Chapter 12

The woman knelt in the circle of candles. Picking up a fulgurite, she placed the stone in the center of the runic circle she'd drawn.

The mundane folk thought that magic needed ritual and ceremony, but only witchcraft, sorcery, and dark magic required blood and sacrifice. Most magic requires intent and focus on what you wanted. There were no prayers to dark gods or cunning devils, no sacrifices of live animals, and no special objects. Smiling grimly, the woman placed her hand on the runes and spoke.

"Lord Zeus, I must speak with you."

The room filled with the smell of Ozone. The air suddenly felt heavy. The woman could feel the hair on her arms standing up. With a crackling buzz, A small sphere of electricity appeared on the runic circle. There was a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder. Blinking, the woman stared at the man before her.

He had a mane of long black hair streaked with grey and glowing blue eyes. A long cape of bronze was wrapped around his chest to form a breastplate. Standing nearly eight feet tall, his skin was tan, and his body was thick with well-defined muscle.

"News?" he asked, his voice rumbling like thunder.

"The curse will not be able to be cast again. Even if we could arrange for another year without a summer, we don't have the power we would need to alter reality again."

Zeus nodded. "I thought as much. Do we know what thwarted our plan?"

The woman nodded. "Apparently, the curse was cast, but Thanatos's trinkets were used to break it."

Zeus nodded. "That was beyond any of our control. Still, I wonder how those objects had the power to break that curse. It should've been impossible. Even with all three Hallows combined, they shouldn't have possessed enough power to effect reality itself, no matter how much magic they absorbed. Do we know what the state of the world was before the curse was broken?"

"According to Harry Emry's, the world was a wasteland and doomed to destruction before he came back. I don't know how our plan failed, but it is obvious to me that something went wrong."

Zeus leaned forward. "An opportunity wasted," he growled.

The woman flinched. "Milord, I don't remember that world. I don't know what went wrong."

"We sacrificed the Nosoi to cast that curse. Those are Olympians that will never return. Even if we rewrite history, the Nosoi are dead and gone. Do you understand that?"

Trembling, the woman nodded. "I'm sorry Milord. I don't know what went wrong. As you said, the Hallows shouldn't have been able to break the curse, even from Limbo, but they played a role in returning the world to a semblance of normality."

Zeus glared up at the ceiling. Bolts of lightning scorched the floor around him, and a gust of wind blew through the room. "He is interfering with our plans, but we will not be stopped. The others may have forgotten the power we had, but there are those of us that will return to our rightful place as rulers of this world."

Zeus began pacing as he ranted. "It is obvious to me that humanity cannot be left to govern themselves. The Nazarene died for them and how do they treat him? This is why I will never humble myself. I will never allow myself to be vulnerable to the whims of man. No, man will know his place."

Zeus thrust a fist at the sky. "He may allow himself to be mocked, but I have my pride. Those gods that stand with me will rule at my side. This world will be returned to a simpler time and all mortals will bow before me, Zeus, King of gods."

Zeus calmed. Sparks of electricity danced in his eyes. "It appears we will need a new plan. If my people are to return to power, the world must be brought to its knees. It should be simple enough. Humans do so love their wars after all."

"I am restoring my son to his body. With a little work, he can unite the wizards behind him. If we can get the philosophers stone, he will be restored to a physical form by the end of the year."

"I see. Move slowly, we cannot afford to fail. If Hades were still here, he could help you, but Hermes, Hades, and my father are among those who refused to join our cause. Do not squander the trust we have placed in you."

The woman bowed her head. "Yes, Milord, I will do as you command."

Zeus stepped back. "One last thing, try and find out about the world under the curse. We need to know what happened so we can avoid it this time around. We will not get a second chance at this." He sighed. "If only we had the power we once did. We would remember the world under the curse."

The woman said nothing. She knew better than to offer an opinion. Things were going well at the moment, but Zeus's temper was legendary. One wrong word could cause him to fly into a rage and she didn't want to deal with that.

Shaking his head, Zeus looked back at her. "I shall see you soon."

