Harry Potter and the Tribe of Mystics

by Lord of mystics

Harry Potter is competing in the Triwizard tournament as someone is out to get him again. meanwhile, Susan Bones is trying to get to him. But what is the interest of mystics in Harry Potter? Who are they and why are they interested in Harry Potter? Why the blue eyed slytherin want to get to Harry Potter? Starts at end of year 4. [COMPLETED]

20. Chapter 20

A/N- Hey guys, I know I did not make public appreciation for reviews in the last few chapters but I did send inbox messages to those generous souls. Hope you all would keep loving this fic as you have been doing.

This chapter is somewhat longer than my standard ones and I wrote with a lot of time being spent in the task. I would really love to read your reviews for this chapter. They more detailed they are, the merrier it will be.

Now, don't let me keep you from plowing head on to this chapter.

Cheers!

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Himalayas, somewhere in the wilderness

The moment that Harry felt the portkey stop pulling him he started walking and landed on his feet. This time, he barely stumbled. He made a deliberate effort to stretch out his senses and instantly became aware of the eerie forest surrounding him. Thinking fast, he drew his wand and cast the homenum revelio which showed that there were no other people in that part of the forest. But Harry remained alert because he knew that there were several different dangerous creatures living there, both mundane and magical.

All around him, the forest was deathly quiet as if holding its breath. As he tried to look into the dark, his eyes adjusted to the requirement and suddenly everything was visible to him clearly. What he did not know was that his eyes were gleaming like a cat in the dark, his leonine form responding to his need.

He found that where he was standing, there was no undergrowth. As he scanned the area, he found that he was in an area of very large trees and that the canopy above him so dense that his sight could not penetrate it.

The giant trees were far from comforting and Harry felt that someone was watching him. Keeping his wand at the ready, he started off to look for a safe place where he could spend the night away from the creatures of the forest. As he moved, he felt a familiar and powerful presence somewhere nearby. As he prowled further, he heard a sound as if it were the rustling of the wind. He dived off to one side when suddenly a pair of wings swept through the air where he had been a moment before. He saw the two headed Ganda Berunda ascending into the air and immediately started shooting stunners at the bird. It dodged all the spells with apparent ease and screeched at Harry, taunting him. Harry hid under a bush, waiting for the bird to return but it didn't.

As he started to walk again, a mystic appeared out of thin air in front of him, shot a stunner and was gone before Harry had a chance to retaliate. Harry cursed himself for letting his vigilance slip after the encounter with the bird. Readying his wand again and with a curse on his lips, he stretched out his senses. He heard a rustling in the bushes ahead of him and let loose with a stunner faster than thought. He heard a body hit the ground which let him know that the stunner had found its mark. When he looked in the bushes to see who or what his victim had been, he found a deer with a golden coat that glowed in the dark.

Laughing at himself mentally, he enervated the deer and patted its head. He started to move on when suddenly the deer lunged towards him. It was thanks to his reflexes that he jumped aside at the last moment and the deer passed through the space he had been occupying a moment earlier. As he watched, the deer transformed into a mystic who started shooting curses at him forcing him to raise a shield. The mystic used very common spells against him which he could parry with a simple protego but the curses kept coming. When there was a lull in the casting, he immediately went on the offensive, shooting bone breakers at the mystic who was laughing and side stepping his every curse. With each curse that he dodged, he would taunt Harry saying that he could not fight, how he was a disgrace to the Peverells and the Potters, how he should break his wand and become a hermit because his fighting was rather pedestrian. He even taunted him that he was shaming his forefather's legacy who would be turning in their crypts because he could not use lethal curses when they were needed.

Harry had taken all the insults without being provoked. He remained determined to disable the mystic but the mystic was yet to raise a shield and he had dodged all his curses so far. Desperate for a hit, Harry used some of the dark curses which he had read in the books that Sirius had placed in his trunk.

The mystic who had just raised a shield for the first time, barked at him, "So you are not a total loss, I suppose. May be we can make a warrior of you yet, Potter."

The mystic started casting inaudibly but all his curses were dark as was clear from the colour of the curses. A myriad of curses varying from grey to magenta to dark purple to light green left his wand and collided with Harry's curses midway causing explosions whenever they collided. Harry started casting some dark spells of his own, thinking of those that he had read in books which detailed dark magic. Bone exploders, Bone crushers, Entrail-expelling curses and the likes left his wand at a speed with which he had never cast before.

As the duel progressed, the mystic started shifting the duel away from where they had started. As they moved into a darker area of the forest, the mystic grinned at Harry and disappeared.

Harry stood there with his wand out and his senses on alert waiting for the mystic to return. After a few moments, he realised that the mystic had simply disappeared. As he looked around, he realised that he had ventured far off from where he had started the duel and in the distance, a figure stood wrapped in the shadows. As Harry levelled his wand at him the figure barked" 'Lower your wand boy. If I wanted you dead, you would not have seen me."

Harry could not believe it. He had not expected to hear this voice half a world away. Hesitantly he asked, "Alastor Moody?"

The veteran Auror hobbled forward grinning maliciously at him, "Did not expect to see me here, did you lad?"

Harry was about to lower his wand when he remembered why he was banished from Adirshpuram in the first place. He immediately levelled his wand at the Auror, "What did Alastor Moody say that he wanted me to do when I return to England?"

The Auror growled, "I said that I wanted you to learn enough magic so that you would be able to kill that abomination."

Harry immediately shot a stunner knocking down the Auror and proceeded to bind him with chains while muttering, "Alastor Moody would not call Voldemort an abomination, not to mention he said he wanted me to be able to duel him."

Leaving the stunned man in the forest, he started moving to find a safe spot for the night since the duel with the mystic had taken a lot out of him. As he walked further, suddenly somebody jumped in front of him from a tree and instinctively he shot a bone breaker which was useless against the newcomer.

The Yeti (with Harry's luck, who else could it be) roared at him, "You use your magic against me, humanling? You wish to die?"

Despite not being easily intimidated, Harry shuddered and hastily putting his wand in his cloak, he prostrated himself before the Yeti, "No great one. I am looking for a shelter to protect me from the perils of the long night and the mighty creatures of the forest."

The Yeti grunted, "Did Harsh banish you too?"

Harry smiled sheepishly, "Yes. It was my fault anyway. There were some essential lessons that I was too slow to learn."

The Yeti sounded amused, "Be on your guard humanling. The night is still long and the perils are many. Your life is too important for you to die at the hands of a dumb beast. Your destiny has a lot in store for you- love, pain, family, duty, honour. You would have to stay strong for those who love you because not before long, adversities would find you. You will find love and you will lament over what you will lose. Your destiny is interwoven with one who is epitome of evil. Remember that a warrior has to stay strong even if the world around him is dying down. There is nothing higher than duty and honour."

As Harry was pondering over his words the Yeti bellowed and leapt into the trees then was gone jumping from tree top to tree top.

Harry was brought back to the present with the rustling of wings and he realised that a group of air-borne warriors were approaching him fast.

"Great!", he thought "the night just had to get more interesting."

The oncoming group jumped off their mounts and appeared around him in a large circle and he rolled his eyes in annoyance, muttering, "show-offs".

He noticed that they did not have wands with them but swords and he realised that there was a pattern to the attacks. The mystics were systematically testing him on everything that he had learned. He realised that he did not have a sword with him. He shot a disarming spell at one of his adversaries who dodged it lazily and brandished his sword at him grinning.

Harry realised he would not get anywhere by using a wand against the warriors who were adept at magical warfare and stowing his wand away, he took a position that Anal had showed him for just such a situation. His opponents were circling him cautiously waiting for him to make a move while he stood attentive waiting for one of them to attack. After 5 minutes of waiting on both sides, one of the mystics jumped into the air intending to come down hard on him. Harry side stepped at the last possible moment before his opponent landed. In the blink of an eye, he had kicked his opponent away from him, knocked his sword from his hands and picked it up.

The next few minutes were a blur with his opponents moving in to attack him. He parried when he could, dodged when he could not, slashed when he got the opportunity and kicked his opponents away when he could. After a few moments, all of his opponents had been hit by him at least once. As he moved in to make them yield, they all disappeared at once.

Half an hour later, Harry found a small cave which was uninhabited and had no other entrances. Barring it with some alert wards he had learnt that day and placing magical fire at the entrance, he went to work on his mindscape.

He had made much progress on it in the last week with Harsh's help. Harsh had entered his mind and helped him sort through his memories and place them accordingly. He had placed the memories of the years with the Dursleys in a ridge which was hidden behind a mountain and placed a lot of traps so that no one would be able to see them. He had placed the most important memories in an underground vault designed like the high security vault at Gringotts from which Hagrid had retrieved the philosopher's stone in first year. The entrance to the vault was under a trap door upon which sat a mighty Hungarian Horntail like the one he had faced in the tournament. The Dragon allowed no one to come near the trap door save Harry and Harsh who was sorting his memories.

His memories of the years at Hogwarts except for the confidential information were sorted throughout the castle starting with the basement where there was a basilisk which would kill anyone foolish enough to venture there.

