I don't own anything from Harry Potter, or the DC universe.

Hello guys, Badger here. Back again with a new chapter. Now, I need to admit, this chapter was supposed to be published, a week or two ago. However, a lot of things had delayed my writing time, like art commissions and just life in general. Also minor writers block in trying to make the chapter flow naturally.

However, it's now done. There's quite a lot that goes on in this chapter. And I think you may enjoy it, but I'll wait for you to decide that. You know the drill. Read on, enjoy and I will see you, at the end.

…

Chapter 6

All Work And No Play Makes Harry A Dull Boy

…

Hidden from the rest of the Wizarding World, the frail form of Voldemort sat, his bony and brittle fingers stroking his loyal snake, Nagini, as she coiled around him protectively, sensing her Masters discomfort. Voldemort had felt a cold feeling of dread fill his entire being and, though he would never admit it to anyone, he felt afraid. Though he couldn't explain why. It was like a cold and dark shadow started looming over him, full of the vilest magic he had ever felt.

His fear only proved to be justified, when Pettigrew, the useless whelp that he was, had been able to acquire the latest edition of the Daily Prophet, and had shown the Dark Lord the front page. What Voldemort had seen and read, both interested and worried him. The Minister of Magic dead. And in such a brutal fashion too, with his body strung up like a puppet for all to see. He was impressed that someone had taken out one of Wizarding Britains most influential figureheads, but what worried him, was who done it. The Dark Lord knew that none of his Death Eaters could've done it. As incompetent as some of them were, they weren't stupid enough to pull off a stunt like this, without direct orders from the Dark Lord himself.

No. It seems a third party had flipped the chess table. The Dark Lord couldn't be sure who they were, or what their intentions were. But what he did know, was that they were a threat, and he was going to make sure that they were wiped out.

…

Harry stretched his limbs as he left the Chamber of Secrets, stepping back into the girl's bathroom. He took a moment to look around and make sure no one was around, before closing the entrance to the Chamber once again, sealing it away. He didn't want anyone else to know about it, let alone find it. The secrets held in that place was for him to discover. And only him. Once the Chamber closed once again, with a small thud, Harry left the room girls bathroom, a manic grin on his face, feeling giddy, as he looked upon the ring of Salazar Slytherin himself, upon his finger. The power he could feel irradiating off the ring, was intoxicating.

After speaking with Salazar, Harry agreed to go back to the Chamber, the next day, to start Harry's training. With the First Task getting closer and closer, it was best to get started straight away and, Harry was certain that the training he received from Zatanna when he was growing up, wouldn't be enough this time around. Plus, he was eager to learn everything he could from Salazar. He could only imagine the amount of knowledge the man had, and Harry was going to squeeze every last drop out of him. Though, of course, if Salazar was going to honour his part of the deal, then Harry was going to have to honour his. Salazar had shown disdain for what his House had become. Even more so, when the man informed Harry that Voldemort, Salazar's previous apprentice had broken his promise on restoring Slytherin House to its former glory, and made the name of Slytherin sink even lower then it was before, on his own quest for power.

If Harry was to learn from Salazar, then Harry was to do what Voldemort failed to do, bring Slytherin House back to its former glory.

The task itself, seemed like a big task, but if Harry was to learn and exploit Salazar's knowledge for his own gains, then honouring the man's wishes was a mere price to repay. Even if it isn't in the way Salazar would be hoping for. However, with such a big task, Harry was going to need some help. Perhaps he could form his own band of merry men, like Mr J. There was plenty of people to choose from, within the school. Harry was certain that, after some observation, he'll pick out the right ones.

Turning around the corner, still distracted by the ring on his finger, Harry found himself bumping into someone, causing him to stumble back a little bit. He looked up to see two girls standing there. Both of them were identical in every way, the same height, same hairstyle, same body shape, same eye colour, same everything. Even their freckles were in the exact same places as one another. It was like Harry was seeing double. The two girls dusted themselves off, before looking up at Harry, tilting their head as they gazed at him, both with an emotionless expression. They even moved in the same way. And in sync too. As Harry looked at the two, he felt like he was looking at the Grady Sisters from The Shining. Harry remembered watching the movie with Mr J. It was one of Mr J's favourites. And if there was a physical manifestation of those sisters, in the real world, it would be these two girls in front of him.

