January 6th, 2012, Headmaster's office, Hogwarts, Scotland, 10:00 PM BST

"So, that's what happened." I said after giving Dumbledore an edited version of what happened in the chamber. I left out a lot of stuff, and since Draco had been unconscious, there was no one to contradict me.

Dumbledore steepled his fingers, looking over his half-moon glasses at me. I felt a bit of scrabbling at my evil piece, but it stopped pretty quickly when it didn't produce results. Legilimency didn't work on me. Finally, he sighed and nodded. "I suppose that will have to do. You're sure the image told you its name was Tom Riddle?"

"Yup. Kind of a pretentious dick." I didn't mention Voldemort at all. I was sure he knew they were one and the same, but there was no way for him to know I knew. The fragment of Voldemort had been young, and I somehow doubted he'd been advertising his secret villain name when in school. "Why? Do you know him?"

The games might be unnecessary, but despite his help to me last summer, I didn't trust Dumbledore. I liked him fine, but I got this nagging feeling that he would sell me up the river in a second if he thought it was best.

In a way, it was similar to the reason I initially avoided Hermione. Dumbledore valued his ideals above everything, even people he liked.

For the life of me I couldn't say WHY I felt like that. He'd always been pretty decent to me, but some of his actions in the past just rubbed me the wrong way. I would work with him when needed, but I absolutely wouldn't give Albus Dumbledore any of my secrets, especially not ones that could harm my peerage.

"I knew him once." The headmaster said with a sigh. "Though perhaps not as well as I thought. I saw the skeleton of the basilisk in the chamber. How did you manage to slay it?"

I shrugged. "It was old, slow. I cut it apart with my cutting curses. I have you to thank for that. Why? Are you mad I took the materials? My mom seemed pretty certain finders keepers would apply in a scenario like this. I asked her about it because I've run into creatures in the wild before."

He stared at me impassively. I knew he was suspicious, but one of the main benefits of just leaving the bones of the thing was that he couldn't tell its condition before the battle. That basilisk had been down there a long time, based on a bit of research, longer than any other basilisk anyone had recorded. He had no way to prove it wasn't approaching the end of its lifespan.

"Very well." He said after a moment. "Then we shall move on to less depressing topics. With the chamber sealed the school is no longer in danger, and classes may resume. However, I've recently had a meeting with your teacher, and he had an idea he wanted me to run by you."

It seemed like kind of a non sequitur, but I was hardly going to complain about a subject change. Flitwick's class wasn't exactly tough for me lately, so I doubted my mentor had anything bad to say. "Oh?" I asked. "Did he have some kind of problem with my work?" I wanted him to hurry up and tell me, maybe Dumbledore was going to offer more lessons. I wouldn't turn down some training.

"Quite the contrary." Dumbledore said cheerfully. "He's been singing your praises constantly in our faculty meetings. Recently, he approached me with an idea. I'd been mulling it over, but given everything happening in the school it seemed an inopportune time."

His former somber countenance was gone, and I was reminded of one of the reasons I found it hard to trust him. After saying that last bit, he went silent, waiting for me to react and pry into his idea so he would have the initiative. Good intentions or not, Dumbledore could lie like a rug, and was more than a little manipulative. Still, I couldn't say I wasn't interested, so I played along, asking him the question he wanted me to ask. "What kind of opportunity?"

"Well, as you may be aware," Dumbledore said brightly. "Filius is one of the foremost Charms masters in the world. What you may NOT know, is that this reputation comes mainly from his time as a world champion duellist. Though he is quite skilled in all manners of Charms work, he is not a dedicated enchanter."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "I've found him to be plenty capable of instructing us. I've learned a lot from him."

"Of course, dear boy." Dumbledore chuckled. "Filius is a fine teacher, no one is disputing that, least of all the man himself. He simply raised a possibility I hadn't considered. We are currently in talks with several countries for an…event, to take place in a couple of years. I can't tell you much about that, but one of the countries we've been communicating with is france.

"The french magical academy Beauxbatons, is home to one of the most talented enchanting mistresses on the planet. Amelie Lacroix. Madame Lacroix is the youngest enchanter to achieve mastery in the last thousand years, having attained her certification shortly before her graduation from the academy."

I blinked at him. "You want to send me to france?"

"We do." He said bluntly. "An exchange with Beauxbatons will be supremely helpful in furthering our relations with the french ministry. Your presence there will serve to facilitate better communication, and your talents at enchanting will bring pride and honor to Hogwarts." His eyes twinkled. "If it is any motivation, there are numerous lovely young ladies at Beuaxbatons, in fact, they're famed for it."

I snorted. "I'm having enough trouble juggling the three I've got, thanks. But I can't deny the chance to skip ahead and learn enchanting from a reputable master is pretty enticing. When would I leave?"

"Immediately." He said. "We're right on the edge of the second term, which is an optimal time for you to relocate. In consideration of your circumstances, we've even arranged for the Misses Greengrass and Bones to accompany you. I know how fond you are of the two of them, and their political acumen may be invaluable when you are abroad."

That…that was really fucking suspicious. On the face of it he was making a nice gesture, but in reality, I couldn't imagine anything that would get my hackles up more than involving my girls. He was going through too much trouble to get me to leave.

He wanted me out of the castle for some reason. It might be the chamber stuff, but this would have taken time to set up. He'd been putting this in motion before then. Probably over the break. And the only thing of note that happened just before then…was me connecting with Harry. Why Dumbledore would CARE if I was getting to know Harry was anyone's guess, but I had the feeling I'd hit the nail on the head.

Of course, that didn't mean anything to me. I would still go, because it was a good opportunity. My peerage could keep an eye out for Harry, and for Stori along with him. Blaise would monitor them up close and I'd put Val to work tailing them.

It wasn't that I thought Dumbledore would hurt them. He was a good man and a decent headmaster from what I'd seen, even if he wore too many hats. But I was suspicious of his desire to get me away from the boy who lived. Harry was family now, and Dumbledore's 'ends justify the means' mindset could do a lot of damage.

