The Durmstrang staff and students were called to the deck of the bridge of the Demeter, the former Swedish navy 28 gun frigate had been lost to Kraken raised by French Wizards defying the new Statue of Secrecy to support Louis XIV, then raised and claimed by Durmstrang to serve as both its international transport and snub to Beauxbaton for its graduates participation in a war by the Muggle French empire.

Victor had called the staff and students to a meeting on deck to discuss the fate of Headmaster Karkarov.

The Durmstrang champion stood with Harry Potter and his clan and coven gathered behind him.

"Good morning. I would like to make the following announcements. Headmaster Karkarov will no longer be teaching at Durmstrang. I have removed him. The Demeter has been surrendered to the forces of the Potter Coven as prize of war, and will be leaving to conduct further actions in that war within hours.

For the duration of this mission, several days and perhaps as many as two weeks, you will be housed in Hogwarts in student dormitories until the Demeter is released to return you home." Victor said bluntly, then smiled as Fleur had instructed him.

The crowd of Durmstrang students flinced at his attempt at smiling, but Professor Belekov raised his voice in objection. "By what right do you, a student, remove your Headmaster, let alone surrender this ship?" The professor blustered, drawing his wand and pushing forward haughtily.

"What right? Oh, you mean how did I remove him? I may have misspoke. I did not remove the Headmaster. I removed his throat, with my teeth.

I found him masked as a Death Eater serving the mass murderer Voldemort in attempting to murder my fellow Tri-Wizards champions as part of his coup here in Britain. I tore out his throat, and offered Harry Potter the use of this ship in his war against Voldemort. If you wish to join the glorious struggle to fight the Dark Lord, pitting your skill against the most notorious mass murderer in recent history, then stay aboard.

Otherwise, the gangplank is to the port side. Please clear it as Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and the Goblins have delegations of combat troops to load."

Victor nodded as if happy to have clarified the confusion. Many of the students reacted with shock, fear or outrage, but about a third began to chant.

"KRUM! KRUM! KRUM!" The chant began, and the students chanting it first raised then lit their wands in open support and allegiance. Victor nodded as if satisfied that those who had chosen to follow him had been the ones he had hoped to stay with him.

Victor turned to Harry and with a smile said softly. "So many will follow me, even into piracy. I had hoped but..."

Harry reached out and gripped Victor's shoulder. "You are Durmstrang's champion, not just a Quidditch star, I mean, these people have been with you for their entire school lives. They know you. You are friend to many of them, inspiration to many of them, and considering what you told me about Karkarov, protection for no small number of them as well."

Hermione sniffed. "You won't be a pirate. I talked to Griphook, and he talked to Ragnok. We will not be pirates. We will be privateers."

Victor blinked. "What is the difference?"

Fleur had been leading a large delegation of Beauxbaton students up the gangplank and joined the conversation. She decided to answer.

"Privateers have a letter of marque and reprisal from a legally recognized sovereign that allows them to take ships at sea and to raid island and coastal ports to extract from them materials, persons, and of course revenge for acts specified enemy nations have committed against the issuing parties." Fleur said, then leaned forward to kiss Krum firmly.

Angelique Martin, Fleur's best friend sighed. "Plus pirates are filthy scum who need to be hanged, and privateers are dashing and tres romantique!"

Roger Davis lead a contingent of Hogwarts students who were not part of Harry's clan or coven, the hard eyed Ravenclaw met Harry at the quarter deck and shook his hand firmly. They exchanged all the words either thought were required.

"For Cedric." Roger said grimly.

"For Cedric." Harry agreed

Cedric Diggory had been well loved in Hogwarts, when people called him Hufflepuff's golden boy, it was an insult with some basis, as the Hufflepuff prefect had a following in all houses from those whose lives he had touched in various ways, not for any advantage or to gain influence, but just because that is who Cedric Diggory was.