A flash of lightning caused the woman to shield her eyes. When she could see again, Zeus was gone.

**ACC**

Merlin looked at the faint dome of light surrounding Hogwarts. The wards had been stripped down to their base. Only the wards cast on the castle by the founders themselves remained. Sighing, he glanced over at Lugh, Argante, and Thanatos.

"Well, we've got a lot of work to do. Every ward will need to be linked."

Thanatos pulled a silver disc from his pocket. The disc glowed as bright as the sun with the magical energy stored inside it.

"I'm glad we had that conversation about storing energy in Elfame. At least we didn't lose the magic used over the centuries."

Merlin took the disc, and conjuring a chain, he attached it to the disc and hung it on a conjured pole between them. he stretched.

"Ready to get to work?"

Argante nodded. "Yeah, let's fix the wards before something happens."

Lugh snorted. "That would be our luck for someone to attack the castle while we are repairing the wards."

Merlin glanced at Thanatos. "Are you going to help us?"

Thanatos nodded. "I'll add to the wards once they're repaired."

"Thanks," Merlin said. "Let's get started."

**ACC**

Back in the hotel room the woman had rented, Peter looked up at the woman, crying with gratitude.

"I'll do whatever you want, my lady."

The woman nodded. "Get the philosophers stone and that will be enough." The woman turned back to the portrait she was painting.

Peter trembled. "Milady, I will need time. I must recover from Azkaban. I'm sorry. I will go as soon as I can."

The woman turned back to him. "Do not be afraid. I understand you are weakened by your time in Azkaban. That's why I've been working on this." She pointed to the portrait.

Peter looked down at the portrait and gaped. It was him, but not the thin bald him that he saw in the mirror. No, the portrait showed him as a plump man with a full head of hair, fair clean skin, and bright determined eyes.

"Milady, it is a beautiful picture to be sure, but how will that help me?"

The woman smiled. "A good question. I merely need a single drop of blood to show you."

"As you wish," Peter said eagerly holding out his hand. "I'll give you all the blood in my body if that's what you want."

The woman shook her head. "That will not be necessary. A single drop will be enough. Just make sure it falls on the portrait."

Peter pricked his finger with one of his long curved fingernails. A single drop of blood fell onto the portrait.

Peter fell to the floor, groaning in agony. It felt as if his flesh were melting off his bones. He tried to scream, but he couldn't catch his breath. His vision blurred and his heart raced. Was this dying?

Just like that, his pain was gone. Reaching up with a shaky hand, he wiped sweat from his forehead and froze. He could feel hair. Lowering his hand, he stared at his fingers. His nails were clipped, and his skin was clean. He stood, trembling slightly. He looked down at the portrait, only to see a charred blackened piece of parchment.

"That magic I imbued in that painting was used up restoring you," the woman said. "We needed you in the best health possible if you were going to sneak into Hogwarts and we don't have time to wait."

Peter took the wand she held out to him. He looked down at the stick of oak and recognized it at once.

"This is mine."

"Yes," the woman said. "You will need it to perform magic, will you not?"

"But how," Peter whispered. "I thought they snapped my wand when they sent me to Azkaban."

The woman smiled. "My artistic skills can do more than restore your body. I believe you have all that you need. Are you ready to go?"

"I'll go at once."

"Good," the woman said. "Now be careful, we cannot afford for you to get caught. This plan hinges on your success."

"Milady," Peter said. "How am I to find the stone? Do you know where it is?"

The woman smiled briefly. "Take one of the students hostage. Demand that they bring you the stone. Dumbledore will not risk his precious students anymore than he already has."

"I won't fail you," Peter said turning and leaving the room.

As the door closed, Voldemort spoke from his own portrait. "If only some of my more adept followers were that loyal."

"Beggers can't be choosers," the woman said sitting down in a chair. "Besides, he may surprise both of us."

"Perhaps," Voldemort said, "But I think I'd better prepare myself to intervene if I need to. Time in this… device you've made has made me stronger. It's almost like I have my own body again."

