14; Discovery, Spell-Crafting and Secrets.

It was Thursday.

Harry was teaching younger group in the Marauder Club how to cast the Protego shield when his coin cooled rapidly and started squealing.

"Oh, for-!" Harry yelled, "Andi, Fleur!"

Andromeda and Fleur, who were helping on that day turned to him, "What is it, Harry?"

"Umbridge is coming. You two need to leave, I'll deal with this. I'll see you at my house later."

They nodded uncomfortably and turned went to the floo.

"Sonorus. Everyone! Listen up!" He shouted, "We need to leave, Umbridge is coming. I've had the room make passages to secluded areas all over the castle." He gestured towards the wall where a series of doors had appeared.

"Now go, spread out!"

The Club scattered through the passages and Harry took the list from the wall, "Umbra."

Umbra flashed in and landed on his should with an anticipatory trill.

"Let's cause a… distraction."

Harry headed through the door just in time to see the Inquisitorial squad and Umbridge come around the corner.

"Hello, Professor."

"Potter!" She snarled, "We've caught you now."

Harry rolled his eyes and raised a roll of parchment in his hand, "Do you know what this is, Professor?"

"What is it, Potter?"

"It's a list of names, the names of everyone who was here."

Malfoy suddenly cast, "Accio!"

Umbra flashed right in front of him, grabbed the parchment out of the air and flashed away.

"Should've said please." Harry suddenly drew his mother's wand, "Reverto!"

The shield snapped up just in time to block a sudden barrage of spells, half of the Inquisitorial Squad fell before Harry's shield did.

"You're outnumbered, Potter!" Umbridge yelled, "Put down the wand and come quietly."

"I have no delusions that I will win this, Professor" Harry replied, "But that does not mean I can't try. Shall we dance."

"He's just a distraction, Professor." Malfoy said.

Harry smirked, "Fluctus Firma."

"Protego," Yelled various members of the Squad. They replied with a flurry of spells.

"Ignis Pulsus!" Harry yelled as he tried to dodge and made sure that his wand was pointed at the Squad, he managed to get three pulses of before he had to shield. Though he had made the pulses rather weak, they would cause nothing worse than superficial burns.

"Aguamenti!" Harry sprayed as much water as possible towards them as he resumed dodging.

"What's the point of this Potter!" Greengrass yelled, though she had a fair idea, and was vanishing the water at her feet.

"Yeah Potter!" Malfoy yelled, "You stand no chance, you're getting tired!"

"Malfoy, winning isn't my goal." Harry panted.

"Stupefy! Incarcerous! Petrificus Totalus!" Umbridge yelled.

Just before the spells hit him, Harry snapped off a; "fulgur stupefy."

Everyone but Daphne Greengrass and two lucky members of the squad fell to the ground.

Harry's spell was too spread out, however, and the Inquisitorial Squad was dragging his unconscious body into the Headmaster's office twenty minutes later.

"Rennervate."

Harry woke up with a groan, then he opened his eyes to the familiar sight of the Headmaster's office.

And the unwelcome sight of the Minister.

Harry decided to greet the only person other than Professors Flitwick and McGonagall in the room who he liked.

"Hello Fawkes."

Fawkes gave an amused, yet welcome trill in response.

"I'm doing fine Fawkes, thanks for asking, and you?"

In the corner of his eye he saw various incredulous looks and that Professors Dumbledore and Flitwick, were suppressing laughter. Fawkes gave a laugh-like trill, followed by a happy one.

"Really, that's great, unfortunately, I have to deal with some dunderheaded imbeciles with delusions of grandeur now. It was great talking to you."

He turned to the Professors, aurors, squad members and Minister.

"So…" He began, "How many did I take down?"

Apparently, most of the group were still stuck in incredulity.

"All but three of us, Potter." Greengrass answered.

"Oh!" Harry exclaimed, "How long did they stay down for?"

"About a minute"

Harry burst into laughter. He could swear he saw Snape's lips twitch.

