Strange, I had thought I posted this chapter already, but it must be because it always felt like a part 2 to the previous one in my mind. regardless its new to you, my readers, so it must go up! enjoy! ~F

Chapter Fifteen

Servants of the Beautiful One

Draco wasn't sure as to why his father was so overwhelmingly interested in Harry or their abilities, but it had to be a good thing for his father to be smiling as widely as Harry showed off his various and powerful warlock abilities, tapping into the lines of power that ran under the manor.

Draco would have joined in, but he was far too consumed trying to understand all that his father had revealed to Harry, and to Draco as well for the first time, about his involvement with the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord. Draco had known that their family was considered supporters of the man, but he had never guessed that it was all due to his grandfather's desires, having only met the old wizard once before he died of dragon pox.

Still, hearing the truth was actually more reassuring then Draco thought it would be, especially if Lucius thought that Harry could actually protect them if the madman returned to power somehow. He also had several guesses as to which pureblood families that his father was referring to when he mentioned 'others,' primarily the Notts, but assuredly the majority of old supporters that had children in Hogwarts would be among those who'd rather not have their children enslaved to the Dark Lord if he were to return.

After around twenty minutes of Harry happily running through his many spells and abilities, the boy finally stopped, turning to face then with his imp balanced on his shoulder. Slowly, Lucius started to clap, but it soon ended as Harry reached them, "I am most decidedly impressed, Mr. Potter," Lucius said, still grinning, "You are indeed as powerful as I guessed when you first set foot in my home last Yule. I will be more than pleased to forward a report of your strength to the others who would be free of the Dark Lord."

"That's good," Harry said, "Although I have one request of you."

"What might that be?" Lucius said, and Draco could already hear the wheels spinning in his father's mind, hoping to try and buy a little more position and power for himself.

"I need to visit the massive stone circle of the ancient druids that is somewhere near here, Stonehenge I recall it being called." Harry said.

"I can easily make arrangements for a small trip out to the old stone circle; however I myself have one stipulation for such a side adventure." Lucius replied, grinning even as Harry frowned.

"And that would be," Draco heard his friend ask cautious, as though he already guessed what was coming.

"Teach me how to utilize that wondrous dark magic you just displayed." Lucius said, his desire clear from the look of greed in his eyes, "It would be a massive boost to out families' alliance for such a sharing of secrets, and I'm sure that you're already teaching my son, so what would one more be in your lessons?"

Harry paused for a long time at that, and Draco could already see the internal struggle playing out behind the emerald eyes. Harry had at one point mentioned that Dumbledore was very persistent in knowing what magic exactly that Harry could perform, and after the incident at the second Quidditch match of the year, Draco could understand exactly why. It also explained then why his father was so desperate to learn it himself. If Dumbledore wanted the knowledge, and was currently being denied it, then Lucius Malfoy wanted the opportunity to take hold of some mystery that the Headmaster was as of yet unaware of, especially when it yielded power as what Draco and Theodore were already learning.

"I suppose I can allow you to learn alongside Draco and Theodore for the duration of the summer, Mr. Malfoy, as thank you for all that you are doing for me…" Harry said eventually, although he still looked highly conflicted about the prospect.

"Well, I suppose that means that I ought to send an invitation to young Mr. Nott to come for the summer holiday as well I suppose," Lucius said, the smirk on his face betraying the true excitement that lay within. Knowing his father as he did, and how well the man masked his emotions, Draco was surprised that so much already was openly revealed around Harry, a near total stranger to their family aside from Draco himself.

Bowing to excuse himself from the room, Lucius departed, probably to draft several letters to various acquaintances as well as Theodore's father, and Harry finally relaxed once they were alone. Dismissing the imp with a wave of his hand, he sighed, "That went better than I expected it to…" he commented idly, and Draco raised an eyebrow at him.

"How did you expect it to turn out?" he asked, as Harry made for the door as well.