His mother glanced at the grotesque portrait sharply. "You can't. That portrait sustains you with Matilda's lifeforce. You may feel stronger now, but if you leave it, you may not be able to return. All the strength you've regained could be lost."

Voldemort gazed at her, his blue eyes calm. "We shall see. I may have no other choice."

"There is always a choice. If I lose you, all we have worked for was for nothing."

Voldemort leaned against the frame. "You have shown me more love than I thought possible. When I told you what I was going to do, you didn't turn away from me. You helped me and asked for nothing in return. I shudder to think what my life would've been like without you."

"I will always be here," the woman said fiercely. "You will always have my loyalty and my love."

Voldemort sighed. "So many things can go wrong with this plan. Even if he gets the stone, how is he supposed to get out of Hogwarts? Besides, holding a student hostage, there are too many staff, not to mention Lugh working there. We have sent one of my followers to their death."

"What would you have me do?" his mother asked. "We need the stone. We know it's in the school, but we have no idea where it is. Lord Zeus will not allow us to wait much longer."

"And rushing could cause us to fail. You would think a so-called god would've learned patience after a few centuries."

His mother said nothing. While she agreed with her son; she knew that Zeus could be listening. They would need to be careful. The Olympians were not known for their forgiving nature.

Sitting back down in the chair, she waited for Peter to return.

**ACC**

Peter slipped into the cellar of Honeydukes candy shop in Hogsmeade. He wiped his sweating palms on his robes as he searched for the iron ring that would open the trapdoor.

Seeing the ring, Peter pulled open the trapdoor and slipped into the passage. He sighed in relief. Either they hadn't discovered this passage, or James hadn't thought to mention it to anyone. A tear ran down his cheek.

He missed his friends. James, Sirius, and Remus. They'd all been so close once. He knew he'd made the right choice for himself when he sided with Voldemort, but he wished he could've kept his friends. He would serve his lady. He would restore his master and then he would be rewarded above all witches and wizards.

**ACC**

Harry raised his head as a chill ran down his spine. He could sense something had changed inside the castle.

Lily glanced over from where she was looking over her charms essay. "Harry? What is it?"

"I don't know. I'll be back in a moment."

Harry stood and swiftly left the common room. As he wandered the halls, he realized he didn't know where to go. Why was he out here? Was this sense of danger all in his head? He had no special gift for detecting trouble. Why did he feel that someone was in the castle that shouldn't be? What's more, what was he going to do about it? He may be strong and fast, but he didn't know if he could defeat a fully trained witch or wizard.

As he approached the Gryffindor common room, he heard sobbing up ahead.

"Be quiet girl," a familiar squeaky voice said. "I promise I won't hurt you so long as I get what I need."

"Please," Hermione whispered. "I don't know what you want?"

"I want the stone," the voice said. "I just need to know where it is."

"I don't know," Hermione whimpered.

There was the sound of flesh meeting flesh and Hermione shrieked in pain.

"Of course, you don't know where it is foolish girl, but maybe the headmaster does, or one of the staff. You are going to lead me to them."

Harry stepped around the corner. "Hello Peter, you are looking well for someone whose been in Azkaban for a decade."

Peter froze at seeing him. "Harry," he said pressing his wand into the back of Hermione's head.

"I must say, this isn't a well thought out plan. Take a student hostage to get the stone? Well, you are a Gryffindor, and this does take balls. If only you'd showed this much courage when standing up to Voldemort, you may have been a free man for the past ten years."

"Why would I stand up to him, he offered me more than I ever thought possible."

"Right," Harry said. "Offered you more than you imagined, but how many have to die so you can get what you want?"

"Why shouldn't I get what I want?" Peter said. "Don't I have the right to be happy? Don't I deserve good things? Why should everyone else get money, women, and families?"

"All those things are things that people have worked hard for. Why shouldn't you have to earn the things you want."

"I am earning it," Peter said fiercely. "That's why I'm here. James, Sirius, Remus, they never understood what it was like to be me. I want everything that they got so easily."

"Jealousy is not a good look for you. How did you recognize me anyway?"

