A/N- As has become the custom from last few chapters, lets get the amazing reviews out of the way before we get to the fun stuff.

ObsessedwithHPFanFic- AS always, I am always delighted to see how you relish reading every chapter.

Anarion- thanks for your review.

Khatix- I do not think Harry Potter will dump Ron because they both are 15 years old children and children make stupid mistakes but to dump a friend who has been with you in life or death situation for his petty feeling of jealousy is not rational, at least not for Harry Potter. There is a storm brewing and he will need allies before all is said and done.

Hypergym- Thanks for all the praise that you have given to this story and for being such avid reader. You guessed it right that English is not my first language and my profession of a lawyer also does not allow me to cultivate love for writing. Writing for this fic is done whenever I get time out of my job of lawyer.

Raymondjay- Sorry for the wrong spelling of your name in the Author's Note of last chapter.

War Hammer- thanks for the review.

Please note that all the conversation between Harry and the Nagas will happen in Parsel Tongue and are italicised.

I will try to show some interesting things in this chapter which will entertain the readers. I would love if you guys would leave a review telling about the chapter and what you liked in it or what you disliked.

I AM REALLY SORRY FOR THE MANY GRAMMATICAL ERRORS IN THE LAST CHAPTER.

THANK YOU HYPER GYM FOR THE EDIT

Disclaimer- This is perhaps dream of every other fiction writer to have some dibs on this amazing world but sadly none of us have any such right. Harry James Potter well and truly belongs to the JKR.

Wizarding Britain

The next day, the front page of The Daily Prophet featured Sirius Black's smiling face with the headline:

"SIRIUS BLACK EXONERATED"

By Amidalus Bartrey

In an emergency meeting of the Wizengamot yesterday DMLE Department Head Madame Bones presented irrefutable evidence that Sirius Black is innocent of all charges. In a surprising turn of events, Peter Pettigrew, who was believed to have died at the hands of Sirius Black over 13 years ago, is alive and in DMLE custody. (Continued on page 3)"

Page 3 continued the story:

Yesterday, an emergency session was called for by the Minister of Magic on the insistence of head of the DMLE, Amelia Bones. While the Fudge administration has not had called for an emergency meeting since escape of Sirius Black from the infamous prison Azkaban two years ago, this meeting was also concerned with Mr. Black. (See p. 10 for the exclusive of Daily prophet about the escape)

As the Wizengamot gathered, Madam Bones presented a person long thought dead before the WIzengamot. Peter Pettigrew, who has been thought dead at the hands of Sirius Black and touted as a hero by all of us since last 14 years was found alive and captive of the DMLE. Madam Bones argued before the Wizengamot that Peter was the one betrayed the Potters and Sirius Black was innocent of all the crimes ascribed to him. (See p. 8)

As Lord Malfoy tried to object to the trial stating that Mr. Black was already convicted, Chief Warlock Dumbledore revealed that Mr. Black had never got a trial. A scion of Ancient and Most Noble House was sent to prison to without a trial in blatant violation of our laws! That is a sacrilege of the sacred laws which have been guiding our society since its inception. (See p. 9 for the laws governing the formation of WIzengamot)

Peter Pettigrew was administered the veritaserum and under its effects he confessed to being a death eater and of betraying the Potters by giving the Fidelius Secret of their location to you-know-who on that fateful Halloween. Mr. Black was declared innocent and given an apology for the blunder committed by the previous administration with reparations to follow.

This begs the question: what else is the ministry lying about? Is there any truth about the claims of Harry Potter the boy-who-lived and Albus Dumbledore who have been saying that you-know-who has returned? If their claims are true, then we will be in deep trouble when the truth comes to light and we are not ready for another war as the last war which eliminated many of our houses.

We at the Daily Prophet tender our apologies to Mr. Black for publishing derogatory articles about him. (See p. 11 about the life of Sirius Black and his association with Potters).

The paper was full of the fall-out from that meeting. There was the half-page ad, paid for by the ministry apologizing to Sirius for the treatment he received. There was the article about Lucius Malfoy stomping out of the meeting, just short of being ejected for contempt. There was another article about the regency of The House of Black being stripped from Lucius Malfoy and conferred on Sirius Black. There was an editorial about questionable decisions the minister had made since taking office which included refusing to look into the possibility that Sirius Black was innocent when witnesses claimed to have seen Peter Pettigrew alive over a year ago, cutting of the DMLE budget to dangerously and historically low levels, his flat refusal to investigate claims that You-Know-Who might be back and his smear campaign over the last few days against Dumbledore and the Boy Who Lived.

Foothills of the Himalayas

Harry Potter and Harsh Vardhan appeared at the base of a hill which reminded Harry of the mountains around Hogwarts. In this part of the world, however, this was a minor foot-hill. Looking into the distance, Harry could see ranks of higher and higher mountains marching away from him until their snow-capped peaks were lost in the haze. The lower slopes were alive with dense forests which were dense and lush with trees he had never seen before. Scanning up the slopes, the trees changed to more familiar evergreens thinning out to scrub near the snow-line. Reading about it was one thing, but seeing it was quite another experience. Standing where he was, in a forest easily as dense as the forbidden forest at Hogwarts, feeling the warmth of the sun, it was hard to take in that he could see all the way to where it was so cold that the snow never melted.

As they arrived, Harsh quietly conjured a chair and sat down leaving Harry to stand alone. After sometime passed and nothing happened, Harsh spoke, "We have to wait for a while, Harry. Are you sure you want to remain standing?"

Confused, Harry asked, "Uh Guruji, there is no other chair for me to sit on."

Harsh smirked, "It is each to his own Harry. As your good professor McGonagall would say, "Are you a wizard or not?"

Feeling embarrassed at his stupidity, Harry drew his wand and transfigured a branch of a tree into a chair. While Harsh's chair was very comfortable looking, his was very basic and lacked the detailed work that Harsh had done on his chair.