"Well, I expected your father to demand quite a bit more than he did, more along the lines of what dear Headmaster Dumbledore was doing, but it seems that your father is far more concerned about protecting his current state of luxury, which I don't disagree with in the slightest. If one is not strong enough to keep what they have, then they do not deserve it, and there is no shame in desiring to be stronger. But in Dumbledore's case, he wants to learn my power to better control me, which I cannot allow to happen. The bargain with Lucius, and even these others that he's mentioned is far more agreeable to me than signing my effective prison sentence in that castle."

"Ah," Draco replied, only partially understanding, but accepting that whatever Harry meant was good and real to him. "Would you like to tour around the manor, or unpack in your guest room first?" he asked as they stood in the main entrance hall.

"There's a few things I'd like to check on that I brought, so probably unpack first, then a tour would be lovely." The boy replied, and Draco eagerly led his friend up the large marble staircase to the third floor, where the bedrooms were located. The guest wing was in the opposite direction of the family's bedrooms, as the manor was built after an old medieval design that kept guests away from their hosts for protection, when one never knew who might try to betray or assassinate them, but Harry's was the first door down the corridor, and therefore the closest to the rest of the manor.

Inside the house elves had already prepared the large four-poster bed with navy blue hangings and linens, as well as setting out the trunk and messenger bag where they were easily accessible. Harry went to the trunk first, casually waving his wand after drawing it from his sleeve, which caused the door to the walk in wardrobe to spring open, and started to casually place his clothing into the piece of furniture.

After that had been accomplished, the boy started arranging far more interesting items around the room. The large bay window that overlooked the grounds around the manor had a ledge just inside of it, and Harry took out and carefully placed several racks of empty vials and other potioneering equipment, even setting up a small cauldron in front of the window, before crossing to the small personal desk in the room and laying out stacks of blank parchment, a strange copper rod with markings and rune carved into it, the glowed periodically when Harry touched it.

The boy then maneuvered his trunk to be between the window and the desk, and set the messenger bag on the chair that went with the desk, clearly mentally checking that everything was in a proper place before turning back to Draco, "All right, I'm ready for this tour of yours." He said, not once explaining what he had been up to.

"Uh… alright," Draco said, wanting nothing more than to ask a thousand and one questions right not about why Harry had placed out these things, but instead allowing himself to be distracted by showing Harry around the public and informal areas of the manor. He explained that there were a select few sections that he could not show Harry, as there were rooms that were for only the family, as a sort of respite from others, but the other boy seemed perfectly fine with the concept, more pleased to see the massive library that the manor sported. Rightly so in fact, as the room was easily twice the size of the Hogwart's library, covering two floors with plenty of room for study in the high back, cushioned chairs and tables in the very center.

Outside was also a highpoint of the tour, as Draco showed off the extensive grounds that were meticulously taken care of by the house elves, as well as the small selection of magical animals that were kept on the property, and the horrid albino peacocks that Lucius kept around for some reason. Draco had had a horrible experience with the birds as a small child, and had grown to both fear and hate them ever afterward.

But what Harry truly seemed to enjoy was the view of the surrounding wide countryside that the family owned, which lay for miles in every direction around the property. "Your wards don't cover it though, so how to you keep muggles and other creatures from taking up residence?" he asked, but Draco actually had an answer for him on that, "We have a few small dealings with other wizards, who work for us in protecting the property, and act as go betweens with the muggles, making sure that they understand that its private property and to not trespass. Every so often the rule is ignored, but it's not like they can see the manor anyway, and if they get themselves killed by the creatures in the woods, doesn't really affect us does it?"

"No, I suppose it wouldn't…" Harry replied, smirking to himself as he look out to the northwest part of the property, "Stonehenge is that way, isn't it?" he asked, and Draco didn't have to guess how the boy knew. He had been able to sense the powerful buildup of magic since Harry had awakened him to the magic of the world and the Twisted Nether at Hogwarts. "Yes," he responded, before pausing, "what do you expect to find there when we go to visit it?"

"Answers, hopefully, if not direction on how to get home…" Harry responded honestly, even though Draco wasn't sure what the boy meant by 'home.'