"I saw you as a baby. That silver hair and those eyes are unmistakable, but enough talk. Take me to the stone or I kill the girl."

Hermione whimpered. Harry shot her a reassuring look.

"I can honestly say I don't know where the stone is. Now, if you'd waited a few months, I could take you right to it, but now…"

"You may not know where it is," a voice said from behind them, "but I do."

Harry turned to see the tall willowy ghost of the grey lady standing there. "Helena," he said. "Why are you here?"

"It's not just the professor's responsibility to take care of the students. It is the ghosts as well. I will not allow a student to come to harm, even if it means helping… him," she glared at Peter.

"You know who his master is and why he wants the stone?"

Helena nodded. "Oh yes, I know. Sometimes there are no good choices young Harry. While some might sacrifice the life of the child to save the stone, I'm not one of them."

"Shut up both of you," Peter snapped. "Take me to the stone right now, or the girl dies."

Harry didn't take his eyes off Helena. "I think I could probably take him."

"Perhaps, but could you do so without endangering Ms. Granger?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't know."

Helena nodded back. "And that is why the snake waits to strike." She turned to glare at Peter. "Come with me, worm."

As they walked through the halls, Harry wondered why they weren't seeing any of the professors. They should've seen at least one by now. "Helena?"

"Yes Harry?"

"Why haven't we seen any of the professors?"

"They are all guarding the entrances to Hogwarts. The wards are under repair at the moment. Call it bad luck that Pettigrew here chose to invade tonight of all times."

They stopped in front of a classroom. "Here we are," Helena said pointing to the classroom.

"It's already inside there?" Harry asked.

Helena shrugged. "Dumbledore thought no one would find it there. None of us considered this possibility." She stared at Harry. "How do you know it's there?"

"I'll explain later."

Peter shoved Hermione ahead of him as he entered the classroom. He stopped when he saw a tall gilded mirror leaning against the wall.

"What is this? You told me the stone is here?"

"It is," Harry said. "The mirror of Erised is a good defense. Dumbledore put it in the mirror. Now your job is to get it out."

Peter glared at the mirror as if it had insulted his mother. "How do I do that?"

Harry shrugged. "Good question."

Peter stared into the mirror. "I don't want the stone for myself," he muttered. "I just want it to help my master."

Nothing happened.

Peter shoved Hermione in front of the mirror. "What do you see?"

Shaking, Hermione stared into the mirror. "I see…" she began. "I see myself as Head girl."

"Out of the way," Peter shoved Hermione aside. As the girl fell to the floor, Harry struck.

A gust of wind blew Hermione to the doorway of the room. "Run," Harry said as he hurled shards of razor sharp ice at Peter.

Peter let out a yell and barely got a shield up in time. "You've ruined everything," he hissed. "Crucio."

Harry dodged the sickly red light hearing the stone wall behind him crack as the spell struck it.

Looking up, Harry saw a bolt of green light racing towards him. With a flick of his wrist, a wall of ice rose up in front of him, only to shatter as the light hit.

"You're not bad," Peter said. "Far more advanced than I thought you'd be."

Harry gestured at Peter and watched as his robes wrapped around his ankles. Peter tripped, his wand flying out of his hand as he fell to the floor.

"It's over now," Harry said approaching the fallen wizard.

**ACC**

Voldemort straightened in his portrait.

"Tom?" his mother asked. "What is it?"

"Peter is in trouble. I cannot wait any longer. I have to help, or the mission is doomed."

"Tom no," his mother said, but it was too late. Voldemort stepped out of the flesh and bone portrait. As his ghost materialized in front of her, he smiled gently.

"I shall return soon. Besides, what can happen to me? I don't have a body."

Before his mother could respond, Voldemort was gone.

**ACC**

"I'm sorry," Peter wailed. "I'm sorry master. I tried my best."

Harry stood above Peter. "I don't think he can hear you?"

"Can't I Potter?" a quiet voice said from the doorway.

Harry turned to see Hermione hanging upside down in the air. A blood red stone floated out of her pocket before she dropped to the floor.