As they sat waiting, Harry began to doze and a minute later had fallen asleep. A stinging hex woke him up. Opening his eyes, he found Harsh to be engaged in battle with 6 men who were ferociously duelling with the mystic and trying to do him in while he was fighting with an ease against them which showed in his spells. He kept shooting his choice spells at them while the men were trying hard to overcome him. As Harry watched, one of the men fired a bone breaker which broke Harsh's off hand. Finally alert to the danger, Harry sprang into action. He whipped out his wand and fired a stunner at one of them and a petrifying hex at another. Only one of his spells connected with the enemy. The other was simply batted aside. Two of them turned their attention to him while the remaining three of them were still engaged with Harsh who was easily sparring with them as if nothing had happened.

Harry immediately started sending some of the more dangerous spells at the two men who dodged or shielded them easily while keeping him engaged. He shot a bombarda at one and a reductor at another, both of which were swatted aside. He kept firing bombarda and reductor alternately at both the men while he shielded himself from the hexes he knew and dodged those he did not recognize. What made it hard for him was that the men were casting their spells inaudibly making him second guess everything he did while he kept invocating aloud giving them time to manoeuvre their way out of his spells. Trying his creative side, he ran forward while he shielded himself from their spells risking a dark spell which could shatter his basic shield. As he ran, he fired a bone breaker at one of the men who immediately jumped aside however as he jumped, Harry shot another bone breaker in the direction where the man was going to land. As the man landed the hex connected with his rib cage knocking the man backwards from the force of the spell. The other man who was surprised with this move dropped his shield and Harry immediately brought him down with a stunner. He turned to the rest to find that Harsh had disabled two of them while the one he had petrified earlier had been released from the hex and was firing lethal curses at Harsh.

Harry raised his wand and was about to fire a hex when he hesitated. He did not want to fire when the enemy's back was turned but then he saw that Harsh was getting tired and he immediately shot a stunner which downed the man. Harsh slumped in relief leaving Harry alone to face the last man standing. The man turned to his stunned comrade and enervated him before engaging Harry in a duel making him groan. He was alone while the enemy had just doubled. Thinking creatively, he shot a jet of water in one man's face and jumped aside to avoid a nasty looking grey colored curse. While the man was blinded, Harry sent a bone breaker at the man's wand hand. As the last standing opponent turned to him, Harry started firing highly powered bombarda, reductor and bone breakers at the man. As the man shielded himself from the barrage of hexes, Harry sent in a stinger surprising the man who faltered for a second and Harry immediately swooped in with a stunning spell taking him out.

"Bravo!", Harsh was clapping enthusiastically, "Well done, Harry."

Harsh immediately proceeded to tend to the fallen men, enervating those who were stunned while tending to the injured. Harry watched in amazement as the mystic tended to his enemies.

He asked, "Guruji, they attacked us. Why are you tending to them?"

Harsh laughed, "They did not attack us, Harry. It was pre-planned to test your alertness to your surroundings but it looks like you were drowned in the serenity of the ambient magic of this place."

Harry smiled sheepishly, "I felt an over-whelming sensation to take a nap and since you were sitting comfortably, I went to sleep. I did not know that magic could have this effect."

Harsh smiled, "Ambient magic does that to you. This place is on three powerful ley lines and is suffused with so much magic that anyone who is attuned to magic like you would be overwhelmed and feel the urge to sleep."

Harry nodded his head saying nothing while thinking about the mystic's words "Guruji, why did I never feel that way at Hogwarts?"

"Hogwarts is a castle, Harry where there are hundreds of individuals sharing in the magic steeped into the walls of the castle so the effect is minimal while this place is sparsely populated and no one save for the magical beasts or mystics come this way", Harsh explained.

"Markesh, what is your assessment of Harry?", Harsh asked a mystic.

"Guruji, Mr. Potter is handy with a wand and his speed is impressive and he is quite experienced for his age. His spells pack a lot of power but he hesitates from using lethal curses. He stays his hand even in those conditions where it is crucial to act quickly but he is creative and never hesitates from taking risk to achieve what he desires.", the mystic replied "his spell repertoire is either limited or he do not have the conviction to use those spells effectively. He seems boggled into the traditional light and dark spells dogma of the British Wizards."

Harsh smiled, "Did any of you notice that he cast his spells audibly? He shouts his spells and inadvertently informs his opponent giving time to the opponent to either shield or dodge his spells. He seems to favour shielding than dodging which explains that he never had any formal training in duelling but has self trained. He cannot control the power in his spells and they come out rather heavy handed. A bone breaker with controlled power would only break bones but a bone breaker cast by him was powerful enough to throw his opponent a great distance while breaking his bones."

Harry was listening to everything being said with rapt attention. Harry was proud of his prowess but the battles he had fought in the last few days showed that power alone was not enough against experienced fighters. They could dodge or bat his spells aside while he wore himself out casting over-powered spells to no effect. Then however long it took, when he was tired, they could move in and take him down.

"Harry," Harsh addressed him "the day for today is almost at an end. Tomorrow, you will start your journey to find our tribe in the upper hills."

"F... F... Find?", Harry stammered, "I thought you were taking me."

Harsh smirked, "Yes, Harry. It is part of our initiation that the new recruits are to find our tribe from here. You will meet a variety of creatures in way, wandering magical tribes and many troubles but when you find us, you will be ready."

"Ready?", Harry asked, "for what, Guruji?"

"For starting your training of course", Harsh said with a wide smile "you are to train after all."

As they were talking, Harsh produced a bundle for Harry, "this is a ten for you to use when in the wilderness trying to find us, Harry. It has in-built runes of turning invisible with a tap of wand, animal and human repelling charms so that you can have nice sleep but there is no water and no food inside. That is for you to make do with what you find in the forest however there are some spices inside."

He also produced a small instrument from his pocket, "this is a magical compass fixed in direction of our castle. One more thing Harry, you will need your hippogriff for this part of the journey."

"But he is not here", Harry said, "How then, can I ask his help?"

"It's either that or fly Harry", Harsh smirked again, "you would have to cross valleys full of dangerous beasts and flying is the safest way."

"But how do I call him?", asked Harry exasperated.

"He is your familiar Harry", Harsh explained, "If you call him with all your intent then he will be able to come before morning."

