THE NEW ORDER

By

Padfootjr24

Chapter Twenty Six: Summer's End

Harry stood completely still with a bewildered look on his face for several moments as he tried to process what the young woman had just said. Sirius was funneling money to Bellatrix Lestrange? It just didn't make any sense at all. Every time her name was even mentioned he always seemed to grow enraged to the point where it was clear that he would like nothing more than to tear her apart very slowly to inflict as much pain as physically possible. Not to mention the fact that it was Bellatrix herself that had killed him. Why would she do so if he were controlling her funds? Surely she wasn't insane enough to believe that with him gone she could gain control of the entire Black estate.

With a sigh of confusion he sunk into a chair that was sitting along the wall before closing his eyes as he started going over his memories from the Department of Mysteries. Judging by her behavior during that confrontation he quickly discarded the ludicrous idea that maybe she was Dumbledore's second spy within Voldemort's inner circle. Whether she was truly repentant of her past or not he couldn't believe that Albus would truly trust her and it would be an absurdity to imagine McGonagall working with her as well after what she did to Neville's parents.

After going over his memories for several minutes his body stiffened slightly as he came to a realization. When the Order had arrived and burst into the chamber that held the Veil of Death Bellatrix stopped what she was doing and immediately moved to intercept Sirius just as he appeared to seek her out even though he could have been of much greater help elsewhere. Despite their words and the apparent savagery of their body movements their fight did not seem to show much hostility and though he could not hear all of the incantations due to silent casting the curses used were elementary at best.

The biggest surprise, however, was that the curse that sent Sirius falling through the Veil was not a lethal, or even a dark curse, but rather it was a simple Enervate charm which would certainly explain the surprised look on his face as his body was flooded with more energy. Using the charm while the person is still conscious would certainly give them more energy but it would leave them dazed and disoriented for a few moments as their body and mind got used to the power increase. While the charm certainly distracted her opponent and eliminated him that did not appear to be her intention judging by her choice of spells. Given all the odd circumstances Harry could only come to two possible conclusions and he didn't much like either one.

He would never make the mistake of believing Sirius to have been a Death Eater. The man, after all, had had many opportunities to either kill or capture him over the last few years so either Bellatrix was working for Dumbledore, which wasn't very likely, or Sirius was supplying her with money and 'protecting' her out of some twisted sense of family loyalty. Growing up without a real family of his own Harry could understand wanting to make sure those he did have were taken care of but that certainly didn't mean that he would be transferring large sums of money to the Dursleys. Not to mention the fact that the money was surely being used to Voldemort's benefit and regardless of the fact that she was a member of his family Harry could not suppress the wave of disgust as he thought about his godfather's actions. How many had died, how many had suffered due to those accounts?

"Come with me!" Harry growled as he stood up and stomped his way towards the stairs. Blaise wisely chose to remain silent and merely followed after him in curiosity at what he was thinking of doing. She could certainly understand his anger, after all, it wasn't everyday that you found out someone you cared a great deal for was aiding Death Eaters. As they ascended the stairs to the second and then the third floor she could feel the waves magic and pure rage pouring off of him. As they approached his room Harry didn't even have to worry about opening the door himself since the thing was nearly blown off its hinges as they grew closer but he paid no attention to this little detail as he marched straight over to his dresser ripped out what appeared to be a simple bit of parchment.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." Harry nearly hissed out, activating the parchment for the first time since the day he received it. Being a Slytherin, Blaise was very curious by nature so naturally she was intrigued when Harry used the same phrase that activated the Marauder's Map when she knew that this particular parchment certainly wasn't it. With a shrug of her shoulders she decided that she wouldn't bother to hide her actions and moved along side Harry so that she could observe from over his right shoulder. She was a little surprised however when an elegant, wavy script appeared across the page and not the map or diagrams that she automatically assumed would be there.

"Well it's about bloody time you decided to talk to me. For a while I figured you ran out of toilet paper and had to improvise with me, as disturbing as that may sound. So, how are you doing? I hear you're shagging dear sweet Nymphadora, I know I told you to get laid but I honestly didn't think…" Harry stopped reading and rubbed his eyes for several brief moments before growing increasingly annoyed with the long dialog concerning his sex life which was graphic enough to leave Blaise red faced. Harry however only grew angrier.

"SHUT IT!" Harry snapped loudly causing Blaise to jump back as she yelped in surprise.

"Um, in a bit of a snit today Harry? And who is that with you?

"Oh, forgive me," Harry began in a very sarcastic tone. "Blaise, I would like to introduce you to Sirius Black," He continued as he held the parchment up in front of her face. "Sirius, say hello to Blaise Zabini."

"Hello."

"Uh, hi." Blaise croaked out uncertainly as she looked at Harry with wide eyes.

"Zabini uh? Can't say I recognize the name. Who are your parents?"

"You know, or rather knew her parents rather well actually but that is one topic we are going to avoid at all cost." Harry butted in as he suppressed an involuntary shudder, an action that earned him a rather forceful whack to the back of the head. After shooting the girl a quick grin Harry's expression became much colder.

"Blaise's family life, however, is not the topic of this particular discussion, instead it concerns a little tidbit of information she was able to recently uncover. You see, I asked her to go through the records for the Black and Potter families for anything that may be useful to us. Do you, by any chance, have any idea what interesting tidbit of information she did find?"

"Um, you want to give me a hint here?"

"In the interest of saving time I will just come out and say it. She discovered that you were apparently helping to fund the Death Eaters, more specifically, Bellatrix Lestrange, but I'm sure we can all guess where that money went once it was in her hands." Harry explained coldly. "Even a Hogwarts professor earns only about seven thousand galleons a year but you were giving her eighty four thousand a year. Such a large sum couldn't possibly be explained away as simple family loyalties so that she could have enough to survive." Harry stared at the parchment intently waiting for any half assed explanations as his anger grew by leaps and bounds. After a very long pause a message appeared instructing him to point his wand at the parchment and call out 'astame de la wisai'. After thinking for several minutes Harry decided to just do as instructed since if the parchment was destroyed as a way to prevent him from gaining the desired information he could always visit Remus and borrow his.