His order had also been active in the events surrounding the possible upcoming war with the church of the faceless, and he was alive back in the day during the war. I made a mental note to have Skulduggery dig into some of his dealings. The skeleton detective would be perfect for unearthing any potential secrets.

We chatted for a bit about travel arrangements, and then I got up to leave. Before I exited though, Dumbledore called out to me. "Mr. Black." I stopped at the top of the staircase leading out of his office. He had a somber expression again. "You can always approach me with any concerns you have." He said seriously. "You're a talented young man with a great deal of potential."

Thanking him, I assured the headmaster I would reach out if I had problems, then headed back into the castle. Once I was back in the halls, I beelined for the dungeons, where Daphne and Val waited anxiously outside the Slytherin common room. When she saw me, Daphne let out a relieved breath.

"We were getting worried." She said in an embarrassed tone. "You'd been gone for a while. What did the headmaster want?"

We entered the common room, and the girls followed me to my room, where Seras and Suzie were waiting. I grinned at them. "Honestly, the way you all hover you'd think he was going to cut my head off. I'm fine. I didn't mention anything devil related, I gave him the story we agreed on and we talked about something else."

"I told them it was silly." Suzie beamed. "Professor Dumbledore is a good man. You were never in any danger."

I didn't mention my suspicions about him isolating Harry, as ill formed and nebulous as they were. I just nodded with a smile. "I wasn't. In fact, he actually offered me a unique opportunity." I told them about france, about Beauxbatons and the enchanting mistress I would be training under, and then I told them they'd be coming with.

Suzie squealed, hurling herself into my arms. "That's so ROMANTIC!' She said excitedly. "We're going to france together. Where is Beauxbatons? Is it in Paris? I bet it's in Paris."

"I have no idea." I admitted. "We're taking a portkey. But maybe. I'm kind of excited to find out where it is too." I turned to Daphne with a grin. "How about you, are you excited for a little vacation?"

She sniffed loftily. "I quite enjoy the parisian shops. If it is in Paris I'll be very excited. I'm looking forward to it."

Letting go of me, Suzie darted over and put her arms around Daphne, nuzzling her face into the blonde's neck. "Oh don't be so shy. It's alright to be happy you know. I like it when you're open with your emotions. You're so cute when you're honest."

"Suzie." Daphne hissed, turning the color of our girlfriend's hair. "Not in front of the others!"

Val snorted. "Please, like we don't all know red is tapping you like a pony keg. Seras and I aren't purebloods. We don't care who's buttering your muffin, as Ryan would say."

Seras nodded. "She's right. I think you're cute together. Though you pay far too much attention to those sweater puppies she's got coming in. Makes me worry for my virtue." She winked at her fellow blonde, who got even redder.

"Ah yes." I said sagely. "Because you wouldn't want to sully your reputation with a same sex flirtation. You have to maintain the sanctity of the necromantic tentacle gangbangs I put you through." At her horrified expression, I just grinned. "What? If you're going to tease you're going to GET teased."

Val shot her an amused look. "Damn Knockers, I didn't think you had it in you. But I guess you did. You had it in you a whole bunch of times."

"Alright." I said with a laugh. "No dogpiling on Seras." I was trying to include her a bit more in our relationship dynamic, but I didn't want to actually upset her. My Queen just snickered, but dropped it as directed. Seras and Val left a little while later. The rest of the night was just Daphne and Suzie telling me everything they knew about Paris, despite us not even being sure we were going there. It was pretty relaxing.

January 7th, 2012, Slytherin Dorms, Hogwarts, Scotland, 10:00 AM BST

"This is your fault." Growled Daphne as she stalked past me, shoving a bulging bag into my hands. "You told us we were going to france, you didn't say we only had a day to get ready? What about my clothes? What am I going to wear? They'll all think I'm some uncultured swine."

I grimaced helpless at Suzie, who we'd teleported down to Daphne's room to help her get ready. "Can you talk sense to her? She doesn't NEED bags. We can literally reach through a portal and grab any item of clothing she wants. This is an entirely pointless exercise." Suzie just giggled, rolling her eyes a bit.

"I have to pack!" Snapped Daphne. "If I don't bring bags, how will I explain any of my outfits? I could say I bought them there, but then France will get credit for all my cutest styles, and how will that make the rest of British society look?"

Rolling my eyes, I sighed. "I don't CARE how it makes British society look. I'm only technically a member. As are you, since you're a DEVIL now."

She sniffed. "Being an infernal creature of darkness does not wipe away good breeding. I'm packing all my best outfits, and that's final. Besides, I can use teleportation to drop them at home and refill the bags with new clothes. Did your mother tell you how much she managed to get for the Basilisk corpse?"

"Seven hundred fifty thousand." I said with a grin. "It's still in process, mostly, but that venom was just as priceless as she mentioned. That was where most of the cash came from. That and the fangs. The meat she's keeping in reserve for now like we discussed."

Added to my current capital I was approaching a million galleons. It wasn't exactly as much as the Black Vault (which was valued at five million and change not counting the artifacts) but it catapulted my net worth up past about 80% of the noble wizarding families. I had no clue who my mom had sold it all too, but I was duly impressed.

"That's wonderful!" Daphne squealed excitedly, so overwhelmingly cheerful I was stunned into silence. "Suzie and I can go shopping when we get to Paris."

I threw my hands up. "What happened to representing British society?"

"I can still represent British society." She said with exasperation. "I'll just save the new outfits for when I get home. Honestly, it's like you don't even know me." Despite her sharp words, she was practically glowing with happiness as she skipped back to her bed and started rifling through a pile of clothes.

This wasn't a complete shock to me, I remembered how horny she'd gotten after the meeting with the various secret societies. We'd just made a shit load of money and secured positions as basically ambassadors to an allied country. This was Daphne's version of heaven, and she would obviously want to celebrate.

Watching her bolt over into her closet (she'd teleported all her stuff over after I'd expanded her room) she tossed another bag across the room, letting it drop onto the bed with a thump on the side opposite Suzie. I plopped down next to her. "She's excited." I pointed out.