"Mr. Potter, do you know why you are here."

Harry could swear Dumbledore gave him a look, without making eye contact.

"Because it took the entire Incompetent Squad to knock me out?"

Fudge glared at him.

"No! because-"

"I'm being expelled!"

"Yes, but-"

"And tossed into Azkaban?"

"Shut up!"

Harry smirked.

"Lemon drop, Cornelius? I find them quite calming." Dumbledore asked.

"No!"

"Harry?"

"Please Professor, Umbra has been trying to get me to try them, he hasn't succeeded yet."

"Phoenixes do love lemon drops." Dumbledore nodded sagely.

"Mr. Potter are you aware of any school rules or Ministry Decrees you have violated?"

"Attacking a teacher, magic in the hallways, illegal student organization, leaving school grounds without permission." Harry listed, "Those are the only ones I broke this week, I think."

Harry took great pleasure in the gaping faces that followed.

"Should I bring in our witness?" Professor Umbridge asked.

"Yes, do that Dolores." Fudge replied.

She returned a moment later with Marietta Edgecombe.

"How did you get her to speak?" Harry asked, "I'm sure she must have been affected by at least ten speech impeding spells."

"Professor Snape unravelled the spells."

"That's impressive." Harry commended the Professor, "To do it quickly enough that I didn't notice the jinxed parchment's alert until it was almost too late is very impressive."

"The enchantments were well woven, Potter" Snape reluctantly replied.

"So dear, was Potter leading these illegal gatherings?"

Edgecombe glared at him and nodded firmly and vindictively. Harry inwardly conceded that the combination of spells would have been rather painful.

"So, you were raising a student army for the Headmaster, were you Potter?" Umbridge asked.

"What? Fuck no!" Harry yelled, "I was teaching the students how to defend themselves, you were evidently incapable of doing so. The Headmaster had nothing to do with it."

"So, you were raising it for yourself?"

"It's not an army, but yeah, that's closer to the truth."

"Aurors, take him to the Ministry, we'll continue our questions there."

"Ah, ah, ah!" Harry said, "You seem to be under the imbecilic delusion that I will come quietly!"

"You have no wand." Snape remarked drily.

Harry smirked, "Bullshit." His wand slipped into his hand and he sent a wave of force at the others in the office, he snatched his mother's wand from Umbridge's flailing hand and clapped his hands into a small cloud of darkness that had appeared above his head.

The office plunged into darkness.

When darkness dissipated in the office, Harry Potter was gone.

Everyone looked around, Dumbledore was slightly put out by the minor damage to his office.

"Say what you want about him, Minister." Shacklebolt said, "But you can't deny that Potter has style."

Fawkes sang in amusement.

Harry appeared in his house in Godric's Hollow and saw Andromeda and Fleur looking anxious.

"I'm alive"

Andromeda glared at him, "What did you do?"

"I, may have, well…" Harry began, "I took on the entire Inquisitorial Squad, with my mum's wand, and I took all but three down."

"What else, Harry?"

"Umbra and I made an escape after pissing off Umbridge and the Minister."

"'Arry" Fleur said, "Why?"

"Because Umbridge will be gone by this weekend, and Fudge hopefully, shortly after."

"'ow?"

"Skeeter has been tearing them apart, once it gets out there that Umbridge tortured students with a dark object, it will ruin her. Hopefully, that will get rid of Fudge."

"And," Andromeda said, "it will look like they kicked you out of Hogwarts in a cover up."

"Skeeter already has the article on Umbridge's detentions secured for the morning front page."

"Good."

"Andi, do you know how to obliviate people?"

"Yes, why?"

"I don't want the club members to suffer if Edgecombe can name them. Accio Invisibility Cloak."

"Right then." Andromeda smiled, "I assume that Umbra is taking me to her."

Harry caught the Invisibility Cloak and pulled a piece of parchment out of his pocket.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good"

"Who needs their memories of the people at the club to disappear?"

