Hey folks: I haven't been on for a while but I decided to post this short chapter. It overlaps the previous chapter in some ways, but it does detail what is going on. The EVIL Bucket woman (Not Hyacinth) is coming up. You will notice that I am using the secondary characters in this story, but I have not forgotten the main ones. And yes, Severus totally misinterpreted Xander and his capabilities. That is the point.

Please enjoy.

CHAPTER 29

Hogwarts Main Hall

As was his nature, Severus Snape carefully orchestrated and instigated several arguments with Harris and Delane. The reasons for those arguments were petty and spiteful, however, they served to solidify his long-established reputation. It also served to keep them confused and off-track.

If Snape was being honest with himself, and he was, he'd quietly admit that he tolerated Ceraine, too much for her own safety. The Potion's Master couldn't afford any real friends in his profession, not with the dangers involved. Therefore, he distanced himself from her presence whenever possible. When he was forced to be near her, he was abrupt and acted callous. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, frustrating his intentions.

By all accounts, the woman was very dynamic and layered in that mystified him. There were times he was convinced that she saw right through him, as if she were reading him. He wasn't sure, but he also wasn't taking any chances when in her presence. He kept his mental shields as tight as when he was in the presence of the Dark Lord during those perilous times.

But at times, he found it difficult to maintain his carefully managed façade. The woman was an enigma. Sometimes, she was as open as a Gryffindor and at other times; she was o crafty as a Slytherin. If he were to place her in one of the houses, then he would label her as Slytherin. The woman kept him on edge and, whether he liked it or not; it intrigued him. She was one of the few women who did so. She wasn't Lily, not in form, nor attitude, or action. But he suspected that he could be happy with her, however like so many other shattered dreams, that was impossible. So, he did the next best thing. He pushed her away, for her own good.

Harris, on the other hand, was easy to understand. There was no doubt about it. The man was pure Gryffindor. He had little to no idea of the darkness surrounding him, and that was dangerous for all concerned. He wore his emotions on his sleeve, like any typical American. He possessed some magic, but clearly; he wasn't awar3e of his ability before he reached adulthood. Because of that, he was severely limited in its use.

Harris' ability to control magic was practically useless, like the ignorant street beggars that haunted Diagon Alley. His ability to brew potions was non-existent. Transfiguration, Severus didn't know if he should even attempt something that advanced. Unfortunately, it was well known that wizards who were trained after a certain age never reached their potential, and he felt a heartbeat's pity for that.

His lack of controlled movement with his wand was painful to watch, although his wandless ability to manipulate his wand's movement was acceptable. In spite of that ability, he was so obviously weak that he did everything else the muggle way, even cleaning up by hand, preferring to do that instead of having the house elfs perform their duties. That thought almost made him smirk because he was sure that the elfs hated him for that.

Dueling was beyond the man, other than using his fists like some barbarian. His wandless ability to control his wand had some merit, but wouldn't have him in a fight. Harris was muggle influenced, so much that he wore their clothing and thought nothing of it. Ceraine's style copied Harris, but not nearly as much as Harris. Clothes defined wizards from muggles, even in America.

Speaking of which, some of his shirts were as ghastly as Dumbledore's formal attire. Some of his shirts were so blatant, Severus hoped to Merlin that Albus wouldn't copy those outlandish styles. The American didn't wear them often, but when he did, it hurt the eyes to gaze upon them. Those Hawaiian shirts were as muggle as one could get. The Dark Lord would not approve and would probably torture and kill him just out of spite. Compared to those hideous creations, the regular muggle outfits were more than acceptable. Harris hated robes, but to his credit, he did wear them on occasion as the need arose.

Harris's lack of abilities, however, didn't stop Ceraine from attaching herself to him. Both Harris and Ceraine were so different from one another that Severus was hard-pressed to believe that they were even associates, let alone friends and business partners. However, he had to take into consideration that Harris was once engaged to her sister. Snape was vaguely curious about how such a union was even possible, considering the way Ceraine carried herself.

Admittedly, in spite of his faults, Harris was a tolerable shop keeper and the products he sold were of the best quality, including some of the extremely hard-to-acquire items that others had difficulty obtaining. Nevertheless, Severus judged him clueless, open and occasionally volatile book much too open. The prat was also an occasionally volatile individual who knew too much for his own good.