The sphinxes at the entrances never allowed anyone to come through except him and those he permitted. The Yeti would kill anyone who tried to enter without compunction. He was working on the third floor now. The first floor was guarded by a pack of snow leopards like his animagus form and contained memories of his friends and extended family. There were big rooms dedicated to individuals who were important in his life. There was a room with mahogany wood doors carved with a likeliness of Hermione while another was maple wood with a Lion on it signifying the Weasleys. There was another room with a cherry wood door and a hippogriff meaning the Longbottoms, a door of dogwood with a shaggy dog on it belonging to Sirius Black, a door of apple wood with a wolf on it meaning Remus Lupin and a big door of Elder wood with a Griffin and a Thestral meaning his family.

The second floor contained all the knowledge that he had accumulated throughout Hogwarts and all that Rachael had taught him. This floor was guarded by a legion of suits of armour who patrolled the corridors at all times and would attack anyone who was fool enough to venture there without permission. This floor also had a magic suppression rune carved in the ceiling meaning that no one could use magic in that floor thus putting them at a disadvantage against the suits of armour.

The third floor contained all other memories which were not sorted anywhere else and this floor was guarded by a figure cloaked in armour, wielding wands in both hands, a sword strapped at his back, his cloak billowing behind him and his eyes shining with power.

The battlements were equipped with cannons manned by house elves. There were birds like Eagles, Falcons, some Thestrals and Hippogriffs flew in the skies unhindered. The quidditch pitch was a trap and would instantly suffocate anyone who tripped the traps. The river was filled with water demons, crocodiles and other beasts. The forest was stocked with all kinds of beasts that he had seen or read about in his books or Harsh had shown him.

The entire valley was ringed by four concentric circular walls. The first and outermost was made of stone. The second was of steel. The third was of solid obsidian. The fourth and innermost was goblin silver. The walls could not be breached by anyone except a very accomplished Legilimens. Harry had planned to put defences around the last wall which would include beasts that he had seen in his travels.

Harsh had promised to initiate him into mind magics and teach him things that he could do with it like reading someone's mind, possessing them, burning someone's mindscape and breaching all their defences however he had cautioned Harry against trying it on any accomplished Legilimens or Occlumens or it could have adverse effects. It was a delicate branch of magic and very few people were versed in it.

He sat in meditation, putting more defences in place for an hour before he decided to retire for the night.

Somewhere in a magical village, Great Britain

Horace Slughorn was lounging in his arm chair; sipping Ogden's finest while listening to some music. Life had been very kind to the old potions master and he loved every moment of his retirement. Most of his students were prominent people in the wizarding world, occupying positions of influence or power and they always kept him informed about the events happening in the wizarding world. He was content to bask in their reflected power but there was a gloomy spot on the horizon- his most infamous student, Tom Riddle.

Horace believed that Dumbledore and Harry Potter were telling the truth. He knew that Tom had temporarily conquered death courtesy of the darkest of magics, something that was Horace's fault. If he had seen through his act all those years ago and refused to tell him about horcruxes, perhaps he might not have turned out to be evil. When Dumbledore had come to him to ask about memories of Tom Riddle about a decade ago, he had altered his memories to hide his shame. Albus had pestered him about it for years, trying to shame him into telling the truth, but; Horace had remained adamant. When Albus announced that Tom had returned from the dead, Horace had left his home to live in a cottage that was a part of his family estates and was protected by the most powerful wards. No one with the dark mark could enter the cottage without his will.

Without warning, he heard the front door opening and he panicked. The reason was that there was no one else in the cottage except him. Someone had bypassed the wards entirely and entered the cottage. Fingering his wand, he disillusioned himself, ready to blast his way through a horde of death eaters. He could hear footsteps just outside his room and near the door. Now there was someone just outside the door, using an unlocking charm. The door flew open and a bright light filled the room forcing Horace to cover his eyes and when the brightness lessened, he found a man in a leather mask standing before him with his wand levelled at Horace. The stranger's magic had wrapped around him like a cloak, fierce and violent. Standing beside the man was his old friend Albus Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling and a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

He grinned at Horace, "Horace, my old friend. How are you?"

Horace was trying to find a way out of this confrontation because he had a feeling that Dumbledore had not come to make idle chatter with him. He definitely had come to ask for the memory again. He kept his hands behind his back, wand in his right hand touching a silver bracelet in his left hand. The bracelet was an emergency portkey that he had asked the goblins to make for him since it could evade any kind of wards laid down by wizards. It was restricted only by Goblin Wards but Albus and his friend did not need to know that.

Horace grunted, "I was very fine until the moment you barged in uninvited and bringing company with you Albus. How did you enter without tripping the wards, anyway?", he asked with genuine curiosity.

Albus smirked, "I really do not know how that happened. My esteemed companion here chooses to keep that sort of thing to himself."

Horace still did not say anything but simply waited for the right time to escape. The stranger had not lowered his wand for a moment and was watching with a hawk- like concentration, waiting for him to make a move.

"Your companion seems to be of a very dour disposition Albus. In the last few minutes or so, he has not said a word", remarked Horace.

Albus, whose countenance had turned grim now, said in a melancholic voice, "I would rather that he be silent, he is better this way. Now Horace, I want that memory from you. That memory contains a crucial answer to many of my questions and it may as well be instrumental in ending the war sooner than later."

Slughorn had the audacity to smirk, "I thought it would come to that Albus and so I had my getaway planned", He touched his wand to his bracelet, "GOODBYE Albus". As he said the activation phrase for the portkey he felt confident that he would soon feel the familiar tug behind the navel but that never came.

The stranger barked a laugh at him, "What happened, Mr. Slughorn? The portkey did not work for you?"

Slughorn spluttered, "How... how is that possible? The wards around this property cannot stop a goblin made portkey."

The stranger grinned evilly at him, "Before we entered, I laid goblins wards around this home to prevent you from escaping by any means of magical transportation. This kind of portkey that would activate anytime when wished is a speciality of goblins so I figured I should use their wards."

Albus smirked at him, "Now Horace, I want that memory. It has been years and its high time that we know the truth."

Horace hung his head and whispered, "It is a testament of my failure and shame Albus. What I did that day is not forgivable. If it were known, I would be ruined. Besides, I don't know what possible good it would do you."

Albus answered, "Now Horace, you are going to have to let me be the judge of what good it will do. Besides, we have no interest or reason to share this with anyone else."

With a mulish expression, Horace said, "No. absolutely not. I will not give it."

The mystic barked, "We have not asked your permission Slughorn. If you will give it willingly things will end on good note for everyone but if you are obstinate about it, I am afraid we will take it by force."

Slughorn raised his wand at the mystic, "Then I am prepared to fight you to the death."

The mystic just smiled at him and flicked the wand out of his hand with a swat of his arm then hit him with a petrification hex then bound him with an incarcerous. As Horace was bound and helpless, he could only watch as the stranger made eye contact with him. Horace raised his mind shields to the maximum. The stranger Made a couple of attempts to enter his mind, assessing his defences before retreating but Slughorn was not fooled and did not lower his shields. In the next moment, he felt another intrusion and what felt like a giant fist was pounding on his shields. Horace defended his mind for a while with all his might but after a few blows, it was too much for him and his defences crumbled against the onslaught, blood freely flowing out of his nostrils on his finest acromantuala silk cloak. Then the stranger started shuffling through his memories at a high speed. It did not take long for the stranger to detect and undo his alterations and finding the real memory he retreated from his mind.

Albus undid the petrification hex then cleaned the blood which had flowed onto Horace's robes from his bleeding nose. With the mess cleaned up, he gave him a glass of Rosemerta's finest Oak matured mead. After a few moments Albus told him, "No one will think badly of you, Horace. We all make some mistakes but what matters is that we take our lessons from them and do not repeat those mistakes. If I were you, I would get out of Britain before things spiral out of control. You know that Tom will come looking for you sooner or later."

As they were talking, the stranger was taking down the wards he had erected over Horace's own wards. As Albus finished, the stranger took his hand and vanished from the room.

Cottage on the Hill

The students had arrived 10 minutes ago and since then they had been waiting for the teacher to turn up. The last week had been very productive for most of them but equally taxing.

Hermione Granger who had always prided herself on her knowledge had a hard time believing how difficult it was to put her knowledge to practical use. While it was true that she could learn spells faster than the others but she tended to dither and take too much time choosing which spell to use when the pressure was on. And that was the main reason she struggled during the drills. She also had the unfortunate tendency to think like a muggle when a witch was what's needed. Sometimes she envied Harry's abilities. There were times when he really struggled to learn a new spell, but; once he learned it, he always seemed to know which spell to use without even thinking about it. And, to add insult to injury, he always executed them perfectly when the pressure was on. She had seen Harry Make the right decision and act before she even understood the threat. In the last week, she was learning to fight side by side as part of a team. She had been eagerly taking in everything that was being taught to them and perfecting everything that she learnt. She intended to make it out of the war alive.

Susan Bones had been having a doubly hard time of it. While the teachers taught them things that they deemed necessary to survive, she was also being taught her family magics by Amelia. Amelia liked to put her through the ringer once a week where she would thoroughly test her. Susan had learnt a lot but still had to improve. While she was knowledgeable, she needed to learn to use that knowledge in practical situations. Every day after she was done with her training, she was too exhausted to care about anything. She had been taught occlumency since she was a child but recently Amelia had started to teach her legilimency though she had told Susan that passive legilimancy was something she would have to learn by herself because it depended upon one's ability to do wandless magic. She was also being subjected to two hours of practice with the dummies in the dueling arena in her family manor.