"Much better." Both Harry and Blaise jumped and looked around the room swiftly as Sirius' voice echoed throughout the room. "As you can see, or rather hear, Moony was good enough to do a little research and found the necessary charm needed to adopt my writing into spoken words. After adding a few of his memories to the parchment, much like a pensieve, he was able to adjust it to synthesis my actual voice."

"Um, Harry?" Blaise asked in confusion and even a little trepidation. Looking over to the girl and seeing her expression, Harry sighed and quickly explained the concept of the parchments that were given to him and Remus. Despite the situation she looked absolutely fascinated.

"As I'm sure you can understand, that lovely charm is only temporary so it must be recast every fifteen minutes. Moony is extremely intelligent but he doesn't have the necessary experience to make it permanent. It will certainly make this particular conversation much easier to follow."

"Fine, but back to the situation at hand. Why the hell would you, of all people, be helping the Death Eaters? You have had numerous opportunities to kill me or Dumbledore over the last two years so what were you doing, playing both sides? Waiting to see who came out on top so that no matter what you would be on the winning side?"

"Yes, that's true. In a way I was playing both sides, but not in the way you are thinking. And while you could say I was passing funds to Bella, it was by no means going to Voldemort because she is no more a true Death Eater than Snape was. Now that HIS cover has been blown, I'm sure you have been told of another spy within the inner circle, right?" Harry and Blaise stood slack jawed as they stared at the parchment in shock. Despite the fact that he had previously thought through this possibility, Harry could not hide his shock from actually hearing it said. In truth he would believe Sirius to be a Death Eater before believing Bellatrix to be a spy.

"Why would someone like Bellatrix Lestrange follow Dumbledore, especially with what she did to the Longbottoms?" Blaise thought out loud but mention of Neville's parents caused Sirius to snort with disgust.

"Frank and Alice were as much a victim of the Ministry as they were of the Death Eaters." Sirius spat angrily. "Before they left for the Longbottom residence Bella managed to send off an anonymous message to the Ministry, warning of the attack since a message to the Longbottoms themselves would not arrive in time. Barty Crouch Sr., in all his infinite wisdom decided to stall the Auror response."

"Why would he do that? The man was clearly a bit unstable but why would he sacrifice two of his Aurors like that?"

"Sacrifice had nothing to do with it. Both Frank and Alice were both quite powerful and notoriously cold blooded when it came to dealing with Death Eaters. Unlike most they exercised little restraint when it came to killing in battle. Crouch felt that they could easily handle four Death Eaters and the fact that they would probably be killed would mean a great deal less work for himself. Unfortunately since they were just as happy as everyone else concerning Voldemort's resent demise they were taken by complete surprise. During their torture Bella used some extraordinary spell casting to stall for time as well as give Frank and Alice a short reprieve until the Aurors could arrive."

"What do you mean by that?" Blaise asked in confusion.

"I'm sure that by now you have begun to learn about casting your spells silently, correct? Well if silent spell casting is possible then shouldn't it be equally possible to cast one spell but use a different incantation? Don't get me wrong, this is exceptionally difficult to achieve. Other than Bella the only ones I know of that have enough control over their own minds to achieve this is Flitwick and Albus. Not even Voldemort can achieve this. Although he is exceptionally powerful and intellegent, he doesn't have the emotional control necessary. While she may have said the word Crucio they were actually being exposed to a mild convulsion hex to simulate the physical response to the torture curse. Unfortunately the Aurors didn't not arrive until several hours after the attack began and by that time it was too late. Frank and Alice were pushed passed their limits and the Death Eaters were gone."

"This is an utterly fascinating story," Harry sighed sarcastically. "But I have heard nothing that proves anything one way or another." Before Sirius could respond Blaise spoke up after remaining silent for much of the discussion.

"Actually there is Potter." She began slowly as she tried worked everything out. "In fact you have been sharing your dorm room with a part of that proof for the last five years."

"What are talking about?" The young man snapped irritably, he was by no means in the mood for cryptic responses.

"I'm talking about Neville Longbottom, Potter. You know perfectly well that Death Eaters have no problem killing children, especially children of their enemies and yet Neville was left unharmed."

"That's right. When they first arrived Bella immediately sought Neville out and placed a silencing charm on him before placing him in a closet. He was found there by the Aurors later but examination of their wands proved that neither Frank nor Alice cast the charm. You want more proof, next time you see him, why don't you ask your friend Neville what Bella's Cruciatus felt like. You know better than most that that is a pain you will never be able to forget for as long as you live so I'm sure you will understand Bella's skill when he cannot describe it to you. It's charm of her own creation, the convultion hex overlaid with a mild memory charm that simulates pain for a very short time. After about an hour they can no longer recall what it felt like, and it doesn't have any side effects."

"Alright, fine, for the moment lets just pretend that what you said is true, why wouldn't she speak of this in court? If Lucius could get off claiming that he was under the Imperious curse surely she could get off claiming to be a spy. After all, Snape did the same thing."

"Because, like Dumbledore and a number of others, she knew that Voldemort wasn't truly gone. At the time she was only a low level Death Eater. She was powerful, intelligent and by all appearances, fiercely loyal. But she was also a woman. And many in the wizarding world still believe that a woman's place is in the home, especially purebloods. When Voldemort disappeared and most of his inner circle tried to claim they were under the Imperious curse or deny that they ever were Death Eaters she found her opportunity to raise in his favor and took it. During her trial she loudly and obnoxiously voiced her allegiances and was sent to Azkaban. As a result, when she was rescued she was given a place in his inner circle and elevated higher than even Lucius. You will find, Harry, that there are very few that will go so far to meet their goals. She means to see Voldemort dead and she will literally do anything to see it done. And as for Albus, well, Bella may be against Voldemort but she is by no means a Dumbledore supporter."

"But you just said…"

"Harry, all I said was that Albus had another spy within the inner circle. While the two may work together to some degree they most certainly don't agree on a great many things. This is a perfect example of that muggle quote, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'. Most people think of this conflict as a war between good and evil, right and wrong. And in a way it is, but that certainly doesn't mean that there are not those that are more evil or more good, than others."