Severus did allow that Harris had some good points. The man's sense of humor and sharp tongue almost forced a smile from the potion master's lips a couple of times, and that reaction served a warning he couldn't ignore. Harris' utter lack of tact would hurt him in the future when the Dark Lord returned, and vowed to protect Ceraine from the fallout as much as possible when the time came.

However, his muggle upbringing would serve to make him a target. Harris was doomed. The Dark Lord was sure to target him, unless Severus could get him out of England before the time came. The truth was, Severus was surprised that the Dearth Eaters hadn't already targeted him.

Nevertheless, Snape had to maintain his cover. As was his pattern, he fell back to his standard demeanor. He and Harris battled, sometimes heatedly.

The wizard had to acknowledge that Harris gave as good as he got.

The potion master was quite embarrassed by the fact it came down to berating the man's magical capabilities. The muggle-raised wizard was another possible associate who had to be pushed away even if he was an American colonial. It was another loss in the service of the Dark Lord, whom he hated and feared.

Snape had to maintain his carefully crafted identity. His open battles with Harris worked perfectly in maintaining his cover. The Dark Lord was dangerously unstable, and the smallest lapse on his part could lead to torture, death, or both. Severus was trapped, distrusted by one side and hated by the other. Lord Voldemort always said considered him a valuable asset and a loyal servant.

This last thought was a lie and Severus knew it.

The Dark Lord trusted no one and, like the serpent he aspired to immolate, he struck at his closest allies and friends. Therefore, for his sake, and the sake of others, he isolated himself in the form of his cold, calculating indifferent-to-the-concern of-other's character.

Severus didn't want to be here, watching this muggle invention. Nevertheless, sd he continued to watch, he was glad he came. It kept him from going over the same mess that was his life, over and over again.

Headmaster Albus Dumbledore arrived late for the film. There were so many responsibilities to attend to that he was rather surprised that he was able to attend the showing at all. One of the other headmasters was in attendance and it would be rude that he couldn't attend such an obviously popular event. The final preparations for the dragon's portion of the contest could wait a few hours.

Thus, Murphy's fickle nature brought him to the right place at exactly the right time to see and hear those fateful words that threatened to turn most of his remaining grey hairs white.

"One Ring to control them all."

In the movie, it had whispered its master's name, "Sauron." It didn't take a man of his experience to figure out what that ring was.

Horcrux!

HORCRUX!

The ring was unmistakably a horcrux! How did muggles know of such things? Why would they put such knowledge into mere entertainment? Clearly, they had no idea what they'd done!

Dumbledore was not a happy wizard.

Young Potter's situation preyed on his mind. And the boy and placing an underage child into his contest was something he didn't want to think about, but there was no other choice. All precautions that could be done were being done.

The whole affair wasn't an accident. There was a traitor somewhere in Hogwarts and Harry was his target. It was likely some Death Eater's convoluted intrigue to get at the boy so that he could appease Voldemort.

Foolish man that he was, Albus brushed off Minerva's warnings. That was his fault, and now this. Why had Mister Harris and Miss Delane done this?

An instant later, he remembered why. It was strange how things changed so quickly. No matter how well he planned. Life continued to interfere. The instant he saw the ring, he was appalled. If he'd known what this was about, he would have put a stop to it, but now it was too late.

Again, he berated himself for being late in attending this and fool that he was. He wasn't fully aware of the influence of Professor Harris and Delane's class was. Oh, he knew it was popular, and he approved, but this would pull the Ministry into this and he didn't need the grief at this moment. Minister fudge was sure to interfere.

Hogwarts being exposed to this was trouble enough, but the other schools were exposed. Things could spread out of control quickly. Harris' class was too popular, not that he was concerned. The class could be a stepping stone, a way for Wizards and witches to become enlightened about muggle ways. Whether he liked it or not, one day in the distant future, both sides would come together. But he believed that the time wasn't right yet. Perhaps in a hundred fifty years or so. At least, that was his dream. Mister Harris 'plan was too–liberal, and he did not approve, but he would deal with that when the current crisis, were over.

The effects were already noticeable. The students from Beauxbatons Academy were dressed as muggles. At another time, this was amusing, comparing this to Halloween with wizards dressed as muggles. He was also pleased that the instructors and professors had come to show support for this movie thing, and he was cautiously surprised to see Narcissa Malfoy sitting next to her son, drinking one of the American muggle soft drinks. Severus was here as well, looking frightfully dour and severe, like the others, was pulled into the film's story.