"She is." My redhead beamed. "She feels like she'll be useful to you on this trip. Not just politically. She's going to help you shine, play arm candy. You know how grateful she feels to you, and how outstripped by the others. I'm not really a threat, because of her feelings for me and because I'm pretty normal, but seeing how strong Val was…"

I rolled my eyes, pecking her on the lips. "Normal isn't how I would describe you, and it isn't how she would either. But I know she gets insecure. It was one of the reasons I accepted this little trip to begin with."

"Plus the training." She pointed out with a giggle.

I shrugged. "Well sure, I said one of the reasons. How about you? Are you really as excited about this as she is?"

"For different reasons." She beamed. "I'm excited to spend time with the people I love most in a romantic place. To have you and Daphne all to myself for a whole few months." Her face crumpled. "Not that I don't love spending time with everyone else, but I want-"

I placed a hand over where she'd started wringing hers in her lap. "Ok Saint Bones." I joked. "You can put away the cat-o-nine tails. Implying you want some alone time with your loved ones doesn't make you awful. We're excited too. I hope we all room together, but if not you know Daph and I will be sneaking into your bed most nights."

"Except the ones you spend with Seras." She commanded. "She's part of this too, and I know you said you're going to make an effort. This trip isn't an excuse to skimp on that. She needs us."

"I know." I sighed loudly. "I'm only starting to realize how much. I brought her to the castle and I've been basically ignoring her outside her combat role. Which is what I think she was aiming at, but not what she wanted. Maybe I can take HER shopping. I doubt she'll be as excited as you two, but what the hell else do you do in Paris?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're such a boy sometimes, Ryan. I swear. Take her on a walk on the River Seine, take her to Notre Dame, the Arche de Triomphe, the Louvre."

"Yes, because nothing says 'I want you to feel appreciated' like walking around in old buildings." I deadpanned. "I'll ask her, but not everyone finds that stuff as romantic as you and Daph. I highly suspect that Tracey and Hannah influenced the two of growing up. Because those are very muggle experiences."

She shot me a puzzled look. "What? No they aren't. The gargoyles at Notre Dame are all enchanted. It's one of the most fortified magical strongholds of its age. And the Louvre has an entire section dedicated to the Wizard Masters. Leblanc, Poitier, Revessor, and a dozen others." She giggled at my poleaxed expression. "Maybe we need to take YOU on a few romantic dates."

"I'm all for it if there's magic stuff to look at." I shrugged. "It sounds cool enough, as long as we can stop for some pastries. I want to eat some real french eclairs."

She moaned in ecstasy. "Oh, yes. So many croissants."

"You keep making those sounds and you're getting the baguette." I said, waggling my eyebrows. That set her off into a fresh wave of giggles as Daphne came back over and dumped another two bags onto the one I was holding.

She beamed at us. "And done. Now what's this about baguettes? I'm going to enjoy this trip as a devil. As a normal witch I couldn't eat too much of that kind of things. Baguettes went right to my thighs." Suzie and I stifled our giggles as she made an unknowingly suggestive comment. She looked confused. "What? It's true. Not that I usually ate a whole one or anything. I couldn't fit that much down my throat even at my hungriest."

We both couldn't take it anymore and burst out into gales of laughter, with mine wracking my body so hard I fell off the bed onto the stone floor, the bags spilling across the ground. "Stop." Pleaded Suzie. "I'm begging you not to say anything else." She wheezed with laughter. "You're killing me."

We admittedly laughed a bit harder than we should have, but it was a nice breath of fresh air after a serious topic. Daphne pouted, and it took both of us to coax her out of her sulk, with promises of delicious french food and kisses being applied liberally.

Finally, we finished packing, and we headed up to see Dumbledore for the portkey. I probably looked absurd, carrying four or five massive suitcases stacked up over my head. I was using my necromancy to hold them together, or even my strength wouldn't have saved me from tripping all over the place.

When we arrived, I dropped them on the floor, ignoring Daphne's growl, and panted a bit for effect. "Headmaster." I said to the man who had arranged for us to meet him at the top of the astronomy tower to open the portkey wards. "Sorry we're late. And also I hate you."

Knowing I was being hyperbolic (though perhaps thinking I'd suffered more than I had given he thought I was human) he chuckled good naturedly. "We all suffer for our loved ones, dear boy. A bit of manual labor builds character, and speaks well of yours. Why, I know any number of gentlemen who would have forced their lady friends to carry some of their own bags. Though I think most would have just levitated them."

That froze me in my tracks, and I turned an accusing glare on my girls. "You had to have thought of that." I said in outrage. "Why didn't you suggest it?"

"You're a Charms major." Said Daphne in exasperation. "Why didn't you think of it yourself?"

I winced, grumbling a bit under my breath, but she was right. My devil strength and necromancy had been my first resort, probably because in my head my best wizard magical discipline was combat. I just shrugged, good naturedly enduring their stifled giggles. That one had been on me.

"Now." Said Dumbledore, the usual twinkle in his eye. "I trust you'll all be on your best behavior. This is a grand opportunity, but you'll be representing wizarding Britain. Make sure not to do anything untoward, but do try to impress." He winked at us. "We're in negotiations you know, and your results as a student are leverage."

Daphne beamed at him. "Don't worry, I'll keep him from making and easily avoided mistakes. As for impressing." She leaned up to kiss my cheek. "Ryan does that as naturally as breathing. They won't know what hit them."

I was blown away by the confidence and adoration on her face, and I realized she believed that. She might not be as vocal about her faith in me as Suzie, but Daphne was fully convinced I could do pretty much anything. It was a dangerous presumption for her to have…but I found it was an idea I didn't want to disabuse her of.

The look on her face was something I'd do pretty much anything to preserve. Because as long as she had it, it meant I'd never have failed her. I repressed the wash or warmth and turned to the old wizard. "I take it you've already prepared the portkey?"

"Indeed I have." He said jovially. He pointed to a small round table with a length of gold rope on it. "I'd suggest you lift your unenviable burden and have your lovely companions each grasp an arm in one hand and a single end of the rope with the other. The portkey will keep you from separating mid flight."

