Chapter 7

The man stood outside the door, trembling violently. He swallowed hard as he listened to the scratching on the door.

"Sweety," his wife's voice said through the door. "Come on honey, come back to bed. It's cold without you."

"L-L-Luv, I…I'm gonna go to the store and get some m-milk."

"Frank you worthless pile of dung." Her voice had changed, becoming deeper and more feral in an instant. "This is why your troops died in the war. You failed them just like you failed me."

Frank Brice stumbled backwards, his bad leg giving out. He fell to the floor cracking his head on the coffee table. The door behind him flew open. Rolling over, he saw his wife standing above him, her eyes wide and unblinking. As he watched, her eyes changed from their normal brown to red.

"I promise," she said in her new deep voice. "It won't hurt too much."

Frank screamed as she lunged and sank her teeth into his chest. He struggled, but there was no throwing her off. His last thought before consciousness fled was, she lied. It hurt a lot.

**ACC**

Voldemort looked down at the two ruined bodies below him. His ghostly lips twisted in disgust. He knew that surviving the destruction of his body would come with consequences, but he'd never thought of what he'd have to do in order to regain his strength. Sometimes, he wondered if it was worth it. Attacking an infant, killing all those families, and draining the blood and life from two innocent elderly people. Were these the things he'd been reduced to in order to see his dreams come true?

It was true that they were muggles, so their lives were much less important than those of wizards, but they hadn't done anything. This old man had protected his country in the second world war. Was there anything more noble than fighting for one's country? Yet, here he was, lying on the floor, murdered by his possessed wife.

If this was what he was doing to survive, were his dreams worth it?

His eyes drifted to the man's wife. Her face was swollen and purple. Her tongue protruded between her lips and her bloodstained teeth shone in the moonlight coming through the window.

It was a shame that riding muggles drove them mad, but he needed their lives to sustain his connection to this plain. The lives of animals were no longer sufficient.

He was under no illusions. He may have never gone down the path to creating horcruxes, but he wasn't any less of a monster. It was all for the best. What were a few muggle lives when compared to those of magical folk. If left to their own devices, the muggles would destroy everything. It was for the greater good that he restores his body, no matter the cost. Letting out a rattling sigh, he drifted through the ceiling of the house. The old caretaker was merely the first step. The man who left his mother to die would be next.

**ACC**

Auberon gazed at Harry his face giving nothing away. The study where they sat was silent. All Harry could hear was his own breathing. Did Auberon believe him? What happened if he didn't?

"You say that you changed the past?"

Harry nodded. "Yes."

"And someone is trying to cast this curse again?"

Harry nodded again.

Auberon turned to Merlin. "You know more about curses than I do. What would a curse like this look like?"

Merlin frowned. "You're asking what it would take to cast a curse like this?"

Auberon nodded. "Do you have any idea?"

Merlin shook his head. "The curse was originally cast in 1816. I think the timing is significant. Something happened that year that hasn't happened in a long time."

"And that was?"

"The year without a summer," Argante said.

Auberon blinked. "What?"

"There was a volcanic eruption in the mortal world. There was so much ash and debris in the sky that it blocked out the sun and lowered global temperatures for decades."

Harry nodded. "According to the history books, some people died of disease and starvation. Without a summer, they couldn't grow any crops."

"And that was an ingredient in the spell?"

Merlin nodded. "I believe so. Three is a very powerful number. So, a year without a summer would be one, but we'd also need two more ingredients to effect all of humanity and cut off Elfame from the mortal world."

Auberon scratched his head. "Not to mention kill or subjugate all magical creatures left on earth and change history."

"Would there be any way that a person could store the power from events in the past?" Harry asked.

"Instead of channeling it you mean?" Auberon asked.

Harry nodded.

"I'm sure you could use a crystal to store energy, but why?"

"Well, this curse, or whatever it was, it killed a lot of people."

Auberon nodded. "If what you and Argante say is true, it did."

"Well," Harry said ignoring Auberon. "The black death killed a quarter of Europe's population between 1331 and 1353. If someone could have stored all that death energy, they would have an enormous well of power to draw upon."

"The year without a summer would be a global event that affected the entire world," Argante said.

"That's two," Merlin said. The only thing left is an ingredient that would alter history itself."

"It'd be something huge," Thanatos said speaking for the first time. "We're talking about changing reality itself. We know what the power was, we know what the event was, all that's left is something that would reverberate throughout history."

"The easiest ingredient would be a person," Harry said.

Thanatos nodded. "Since this mainly effected magic, it would have to be someone that was important to both wizards and magical creatures. They couldn't kill this significant person when they were a child. They wanted to alter reality and change the past, so whoever this person was would have to die when the spell was cast."

