January 30th, 2011 Third floor corridor, Hogwarts, Scotland, 12:00 AM BST

The explosion of green flames that rolled across the chamber guttered out before it got to us. We'd all figured out quickly that 'neutralizing' was a chaotic and dangerous process, and while Blaise seemed to have an instinctive grasp on when to duck and or back away, the rest of us lacked his foresight.

This had become apparent when Theo's arm had been partially eaten by purple mist during the final clearing of the rotvein potion. Though we'd managed to heal it up with Tracey's help, we'd all learned our lesson and decided to play it safe.

"So…what's the next one?" I asked the others as we waited for Blaise to finish getting the last piece of key. We had six of them at this point, so we only needed one more (these people loved the number seven) but the last was in one of the opaque basins so we had to hunt around a bit to find it. I was getting antsy waiting around at this point.

Suzie giggled at my put out expression, at my frown, she tried to hide her smile. "Sorry Ryan, it's just that you seem so put out that you couldn't help with this one. I think it's sweet how much you want to contribute."

Rolling my eyes, I tried to change the subject. "I'm glad I can amuse you, the next section is transfiguration, right? You ready to do your part?"

She puffed up her chest (which had been looking a bit fuller lately). "Of course. The room is a specialized test of transfiguration aptitude mixed with a logic puzzle. You have to control a transfigured animal to move through the stages, changing it to fit the proper animal type in order to enable it to move through a grid. I've been practicing."

Better her than me. My grasp on Transfiguration was a bit shaky. Transfiguration, unlike most branches of wizard magic, didn't come in the form of discrete spells. Rather it involved a gradual and consistent application of intent.

Ironically, my intent was TOO strong for transfiguration. The process involved controlling the magic with intent while it slowly permeated the item and changed it to suit the envisioned shape. Because of how powerful my intent was, it tried to force the change between states too rapidly, and destroyed the base integrity of most things I tried to affect.

I could cast Transfiguration spells, but only with an incredibly light touch, underpowering my spells to prevent the intent from trying to crush the item into submission. I had to tread so carefully when casting that I was only capable of doing small, insignificant changes, or had to maintain the magic for much longer than was practical.

Most likely, that was a side effect of the way I used magic, having trained my demonic power to take specific rigid shapes to mimic wizard spells. I didn't care enough about that one branch of magic to try to change my whole casting style though, since I'd just be throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

Suzie in particular was actually ecstatic about that fact, because it meant that she was more useful to me than the others, who were mainly skilled in styles of magic that I could and would pick up eventually, even if I didn't specialize in them.

There was another explosion from across the room, followed by a shout of excitement. "Yes!" Crowed Blaise as he shoved his hand into the clear basin, ignoring the still smoldering stone it was made from to snatch up the last key fragment. He turned and pitched it to me, and I wasted no time in snapping it out of the air to click it into place at the top of the key.

Once the last piece was in place, the shards of metal glowed, and then became a singular whole, the fragmentation spots vanishing as the key reverted to its original form.

"Nice work man." I said with a grin, fist bumping my friend as he came over. "Couldn't have done it without you. You need me to top up your supplies? Looks like you took a big bite out of your potions stock."

He shrugged. "I'll just take it out of my account. My mother doesn't begrudge me expenditures, especially not for this. If anything she'll be elated at my sudden interest in poisons."

With a chuckle, we headed over to the door, inserting and turning the key, watching as the door shifted and clicked as the numerous bars and latches preventing it from opening all peeled back to allow the thick metal door to swing open. Seras went first, making sure everything was safe before letting Suzie enter to work on the final room.

Or rather, the second to last. Seven in total, but we only knew six, and we had to figure out and get past the last on our own merits.

As Suzie began the process of solving the last obstacle, I turned to look back the way we'd come. "We're almost there." I said confidently. "Once we get it, we can bait our trap. Not only will we have the stone, but we'll have cloak guy's full attention." I turned to Tracey and Daphne. "I want to set some traps for the bastard. That means curses and charms. You have any ideas?"

I wanted to learn some of those, actually, but for the moment I was mostly familiar with simple spells. The girls had their own talents and specialties, and putting those to use seemed like the best way to come out ahead.

Not that I was worried about cloak guy. He might be a better wizard, but I'd been doing some research on how to counter combat magic after the mess at Christmas. Not to mention my necromancy giving me a way to tank his attacks. No way an instant death beam could easily punch through a shroud of pure death magic.

"Where will you set the trap?" Asked Hannah curiously. "It seems like asking for trouble to do it in the castle. Between collateral and someone stumbling on the incident and screwing it up, that's too risky to put up with."

I nodded thoughtfully. "You're not wrong. It needs to be close though. Not everyone can seamlessly teleport to anywhere on earth with multiple people even through shields." I grinned, enjoying the chance to show off a bit. Sure, bragging might be in poor taste, but I'd heard that wizard teleporting fucking sucked. They had classes second year you could take as an elective, but I definitely wasn't going to bother.

Daphne snorted and rolled her eyes. "I think your humility is one of your best traits, dear. Now, it's obvious you have an idea for where to do it. Care to share instead of stretching this out so you can gloat?"

"Fine. Buzzkill. I'm thinking the shrieking shack. We can get him there easy enough with some help from the twins, and once he shows up…well, I'll get in touch with my mom. She should be able to help set up a few even nastier traps than you two."

Getting the information to him was the biggest issue, but Fred and George were interacting were him, even if not directly. Planting some clues shouldn't be too some time left to kill before the last obstacle, I decided to take a bit of a rest. The constant explosions from the potion challenge hadn't been very restful, but this one seemed much more sedate.

"Hey, Daph, come sit down over here?" I gestured to the wall. "I want to use your lap as a pillow so I can take a nap."

She looked like she wanted to argue (though whether it was about my nap or the lap pillow I couldn't say) but after a second of thought just sighed and rolled her eyes, walking over to the wall and sitting down. "Fine." She said in annoyance. "You've done quite a bit this time. Susan will be safe, right?"