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Nobu'tan quite enjoyed his time in Malfoy Manor, the relaxing atmosphere starkly contrasting to the madness of the muggles he had been placed with by Archmage Dumbledore. The massive house was about eighty percent open to him to explore at his leisure, and he ended up spending a majority of his time sifting through the many tomes and volumes in the massive library.

Most of the time Draco was with him, as Lucius spent the majority of his time in his personal office, off limits to Nobu'tan, presumably continuing correspondence with those whom he wanted the young warlock to meet with, and the orc-raised human had no idea where the lady of the House, Narcissa, had disappeared to, but he was less concerned about his hosts as he was the small scroll that he had acquired shortly before coming to the Wiltshire dwelling.

After having extensively studied the fiendish writing, some combination of fel runes and the wizarding Latin, Nobu'tan had happily discovered that it was the required ritual to summon forth a new kind of demon, the Felhunter. The voracious little canine-like demon would be a welcome addition to Nobu'tan servants, but the dangers that were involved with summoning such a creature were high.

Felhunters were notoriously used by the Burning Legion to fight and kill mages and magic users of all kinds, so Nobu'tan would instantly be at a disadvantage against one, he would have to rely all the more on his other servants to fight with him, keeping the hound's attention away from trying to rip the magic straight from his body.

Then there was the presence of the other magical in the house to worry about, if he summoned and fought the felhunter here, he would have to make sure that it was in an enclosed area, where the beast could not escape to hunt on its own. Normally, he would have gone to Lucius and used the man's desire to learn the ways of the warlock to his own advantage, but he had yet to see the man outside of meals, and Narcissa was always present at those times, and Nobu'tan was less than willing to reveal everything to yet another, unknown, person just yet.

There was also the trip to Stonehenge that had yet to be mentioned again, nearly a week after he arrived, but somehow Nobu'tan felt that it was alright to wait a short amount of time, and allow the Malfoy's to be accustomed to him in their house before making requests and pushing for what he desired. He had plenty of things to keep himself occupied, especially the plethora of Dark Arts books that Lucius and his family had collected. Some required Draco to be the one to physically touch them, but Nobu'tan eagerly read over the boy's shoulder to glean as much information that these wizards had concerning the darker aspects of magic.

He also had Alchemy, his Inscription and rudimentary Enchanting to practice, usually in the evenings. Draco only stayed and watched a few times, the boy having his own interests and desire to work on, not to mention the summer homework that they had been given, Nobu'tan having completed his while at the Dursleys earlier.

He had happily created a large supply on inks, as well as started with the complicated brewing processes for the most basic of alchemy elixirs, that of Lion's Strength, the yellow concoction able to swell the physical capabilities four fold, giving a normal human the strength of the great cat. Vials of the potion were already being boxed and set aside for whenever Nobu'tan felt he might need to use them, possible for funds or as bartering chips for some future event, but he hadn't quite planned that far ahead as of yet.

Enchanting was giving him much more trouble however, as finding items with enough magical properties to break down into base magical components, that wouldn't go missing, was difficult, and potentially expensive if he simply bought things to disenchant. He had thus far only really gotten about fully crafting his runed copper rod, which was the primary implement that he would need for these early stages of the profession.

Again, he was afraid that he might have to confide in Lucius Malfoy to get the items he needed for such an endeavor, and he was more than hesitant to involve the slippery man more than absolutely needed. The wild greed in the man's eyes when he had forced Nobu'tan to show off his skills in the power of the Void was testament enough of how much the man wanted the same power. Still Nobu'tan would rather give Lucius everything he wanted rather than share a single spell with Dumbledore, and that was truly remarkable in the case of a power hungry man like the Malfoy Patriarch.

As though thinking of the man was enough to summon him, Nobu'tan looked up from the book he was perusing to see Lucius striding into the Library. "It is finished," the man said, a large grin on his face as he took a seat opposite the young warlock, "the time and place for the meeting with the others is set for two weeks from now, here in the manor. Theodore Nott will be arriving tomorrow afternoon, and we can set out for your trip to Stonehenge either that evening or the day after, your choice."