Watching the Dark Lord cut him down, thinking he had managed to kill Harry Potter had not gone over well with many at Hogwarts. Some chose to blame Harry for getting Cedric killed, but most who had been aided my Cedric could think of no other choice for Cedric Diggory than stepping between someone in need and danger. That is who Cedric had always been. Even if he was the Dark Lord, even if he was a wizard Dumbledore feared to face, many of those Cedric had helped or inspired over the years could not let his death go unavenged.

Pomona Sprout huffed her way up the gangplank in a hurry, she ran to Harry's side and whispered to him urgently, Harry went white as a ghost. Professor Sprout then smiled and walked over to Neville who stood with Susan Bones and took a deep breath before beginning.

"Neville, have you had a chance to discuss with Susan about the extra credit assignment I gave you?" Professor Sprout asked gently. Neville blushed deep crimson and Milicent had to supress a giggle that suited the amazonian girl not at all well.

Susan frowned and muttered. "The mysterious extra credit assignment that has had us harvesting a seasons crop a week ever since? Honestly, I don't know what kind of fertility ritual you had Neville do alone, but there have to be limits. Even Hogwarts can't eat there way through the food we have on hand in a dozen years."

Neville muttered softly. "I wasn't exactly alone."

Susan turned to look at him in growing suspicion. Professor Sprout hurried to interject.

"Professor Dumbledore made a mistake, he and Minister Crouch brought the Goblet of Fire inside Hogwarts and woke it up. He woke up the Cauldron of Dagda, the Cauldron of Heroes and gave it a fourth champion, waking it up and reminding it that it was again called to serve the Four Cities of the Tuatha De Dannan, the fair folk.

When the First Wizard Amergin brought the human tribes to the islands, the great Tuatha King Dagda was killed, and his cauldron taken. When we woke it here, we summoned his three queens, queens the first human wizard of the British Isles cost their king.

They came for what was owed. They came for a life. If Neville hadn't have offered a life given, they would have walked the walls of Hogwarts and taken lives in revenge until they felt they had taken the cost of what wizards stole from them."

Neville held his head up and spoke simply. "A life for a life."

There was a song rising and a light glowing as something approached the ship. The song sounded in ways that stirred the blood and caused the witches and wizards magic to rise in answer.

"Curfá

'Sé mo laoch mo ghille mear

'Sé mo Shaesar, ghille mear,

Ní fhuaras féin aon tsuan ná séan,

Ó chuaigh i gcéin mo ghille mear.

x2

Bímse buan ar buairt gach ló,

Ag caoi go crua is ag tuar na ndeor

Mar scaoileadh uaim an buachaill beo

Is ná ríomhtar tuairisc uaidh, mo bhrón.

Curfá

Ní haoibhinn cuach ba suairc ar neoin,

Táid fíorchoin uaisle ar uatha spóirt,

Táid saoithe 's suadha i mbuairt 's i mbrón

Ó scaoileadh uainn an buachaill beo

Curfá

Is cosúil é le hAonghus Óg,

Le Lughaidh Mac Chéin na mbéimeann mór,

Le Cú Raoi, ardmhac Dáire an óir,

Taoiseach Éireann tréan ar tóir.

Curfá

Le Conall Cearnach bhearnadh poirt,

Le Fearghas fiúntach fionn Mac Róigh

Le Conchubhar cáidhmhac Náis na nós,

Taoiseach aoibhinn Chraoibhe an cheoil.

Curfá x2

As the song sung by three inhumanly beautiful voices, weaving together in a harmony of longing and loss, the translation flowed into the listeners.