Harry closed his eyes and scrunched up his face in concentration thinking of Blackstorm willing Blackstorm to come to him before the morning. He felt nothing for a few minutes and was about to give up when Harsh's voice cut into his thoughts, "Don't think too hard, Harry. Just think of him as you think about your owl, Hedwig and how she is always able to find you."

Immediately he relaxed and started thinking of Blackstorm's features and what it would be like to have the hippogriff with him. He felt a very light tug at his magic and he could sense thoughts of the Hippogriff. Opening his eyes, he grinned to Harsh, "He is coming."

"Now Harry how about you make the arrangements for your own food for tonight and erect this tent before we sleep in?", Harsh asked him, mirroring Harry's grin seeing the boy grimace at the thought of fending for his own food.

Longbottom Castle

Frank was getting bored. Since he had come out of his coma, he had been confined to his room, not allowed to step outside even for a moment. No amount of begging, pleading, bribery or threats changed the healer's mind on that issue. Healer Lynn put her foot down and told him bluntly that he was not strong enough yet, that he could barely even stand, never mind go for a walk. Frank just scoffed at her expert opinion. After a number of temper tantrums, she finally agreed that if Frank could walk all the way to the front door of the castle without slumping or any help, that she would allow him to walk around the grounds. But he was not to apparate or floo anywhere.

Frank had gritted his teeth and barely made it outside into the corridor before he slumped to the floor, unable to stand. The healer had since confined him to that infernal chair. Since that day, his regiment of potions was increased to expedite his strength gaining. Alice had been laughing all the while seeing him throw tantrums at being coddled like a toddler.

Neville had been coming to visit them daily without fail. Some days he was extremely cheerful and on other days he came exhausted looking battered and worn down as if he had been run through the ringer. While Neville always tried to sound very perked up and upbeat, Frank could hear the undertone of hopelessness and despair which made him wonder what was really wrong in the wizarding world. Augusta had forbidden any questions till next week and this was the next week today and he was going to have some answers. There was nobody who would be able to deny him those answers today.

"Frankie", Augusta's voice cut into his thoughts, "how are you this fine morning?"

"Good Morning mother", Frank replied in a jovial voice, or at least he hoped it was jovial, "Today is the day that you promised me some answers. So, how about it?"

Augusta laughed, then chided him for his impatience, "Well, good morning to you too, Frankie. Can't wait to hear all the news, can you?", then, with a sigh, she said, "I can hardly blame you. Very well then, ask your questions."

Frank immediately started, "what happened to the war? Did you-know-who die? Where are Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew? Who got the custody of Harry Potter?"

Augusta remained quiet for a moment gathering her thoughts, then started "the war for all intents and purposes ended the day that You-Know-Who disappeared. It took us months to round up the rest of the death eaters. There had been quite a few attacked in the last days of the war including you and Alice.

"A couple of days after you-know-who's fall, Sirius Black was arrested on the charges of betraying the Potters and of killing 12 muggles and Peter Pettigrew when Pettigrew supposedly tried to corner him about betraying the Potters. Sirius was sent to Azkaban by the war tribunal constituted in the following days and we all thought he was guilty. Since James & Lily's will was not found, Harry Potter was sent to Lily's muggle relatives to be kept safe."

Alice who had been silent all this while, shouted, "WHAT!? They sent Harry Potter to live with Muggles? Why didn't anyone interfere? Why did you not try to take him in, mother? Where was Remus Lupin?"

Augusta sadly smiled, "Remus Lupin was a tired soul. His entire world revolved around his friends. When the news reached him that James and Lilly were dead and then Peter Pettigrew a couple of days later and finally, that Sirius had been tossed into Azkaban for their murders. Something inside him broke and he disappeared. Nobody heard anything from him until Sirius broke out of Azkaban. That was when he came back to teach Defence against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. That was in Neville's third year there. He often says that Remus Lupin is the only decent defense professor they had. I had gone to Dumbledore to ask him to let me adopt Harry Potter but he pointed out that I already had a child to care for and I was not getting any younger. He said something about some blood wards keeping him safe and considering the attack happened at Green Hues, I was not willing to take any chances with two children in my custody."

Frank's face showed a variety of emotions including disbelief, surprise, and anger. As Augusta finished her narrative he said, "Of all the things that I know for certain mother, I can say that Sirius Black would never betray the Potters. James was like his brother and Sirius loved him more than his own brother, Regulus. He would have willingly taken a killing curse if it meant that it would save James. The ministry must have bungled up somehow. What happened in Neville's third year? Did they get Sirius Black?"

Augusta told of the entire fiasco that was the third year when Sirius Black had escaped Azkaban. He had spotted Peter Pettigrew in his animagus rat form in a picture on the front page of the Daily Prophet with the Weasleys. Knowing that Pettigrew was not dead, but perilously close to Harry, he did the impossible and somehow got past the dementors to confront the traitor. As it turned out, Pettigrew was a death eater. I don't know all the details, but somehow, Pettigrew escaped and ran off to look for You-Know-Who. Fudge refused to believe or investigate that Pettigrew was alive and went to fetch the dementors to execute Sirius. Again, I don't know the details, but somehow Sirius escaped as well.

"As it turned out, Pettigrew and Barty Crouch Junior, both thought to be long dead were instrumental in the tragic events around the third task of the Triwizard tournament just weeks ago. You-Know-Who was returned to his body. Harry re-captured Pettigrew and Sirius was exonerated. You-Know-Who and his cronies are trying to work in secret to recruit more to their numbers and undermine the ministry. Fudge continues to be an ineffectual idiot. And now you are up-to-date." As she finished, Frank and Alice's expressions had turned inscrutable.

Frank sighed, "What you have told us mother is horrifying. To think that we had been through a war and woke up just as another war is knocking on the door. But I know for one that I will fight in this war."

Alice who was quiet all this while turned to Augusta, "While all this is rich information mother, I am more interested to know about Neville's four years at Hogwarts. I recall you said that Neville often says that Remus Lupin was one of the most decent defense professors. I wonder what he has been going through at school."

Augusta schooled her features into an impassive face, "I have answered enough questions for this week. Now you both have to wait for sometime before I am up to another round of this play. Meanwhile, if you want to help your son and his god-brother, you should focus on your recuperation. The sooner you are in shape, the sooner you will be able to shake up the order of things."