Ronald had learnt a lot of things that he should have known since he started first year at Hogwarts. He had recently finished reading all his school books from the last four years plus the books for the next year. He had even taken to joining Hermione in the library at Grimmauld Place to study. He had started to appreciate the value of knowledge and looking at how he had lived for the last four years, he was ashamed of his lacklustre performance, lack of foresight and immature attitude. He had trouble at first learning everything they were being taught by the teachers but as he had started to understand the theory, learning had become easy.

Neville had been having the best time of his life and perhaps the hardest. While he got to see his parents and interact with them, Croaker made his life hell. The Unspeakable had been putting him through so much that Neville felt like his brain was going to explode. The curses and hexes that Croaker made him learn nauseated him at times, but; he knew that it was his own inheritance and Neville was not about to scoff at his inheritance. He was learning everything that was in his family Grimoire and the little tips and tricks that his father gave him every now and then from his time as an Auror. He had encouraged Neville to find his Auror manuals to learn the spells inscribed therein but Neville already had a full schedule and he was not about to over-burden him. He had learnt to cast with pin-point precision, to fight while being air-borne and to dodge more than shield. The professors had started to teach them to duel by using charms and transfiguration combined with most common hexes and curses. Neville was quickly learning that duelling or fighting was not just casting all the curses and hexes that you know but also to use them in ways that would benefit you most.

Ginevra had been having the most satisfying summer so far. While she learnt to defend herself more her romantic life had also been progressing well. Michael Corner was a good boy who came from a long line of pure bloods and treated her well. Her disenchantment with the fictional boy-who-lived had awakened her to the world around her in more ways than one. She knew now that she could not always rely on someone to come in wand blazing and save her and that no one was without a weakness. She was determined to never let herself feel vulnerable ever again.

The twins were busy with different things. While the training was good, they also were seriously busy with developing new products for their shop. They had seen the premises and they were perfect for them. They had decided that they would start their business as soon as they could manage without leaving their education incomplete. They knew that Arthur would not object to their idea but Molly would make a scene over it however they were determined to do their best to not to hear her objections. Once they were established and bringing in the galleons, she would accept it. After all that was what mothers were for.

As the students sat thinking about their lives, Moody entered the room, his wooden leg clomping on every second stride, holding his wand at the ready. When the students did not respond to his arrival, he barked, "On your guard, you all. Today we will see how you bare up in the heat of battle."

As the students were herded out, they faced some new dummies which Alastor had managed to procure. These were not the normal dummies that they practiced with but looked like real people.

"All right, here is what you are going to do. These dummies will be battling with you all one on one. You will start at different points of entry from the boundary of the property. You cannot use any magical means of transportation but only fight your way in where your teachers will be playing hostage. I will be playing the part of a dark lord, trying to stop you. These dummies cannot be stunned or petrified but only decapitated. I must caution you though they are full of blood and when you manage to destroy them, it will get all over you. Now begin."

He sent everyone to different parts of the boundary line where dummies were waiting for them.

Hermione faced her dummy and without a thought raised her wand and cast a bombarda which it shielded and in return sent a spell chain at her forcing her to dodge. As she recovered, the dummy started firing more lethal curses at her, forcing her to shield herself from them. The onslaught continued for sometime before the dummy fired an Avada Kedavra green coloured curse at her. She froze on the spot, her eyes wide with horror in the moment that the green jet crossed the distance to her. In the moment before it made contact, a banishing spell moved her out of the path. She turned and found Ron who had fired the banishing charm at her and was looking anxious. Before she could reply, Ron's dummy started firing at him, forcing him to jump aside. As she turned her attention back to her dummy, she again saw the green coloured curse coming at her and before she could dodge out of its way, it hit her squarely in the chest making her gasp. As she gasped, she realised that she had not died of the curse. Was she immune to it? No, she did not think that she was immune to it. She would have to figure it out later. Emboldened by her survival, she started firing her most lethal curses at the dummy forcing it to defend. She fired bone exploder, bone breakers and piercing hexes without abandon till one found its mark and the dummy fell, showering her in blood. She felt nauseous and queasy in the stomach. Without a thought she doubled over and started retching.

Ronald had been assessing the dummy before he noticed the dummy shooting a killing curse at Hermione and banished her out of the way. He was of a mind to go and help her when his own dummy started raining down on him casting spell chains including some very nasty looking curses and he had started to dodge them. He raised a shield whenever he could but mostly used things around him to save himself. He saw his dummy casting the killing curse and summoned a stone in its way but the stone was not disintegrated when it collided. As he pondered over it, he was hit with a bone breaker which hit his left arm forcing him to cry out in pain. His eyes tinged red with anger, he started using the curses that Bill had taught him and within seconds his dummy was on the defensive. As he hit it with a reductor, it exploded and blood spilled on him. He felt dirty and wanted to wash till he got it out of his system however he realised it may not be possible before the lesson was over. So he ran to the cottage and in his hurry failed to see the stunner which took him down.

Neville's dummy had started with a blood red curse at him which he countered by firing a curse of his own. He kept casting at his opponent and countered every spell with one of his own. He used very simple curses but nonetheless effective in countering everything that was thrown at him. Croaker had taught him to fight this way if he found himself in such a position. He was fighting it with spell for spell for a long time before Neville realised that he would not get anywhere unless he decapitated his dummy. Reluctantly he cast bone exploding curses in rapid succession at the dummy until it gave under the onslaught drenching him with blood. He was really grossed out and wanted to take a bath immediately to get the smell out of his nostrils but that could not be before the duel was over. He ran towards the cottage and by sheer luck avoided the stunner which had been fired at him from the side. As he entered, he found Professor Flitwick bound to a chair and smiling smugly. He looked around for anyone who could be there guarding the prisoner and finding none, he went to relieve the tiny professor when he was stunned from behind.

Ginevra made short work of her dummy. She started with her favourite bat bogey hex and followed up with a reductor which destroyed the dummy and drenched her with blood. She screamed in horror and sat in that position for a few moments before she realised that she had to find others. She went into the cottage and found Professor McGonagall bound in a chair, her face impassive. Ginny carefully scouted the surroundings for any immediate threat and perceived someone standing under a disillusionment charm. She shot a stunner in that direction which was reflected at her and she fell down unconscious.

Susan had little difficulty with her dummy. Auntie had already procured two of these for her practice at the manor and she was getting used to blood and gore. She started with one of her family spells which could vanish all the bones in a person's body if they were hit with it but the dummy raised a contego shield to protect itself. She followed up with another which could vaporize all the blood in one's body thus killing them but the dummy shielded that one too. Frustrated, she cast some of the lethal spells which included some dark cutters which could not be dodged and only protego maxima could stop them. As she had expected, the dummy was cleaved in two spilling blood all over the place. She walked to the cottage and the mid-way, Moody confronted her, forcing her to duel him. She held her own against him for a minute but he eventually was able to stun her.

The twins combined forces and faced their dummies together. Fred cast while George defended. They kept at this for a few minutes before they started to use some charms and transfiguration in their duel. Fred conjured birds to attack the dummy while George conjured wooden stakes which he banished at one of the dummies spearing it. they followed with a barrage of cutters at the other dummy and in a few seconds had destroyed the other one too. Grinning at each other, they entered to find Moody with his wand trained on them. George immediately cast the solaris spell blinding him in the magical eye and as Mooddy stumbled, Fred stunned him and followed with an incarcerous.

After 10 minutes, the students were assembled with an angry looking Moody who instantly went on to tear them a new one, "Alright let's hear it. What mistakes did you all make?"

Hermione was the first to raise her hand. She started, "I was fighting the dummy and keeping it busy very nicely until it hit me with the killing curse. I thought I was dead, but; then I remained standing. When the dummy fell I was drenched in blood. I felt nauseous and threw up. Doing that in the middle of battle would have been the death of me."

Moody nodded and replied, "Miss Granger, if those had been real killing curses you would most certainly be dead. Those things cannot be shielded. Your best option and only real chance for survival is to put an object in the path. A piece of stone or your conjured canaries would do. And in any event, freezing up during battle for even one moment may likely be your last. Remember, CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

He turned to Ronald, "What about you, Weasley? You put on a fierce display of some very choice curses out there."

Ron's ears turned red but he collected himself and started, "When I saw the dummy casting the killing curse, I blocked it with a piece of stone. I stood there like a gormless twit, wondering why the stone hadn't been shattered when I let in a bone breaker. I used some of the spells which Bill has taught me but told me to use only against an enemy since using them except in battle can take me to Azkaban. While it shielded them I took it down with a reductor. After getting drenched with blood I ran to the cottage to rescue the hostage and… and failed to see the stunner that took me out."

Moody nodded but said nothing and turned to Neville, "What about you Longbottom? You were enjoying sparring with your dummy until you fired off a rather impressive barrage of bone exploding hexes."

Neville refused to look down despite the compliment from Moody and looking in his eyes, he said clearly, "my only mistake was that I did not check outside the cottage before I went to rescue my hostage."

Moody grunted, "You dodged my stunner and ran inside. I simply waited until you checked inside, then followed you in and stunned you. You should pay more attention to your surroundings."

He turned to Ginevra, "You took out your dummy faster than anyone else. Too bad none of the others realized the value of a good diversion like your bat bogie hex. Good job spotting me under that disillusionment charm too. But, you are going to need to work on your reflexes. I should not have been able to take you out by reflecting your own stunner."