"Thank you Lucius," Nobu'tan replied bowing his head in appreciation, "You have been more than a gracious host to me, I would prefer the cover of darkness if it is no mind to you, and so the evening after Theodore's arrival would suit me best."

"Very well, Mr. Potter" Lucius replied, "If there is anything else you need, a House Elf will be able to find me, as I am more than desirous to avoid my study for a while, a nice relaxing stroll through the grounds is what I feel is needed, to stretch out the limbs from all the cramped writing."

"Before you go, there is one thing," Nobu'tan said quickly, knowing that the man would sense his eagerness, but at the moment not caring.

"Yes?" Lucius replied, almost growing feral in his unblinking stare at Nobu'tan, like the cat whose next meal was about to fall into its open mouth.

"I have something I wish to do, a ritual of sorts, but it's rather dangerous and I need a secluded and safe area to perform it in." Nobu'tan started, but the look in Lucius Malfoy's eyes only intensified. Sighing, the warlock withdrew the scroll, knowing that he'd never get what he wanted without full disclosure at this point, and started to softly describe what the ritual entailed.

To say that Lord Malfoy was impressed was an understatement, he was positively gleaming with excitement at the prospect, "I can have one of the basement rooms warded within the hour, but I must insist on being able to witness this, it's not every day that one can see a true demonic summoning…"

"I… thank you Lord Malfoy…" Nobu'tan replied, deciding that it was in his best interest to not use a sarcastic comment at this moment.

If the aristocrat noticed the slip, he made no comment, merely setting aside the Wizarding newspaper that he had brought with him and departed the room again, presumably to make preparations for the ritual. Draco was also looked toward where his father had left, but as Nobu'tan turned to meet the boy's gaze he had already returned to his homework, "I presume that witnessing this event isn't something that will be particularly safe, if you require a closed off and warded room to do it in," he said matter-of-factly.

"Indeed," Nobu'tan replied, "the particular demon that I am ready to summon and bind can be quite nasty to those who use magic, which makes it all the more useful for me to acquire."

Draco nodded, "I will enjoy watching a more complicated demonic summoning then, and perhaps when Theodore arrives we will be able to get started on summoning our first demons as well."

"I believe that can most assuredly be arranged." The young warlock replied, wondering how quickly Lucius would be working on catching up to his son and Theo in learning the methodology of the Warlock's arts.

Almost forty-five minutes after Lucius left, a house elf appeared before Nobu'tan as they were walking back up to his guest room. "Master is saying that Young Master and Mr. Harry Potter can come down to the basement floor as their special room is ready."

"Alright, I will just need to collect a few things first and…" Nobu'tan started but the elf stopped him, "Dobby will be with the collecting of things that Mr. Harry Potter requires!" he said, a faint amount of pride and happiness in the elf's voice as he spoke.

"Um… Alright…" Nobu'tan said, unaccustomed to such politeness and eagerness to assist. After giving the little creature a quick list of what he needed and where they were in his room, the elf vanished with a sharp crack.

"It seems Dobby has taken quite a liking to you," Draco said, smirking, "Probably for the best, he is rather an odd elf at times…"

"And that differs from the standard elf how?" Nobu'tan shot back as they turned to go back down the stairs and head toward the basement level.

It only took a few moments to find the large almost dungeon-like room that Lucius had prepared for them, its walls shimmering with magic protection wards and shields. There was even a heavily partitioned area that held a pair of chairs for the two Malfoys to sit and watch while being protected. "I will warn you now," Nobu'tan said as Dobby the House elf reappeared with the required materials, "the demon I am summoning is a hound used for tracking and slaying mages, so your wards here will probably take quite a beating if I cannot subdue the creature quickly, not that I have intention to allow that to happen."