They both nodded knowing there was nothing that could deter her from her resolution of not answering any more questions today. They already had a lot to think about and to prepare for another war. This time, they will not go easy on the death eaters but they will end the menace once and for all. He had lost many of his friends and allies at their hands, simmering with anger over their inability to do anything due to being tied down with restrictions. This time they will take the fight to them. The revelations had lit a fire in them to get well soon and on their feet to help with the war and to aid in any way possible.

Cottage on the Hill

"Good Morning, students", said Remus jovially to the students before him.

"What do you all know about the death eaters?", Remus Lupin asked the students before him. As always Hermione Granger raised her hand to answer.

Remus turned to her and said, kindly, "Miss Granger, I can always count on you to give the exact answer from the book. Let's give the other students a chance to show what they know."

Hermione blushed, but put her hand down.

"Miss Bones, will you answer my question?", he asked to Susan who by the looks of it was lost somewhere else. Snapping to attention she started, "From what I have read about them, they are mostly purebloods but not all of them are overtly powerful or adept at magic. Most of them are average witches or wizards who have a false feeling of supremacy about them. Based on their roles, I would classify them into the commanders and the foot soldiers. Commanders are the death eaters who are more dangerous than most like Antonon Dolohov, Bellatrix Lestrange etc. who are powerful and can cast dark magic and a variety of spells and have often been referred to as the "inner circle", while the foot soldiers are those who are not really powerful but they are used mostly to bolster their numbers or just to have another wand at their side. They cannot do magic like the commanders but all it takes to cast an unforgivable is hatred towards anyone and it makes them equally dangerous."

Remus smiled at her, "Very articulate answer. Your observations are very astute based on what you have been taught." He turned to Neville, "Mr. Longbottom, what strategy would you adopt against a foot soldier?"

Neville thought for a moment before replying, "In battle, all it takes for a warrior to fall is one spell. Foot soldiers as Susan said, are only to bolster their numbers, therefore, they must be neutralised as soon as possible because it takes only hatred to fire an unforgivable."

Remus turned to Hermione, "Anything you want to add to their findings, Hermione?"

Hermione who had been listening with rapt attention merely shook her head. Not everything Susan and Neville said was exactly as written in the books but they had precisely summed up everything. There were a minor things they omitted but those were not worth mentioning in all that they had recited.

"What strategy would you adopt against a Dark Lord?", Remus was asking.

"A Dark Lord should not be taken on by anyone except one who is as powerful as him. One who is as adept as him at magic and is equal to or greater in experience than him is suitable to fight him. If someone else wants to engage him in a duel, they should do it in groups. That way, they can keep him engaged and suffer minimum casualties.", she finished with a flourish while Remus was smiling at her.

He turned to Ron, "Ron, if we are to plan an ambush, what should be our approach?"

Ron sat still for a while before speaking, "I guess it would depend on many factors like how many warriors you have, the battle grounds, your resources and your capability. No strategy can be formed without knowing all the variables in an equation."

The students were discussing a chapter Remus had allocated them to read from "Dark Lords: From Grindelwald to Voldemort", which outlined their strategies, their mode of operations, atrocities they committed and how they met their downfall. The author was an obscure wizard who went by a pseudonym but had a very firm grasp of facts and details of events as they happened. Ironically the book had been banned from distribution in England and was brought from the continent by Dumbledore who had procured enough copies for the students and the members of the Order. Sirius had suggested that the junior members be allowed to read them so that they would know what they are facing. One of the tasks that they had not done yet was to desensitize them to battle and gore as they knew would follow. That would fall to Alastor though since none of the other adults had the heart to do it.

As the class came to an end, a sound started to blare through the cottage making Remus grip his wand and run outside with the junior members following him out. As they stepped out of the cottage, a red colored spell hit Ron in the face and he passed out making others halt. As Hermione stooped to enervate him, another spell approached them. Fred took it on his hastily conjured shield. Soon there were more curses raining down on them and the students started running for cover. As they ran, they noticed Remus engaged in a duel with two masked men who were trying to do him in while he battled them with everything he had.

They noticed McGonagall was there conjuring walls, transforming objects into animals motioning them to attack the hooded figures, tiny Professor Flitwick was holding his own against three of the masked men who were trying to corner him but the remarkable Professor was keeping them at bay with ease showing his extraordinary reflexes using even the easiest of charms to duel with the masked men.

There was Sirius who was fighting with two of them who were gaining the upper hand on him with each minute.

Neville immediately whipped his wand out and sent a powerful blasting hex at one of the two who were engaged with Sirius while he shouted at the others, "Fred and George, go and secure the perimeter of the cottage, do what you can to keep them in check and make sure that no one else enters. Hermione go and help Remus. Susan, go and help Professor McGonagall. Ginny go and try to contact Professor Dumbledore. Tell him we are losing and we need reinforcements."

They all immediately sped into action with each running to do their assigned tasks. The twins rushed to the property line where they found two of the masked men guarding a strange contraption.

"Hello, my merry men", said Fred.

As the men turned, George fired a stunning spell at them but a third man appeared out of nowhere and flicked the spell aside with a wave of his wand. He immediately started firing spell chains at them which forced them to run for cover. The three men they were facing were highly proficient and using lethal curses against them. One of them was solely using fire spells against them while another used a combination of bombarda, confrigno and reducto at them. The third was mostly defending the other two against any attacks not that the twins were attacking that much. One of the twins pulled out an innocent looking wire from his pocket and threw it at them. Before it connected, the other twin cast a finite at the wire and it expanded forming a net which immediately grew to disable the three of them tying them into a vast net.