He turned to Susan, "You were great out there, lassie. You used lethal spells without hesitation and did not feel nauseous or vomit at the sight of blood. You chose to duel me outright based on your own strength. That was your mistake."

He finally turned to the twins, "You two menaces were the best today. But, you did not heed my instructions. You banded together and defeated your dummies."

Gred grinned at him, "You never said we could not team up."

Forge supplied, "we realised we could face them better when we were combined".

They said together, "and we found a weakness in you today."

Moody said nothing but dismissed them with a wave of his hand while resolving to never let the two of them gang up on him again.

Himalayas, India

Harry woke up in the cave with a feeling that someone was watching him. As his eyes adjusted to the world around him, he found himself in the cave with the remains of the fire at the door. The fire that he had conjured at the entrance was long gone. He had not felt the cold thanks to the leaves that he had eaten. As he prepared for the day ahead, he decided to move around because he feared that the mystics would hunt him again. As he came out, he found Vari and some other mystics who were grinning at him with their wands trained on him.

Vari growled, "We are going to have some fun Potter. Since you are not in Adrishpuram anymore, I am at liberty to hunt you. Start running."

As Harry broke into a run, the mystics started following him casting all manner of curses at him. His training at the lake came in handy here. He wasn't an easy target. Harry ran for some time before he realised that running would not solve his problem. He was not being chased by some unfit death eater but super competitive, top of form assassins who would have no problem outrunning him. There was only one way out for him- To fight against them and render them unable to follow him. Since he was outnumbered 10 to 1, he decided to play smart and found a bush to conceal him where he waited in ambush.

As he heard them coming, with his wand ready, he took a sound shot with a stunner. A thud told him that the spell had found its mark and he smirked in pleasure however his joy was short lived. He heard one of them enervating the stunned man and he was back to where he had started.

Vari growled, "Is that what you can do best, Potter? Is that all that you have learnt?"

Harry did not rise to the bait but realised he would have to change his strategy if he were to survive this ambush. He lunged out of his hiding place and shot a bombarda which was absorbed by one of them on his shield. In a brief second that he managed, he saw that all of them had raised a shield to defend against what they could not dodge.

He was trapped and truly helpless now. They were too many and his experience was not enough to help him stand against so many together. This was a situation where he had nothing to gain but everything to lose. He remembered a little story Harsh had told him about a dark lord in the 16th century. Harsh was fighting him and as was about to finish him for good, the dark lord's backup had arrived outnumbering him vastly. Harsh had disapparated that time and returned a week later with an army at his back. The moral was that sometimes in a battle, you have to take a step back to prepare yourself for a huge leap forward. While it was a bitter pill to swallow it made sense to him. Concentrating upon the settlement of Nagas in the Himalayas, he disapparated and a second later, he was standing before the chief of Nagas.

The chief smiled, "Welcome Harold James of Peverell. What brings you here to us today? Did Lord Harsh Vardhana send you here to train in parsel magics?"

Harry shrugged, "He did not send me here, noble chief. I was banished for a day from Adrishpuram yesterday. Since then I have been fighting mystics. I was in a skirmish where I was heavily outnumbered and therefore had to run."

The chief smiled ruefully at him, "While I would welcome you here in any circumstances but not when you are going through banishment. We work in co-operation with the mystics and if Lord Harsh knew that we are helping you, he would turn his wrath upon us. Your banishment is to teach you a lesson. I hope you will learn it."

Harry understood what the Naga meant and disapparated without saying a word. He appeared in a clearing where he had met the thestrals. It was close to noon and he yet had not eaten anything. He saw a rabbit in the forest and summoned it. Stunning the animal, he sliced it open with a cutting curse. After cleaning it of its fur and entrails, he roasted it on a fire that he had conjured. After lunch, he set to work on his transfiguration and this time he found it easy to change the texture of his skin. As he concentrated more, the skin kept changing till it resembled the leonine he had seen in his dreams. Excited by the discovery, he set to change his nails but even after a lot of efforts, he could not do so. Not getting disheartened, he set upon working on some charms that he had learned.

As it was nearing the evening, he felt some intimidating presence around him and immediately drew his wand and cast the Homnum Revelio on his surroundings. The test showed that there was at least one person present. As he kept his wand ready and waited, Vari emerged from the shadows, "You escaped me, Potter. I thought you would be hot headed abrasive warrior who would rather stand and die than flee and return later."

Harry said nothing but clenched his wand tightly in his hand glaring at the mystic all the time.

The mystic smirked at him, "Don't give me that look Potter. I had to test you to know if you are capable to making a retreat."

As Harry refused to say anything, the mystic growled at him, "On your guard Potter. We will see if you are made of sterner stuff or just posturing."

Harry sent a bone breaker at the mystic who simply stepped aside. Harry cast another curse which he side stepped again and this happened quite a few more times before Harry finally lost it and started casting with all abandon and without thinking and saw something truly awe-inspiring. The mystic was weaving in and out of the way of his curses, dancing in such a way that he made Harry feel like a kid. His reflexes were fast and not even one spell of his could touch the mystic. After sometime, the mystic went on the offensive forcing him to dodge or hide behind solid objects. The mystic was casting everything that he had except the unforgivables. Harry was not even sure if there was someone in the inner circle of Voldemort who knew as many curses and hexes. He kept dodging or evading but when he was tired, he started using some darker spells which the mystic was still evading by dodging them. They had been fighting for 20 minutes now but neither of them gave up. While the mystic used very little energy for his curses and was more in harmony with his magical core, Harry was a little tired from constantly firing high powered spells. He noted that his stamina had increased and his endurance was a lot better now. Perhaps all the running and physical exercises were paying off.

Suddenly he heard a faint pop and immediately straightened and was alert looking around and at the last moment, he jumped aside to avoid the bone breaker which had been aimed at his chest. As he stood with his wand out, Harsh appeared before him and ordered, "Stand down, Harry."

Harry did not lower his wand but asked in a menacing tone, "What did Mr. Harsh Vardhana do when he visited the Black Townhouse for the first time this summer?"

The mystic smirked, "I believe I appeared in the house not using the floo and I disapparated from within the house."

Harry lowered his wand and mumbled, "Have you also come to fight me, Guruji?"

Harsh smiled, "No Harry. Your banishment is over. You have to come with us. Tomorrow we are going to battle."

Harry gasped, "Battle! What battle? With whom?"

Harsh's visage turned grim, "There is a little country nearby where there is a little dark lord infestation and they do not have effective means to curb it. I received message that he is going to cause massacre of wizards. I have to stop him. Your teachers agree that it will teach you the bloody realities of battle. We have responsibilities for over the world."

Harry said nothing but nodded. He knew that the mystics had no compunction about killing and they would eventually put him in such a position. Harsh grabbed his hand and they disappeared.

The next day, Himalayas

Harry's daily routine had been disturbed that morning since Vari did not come to wake him up. Indeed he had slept like a rock and woke up when the Sun was high in the sky. Adrishpuram was in frenzy. Mystics, more than he had thought possible, were milling about and all of them wore a leather mask, body armour and had at least one sword strapped to their backs.

Anal beckoned him towards a group of mystics who were sitting in a circle. As Harry reached him, he said, "Harry, we are going to battle today and around 200 fighters have gathered for this. Guruji has told me that you should be part of one of the groups and Vari has asked for you to be made a part of his group."

Harry winced, "He does not like me at all. The way he treats me makes me feel insignificant and he belittles me, mocking me all the time. Can't you include me in your group?"

He smiled morosely, "No Harry. I am part of the front row of warriors and having you there would make me twice vulnerable because I would have to fight for myself as well as to lookout for you. Besides, Vari needs someone with power to bring down some wards which we may face. Now go and dress. You will be given your mask before we leave for battle."

Harry reached his room and delved into his closet in the trunk but could not find anything which was suitable for battle. As he was getting agitated, Harsh entered the room, "What is the matter, Harry?"

Harry turned to him, "Guruji, I have no idea what I should wear. I mean I have never been a part of a battle."

Harsh smirked, "Do not worry, Harry. Your adoptive father had seen to this need. Before we left Avalon, I had suggested him that you may need a set of battle robes and he was very kind to procure one which he gave into my keeping."

He produced a bulky bundle for Harry to examine and departed. Harry gleefully tore open the bundle and found a set of Battle Robes, black in colour and thicker at the sensitive areas of human anatomy. As he donned it and looked into the mirror he could not recognise himself at first. He had come a long way from the boy who was ecstatic to see a chocolate frog to the boy who was learning to be a warrior.

As Harry joined the mystics again, Anal presented him with body armour made of dragon hide and instructed him to put it on telling him that Harsh waited for him in his chamber. Harry wore the armour over his battle robes and went to Harsh who was waiting for him.

Harsh addressed him, "Harry we are about to go on a mission where there are equal chances that some of us may die. It is a matter of life and death and you have to keep it in mind that one enemy left alive is one dagger in your back. After the battle, if your enemy is left alive then it is a testament of your weakness to do what one must do. Remember Harry- Duty and Honour are the greatest things one can strive for and one action of yours can get you great honour or eternal shame. If you fail to abide by my instructions today, you will regret it every moment of your life."