"Naturally, but we will be ready to fight or flee as needed when the time comes," Lucius replied coolly, before he and Draco moved behind the curtain of wards. Dobby had vanished when Nobu'tan took his scroll and other items, and the two wizards watched as the warlock prepared his summoning circle, drawing the intricate runes across the floor of the basement-dungeon, setting out the candles that would aid him in contacting the magic of the void from within such a warded area.

Finally, about ten minutes of preparation later, Nobu'tan stood and ran through his callings of his bound demons, calling forth Sartai, Xorton, and Quzkol to his side, and having the trio of demons fan out, the Voidwalker taking point before the circle, while the Succubus flanked around to the back, and the Imp taking up a position opposite Nobu'tan, behind the Voidwalker but off to the side to have a clear line of fire at the circle.

With everything ready to combat the demon as it leapt from the circle, Nobu'tan started the ritual, sending forth a tantalizing amount of magic into the void, promising the flesh of mages and raw magical energy that would attract a Felhunter alone. The failing that was in the scroll was that indeed, and Nobu'tan could only assume that the poor fool that had originally penned out this ritual had died when some more powerful demon had stepped through his circle, throwing his plans awry and slaying him quickly.

Nobu'tan had learned from the greatest of warlocks in the entire Horde however, and made no such mistake. Almost a minute after the ritual was started; the warlock felt the subtle tug as a fiendish creature took his bait, following the pulses of power through the void to his summoning circle.

The hound leapt up out of the miniature rift that had formed, snarling as its spiny protrusions on its hide quivered at all the ambient magic in the room. Two long, tentacle-like feelers wove this way and that, giving the seemingly-eyeless creature a sense of direction, but with all the magic it seemed somewhat confused.

The perfect time to strike, the warlock thought. Ordering his minions forward, Nobu'tan unleashed a torrent of fel flame at the hound, scorching its hide and making it snap out of its partial blindness. Its attempt to leap toward him was halted when Xorton arrived, slapping the hound with one of its large, blue arms and effectively keeping its attention away from anything else in the room.

Sartai raced up from behind and lashed her whip, entangling one of the Felhunter's legs, even as Both Nobu'tan and Quzkol pelted it with magic. Several times the hound's feeler lashed out at Nobu'tan, but only once did he feel the hound manage to temporarily block his access to the magic of the Void.

Unfortunately, the beast had no way of stopping him from tapping into his own personal reserves, and his wand slapped into his hand in a flash, cutting and bludgeoning curses flying from his lips as the jets of light pelted the demons magic resistant hide, causing little more than small cuts and bruising on the felhunter, but better than nothing.

Between the work of all four of them, the Felhunter seemed like it would drop within moments, but Nobu'tan refused to underestimate the demon just yet. He had seen too make potential warlocks simply torn apart because they allowed their minions to think them weak, and the creatures of the Legion would not suffer to serve someone weaker than themselves.

Soon enough, with a pitiful whine that was almost canine in sound, the Felhunter slumped to the ground, breathing hard but unable to muster the strength to fight any longer. With his other three guarding him, Nobu'tan approached the demon. "You are mine now…" he commanded, "Xorton, what is this creature's name?"

After a few moments where the pair of demons conversed in their strange languages, or at least Xorton conversed; the Felhunter did little more than growl or whine in response, the Voidwalker turned obediently to his warlock master, "Khiighun is what this tracker is called," he said.

"Good…" Nobu'tan replied, allowing the name to burn into his consciousness, so that he could call forth the hound to serve him in the future. It was good to add another demon to his growing power as a direct minion. He banished the exhausted demon, as well as his other minions, so that they could go and heal in the darkness of the Twisted Nether, and soon was joined by the pair of Malfoy men.

"Now you see what you stand to gain, Lucius," Nobu'tan said, working several cramps out of his arms from the gestures used to cast his spells, "Are you still prepared to pay the prices for this power?"

The man's smirk was detectable even while the young warlock had his back to him. "Naturally, Mr. Potter…"

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Severus stirred the cauldron he was laboring over with a fervor that rivaled most angry trolls, although his expertise would never allow him to spill so much as a drop of the precious concoction that he was preparing for the Hospital Wing, in anticipation of the myriad of dunderheaded students that would require healing over the course of the next year.