I walked over and laid my robes out on the ground like a blanket, lying down and placing my head on Daphne's cushy thighs. "It's fine." I said with a smile. "This one doesn't seem to be offensive. Plus Seras is right there with her. She can tank any attacks."

My Slytherin princess sighed but didn't respond, letting me rest my head and then my eyes, drifting off to sleep to recover a bit from the exertions of the day. I'd hit my limits again and again tonight, and though it was exciting and an interesting exercise, I'd be glad when this was over. Not that I'd forget all of this. This summer I had plans to train most of these attributes if I could.

I was able to fall asleep simply enough, drifting off into a nice rest as everyone else tried to remain as quiet as possible. After what felt like five minutes but was probably a few hours, I heard a shout of excitement from across the room and jerked awake, startling Daphne who yanked back a hand I was pretty sure had been petting my hair and tried to look innocent.
Smirking at my tsundere blonde, I shot her a wink as I popped to my feet, heading over to check on Suzie and Seras, who appeared to have completed the puzzle.

"Hey, you girls alright?" I said as I jogged over to where they were standing in a cloud of dust. The shout hadn't seemed alarmed so I didn't rush, but not being able to see them definitely made me uncomfortable.

There was a cough from Suzie as she waved away the dust. "We're fine." She chirped. "Sorry, didn't mean to make a mess. That was the last section of the grid. It was tricky because in the last few the requisite form changed a few times even within the same square. But we made it, and we got THIS in exchange."

She held up the key proudly, though this one looked much different to the last. I grinned and swept her up into a spinning hug, enjoying her squeal of glee. "Suzie you absolute miracle. That was amazing! You got us through. Now we only have one last test before we get the stone, and with it immortality." Also near limitless wealth, but honestly we were already all pretty rich.

Giggling in happiness, she leaned down and caught my lips in a soft and relatively bashful kiss before pulling away. I let her down and turned to survey our path forward. The grid the test had been done in had retreated, opening a path for us to the last door, albeit a fairly narrow one.

"Alright, is everyone ready to go?" I looked back to see several of them starling awake, clearly having napped to recover like I had. Tracey looked particularly rumpled, and was still yawning as she headed over.

Daphne, who was still blushing and smoothing out her skirt, nodded quickly. "Of course, this is an important mission. We're all completely focused on achieving our goals. How could we be distracted at the last moment like this?" Her tone was aloof and dignified, and I smirked at the elegance she was trying to project.

"You've got some drool." I said helpfully to Tracey, pointing to the corner of her mouth. She scowled and flipped me off as she wiped it away, not caring that she made her best friend look a little ridiculous.

Approaching the door, I had everyone get behind me, not wanting Seras to be overwhelmed since she still hadn't gotten any rest. Inserting the key, I turned it slowly, the click echoing loudly as the door swung slowly open. We all stayed back from the threshold, making sure not to cross in case it was another monster like the Cleaver.

Instead, we saw…an empty room. Well, not totally empty, there was a mirror in the middle of it. "Do you think…" Said Tracey slowly. "That the real obstacle was inside us all along?"

"No Tracey." I sighed. "I think it's a magic mirror. Not everything was inside us all along." That got a snort of amusement from the others as we slowly stepped into the room. The mirror didn't react. This obstacle seemed harmless enough…which was why I was worried. How was this thing going to fuck us over? I was sure it would happen somehow.

January 30th, 2011 Third floor corridor, Hogwarts, Scotland, 1:00 AM BST

As I approached the mirror, I slowed my steps. I had a few theories about this thing. Maybe something would jump out of it and attack me. Maybe my reflection would come to life. Maybe it would deflect every spell I sent at it, or suck us all into a mirror world from which there was no escape. I kept my devil reflexes primed, ready for anything…except what happened.

The mirror didn't attack. It didn't defend. It just showed me a reflection. Not a reflection of me though, at least not completely.

It was an odd scene. I saw myself, sure, but not alone. My parents were behind me, both of them. They were smiling together and looking down at me proudly. I had my arms around Suzie and Daphne, with Seras standing protectively in front of us. Behind us were others. My friends, Val, Tanith, DB, Shaggy, and Scooby Doo. They mostly had wings, and we were all standing together, strong and regal and unassailable.

The background was shifting. Years passing, technology advancing, and we were all together. After the first few years I saw myself lifting a large red ruby that glowed with an inner fire. I dropped it in a cauldron and when it touched the water the liquid shifted, becoming a shimmering silver.

I ladled out the potion, giving it everyone, and they all sipped from the vials. Those of us who weren't devils and who had already started to grow old reversed course, becoming younger and more vital as everyone returned to their prime.

"Ryan!" Shouted a voice as someone shoved me enough to make me stumble. I blinked up at them. It was Seras, and she looked worried. "What happened? We were talking but you couldn't hear us. You've been watching that mirror for a half hour."

Blinking, I shook my head to clear it. "Oh. Damn. I guess it hypnotizes you or something?" I stepped forward, circling the mirror and straining my devil eyesight to the max to try to catch any details about it. All I found in the room was the mirror, and the only thing I found on the mirror was writing.

"What the hell does that mean?" Said Tracey as she scanned over it. "That's just gibberish."

I shook my head. "I show not your face but your heart's desire." I rattled off without missing a beat. She raised an eyebrow and I shrugged. "I've got a thing about reversed words. I used to write backwards when I was a kid. It happens sometimes apparently. Anyway, whenever I see english characters that don't make sense the first thing I try to do is read them backwards."

Snickering, Daphne rolled her eyes. "You do have hidden depths, don't you? But I don't see how this mirror can help us find the stone. This IS the last chamber, is it not? Do you think there's another past it?"
"No. Seven is a big theme down here." I said with a shake of my head. "And the Maiden's seers came to the same conclusion. It's in here. Maybe we have to pass the test to get it, or maybe getting it IS the test, whichever the case may be. We need to solve whatever the riddle with this thing is."