"Alright already!" Harry cut him off as he messaged the sides of his head. "Just get to the point."

"The point, Harry, is that this isn't a simple two sided war. Voldemort and Dumbledore simply represent the extreme right and left of the same argument. Voldemort uses the whole purity of blood issue because it suites him, not because he believes in it himself since he is, after all, a half-blood. In his mind EVERYONE should bow down to him and those who don't must be eliminated. If he could somehow crush his enemies he will then turn on his allies he deems unworthy and destroy them as well.

"Dumbledore however, believes in creating a utopian society. If he could, he would wrap everyone in cotton to make sure that they can't get hurt and he would keep them safe at all cost even if it meant sacrificing the personal freedoms and privacy of others. All 'for their own good' of course. You, of course, know this better than most after your dealings with him since you came to Hogwarts." Harry merely grunted in response as he thought about all the deceptions and information that had been withheld from him over the years.

"Alright, but where does Bellatrix fit in?"

"Bellatrix, and many others, believe that living in Dumbledore's 'perfect world' would be nearly as bad as living under Voldemort, and that is unacceptable to her. You're a smart kid, Harry, you know what is going on better than most and you know perfectly well that if this war is run Dumbledore's way you will all either be dead or kissing Voldemort's boot by the end of the year. He is a pacifist by nature, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn't make for a very effective leader during times of crisis. You, yourself, have already gone above and beyond what he would deem acceptable when dealing with the enemy. He would never advocate lethal force and I expect that if you were not Harry Potter he would have distanced himself from you by now, if not try to 'contain' you in one way or another. Many don't know this but while he did defeat Grindelwald, his death was an accident. He never meant to kill him and even though he was incredably evil Albus has never forgiven himself for taking another human's life.

"While Albus IS a good man, never doubt that, he would prefer to be rid of Voldemort and allow things in the Ministry to continue as they have for centuries. For a very long time now he has been in a position to affect real change in our governments system but he refuses to do so. The Ministry is nearly overwhelmed with corruption but because of their dealings these officials are easily manipulated and that is what Albus wants. He can easily control these men and women into doing what he feels is in the best interest of the country. It was only at the end of the Tri-Wizard Tournament that his control over the Ministry began to wane because they didn't want to admit that Voldemort had returned.

"Everyone knows that Albus never wanted to be Minister of Magic but it wasn't because he didn't want the job but rather because he would lose some of his control if he gained the office. At the moment he is Headmaster of Hogwarts, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamont and Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards. He has direct control of the Judiciary system, the Educational system and as evidenced by the members of the Order, he has a strong hand in the structure of law enforcement and legislation. Despite his good intentions he is as close to a dictator as this country has had since the signing of the Magna Carta. Only Amelia Bones and Jeffrey Stevens have prevented him from gaining full control over their departments.

"Bella's first step is to eliminate Voldemort, obviously, and she is willing to exchange information with Albus to achieve that goal but after that she and her supporters plan to move against the Ministry, politically mind you, and get rid of all the corrupt officials and limit their power. This is obviously unacceptable to Albus since he would lose most of his political influence."

"With goals such as these how is it that no one seems to know anything about it? You would think that trying to rally people against the Ministry would bring an awful lot of attention." Blaise asked in confusion.

"Because they CAN'T go public. At least not at this time." Harry began after thinking for a few moments. "If it became known that Bellatrix Lestrange was working to subvert a corrupt Ministry people would begin asking questions, questions that she would rather be left unanswered for the time being. People would certainly believe that she was acting under Voldemort's orders and Voldemort, knowing that she was working on her own, would probably come to the conclusion that she was trying to replace him."

"And Albus has said nothing because he fears that many more from within the Order would probably choose to follow Bella instead if they knew of her true motives. There is already a few within the Order that share her beliefs and desires but since it is illegal to use Veritaserum against someone that is not suspected of a specific crime he has not been able to find out who they are. Like Bella, they are willing to work with Albus for the moment but after Voldemort is defeated it is highly likely that Albus will make them enemies, or rather rivals."

"So that is what all that money was for?

"Correct, it costs a great deal to wage a war, even your own small peice of one which I'm sure you understand yourself. After dear old Voldy is gone, the conflict goes political and that is a great deal more expensive. Actually, believe it or not, you and Bella are a great deal alike."

"WHAT? I am nothing like that bitch!" Harry shouted fiercely causing Blaise to jerk back in surprise.

"Right, lets review the evidence then, shall we," Sirius began and it almost seemed as if he were shaking his head in exasperation. "You are the two most stubborn people I have ever met, and I am taking your parents into account here. You're both determined to reach your goals at all cost and have surrounded yourselves with people both willing and capable of getting the job done. You're both willing to use any means when dealing with the enemy and as a way of getting information you have both put yourselves into a position to get close to our dear Dark Lord, although your plan is a great deal more audacious, if not suicidal."

"But, Sirius, she's the one that killed you, arn't you a little upset about that?"

"Why should I be? It was an accident. From what I understand, you, yourself, were injured earlier today in much the same situation that got me killed, do you hold your friend responsible for that? Do your other colleagues hold him responsible?"

"How do you know about that? You are, um, just a piece of parchment. Right?" Blaise asked uncertainly as Harry just stood there gaping

"Yes, I am a piece of parchment but like magical portraits, I can move between matching pieces. My good buddy Moony has the other and has kept me updated about what has been going on. The idea of little Nymphy throwing Albus, Remus and Phsyco 'Auror' around will keep me in a giggly mood for some time. And, Harry, before you get angry about Remus telling me about this, it's not like I'm in a position to tell your secrets. Even if someone were to get hold of one of the parchments it's not like they can cast the Imperious curse on me or dunk me in Veritaserum. Besides, only you and Moony know about them. Um, and the twins, and your friend there, hmm, and Flitwick and..."

"Mischief Managed." Harry sighed, tapping his wand to the parchment as Sirius rambled on.

"Has, um, has he always been like that?" Blaise asked with a strange look on her face causing Harry to chuckle slightly.