Albus had quickly discovered that the blasted Potter boy had disobeyed him and left his relative's house, although Severus was completely unsurprised at the outcome. Albus had grown too soft with the boy, and letting him have that much freedom was a mistake from the start. Naturally the boy would run at the first opportunity, when Albus had all but kidnapped him and dragged him to Hogwarts without as much as a by-your-leave. Not that Severus was sympathizing with the spawn of James Potter, mind you, but it probably had something to do with Petunia Dursley nee Evans and her family, but the old fool of a Headmaster wasn't hearing any of that.

Family was family as far as he was concerned, and while Petunia had been a jealous prat in her younger years, according to Severus' distinct knowledge of the subject, Albus was determined that the woman would not carry her vindictiveness onto her only remaining reminder of her sister. Severus greatly disagreed.

So now, instead of being able to get all the potion orders from the hospital wing, greenhouses, Hagrid, and the other miscellaneous requirements of the castle completed before the second month of the summer, Severus had to wrap up this first cauldron full that he had started, and whisk off to the Muggle world to hunt down Potter on Dumbledore's orders, presumable to 'encourage' him to return to his Aunt and Uncles house…

Oh how he despised the old man from time to time. Why was it whenever that boy was concerned, it was only he, Severus, the man who had hated the boy's father with a passion, the father that the boy had the gall to look identical to, but only he, Severus, could be counted on to perform any sort of demeaning task that demanded him to interact with the child on a more than professional level.

Wasn't it enough that he had to teach the child Potions, even though that in and of itself was actually quite refreshing, despite the diabolic gleam of his archrival's face lighting up with Lily's vibrant eyes whenever they covered something more complicated than the standard first year coursework.

Albus was more than insisting that Severus tutor Potter in more complex potions for the following year, making certain that Severus tried to get into the boy's confidence, not that it had worked out well for the few weeks at the end of the previous. Although that may have had in part something to do with Severus' lack of motivation, between the end of year exams that he had had to prepare, and the business with the stone and Quirrell causing great disruption to the boy's schedule.

Sighing irritated, Severus cast the preservation charm on the cauldron before him, wallowing in his irritation was never a good thing while he was brewing, as it had led to the majority of his personal accidents over his life, and the particular brew could sit for a while before needing his attention again anyway, extended tenfold by the charm.

The sooner he started on this maddening trip, the sooner it would be over or at least that was what he hoped to accomplish. Stalking up from the dungeons and out across the grounds, the Potions Master exiting from the wrought iron main gate to Hogwarts, immediately apparating to the muggle neighborhood where Petunia and her family was last reported to be.

Thankfully it was somewhere in the middle of the day when he arrived in the boring Surrey neighborhood. Severus presumed that all three of Petunia's family should be out around this time of the day, allowing him to sneak into the house and do what was needed without having to deal with Lily's horrid sister.

Entering the house with a silent unlocking charm, Severus sneered around at the bland and unnaturally clean rooms, before quickly mounting the stairs and locating the smallest bedroom, where Potter had stayed for all of three or four days with his relatives. Luckily, there were spells that existed to track the movement of a magic being, which had been why Albus singled out Severus for this task. The Dark Lord had demanded that each of his servants master these tracking spells to be able to locate the man's enemies, and Severus had been at the time more than eager to oblige.

It was easy to see that the boy had briefly lived here once the spell was cast, the very magic that was part of the overly gifted boy glowing faintly wherever the boy had made contact in the magically sterile environment. Unfortunately, after a further few minutes of searching, following the various trails of magic around the house and out to the front once again, Severus had to conclude that the boy never left the house or neighborhood without magical means.

As it was highly unlikely that the boy could apparate, even accidentally, and the muggle house was most assuredly not connected to the Floo Network, that left the Knight Bus and Portkeys as his means of travel. If it was the purple bus, then Severus could demand of the driver and conductor where they had taken the boy, but if Portkey then there was no knowing where the boy may have gotten off to.