Suzie bit her lip stepping forward to stare into the glass. After a second her cheeks heated up and her jaw went slack. She stared at it for about ten minutes before I waved my hand in front of her face to break her eye contact. She jumped, looking around blankly. "What? Ryan? Oh…I…that was nice." She blushed harder. "I'm sad it's gone."

"What did you see?" Asked Blaise, yelping in pain and turning to glare at Hanna who had stepped on his foot. "Theo control your woman! I just asked a question."

Hannah shot Theo an arch look, as if waiting for him to try it, but my brown haired friend just looked away. "He doesn't seem to be doing that." Said Hannah sweetly. "And unless you want me to slip you some tainted potions ingredients, you won't ask my best friend deeply personal question like what her greatest desire is in a room full of people."

"It's fine, Hannah." Smiled Suzie sweetly. "It wasn't anything too embarrassing. It was just…I saw myself, and my parents. I was…I had a baby. With Ryan." Her eyes flicked to the side in embarrassment. "And I was…um, bustier. More like my Auntie."

Hannah glared at Blaise, as if daring him to laugh, and when he didn't she snorted and turned away. "Ok." I said slowly. "Well, that's really sweet, but I don't think it helps us solve the riddle. I envisioned finding the stone as part of mine, but nothing happened, or I'd have assumed it was that. Let's go down the line. Each of us will look for ten minutes. Then we compare notes as much as we're willing to."

So we did. Ten minutes at a time. Only some of us admitted what we saw. Tracey claimed to have a harem of sweaty shirtless men waiting on her hand and foot as she lorded her quidditch world cup over her helpless enemies, Theo and Hannah refused to talk about what they saw and spent a few minutes shooting blushing looks at each other, and Blaise remained surprisingly closed mouth about his, but I swear I saw him tear up a bit.

That only left one final person besides Seras, who I absolutely was not allowing to look, because I knew what she'd see and I wasn't putting her through that so soon after her parents had died. Daphne.

My Slytherin princess took a deep breath, stepping in front of the mirror, and much like the rest of us, she stared at the reflection deeply engrossed in what she was looking at. There was a small sound, and her gaze jerked away, shocked as she reached into her pocket and withdrew a small shimmering red stone.

"You…you got it?" I asked incredulously. "What did you see, what did you do?" I was shocked. We'd almost given up, I'd been planning to research the mirror and then teleport back here. My circle could only reach places I'd seen (I'd gotten images of a bunch of places for transport just in case, which was why I teleported mostly to major cities) but since we'd been here I could bring us back any time.

"I saw us." She said quietly. "You and I, Astoria, my father and mother. You'd found a way to bring my mother back, and we were enjoying dinner together. I could tell you wanted the stone, even though you didn't need it. We were all devils together. I wanted to get it. For you. Because I was so grateful."

"Daphne." I said in astonishment. "I'm…thank you." I stepped forward, putting my arms around here. She seemed almost confused. Not by me, but by herself. She didn't seem to know how to react to the things she was feeling.

Suzie stepped up and hugged us both. "It's alright to care, you know." She said, smiling sweetly. "We care about you too. Ryan is special to you. Like he is to me. Why is it so surprising that you wanted to help him?"

We both stepped back, giving the blonde space. "Because I don't…I'm not that kind of person." She said in confusion. "I'm not like you, Susan. I'm not caring and compassionate."

"Bollocks." Said Seras matter of factly. We all looked at her, and she shrugged. "What? I've known her for a month and I know that's shite. You play the stone cold bitch, but you've been welcoming to me, in your own obnoxious way. You could have made my life genuinely unpleasant."

Tracey smiled victoriously. "I told you so." She said smugly. "I've been telling you for years. You're not the terrible selfish bitch you think of yourself as. You've done more for Tori than anyone could expect."

"She's my sister." Snapped Daphne. "That doesn't count. Anyone would do that for family."

I shook my head. "As a member of one of the most notorious clans of assholes in wizarding britain I'm going to call bullshit. My aunt was disowned for marrying a muggle, and her own sister would kill her without compunction. You're a big old softie deep down, admit it."

Suzie glared at me. "Don't bait her. This is hard for her and you know it. She feels vulnerable." Daphne looked more than overwhelmed. She looked upset. Her eyes were glittering and I had no clue why.

Putting my hands up, I stepped back. "I wasn't baiting her. It's a good thing. Who doesn't like being cared about. I just don't know why she has to be so reluctant about it. It's ok to give a shit about people. Why wouldn't you want to admit to caring about us?" I asked her, the teasing draining away.

"Because when I care about people they DIE!" She screamed, eyes starting to overflow. "I don't want you to die! Any of you!" Her face went pale, like she's just let out a secret she shouldn't have and wished she could take it back, but she barely had time to realize it before a redheaded comet slammed into her, arms winding around the blonde and holding her in place so she couldn't run.

She struggled for a second, but Suzie was a hell of a hugger, and you didn't break out of one of her hugs, she let you out or you stayed there. Daphne stopped struggling and slumped, leaning her head against Susan's.

"It's ok." Said my cinnamon roll. "You're safe. WE'RE safe. Ryan will protect us, and we'll protect him. Together. It's ok to care. About all of us." She shot a very un-Suzie like smirk at our gathered friends. "Even Blaise."

Ignoring his 'oi!' of offense, Daphne snorted. "I suppose." She said wetly. "But I hope you don't expect me to be…nice. I'm willing to admit I'm fond of you all, but let's not push it." Her withering glare lacked some of its usual venom.

Tracey burst out laughing. "Oh, trust me love, no one here was expecting that. You've had a change of heart, not a lobotomy." She squeaked and dodged as daphne flicked a harmless curse (something about earwax I think) at he, but the blonde was still wrapped in an unbreakable hufflepuff hyper hug, so she didn't even really get close.

"You can let me go, Susan." She said kindly. "I'm ok now. And I want to give this to Ryan. He's been looking forward to getting his hands on it." Suzie beamed, squeezing tight for a second before releasing her and stepping back. Daphne stepped toward me, holding out a hand containing the gem. "Well. It seems I solved the last challenge."