Harsh accompanied him to an amphitheatre type structure set to the north-west corner of Adrishpuram where hundreds of mystics were gathered. Harsh signalled him to go and mix with the mystics while he ascended the stage. As he reached the great table on the stage, the mystics went silent.

Harsh was wearing his mask and started to address the mystics, "My brethren, today we set out to fulfil the reason of our existence. A dark lord has raised his poisonous hood and it is upon us to crush it. It is for us who pledged our wands to light. It is for us to extinguish this fire before it becomes a raging inferno. It is time for us shadow dwellers to make our strike. This night either we will attain glory or the heaven meant for a warrior."

Every warrior was listening to his speech captivated, taking in every word that he said and Harry could feel the magic in the room, oozing out of the warriors present.

Harsh continued, "Today we are going to make our strike against evil. Today we will get our chance to serve mother magic and punish those who transgress against the ways of magic. Today is also a day when I announce another addition in our ranks. Harold James Potter of Avalon has been made honorary mystic and has been training with us for some time. I call forth Harold James Potter to make his admittance into our ranks known."

Harold James Potter walked up the stage where Harsh was standing with his mask in place, his cloak billowing behind him looking every bit a war mage. As Harry reached him, he motioned for him to get down on his knees. Harry hesitated for a second before he eventually sunk to one knee. Harsh addressed him, 'You are here because the tribe felt that you are worthy of the honour of being considered as one among us. The tribe will look after you like it looks after its own. Do you Harold James of House of Potter accept this honour and serve the tribe as the tribe will serve to you?"

Harry raised his head and firmly replied, "I will serve the tribe to the best of my ability as the tribe will do to me."

Harsh said, "Rise Harold James of House Potter and accept these symbols of your admittance among us, the defenders of good, the sworn enemies of evil."

Harry raised his head and saw that Harsh was clutching a bundle in his hands. As he accepted them, Harsh opened the package and produced a cloak like the mystics wore. Taking the cloak, Harsh draped it around Harry's shoulders. Next, he presented Harry with a mask which he touched to Harry's face and it adjusted to fit him.

Harsh raised his right fist and roared, "Satya Sarvada Vijaysya (Truth is always victorious)."

The mystics took up the call and the amphitheatre shook to the roars of "Satya Sarvada Vijaysya!", for quite a few minutes before Harsh raised his wand and let out a cannon blast.

Harsh started addressing them again, "We are going in ten groups with 20 mystics in each group. I will lead one of them while Vari, Pawan, Anal, Achala, Ambar, Nikolai, Anne, Patrov and Mark will lead the others. You will follow orders and anyone found guilty of disobedience will be punished most harshly. We will not take any hostages and make sure that whoever chooses to engage you in a duel can never stand again."

Vari cornered Harry as they all were given their orders to report to their leaders. He growled, "You are with me Potter. You will do as I say or you will see what real punishment looks like."

Harry nodded. He could feel apprehension and excitement building in him in equal measure. It was something that he had not hoped to see so soon. It meant that the mystics were treating him as an adult unlike others who treated him like a child no matter what he achieved in his life.

Before Vari could say anything else, Anal took him away, "Harry I know that you perhaps would not need it but it would make me feel safer if you have a sword with you."

He passed Harry the sword that he had been practicing with and strapped it on his back. Harry sat making small talk with others in the group which was going with Vari and was pleasantly surprised when no one paid any extra attention to his name. They treated him as anyone else among them, an equal and not some boy wonder. Soon, they were all being herded to the entrance of the settlement where Vari was waiting for them with a long rope which he told all of them to hold tightly. As they held onto it, he touched his wand to it and said "Dharm aur Maan (Duty & Honour).", and they all felt the familiar tug behind their navels as they were whisked away.

Headmasters Office, Hogwarts

Albus had seen the memory 5 times at least before he came to the conclusion that his guess was correct. Tom had made 7 horcruxes. He had shared his observations with Aparichit who was looking glum and had been pacing in his office for the last hour.

"What is the matter, Mr. Aparichit?", he asked genuinely, "You do not seem to be elated with what we obtained from Horace.".

The mystic grunted, "I am content that we have established how many of those abominations are out there Albus but my reasons of concern are entirely different."

"What are those if I may ask?", Albus asked him, curious as to what had caused the mystic to lose his cool, "did you receive some bad news?"

"I received news, yes. Favourable or unfavourable, that is yet to be seen. The mystics are going to battle as of now while we speak", he replied.

"Battle? But where? With whom? Is Harry alright?", Albus asked, genuinely concerned for the teen.

"He is fine Albus but it has been decades since we gathered in such numbers. I have received reports that there is a formidable force waiting for them out there", he replied, "I feel like I should have been there but guruji has stationed me here to take care of Avalon and Tom Riddle."

Albus said nothing but pondered over what might be happening in the war. He wanted to know everything that there was to know. For the first time, he did not have any of the cards in his hand and was forced to play spectator. His only concern was that Harry Potter must remain safe because without that boy, all hopes were lost for Wizarding Britain.

"Tell me Albus, have you come close to figure out where the horcruxes can be?", the mystic asked him bringing him out of his reverie.

There are a few places that I suspect he may have hidden them. But, I will have to leave Hogwarts and travel to begin my search.", he replied, "and in the current climate I cannot leave the castle unsecured.".

"It means we have to wait for the term to begin then", the mystic said.

Malfoy Manor

Lucius was tired of the pain that he had to endure. The dark lord kept using him as his whet stone. Whenever something went wrong, he punished Lucius. He had been elated when the Dark Lord had returned from the dead but it was all down-hill from there. He put up a brave front in front of the other death Eaters so that they would not think that he had fallen out of favour with the Dark Lord and so he would not incur more of the dark lord's wrath. He knew there were many who would love to replace him and sit at the Lord's side but Lucius was determined to keep that place.

His talents as a shrewd businessman were coming in handy to gather funds for the Dark Lord. He had also found an old castle which was a remnant from another era and converted it for the Dark Lord's use. His motive for doing that was to keep the Dark Lord and Death Eaters away from his pristine home because Narcissa did not take kindly to being made a prisoner in her own home. Not to mention this meant that the dark lord and his minions could not feast upon the vintage wine and mead in his cellars.

The Dark Lord had been recruiting heavily lately and his ranks were swelling. In the last week alone thirty men had pledged their allegiance to him. While it was not much by any means, it was sufficient for the time being. Lucius dreamt of the day when he would rule over Wizarding Britain while the Dark Lord continued to pull the strings from the shadows and remain hidden as was his preference. Perhaps he would be able to solicit favours from the Dark Lord and manage a handsome betrothal contract for his son Draco to one of the oldest and richest houses.

There was only one dark spot on the horizon- Harry Potter. Lucius had seen the boy stand defiantly against the dark lord, laugh in his face and the fire burning in his eyes had made him shudder. If the boy gained any power, he would be a formidable enemy. He had thought the boy to be a wizard of mediocre talent, as he had been often told by his son. But, that night in the graveyard, he had realised that if Harry Potter survived, he would be the death of them. Even the Dark Lord had praised his courage and such praise rang warning bells in his mind.

Speaking of the Dark Lord, he had been punishing his followers for their failure to get the prophecy from the Department of Mysteries. Most of the time, there was an order guard present at the entrance to the Department which made it hard for them to try anything. A few times when they were able to enter, they were thwarted by the Unspeakables who guarded the place with everything that they had got. A few times, Lucius had been able to reach the shelf of prophecies but he was unable to lift it off the shelf. The magics guarding it were lethal to anyone who was not the subject of the prophecy he was trying to take. They had tried magical and muggle means to remove the prophecy from the shelf but they were not successful so far. Every time they failed, the Dark Lord liberally used the Cruciatus curse on him. It was only due to Severus that he was able to recover for the next round of torture or he would have been broken long ago.

Ministry of Magic

Percy Weasley felt foolish. He had alienated his family and sided with the minister because he believed the minister was the most powerful authority figure in Wizarding Britain but the last few weeks had been an eye opener.

Within a fortnight, the minister had fallen. The minister's senior undersecretary was on the way to Azkaban, Percy's former pet rat had turned out to be a wizard long thought dead and he was barely clinging to his job. What Cornelius had not realised but Percy knew to be just a matter of time was that Cornelius's days as the minister of Magic were numbered. Like the minister, he had underestimated Albus Dumbledore but the old head master had shown why he was the most powerful wizard in Great Britain. Percy could see his manipulations in everything that had happened in the last few days. What befuddled him was the absence of Harry Potter. If what Dumbledore was saying was true then Harry Potter would have a greater role to play in the near future and yet, he was kept hidden from everyone.

He had gone to the Burrow one day to meet with his parents and to glean some information from them. But, to his surprise he could not enter the house. There were new wards around the property and they felt hostile to him. The wards were designed to kill anyone who entered the place with hostile intentions. Perhaps, Bill had raised them.

He had decided since then to keep his head down and listen to all the rumours that passed through the ministry. If it turned out that Albus Dumbledore had been speaking the truth, he would have to swallow his pride and beg his father to forgive him. He had destroyed his relationship with his family and he would have to take responsibility to mend that by any means possible.

Black Townhouse

Arthur Weasley was standing in the tapestry room, fondly looking upon a name on the family tree and lost in his thoughts.

"Arthur!", Molly's voice brought him out of his musings, "What are you doing here?"