"So," Argante said. "You're saying that the person would have to die in 1816 when the spell was cast?"

Thanatos nodded. "But we don't know who that might be."

Merlin hesitated. "Someone killed me in 1816."

Argante turned to stare at him. "You said you were trapped outside time and space."

"I was," Merlin said defensively. "I just didn't tell you how I got trapped outside time and space."

"Is that where you slept with the eldritch abomination?" Harry asked.

"Tentacles aren't so bad once you get used to them."

"Moving on," Argante said loudly. "If this spell took so much to cast, how did Harry reverse it using the Deathly Hallows?"

"Because" Thanatos began. "Harry was in a very uncertain place. Limbo is neither the living nor the dead. Likewise, Harry was neither of the living nor the dead. Had Harry been alive, the Hallows would have been unable to change the world. As it was, when Harry died, the Hallows followed their new master to where he'd gone. Since he wasn't technically dead, they were able to survive and help break the spell."

"So," Auberon said. "Merlin is still alive, and the event that caused the spell has been long over. Does that mean the curse can't be cast?"

Argante ran her fingers through her hair. "If we could find the crystal or whatever it was, we could destroy it and make sure whoever it was wouldn't have enough power to complete the spell."

Harry shook his head. "A volcanic eruption caused the year without a summer. Couldn't someone trigger another eruption to cause a year without a summer again?"

"No," Merlin said. "When you're dealing with spells that use planetary alignments, position of the stars, and that sort of thing, everything has to happen naturally. If magic is used to cause the event, it won't work."

"Why did killing Merlin complete the spell?" Harry asked. "Merlin may be powerful, but he's not that important." He glanced at his grandfather. "No offense."

Merlin chuckled. "I agree with you. I'm not important enough to cause a change in history."

Argante stared off into space. When she spoke, she started slow, but sped up as she gained more confidence.

"Dad was a pivotal player in magical history. Look how messed up the timeline was in your old world. Dad wasn't born until the ninth century. Morgana wasn't even associated with the fae, but she's still called Le Fay. Dad is trained by the founders of Hogwarts instead of training the founders. King Arthur's reign started three hundred years after it should've."

"Since Avalon was locked, Arthur died at the fall of Camelot," Auberon continued. "What does it matter when Merlin was born?"

"Dad was a powerful muggle-born wizard sorted into Slytherin and Slytherin wanted to get rid of the Muggle-born. Either the historical account was really messed up, or the timeline was skewed."

"Or both," Thanatos said. "Slytherin was said to be all that was wrong with the pureblood culture, but people are more than an ideal or a political affiliation." He looked at Harry. "Did you ever talk to Malfoy or any of the other pureblood traditionalists your own age?"

"We threw insults at each other."

"No," Thanatos said patiently. "Did you ever ask why he felt the way he did about Muggle-born."

"You are saying his hatred of Muggle-born may have been justified?" Argante asked glaring at Thanatos.

"I'm saying that maybe the purebloods had a reason for their animosity. It may not have been a good reason, but in order to solve a problem, you have to find the root cause. You can't just say this is wrong. You have to think and ask why is this the way it is? There are records of muggle-born Ministers of magic, so the Muggle-born were never looked down upon by all of society."

Merlin spoke up. "He's right. Saying all purebloods are bad because they don't like Muggle-born makes the Muggle-born just as bigoted as the purebloods."

"But not all purebloods felt that way," Harry said.

"But enough did for Voldemort to gain a foothold," Thanatos said gently. "Why is that? Racism alone doesn't account for that. There is always a reason for this kind of thing."

"Maybe it's part of the culture," Argante said.

"If it was, you wouldn't have as many half-bloods as you do. No, saying it's part of the culture is too easy."

"Hmm," Merlin hummed. "The muggles did kill and persecute a lot of witches and wizards over the centuries."

"Not to mention all the wizarding Holidays are gone," Argante said. "Instead of Yule and Beltane, there's Christmas and Easter."

"Muggle Holidays," Merlin said.

"Not enough people celebrated those Holidays for that to be a reason,' Thanatos said. "Wizards have celebrated Christmas and Easter for hundreds of years. That's nothing new."

"But the Muggles persecuted wizards centuries ago," Harry said.

"Some people can't let go of the past. The Muggle-born have just as much right to be in the wizarding world as any wizard, but as long as the purebloods hold on to old grievances, a dark lord will be able to rise."

"Maybe, if we can figure out why the Purebloods chose to follow Voldemort, we can undermine him in some way."

"We have gotten off topic," Auberon said. "What do we do about this curse? I do not want to see the world end."