"Its strange, really. The most 'normal' I've ever seen him was just after he escaped from Azkaban. I don't really like keeping things from everyone else but I think it would be best if we kept this to ourselves for the time being." Harry suggested and the only response he got was a slight nod before the Slytherin girl changed the subject.

"Well, to get back to the subject at hand, I did find something else of interest in the Potter file." Blaise stated as she gave him a piercing look that made him nervous.

"And what would that be?"

"On paper, we supposedly work for the Ministry and as such each of us is payed as a recruit for the Department of Mysteries and Stevens has been transfering our wages into your account so that you can distribute them without giving everyone's name to the Ministry."

"Your point being, what exactly?"

"My point is that we should be getting paid around four hundred and fifty galleons a month but you have been transfering twice that amount into our vaults."

"I ask again, what's your point? We may be getting paid as such but we are far from recruits. Everyone here has either given up their job, or in most of the cases, stopped all illegal activity that previously kept them and their families from starving to death. They have busted their asses to get us where we are today. They deserve a lot more than four hundred and fifty galleons. Hell they deserve more than nine hundred but I have no doubt that if I go any higher they will eventually take notice. And before you ask, yes, I'm going to continue transfering the same amount everytime, despite what they have to say on the matter. They deserve better, plain and simple."

XXX

That night John, as well as Steven and Juan chose to move into Harry's home on a perminent basis as opposed to staying in the homes where their families were attacked. Although no one said it, everyone was a little relieved by this because they were a bit worried that one or more of them would do something stupid in their grief. At least this way they could keep an eye on them though they didn't stop them when they decided to drink themselves into a stupor.

The next day Madam Bones stopped by with both Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore to see how much Susan had learned and decide whether or not she would allow her to join the Raiders on a full time basis. She arrived just in time to see her spar with Snape which left her a bit slack jawed at how skilled her niece had become in such a short time. She was surprised to see her not only using spells but also potions which was no doubt Snape's influence on her training since it was a tactic you very rarely saw. In the end Amelia sighed in resignation and agreed to Allow Susan to participate when she was at least up to Auror standards which shouldn't take her to terribly long to reach given how far along she had come in just a number of weeks.

"Albus, who made our battlerobes?" Harry asked as he pulled the Headmaster aside. He was mentally berating himself for not asking sooner considering whoever made them would obviously know that Voldemort's new 'allies' were infact spies.

"Have no fear, Harry. It was Aberforth who crafted both your robes and the dragon scale coverings. He, of course, was obliviated immediately afterwards, at his insistance, mind you." Albus explained with a wide grin as Harry looked at him in surprise.

"Your brother made them? Well, he may be as mad as a hatter but he is one hell of a seamstress." Harry chuckled lightly. The last thing he wanted was more people 'in the know' as its said. They already had nearly thirty Unspeakables that know considering they are now supposed to be dead but thankfully they all took nearly a dozen separate magical oaths to ensure that there were no loopholes that would allow them to pass that information on if they were so inclined. Obviously they didn't know the identity of these spies but with luck Mr. Weasley would soon find out. With the attack on Weasley Wizard Wheezes the day before Harry had no doubts that he would take up his offer. They could always use another skilled hand.

"While we are here, Harry, I would like to speak with you concerning a few other matters." Harry eyed the old man in suspicion before leading him to his office. He didn't particularly feel like giving the man the impression that he was putting him on the defensive by sitting behind his desk so instead he chose the chairs beside the fire. Once seated the Headmaster began immediately.

"With the recent attacks it is obvious that the Hogwarts curriculum must be revised to take this into account with more emphesis on defense. As a result a class dedicated to dueling will be added to the list of manditory courses for those third year and above. Not a club, mind you, but an actual class."

"Ok, I can certainly agree with that but why are you telling me? I thought it was perfectly obvious to everybody that I have no intention of returning to Hogwarts this fall. I don't know about Snape, Blaise, Susan or Merietta but I plan to continue to do exactly as I have been."

"Yes, indeed." Dumbledore sighed heavily. "Last night I was able to retain the services of Alastor to take up the post of defense professor and he will obviously be one of the dueling instructors. Remus and Kingsley have also agreed to offer their time, I would like you to be the forth instructor." Harry just looked at he old man as if he were insane for several long moments before he could even think about offering a response.

"What? Why are you asking me? The are a great many others that are much more qualified than I am."

"I think the success of those in your DA study group last year, despite Mrs. Umbridge's lack of ability and desire to impart knowledge, shows that you are quite capable and could preform the task admiralably. Also I am taking into account the fact that the students don't really know Alastor or Kingsly and it has infact been a few years since the older students have seen Remus. You, on the other hand, they are quite familar with and have earned their respect. After your actions this summer I doubt any will question your loyalties again. You will find that the young often respond better to those in their own age group than they do to older intructors."

"I doubt that, I'm not exactly the same person I was last year."

"No, you're not," Albus responded sadly. "You've been forced to grow up far faster than you should have and I'm hoping that that will also have a positive influence on the student body."

"How often would this class meet?" Harry asked after thinking for several minutes.

"I had planned on splitting it into two groups that each meet two nights a week. Two pairs of instructors rotating between the two on a weekly basis." Albus answered with a hopeful twinkle in his eyes before the two lapsed into silence once again. Harry thought about it for a while before deciding that he really wouldn't mind doing it as long as he wasn't paired with Kingsley. Normally he wasn't one to really hold a grudge but working closely with someone that tried to arrest you and give you the Dementor's Kiss just seemed wrong to him. Working with either Remus or Moody was perfectly fine with him, however. There would certainly be times when he wouldn't be able to make a meeting do to Raiders' buisness but he was sure that Albus would be able to arrange for someone to take his place on such an occasion. On the plus side it would give him the perfect opertunity to see everyone's capabilities should the need for recruitment arise.

"Alright, I'll help out but I would also like to talk to you about imports." Harry stated with a grin making the old man a little nervous.

"Imports?" He asked in confusion.

"Yes, Imports. I find myself in need of a few more sets of Battlerobes and was wondering if you knew where I could perhapes pick up some more Basilisk hide?"

"Bringing such a commodity into the country would be highly illegal. But I would imagine an eminent wizard, such as myself, would be able to aquire some without raising any eyebrows, for research puposes only, of course."