I was a bit skeptical, but the girls didn't seem worried, so I just shrugged, getting ready for the trip. I'd have assumed the suitcases would cause problems, but apparently not. I lifted the stack, walking slowly to stand next to the table as the girls took the suggested positions on either side.

"Oh." Said Dumbledore. "And do watch the landing, dear boy." He waited until they'd grabbed the rope ends to speak, and I whipped my head around to glare at him, too late to speak as I felt a jerk behind my navel and we all went flying off into the voice. As we swirled through the sky, I seethed quietly, keeping my mouth shut after I narrowly avoided swallowing a bug. He'd done that shit on purpose. I was going to get him back for that. But that was for a later day, for now I just had to deal with this terrible trip. Portkeys sucked.

January 7th, 2012, Beauxbatons campus, Pyrenees, France, 12:00 PM BST

When we finally arrived at our destination, we did NOT fall on our asses and vomit. But only because we had a lot of practice with other (albeit much smoother) forms of teleportation. We did stagger around like drunken monkeys for about a minute, before our bodies calmed down and we could resist the urge to puke without stumbling around.

The first thing we did was look around, and Daphne spat out a curse as she scanned our surroundings. "Mountains!" She hissed. "There are no mountains in Paris!"

"Sharp detective work there, Daph." I snickered. "Batman better watch his ass." She glared at me and I raised my hands. "We can take a day trip, I'm sure it's not that far, european countries are tiny."

She sighed. "France is one of the biggest." At my eyeroll, she caught my meaning. "Oh! Right. Day trip." I chuckled, flicking my wand to levitate the bags (I wasn't making the same mistake twice).

A small cough brought our attention to one side. "Excuse me?" I turned to see a small blonde girl with exquisitely fine features smiling at us nervously. "Are you Mr. Black and company?" She seemed like she was afraid we'd eat her, so I just smiled cheerfully and nodded. She let out a sigh of relief, though really, who the hell else would be out here on this random mountainside?

"That's us." I said with a grin. "But I go by Ryan for short." I wondered why she sounded like she was speaking perfectly elocuted english for a second, until I realized that we were in France, where they spoke French.

My devil translation ability was functionally useless in England, because they spoke english there (nominally) and just had an accent. French, however, was another language, and one I didn't know, so I heard perfectly elocuted midwestern english.

Her eyes went wide. "Oh, wow, your French is excellent. You're so fluent."

"Thanks." I said warmly. "Think I could get your name? Otherwise I'll be stuck calling you pretty blonde in my head, and if we meet ANOTHER pretty blonde whose name I don't know it's going to get confusing."

She blushed. With cheeks that pale it showed up easily and was kind of endearing. "Oh. Right, I'm sorry, I'm Gabrielle, but people usually call me Gabi. I was sent to be your welcome, since the mountain paths can be quite…treacherous." It took every ounce of inner strength I had not to make a Young Frankenstein reference, but luckily I'd been training that since becoming a devil.

Suzie bounced up to her sunnily. "Hi Gabi! I'm Susan Bones, but everyone calls me Suzie. It's so nice to meet you."
"You too an- wow, you're are a hugger." She said in surprise as my cinnamon roll wrapped her up in a big hug. Suzie seemed to have a sixth sense for knowing when people needed a hug, and Gabi was most likely the newest convert to the Susan Bones fanclub, though I suspect the effect was partly spoiled by her precarious location at the top of a large slope..

Daphne and I laughed, walking over to grab Suzie by an arm each, ignoring her crestfallen 'hey' as we adjusted her position and pointed her up the mountain. "Tackle huge on cliffsides make normal humans nervous." I muttered under my breath, looking down the steep slope to our left meaningfully.

She blushed, but nodded, and when we let her go she followed us meekly. Gabi, still a bit out of it from the combination of warm hug and near death experience. "So, Beauxbatons is in the mountains?" I asked airily. "Kind of defeats the purpose of putting it in the south of France, doesn't it?"

She giggled. "The enchanters who set up the climate wards would agree with you, I suspect, but as they've been dead for a few centuries it will be tough to ask them."

"Fair enough." I looked around, checking for any plateaus that might hold the building. The 'Palace of Beauxbatons' was a famous landmark, even if most people had never seen it. I was curious where the hell they put it.

We walked for about an hour. Up slopes, down slopes, through crevasses and valleys and gorges and finally, we came to a small out of the way cliff face sandwiched between a pair of large rocks, one tipped over and lying on the other. Gabby walked under the overhang, gesturing us in and when we entered, she tapped the cliff face once with her wand and said. "Occultatum Libera."

There was a strange electric charge in the air, and then a pop, and suddenly we were standing a few feet away from where we had been. Or rather, the wall we'd been in front of had shifted past us, still hyphen by the rocks and invisible from outside.

If anyone had been following us they'd have seen a solid stone wall when they tried to enter the hollow, exactly what we'd seen, if slightly less deep.

Gabi grinned at us. "Not much further now." She glanced down at her feet with a pout. "I shouldn't have worn my ballet flats. No arch support. Walk this way."

My eyes widened. "I knew it!" I said triumphantly. "That WAS a Mel Brooks reference!"

She blushed. "I…enjoy his movies. Most wizards don't recognize my little jokes. Please don't mention this to anyone."

"I don't know why you'd be ashamed to have good taste in movies, but fair enough. It's your life." I gestured down the tunnel. "Lead on. I'm curious where the hell this place is after all this running around."

She nodded quickly, hurrying away. I followed close behind with the girls, but as we made our way out of the tunnel, we all froze in astonishment at the staggering sight before us. "Um." I said blankly. "Did we leave the mountain? Because that cliff looked high. Did we accidentally enter some kind of hidden valley?"

"Nope." Gabi said proudly. "The ceilings of this cavern are enchanted, much in the way Hogwarts enchants its great hall. You asked about the weather? Well it's a mild spring day all year round at The Palace of Beauxbatons."