"Chorus

My dashing darling is my hero

My dashing darling is my Caesar

I have had neither sleep nor good fortune

Since my dashing darling went far away

x2

I am perpetually worried every day

Wailing heavily and shedding tears

Since my lively boy was released from me

And there is no word of him, alas

Chorus

The pleasure of the cheerful cuckoo at noon is gone

The affable nobility are not bothered with sport

The learned and the cultured are worried and sad

Since the lively lad was taken from me

Chorus

He is like Young Aonghus

Like Lughaidh Mac Chéin of the great blows

Like Cú Raoi, great son of Dáire of the gold

Leader of Éire strong in pursuit

Chorus

Like Conall Cearnach who breached defences

Like worthy fair haired Feargas Mac Róigh

Like Conchubhar venerable son of Nás of the tradition

The pleasant chieftain of the Fenian Branch

Chorus x2

Since my dashing darling went far away"

Three fairy queens, the Morrigan, Macha, Badb strode up the gangplank, each visibly very pregnant, and behind them soared the still burning Goblet of Fire, the Cauldron of Dagda. The three queens passed through the crowd of witches and wizards, each pausing only to kiss Neville very firmly before advancing to the prow where they set the Cauldron of Dagda to burn as both protection and warning for the warship.

Morrigan kissed Neville, staring into the boys eyes with the passion of the goddess of slaughter, hard black eyes of the battle crow burning with something that human emotions could not fully contain.

"A life for a life." She said simply, then moved to the prow.

Macha came and the goddess of horses the Guals knew as Epona took Nevilles hair as a rider would grip their horses mane and kissed him firmly.

"Three lives were given, for only one taken." She said simply and moved to the prow.

Badb came last, and the crow feathers of her cloak brought with them the fear of the goddess of battle dead that seemed to still the blood of everyone on ship, save for Neville Longbottom who smiled shyly. She took his head almost tenderly to kiss him last.

"A gift for a gift, balance must be maintained. What was taken, has been returned. What was taken, will be returned."

Susan Bones stuttered. "You haven't even asked me to a broom closet!"

Neville turned to her and gushed. "I really wanted to!"

Hermione face palmed and Milicent sniggered as the Tuathat DeDannan goddess of death in battle winked at Susan Bones and placed Neville's hand upon hers with a wink.

Angelique Martin huffed. "Beauxbaton Herbology is not nearly this exciting."

Professor Sprout offered kindly. "It was an extra credit assignment."

Then smiling as Neville and Susan held hands and looked at each other with the sort of chaste longing that filled Victorian romances, and generally ended in large numbers of children. Then concluded.

"Mr Longbottom gives nothing less than outstanding in Herbology" The Hufflepuff matron concluded.

"Or fertility generally, It seems." Snickered Milicent cheerfully.

Luna Lovegood was staring at the Goblet of Fire and her voice stilled the merriment as her eyes went wide and her hands shot to her mouth. Sinking slowly to her knees, she looked at the Cauldron of Heroes where it blazed in the prow and whispered just one word.

"Cedric!"

No one had the heart to ask what she saw.

Moving to the quarter deck, Harry, Fleur, Victor, Hermione, Neville and Milicent began to plan their assault on Azkaban.

Fleur broke the ice by addressing the Dementor in the room. "Harry, we trust you, but while I have my Veela allure to hold the Dementor's power at bay, none of the rest of you have any protection. I know you are strong, and have heard about your Patronus, but you are talking about taking Azkaban, and that means fighting Dementors, not just holding them at bay."

Hermione smirked. "The Ministry was not very big about truth telling and Dementors. They are not as unstoppable as people think. The Light, the Wild and the Dark all have magics that can destroy them. The Light has Unicorns and Phoenix. The Wild has Dragons. The Dark has Basilisk."

Victor looked over the deck, at the assembled wizards and witches. "How does that help us?"

Hermione explained. "Your patronus is often your animagus form. I am a phoenix, so my patronus is a phoenix. Harry's patronus is a basilisk, so of course he turns into one, among other things. Draco's patronus is an actual dragon, and we have spent months working on the potion for him to confirm that is his animagus form. He hasn't got the power to break through to it for some reason, but that is the whole point of rituals."

It said a lot about how desensitized the Tri-wizard tournament had made Fleur and Victor that they did not panic when told that Harry turned into a basilisk, a creature outlawed and hunted to virtual extinction due to a threat level beyond dragon. instead, the focused on the strategic reality of Azkaban and the revealed numbers of Dementors.