"Of course." Harry responded with a grin. "What else did you want to discuss?"

"It is just a rather simple question, Harry. I was merely curious as to how you have been able to aviod setting off the wards when you have entered Hogwarts this summer." Harry's look of genuine confusion seemed to confirm whatever theory he had been kicking around although it brought up more questions than it had answered. "I didn't think you were aware of it but in the past few months it would seem that you, and anyone you are with, are undetectable by the school shields."

The rest of the day passed without to much trouble, McGonagall agreed to help train Harry in the practical aspects of the animagus transformation, which he had been meaning to ask her about for weeks and unfortunately, from his point of view anyway, Tonks' parents, who were now staying at Grimmuald Place, insisted on meeting him. Naturally he wasn't to thrilled about the idea because he thought that they would not approve of their relastionship considering the age difference. Tonks tried to reassure him but the fact that she didn't even know what her parents thought about the matter didn't help any.

In the end he didn't really have much to worry about. They tried to play the over-protective parent roles but that was spoiled rather quickly when Ted, her father, began giggling. They asked him how he felt about the fact that Tonks was several years older than and when he told them that it didn't matter one way or another they let the matter drop without another word.

Andromeda Tonks reminded Harry of her sister, Narcissa Malfoy, except she had light chestnut clolored hair and didn't seem to have the same condesending look of superiority. What she did have was the same aristicratic features and a poise and gracefullness that would make members of the royal family jealous. Harry had no doubt that you could dress her in a paper bag and dump nuclear waste over her head and she would still give off that same regal air. She was clever and sarcastic but with a subtlety that always seemed to leave you guessing if you were being complemented or insulted. It certainly kept you wondering.

Ted, however, appeared to be the exact opposite. He wasn't really a 'right old slob', as Tonks had once described him, but he was much more casual than his wife. He wasn't one to shy away from just 'kicking back' and letting his opinion be known on whatever subject was being discussed, even if that subject happened to be extremely crude jokes. In almost every way, Ted and Andromeda were polar opposites and it made you wonder how they had been together over twenty years without driving each other insane, or killing each other for that matter. Over all, Harry greatly enjoyed his time talking with the couple, though he did breath a huge sigh of relief as he prepared to return home. He did check up on the Dursleys while he was there, alright, he stuck his head inside the door of the rooms that they had practically barricaded themselves inside to make sure they were still alive but he was pretty sure that would suffice. Before he left he took great pleasure in telling the portrait of Sirius' mother that their newer houseguests were muggles. The look of horror and disgust was enough to lift his spirits on even the most dreary of days. He was laughing pretty loudly as he stepped into the fire place as people struggled to quiet the raging portrait but no matter what they did it wasn't doing any good. It seems she was a bit upset.

XXX

"NOW LEAVE ME" Lucius bowed low to his master before quickly exiting his quaters. Voldemort, still reletively weak after his duel the day before staggered to his feet and approached the pencieve that rested on a nearby table. He would have prefered to view these memories before now but he was still to weak and the Death Eaters that contained them were implimenting the other attacks. Thankfully most of those went according to plan. While the explosion in Diagon Alley was a good deal larger than he had planned, the fear it will spread will be well worth the support he will lose from some of the old families due to the large number of pure-blood children killed. Fear has always been his greatest weapon and soon the terror that accompanied his first rise to power will be firmly in place once more.

For over an hour and a half, Voldemort reviewed the memories concerning the the attack at Hogwarts as well as the one on the Unspeakables over and over again until he was forced to admit that Macnair's actions, as well as his own, was the direct cause of the failure of those attacks. It disgusted him to even contemplate the idea that his two most powerful enemies would be dead this very day if it weren't for his own foolishness. Naturally, coming to this conclusion did nothing to raise his spirits concerning yesterday's events. The attaks targeted at Potter and those close to him met with great success as a whole but the number of servants he lost in Surry was unacceptable. While the mission itself would install a certain level of fear despite its failure, he could not afford to sacrifice so many on such a simple raid. Potter had already done way to much damage and many of his strongest Death Eaters were now either dead or in Azkaban, he would have to correct that as soon as possible.

Despite his anger at being made to look foolish he was still able to concentrate primarily on the recorded images and he was left nearly gobsmacked at what he had been witnessing. The 'execution' of the Unpeakables, it simply couldn't be called anything different, wasn't to interesting due to timing and very little action. Though from what he could see the tactics used were excellent and the speedy way they accomplished what one would normally consider an impossible task impressed even him. The next memory, however, he spent a great deal more time on.

He didn't bother to hold back a snort of disgust at how jumpy his Death Eaters were and he was enraged that they would allow someone, anyone, to verbally abuse them in such a fashion, even if it was an ally. His servants should show no fear to anyone, besides himself. Like the cowardly wizards and witches in black cloaks and white masks, Voldemort nearly gasped at the idea that killing Albus Dumbledore was merely this girl's initiation rite. From what he had already learned, he knew the basics of what had accured but seeing it with his own eyes was an entirely different story. He simply could not comprehend how this small girl could overpower the old fool in such a fashion. What shocked him the most in those first few minutes was how effortlessly she was able to neutral the old man's transfigured animals with a simple wave of her wand. A feat he would be hard pressed to duplicate.

When he was blasted off his feat and the unknown woman approached to finish him off Voldemort grinned in glee, temporarily forgetting that he was, in fact, inside a recording. The Dark Lord's jaw literally dropped, not only because of Lupin and Moody's timely arrival but also because her comrade, who was crouched along the tree line, allowed them to pass simply because he wanted to see how she would react to the added stress. She reacted quite well, even Voldemort agreed though after a few minutes he could tell the girl was beginning to tire but she was still going strong and apparently just as determined as before, if not more so. He simply could not believe that anyone, much less a mere woman, could over power the three powerful wizards so easily as well as overcome their superior experience and positioning.