Ten minutes later, Albus was sure his stomach would tear itself apart.

The spectacle required Albus to exert his magical control, to keep his hair from standing on its ends. The cursed ring glaring at him from the screen was different from what he knew about such cursed objects, but it was close enough to recognize it for what it was. The cursed ring wanted to return to its master. Its master wasn't complete without the ring and both called to one another. Using a hair-flatting spell, his mind momentarily drifted. Did Voldemort's horcruxes do the same?

He doubted it. The Dark Lord wanted them to be safe and protected, to keep him immortal, not to reunite with him. Nevertheless, this movie frightened him because it was too close to the truth, something he needed to keep secret.

The muggles knew about magical history that his people knew little to nothing about! And they shouldn't have. He had no real problem with muggles, but he did share the Wizarding world's attitude about their overall intelligence. The lack of magic ultimately crippled them. Yes, there were new wizards born in the world from their population, but they were still a crippled, envious, dangerous people and there was ample reason why the magicals separated themselves from the muggles. He did admit they were slow, but then, they still had a long way to go. They shouldn't have been aware of such darkness! Such information being made aware of those watching this muggle picture show was entirely unacceptable. The children didn't need to know about them. Harry didn't need to know, not with his connection to the Dark Lord!

But this movie was teaching him about things he wasn't aware of. The different kinds of muggles, half-muggles bred, were more than interesting to him. He analyzed every faucet of the film. Like many others, he suspected that this film was a part of previously unknown ancient history rather than imaginary muggle entertainment. The presence of the high elves made him look at Ms. Delane in a new light. He was captivated, lured into the film by the seduction of so much new information. But it was the effect of the ring on the Elven leader that had snapped him out of it.

Albus felt an irrational need to obliviate everyone in the room. However, that wouldn't do any good because many of the students had already seen the film. But so many of the others hadn't. he had to put a stop to this and try to minimize the damage.

Later, he intended to watch this movie by himself so that he could properly evaluate its true import. Using a memory spell wasn't enough. He hadn't seen the beginning of the film and he wanted experience every aspect. Knowledge was power, and he needed every bit of it, if he and the Wizarding world were to continue.

Professors' Harris and Delane were very powerful. Even he didn't know the extent of their unique power, but they weren't equipped to handle the repercussions of the magnitude of the things presented in this film. Oh, yes, they knew this history, but the true import of the rings and its relevance to present history wasn't theirs to understand, not yet. When they were ready, he'd let them know. They didn't know about the Potter boy and his relationship to Horcruxes and it wasn't important for them to know. It was a secret best kept to itself, which was why he was so upset about this movie. Harry didn't even need to have any hint of this. The time wasn't right yet.

Besides, he reasoned, there were other priorities which needed to be dealt with first. The Dark Lord was his responsibility.

When the Dark Lord was vanquished, and Harry Was safe, and his horcrux removed or if the poor boy had passed on, then he would let the two American magicals know of his original plans and then, he would prepare to help in this next upcoming war. They would require his expertise at organizing a proper defense. After all, he did have the experience and knowledge to prosecute that other war.

Those thoughts depressed him. And he didn't know what to do about it yet, not until Harris and Delane gave him more information. Killing extra-dimensional creatures trying to enter this world was their specialty. Fighting dark lords was his area of expertise.

Harris informed him about factions that were advising and working with muggles. It was a laudable idea but overall, too dangerous for the Wizarding community. He resolved to put a stop to that.

Goblins and farae folk were no match for a wizarding cabal. They needed more help than their allies could give. Goblins were too violent, as were some of the farae-kind. The other magicals weren't strong as wizards, otherwise he could would be aware of them and would have pulled them into the greater magical world. And to his disapproval, those others didn't respect the separation of magical and muggles, which to him was a recipe for disaster and a threat to the Wizarding world.

Yes, Harris and Delane's little group would fail. They needed guidance of a mature leader and he would provide that guidance as soon as Tom was dealt with and safely secured in Azkaban and his horcrux destroyed. That wouldn't happen unless plans were kept secret, speaking of which…

He needed to stop this film from continuing, thereby influencing young minds in a direction he didn't approve of.

What to do, what to do?

Ah, yes.

Slowly, carefully, he lifted his elder wand and pointed it towards the muggle devices that were needed to control this unpleasant movie. his elder wand.