Neville had engaged one of the two who were fighting Sirius and he sent a reductor at the man who dodged it and sent a tripping hex which Neville sidestepped and immediately had to dodge a nasty looking violet colored curse by ducking on the ground. Another yellow colored curse followed which made him roll from his position. Panting he got up and produced a shield which was met with a shield shattering curse followed by a disarming hex. As his shield shattered and he saw the disarming hex flying at him, he immediately willed his wand back into its holster on his arm. After the disarming hex passed harmlessly through him, he again willed his wand into his hand and almost instantaneously sent a blasting hex at his attacker who jumped out of the way. Neville immediately started sending high powered blasting hexes at the man who conjured a shield to avoid being hit. After a few seconds, Neville feigned dropping from exhaustion and his opponent dropped the shield to fire a hex at him. Neville immediately fired a stunner at his opponent who crumpled to the ground. Neville turned to the others and found that Hermione was barely holding her own against one of the masked figures who was firing hexes at her relentlessly. She was having a hard time defending herself from all curses for the reason that the basic shields she knew could not hold against the variety of curses fired at her. As Neville watched she conjured a shield which was shattered almost immediately and a stunner knocked her out.

Susan was not faring well either with her opponent who had forced her on the defensive and was coming down heavily on her. She was trying to hold her own against her opponent who was liberally transfiguring things into animals and animating them to attack Susan while the opponent kept McGonagall busy with turning her own animations against her. As McGonagall conjured a flock of birds and directed them towards her opponent to distract him, his opponent cast a wide area stunner which McGonagall dodged while Susan crumpled to the ground.

As Neville rushed forward to help his friends, Sirius fell to the floor with a gash on his forehead and before Neville knew anything, he was passed out.

Neville returned to consciousness with Sirius grinning at him while he lay on the floor of the cottage. As he remembered the battle, he immediately leapt up to his feet to see order members in the cottage while his friends were just waking up.

Dumbledore started the meeting, "This attack was a test for you all to see your alertness and responsiveness to a situation. You saw an attack happening and you people forgot that this property is under a fidelius charm and no one can enter here unless they are told the secret which meant anyone coming in here would not be an enemy. Afterwards you all did some quick thinking choosing to help the members already fighting and were bested in your turn. Now I want you all to narrate how you did and how you were bested."

Fred started, "we had trapped Kingsley, Dad,"

George continued, "and Bill."

Fred said, "We thought ourselves victorious."

George said, "When Hestia and Emmeline came."

Together they said, "They just apparated before us and stunned us."

Albus raised his hand in a gesture to stop them from speaking, "Good work using the contraption, Mr. Weasley and Weasley but you forgot your orders and were dallying around. I remember Mr. Longbottom ordered you to make sure that no one else can enter. Next time, pay attention to your surroundings. Miss Granger, your turn", he indicated Hermione.

"I was battling Tonks who was using random spells to defeat my shields. She used many spells that I do not know and she was casting them relentlessly not giving me time to think. She shattered all my shields almost at the moment I conjured them. She kept using single spells as well as a spell chain or two to keep me thinking and stunned me."

Tonks smiled kindly at her, "You need to work on your dodging. It is physically more demanding but it leaves your power free to use for attack and it is effective against unknown spells. You will get better with time, Hermione. You were holding your own against me for quite a long time. I think your exhaustion played a good role in getting you knocked out."

Dumbledore turned to Ron, "What about you Mr. Weasley?"

Ron considered for a few seconds before he spoke, "I was stunned before we even joined the battle."

Dumbledore nodded while turning to Ginny, "What about you, Miss Weasley?"

Ginny looked flushed, her cheeks tinted red, "Neville ordered me to contact you and ask for reinforcements. I tried to floo call you but the floo was down. I kept trying for sometime before I was confronted by Alastor Moody who fired a stinging hex at me which I barely dodged and was immediately knocked out by a stunner."

Alastor growled, "You need to be more aware of your surroundings. You were under attack and you were oblivious to the dangers around you. If it is any consolation to you, you were the last to be taken out but you need to work harder."

Dumbledore turned to Neville, "What about you Mr. Longbottom?"

Neville sheepishly smiled, "I do not know who I was duelling but he was fast and kept firing hexes at me which I barely dodged. I somehow stunned the man before I turned to see how others were faring and forgot the man Sirius was duelling with. As I watched Hermione and Susan getting stunned, I turned to help them and Professor Snape who had just knocked Sirius out, stunned me."

Alastor muttered, "Don't downplay your talents, boy." He turned to the others, "this one kept parrying me for a few minutes and dodged or shielded my spells. When I sent a disarming jinx at him, he sent his wand into his holster neutralising my hex and immediately started raining down on me with powerful blasting hexes. When he could not stun me, he feigned to drop from exertion and when I let my guard down, he stunned me. A bloody trickster, if there ever was one."

"Constant Vigilance, Alastor", chortled Sirius, making others laugh.

Dumbledore who was smiling at the antics of everyone around him turned to Susan finally, "You were helping Professor McGonagall to duel with me. You were holding your own pretty well until you missed the wide area stunner which knocked you out."

Dumbledore turned to the people gathered in the room, "You all did well but there is much more you will need to learn. You were successful in shielding and dodging but you will need to do more."

With that the meeting was dismissed and as they were leaving, Sirius was cornered by Arthur, "Sirius, did you do anything to Grimmauld Place?"

Sirius grinned at him, "why do you ask, Arthur?"

Arthur shrugged, "At random times, when we are eating in the kitchen or people are sitting there, weird things keep happening. Once all the food disappeared, once the table grew legs and walked away, the enchanted mirrors keep saying rude things, the fireplace keeps shutting itself off and once the mirror called Dumbledore "old goat", making the headmaster chuckle."

Sirius was trying very hard not to laugh knowing it would give away that he was behind these pranks. He had not been to Grimmauld Place since he had come to the cottage on the hill but he had asked his elves to keep everyone busy with pranks and they were obviously doing their part. "No, Arthur. I had nothing to do with the recent events as you narrated but I will look into it", he assured the Weasley patriarch.

India

As Harry woke in the morning, he found that nobody else was in the tent. He went out of the tent to find that there was no one else in the area either. He collapsed the tent and put it in a backpack which he had in his trunk and had taken out the previous day. As he took out the contraption Harsh had given him, he inspected it more closely and found a parchment with instructions to use the contraption. One of the instructions asked him to tap it twice with his wand and it would morph into a wrist watch that he could wear. He immediately did so and as he was setting out to find the mystics, he heard the whooshing of large wings and found his hippogriff descending from the sky to meet him. Grinning with pleasure, he immediately bowed to the beast. The beast bowed its head in return and sat on its haunches allowing him to mount upon it. To his delight Harry found that the tack was already on its back. He took a minute to check that the tack was in order before he mounted and took to the sky. Going north towards the hills, he could feel the cold wind hitting him in the face making him shiver. He descended near a stream and got off the hippogriff, "Go and forage for a bit, mate. I think I will need to find something to make me comfortable before we can fly."