"Marietta Edgecombe"

Umbra and Andromeda disappeared.

Five minutes later, Umbridge was standing in the Great Hall with Marietta Edgecombe, in front of everyone in Hogwarts.

"Who else was involved in Potter's illegal gatherings?"

Many people shifted nervously when Edgecombe opened her mouth, "I-I don't" she gulped, "I can't remember."

In the shocked silence that followed, no one noticed a gold coin fall from Edgecombe's pocket and fly towards Hermione Granger.

Andromeda considered her mission successful and called for Umbra.

Harry was sitting in the library the next morning, he was working on his mother's alternate imperius while waiting for the Daily Prophet.

He was only slightly surprised when Aberforth Dumbledore came in, the library and casting ranges were open to the entire Alliance.

"Hagrid told me that you left Hogwarts."

"I wonder if it will be second page news."

"No, I think it will be on the first."

Harry smirked, "Galleon it's not."

"Deal."

The Prophet owl arrived only a moment later.

As Harry expected, Umbridge's torturous detentions were on the first page.

His conflict with Umbridge and Fudge was on the second.

Harry gave the paper to Aberforth with a smirk, "Pay up."

Aberforth tossed a Galleon over and laughed, "I forgot that Skeeter pretty much works for you."

"Are you any good at arithmancy and spell creation."

"I picked up a few things from Albus and his boyfriend."

"Could you give me a hand, I'm trying to finish an alternate imperius that my mum started."

"I'll have a look"

An hour later the pair had mostly finished. Now all that remained was to try a few different incantations, for this curse, the incantation would come from Greek.

"Kyriarchía!" Harry incanted firmly. Nothing happened.

"Apparently not." Aberforth remarked.

"Ypodoulóno!" This time the magic began to build up and the wand began to heat up. "Flipendo!"

The magic threw Harry backwards off his feet and knocked the conjured snake that they were using as a target into the warded wall, which was suddenly red. Luckily, Aberforth caught Harry with an Immobulus.

"That one, is likely suicide." Aberforth drawled, "Why'd you cast something else."

"My wand started to get hot, didn't want it to burn up."

"Fair enough. Serpensortia."

"Ypakoúo!" Nothing.

"Next."

"Ypoválloun!" A few sparks shot backwards out of the wand and Harry quickly extinguished his robes.

"No, no. Definitely not."

"You sound like Garrick."

Aberforth smirked, "Maybe, no 'Y's this time?"

"Symmorfoúmai" The wand shot forwards out of Harry's, suddenly broken, hand. "Fuck."

Aberforth just laughed.

Harry glared at him, raised his other hand and wandlessly summoned his wand. "Brackium Emendo." The bones in his hand cracked back into place and healed, though they were still a bit sore, Harry finished the job with his morphing. "Your turn. Vipera Evanesca, Serpensortia."

"Exousía" A unstable jet of sickly dark red light, the kind of red that blood from an infected wound is, shot towards the snake. Harry felt a pull on his control of the snake, as though it was being pulled from his control.

Aberforth's wand began to shake and heat up so he cut off the spell, his hand was painfully jerked back as the connection cut.

"We're close, try similar incantations." Aberforth instructed. "Vipera Evanesca, Serpensortia."

"Exousiázo!" A blood red light shot from Harry's wand and connected with the snake. Harry felt resistance and quickly quashed it.

Aberforth gasped as his connection to his conjured snake disappeared. Harry had complete control over the snake.

It felt different to the imperius, Harry had tried it on animals conjured by others too. The imperius felt pleasant, it made obedience easier than resisting, the pleasant fog over one's mind would stop thoughts of resistance forming.

This Exousiázo curse was vastly different. It felt more forceful, violent almost. It seemed to violently quash any resistance, to force the target into submission.

Where the imperius clouded the mind to take control, exousiázo dominated it. Where the imperius was pleasant and insidiously persuasive, exousiázo was violent and painful to resist.