I took it from her gently, a grateful smile on my face. "What do you think it was, in the end? What did it?"

"I wanted it for you." She said firmly. "Not for me. The trick was wanting the stone but not wanting to use it. The others either didn't want it at all or wanted to use it themselves. Now that you have it, what are you going to do with it?"

I grinned broadly. "First, I'm going to make a big ass batch of elixir of life, pay the Maidens, and put the word out via Fred and George that I have it. Then I'm going to set a trap, and wait for a certain cloaked fucker to show up. I think its time that I take care of our resident pest." My voice was cold as ice and my smile was thoroughly unpleasant as I contemplated my revenge.

As if to prove she was still the same old Daphne, her own lips stretched into an equally bloodthirsty smile as she went up on tiptoes, wound her arms around me, and kissed me deeply. "There's my devil." She said so low I could only hear it. "Let's start the music then. And show this cloaked assailant what happens when he dances with you."

January 31st, 2011 Great Hall, Hogwarts, Scotland, 7:00 AM BST

"So, what's our play here exactly?" Said Blaise at breakfast the next morning. This morning, there had been a frantic search of the castle, waking us all up at dawn as they overturned every room. Snape had been PISSED, and had forced every single searcher to carefully replace every single object moved askew, but even he couldn't turn them away.

They found nothing, obviously. The stone ws under my bed in Sheffield Manor, secreted away under a loose floorboard I'd found over Christmas. I'd been hoping to discuss it with mom, but she was sleeping, so I just stashed it and headed back. All of us were back in our respective dorms without a hitch by the time everyone showed up. Seras had taken the Puffs and I'd teleported all of our Slytherin cohort, an unexpected benefit of her being sorted there.

She'd been nervous about the trip. Even a short distance she didn't have much practice, and I'd given her some lessons in the final chamber, since teleporting across a room and across a continent were pretty damned similar.

I turned to my friend with a glare. "We have no play, of course." I said emphatically. "As nothing of interest has happened to us today. IF something had happened however, I'm sure everyone would know about it fairly soon. There would be no use hiding it."

Suzie frowned at me. "How would they know that? Are we going to tell someone?"

"We won't need to." Said Daphne with a smirk. "There's a saying in Slytherin. 'If one need sift the finest sand from an hourglass to find the smallest pebble, the best tool to choose is obvious. Because nothing has more holes in it than the Hogwarts grapevine'."

I chuckled. "Pretty much. The only people who WON'T know what's going on are the teachers. They're the last ones to hear anything." I was hoping whoever cloak guy was had sources among the students if he wasn't one himself. There HAD been at least one teacher on that list, but the whole 'throwing death curses' thing implied he wasn't so bound by rules of conduct.

Blaise nodded. He wasn't stupid enough to bring it up now that I'd said that. He was tired and not thinking or he wouldn't have asked at all. "So." I said bluntly. "Have any of you thought about my offer? To visit me over the summer?" I made sure to put emphasis on the question so they knew I didn't just mean the visit.

Hannah nodded. "Susan is going, so I'm going. Not that I wouldn't have considered it either way, but no way am I letting my best friend do something like that alone." She paused awkwardly. "Visit her boyfriend, I mean. Again. For three months though, I-"

Theo chuckled. "You're babbling, love. I'm in too. Hannah being involved certainly adds motivation, but my main reasoning is somewhat less noble. I just think it sounds like a good offer."

"I don't really care who else is doing it." Said Blaise cheerfully. "I'd say yes even if it was just me, no way am I missing out on a chance like this."

Tracey rolled her eyes. "Classy as always, Zabini. I'm interested too, and I DO want to keep an out for my best friend." She winked at Daphne. "Who knows what kind of trouble she'll fail to get into without me to suck her into it."

"Your kindness knows no bounds." Said Daphne dryly. "I can't thank you enough." Despite her tone though, the glimmer of gratitude in her eyes was plainly visible to anyone who knew her well. She WAS grateful, even if she wouldn't come out and say it sincerely.

Suzie, meanwhile, was clinging to Hannah like a limpet, squealing her tearful heartfelt thanks and going on about what a good friend she was. No one around us gave them a second thought. Some actions made far too much sense coming from a pair of Hufflepuffs, especially in the eyes of a Slytherin.

"After class tonight I'm going to…" I looked around. "Write to my mother." I used air quotes when I said write to. "I can ask her about you all staying the summer when I talk to her about our upcoming project."

We needed to move fast with the stone. We were threading the needle here. Our rooms had been searched, and there was no way Snape would let Dumbledore do it again without a fight if the teachers found out we had it, but increased scrutiny would fuck up our trap. We needed to get the stone in position nearby and ready to get snatched before the teachers found out, and then remove it once we finished off cloak guy.

We ALSO needed to make the elixir, which I was leaving to my mom because I had no fucking idea how to do it. I'd realized after bringing it home that while lots of books talked about the stone, none of them mentioned specifics, because the damned thing was a mysterious secret object, and I hoped my potions master mother had some good ideas. I'd tried dipping it in some water in a cauldron before hiding it, and nothing had happened, though the water had tasted a bit like dirt.

"When are you meeting up with Moon?" Daphne asked sourly. "I suppose she'll be expecting payment soon."

I nodded. "Soon yes, now, no. I spoke to her in the common room this morning while your room was being searched. I told her we'd be lying low for a bit to wait for the heat to die down before she gets her payment. She and her Maidens got searched too, so they're a bit spooked. I think she's also just genuinely shocked we managed to pull it off, so she's treating me more warily than before."

Daphne muttered something even I couldn't fully hear about wariness and cows, but I ignored her dislike of Lily. It was well established at this point, and as cute and amusing as I found it, we had other shit going on right now.

"So…what the hell should we do now?" Asked Blaise. "We have Potions in an hour, and then we're free until about two, when we can all get a nice nap in History of Magic." He paused. "Well, most of us."

Suzie nodded. "We've got History with you later, of course, but our early day is free until Charms at about eleven." She glanced at Seras and Hannah. "Would you both like to go for a stroll on the grounds? It's a lovely day. A bit chilly, but that's what cloaks are for."