And it WAS a palace. In fact, palatial was the only adjective I could think of that would describe the colossal white building in front of us. A massive edifice of white marble and gold traceries. The roof was shingled with dark blue stone, and the front of the palace was a sprawling estate with white stone walkways winding luxuriously through expansive rose gardens and a hedge maze or two.

Among the hedges, statues of beautiful women and handsome men serenaded nearby students with haunting melodies as they sketched, had picnics, and generally basked in the radiant sunshine.

In the center of the….I hesitated to say lawn because it vastly undersold the size, but lawn, there was a huge majestic fountain spouting multicolored streams of strobing water in soothing and enchanting configurations to the delight of a cavalcade of swans, owls, otters, and about a dozen other animals, some amphibious some not.

"They have otters?" Squealed Suzie, eyes narrowing in on the fuzzy tool users as the splashed and played and opened clams on their tummies. "I love otters!"

Gabi laughed delightedly. "Of course, that is the familiar fountain, where all the students can let their familiars and pets relax while they attend classes. Otters are one of favored pets in Beauxbatons, swans come a close second, given their ability to deliver mail."

"Wait…you use SWANS to deliver your mail?" I said in a baffled tone. "I never pictured them as apt flyers."

She shook her head emphatically. "On the contrary, swans are perfect delivery companions. A swan can fly nearly 6500 kilometers in a single trip." I glanced at Daphne, who rolled her eyes and mouthed four thousand miles.

"Huh. Pretty and practical." I shrugged. "Neat." She led us to a winding stone ramp, which we followed down to step onto the fluffy green expanse. I had to admit I was enjoying the feet of it, a lush and bouncy sort of grass.

As we made it to one of the winding paths, she led us inwards towards the palace, staying off the grass once we'd stepped off it. She wound us around towards the front of the building, leading us through the roses, and I was amazed to see them shift colors as we walked by, each rose slowly cycling through a spectrum of hues.

"It's so pretty." Breathed Suzie in awe. Even Daphne, as perpetually unimpressed as she tended to be, was blown away by the display.

When we got to the other side, I saw a pair of people waiting for us. The first was a really large woman. Not large as in my height or taller, large as in she probably had to duck to walk under a basketball hoop. The other woman was small and curvy, with a wide engaging smile and curly dark hair that set off her striking amber eyes.

"Mr. Black." Said the larger woman with an expansive gesture. It was jarring to see someone speak french with their hands when speaking english. She was a very gesture inclined talker, but it didn't really sync up with what I was hearing. "Welcome to Beauxbatons academy. I have heard great things of you from my old friend Albus."

I nodded warmly. "Madame Maxime." I'd been briefed on the headmistress at least. "And this must be Professor Lacroix."

"Amelie, please." Said the kind faced woman. "And my old friend Filius has been singing your praises for quite some time. I'm excited to meet the genius enchanting prodigy I've heard so much about. And who might your companions be?"

I gestured to my girls. "This is Daphne Greengrass and Susan Bones." I said helpfully. "They're close friends of mine and are here to help me make sure not to make a fool of myself." Or set off an international incident, but I didn't even want to put that possibility out there. Admitting my faults was fine, but if I took it too far they'd think I was an idiot.

Madame Maxime smiled at Gabi. "Thank you Gabrielle, we can take the tour from here. Your sister was looking for you in the duelling lounge last I saw."

"Thank you Madame." She said with a curtsy, and then hurried off.

The large woman chuckled. "A lovely girl. I'm glad she was able to guide you in. A surprising number of students don't know the way, we have them picked up in a manner similar to yourselves and retrieved at the beginning of the school year. Mid year trips are sanctioned and normally done through the portkey lobby, which has special pads to bypass the wards."

She turned, gesturing for us to follow her. "You'll be staying in the visiting faculty quarters. We don't have any rooms for student visitors. I do hope you'll find the accommodations to your liking. How many rooms will you be needing?"

"One." Said Daphne bluntly. "We'll be rooming together." It wasn't like people weren't going to notice we were all together, and it would have been annoying to work around separate rooms when we didn't have to. We'd discussed it and decided to just be up front about our sleeping arrangements and if people had a problem, fuck em.

Amelie giggled. "How libertine." She said in amusement. "Good for you girls. He's a cute one." She winked at me. "So, I was thinking you might want to see my workshop after dropping off your bags." She gestured to the train of floating luggage behind me, which I hadn't even remembered was there.

I'd put a bit too much zing into the levitation charm, it seemed, but it was better than them falling. I shrugged, not bothering to undo it as I followed them down the hall toward a large double sided staircase. So far, I was pretty impressed, time would only tell if that would continue.

January 7th, 2012, Beauxbatons campus, Pyrenees, France, 5:00 PM BST

We got to our room in the late afternoon, having spent the day taking in the school and grounds, but with our devilish energy, none of us were tired. We were about to get ready to head to Paris for a little night time shopping and exploring (because the girls were still raring to visit) when a circle opened in our room, and Val, followed by surprisingly Skulduggery passed through.

"Hey guys." I said in a puzzled voice. "We were about to head out, what's up?"

Left unspoken was my request to know why they hadn't just sent a message through a circle or even contacted me telephone style. A personal visit, especially from both of them, was a bit unusual.

"Sorry to interrupt." Said Val, somewhat more formally than usual. "We were hoping to catch you before you left. I was sure these two would drag you off to Paris on night one, and we have some business to discuss. Erskine got in touch with us through Tanith. He was recently contacted by the French sanctuary. There's been some unusual activity in the area."

She went on to fill me in on the problem. Apparently witches and wizards, mostly muggleborn and unimportant purebloods, had been going missing in Paris and the surrounding countryside.

I was going to ask why Beauxbatons hadn't mention that, but then I realized that it was stupid to even consider that they might. We were random students nobody knew, what motivation would they possibly have.

My second thought was to wonder if Dumbledore knew about this. Was this why he sent us? Leaving us to flounder in the dark and figure it out was definitely his style. I still thought he might be trying to distance is from Harry for some reason, but he was a two birds one stone kind of guy, and a very socratic sort of teacher. Learn by doing was his style.