"Nor do I," Thanatos said. "I'll return to the mortal world with these three and see if I can't locate the crystal. Once that is gone, the spell won't be able to be cast."

"I will be sorry to see you go," Auberon said.

Thanatos shrugged. "I've been hiding for too long as it is old friend." He glanced at Harry, Argante, and Merlin. "Besides, I think they can lead me to what's left of my family."

Auberon smiled. "You will always have a home here." He looked at Merlin, Argante, and Harry. "You three to. The Seelie court will always be open to you."

"Thank you," Merlin said quietly.

"When will you leave?" Auberon asked.

"Tomorrow," Argante said. "Harry needs to get back to class."

"And I have history," Harry muttered.

"History is important," Thanatos said. "Those who do not learn from history…"

"Are damned to repeat it," Harry interrupted. "I know, but that ghost is so boring."

"Ghost," Thanatos said, eyes twinkling. "I think I can do something about that."

**ACC**

The figure standing outside the study scowled. Auberon's study was warded too well for them to hear anything. Still, they'd heard a little in the dining hall.

If their curse was broken, that must mean that they'd failed or been thwarted in some way. If only they knew how they were thwarted. No matter, there were things they could do to prepare. If they couldn't cast the curse, a little chaos in the right place would do wonders.

To that end, they needed Voldemort. No one had been able to sew terror and distrust like he could. It was time to check on him and see how he was doing.

**ACC**

Auberon entered his bedchamber an hour later to find Tatiana waiting for him.

"News," she snapped.

"Merlin and the others will be returning to the mortal world tomorrow."

Tatiana sniffed. "Good. Perhaps then you can concentrate on our Autumn."

"Where is she?"

"She has gone to bed. You would have known that if you would have stayed to speak to her."

"I had matters that needed attending to."

"Matters concerning Merlin?"

"And Thanatos. He is leaving with them."

Tatiana paused. "He is a good man," she said quietly. "I hope he can find peace in the mortal world."

"Me to," Auberon said climbing into bed.

Tatiana snuggled into his side. "Once they are gone, we can get back to normal around here."

Auberon frowned at those words. He'd known that she hated Merlin, but he didn't realize how much until now. A single tear ran down his cheek. Would he ever be able to have his family all together without animosity?

Rolling over onto his back, he stared up at the ceiling. It was a long time before he fell asleep.

**ACC**

After breakfast, Harry and the others prepared to walk into town when Auberon stopped them.

"I can create a portal wherever you wish to go."

Merlin nodded. "That would be beneficial. Do you know where my cave is?"

Auberon nodded. "I do. Your dragon is waiting for you."

Merlin blushed. "You know about that?"

Auberon waved a hand. A doorway of light appeared in the air in front of them. Harry could see Merlin's cave through the doorway. He could also see a naked scaled woman lounging on Merlin's sofa.

"Ah," Auberon muttered. "I… err… wasn't expecting that." He coughed awkwardly, his golden eyes twinkling madly. "You'll have to bring her to meet the family soon."

Merlin hurried through the gate with Harry, Argante, and Thanatos close behind. Auberon's voice echoed through the cave.

"Use protection son."

**ACC**

Harry stumbled as he exited the portal. His eyes widened when he saw a scaled arm was wrapped around Merlin.

"Welcome back lover," the soft smoky voice said. "I've been waiting for you."

"I think we should go," Thanatos said as Merlin flushed and glared at A giggling Harry and Argante.

"Do you know the way to Hogwarts?" Argante asked.

Thanatos nodded. "I went there when my sons were at the school several times."

Argante laid a hand on Harry's shoulder. In a swirl of wind, they were gone.

**ACC**

Harry grunted as Luna slammed into him. He felt her wrap her arms around him, squeezing tightly.

"Where have you been?"

"I was in Elfame. How long was I gone?"

"Three days. I have some homework you'll need to do, but you'll have to make up the classwork on your own."

"I'll be taking over some of your training," Lugh said appearing beside them.

"What?" Harry asked, turning to face his father.

Lugh shrugged. "Your mother has done well training you in magic, but you still require training in melee weapons, runes, and archery, just to name a few things."

"And how do you propose to teach me all of that?"

Lugh grinned. "I've been working on a pocket dimension in my office. It will allow us to get a year of training in one day."

"That seems familiar," Luna murmured.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but I can't remember where I've heard of that before."

Lugh laid a hand on Harry's shoulder. He turned to Luna.

"Tell Argante We'll see her tomorrow at…" He glanced at a watch on his right wrist. "Six PM."

In a flash of golden light, Lugh and Harry vanished.