My vampire smiled. "That sounds relaxing. I'm still exhausted from last night, but a leisurely walk shouldn't strain me much." She glanced at me sideways. "Though I'm feeling a bit peckish. I might need to slip away for a bite before History." She blushed lightly, but I just nodded casually. I didn't mind her topping up given all the exertion. Especially with what was coming.

"Now, if you'll excuse me." I said, standing. "I've got to catch up to the twins. They're going to help the grapevine along a bit."

Hurrying after the massive red haired forms slinking off to do…whatever the twins did when they weren't being actively malicious to some Slytherin (plotting future malice probably). Catching up to them, I grinned as I pulled even, gesturing with my head to an empty classroom.

"Well if it isn't our favorite snake." Said George cheerfully. "What could he possibly want with us, brother mine?"
Fred, usually the more dour one around me, grinned back just as brightly. "Who knows, Georgie. Mayhaps it has something to do with every house in the castle being woken up at dawn and having all their belongings searched." He beamed at me, obviously impressed. "How DID you manage it? We've never managed to set off a schoolwide search before."

"Though we did inspire McGonagall to strip search the tower in our first year." George grinned. "Who knew shy little Faye Dunbar wore such a scandalous nighty. But we're being rude, you were going to tell us your secret, Ryan?"

I chuckled at them. "You really are just impossible troublemakers, aren't you? If I'd known it would warm you up to me this quick I'd have sent the school into an uproar months ago. Now, I'm not saying I did anything. But if I had, I might mention that the third floor corridor may have been emptied out last night. I trust you're aware what was in there?"

They nodded in unison. "Of course." Said Fred. "After all your inquiries we started leaning on our contacts in The Red Barons. Oliver Wood gave it up eventually." He blinked, his eyes glazing as his jaw dropped. "Are you saying you STOLE the-"

"No!" I snapped quickly. "I am definitely not saying that." He stopped, swallowing his shock, as I continued. "In fact, I'd very much like it seen to that EVERYONE knows I'm not saying that. Very loudly. And far too repeatedly to be believable. If you catch my meaning. I definitely won't be moving it to the Shrieking Shack later tonight around midnight."

George's grin was back with a vengeance. "Ah, of course. We wouldn't want anyone to misunderstand your involvement. We can make sure everyone hears that it wasn't you. Even people who didn't ask, and might have reason to question such a sentiment." He raised an eyebrow. "Of course, discretion like that costs money. People PAY to keep secrets like that. Even badly."

I rolled my eyes. "Giant redheaded thieves." I muttered, fishing into my coin pouch. "This isn't a long term operation. I need the information out there TODAY, and I need it widely spread. Ten galleons, and you're not getting any more than that."

They hadn't exactly fleeced me last time. One galleon was worth about five pounds. Two hundred fifty was twelve hundred fifty pounds, which was something like fifteen hundred bucks. Paying someone one and a half thousand dollars to spy on a whole castle for months wasn't absurd. That said, paying someone fifty pounds to spread a rumor was plenty fair, and I wasn't a charity, even if I was mostly spending Malfoy's money.

Fred growled, but nodded, holding out his hand. I passed him the money, which he counted in front of me, just to be an asshole I assume since it was ten big gold coins. "You satisfied there?" I asked with a smirk. "I made sure not to give you too many, so you don't need to take off your shoes to count."

George burst out laughing, and even Fred's lips quirked a bit as he rolled his eyes. "Alright, maybe counting them was a tad prickish." He admitted. "You've been square with us before, and I'm impressed at what you pulled off. You know, we might be willing to do some more business with a man with your…skills. Plenty of interesting items of note that might be liberated from places much less protected than that corridor."

I raised an eyebrow at them. "Are you asking me to become a commissioned thief?" I said incredulously.

George shrugged. "More of a profit participant. We have certain items that might aid us in our business, and we've been testing a line of items for the discerning gentleman prowler. You test out the equipment, and we split the profits for the items, as well as cutting you in for a percentage of the business as it grows."

I wasn't against the idea, really. It even sounded fun, but I was going to be swamped this summer. I was honestly shocked they hadn't tried to hit me up for an investment given I had the stone, but I don't think they really believed I had it. The obvious trap probably just seemed like a ruse to flush out my target to them. Sucked to be them, they were missing out on a serious profit. With a bounce in my step I headed to potions, if all went well, we'd have this whole thing wrapped up by tomorrow.

January 31st, 2011 The Shrieking Shack, Hogsmeade, Scotland, 8:00 PM BST

My mother studied the inside of the shrieking shack critically. "Are you sure we have the time for this?" Her voice was clinical and detached. My mom was a sarcastic, snippy person, and hearing her so cold and focused was unnerving. Even during the fight back at Daphne's she hadn't been like this.

"I suspect whoever it is will try to monitor the exits to the castle." I said with a shrug. "But I didn't TAKE any of those. Once it becomes clear I'm missing, they'll probably come stake out the shack. They have a few hours until we're 'supposed' to arrive. Of course, that's assuming they're competent. They might not hear the rumors at all, but I can only plan for so much."

She nodded. "Understandable. Well, at the very least you picked a superb location for the confrontation. I've been studying the blood magic grimoire you used to cure Astoria, and despite some…personality quirks, the author was quite brilliant. I've been experimenting with some of the curses contained within. Combined with my own substantial experience I should be more than capable of preparing a suitable trap."

"Ok…but why does the place matter?" I asked curiously. "Wouldn't one location be as good as another for curses?"

Her expression became pensive, as if she was deciding how to word something. "There is a certain…disharmony, in the use of dark magic. Magic is part of the natural world, it exists within everything, and dark magic, magic intended to cause pain and harm and nothing else, is a perversion of that. Locations with heavily layered dark magic become tainted. You can FEEL it there, seething."

My eyes lit up with understanding. "And the Shrieking Shack is already reputed to have that kind of atmosphere. Anyone approaching it will attribute your traps to the native resentment of the 'most haunted building in Britain' and won't pay too much attention to it."