Arthur replied in a wistful far off voice, "if she had not been disowned, she would be there on the tapestry", he said pointing at a small burn on the hanging.

"Who?", Molly asked in confusion.

"Mother", Arthur said, "She was a daughter of House Black. Her father, Lord Orion Phineas Black, disowned her for marrying a blood traitor."

Molly's voice was thick with emotion, "I had forgotten that she was a daughter of House Black. I never realised that it mattered so much to you, Arthur."

Arthur replied in his wistful voice, "I never bothered myself with our traditions, not after other Ancient and Most Noble houses ousted us from our position. Since everything had been taken away from us, father did not see any reason to teach us our family magic."

Molly replied, "Can we not do something about it? I mean we have been punished enough, Arthur. Isn't there something that can be done to undo the wrongs done to us?"

"I dare say there is. You can petition Lord Black to legitimise your mother's marriage and to reinstate her into the family. Then Lord Black can convince the Wizengamot to revoke the punishment and reinstate The Ancient and Noble House of Weasley to its rightful place", said Sirius who had entered the room while they were talking.

Arthur turned to him with his eyes lit with hope, "Is that possible, Sirius? Can it be done? I confess that I do not want anything for me but it will be great if I can teach a part of my family's heritage to my children."

Sirius smiled at him, "Of course it can be done. Lord Black is very partial to your family and does not take injustice lightly. He will see to it that you are given your rightful place in our society. While you are at it, you should also make a motion to claim the seat and magic of House Prewett and anoint one of your sons as Lord Prewett. It is only right that all of the old houses occupy their rightful places on the Wizengamot."

Eastern Himalayas, India

Harry Potter arrived in a dark forest as the portkey stopped moving. As they landed, the mystics started erecting tents for their forces, laying down wards, setting up guards while the leaders retired to a big tent in the middle which looked like some sort of command tent. As Harry sat with other mystics, Harsh sent for him.

He arrived in the command tent where the ten leaders were sitting around a round table with Harsh in the middle of them. He beckoned Harry to sit behind him on a chair and told him to watch the planning for the battle and to give his input if he felt like doing so.

"Guruji, I think we should first assess how we are going to start our attack. We have about two hours to plan a strategy", said Achala.

"Right mates. Let's review our initial deployment and make sure we have all our bases covered.", Said Mark who was an Australian.

"'What do you propose, Anal?", Harsh asked.

Anal who had been listening to everything that was being said, started thoughtfully, "Guruji, I think first we should ensure that we have all the information like how large is his force, what kind of beasts are a part of his army, what is their ability and above all, we must lay our traps carefully.". Anal said, "When we are certain as we can be of their numbers, their defences and other details then we can plan our attack."

Anne who had been sitting quietly so far, produced a map of a castle and its surroundings, then began, "Guruji we, the Chhayas (shadows), have gathered the required intelligence. They have a force of about 300 wizards, fifty or so werewolves, and a coven of vampires. They had around 100 inferi but they have been since neutralised so we can expect around 450 enemies at the most."

Patrov raised his hand, "I think we should divide our work amongst ourselves. We have ten teams here and we should leave three of them here to act as our back up in case things go pear shaped. We can choose our target based on our own strengths."

Others assented to his plan and thus Ambar, Pawan and Anne's teams were asked to stay back. Pawan's team was mostly ward masters and their work was to lay wards and traps around the area that they had chosen for battle. After that they would retreat and act as back-up. Anne's team was composed of mostly those who worked in gathering intelligence or were expert in covert operations, so they were to stay and keep an eye on things. If something came up that would require their intervention, they would be deployed as such. Ambar's team was composed mostly of newer recruits and she was to intervene only if their side started losing.

Anal's team was tasked with hunting the werewolves because they preferred swordplay more than wands and silver blades were far more effective against werewolves than magic. Patrov who was from Romania was an expert vampire hunter and so he took the responsibility for dealing with the vampires. Vari's team had the duty to bring down the wards by destroying the ward stones which had been located by the Chhayas earlier in the day. Pawan had given them rune stones which they could use to gain entry through the wards and subsequently destroy the ward stones. After they destroyed the stones, they were to join the main force and act as the Vanguard. Mark would lead the left flank while Achala's team would lead the right flank. Harsh was to led the middle column. Nikolai would lead the rear guard.

Soon enough it was time to battle and as they were arranging themselves according to plan Harry found Harsh, "Guruji, where is this place?"

Harsh smirked, "Your questions do not cease even in middle of battle, Harry. This is what muggles know as eastern Himalayas and we are on the side that is known as Myanmar."

Harsh handed a bracelet to him, "Harry, strap this bracelet to your right hand. It is a portkey which would activate when you will touch it with your wand and say 'Dharm aur Maan' and will take you to Adrishpuram. However do not use it unless you are in life or death situation. Keep your wits about you and do not hesitate to take down your opponent. They would not play fair and neither should you."

After ten minutes, Vari was giving a briefing to his team, "All right boys, this is what we have to do. We will divide ourselves into 4 teams of 5 warriors to each and we will attack the wards from four corners. Use the rune stones which Pawan has given us. These stones interrupt with the wards destroying them because they are loaded with enough energy to act as ward explosives. As we have gained entry inside the ward-lines, we have 5 minutes to find and destroy the ward-stones because as soon as one of the stones are destroyed, Pawan will lay down his own ward scheme over the area preventing anyone from escaping. Many of you are young and inexperienced in our ways of magical travel therefore it would be difficult for you to disapparate or use a portkey out of there."

Harry raised his hand, "May be we should set up communication with the other teams so that we keep each other informed and coordinate our attacks better. The leaders can send patroni to the other leaders to signify that they have destroyed the ward-stones and if someone has not been able to send a patronus for more than 10 minutes after we depart from here, we can rescue them."

The other mystics were looking at him appraisingly while Vari gave him a rare smile, "That is convenient. Get ready boys and do not forget to disillusion yourselves and silence your feet."

According to the battle plan, Vari led Harry and three others from his team to the eastern side of the area. They were expected to attack. Just like two nights ago, his eyes became cat-like and he could see clearly in the dead of night. The target zone was in the middle of the forest and a wall ran all around it. It was only about 4 feet high and there was no other defence visible. Vari pointed to the trees and he saw guards sitting in them keeping watch. Vari signaled some of his recruits who soundlessly disapparated to appear in the trees and plunged their daggers into the hearts of the guards killing them instantly. Harry watched in morbid fascination until one of them wrenched his dagger free and it came out making a sound like a plunger and blood gushed out of the wound. As the smell of blood invaded his nostrils, he wanted to throw up but Vari who perhaps was looking out for him, hit him with a spell which vanished his queasiness.

After a few moments, the guards were all dead and the mystics were near the wall. Vari turned to him, "Potter, I am going to throw the rune stones now. As I throw one of them into the air hit it with a finite so that it would be activated."

Harry drew his wand and took aim. As Harsh threw the stone high into the air Harry shot it with a finite and a moment later, they could hear a faint sound of detonation. Vari smirked, "Let's begin the party, boys."

Vari and the others with him jumped beyond the wall in a single leap. Harry hesitated for a second before he remembered the trick that Anal had taught him. Jumping into the air, Harry willed his magic to propel him higher and farther. Within a second, he was beyond the wall with the others.

Vari led them to a small cabin almost completely obscured by trees and vines. As he was about to open the door, Harry stopped his hand, "Did you check if there is anyone inside?"

Vari smirked, "May be I forgot. Why don't you check and let us know."

Harry cast the Homnum Revelio and found nothing. He turned to Vari who motioned for him to open the door.

The inside of the room was pretty pedestrian for a ward room. There was nothing there but two rectangular ward-stones. Vari raised his three fingers into the air and every mystic readied their wands. When the third finger went down, as one, they cast an obscure spell that Harry did not know. He had an idea that they were about to destroy the ward-stones and so, he mixed a reductor in the casting which caused a small explosion.

Vari growled at him, "Are you out of your tree, Potter? You want to let the enemy know that we are here so they can send a welcoming committee?"

Harry spluttered, "But... But I... I thought that we had to destroy the ward stone and so I used reductor on it."

Vari scowled and shook his head, then grunted, "We will deal with your failure later."

He flourished his wand conjuring 4 patroni (horses) and sent them to other leaders telling them that his work was finished. Shortly he grabbed Harry by his hand and they regrouped with the main force. After sometime the rest of his team had regrouped. Vari ordered him to be in the front row with some others.

Shortly thereafter, Harsh's magnified voice boomed amongst them, "CHARGE!"

Greengrass Manor

Daphne was having a pleasant summer. Her father had promised to take them to Greece for a week in August and she had been enjoying the days as they went by. It was always a relief to be away from the castle where she played the part of the Ice-Queen. Although she wasn't really like that, there were only two ways to get along in Slytherin, either they were far above other's social standing, aloof and above all reproach or they were powerful like some of the dark families.

She was the ice-queen so others who wanted to keep all their body-parts never bothered her. Some of the more stubborn ones had to learn their lessons the hard way and had to go visit Madam Pomphrey to sort them out and suffer the humiliation of having their private details being aired to the public.

She had her priorities sorted out since before Hogwarts. She wanted to inherit her father's empire and make it more prosperous. To that end, she had resolved to work to that effect while she finished her studies. However, one person had messed up her plans. Harry Potter had entered the equation and disturbed all her plans with her visions of the world being forgotten.