"Run girl," Voldemort said. "I have no further use for you."

Hermione didn't move, merely lay on the floor sobbing quietly.

"So, Tom," Harry said. "Been working out? I'm impressed. Most ghosts can't do the things you can."

Voldemort ignored him. "Peter, I need your help. I require your body and magic to aid in the success of this mission."

"Yes," Peter whispered. "Anything for you master."

"What…" Harry began but froze as the ghost of Voldemort flew straight into Peter's body. The small man convulsed as the ghost entered him before he rose smoothly to his feet.

"Well Potter," Voldemort's voice came out of Peter's mouth along with Peters. "I'm seeing you again after all these years. Freezing my flesh from my bones really hurt."

"It's Emry's," Harry said.

Voldemort nodded. "It appears I'm not the only one to want a new name. Do not forsake your old name though. Remembering our past is how we overcome it. My true mother taught me that."

"Thanks for the advice," Harry said a gust of wind blowing the philosophers stone into his open palm. Harry tucked it in his cloak. "Think I'll hold on to this."

Voldemort shook his head. "Give me the stone and save yourself some pain."

"I can't do that. Somehow, I think you receiving your body would be a bad idea."

Harry grunted as a red light struck him in the chest. Pain like white hot knives ran through his body, causing him to scream. The pain suddenly vanished, leaving Harry on his knees.

Voldemort frowned. "I didn't lift the curse."

Harry looked down at the cloak. "Mum, you rule," he whispered.

Voldemort took a step forward. "Give me the stone. I don't want to kill you."

"Yeah," Harry taunted. "Didn't work out well for you the last time, did it?"

Voldemort's borrowed eyes narrowed. He raised his wand. "Accio stone," he called.

Harry clapped a hand over the stone, but the stone stayed tucked away in his cloak.

"Quite the cloak you got there," Voldemort said. "I'll have to take it with me when I leave."

Harry waved his hand at the floor. The stone under Voldemort's feet changed to water, but Voldemort reversed the transformation with a flick of his wand.

"You'll have to do better than that."

Harry snapped his fingers, changing the chairs against the walls into snarling wooden dogs. The wooden dogs lunged at Voldemort's unprotected back.

Voldemort screamed as metal teeth sank into his flesh. As he turned to deal with the dogs, Harry gestured, yanking threads of luck away from his aura. Voldemort tripped and barely managed to prevent a dog from tearing out his throat.

Another flick of the hand, and Harry had changed Voldemort's robes to glass. Voldemort struggled to raise his wand, but the glass robes kept him from moving. Harry walked over to the dark wizard and shoved him as hard as he could.

Peter's body tumbled to the ground, the glass robes shattering on impact. Voldemort screamed as the glass cut deep into his flesh. Looking down, he saw the blood spurting from the wounds.

He looked up at Harry. "You've cost me a loyal servant," he choked. "Well done, not many can say that they defeated me."

Harry watched as Peter stopped moving. He sighed in relief only to cry out in shock as Voldemort's ghost rose from Peter's corpse.

The last thing Harry saw was the ghost rushing at him.

**ACC**

The woman paced the room, her eyes fixed on the picture frame of flesh and bone. As she watched, the flesh cracked, releasing blood and other fluids. Veins of rot were spreading through the flesh with each passing moment. She drew in a sharp breath as Voldemort's image returned to the frame.

His image was blurry and parts of him were transparent. He trembled slightly as he leaned against the frame.

"News?" she said leaning forward.

"I didn't get the stone."

His mother sighed. "This mission was a complete failure."

Voldemort let his head fall back against the frame. "I burned through a lot of my strength with that trip. I don't think I can do that again any time soon."

"It's worse than that," the woman said sharply. "I warned you not to leave the portrait. When you did, you damaged the enchantments I used to keep that portrait of flesh and bone alive."

"What are you saying?" Voldemort said.

"The portrait is dying," the woman said solemnly. "And if it dies while you are inside of it, you will die to."

A/N Hi guys, hope you enjoy this chapter. Now you know who the mastermind behind the curse is.

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