"Alright." I said with a sigh. "So if this is a witch and wizard problem, why is this coming to use through the sanctuary."

Skulduggery answered. "Because the witches and wizards in question are mostly from sorcerer factions like the Brides of Blood Tears. Not all witches and wizards joined up with the wizarding world when the original councils were founded centuries ago. Some of them chose to remain in the sorcerer communities, if not a part of them."

"And you think this has something to do with Voldemort." I said bluntly. There was no other reason to bring me into it.

Skulduggery nodded. "Something has been bothering me for a long time. You mentioned his use of necromancy during your duel. He shouldn't be able to use sorcery. Sorcery uses the true name as a source of power. Witches and wizards don't have a true name, their magic is from a different source. There was, however, one sorcerer that managed to practice sorcery without a true name. Mevolent's master, The Unnamed."

"Ok, but then why take the witches and wizards." I asked slowly. "My guess would have been some sort of sacrificial ritual or research before you mentioned that, but if he can already do necromancy, what's the point?"

He shook his head. "Necromancy is unique among sorcery, or close enough, because one can imbue their power into an object and let someone else use it. That person needs to be a sorcerer usually, but figuring out a way to tap into a necromantic construct would be easier than learning to use a type of magic that you just shouldn't have access to. Especially with the help of the necromancer temple."

I grimaced. "So you think that he cheated to use necromancy, but it was just a stopgap, and that he's taking the witches and wizards to figure out how to use sorcery like The Unnamed? What exactly would that entail?"

"When a sorcerer discovers their true name, they become powerful to an unbelievable degree." Skulduggery said gravely. "The Unnamed, as you might guess, didn't have one, but whatever process he used to become a sorcerer allowed him to attain the same power as one might have by learning and sealing a true name. If your Lord Voldemort does the same…"

I groaned. "He becomes a god, or something like it, right?" At his nod, I groaned. "Great, that's all I need. So what made you assume the connection? I realize that the timing lines up, but the world is a big place. This might have nothing to do with him."

"That comes from Erskine." Val said with a sigh. "After the episode at the Midnight Hotel, he's been digging into Voldemort, or at least into his allies, since everyone thinks the man himself is dead. The werewolf you fought, Fenrir Greyback, he was part of a pack that operated under Voldemort during his rise to power. Jean Chastel. The Beast of Gevaudan."

Daphne flinched. "As in the oldest and most powerful werewolf in europe? The monster that terrorized the french countryside for more than a century?" At my surprised glance, she shrugged. "Lycanthrope is a type of blood curse, I did some research on it while trying to find a cure for Stori."

"Yes to the second." Said Skulduggery. "The first is debatable. The monster of the Clocaenog Forest was arguably stronger, though he vanished a century or two ago, and the Germans had a powerful Alpha Werewolf working for them in the war. The Captain was terrifying, though no one knows what happened to him. But Jean Chastel is one of the strongest werewolves around, yes. He's also a sadistic sociopath."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Ok, and why does that connect to this situation?"

"Because Chastel has been seen in Paris surrounding the kidnappings." He said grimly. "He usually steers clear of the larger cities, preferring the countryside where he can wreak havoc without running into organized supernatural groups."

Damn, Erskine had been doing his research, it seemed. "So, werewolves in Paris. I take it you don't think the missing witches are being hunted and bitten?"

"Too clean." He said with a head shake. "Chastel is an animal, when he hunts he leaves a mess. No, I suspect they subcontracted, and he's been coming to take delivery. He was one of Voldemort's lieutenants back during his rise. It would make sense for him to be working for the lich."

Blowing out a breath, I nodded. "Damn, you and your people don't mess around with this detective shit. I'll take a look around Paris, see if I can't dig up who might be snatching them. If we can find who they are we might be able to follow them back to Chastel and then to Voldemort himself."

Once we finished wiping out the Horcruxes, knowing where he was would be key. Honestly killing him was self defense at this point. Between pissing him off personally, what my dad had done, and destroying the diary, it was kill or be killed, and I was pretty anti 'being killed'.

"I gathered as much information as I could about the kidnappers." Said Skulduggery bluntly. He passed me a folder filled with documents. "Names, photos, witness testimony taken from the authorities. I have a friend who is an Inspector with the French Sanctuary. THey dug into the victims once they noticed the pattern, but a lot of leads had gone cold."

Scanning the information, I looked for any patterns. I noticed one pretty quickly. "Most of these abductees are younger women."

Val grimaced. "Warlocks are a lot more insular than witches. Charivari keeps his men close."

That tickled something. "Warlocks…back during that dinner we had at my place last year. Someone mentioned something about warlocks I connected to Voldemort. Do you think he's working with them? Something about wraiths."

"We think he was." Skulduggery admitted. "Probably for experimental subjects. We're guessing Charivari decided he wasn't seeing results from whatever deal they made and backed out, and now Voldemort is scrambling for guinea pigs. We tried approaching Charivari, but like we said, warlocks are incredibly insular."

"Right." I said with a sigh. "Anyway, seems like a lot of these were written of as random disappearances at first. Pretty girls going missing in clubs." I grimaced. "That's a comforting thought. Women going missing in nightclubs is common enough to disguise a mass kidnapping ring, the world is kind of a shithole sometimes, huh?" I could understand Val's grimace, both because of how fucked up it was and how much harder it made our job.

I sighed. "I'll look into it." I said with a grimace. "Suzie, Daphne, and I probably look like prime targets, being from out of town. At least assuming Voldemort isn't micromanaging this himself. If Chastel is here chances are good the lich is holed up in some lab experimenting on helpless victims."

The thought of him tearing apart the souls of random people like he had his own left a bad taste in my mouth, and Val's too I could tell.

Skulduggery nodded. "That was our thought. They want witches and wizards isolated from their factions or from factions no one is worried about. Exchange students from England couldn't get any more isolated. You three are perfect bait and a trap all in one."

