a coward, as he had proven time and again since their first year. Now that he had come into his own, and seen actual battle, the young man was positively fearless. Harry would not have expected him to be at the forefront of the operation to rescue him from the Department of Mysteries last year, but he had been right there alongside Hermione, Ron, and Ginny. Since then, and especially since getting his first Rune-set, the young wizard had come into his own as a mighty spellcaster, and a powerful force to be reckoned with. He had even started assisting other students during the D.A. meetings that occurred where half the castle wasn't hunting down missing girls.

Susan Bones was already in the Hufflepuff Common Room, and he watched the shoes that represented both her and her best friend come together in a powerful embrace before he tore his eyes away. And... yes, there was Dumbledore, as expected, already making his way out of the Infirmary with the Healer close behind, no doubt chastising him with every step. Then Lilith was there... she would take care of it.

Parvati and Lavender were moving from the Great Hall upward... there, they met up with Hermione, Ron, and Ginny. They were as safe as could be, for now.

Padma, Parvati's twin, was already in the Ravenclaw Common Room, that was good. For several seconds as Harry and his entourage moved into one of the more main halls, his eyes swept the worn map for Cho Chang while dodging a rush of Slytherins moving in the other direction in a panic, before remembering that she was gone, killed while trying to rescue him. Dean was no longer at the school, he had never returned after Christmas, and Seamus was dead.

Many nights, Neville was the only one in their dormitory now, if Ron stayed in the quarters. That might explain why Hannah was so rarely in the Hufflepuff dormitories, at least. She was probably keeping her future husband company, all night long, as only people with Stamina Runes could do.

Cassius Warrington and Millicent Bulstrode were at the Slytherin Common Room, but coming out, with the Carrow twins alongside them. They stopped in front of the shoes of a half-dozen Slytherins coming the other direction, led by Corvus Montague. He watched in growing horror as, for a few seconds, the feet shuffled back and forth rapidly. Three of the five quickly became the outlines of bodies instead, while one foot shifted to a knee, and then back as Cassius must have been struck by some spell, but recovered. Then the remaining Slytherin cohort fled, his friends not quite giving chase, because they only followed to the next hallway intersection before changing course toward the Great Hall.

Fools- well he had their names, now. They had known Montague was a true snake for half the term, but actually leading his 'friends' to attack Harry's friends in the halls was a step he would not have expected. Goyle hadn't been among them, which was good for him, because Harry would not be as merciful to that idiot if he put another toe out of line. He sincerely hoped the little bit of camaraderie they had built before Mandy's murder would show the spawn of a Death Eater that their side was not without its rewards or resources, too. More-so, he hoped that the lesson he had taught Gregory Goyle after he had participated in the attack on Pansy and Luna would sink in: Harry Potter no longer had any tolerance for anyone who would attack an innocent person. None at all.

With the main group accounted for, and his growing circle of friends as well, he started looking for more names of interest. Romilda Vane was currently occupying the same space as Luca Caruso, Hermione's Roommate, in the fifth-year girl's dorms. Interesting, but of minor consequence at the moment. No doubt the two had been engaged before the alarms, and wanted to finish since they were close to the Common Rooms anyway.

Fay Dunbar, Luca's best friend and Hermione's last roommate, was dashing down the stairs, almost to the Common Room. Good, good... Demelza Robins was there too, along with Peakes and Coote, the new Beaters this year. And there, Marcus Selwyn. The child of a Death Eater too, but who was fascinated by Hermione's interest in Elf rights, who had gone to the Burrow willingly rather than return to the family home for the Yule holidays.

A good kid, Harry knew, definitely the black sheep of the family, in his third year currently, and just finding out he was more interested in boys than girls, just another reason to not get along with his very traditional family.

Not that Harry cared one whit, the boy was fine as he was. There beside Dennis Creevey, Colin's younger brother, who had sort of taken Marcus under his wing after a bit of advice from Neville. Were the two something more than just friends in different year-groups now? Harry neither knew nor really cared. He was just glad Marcus had someone looking out for him. Colin appeared on the map a moment later, just stepping out of the showers into his dormitory, no doubt hurrying to dry and get dressed.

At least the attack was happening on a weekend, when everyone was scattered about. Whoever was going to get attacked first would be hard-pressed to defend themselves, he thought, but it was better than an entire classroom being annihilated at once.

They were almost there, down one flight of stairs was the Entrance Hall, and from there just a right turn through the great doors. The students were a veritable flood moving in the opposite direction now, so Harry hastily folded the map back up and stuffed it into his robes, before pulling his wand again and hastily conjuring a slide off the banister, then hopping over it, "Fast way down!"

It was even almost fun, dropping nearly an entire floor, some twenty feet in the old castle, past gawking and gaping students who really should have known better, and kept moving. He, at least, had the foresight to stop the slide about two feet above the flagstone floor, so Harry was dropped onto his feet and kept moving at once, his wand up just in case the threat decided to materialize here, simply due to the glut of bodies present.

It was a horrid situation tactically, at least at the moment: this many bodies would be a target-rich environment, and no one could really move or dodge out of the way effectively.

But there was nothing for it at the moment, he could not countermand McGonagall's instructions, and if he were honest, he wouldn't want to right now. That would only add more confusion, and they did need everyone to be accounted for as quickly as possible.

It took him a few moments to fight his way through the throng, and he saw Pansy's black hair on the other side of Daphne's on one side, while the taller girl held both Tracey's and Astoria's hands as she tugged them in her wake out of the corner of his eye. He risked just a moment to glance the other way and take Luna's hand in his empty one, just in case, before diving again into the mass of bodies.