His head suddenly snapped to the side as he witnessed the wards being activated as Macnair crossed the invisible boundry just inside the forest. Mere seconds later the man went limp as his lifeless body crumpled to the ground as the green light of the killing curse seemed to come out of nowhere before impacting against his chest. It was a shame to lose Macnair, the man really enjoyed work, but even if he hadn's been killed at that moment, the Dark Lord would have been forced to kill the man himself. He disobeyed a direct order that had cost the success of the mission and he could not allow that. He could not seem weak to these people no matter what the price. Obviously they were each very powerful and he needed them on his side. The raw magical power he had seen displayed in each of these encounters re-enforced his belief that he needed to boost his own reserves once again and as soon as possible.

He had originally planned on preforming the task before the new year but now he would have to push his plans forward. He did not know how powerful his new 'allies' truely were but he could not be left in a position where they could potentially overthrow him. He idlely fingered the small silver messager ring he had been left as he pondered 'Acurbus Grimm's' final words to him the day before.

He would have to make sure his own power and control were not in question before he contacted the man once again. His own actions, aand those of Macnair, had proven to be grossly incompetent and he would have to make sure that he didn't end up playing second fiddle in this conflict, this was HIS war, his rise to power, not Grimm's, and would not be seen as the weaker and less organized of the two. He would normally take a great deal of time to plan for every eventuality for a major attack but he simply didn't have the time. He needed to reaquire certain artifacts that were lost after his first downfall for the needed rituals and recent events demanded that he move quickly. Thankfully, with the timely use of Quirinus Quirrell, he had already breached Gringotts defenses once, and it had been centuries since the goblins were involved in a major conflict, so they would likely be unprepared.

After viewing the each memory at least a dozen times, Voldemort extracted himself from the pencieve before sending a short pulse of magical power along throught the dark mark as he sat himself down behind his desk, which was almost an exact replica of Dumbledore's, only made from a much darker wood. Within a few moments a soft knock was heard and Narcissa Malfoy stepped into the room after her master called her in.

"What can I do for you, My Lord?" She asked nervously.

"The portkeys, what have you learned?" He demanded sharply. Her initial hesitance told him plenty and he certainly wasn't happy about it. The woman had been working on the portkeys they had been supplied yesturday for almost twenty four hours strieght, trying to find out how they was able to go through anti-portkey wards. Such knowledge would be priceless to him and would aid him greatly in his next attack. One that he absolutely had to make regardless of any potential reprecussions.

"Very little, My Lord. I have never seen magic of this kind before and it seems that it was designed to breakdown after the second use. Its been degrading since you returned and very little magic is left and what is there looks nothing like the original charm so I won't be able to replicate it without one perfectly intact to use as a reference." As she continued with her explaination Voldemort's eyes continued to narrow with every word and she knew she was in for a very rough day.

XXX

By mid August things had settled down somewhat and just about everyone was relieved that there hadn't been a single attack since the explosion in Diagon Alley. For the most part Voldemort had miscalculated what the general response would be to such an attack would be. The fact that it was in fact mostly children that had been killed or injured brought with it great anger at those responsible once the initial shock and grief wore off. While many were still to terrified of Voldemort to do anything more than cower in their homes they had a record number of applicants for the Auror Academy and many others joined the Order of the Phoenix. Harry had no doubt that this phase would quickly ware out after a few attacks and those people would quickly begin to reconsider their decision to fight. But the ones that matter, the ones that had been fighting all along were filled with a new resolve. Men like John, Steven and Jaun, who lost their families in Voldemort's attacks became more focused on the task and would not rest until those responsible for their grief were eliminated in a very perminent way.

While George was in Saint Mungo's recovering from his wounds, Fred used the money that Harry had trasfered to them, to cover expasion and research, to purchase the entire lot that the three destroyed shops had occupied in Diagon Alley and quickly set about building the largest shop in the wizarding district. While the construction was going on Fred, with the help of Remus, began turning out one new product after another so that they would have enough merchandice to fill all of their shelves.

He also had a meeting scheduled with the Hogsmeade town council to gain the neccessary permits to build a shop in town instead of merely renting a vacant building. He and Remus were hoping to have everything ready in time for the first Hogsmeade trip for the Hogsworts students.

Unfortunately, both Dumbledore and Stevens were proven correct about the reaction they could expect from the new Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour. While he had not gotten to the point where he would issue warrents for their arrest, he did order that they be found and brought in for questioning. As the former head of the Auror office he held the full respect of the Aurors so it was unlikely that they would simply let them go if found and despite this order he had Amelia's full support as she had his when she was his boss. It would have been perferable to keep their status as Unspeakables a secret for as long as possible but it just didn't seem to be feasable. Scrimgeour was one hundred percent against vigilante actions so he would have to give a reason why Harry and the others were not in Azkaban if he wished to detour others from taking similar actions. Either way, Harry was in no rush to simply walk into the Ministry to hand himself over for questioning, he just didn't trust them as a whole, which was perfectly understandable when taking past events into account.

After a particularly grueling training session with Bill and Susan, Harry made his way up to the library to continue studying the various manuscripts written in parseltongue. He and Blaise had gone through most of them already but the only information they have found that has helped them with their current problems has been a few spells designed to be cast by a parselmouth, such as their new portkeys. From what they could tell it would seem that Salazar Slytherin had been unable to master this form of magic himself though he could preform certain spells that had already been created, such as the ones recorded in his journels. According to Snape, Voldemort had also experimented with such spellcasting but had met with failure. Thankfully, as a student, he seemed to have paid more attention to the Basilisk than exploring the rest of the chamber.

Sorting throught the various books that Slytherin had either written or collected, Harry flipped throught them looking for one he had not yet read. He had been going through them for a few minutes before he noticed something rather odd. He had been looking through each book with the intent of finding one he hadn't read but he had pushed one specific book aside twice already with no intention of even picking it up. Each time he looked at he got the strange feeling that it was just an ordinary book with no worthwhile information and yet he didn't even know what was in it. In a strange sort of way, it seemed that the book itself was taking steps to make sure that it didn't stand out in any way.

He tried to open it several times but everytime he picked it up he seemed to lose interest in it until his curiosity came back several moments after putting it down and stepping away. Since he had absolutely no experience with such things, he asked Twinkle to get Bill. He was about to ask for Snape as well before he remembered that he and Blaise were both at Hogwarts. The very thought made him shudder. And to think, the five years he spent at Hogwarts he had always thought that Professor McGonagall to be the most sensable of their professors.