Harry released the snake. It moved around slowly, under its newfound free will, Harry vanished it.

"That's the one. We need to test it more."

"I'll change my mouse and rat traps to capture rather than kill."

"Thanks, maybe we could test it on some of the acromantulas in the forest."

"Not a bad idea, let me try it first on a snake though."

"Serpensortia."

"Exousiázo"

Aberforth felt Harry's influence over the conjured snake and tried to break it. Harry tried to fight back.

Aberforth forcefully slammed down on Harry's weak influence on the snake, snapping Harry's connection in all of ten seconds.

"Well, we've established that it can effective take over conjured animals." Harry said, "Try animating something, let's see if that works"

Aberforth animated a chair in the corner of the room and brought it over, readying himself to put up a better fight this time, if it worked.

"Exousiázo"

After a four-second struggle Harry took control of the chair an moved it back, then ended the animation.

"It's difficult to fight."

"I'd say it's around as hard as the imperius, it isn't hard to use that to take over conjured animals."

"True, let's try the acromantulas"

"Right, Umbra?"

The trio appeared in a small clearing in the Forbidden Forest Umbra flew up to a high branch and perched there, waiting for any sign of danger.

"Cover your ears and close your eyes," Harry instructed, a moment later he cast, "Mico Tonitrua"

Harry hoped that the flashbang would lure in curious acromantulas. He wasn't disappointed.

Not five minutes later, a few small spiders came into the clearing.

"Exousiázo"

"Exousiázo"

Harry and Aberforth had no trouble taking control of the small spiders, so, to stop themselves from being swarmed they cast.

"Arania Exuamai"

They drove off the spiders and waited for bigger, more intelligent ones.

The pair didn't have much trouble with the spiders, a few of the car sized held out for a second or two. That was when they decided to go.

When they arrived in Godric's Hollow, they had a quick snack to recover.

"It definitely works" Aberforth said.

"Yep, I'll teach Alastor and Dora, hopefully they can do human tests on Halloween. If it causes mental damage… well, it's nothing more than they deserve."

"Good idea, I'm gonna head back to the Hog's Head."

"I'll see you at the next meeting"

Harry spent a few hours after that testing his Cloak and trying to replicate Gilderoy Lockhart's miscast of Brackium Emendo.

He discovered much in those few hours.

He discovered why the Invisibility Cloak was called a cloak and not a sheet or blanket. This was because he only had to put up the hood while willing himself to be invisible to become completely invisible.

He also, accidently, discovered that his cloak was ridiculously spell-resistant and probably near-indestructible. Though he didn't wish to push the limits.

He managed to recreate Lockhart's miscast, he figured that it would be a useful addition to his arsenal.

Exousiázo; Alternate imperius. More violent/forceful. -Lily/Harry Potter

Harry arrived on the front steps of Gringotts on Saturday morning looking as though he wasn't wanted for allegedly attacking the Minister.

He walked right through to the meeting room that he was meeting Ripfang in.

Ripfang was waiting with a team of ten other Goblins. "Mr. Potter."

"Ripfang." Harry greeted, "As I'm sure you are aware, it would not be wise for me to be seen in Hogwarts right now. Umbra can take six of us, I have three house-elves who can take the rest."

"That will be fine."

"Dobby, Winky, Kreacher."

The group appeared in front of a large round door with seven snakes on it.

Harry gestured towards the shed snakeskin, "The skin I mentioned. ~Open~"

Three goblins headed off to gather the snakeskin and the rest followed Harry into the main chamber.

"I was expecting you to have exaggerated Mr. Potter. This is most impressive."

Harry nodded, "I don't blame you. I would've thought the same." He grimaced at the poisonous green colour of the basilisk skin, "Can the skin be dyed?"

"Yes, thankfully we have dyes that work, only Albus Dumbledore would wear something that bright in battle."

Harry laughed, "Or someone colour-blind."