"Professor, we're here to help," Harry shouted as he finally moved through the doorway into the Great Hall at a near-run, accelerating the moment he was clear of the glut of bodies, "Hermione, Ron, and Ginny are herding the Gryffindors, I saw Katie on my map, too. Lyra's helping the Headmaster down here. What can we do?"

"You can go to your dormitories, as instructed," Professor Sprout protested, "I know you're a young hero, Potter, but this is not the time fo-"

"Professor!" he shouted angrily, the hand that had just been holding onto Luna's tearing free and blossoming with violet-red fire, "I am not standing aside, not any more!"

"We need him, Poppy," McGonagall added from the circle of professors around the single, round table left in the center of the hall. The rest had been tilted on their sides, silverware and dishes scattered about haphazardly, to form a barricade two layers deep and five feet high on either side as one entered the door.

Flitwick nodded, "Potter's as good a dueler as anyone in the castle, and his friends are hardly negligent in the art. Have you not seen the results in your Hufflepuffs that attended his lessons this year and last? Their DADA scores are phenomenal."

That was when Harry realized the DADA teacher was missing.

"Where's Sirius?"

"Professor Black went to the second floor, on an errand of import, according to him," McGonagall replied sourly, "He has asked me to inform you that he has a suspicion, and would like you to confirm it for him. Something about pipes?"

Pipes.

Pipes.

"Oh, fuck me," Harry groaned, "Nott! Nott's been in the fucking Chamber of Secrets for months! I- I told Sirius about the Basilisk! Moaning Myrtle's bathroom!"

"That is troublesome indeed," Dumbledore's clear voice rang out from behind him, and Harry was not the only one to turn and find the Headmaster there, almost hanging off Lilith's elbow. He was, perhaps, the only human man Harry had ever met as tall as she was in her true form, and it made him seem even more impressive somehow, despite the sunken appearance of his cheeks and eyes. They were still clear and shining with force as he spoke, however, "That would make us all fools, for not putting it together sooner, but there is little point in berating ourselves now, and it is not like the Chamber of Secrets is the only place in Hogwarts that few can access. Well done, Sirius, Harry. In the meantime: What is your plan, Minerva? How may I assist?"

If anything, having the Headmaster there, yet deferring to her, seemed to unnerve the previously calm, seemingly unflappable Deputy Headmistress, but she still swallowed and launched into a brief explanation.

In the meantime, Harry left the girls there with clear instructions: Follow McGonagall's and Dumbledore's instructions, no matter what they were, but to stay safe above all else. And, if possible, get word to Hermione and Ron about his own plan, which was to go find Sirius and bring him back.

He was not about to lose his Godfather, not now.

In the space of just a few minutes, most of the students had cleared the Entrance Hall, so Harry, with Lilith flying just behind and over his right shoulder, had a much easier time moving through the Castle on their way up to the second floor. Once they reached it, he dashed right, following a corridor he hadn't had common reason to use for at least two full terms, then left again at the second passage. There were still nine students in the hall he spotted at once, most moving toward him in robes with blue and bronze trim.

Myrtle's bathroom, where they had once illegally brewed Polyjuice Potion in his second year, was the sixth door on the right.

It was also a door the first few students were about to pass, and it was wide open, with bright, flashing, multicolored light streaming through it.

"No, stop!" Harry cried, "Don't go past-"

Sirius Black flew through the open doorway, his wand blazing mid-air with his black, silky hair covering his bloody face, to impact the far wall with a thump before he slumped to the floor, still casting, though clearly dazed, "Sirius!"

Four of the five students closest screamed, and all four of the further ones, a bit younger, did the same before the furthest turned back and ran the other way.

Harry moved as quickly as it could, but, as with a nightmare, he felt like he was moving through treacle, or worse.

Everything happened in slow motion.

Snowflakes drifted out through the open loo door, thick and white, despite it being nearly spring, and an unseasonably warm day. A white dusting had even followed Sirius, swirling to blanket his boots just a little.

He saw the woman first. Light gray skin, clad in nothing to conceal her darker gray, almost slate nipples, and a blood-drenched pussy that ran rivulets down her legs. She cackled as she leaped through the open door to land in a three-point stance before turning her head to face Harry and Lilith. Long fangs were bared as she hissed, her red-shining eyes the final proof he needed.

This woman with dark hair, grave-like complexion, and ruined body that should have killed any mortal was the vampire, possibly the one who had exsanguinated the poor couple in Hogsmeade, and maybe Vicky Frobisher.

Two more students ran, while the remaining three stood in panic, far too close for Harry's comfort. They, at least, seemed to be moving a bit faster as the vampire-woman blurred into motion in their direction, her speed completely supernatural and nothing, nothing he came close to matching.

Then it appeared. A hulking monstrosity of form, bipedal but only just, with ape-like limbs that still trailed the ground as it moved, hunched over, a cock as big as Luna's whole body hanging from between its legs, with a wide, snarling, tooth-filled, frog-like mouth that was only the start of the spined horror, with its spike lined arms, back, and legs.

A Slytherin tie still hung from around its disproportionately small neck, barely hanging by a few threads, and a wand, a vaguely familiar wand, sprouted literally from its right hand.

But it was the eyes that Harry found most familiar, though they were not from someone he knew well.

Theodore Nott's eyes, blazing with hatred as the monster moved, faster even than the vampire.

Somehow, even dazed, Sirius leaned to the side just in time, and the ponderously huge fist, as large as his Godfather's whole torso, smashed into the brickwork of the wall just next to him.

Then the battle was on in earnest, as snow drifted serenely in the halls before Harry's eyes.