He certainly hoped that whatever information the book contained was well worth the agrivation but he also realised that it could be just one more example of the paranoia that Slytherin had obviously decended into during the last years of his life.

Bill entered the library a few minutes later wondering what could be so important that Harry would 'sic a house elf on him'. He found Harry pacing back and forth along the far wall looking thoroughly confused and annoyed.

"What's wrong?"

"That book." Harry replied simply as he pointed to the large tome that had been set aside as if it explained the whole situation. Feeling more confused than he had in a long time, Bill picked up the indicated book and flipped through it for a moment before looking back to Harry, waiting for an explaination. Seeing that the older man had no apparent problem, Harry snatched the book out of his hands and threw it back down onto the table just as fast before groaning at the injustice in the world. He had never really been the studious type but this manuscript was really starting to peak his curiosity and the fact that he seemed unable to read it was really irritating.

"Did you, by any chance, notice if it was written in Parseltongue?" He asked as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Yes, it is, but why are you asking me? Why didn't you just look for yourself instead of throwing it about like a tempramental child?" Bill snapped back while looking at the young man as if he were insane.

"Because I can't..." Harry cut himself off as he was hit with a sudden thought. "Its warded against other Parselmouths. Hmm, why wouldn't they just ward it against everyone?"

"Because not everyone can read it." Bill explained slowly as if he were talking to a small child or even a family pet.

"What do you mean?"

"Harry, it makes absolutely no sense to cast general shield charms around something that very few people could use or understand. It would simply stretch the power of the original spell to far, making it less effective. In the case of this book, if it is indeed warded against Parselmouths, it wouldn't make a lick of sense to use extra power to keep everyone away when the vast majority of the population is incapable of reading the language. So what you have to do is narrow down your targets. Muggles are incapable of activating most magical items so if that is what you are hiding, eliminating muggles from the spell would greatly increase its effectiveness since they make up about eighty five percent of the world's population. Depending on the power of the caster, it could be absolutely impossible for you to overcome a ward targeted specificly at Parselmouths simply because there are only a handful of them in the world. It would be too much for you to overcome." Bill gasped several times as he carefully scanned for the different wards and for signs of any possible booby traps, of which there were a great many. His excitement seemed to grow every minute until he finished.

"Whoever cast these spells must have been a certifiable genius, Harry. But even that word doesn't do him or her enough credit. I have honestly never seen anything like this before, this far surpasses even the nastier defenses I came across in The Valley of the Kings." Bill explained as he beamed with excitement.

"Do you want me to get Professor Flitwick to help you again?"

"Absolutely not! This is one baby I intend to tackle on my own. Although, you may want to talk to Professor Dumbledore and see if you can get your hands on a recording sphere, I want to be able to show this to the lads back in Egypt. It may not have anything to do with what is going on down there but they could certainly benefit from going over this process step by step as we do with all our other jobs. Come to think of it, Gringotts may find some of this invaluable as well."

The book itself, and possibly anything in the general area, would most likely be destroyed if there were any major mistakes made and, unfortunately, once he started he would not be able to stop until all wards were deactivated so he fully intended on taking a long nap before he began. Since he intended on starting that very night, Harry contacted Albus about the recording sphere that he had mentioned. After explaining the situation the old man agreed to 'aquire' one from the Ministry as long as he and Flitwick would be able observe since he was intrigued by Bill's excitement and knew that Filius would never let him forget it if he did not gain him admitance as well. Watching a practical application of powerful charms was only surpassed by teaching and casting such charms on the tiny professor's list of enjoyable things to do.

As Bill rested up and Dumbledore and Flitwick go busy warding the already heavily shielded basement, where Bill would work, Harry relaxed in the library with Tonks as he worked on his animagus exercizes. For the last two weeks, under McGonagall's watchful eye, he has been able to change his arms and his legs but has thus far been unable to make a full transformation. Godric, during their now weekly training sessions in Harry's dreams, had tried to help him in this field as well but it would seem that outside of defense he wasn't a particularly good teacher. During one of these 'dream sessions', Harry brought up Albus' rather understandable concerns regarding the wards that surround Hogwarts.

"Its simple really. You are my recognized magical and blood heir, therefore you have a certain amount of control over the school itself. If you don't want anyone to know you were there, not even the Headmaster will be able to find you unless he did it the old fashioned way."

"Um, does that mean that Voldemort could do the same?" Harry asked with concern. The idea that Slytherin's heir could simply walk right into the school without Dumbledore being the wiser was a bit disturbing. He was already aloud to enter during Harry's first year but he assumed that that was do to him being a mere spirit that was using another as a host.

"No, he cannot, for two reasons. The first is that any purpose he has for being at Hogwarts would undoubtably be nefarious in nature and the castle itself would not allow that if it could do anything to stop it. The second, and more obvious reason is that Voldemort is no longer recognized as Salazar's heir. When his killing curse faired and destroyed his original body he effectively ended the Slytherin bloodline and when he created a new one his magic had mutated horribly to the point where Hogwarts would no longer recognize it as Tom Riddle's much less an heir of one of her founders."

"Oh, well that's a load off my mind."

"Get off your ass and lets go!" Bill ordered with a large grin as he entered the library after waking. Harry was pulled from his thoughts at the eldest Weasley son's abrupt entrence and quickly stood to join him.

"Oh, shit! Sorry Tonks." He exclaimed as he reached down to help Tonks to her feet. Unfortunately she had been laying back on the couch with her head in Harry's lap as she read so naturally she went tumbling to the floor as Harry quickly stood.

Bill began to work immediately after entering the small holding cell. The book rested on a small table that had been brought in and the small cot that rested against the wall was removed to give him plenty of space. Once he had entered the cell, the door was closed and sealed to be sure that any disaster would be completely contained, or so they hoped. Dumbledore had conjured a large sofa where Harry, Susan, Marietta and the Hogwarts professors sat to watch as Harry cast the spell to make the door transparent.