Harry walked over to a pool of dried ink with a fang lying on it. The fang he stabbed the Diary with.

He picked it up and felt a very faint connection, as though it was a magical focus.

"Lumos" he muttered. A very faint light flickered at the tip.

"That would make a good dagger for you." Ripfang stated.

"Really? I thought of using it as a wand core."

"My nephew is a journeyman weaponsmith, he's good at daggers. He's in Britain for the next month. I'm sure he could give you anything not used in the dagger. He could make it."

"For a price, I assume."

"Of course."

"I'll think about it." Harry answered.

He walked out to the cave-in from his second year.

Harry slipped his wand from his holster and started trying to repair the tunnel. After half an hour he had fixed the tunnel, he wouldn't trust it not to fall again though.

He started pulling the various debris in the tunnel into an arch-like shape where the cave-in used to be. Harry transfigured it into a simple arch to hold up the tunnel.

He came to the bottom of the pipe he had entered through in second year.

"~Up~" He tried, "~Stairs, Steps, Ascend, Staircase.~" after the last word stairs slid out from the walls. "Staircase it is."

Harry went up the steps, magically cleaning them as he went. When he reached the top, he pulled his invisibility cloak from his pocket and put it on.

"~Open~" The bathroom was thankfully empty, "~Close~"

Harry opened the door and almost stepped into a swamp.

He froze part of the swamp and conjured some sand to give better grip. Once he was off the swamp, he checked the Marauder's Map.

A few minutes later the portrait to Gryffindor tower opened, but no one could be seen coming through. A few people had looked up to see if a friend had come through, they were all slightly confused.

Harry put down the hood of his cloak and became visible again.

"Hello there."

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed in surprise which was echoed by many others in the common room.

"As you can see, I'm fine." Harry said, "Now, if you don't mind, I need to speak to Ron and Hermione."

Harry erected a few privacy spells, "I need you two to get Edgecombe's coin."

"I've already gotten it" Hermione said.

Ron gave her an odd look, "You don't have another time turner, do you?"

"Of course not."

"Right, well I should probably go before Umbridge shows up"

"Yeah, I suppose so. See you around, Harry"

"Bye Harry."

Harry walked towards the door and as he passed Neville he said, "Tell Umbridge that I broke in and savour the reaction."

Neville grinned and left a moment after Harry.

Unfortunately for Umbridge, it was at lunchtime that Neville found her. Naturally, he loudly exclaimed that "Harry Potter broke into Gryffindor tower, High Inquisitor. Half an hour ago, I couldn't find you until now."

All four tables broke into excited whispers.

Umbridge was furious.

"Mr. Potter, this is my nephew; Ripknife."

"Ripfang said that you're good at daggers, I'm looking to have one made from a basilisk fang."

"I can do it." Ripknife replied, "But why me, I'm not even a master weaponsmith yet?"

"He," Harry said, gesturing to Ripfang, "saw me pick up a fang from a basilisk I killed, the basilisk had bitten me with this fang just before I killed it. I felt a connection to it, it worked as a weak magical focus. I was going to use it for a wand core. Ripfang commented that it would make a good dagger and recommended you."

"You're introduced, I'll take my leave, we're going back to finish off harvesting your basilisk."

"Thank you, Ripfang."

He nodded and headed to meet with the rest of his team, Umbra and the house-elves would take them again.

Harry reached into the bag he had with him and pulled out the fang.

"This is the one." He said, handing the fang to Ripknife.

"Any special requirments?"

"I want the waste from the fang for myself, I have a use for it. So when the dagger is made, I want whatever is left over."

"Very well. Dagger type?"

"I don't know much about daggers, I'll trust your judgement on which type would work best for me."

The pair settled on a price of three-hundred and seventy-five galleons.

Before they parted ways Ripknife gave him some advice; "Filius Flitwick is competent enough in dagger combat, if you get back into Hogwarts you could ask him to teach you. After all, you won't even need semi-competence to be better than most wizards."