Unless… remembering hard, Severus remembered that Draco Malfoy had been extremely friendly with the Ravenclaw boy, along with Theodore Nott, but of the pair it was far more likely that Draco would have the leverage at home to get the boy invite to stay during the summer. And Lucius Malfoy would never allow someone to arrive at his home via the horrendous Knight Bus, so a Portkey would have been the only measure, as there was no other magical signature inside the house other than Potters, and only Severus' own and Albus present outside from less than a month ago or more.

Albus would not be pleased to learn that Potter was in the clutches, politically speaking, of Lucius Malfoy. While Severus was more than certain that the blond Pureblood would not risk the wrath of the wizarding world by harming the boy within his own home, there were a plethora of other things that he could attempt, avenues of manipulation that could get him information that Albus wanted no others to know. And what was worse he thought, as he hastened to return to the school, the boy might be more than willing to give said information to someone who was drastically opposed to the Headmaster, purely on the grounds of what Albus had chosen to do when the boy resurfaced.

Apparating back to the entrance of the grounds with a flurry of motion, Severus walked as swiftly as he could toward the castle doors, silently working through the many options and problems that would inevitably arise when Albus learned of this situation, and Severus' powerful hunch of where the boy had gone.

Albus could attempt to force Harry to return to the Dursley's household, which would fly magnificently with the boy's already negative perception of the man, as well as putting credence on Lucius' removal of the boy from that environment. Yet there was also the possibility that Dumbledore would return the boy to Hogwarts again, further confining the boy from access to the outside world and pitting Lucius and the school governors against the Headmaster in a political battle that would rage for years around the boy.

Severus certainly hoped that Albus chose to not do something so foolish, but the fact remained that Potter staying in Lucius Malfoy's company was not wise for their side. Granted, Lucius Malfoy was only ever on Lucius Malfoy's side of things, and the possibility of him secretly assisting the Dark Lord, or attempting to even find the man were extremely low.

Bypassing the infuriating gargoyle to Albus' office, Severus burst in without knocking. "Ah, Severus, I was hoping that you might arrive sometime soon after you investigation of number four Privet Drive, what have you discovered?" the old man asked pleasantly, casually offering Severus the tray of muggle sweets on his desk.

Severus ignored the candies, standing rigid in the middle of the office as he presented his findings, "It is impossible for the boy to have left that residence other than the use of a Portkey or by taking the Knight Bus to some unknown location."

"Well," Albus said, "that at least limits the places he could hopefully have run off to, as I doubt that he had access to any sort of portkey… I will make the necessary arrangements for people to question the operators of the bus and…"

"But Potter did have access to a potential Portkey," Severus continued, cutting off the Headmaster, "Draco Malfoy was rather friendly with him during the year if you recall, and would more than likely want to continue growing their friendship over the summer…"

Albus blanched momentarily, "Lucius would indeed use a Portkey to bring young Harry to his home…"

"Thankfully, I highly doubt that Lucius would do anything of the sort if he was still under the sway of the Dark Lord…" Severus started, but it was Albus' turn to cut him off.

"No, I doubt that Voldemort is even involved at this point. Even Lucius and his manipulations don't have me concerned at the moment; it is more frightful that Harry is shielded from our watchful eyes, especially with the strange and downright frightful powers that the young man possesses. Lucius would be more than interested in learning everything he could about the boy's strange and powerful magic, and would do anything he could to tap into it. I fear for the man's safety if the boy is unknowingly provoked…"

Severus paused, having not considered that Lucius himself might be the one in danger in this case. "What do you suggest?" he asked.

But the old Headmaster merely shook his head, "I can't see any means of preventing this. If we warn Lucius of the danger the boy poses, I doubt that he'd listen to us, he'd more than likely just delve deeper into discovering exactly what we refer to, unleashing who knows what if the boy's power fully manifests itself, but at the same time if we do nothing that is equally likely to happen. And as you can guess, now that Harry is there, removing him without some sort of public backlash from the family will be nearly impossible, however…"

Severus paused, not liking the gleam in the man's eyes as he came to his realization, "However, Severus, this situation does put us closer to finding out what might be the extend of Harry's power, as you are still a close associate with Lucius, and would be able to check in on the boy from time to time, possibly learning what Lucius knows about him."