"We think they have some method of jamming magic." Said Val angrily. "Otherwise they wouldn't be taking them so easily. None of that should work on you though. Or on US. Do you want me to-"

"I want you watching Harry and Stori." I cut her off. "I can handle a couple of witch hunters. And if I run into trouble you can teleport to me in an instant. You have your current marching orders, stick to them. The three of us can handle this." Daphne was a dangerous witch in a fight, and Suzie's transfiguration had been getting scary. She's already been trained and capable when she was reincarnated, so she didn't run into the same problems with moderating intent I did.

My Queen grimaced, but nodded. "Fine. But be careful, yeah? I know that's not your normal MO, but Chastel…he's bad news Ryan. Skulduggery let me read over some of the files he has on this guy. He's a monster."

I shrugged. "So am I. I'll handle it. I notice I don't see any of those files in here?" I held up the stack of documents.

"I don't think seeing what he's done will make this any easier." She shrugged. "I'll give them to you if you want, but I'd rather not show them to you, and especially not to those two." Her eyes landed on Suzie, who looked annoyed to be patronized, but I understood and agreed.

"Thanks." I said with a smile. "You're right. Seeing his victims won't teach me anything I don't already know. See a wolf, kill a wolf. Though that gives me an idea about tracking down the kidnappers. If they've been interacting with wolves, they might smell like wolves. At the very least we can get close enough for them to see the bait."

Her eyes went wide. "Oh, you mean Remus?" She asked in surprise. "I didn't even consider using scent. That's a good plan." At my raised eyebrow she blushed. "Sirius introduced me to him."

"Meeting the best friend." Said Daphne with a bit of a smirk. "Getting…Sirius."

Val groaned. "Oh gods not you too. Please don't. He makes that stupid joke every time we see each other." Still rolling her eyes, she and Skulduggery said her goodbyes and vanished in a circle of red light.

I turned to the girls with a wry grin. "Well, looks like our visit to Paris just took on a slightly more important undertone. Put on your party dresses girls, we're going clubbing." Tomorrow we'd contact Remus, but until then we had some leads to follow, the clubs the girls in the files had visited. Actually, thinking it over, I had a better idea. I'd seen something in the files about a cafe. Cafes had pastries right?

January 7th, 2012, Paris, France, 9:00 PM BST

Stepping from an alley in downtown Paris, I scanned the street around us, whistling a random tune I hadn't even noticed until I thought about it. Suzie giggled at me. "Beauty and the Beast?" She asked wryly.

My cinnamon roll, as one might expect, loved Disney movies, and had been watching them every chance she got when we were away from school. I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, sue me. It's stuck in my head." I looked them both over appreciatively. "You two look gorgeous by the way. Green for Suzie and red for Daph? You're lighting up like fireworks."

She blushed prettily, and Daphne's lips twisted into a satisfied smirk. "We look sufficiently baitlike, then?" She said, spinning glamorously, a dark red shawl over her shoulders.

"I mean, if bait wears a cape." I said with a grin. "I still don't know why you needed those things. You like great without them." I gestured to the wraps they had over their shoulders, just oversized scarves without arms or anything.

Rolling her eyes, Daphne shot Suzie a long suffering look. "Boys. I don't know how to explain fashion to him."

Giggling, Suzie patted her shoulder comfortingly. "He has many other fine qualities. Just bear with it. We're supposed to be looking for the Cafe La Jette, right? Why a Cafe, by the way? I thought we were going to be hitting a nightclub?"

"Because clubs suck." I said bluntly. "And one of the disappearances happened near there. So I figured we could get some food and possibly some clues at the same time. We'll ask around about the missing girl, claim she's a friend, and see if anyone saw anything. I doubt we're lucky enough that someone is scoping the place out, chances are we'll need Remus, but an evening stroll in Paris and some good food isn't a bad thing either."

Grinning, they each grabbed one of my arms and we set off for the Cafe. Paris at night was…beautiful. The street we stood on was made of cobblestone, and the buildings around us speared up into the sky, white facades with dark rooves and window shutters.

We strolled forward along the road together, walking from one pool of streetlight to the next under a huge white moon. It wasn't full, our luck wasn't that bad, but it was bright and lit up the street nearly as much as the street lamps. We finally came to the Cafe we were looking for, and I opened the door for the girls, letting them inside ahead of me.

This had been a spur of the moment idea, honestly, hence the fancy dresses, but it just felt like the right move. My instincts had pushed me toward this place, and I'd gotten good results listening to my instincts in the past.

It was odd. Precognition wasn't a power that devils had. Maybe some of them, I didn't know all the clan traits, but not most. Something about my instincts at random times seemed downright supernatural though.

When we entered, I was blasted in the face by the smell of espresso and delicious pastries. I headed for an empty table and sat down, calling over a waitress and then sitting down. She arrived and took our order and we settled in to wait, letting the atmosphere of a french cafe wash over us.

I closed my eyes, enjoying the ambiance…and heard a voice. Not a creepy ghost voice or a psychic voice. No, a british voice. "Look mate." Snarled the voice. "All I'm saying is Dumbledore wanted me to reach out and figure what you know. Someone is snatching magical folk around town, and he wants to know if you've heard anything."

"We do not appreciate your insinuations." Snapped the man he was talking to. "Nothing happens in the shadows of Paris that we have no hand in. To ask us such a thing is to imply our guilt in this matter. Or have you so quickly forgotten the ways of the Court of Miracles, Mundungus Fletcher?"

My head snapped up at the name Dumbledore, and I let Suzie and Daphne chat as I scanned the room, finally settling on a scruffy looking wizard sitting across the table from an immaculately dressed man with a well trimmed goatee.

"See, I told him." Grumbled the scruffy guy. "I told him that you'd find some way to make this about you. This is a job Henri, we're paying for info. Just put the damned word out. We don't think you were involved, we just want to know what's going on." He dropped a small stack of gold coins on the table, letting the coins clink musically. "Or is it your habit to turn down cold hard coin there days?"