"Exactly." She said with a grin. "Power lingers here, but being shunned by a village of magical people for decades is its own kind of taint. The concentrated belief of hundreds if not thousands of wizards over years is a heavy thing, especially on top of a nexus of powerful magic such as the one beneath Hogwarts. This shack might not have been cursed when those rumors began, but it almost certainly is now, even if only superficially. We can use that."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "How do you know all this anyway? I thought your major was potions?"

"Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will be the victor of a hundred battles." My mother quoted. "I was dating your father for most of my time in school. How do you think I'm a good enough duellist to take on someone as infamous as Bella. You have to learn the dark arts to defend against them. Not that DADA majors advertise that. What the rest of wizarding society doesn't know or care about won't hurt us. Nobody wants to know how the sausage gets made."

I grimaced at the metaphor. "Probably helps that everyone in a position to persecute dark wizards went through that same course and knows how necessary it is. I'm not shocked though. Hypocrisy doesn't exactly seem like a novelty for the Ministry. So what are you going to put in place anyway?"

She cracked her neck, limbering up as she drew her wand. "The usual to start. Anti-dissaparition jinx, Fiend's foe curse, Curse of winterlaw, thief's folly, which is a weakened version of thief's downfall I learned from a particularly mercenary goblin I had the pleasure meeting when I was in my sixth year. Did you bring the stone? Cursing the item itself will be the most reliable method of ensuring this works."

I held up the shimmering red object. "You sure that'll work?" She flicked her wand and conjured an ornate black marble pedestal, upon which she placed the item, before she began muttering a series of complicated spellwork. "It's a little obvious this is a trap. He might not go for it."

Snorting, my mother rolled her eyes. "It was obvious Dumbledore's defenses were a trap too. First step in a proper trap is to place bait so good it can't be resisted. Second step is to make sure the jaws are sharp enough to close on even the wary. There is no step three."

Red runes began to conflagrate along the length of the pedestal, glowing with a dull and almost bloody crimson light as they burned themselves into the stone before fading into obscurity against the rough stone. My mother withdrew a small case, which she tapped an enlarged, and began pulling out bottles of colored liquid.

"Curses." She narrated as she worked. "Are malicious magics made to damage others. They serve no purpose but to cause pain. Liquid magic created to cause pain has another name. Poison. Any curse you can cast you can brew, given the proper expertise. That fucking shrew Isabella was always a dab hand at poisons, but she lacks the subtlety for distilling a curse."

I hadn't heard her mention Blaise's mom much. I was curious though. "What's the difference? She gives people potions that do distressing magical shit to them right?"

"Yes and no." She said as she started to pour some of the bottles atop the stone. To my shock the liquid coalesced into a clear cube of stone, and as she added more liquid the crystalline cube glowed various colors before fading back to clear. "Poisons aren't really hostile magic exactly. They're magically distilled tinctures that cause harm to the body."

I grimaced. "I'll be honest, that seems like a distinction without a difference. Isn't it the same effect?"

After several more bottles, she stepped back, looking it over clinically before turning to smile at me. "It's simple enough when you boil it down. A poison must be ingested or contacted by a human being to cause an effect, whereas a curse potion can be applied in a myriad of ways. Many curses are jinxes, which are basically offensive charms. A bottled curse can add negative attributes to an object itself, rather than needing to be touched or drank."

I thought it over. "So it's about the medium. Poisons are the medium for the magic themselves, whereas cursed potions can turn other items into the medium, preventing the use of things like antidotes?"

"It's times like this I'm reminded that you're my son." She said proudly. "You got my brain and not just your father's looks. Thank Merlin you didn't take after your himbo uncle. The world doesn't need another Sirius Black." She smiled fondly before catching herself, looking conflicted about the sentiment. Turning back to the cube, she started casting spells again.

Sighing, I sat down on an old beat up couch. "Has Aunt Cassie been in touch? I've been waiting to hear anything about the trial. I don't exactly have any sources in the ministry."

"She has." Said my mother between spells. "But we're holding off on springing the trial on the minister. See, Fudge is awfully close to Lucius. I've been having all sorts of conversations with our reluctant guest. Veritaserum is a useful concoction. Turns out our good friend Lucy has plenty of very bad things squirreled away at his house. If we can tip off someone like Amelia we can cause a big ruckus before we announce the trial."

I nodded. "Distract the minister with an attack on his power base and he'll be too off balance to deal with the trial. I'll leave it to you then. We almost ready? I want to get you home well before things start. The last thing I need is cloak guy getting tipped off or trying to kill you."

"I'm done." She said with a frown. "I…I don't like this. I want to stay and help. But if you really want me to leave…"

"I do." I said bluntly. "I can't run to my mom for every problem. Even doing this much is plenty. I'm not risking Seras or even myself on pride, but with you setting all this up we should be able to do the rest. Did you manage to get any clues on the elixir while it was at the house?"

Chuckling, she pulled out a small vial of shimmering silver liquid, passing it to me. "Only this much. Keep it on you in case of injury. I remember what you said about this wizard using the killing curse. I don't think it will work properly on you, at least not in a single blow. Your soul is anchored to your body by the evil piece based on what you told me. Some insurance won't hurt, however."

Taking the vial, I slipped it into my robes. Holding out my hand, I called for a circle, teleporting her back to the house, getting a brief summary of the curses and how to avoid setting them off early and then returning to lie in wait. I also stopped and picked up Seras, making sure she was ready. She had borrowed Suzie's dragonskin cloak I'd gotten her for christmas, just in case. Combined with my Rook's sturdy nature it should keep her from being hurt too badly.

With that out of the way, we took up our positions. Seras hid behind the couch, ready to hurl the damned thing at cloak guy when he showed up, and I floated up to the ceiling, pulling my wand and coating the top of the room with darkness I could hide in.