"My sincerest apologies, my ladies, I wasn't looking at where I was going…" Harry said, bowing in an exaggerated manner

"It's okay…" The girl on the left said

"We weren't paying attention either…" The girl on the right continued

"You're Harry Potter, aren't you?" They finished, in unison, as they stopped tilting their heads, their expression still emotionless.

Both girls spoke in a small monotone voice, making Harry think even more about the Grady Sisters. It was chilling Harry, right down to the bone. And he loved it. Perhaps these girls could be the first of his group. Perhaps.

"So, you've heard of me?" Harry asked, putting his hands in his pockets, as he gave them a smile

"The whole of Wizarding Britain has heard of you, everyone has been quite abuzz when it was revealed that you were still alive…" The girl on the right said

"After you were sorted into Slytherin, me and my sister have wondered how long it will be until we all crossed paths…" The girl on the left finished

"So you've been watching me?" Harry asked, smiling, "My, my…keeping tabs on me and I don't even know your names…"

"We apologise for our rudeness…" The girl on the left said, "I am Hestia Carrow…"

"And I am Flora Carrow…" The girl on the right added, "And yes, we've been watching you, you aren't what we were expecting…"

"We can sense something about you that…intrigues us…" Hestia finished

"Until we meet again, Harry Potter…" The two said in unison

Harry watched, as the girls turned on their heel and walked away, walking in a steady and elegant stride. Even their walk was identical. Harry felt an energy from those girls, unlike any other he had felt before. They intrigued him, just as much as he intrigued them. He was definitely going to keep an eye on those girls, during his time, at Hogwarts. If their energy was anything to go by, they could be useful allies, in his quest to learn and exploit everything he can within the castle, and to restore Slytherin back to its former glory.

Plus, Harry thought the two girls were quite cute in a creepy Grady Sisters sort of way.

…

Across the country, Lucius Malfoy was alone within Malfoy Manor. He was sat within his study, growing paler by the second, as he read through the Daily Prophet. The image of Cornelius Fudge being strung up as if he was a puppet, on the front page, was something that will be burned within his memory for a long time. The thought of whoever or whatever would do such a thing, for the public to see, scared him. He knew it couldn't be any of the Dark Lords, Death Eaters and most trusted followers. As incompetent as some were known to be, like Crabbe and Goyle Senior, Lucius knew that even they wouldn't do something so stupid and risk enraging the Dark Lord.

And speaking of the Dark Lord.

Lucius pulled down his sleeve and looked at the Dark Mark that plagued his forearm. Over the last couple of months, it had become darker and started to burn a little. Lucius knew that meant only one thing. The Dark Lord was still alive, and it wouldn't be long until he returned. That both excited and terrified, the Malfoy Patriarch. It excited him as, when the Dark Lord did return in his full glory, the war will inevitably start up all over again. A war that the Dark Lord will, certainly, win, with any and all filthy Mud-Bloods, Half-Bloods, Half Breeds, and anything that wasn't a Pure-Blooded witch or wizard, will either be executed or enslaved for their Pure-Blood masters and superiors.

However, the possibility of the Dark Lord also terrified him, as Lucius was worried about the Dark Lord learning about Lucius' failure regarding the Chamber of Secrets. Several years ago, before the Dark Lords downfall, Lucius had been entrusted with keeping one of the Dark Lords most prized possessions. Lucius, initially, had been thrilled to be trusted with such a task. That was, until Lucius had been given a mere diary. Lucius had been confused and disappointed even further, when he opened the diary to see that the pages were blank. His disappointment however, flipped, when he ran some diagnostic charms on the diary and discovered it was full of the darkest and most vile magic, Lucius had ever felt. When the Malfoy Patriarch then asked about it, the Dark Lord merely said it was the key to opening the Chamber of Secrets and nothing else. The Dark Lord had also been clear in his instructions, to only smuggle the diary into Hogwarts, if it was absolutely necessary.