**ACC**

Dumbledore sat bolt upright in his chair as a tall man with white hair and piercing blue eyes appeared in his office.

Without thinking, he drew his wand and pointed it at the intruder.

"Ah," the man said in a low deep voice. "My wand. It has been centuries since I've laid eyes on it. Harry told me you had it."

"Harry?" Dumbledore said. "What does Harry have to do with anything?"

The man waved his hand, a chair appearing in front of Dumbledore's desk. Without asking, he sat down in the chair. Leaning forward, he fixed Dumbledore with his piercing gaze.

"Harry has everything to do with that wand in your hand. Tell me, have you had any trouble out of that wand in the past ten years?"

Dumbledore blinked. "No," he said hesitantly. "It has worked well for me since I took it from Grindelwald."

"Grindelwald," the man said slowly. "Yes, he was a good keeper of that wand. It gained a lot of power from him."

"Who are you?" Dumbledore snapped. "What do you want with my wand."

"The wand does not belong to you. It never has. The wand belongs to my children, the Peverell line. It is time it was returned to its rightful place in my family's keeping."

Dumbledore's hand tightened on the Elder wand. "No," he said fiercely. "I will not allow the wand to fall into the hands of a stranger."

The man sighed. "I am Thanatos, former god of death and creator of the Deathly Hallows." He held out his hand. "Wand," he commanded. "Come to me."

The elder wand jerked out of Dumbledore's hand and nestled into the man's hand like a pet greeting its owner.

Dumbledore gaped at Thanatos. "You… you can't just take the wand."

"I believe I can," Thanatos said calmly as he stood. "Do you have another wand you can use? I would hate to leave you without a way to defend yourself."

Dumbledore shook his head. "I believe I can get a new wand from Olivander. My old wand broke not long after I won the allegiance of the Elder wand."

Thanatos shook his head. "That will not do." He strode over to a perch where a swan-sized bird sat.

"Noble phoenix," he said softly. "May I have a feather to make your companion a wand please?"

Fawkes stared at Thanatos for a minute before allowing a single feather to drop from his tail.

"Thank you," A rod of grey wood appeared in Thanatos's hand. There was a flash of light, and the feather and wood were gone. In their place, Thanatos held a wand around a foot long. A rune shaped like a cup was carved just below the handle. He held out the wand to Dumbledore.

"Blood please."

Dumbledore blinked again. "I beg your pardon?"

"I need your blood to key you to the wand. This is your wand; it shall belong to no one else."

Dumbledore held out his hand. Thanatos pulled out a short silver knife and pricked his finger. As a drop of blood touched the rune, it glowed briefly before fading away.

"Here," Thanatos said as he handed the wand to Dumbledore. "This isn't quite as powerful as the Elder wand, but it shall be far more loyal to you. Hazel and phoenix feather, twelve inches. Use it well."

Dumbledore looked down at his new wand. The handle was carved into the image of a phoenix. Two tiny rubies were set into the handle where the phoenix's eyes would go.

Thanatos turned towards the door. As he pulled the door open, he looked back over his shoulder. His piercing blue eyes stared into Dumbledore's.

"Remember, every man dies. If you truly believe in the hereafter, you must believe you will be judged. I suggest you live your life accordingly."

Without waiting for a response, Thanatos stepped out the door and vanished.

**ACC**

Thanatos appeared in a chamber deep in the Department of mysteries. He walked towards a deus where an ancient stone archway stood.

As he approached, the veil hanging in the arch fluttered as if blown by a strong wind. The ghostly form of a small blond-haired woman stepped out of the arch.

Thanatos's brown eyes widened as he saw her. His breath caught in his throat as she spoke.

"Thanatos," she whispered, her voice drifted to him as if coming from a great distance. "It has been too long since I've seen you, my love."

"Arianwen," Thanatos whispered. "I've missed you."

"It will be time for you to join us soon, but you still have work to do."

Thanatos swallowed. "I know," he said softly. "I need to destroy the Hallows and then I can rest."

"No," Arianwen said drifting closer to him. "The power of the Hallows must be transferred to a host. The power must live, but the artifacts must die."

"Holly," Thanatos said. "She is one of the last of our line, but she is far too young for such a burden to be placed upon her shoulders."

Arianwen laughed softly. "You have gained eloquence while living among the fae. Remember, family is more than blood."

"What do you mean?"

"It is time for me to go," Arianwen said. "We shall see each other again."

"Arianwen wait," Thanatos called. "What are you talking about? Do you mean Harry?"

He hurried forward, reaching for his wife, but she'd already slipped back through the arch. The veil fluttered again before dropping limply against the stone.