She was not one to fall for a boy but she had fallen for him and fallen hard when she had learnt of the deeds he performed while in school. The Hogwarts Rumour Mill was not very reliable and one never believed everything that they heard but she had learnt to spot the truth amidst the rumours. First year she had heard that he had killed Professor Quirell however that did not make sense since doing so would have landed him in prison. She heard that they had dueled over something that Quirell was trying to steal, although she never learned exactly what that was, but one thing was clear, Harry Potter had caused Quirell to vanish.

In the second year, she had wanted to stand beside him and tell people off for calling him the heir of Slytherin but she was not a Gryffindor for a reason. She watched from the side-lines as students got petrified one after another. Then suddenly one day the petrified students were up and about and what came out of the rumour mill was that he had slain a basilisk with a sword and saved a student from Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets. She knew that to be true because she had spotted him that night as he returned from McGonagall's office, his robes torn, blood smeared on his robes, his clothes filthy and a sword in his hand.

In the third year, she had heard the most ridiculous rumours. She heard that he had cast the patronus charm and drove away a hundred dementors. That he had saved the mass-murderer Sirius Black (She did not know of his innocence then). However, she had started crushing on him hard.

In the fourth year, he had taken her heart when he out-flew the dragon in the first task and the way he conducted himself all the year. She wanted to be there for him again but her courage failed her. This year she was determined to grab that one before someone else got her hooks in him. She knew she had no competition in that regard because he would consider only those who saw him simply as Harry and not the boy-who-lived. There were a few girls who saw him as such.

One was Hermione Granger and she had a feeling that Granger was more like a sister to him. The Patil twins were in that category but Padma was too studious and Parvati was too giggly. Another was Lavender Brown, who was one of the prettiest witches in Hogwarts but she did not strike her as one who would consider serious relationships. Susan Bones was another of the girls who saw him as Harry and Daphne had a feeling that Bones had her eyes on him for a long time. Too bad that Daphne had set her eyes on him now.

She was so lost in her musings that she did not hear the door of her room being opened and almost jumped when Tracy yelled in her ear, "Stop daydreaming, Daph. You are giving the Ice Queen a bad name."

She scowled at Tracy but could not hide her blush, "I am not day dreaming Tracy."

"Yeah right, you were not dreaming about the emerald eyed Gryffindor. Not at all...", Tracy rolled her eyes, "I have known you since we were toddlers Daph and you get all misty eyed whenever Harry Potter is mentioned."

Daphne sighed. Tracy was too perceptive for her own good. She could always figure out what was going on with Daphne. Even sometimes her mother could not fathom what was going in her mind but Tracy knew.

"So Daphne…", Tracy was saying, "Were you successful in contacting your emerald eyed wizard at all?".

Daphne shrugged, "No. For the last week, I have tried every way I can think of to send a letter to him but failed. For the first time ever, even Archibald returned without delivering the letter. Since then he refuses to even take the message. I have tried sending postal owls too but they can't seem to find him".

At that moment, Roxanne Greengrass entered her room over-hearing the last part of her sentence and suggested, "May be the recipient of your letter has mail wards on him wherever he is, preventing any unauthorised mail from getting to him".

Daphne turned to her, blushing furiously, "did you hear everything mother?"

Roxanne smirked, "Enough to know that you are suffering from boy trouble. I must say I am relieved that you are showing interests in boys at last. I had thought that the Ice Queen had buried all her feelings."

Daphne squeaked, "Mother."

Roxanne grinned smugly, "don't feel embarrassed about it Daphne. It is natural to feel emotions for someone at your age especially someone as charming as Harry Potter."

Tracey started laughing while Daphne blushed furiously and Roxanne left the room grinning.

India-Myanmar

The vanguard led by Vari entered through the main door and immediately went on the offensive. The enemy forces were inside a large building which looked like a small castle and they had people on the ramparts and in the windows firing at the mystics who were either dodging or shielding while they kept advancing.

This side there was about 70 or so enemies who were in sight while they assumed that the rest were hiding or laying some trap for them. Anal and his mystics had entered shortly after the wards had been erected and they could hear sword fighting off to one side of the castle presumably a battle being fought between the mystics and the werewolf contingent. On the other side of the castle, the night sky had been illuminated as the day and they assumed that Patrov and his mystics had engaged the vampires.

Battle with the werewolves

The mystics had entered just behind the team sent to destroy the wards and as Pawan had raised the anti-escape wards, they had set off to find the werewolves not that it was difficult. They were on the western side of the encampment far away from the Vampires who were on the right side. The dark lord was ingenious as he had housed his forces in different buildings so that they would not be killed en masse if an attack came. They had attacked the building where the werewolves were. While it was not the full moon, they were still dangerous and as they stormed the door, the mystics went to hack down everyone who crossed their path.

There were more than 70 werewolves as they had been told perhaps some new packs had arrived overnight. Anal had divided his team into 4 groups with 5 to each and they were all busy. After he killed a handful of werewolves, he sought the Alpha and challenged him directly who roared and charged him. Anal stood ready, his sword poised to strike and waited for the alpha who was eyeing him warily. Suddenly the Alpha jumped into the air and Anal ducked while slashing his sword through the air cutting a deep gash on his stomach. The Alpha was enraged and again ran at him and he side stepped while slashing his blade in such a way that it nicked the werewolves right arm. The werewolf howled in pain and tried to swipe at him but Anal caught his arm in his left hand and summoning his silver dagger from his ankle belt with a mighty strike, lodged the dagger hilt deep into the werewolf's abdomen leaving him to writhe in pain and agony on the floor.

Anal looked around him and his comrades were doing well with the majority of the werewolves being dead or in various stages of dying. He found one of the new recruits fighting with three of them at once who had cornered him and would have killed him. He pulled two daggers from his belt and threw them at the werewolves bringing two of them down while the recruit had just impaled the third through his skull.

He heard growling behind him and turned to find two of them stalking him. He grasped his sword in his left hand and pulled out his wand reluctantly. While he was adept with a wand, he used it very rarely. He conjured a silver dagger which he banished towards the werewolves and it lodged into one of them while the other charged at him. as the werewolf came barreling at him, he jumped high in the air and kicked the werewolf in the back as it barreled past him, making him fly into the sword of a mystic who was coming to Anal's assistance. As he landed, he found that the fighting had died down with only a handful of werewolves still alive and fighting for their lives.

He went to the alpha who was still writhing on the ground and looked into his eyes menacingly, "I had sworn that I will be the one to kill you, Kirkit and you are dying at my hand."

The werewolf was in extreme agony but focused on the mystic with all his concentration, "Who are you? What have I ever done to you?"

Anal's eyes were blood-red and he growled, "I am the little boy from Bharatkot whose family you slaughtered. I had vowed my revenge 40 years ago and today, I will be free of the debt that the vow had put on me."

He grasped the hilt of his dagger and spun it in the wound making the werewolf howl in pain and grunted, "I would love to make you suffer for the torment I have been through all my life, but; my code does not allow me to cause unnecessary pain to you now that you are dying like the beast that you are. I hope you will burn for eternity in hell and Yama (the god of death) will punish you for all the sins that you have committed."

He pulled out the dagger and flashed it in the werewolf's face, "The House of Garud has had its revenge. May the afterlife be hell for you." He slashed the werewolf's throat and motioned for his forces to kill the rest of the werewolves who were dying and to bind any of those who were still alive. Charak had asked him to bring him some prisoners so that he could teach something to Harry Potter.

Destruction of the Vampires

Patrov and his group ran into vampires as soon as they entered the property lines. The Vampires were well suited to night guard duty with their dark vision and nocturnal habits. Thus they were prowling the perimeter keeping watch. They knew of the invasion as Patrov's group entered the property line and started laying a trap around them, circling them. As the mystics came into their line of vision, the apparent leader of the Vampires roared and they charged.

Patrov who had been anticipating something like this yelled, "Makar (Crocodile) formation and wands out. On three, we burn them like kindling."

The mystics readied their wands and arranged themselves like a crocodile. As the Vampires neared them, they incanted as one, "Tamari (meaning sun in English and used as a substitute for Solaris in Latin).". Bright hot light escaped their wands, lighting the area around them like the day and the Vampires who had come into the range of the spell burned like dry wood on fire while the mystics were unharmed. This spell was harmful to vampires and any who came into contact with it would be incinerated.

The Vampire leader growled, "Vampire Hunter Patrov, how interesting to see you here of all places. Did you not run with your tail tucked between your legs when we last met 200 years ago in Russia?"

Patrov bristled but answered in a calm voice, "Levanov as I recall, even though you got the jump on me, while my back was turned, you still had to run the moment I got over your cowardly ambush. I have hunted you for 200 years, because in my entire lifetime, failing to kill you has been my only failure. Let's settle this now."

Further, he raised his wand to his throat and his voice magnified, "Boys, make sure that none of these creatures of evil escape this night. I have a grudge to settle." He looked at the Vampire Levanov with hatred in his eyes and motioned with his hands "you and me". He raised his wand yelling, "Dharm aur maan", and charged him.