After Quirrell's failed attempt to get the Philosophers Stone, to try and bring back their fallen Master, Lucius devised a plan to smuggle the diary into the castle, by planting it on Ginny Weasley, to shift the blame onto Arthur and the Weasley family as a whole, for the opening of the Chamber. However, even though the Weasley girl had died, Lucius' plan had failed as Dumbledore had put a stop to it and destroying the diary in the process. To this day, investigations on who the true culprit for the opening of the Chamber of Secrets and Ginny Weasley's death was still going. Lucius had tried to stay out of the Ministry's radar, though he knew that he was definitely on the suspects list, from the many visits from the Ministry. If the Dark Lord learnt of Lucius' failure and the destruction of one of his prized possessions, Lucius could only imagine the punishment he was going to receive. The Dark Lord hated many things, and failure was one of them. Lucius would be lucky if he would be spared. He'd rather take the pain of the Cruciatus Curse, then be executed as if he was some kind of sick animal.

Lucius' train of thought was soon interrupted, when the sound of manic laughter echoed across the halls of Malfoy Manor, bouncing off the walls. The sudden sound, caused Lucius to look up from his desk, jumping slightly, in shock and fright. He wasn't sure who it was, or if it was just his imagination, but there was something about the laughter, that chilled him right down to the bone. More so than Bellatrix LeStrange's deranged cackling.

"Is…is someone there?!" Lucius demanded, trying to squash his fear

Silence.

Lucius stood up from his desk, removing his wand from his cane, with a shaky hand, as he approached his office door, that led out into the many corridors of Malfoy Manor. Lucius wasn't expecting any visitors. And he knew it wasn't his wife, as she was out for the day and it couldn't be his son, as he was at school. Unless Draco had done something foolish, to have him suspended. But Lucius doubted it. No. Someone must have, somehow broken into the Manor and Lucius was going to take care of the intruder, whoever they were. Though, admittedly, the chilling laugh he had heard mere seconds ago, had shook him more then he initially thought, as Lucius' hand was shaking as he grabbed the door handle.

Swallowing his nerves down, once again, Lucius quickly opened the door and raised his wand, the Cruciatus Curse on the tip of his tongue. However, he stopped short of uttering the spell, when he was met with nothing except a dark, and empty corridor. Lucius had then cast a quick "Revelio", to see if anyone was hiding under some kind of Disillusionment Charm, though the results were negative. The corridor was indeed empty, as well as the rest of the Manor, without so much as a mere mouse hiding in the shadows. Lucius let out a small sigh of relief, lowering his wand, as he put a hand to his head. Must've just been his imagination. He has been working nonstop, without a break, all day.

"Just my mind, playing tricks on me…" He muttered to himself.

However, at that moment, Lucius found himself being lifted up into the air, his wrists and ankles enveloped in some kind of jets of magical red light, causing him to drop his wand which clattered to the ground. He tried to fight against the magic, only for it to then envelop his neck, squeezing his throat slightly, making him gasp for air, unable to breathe properly. The magic then stopped squeezing his throat, allowing him to breathe again, when he heard the same bone chilling laughter, behind him. Lucius then found himself being spun around, where he saw someone sat at his desk, in his chair.

It was a man, with skin as white as snow, with a red smile painted haphazardly across his mouth from cheek to cheek and his wild hair was a bright and ominous green, reminding Lucius of the Killing Curse. He seemed to be shirtless, giving Lucius a view of his sickly thin body, hidden under a deep purple leather trench coat. The man's eyes shined with insanity, more so then Bellatrix, as he looked at Lucius. Stood beside him was a young woman, with bright blonde hair, styled into twin pigtails, with one side painted red, the other painted black, just like the rest of her outfit. Her skin was equally as white as the male currently sitting in Lucius' chair, and her eyes was cold with fury.