As he looked into his trunk to find a woollen cloak or some sweaters or a Weasley jumper or his Gryffindor scarf, he found nothing. As he panicked, he remembered some of the charms that he had studied and some of the transfigurations that Professor McGonagall had taught him. He pointed his wand at his clothes, willing his magic and changing the fabric of his cloak into a heavy woollen cloak which immediately felt warm and he transfigured a piece of wood into a thick scarf which he rolled around his head. He pointed his wand at himself and cast some warming charms at him and again mounted the Hippogriff and took to the skies but had to land again after some time due to feeling cold. As he neared the ground he found that he was warmer than in the air. He took the tack off Blackstorm's back and shrinking it, he slipped it into his backpack. He released the hippogriff to forage for food while he continued the journey on foot.

As he walked, he began to take notice of his surroundings. The woods were heavily populated and thick with trees which he was sure were magical. There were a few he recognised from his Herbology class but there were many he had never seen. There was a tree with long curved leaves with a red hue which exuded a lovely fragrance. As he inhaled the perfume, he felt a compulsion to walk toward the tree. His trance was broken when the hippogriff nudged him with its head. As he came out of his trance, he noticed a small animal approaching the tree. When the animal got close enough to the tree, it fell down on the ground dead. A second later, a tentacle leapt from the tree lapping the dead animal into a toothy maw hidden in the bowl of the tree.

Harry blanched at the tree and decided to continue forward while trying not to think about what he had just seen. As he was walking, he became aware of someone watching him and chose to be careful with his actions. As he walked forward, an owl hooted making him jump. The owl was sitting on a nearby tree and was quite different from other owls he had seen. He was proud of Hedwig but this owl was truly beautiful. It was taller and heavier with its golden plumage shining and its amber eyes glowing.

As Harry watched, it hooted again and something flashed in his mind. Some scenes where he was flying on his hippogriff to battle, the Quidditch pitch on fire, him holding a girl in his arms and crying, him hugging Susan, he and Susan standing in a clearing with their wrists joined by tendrils of magic, him holding a wand in each hand, Harry standing over the dead body of Voldemort, Harry hugging Sirius who looked beaten with cuts and gashes on his arms but smiling, Neville smiling and embracing him like a brother and there were a lot of scenes which did not make sense to him but gave him some sense of foreboding.

As the flash ended, Harry found that the owl was gone and he was standing in the open. Trying to memorise the scenes of what had happened, he walked further and suddenly the hair on the back of his head rose and he ducked. A split-second later, a spear passed through the space he had just vacated. Harry fast-drew his wand and turned shooting a stunner in the direction the spear came from. A moment later, a heavy thud told him that the spell had found its mark.

A second later, Harry jumped aside as another spear whirred towards him. After another stunner and another thud Harry broke into a run with spears raining down on him from all directions. He kept running in a zigzag pattern and often doubled back on his own path but his pursuers seemed to know the forest well. Finally as he was out of breath and panting, his steps faltered for a moment when a spear grazed his leg making him wince in pain and he stifled a cry as he fell down with heavy ropes binding him. As he watched, a snake appeared. It was a big brown serpent with menacing fangs and had a broad hood. As it slithered towards Harry, hood raised, several men appeared around him wielding spears.

As the snake was poised to strike, Harry hissed, "Greetings, Noble beast. Do not bite me."

The snake stopped mid-strike, "Who are you? You speak the tongue but you are not a Naga."

Harry replied, "I am Harry Potter."

The snake hissed, "Harry Potter who? I do not know any by such name."

Harry did not know what to say. He was confident that the snake would die if it bit him. He had basilisk venom in his blood which vaccinated him against all snake poison. He needed to say something to the snake to stop it from attacking him. He hissed to the snake, "I am a descendant of snake speakers."

The snake dipped its hood, "I can taste the magic in your blood, ssspeaker. You have ancient magics in your blood. Peverells who walked the land long ago will walk again in you, ssspeaker."

While Harry was surprised with the snake telling him about Peverells, he supposed it did not make a significant difference considering his ancestors were war mages but he did not know that the Peverells had parsel tongue in their blood line.

"Peverells destroyed most of my kind and they walk again with one who speaks the tongue. Say your wish speaker, it will be granted and leave us in peace", the snake hissed.

"I was just passing through", replied Harry.

The snake turned to the men who had been listening with rapt attention and ordered them to release Harry from his bonds and harm him no more. As the snake slithered away, one of the men approached him and released Harry from the rope that was binding him, "Greetings Speaker."

Harry had never met another man in his life who could speak to snakes therefore he was amazed to find that the man was one. "You can speak this language?", he asked.

The man replied off handedly, "of course we can. We the Naga are descendants to snake speakers from ancient times and we can speak this language. Tell me about you."

So it was that Harry told everything to him about being a parsel tongue, Voldemort, coming to India with the mystics, crossing the terrain to find their tribal home and his aim to train to become a sorcerer who could defeat Voldemort for good.

As he finished, the chief (as he was the leader of the Nagas) invited him to the home of the Nagas for the night. As it was nearing evening Harry accepted their offer, grateful to have a roof over his head for the evening and not being alone.

After a dinner with the Nagas which was one of his strangest yet tasty meals, the chief invited him to talk.

"So Harry," the chief said, "do you know any parsel tongue magic?"

"Parsel tongue magic?", Harry asked, confused.

"Yes", the chief replied, "parsel tongue is a magical language and has more magic than your ordinary language. Even Ordinary spells fired in parsel tongue are twice more powerful than when cast in an ordinary tongue."