Then…we waited. And waited. For hours. Even with mom's precautions and everything in place, we'd started a bit too early. I could only assume he was watching the school for us, but since we weren't there he'd need to head to the shack soon. I was actually kind of starting to worry my flight might not be unlimited and wonder exactly how long it would last, when I heard something outside.

It wasn't anything obvious, no bang of a blasting curse or the crack of apparition. All I heard was the snap of a single twig as it was crushed under a boot. My eyes snapped up, locking on the door. I glanced down to see Seras, I could meet her eyes through the darkness easily, able to see over the couch from my lofty perch.

The pedestal sat in the middle of the room, obvious and attention grabbing like mom had wanted. This was one of the measures to counter his invisibility, though the thief's folly she'd used on the cube would also strip that away.

I waited silently, not moving a muscle, for the trap to spring. This would work. This had to work. This guy was clever, and careful. I didn't want to duel him head on. This had to be done carefully, it had to be fast and brutal. No mercy. He didn't have any when he tried to kill me, and I was sure he'd have just as little for my friends if he ran into them. It was too dangerous to let a dangerous foe lie in wait where he could hurt people I cared about.

There was a soft click, and then a pause. After a split second, the door swung open soundlessly, not making the noise that it should have made. He must have silenced the hinges. The click was probably a silent unlocking spell.

The door only opened enough to admit a thin, cloaked form as it floated soundlessly into the house before it was closed without a noise. Glancing around, I caught a gleam of red eyes from under the hood. A series of wand movements and a pulse of light rolled over the room. Seeing it coming, I didn't waste any time. I nodded to Seras.

Before the light touched her hiding spot (it was at ground level so I was fine) she moved. Throwing her unnatural strength against the couch, she hurled it at the figure, sending it rolling through the air longways as she blurred forward under it aiming for his legs, the cloak covering her.

The figure jerked back, wand coming up and everything slowed down as I let myself drop from the ceiling, necromancy proceeding me in a cloud as I hurled it towards cloak guy. As he looked up, seeming to detect my presence, I caught sight of his face and was mildly surprised to see I recognized it. I wondered if I was the first person ever to try to kill a teacher in my first year. Fred and George would be so impressed. Then the black cloud of shadow consumed him, and the fight was on.

January 31st, 2011 The Shrieking Shack, Hogsmeade, Scotland, 9:00 PM BST

It should have been enough. We executed the ambush flawlessly, I was faster than any human, the power I brought to bear should have been enough to overwhelm any wizard I'd ever SEEN. But then, there was a reason for all the traps. Hope for the best, plan for the worst, and I had clearly planned right.

As Quirrel's face (which I recognized from plenty of lackluster classes) stared up at me, wand already in hand, there was no hint of fear or shock. His wrist rolled, no words needed as he activated that same temporal flux spell I'd seen back at Daphne's manor. Time slowed down, and he started to MOVE.

With a blur of speed that would have made a vampire jealous, his wand cut the air, a trail of sickly green fire creating a web of power around him. The couch Seras had thrown was diced into flaming chunks, and my eyes widened as I saw Seras about to hit the flames herself.

I cursed, shifting the darkness of my necromantic spell into a massive dark arm, reaching over the flames and grabbing her, yanking her back from the cage of fire and tossing her backwards.

There was a loud crash as she hit the wall of the shack and went through it, and I winced a bit at having overdone it, but my Rook could handle the damage. She'd be fine. Spooling the necromancy back into my wand, I glided backwards, landing crouched on the back of another couch as I stared at Quirrel in annoyance.

"You?" Asked incredulously. "Like I know you were on the list, but what kind of teacher tries to murder a student from behind."

Quirrel's eyes were cold and hard. "Black." He drawled, no trace of his stutter. "I see you predicted my arrival." His eyes scanned the room. "Was that all? I knew your pathetic trap for what it was, but I had expected something more…effective. I suppose you're all brawn and no brains after all. Impressive though that brawn may be."

"Oh you bastard." I said sarcastically. "Now that you've implied I'm stupid, I'll tell you all about my plans to show you how wrong you are. If you want to come across as competent, I think basing your evil persona on a Bond villain might not be the way to go." I kept my eyes on him as Seras climbed through the hole in the wall, shooting me an annoyed glare. I ignored her, not tipping him off to her presence.

She started to circles, glancing at the cage of green flames, constantly winding around him like a hungry snake. She wanted to find a weak spot, and I made sure to give her the time.

Quirrel sneered. "You think to speak in such a way to me? To jape and titter like a fool before a vessel of the most powerful dark wizard of all time? If you knew the truth of my nature, you would kneel down and weep in apology. Kiss the floor at my feet as I crushed your face beneath my boot simply for the opportunity to accept my punishment."

I grimaced. "Classy. Guess those rumors about how Gemma Farley got her O on the mid-term weren't so far fetched. If you conjure a ball gag I'm going to need an adult."

"Fool." He spat. "As if I would indulge in the simpering flesh of the mewling females who throw themselves at me. My body must remain pure for my master. I seek to retain the power and majesty of this form for his use. Why else ingest the blood of the unicorns in that cursed forest."

Raising an eyebrow, I gave him a confused look. "The what of the whats now? Also I don't even have a bad sex joke about how creepy that sounds. You're a fucking weirdo. But you know something? I'm betting that little fire cage is all kinds of tiring. I wonder how long you can keep it up? Especially since you still need the power to get past me to take the stone."
I gestured over at the pedestal, where the red gem sat glimmering inside of the clear cube of crystal.

Quirrel grinned. "An amateurs mistake. The spells of a master serve many purposes. Like this." He flicked his wand, his hand still blurring, and I saw the lines of fire FLEX. I didn't think, didn't stop. I conjured a circle, shoving power into it so it would form faster. Appearing behind Seras, I grabbed her and flashed us out of the shack.

An explosion of green flame rocked the night, the shrieking shack torn into flamin bits as the cage of fire exploded outwards, expanding as it went, keeping its spherical shape as it tore apart the building we'd just been standing in like a ball of expanding magic concertina wire.