Damn it. Of course Dumbledore would have sent someone. Just because keeping this confined to sorcerer born witches for the most part might keep the ministry from noticing, didn't mean the spymaster across the channel wouldn't have caught wind.

I supposed it wasn't a bad thing the man was investigating, but it WAS a bad thing that he was around, even by proxy. If this Mundungus guy noticed us and reported we'd have to explain how we snuck off campus at Beauxbatons without going through any of the normal methods of travel.

The scruffy wizard didn't try to be convincing, he just left the coin and stood, pulling on a patchwork coat. "That's a down payment. You want the rest you know how to reach me. Anything about the missing witches we'll make it worth your while."

He turned and walked out, bumping into a random passerby. If I hadn't been a devil I wouldn't have noticed him lifting the wallet and dropping it in his coat. I was annoyed at Dumbledore, so I opened a small circle in his pocket, letting the wallet fall straight through and back into the pocket of the man he'd lifted it off. Just to be a dick.

Once he was gone, I turned to find the girls giving me reproachful looks. "Sorry. Got a clue." I said in explanation. I described the interaction. They could have heard the conversation, but they hadn't really learned to focus their devilish senses yet. By the time I finished, our food had come and they were both looking grim.

"You think Dumbledore arranged for us to be here though, right?" Daphne asked calmly as she sipped her cafe au lait. "Does this mean that it IS a coincidence?"

I shrugged. "Or he sent two teams. But it could be. The issue with people like Dumbledore is that it's almost as dangerous to give them too much credit as not enough. The old man would happily take ownership of a coincidence if it makes him look wise and mysterious. He loves to cultivate that all knowing mystique."

"Should we contact him?" SHe asked slowly. "I mean, we were going to get in touch with Remus anyway. Doesn't he work for Dumbledore?"

I grimaced. "He does, but that's still a layer of deniability. I'd rather keep him as distant from this mess as possible. We have to wait in any case, so it-" I paused, looking at my nearly vibrating redhead as she struggled not to explode with excitement. "Suzie what on earth are you freaking out about. Is the cocoa that good?"

"It's transcendent." She responded absently. "But that's not why I'm excited. Ryan, you said the COURT OF MIRACLES." She whisper yelled that loud enough that I suspected Daphne might have put up silencing charms, because someone should have noticed.

Blinking, I waved my hand in a circle. "Ok…" I said leadingly.

"Like the SONG!" She nearly squealed. "From the movie!" She put on a terrible french accent. "Haven't you heard of a terrible place where the villains of Paris collect in a lair. Haven't you heard of a terrible place called the court of miracles, hello you're there!"

I winced. "The metre on that is atrocious." It took me a second of digging to figure out what she was talking about, but I half remembered the song. "Shit, Hunchback of Notre Dame. Wait…that place is real?"

"Apparently!" She squeaked excitedly. "This is so fascinating, I'd love to see it. It seems like they're involved so maybe we can meet with them to ask questions?"

Daphne slammed her hands down. "Nope." She said bluntly. "That's a terrible idea. Because based on what that guy told Dumbledore's man, they probably ARE at least tangentially involved. We should steer very clear of them. Even if it would be exciting for you to meet them, getting involved in local politics isn't smart."

"That's a very good point." I said with a wry smile. "Counterpoint, we might not have a ton of choice. At least not about getting involved in local politics." I gestured toward the door, where an angelic french girl with pitch black hair and a pair of killer dimples was strolling toward us, looking like a movie star in a short black dress.

Daphne raised an eyebrow. "And what about her makes you think she's involved in local politics?"

"Mostly?" I asked with a laugh. "The fact that she doesn't have a heartbeat. I spend enough time with Seras to know a vampire when I see one. Seras mentioned that Paris is home to quite a few bloodsuckers, and I doubt it's a coincidence one of them is approaching right now."

The girl (man those dimples were adorable) smiled at me as she stopped at our table. "Well reasoned, Master Black. I am indeed a vampire." She gestured to the fourth chair at our little table. "May I sit?"

I nodded, pushing the chair out with my feet, and she smoothed her skirt prettily and took a seat. "I'm not sure why you would be approaching us, miss…"

"Dieudonne." She said. "But please, call me Genevieve." She pronounced it super french (Jeanne-vee-ev) but otherwise had no accent at all. Since we were speaking english that was actually notable. My translation power erased accents from foreign language, but as we'd seen not english, so the guy talking to Mundungus had sounded really french. Genevieve sounded like a midwestern teenager except for her name.

"Genevieve then." I allowed. "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage."

She called over the waitress, ordering a latte, and then when we were alone again her eyes locked on mine. "Apologies. We have our agents out and about. After your acquisition of Seras Victoria, who is technically of the line of Roran Red hand, and your interactions with Alucard. Vampires around europe have been keeping an eye out. Imagine my surprise when I overhear a meeting between the Order of the Phoenix and the Court of Miracles."

Great, because the only fucking thing this situation needed was vampires. Werewolves, sorcerers, warlocks, criminals, why not throw bloodsuckers into the mix. I sighed. "So…what? You want to help us catch the person taking the witches?"

"It wouldn't be a bad thing." She admitted. "But I mostly came here to offer to play tour guide." She licked her lips. "I must admit I find you to be a…delicious surprise."

Oh. I was so used to people showing up with annoyingly good intel I hadn't considered this might be a coincidence. Or at least whatever my instincts were leading me into a situation where I could benefit. Of course a vampire would want a taste of me.

We'd already been planning to contact Remus, but he wasn't local. Having the vampire around to show us the town wouldn't hurt. Sighing, I took a long sip of my drink. It was smooth and sweet. "I suppose treating you to lunch might not be out of the question. Provided you're helpful enough. What can you tell us about the disappearances."

I didn't know if this was why my instincts had led me here or just a coincidence, but the vampires should be a decent source of info if they had enough pull to be alerted within an hour of our arrival. Now, I supposed, was time to negotiate. I took a bite of the flaky pastry in front of me. Well, at least the food was good.

As usual pat-reon has the advance chapters at that sight /malcolmtent hope everyone enjoys.