Harry was intrigued. He had once or twice thought about the usefulness of Parsel tongue but he had not been able to find anything. Since Parsel tongue was considered a trait of dark wizards, there were really no books available on it. Sirius had hinted that there were books in the Black family library which could be classified as dark so, he was not interested in knowing them but here he was being offered to be tutored in parsel magics without any costs.

"I have no knowledge of parsel magics, noble chief", Harry answered the chief.

"If you wish, Harry Potter, then come see us after you have done your training with the mystics. Lord Harsh Vardhana would not take offense to an offer like this", the chief offered, "we will teach you all that we can. This language can be of use for you in the upcoming war against this Voldemort. There are not many tribes left in the world who speak parsel tongue so I doubt he would know about these magics."

"I have one question, though", Harry said to the chief, "how do you keep warm at this temperature?"

The chief guffawed at this, "we have magic to keep us warm and we also do a lot of physical work. And we have a plant whose leaves help us to remain warm even in the harshest climate."

After that Harry was led to a small hut on one side of the settlement where there was no bed in sight but a bed of straw laid out on the ground. Not wanting to offend his hosts and not wanting to do more magic, he immediately fell on the straw. As he was about to pass out, the Naga who had accompanied him, gave him two leaves to eat telling him that they would keep him warm for the night.

Greengrass Manor

Cyrus Greengrass had just returned home from his Potion Shop in Diagon Alley and was in his office working on some business ventures when his elf Moppy popped in, "Mr. Dumbledore has come to meet you, master."

"Take him to the parlor Moppy and tell him I will be there soon", he replied to the elf while thinking about this visit. He was not surprised that Dumbledore had come to visit, but that it had taken him so long to do so. The exoneration of Sirius Black had been two days ago and Cyrus had expected a visit the same evening. Calling Roxanne and Daphne he went to the parlor where Dumbledore was waiting for him, his face expectant and his eyes full of twinkle.

"Head Master, it is a pleasure to host you in these halls", he said to the older wizard, "or is it Chief Warlock, today?"

Dumbledore smiled jovially, "It is a pleasure to see you too, Cyrus, Roxanne and Daphne. It is only Albus Dumbledore today, head master of Hogwarts coming to see his students."

Cyrus snorted, "Pardon me, Head Master. You have never visited Greengrass Manor before as you say "to see your students'. It will be easy if we can come straight to the point."

Dumbledore smiled in return, "if that is your wish, Cyrus. I wanted to talk about what happened in the Wizengamot the other day. I had no idea that the neutrals would vote in favour of someone from a dark family."

"The way I see it, Head Master it was the houses sticking up for one of our own who had been subjected to injustice at the hands of the ministry", Cyrus said, "it also had the added benefit of being in the good books of Lord Black when the war comes. There will be no neutrals in the war, head master and I intend to see my family through the war with the minimum of casualties. The Dark lord has already sent his minions quite a few times to try and sway us but we have avoided them so far. If we do not ally with anyone, I intend to take my family and go into hiding. I daresay House Greengrass has several such places at its disposal."

"I know of the resourcefulness of your house to stay away from any side of a conflict Cyrus but if you are choosing sides, there is no guarantee that all of us will survive the war. People die in wars", Dumbledore said grimly.

"I know of the hazards, Head Master", Cyrus replied, "I do not want to give a chance to future generations to say that when the wizarding world was fighting for its future, House Greengrass ran and hid."

"What do you intend to do in the war, if I may ask?", Dumbledore asked the other man.

This time it was Roxanne who replied, "We will ally ourselves with the light with a number of our friends. We have been meeting in secret for the last couple of days having discussions upon this very topic and we all have agreed upon allying with light but there are some conditions which will need to be adhered to."

Dumbledore knew too well that there can be no offers from any of the factions without any conditions attached. Usually these conditions tugged at his moral compass and made him refuse but he was willing to hear them out this time.

"What are those conditions, Lady Greengrass?", he asked.

"First, call me Roxanne. Lady Greengrass is for formal occasions", she told him with mock sternness, "Second, we will not ally with light if the war is fought under your banner. We know you are a formidable wizard and you-know-who feared you but you are not destined to defeat him, are you? Thirdly, we will put in funding and men to fight the war but we will not restrict ourselves to stunners or disarming hexes."

"These are all agreeable conditions, Roxanne. I was not intending to be the leader anyway. Harry Potter is a beacon of hope people look to in times such as these. It is he who will lead us. Is that agreeable?", Dumbledore asked them.

"It is agreeable. In fact House Greengrass has long lasting ties with the House of Black and we have no problems whatsoever standing with Lord Black", Cyrus replied.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, my boy", Dumbledore replied, feigning innocence.

"You know what he is talking about, headmaster. The magically adopted son of Sirius Black, indeed", Roxanne grinned.

"I should have realised who I was talking to", Dumbledore muttered.

Wizengamot

The Wizengamot was assembled for another trial however it was not a full body trial as had happened with Sirius Black but a confidential hearing for an illegal animagus and the crimes perpetrated by her.

As the tribunal sat, Rita Skeeter was brought before the tribunal and sat in the chair with chains slung around her wrists. The minister was inwardly gleeful to see the pest in chains and awaiting trial. She had been a nuisance to far too many people for far too long. Many respectable pure bloods had fallen prey to her poisoned quill. He was sure that before sunset that day, Rita would be cooling her heels in Azkaban.

"Respected members of the jury," Amelia was saying, "I have received complaints about Ms. Skeeter spying on the private lives of many respectable citizens including the chief warlock, the minister and the boy-who-lived. When I investigated the matter, it came to my attention that she is an illegal animagus, a fact which has been confirmed to me by Professor McGonagall who is one of the foremost authorities on Transfiguration and has agreed to help us with the investigation."

The members were seething with rage at the reporter but the punishment for being an illegal animagus was 12 years in prison which was not sufficient for the gravity of her crimes. As one of the members started to raise his objections, Amelia Bones raised her hand signalling for them to remain quiet, "As I took her into custody and investigated into her alleged crimes, it came to my knowledge that all of her exclusives were based on information obtained by her in her illegal animagus form. She has also used this form to avoid detection when she trespassed in the ministry archives to steal and leak official ministry secrets in direct violation of the Official Secrets Act. This last crime carries the Dementor's Kiss for treason, however; since her information has been, shall we say, helpful, I am not calling for this sentence."