Seras and I stared in shock at the writhing sphere of green flames, lines so densely packed we could barely see through them as they writhed and shifted. That…would have killed us. Both of us. I could FEEL the magic from the sphere, powerful and dense. With the anti-disapparition wards still on the building, if I hadn't been a devil I'd be dead.

Grabbing Seras, I teleported us back through the dome, using the vague glimpses of the wreckage to pop us up behind a wall where we could see Quirrel.

The wizard was standing unharmed in the only untouched section of flooring. With a grim smile, he walked across the floor of the burning shack to stand in front of the pedestal. When he arrived, he grimaced in annoyance. "My lord." He said angrily. "They seem to have applied potent protections. It shall take time to deconstruct."

A voice issued forth from…somewhere. "Release me and allow me to view these…protections."

Reaching up, Quirrel removed his cloak, and then began to slowly unwind the turban he always wore. As he finished, I caught sight of something pretty gross. A chalk white human face with red eyes glared out at the shack. I slipped behind the wall, not wanting to risk being noticed.

There was a pause, and the face voice cursed. "Despicable." It spat. "You'll need to force your way through. The Orb of Akethy'ss is ancient and powerful dark magic, but it is not subtle. Dumbledore will come, and he will breach it. I am not yet prepared to face my old professor." It sounded worried more than afraid, like it was just a timing issue.

"M-my lord?" Stammered Quirrel. "I recognize some of these curses. If I try to brute force my way in, it will cause severe damage. Perhaps even death."

The face laughed, high and wild. "Then you will die in glory, Quirinus. Is that not a most generous gift? To allow you to spend your worthless life in service to your beloved master? If you have so little faith in me that you expect I would just throw you away, then I suppose death must be the only outcome."

A thump sounded, and I looked past the wall to see Quirrel kneeling on the floor in supplication. I cursed internally, how the fuck do you get the drop on someone with eyes LITERALLY in the back of their head? I'd have to wait for the sucker punch, until they started trying to crack the cube. They had no idea I could get back in here, so they should let their guard down.

"Apologies my lord." The teacher whimpered. "I do not dsoubt your capability, nor your benevolence. I was simply weakened by my fear."

The face sneered. "Understandable. Even as a cursed wraith I, Lord Voldemort, am beyond the ken of one such as yourself. Now, cease your simpering and execute your task. I will hold your body together through the damage, but we must make haste."

I froze. Lord Voldemort. I knew that name. It was too stupid to forget. My fists clenched in rage. A ghost. The failed specter of a monster who had at the very least hunted my father, and at worst possibly killed him from some accounts. The same bastard who had tried to kill me. Right here and unaware.

The wraith, Quirrel, all of it made sense now. I remembered mention of one in Albania, Moldyshorts must have possessed him there. Used him to come here to get the stone so he could…what? Resurrect? So that pathetic trash got to come back when my dad stayed dead? Fuck. That.

Quirrel had gotten to his feet. He glanced around, but at a hiss from Voldemort, he began conjuring a series of icicles, leaving them to hang dangerously in the air. They weren't taking any chances. I could have almost respected that if I wasn't so fucking enraged right now.

The icicles sat, drifting through the air like primed homing missiles. Sadly for Moldyshorts though, I wasn't a wizard. I was a devil. Drawing my wand again, I focused on the darkness inside. On my necromancy.

Because what else was a wraith possessing a man than necromancy? The spirit of a dead thing stuffed into a human body. The darkness began to drip off the wand, and I pushed it forward. Using my wand must have convinced the bastard I'd been casting spells. He'd taken precautions against me just in case, but they weren't good enough.

The liquid dark oozed across the ground, and I knelt down, touching my wand to the floor. The trail of the substance inched in a winding trail around the corner, under the notice of the face and its floating death ice. The thing was angled up, and the floor was blackened and cracked anyway.

By the time it reached the figure of Quirrel, he'd driven his hands into the crystal, screaming as his arms began to crack and burn, filling with red light like he was being consumed by magma. The face stared impassively, whispering chants under its breath, and the hands began to repair themselves slightly faster than they burned.

My oil slick of necromantic magic had reached Quirrel's boots and begun to climb, and his clothes prevented him from feeling it, even as the magic wormed its way up towards the wraith face.

When it got to the collar, I primed the magic to strike. My willpower was a razor's edge, my intent forcing the power to obey without a single bit of hesitation. My wrath, my pride, my very nature as a devil spurred me onwards. Interloper, false lord, violator. This thing OWED me, and I was going to collect with fucking interest.

The red eyes noticed at the last second as the shadows pulled away from the collar. Apparently he DID know about sorcery, because the face screamed. "Necromancy!" Before the writhing tentacles of darkness struck like an angry cobra, driving into the eyes, nostrils, and mouth of the face as it burrowed into the body.

I felt the power in the wraith, a disgusting, pulsing heart of layered and enhanced darkness. Serpine's necromancy had been like childs play compared to this. What Voldemort had done to his soul sickened me. Because he'd done so MANY things to it. Rituals, enchantments, concoctions, I could feel the slide of dark magic seeping from what could only be a small fragment.

In a straight fight between my pathetic necromancy and the mutilated soul of a powerful dark wizard, I doubted I'd have come out on top in most cases.

This was not most cases. My necromancy drilled into him, my willpower at its peak and fuelled by rage and hate. Voldemort tried his best to resist, to fight back, but I'd picked my moment perfectly. The chants had been muffled by darkness and screaming, swallowed by the tide of our battle, and Quirrel got to play collateral damage.

The burning of his body redoubled, the curses climbing his arms. Not just that red light one, but several other nasty traps that sprung when he was weakest, tearing his body apart. Quirrel threw back his head and screamed, and as he did, a vortex of greasy black smoke poured out, fleeing through the fading green flames.

Blurring forward, I flicked my wand, using the release words my mom had given me and grabbed the stone, dragging Seras behind me. As I triggered my circle and teleported us out, the last thing I saw was a burst of fire, slowly resolving into figure. We were already long gone by the time it arrived though. Devil teleportation for the win.

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