Victor gruned, then spoke. "Not enough. No matter how powerful you are, you can't be everywhere. Thousands of Dementors is too much. We can't keep Patronus up long enough for you to get us into the castle where we can do something about the numbers."

"Ahoy ship, boat, bloody submarine. Hey Harry, the kids are here and Remus is getting panicky about sea sickness, where to you want us?" A voice that could only be Sirius Black shouted from shore.

Hermione gave Harry a complicated look. "When I said Harry turned into a basilisk, among other things, I may have left out a critical detail or two. Did you ever cover how basilisk mate in Care of Magical Creatures?"

Fleur shuddered. "It is horrible. The females lure in strong males, then bite them. If the male is strong enough he bites back and she gets pregnant. If not, he dies and she eats him. Half the reason they are so rare is that females often lure in weak males just because they are hungry."

Victor sighed. "Love kills. Mother warned me of this." But he reached out a hand and held Fleurs as the two of them exchanged a look that made Hermione sigh in a bit of envy. She continued on.

"Yes, well Voldemort seized control of Slytherin's pet basilisk left to guard the school centuries ago, made horribly and unnaturally potent because Slytherin loved snakes and Helga Hufflepuff lost all sense of reason when beloved family pets were concerned. Harry got it pregnant, so now she adores him and we have rather a lot of frisky and really fast-growing basilisk to feed." Hermione said as if this was the most natural thing in the world.

Victor choked. "Pregnant? We heard you fought the basilisk. We were told you killed it."

Hermione poked Harry who was blushing redder than the Gryffindor flag. "Nope, Sura is healthy and unbelievably happy now that her thousand year dating drought ended with Harry. She insists if he is still alive in a few hundred years she may ask for a second date."

Fleur shook her head. "Herbology, Care of Animal Creatures, how many courses can you get pregnant in at Hogwarts? How does Beauxbaton have a reputation for decadence if the English are doing this?"

Watching with amusement as Harry moved down to the main deck, they watched in something like horror as Harry turned into about forty feet of basilisk, his rune markings blazing in silver power as no less than forty basilisk slithered up the gangplank and cheered at him.

"$ Daddy! Daddy! Hey Dad. Father! Are there really rats below. I was promised rats. $"

Victor shouted down to Harry who looked up at Victor.

"$ There are rats below. Karkarov liked to use leaving student's bound in the hold with the rats as punishment. Feel free to eat them all. $" Victor hissed, reflecting again how nice killing Karkarov with his bare fangs had felt.

A grim looking Griphook in goblin armour, trailed by his wife, son and daughter, all equipped for war, along with an assortment of witches and wizards who had been caring for the baby basilisk filed aboard. Remus Lupin managing to look terrified of sea travel while surrounded by enough basilisk to depopulate a major nation.

Griphook marched to Victor Krum and handled him a scroll. Victor looked out over a sea of terrified students of three schools surrounded by cheering twenty foot basilisks poking into everyone and everything onboard ship like the worlds deadliest preschool class on their first field trip, and took up the scroll to read.

"From Ragnok, King of the Goblins of Gringots, to Victor Krum of Durmstrang.

By our will and direction, you are ordered to take charge of the surrendered Death Eater vessel Demeter, as its captain and commander.

The killings of Voldemort are an affront to the Goblin Nation, its allies, and friends. The attempted murder of our citizen and Champion Harry Potter, the murder of the Hogwarts champion Cedric Diggory and the subsequent murder of hundreds of Gringotts customers are deemed acts of war against the Goblin nation and proximal threats to our security and wealth.

You are ordered to follow the directions of our Champion, Harry Potter, in such actions as he directs to bring about vengeance upon the self styled Dark Lord Voldemort, his agents, allies, subjects, and chattel. The lives, goods, and chattel, the lands, residences, properties, and assets real and magical of the same are yours to seize or destroy at your pleasure.

One quarter of all mobile assets taken will be given to the crown in tax, and the remainder will be deemed the rightful property of the Demeter crew.

May your vaults flow with gold, and your blades with blood.