She banished a stack of parchment towards Dumbledore who distributed it to the members with a wave of his hand, "these are some of the crimes which she has committed in her animagus form. I implore this jury of respectable wizards and witches to judge her actions based on the gravity of her crimes."

As she finished, the jury retired to deliberate upon the punishment. After 30 minutes, the jury returned and handed a roll of parchment to the minister who read it with his expression turning gleeful. Hiding his smirk, he started, "Rita Skeeter, the Wizengamot has found you guilty of the following charges: of failing to register your animagus form, of multiple counts of liable and slander against members of our community, of multiple counts of criminal trespass in restricted areas of the offices and archives of the ministry, of leaking official secrets and treason. The last charge carries a manditory sentence of life imprisonment in a maximum security facility or death. However, DMLE Head Madame Bones has chosen to commute that sentence, citing your value as a material witness in matters which have not yet been heard before this body. You are sentenced, therefore; to 30 years in the minimum security wing at Azkaban with possibility for parole in ten years should you show that you are sufficiently reformed to no longer pose a threat to society. In addition your estates and account at Gringotts are henceforth confiscated to make reparations to those whose reputations you have damaged with your activities. Should any of your holdings remain after settlement has been reached, they shall be held in trust until such time as your sentence is complete. Furthermore, two years shall be added to your sentence if you fail to register your nefarious animagus form within 1 month of pronouncement of this judgment."

India

Harry woke up in a hut with walls made of mud with wooden poles. He was lying on a straw bed. As he thought, the events of last night came back to him reminding him of the snake, being chased by the Nagas and their hospitality. As he came out, he was taken to the chief of the Nagas who welcomed him fondly, "Welcome Harold James, son of Peverells."

"But I am a Potter", he frowned "why would you call me son of Peverells?"

The chief grinned, "Because we can sense the Peverell magic coursing in you. The ancient magics are strong in you and there are not many wizards alive who have so much power as you do at your age. You have reinstated the line of Peverell which was not in existence for centuries now."

Harry frowned at the explanation. Were not his ancestors also the descendants of the Peverells? They were all descended from Peverells. May be he will have to ask the mystics who could explain this.

"Are you ready for the journey ahead, Harry?", the chief asked.

As Harry was served breakfast, the chief explained the route to him with some of the problems he was expected to face. After an hour, Harry left the Nagas to commence his journey to the abode of the mystics. He travelled further north on foot determined to learn about the animals and the flora and fauna of the place. As he walked, he saw a two headed bird diving towards him. Immediately he whipped out his wand and sent a stunner at the bird which dodged out of the way surprising him with its agility. As he was recovering from his surprise, the bird dived again and picked him up in his talons taking him into the sky. Harry levelled his wand at the bird to stun it but realised a second later that he would not survive the fall if the bird dropped him. Resigning himself to fate, he looked downwards and saw something which made his heart soar with joy. Blackstorm was flying towards him at a great speed and quickly covering the distance between them. Mentally ordering the hippogriff to stay beneath him, Harry stunned the bird which dropped him and he fell hard on the back of his hippogriff making him wince in pain. He could feel his ribs aching making it clear that he had broken one or two of them. Perhaps it was not a good decision to land on the hippogriff in mid-flight.

He settled himself comfortably upon the Hippogriff trying to limit his movements so as not to aggravate his injury. As he flew, he kept looking at the contraption on his wrist and steered the hippogriff in the right direction from time to time with a gentle pat on its flanks or a thought. When he felt cold, he dug into the pockets of his robes, pulling out some of the leaves the Nagas had given him. After an hour of flying, they were nearing the snow laden mountains which Harry had seen the previous day and he could see the wisdom in having a flying beast. He was able to soar over the deepest valleys in minutes, guessing at their depths, instead of having to spend arduous days scaling their sides. Suddenly the contraption on his wrist glowed red and he patted the hippogriff signalling it to go down. The Hippogriff plummeted towards the ground at an exhilarating speed making him shout in glee at the thrill of flying. After 5 minutes, the hippogriff landed outside a ring of trees which were spread in a giant circle but there was nothing beyond the trees. The contraption on his hand was inert showing no activity. He remembered the question he had asked Harsh when they had gone to Longbottom castle about every pureblood property being surrounded by rings of trees and he remembered that Harsh had not answered the question. Perhaps all magical properties were ringed by trees on their borders.

As he was pondering over what to do he remembered Harsh's advice about magic leaving traces. Deciding to test the theory, he extended his senses to feel anything like he had felt at Ollivanders. As he concentrated, he could feel a tug at his consciousness. As he concentrated more, he felt like he was trapped in a big circle that tugged at him from all sides. Over whelmed he sat down on the ground from all his senses being drowned in all the magic that was present in the place. He concentrated more and finally felt a lone string which extended towards the ring of trees. Getting up with difficulty, he dragged his feet towards the property following the string and soon, he was caressing the gnarled trunk of a very old tree. As he was doing so, Harsh appeared beside him grinning, "Welcome to Adhrispuram, Harry."

Harry grinned at him before he collapsed from exertion and the pain from his ribs.

Harry woke up in a room with walls built of closely fitted and polished stone blocks showing no sign of morter. The walls were generously hung with tapestries and portraits of warriors. Light was provided by a number of torches in wall-sconces. He was lying on a bed which was twice the size of his bed in his dormitory at Hogwarts. Harsh sat at his bedside grinning at him, "welcome back to the land of living, Harry."

Harry groaned, "Guruji, why did you not tell me that finding the abode of the mystics was so hard? I had to battle a bird and ran from spears and fly in the cold to find this place. Why did you not tell me that it would be so cold here?"

Harsh was amused. "You have just arrived and you already have so many complaints. However I can relate how being taken captive by a bird would set you off. I hope the Nagas treated you well. They always treat all my recruits with generous hospitality but I think they would have treated you special considering you speak their language", Harsh said hissing.

"You speak it. You have been playing me all along?", Harry hissed in indignation while Harsh just laughed aloud at his protests.

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