As the vampire tried to run him down, Patrov uttered another incantation, "Krishanu (fire)' and a whip of fire rose from his wand with which he lassoed the Vampire. Giving it a jerk, it threw the vampire to the ground. The vampire flipped to his feet and jumped into the air to make his escape, he cast a spell chain, "Vaishvanar, Havyavahan, Pavak!", and peppered the vampire with three bolts of fire bringing him to the ground. As the Vampire burned and writhed in agony, he swished his wand in a zig-zag motion and yelled, "Martandam!", and a huge ball of fire left his wand and surrounded the vampire, slowly burning him, charring his flesh, filling the air with the stench of burning flesh.

He yelled at the Vampire whose cries were heart-rending, "This is your end Levanov. You have caused a lot of grief to everyone. Your soul had died when you were turned and now I release your body from this curse."

Leaving the burning vampire to die in agony, he ordered his men to march to the aid of the rest of the forces.

Right flank

The right flank being led by Achala did not encounter any resistance till they reached a ring of trees. As they were about to step in it, she raised her hand and mouthed 'trap' to her warriors. She signaled them to split in groups of two and to flank the ring of trees from both sides, setting it on fire. As the mystic got into position, three of the warriors on either side raised their wands and muttered "Davanalam (fiendfyre)".

Fire leapt from their wands and surrounded the rings of trees, taking the shape of a huge two headed bird. Seconds later, wizards started jumping out of the trees straight into the wands of the mystics who were waiting for them. They used all the curses and hexes that they knew. They used a myriad of spells without any compunction, killing everyone who came out of the trees. A few of them who did not die were bound to be taken captive for Charak.

After a few seconds when it was clear that there were no more enemies left in the trees, she ordered them to extinguish the fire and went further into the settlement where there were a couple of buildings. She cast a wide area 'homnum revelio", which showed her that the enemy soldiers were hiding on the rooftops and on the battlements. Immediately she drew ten of her men and divided them into two groups.

She ordered the first group to get up on the roof and kill the enemy soldiers there. The chosen warriors immediately disappeared and a few seconds later, enemy soldiers started dropping off the roof tops like flies.

After a few minutes, the mystics on the ground stormed the buildings and started casting spells at anyone who got in their way. They had almost won their part of the skirmish when a green light jetted towards her and she didn't see it till it was too late. As she watched in horror, one of the mystics jumped into the way of the curse and his body fell to the ground lifeless, his eyes vacant.

At that moment something snapped in her and she raised her wand and yelled, "Pinak!", and an arrow as black as the night emerged from her wand. It gave off an aura of death and made everyone in the vicinity shudder. She raised her wand and banished it toward the wizard who had cast the killing curse. The arrow struck him in the chest, blasting his body into a thousand pieces. She turned towards the remaining enemy warriors who had thrown down their wands and went on their knees clamouring for mercy.

She smirked menacingly at them, "There will be no mercy. You have defied mother magic and used her gifts for evil purposes. You will die this day and Yama will sit in judgment upon you."

She raised her wand and incanted, "Pinaka, Kodand, Sarasan!", and three arrows appeared, each looking as deadly as the other and banished them at the captives. Needless to say, they died such gruesome deaths that it would cause her mystics to shudder to even think about it.

As their enemies were either dead or captive, one of the mystic stunned Achala and signalled one of the other mystics to take charge of her who immediately picked her up and disappeared. The rest of the mystics went in search of battle.

Left Flank

The left flank led by Mark immediately ran into problems as the left flank was crowded by dark creatures like grindylows, kappas, snakes and the likes. After they had gained victory over the creatures, Mark signalled them to spread around in groups of two to three and find and eliminate enemies.

They found little to nothing in the way of resistance until one of them tripped a trap which was rigged with blasting hexes and killed two of the mystics instantly. Mark immediately signaled them to stop moving and stay in position. As he cast some detection charms, he realised they were standing in the middle of a trap. The enemy had deployed around 80 soldiers at the left flank and they had surrounded the mystics and were closing in on them.

He murmured to his nearest group, "Chakra (Disc) formation and wands out. As they come out in the open, start expanding outwards using every lethal curse that you know. Put all of them to the sword. We are not taking any prisoners today.".

The message was passed around and the mystics joined together in the formation of the disc while Mark conjured his patronus (a raven), "Go to Pawan and inform him that we are surrounded. Make a disc formation and shrink inwards so we can catch the scum in a pincer attack giving them no time to retaliate or cause any damage."

As they waited for the enemy to make a move, a patronus arrived (a lion) and spoke in the voice of Pawan, "The trap has been laid. Now time to close it."

He raised his wand and fired green sparks signaling them to begin their assault. Immediately all sorts of spells left their wands, some of them connected while others were either dodged or shielded. Their relentless attack forced their enemies to show themselves. The enemy forces, thinking that they had the advantage in both numbers and position, began charging Mark's group. Many of them didn't even have enough time to realize what was happening as they were cut down by Pawan's team from behind.

For a few moments, all that could be seen were spells flying. Spells of various colours and every one of them lethal. Warriors from both sides fell but after a few minutes and with little difficulty, the mystics were able to best the enemy. Four mystics had died while the ground was littered with the bodies of enemy soldier's everywhere.

Pawan's team went back to wait for their next back-up call while Mark's group went looking for the main event.

The vanguard

Harry was in the front row of fighters in the Vanguard and as such he was busy shielding or dodging the curses. This was very different from practice where he knew what he could expect of the mystics. He even dodged at times what looked like the Avada Kedavra or some of the dark curses that he had read about in his books.

He kept casting bone breakers, bone exploders or bone splinters but none of his spells were aimed at fatal points and most of his opponents were incapacitated, but; not dead. He just could not do it. As he fought, he even had to face two or three of them at once but Vari was always around and would rescue him before any harm befell him. While he was focused on what was in front of him, he was also keeping an eye on others around him and none of the mystics were leaving any of their enemies alive. Enemies fell lifeless, some with gruesome deaths, some with their bones exploded or crushed or some were simply blasted apart.

As he fought, he just kept casting not even turning to see if his opponent was still standing. He downed one of the enemies with a bone breaker to the shoulder and moved on to the next target. He was so nauseated that he lost sight of what was happening. He did not realise until it was too late that the enemy whose shoulder he had just broken had cast a killing curse with his other hand and it was headed his way but at the last moment, a mystic tackled him to the ground and Harry shot a bone breaker in the direction the spell had come from. The sickening sound of bone breaking told him that he had found his mark.

The mystic picked him up and barked, "Look sharp, Potter. This is not practice. You do not kill them they will kill you."

Harry looked around and found that the enemy suddenly had swelled in numbers. Just a moment ago, the battle had been all but won and suddenly they were outnumbered. The mystic started casting with more fervour. There was Vari who cast a magenta coloured spell that sliced five of the enemies in one go. Another of the mystics cast a sky blue spell which pierced 7 of the enemies at once, but; they were still outnumbered.

He heard a loud cheer of "Dharm aur Maan!", somewhere around him and suddenly Harsh was there with 20 mystics and they turned the tide. In a few seconds, the mystics were the only ones alive on the battle field but Harsh was frowning at something.

Vari asked him, "What is troubling you Guruji? We have won."

Harsh warily answered, "Their dark lord is not here. Nor we have killed as many as we had expected to be here. It seems that they have some surprises in the store for us."

Vari asked, "What does that mean?"

Harsh smirked, "Send a patronus to Pawan to bring down the wards and send a message to Nikolai to arrive with his team 5 minutes after the wards are taken down. I guess he suspected that someone would come to stop him. Before we began the battle the chhayas had told me that he is living elsewhere while majority of his forces are stationed here. I believe he and rest of his forces would be trying to port-key in after a message was sent to him about the battle."

Vari sent a message to Pawan while Harsh barked orders to them to form the Cronch (Crane) formation. As the wards were taken down, several wizards appeared amidst them and the mystics started making short work of them. One of the opponents, who perhaps was the dark lord, killed two recruits before Harsh engaged him in a duel.

Harsh flourished his wand and send a dozen arrows at the Dark Lord who conjured a wooden wall in the way of the arrows. Harsh incanted "Krishanu", and almost sheared the dark lord's right arm off but at the last moment, he conjured a golden shield which shuddered as the spell made impact with it but held under the attack. The mystic immediately transfigured a piece of rock into a stag and animated it to gore the dark lord with its horns and the dark lord cast a killing curse at Harsh which was taken by the stag. Harsh cast "Taditam", and a lightning bolt struck the dark lord and he fell to the ground. This all happened in a matter of a few seconds and Harry was captivated. True that the duel had not been too long but Harsh had killed the dark lord within a matter of seconds.

As the dark lord fell his minions tried to escape but Pawan had again raised the wards and they were caught. The mystics slaughtered all those who were still standing while captured those who were not dead and Harsh summoned a man from the back-up unit.

Harsh addressed the man, "Mr. Chakrapani, we have done our duty. This dark lord will trouble no one anymore. Take the prisoners and do what you would with them. The mystics have done this favour unto you, your house and your allies and a day may come when we would expect to be repaid in kind for this assistance that we have rendered to you."

The man bowed low to Harsh, "Master, you have liberated thousands from his fear. We would have died trying to resist him but you showered us with your benevolence. The House of Chakapani and its allies would be at your call whenever you desire so."

Harsh barked orders at his mystics to collect their dead, take them to Adrishpuram with honour and taking Harry's arm, disappeared.

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