"Who are you freaks?!" Lucius demanded, "You're trespassing on private property, and if you don't let me go and leave, I'll…"

"Now, now, now…" Joker interrupted with a manic, toothy grin, the magic around Lucius' neck squeezing his throat again, cutting the Malfoy Patriarch off, "That's no way to talk to your lovely guests…especially with the position you're in…"

"Who are you people?" Lucius demanded again, in a less forceful tone, knowing he can't fight back in his current state, "And how did you get into my Manor…it's private property, there's no way you could've gotten passed the wards…"

"The 'Who' doesn't matter, as it doesn't concern you…" Joker replied, grinning, "As for the 'How', that's all thanks to a lovely friend of ours…you did a good job Sparkles…"

Lucius watched as a third person stepped out from the shadows of his office. It was a woman. Her eyes were a bright blue, and her attractive and youthful face was framed by thick and wavy, jet-black hair which went down to her elbows. Unlike the other two strangers sat at Lucius' desk, she was dressed smarter and more proper, with a white corset vest and bow tie, topped with a black tuxedo jacket which nearly reached the floor and a black top hat on top of her head. Instead of trousers, or a skirt, she wore black fishnet tights on her legs, with knee high, heeled boots to finish off her look. The woman's right hand was glowing with the same red magic, currently restraining Lucius.

As the Malfoy Patriarch looked upon the woman, he couldn't help but feel like she was familiar. Like he had seen her before. For some reason, the woman reminded her of one of his fellow Slytherin classmates, when he was a student in Hogwarts. The student had been suspended from the school during her Fourth Year, for allegedly being caught red handed, engaging in magical practices deemed forbidden, not only by the Hogwarts Algorithm, but by the Ministry itself. However, whatever those practices were, was never revealed.

"I told you, not to call me that, clown face!" The woman replied, glaring at Joker, angry at being called 'Sparkles'

"Oh, Zatanna darling, don't be like that…" Joker said, "Can't you take a joke?"

"I don't share your sense of humour" Zatanna scoffed, before looking at Lucius, "So, this is the person you were looking for?"

"Yes, Lucius Malfoy, exactly like the file said…" Harley spoke up, a letter that had been addressed to Lucius in her hand, though she kept glaring at Lucius

"You were looking for me?" Lucius asked, in confusion, before glaring at them, "I don't care why, but if you're going to demand things from me, I'm not giving it to you, whatever it is!"

"No matter…" Joker shrugged, uncaringly, "We can always look for the various other members of the Board of Governors, gladly given to us, by your dear Minister…may he rest in peace…"

"The Minister…" Lucius said, paling slightly, "You're the one that…murdered him?"

A wicked and sinister smile spread across Jokers lips, a toothy grin going from ear to ear, as he looked at the Malfoy Patriarch, his blue eyes big and wide with deranged insanity and glee, as he picked up the Daily Prophet on Lucius' desk, looking upon the picture of the deceased Minister of Magic, with pride.

"Did you like my little art display?" Joker asked, laughing, "I always take pride in my work, just like any other successful artist…so, unless you want to join the rest of my masterpieces, you will do exactly as I say…"

"What is it, that you want?" Lucius asked, fearfully

"Simple…you're part of the Board of Governors…meaning you can easily access Hogwarts Castle and get passed its, so called, wards…" Joker replied, "Well…we want to get inside…they have someone of ours, and we want them back…by force if necessary…and in the meantime, we want to use your lovely Manor as our base of operations whilst we're in Britain…"

Lucius wanted to refuse. He didn't want to help the freaks currently in his office. However, he wasn't in a position to do such a thing. The woman, Zatanna, was currently restraining him and keeping him in the air, with some kind of wandless magic, that he had never seen before. And the insane, clown faced man sat at Lucius' desk, was the one responsible for Cornelius Fudges' murder and, the freak had already elaborated that he wasn't opposed to doing the same thing to Lucius, if he refused to help.

"Fine…" Lucius said, through gritted teeth, "I'll help you freaks…"

"Good…I'm glad we came to an agreement…" Joker grinned, leaning back in Lucius' seat, "Zatanna, darling, please take our guest somewhere safe and secure in our lovely Manor and keep them there, until we're ready to make our move…"

Zatanna said nothing, merely nodding, as she left the office ignoring Lucius' protesting comments, as he was led out of the room, still hovering in the air. Harley continued glaring at the Malfoy Patriarchs hovering form, until both he and Zatanna had disappeared completely from view.