Signed this day, by Ragnok of Gringots"

Victor read it firmly, as if being ordered to kill, loot, and burn everyone and everything Voldemort owned or claimed was simply how one spent a Tuesday. The Durmstrang students took Victor's being very Victor about it all as the comfort they needed. The Hogwarts students went grim at the mention of both Diggory and the unknown numbers that had fallen with the Ministry. The Beauxbaton students seemed more caught up in the romance of the conflict, and supplied a very necessary brightness to what would otherwise have been a very grim ship.

Sirius sent Remus up with his report. "Everyone is aboard, and our supply of potions is complete according to Severus."

Victor shouted to his deck crew. "Cast off, we submerge in five minutes!"

Turning to Harry, he asked him. "So we sail directly for Azkaban?"

Harry grinned back. "While forty basilisk is a nice broadside for any warship, it would give the Dementors a chance to feel once they figure out they cant' face us. We are stopping at Haroldswick in the Shetland Islands."

Sirius shuddered. "Bloody never thought I'd be going back there."

Victor asked clearly confused. "What is in Haroldswick?"

Sirius shuddered. "Half eaten dragon this one killed by claw, and about a hundred and thirty more of the bloody things."

Fleur looked at Milicent in shock. "You killed a dragon with your claw, what are you a lion"

Milicent looked offended. "Do I look Gryffindor? Of course not."

Shifting into her polar bear animagus, she displayed the usual size disparity in the animagus form of a really powerful witch and wizard; that being the degree stronger than normal they were, their form was a matching degree larger. As a polar bear, Milicent made a decent armoured personnel carrier or buldozer, if they came equipped with claws that were each large enough to straddle the shortsword/dagger border.

Fleur through her hands up. "I can't believe it. Victor, you are actually the normal one."

Victor didn't know whether to be smug or offended, but he just looked curious. He thought about the news and what they had talked about in the Azkaban prep and finally asked the question.

"When you broke Sirius out of prison, you didn't have some magical transportation or secret way in at all. You swam in, killed your way through, and took Sirius out." Victor challenged her.

Milicent nodded. "Yes. Dementors are unnatural creatures, demons that are neither alive nor dead, but that feed on life to make more of their own kind. Nature hates them. We are the four elementals of a full elemental coven, our powers are the balance of nature. My ice, Hermione's fire, Neville when he reaps, and Harry when he calls down the lightning, these all let nature reject the Dementors."

Sirius shuddered. "She ate one. It was the single most frightening and liberating thing I have ever seen."

Milicent looked offended. "Why are you shuddering? I only ate a bit to see how it tasted, its a long swim, and by Morgana's frozen nipples one seal is hardly enough fuel for the swim back. You are the one that peed on it."

Sirius smirked. "Well it's a canine thing. Got to show them whose boss."

Victor and Sirius exchanged nods of agreement. Wolves and Grim were not all that far apart.

Hermione desperately dragged the conversation back on track.

"We are going to Haroldswick because of the Dragons. The Wild Magic hates Dementors, that is why the dragon sanctuary was put there. Any Dementor that got free without Ministerial control and tried to approach the coastline got hunted down and burned by the Dragons.

We set the coven to help Draco make his transformation into Dragon and he will lead the Dragons to attack Azkaban and the Dementors from the air."

Hermione frowned. "At least that is what Luna says."

Hermione wasn't all that big on divination, but Luna, while odd, was never really that far wrong about things that were deep into reality bending or violating magical effects. She often got her shoes wrong, but reality bending magic she always got right.

Fleur sighed. "Dragons, pirates, castles, and rescue of those brave witches and wizards who tried to arrest the false Minister. It is like a story book."

Harry looked grim, and fingered his goblin silver knife. "And justice. It has been a long time coming, but we are finally bringing justice to Azkaban."

Hermione looked over at Harry and smiled sadly. Noodle rose up and lay his head on Harry' shoulder in support. He both knew and agreed with what was coming, but his Speaker had so many mammalian feelings that persisted even after he realized what needed to be done and accepted doing it.