Somehow Severus was not surprised to hear that his involvement in this madness was not nearly ended, "I will draft a message to Lucius then, and see when I am able to visit him in his manor then…" he said grudgingly, standing and turning to leave Albus' office.

"Severus…" the old man said, causing Severus to turn back. Somehow, Albus seemed somewhat deflated from before: or older possibly, like the weight of his age was finally settling in. "We must make sure that Harry is safe, even if it is from himself. The future of our world depends on him."

Severus paused, his resentment and irritation dissipating with the slightly showing of how desperate Albus was over this matter. "I will do what I can," he said at last, before leaving to owl Lucius.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Line Break ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lucius gazed around with rapt attention to detail as the group of four wizards, young Theodore Nott having joined their group earlier that day, as they scaled the sloping hill around the magical location of Stonehenge. The muggles had quite overrun the area, putting up their ropes and trying to prevent others from approaching the standing stones, and that was all well and good for keeping their own kind from damaging the priceless magical ruins, but Lucius was above such meaningless rules, especially when they came from lesser beings than he.

So with a few quick charms to prevent the muggles from coming near to the stones for a time, he led the three young boys past the checkpoints and roped off areas to the ruins themselves. Magic was strong here, just as it had been when he was a boy and his father, Abraxas, had brought him here at the age of eleven, shortly before his own Hogwart's letter had arrived. The tradition had been continued with Draco, where the elder Malfoy had invoked a ritual to allow the heir to feel the magic of the world, at it pulsated and flowed through the powerful ruins, and taught the history of their race, and the importance of keeping that pure culture and idealism alive, protecting it from the corruption brought on by the muggles and their ever increasing encroachment into their world.

Not that Lucius would say that muggleborns didn't have their purpose, but for the safety of their rich and detailed traditions, they couldn't allow the filth of the muggle world to simply change everything that they held dear, as so many of the new generations thought ought to be done in their naivety.

When they reached the central partial circle of stones, Harry ran a hand loving along the side of one of the taller pillars, coming to a halt, "This is the place I learned of. Stand well back, I do not know who or what I am supposed to be calling out for, but they will be powerful…"

Draco and Theodore looked on in confusion, but Lucius, who had been partially informed of what was about to transpire, simply nodded, before leading the two boys further away, and reinforcing the charms around the ruin to keep those who might pry well away.

Potter stood there in the center for a moment, arms wide as he breathed in deeply of the magic of the location, a process that he was starting to teach to Lucius, and the older wizard was able to sense the magic rushing in droves through the boy as he reached out to the darkness between the stars. Night was well above them, and a cool breeze chilled the air as magic began to take physical form. It started as a gentle ripple before the boy, before the very fabric of reality before him was torn aside, arcane magic pooling around the sides to keep the portal between worlds open, even if the fracture was the size of a very small window.

"I call upon the Masters of the Burning Legion!" the boy said something in a language that Lucius was quite unfamiliar with, guttural and harsh sounding, "Thy humble servant seeks an audience!"

Fir a long moment, nothing more happened but then a large, clawed hand appeared in the window, stretching it sideways and making the rift even larger. Even as it did so another arm appeared, followed by a horned head and a pair of massive, bat-like wings. If Lucius didn't know better, he would have guessed that the demon was some sort of vampire in origin, but there were no records of such a creature on the earth.

"You've called upon the masters of the Legion, little warlock, and I have come at the behest of Kil'jaeden, you are Nobu'tan are you not, apprentice of the warlock Gul'dan." The creature said, its language still undecipherable to the aristocratic pureblood.

Harry bowed before the creature however, so he could only guess that it was indeed what the boy had wanted so badly to come here and meet with. Lucius' only question, which he had had before and had been left unanswered by Potter, was as to the purpose of this meeting.