"I don't like him…" She said, "Do we really need him, Mr J?"

"He is one of the few people who can get us into Hogwarts, Harley dear" Joker replied, before grinning at her, "However, once we've got our little Raven back again, he will no longer be needed, and I'll give you the honour of executing him…"

"Really?" Harley squealed excitedly, hugging the Joker tightly, "You're the best, Mr J!"

"Anything for you, my dear Harley" Joker laughed, "And don't worry, we will get our Raven back…even if we have to reduce the castle itself to rubble, we will get him back!"

…

Delores Umbridge grumbled to herself, as she paced back and forth in her home. She had snuck a peek at the current votes for the upcoming election for the new Minister of Magic. And things weren't in her favour. Scrimgeour was winning by a landslide. She couldn't allow that. She was the right person to run the Ministry and Wizarding Britain. As much as she admired Cornelius Fudge, he wasn't competent enough for the job. As distressing as his murder was, something that was undergoing investigation, Umbridge saw it was a silver lining. This was her chance for her to become Minister and turn Wizarding Britain into the way it should be. Pure-Blooded. No disgusting Half-Bloods, Mud-Bloods, Beasts or Half-Breeds roaming the country like a plague.

Not under her rule. Once she became Minister, she will do anything possible to have any Beasts of Half-Breeds either imprisoned or exiled from the country. As for any Half-Bloods and Mud-Bloods. They will be enslaved to serve their Pure-Blooded masters. Be it for labour, domestic servitude, or even sexual pleasure, as long as they were enslaved and not plaguing Wizarding Britain, Umbridge didn't care how they were forced to serve their Pure-Blooded masters.

However, the only thing stopping her plans was Rufus Scrimgeour. The man was a well-respected member of the Wizengamot, due to his past as an Auror, battling and locking up Dark Wizards and Death Eaters. She couldn't have someone like him become Minister. She needed to remove him completely. If Scrimgeour was to suddenly have an accident and, unfortunately, pass away, as Umbridge as the only other runner-up in the elections, she will win the election by default. It was only a question as to how. The Ministry wasn't stupid. If Scrimgeour was to be masterly murdered, they will no doubt investigate Umbridge, for suspicion of foul play within the election. She needed to be smart.

She couldn't risk staging an accident somewhere, as it was possible it could go wrong, or she could be spotted. After much thinking, poison was her only other option. But, she couldn't just use any poison. Most poisons were easily traceable, as it remained in the persons bloodstream even after death. If she was to pull this off, she was going to need to use a rare untraceable poison. She just needed to find out where she could obtain it. And there was only one place she could start looking.

Knockturn Alley.

…

And that is Chapter 6 done. What did you think?

Now, I must admit, I don't like how the section with Harry meeting the Carrow sisters ended. I couldn't think of a natural way to end it, so I apologise if it's a little janky or abrupt. I hope to make up for this with their future appearances. And yes, the title of the chapter is supposed to be a reference to The Shining. As Jack Nicholson was the main character in the The Shining, and also played Joker in the 1989 Batman film, I thought it would be fun to place Shining references, in the chapter.

Also, we had the first appearance of Zatanna in this chapter. If you remember, in either chapter 1 or 2 there was a one off comment of Harry being trained by Zatanna. Now, I didn't know much about the character, when starting this story. When researching her, I read that she was a hero, but had done many villainous acts, so decided to make her a villain for this story, acting as a mentor for Harry. However, after recently replaying Injustice 2, I was reminded of Enchantress, and now I wish I could replace Zatanna with Enchantress, but it's too late with what I have already planned. However, I do have ideas to include Enchantress, so look out for her in the future.

Anyway, like I said, a lot goes on in this chapter. Voldemort and Lucius learning about Fudge's murder. Harry meeting the Carrow Twins. Joker taking over Malfoy Manor to use as his headquarters. Umbridge planning to kill Scrimgeour, to take over as Minister of Magic. So much being built up. How is it all going to play out? Well, you'll just have to wait and see.

But that is all for now. I hope you enjoyed and I will see you next time, in whatever story I see you in.

Badger Out.

…