The first thing Bill did was remove five intricately carved blue crystals from a worn leather pouch and carefully placed them on the table beside the book before removing a small jar of a strange black powder. It looked just like ground coal but gave off a weird sense of power. After tapping each crystal with is wand and speaking the necessary incantation, each rose up to about two feet above the book and formed a perfect pentagon. Careful not to get any on his hands, Bill opened the jar and sprinkled a fare amount of the powder into the center of the crystal formation where it immediately began to spin, reminding Harry strongly of the satalite images of hurricanes he had seen while living at the Dursley's.

"This technique is only a little more than a century old so it is unlikely that the wards will be able to withstand it completely considering the book was obviously written long before then." Dumbledore commented as he watched with intrest.

"Well, you have to take into account the fact that Bill had never seen much of the magic that surrounds that book. You can't exactly say that it will work simply because the technique for breaking the wards is newer than the wards themselves. It is entirely possible that whoever cast those spells had their own personal style that would react differently to a curse breaker than other, more standard, wards." Marietta admonished before she realized who she was talking to and blushed. Dumbledore smiled and nodded in agreement while Professor Flitwick beamed with pride.

With a wave of his wand, the crystals began to spin quickly as well and the center of the black powder began to descend much like a tornado until it was all but an inch above the book. One by one, each crystal burst into light and small beams were released that connected them all before one from each shot out at an angle from the bottom where they all hit the hard leather cover at the same point. Almost immediately a small purple orb seemed to rise up out of the book before it was sucked up by the 'tornado' and when it reached the top it was blasted into nothingness with a loud detonation that lightly shook the entire house causing Bill to stagger back some as he tried to shake off the ringing in his ears.

"My word." Flitwick breathed deeply. "I've never seen a detenation that strong before."

"And judging by the look on his face, I would assume Bill hasn't either. And we're behind the silencing wards. So was that it?"

"No, Mr. Potter. That was merely one of the wards being broken and as I understand it, there are many." It would seem that their little explosion had grabbed the attention of many others as they arrived downstairs to see what was going on. In the end, Harry had to remove the nullification charms on the cells on either side of the one Bill was working in so that he could cast the same transparency charm on the side walls of those cells in order to allow the others to view what was going on without having everyone crowded in the outside corridor around the door.

For several hours Bill continued, casting spell after spell, some even Dumbledore or Flitwick had never heard of, as his crystals destroyed what wards they could although they took quite a bit more time than normal due to the power in which they were cast. As the sixth hour rolled around it was obvious to everyone watching that he was just about out of magical power, he simply didn't think that it could possibly be this hard.

"Get in there and help him!" Harry snapped at the charms professor as he watched Bill struggling more and more with every incantation. The last thing they needed was for him to make a mistake in his exhaustion and get himself killed.

Flitwick had jumped to his feet, wand in hand, and approached the door but he was already to late. With one last spell, another ward was destroyed but much more violently than the others. The shockwave threw Bill into the wall behind him and literally destroyed all shielding around the cell but thankfully was not able to damage the infrastucture itself. Within seconds, everyone that had been observing had either piled into the cell or were waiting anxiously out in the corridor as Dumbledore looked Bill over as he groaned quietly and held his head in his hands. Harry immediately called for Beckle's assistance and she quickly shooed everyone away.

While the house elf took everything in hand and assured him that Bill would be alright, Harry approached the book that had remained unharmed by the blast. Shards of the blue crystals littered the floor and table but he paid them no attention as he picked up the leather bound volume, relieved to feel the absence of the magic that had prevented him from even holding it for to long. Because of all the trouble Bill had gone through, he was naturally a little nervous about opening it, not wanting to simply find that it was indeed nothing more than more ranting from Salazar Slytherin or some other inconsequential information of a nameless Parselmouth. Taking a deep breath and shaking his head slightly, Harry finally opened the book and began to read.

At first there was nothing of import but as he read on his eyes began to widen in shock, which everyone seemed to take notice of. Soon though, his surprise wore off and he could do nothing but laugh, almost hysterically, as he flipped through the pages. While the information stored within these pages was by no means meant to be amusing, except for maybe the author, Harry just couldn't help himself due to the irony of the situation. Several times, various members of the Raiders, Dumbledore or Flitwick would try to get his attention but he ignored them all until after he had read well over thirty pages or so.

"Well, now I know why it was so heavily warded and why Bill had so much trouble overcoming its power." Everyone just stared at Harry, waiting for him to continue but as the moments wore on they became increasingly annoyed.

"Well?" Tonks asked with a great deal of irritation which brought a wide grin to Harry's face.

"This book was written by Merlin himself, he is the one that cast the warding spells." He stated matter of factly and began laughing once again at the shocked faces that stared back at him. "It would seem that there was a great deal of information about himself that he didn't want anyone else to know so he recorded it in Parseltongue for himself and then warded it against anyone else capable of reading it."

"Merlin was a Parselmouth?" John asked stupidly, temporarily forgetting his grief.

"Yes, he was. He was capable of communicating with many different forms of life. A fact many choose to forget when holding to the belief that 'all Parselmouths are evil'. They've accepted Harry's ability because we made it well known that he wasn't originally born with it. But what could have been so important that he would take such steps to protect it?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

"The fact that Merlin wasn't he only name he went by in his lifetime."

"He also went by Myrrdin, everyone knows that."

"Not that one. I'm sure at least some of you will recognize the name Merwyn." Harry told them with big smile.

"Merwyn the Malicious, the creator of the Unforgivables?" Dumbledore exclaimed loudly in disbelief. No one seemed to take notice of the Headmaster actually losing his normally calm appearence since they themselves were also far from composed.

"Yes." Harry answered happily. "It would seem that he liked to keep the more extreme aspects of his personality separate from one another. He gave up his birth name of Myrrdin and when he was advising Arthur, and other such things, he went by Merlin. But for his more nefarious works and activities he would disguise himself and use the name Merwyn. He seemed to take great delight in the fact that he was actually the most revered and also the most feared wizard of the time. Oh, and he was also married to Morgana Le Fey." 'THUMP'

Harry howled with laughter at seeing Dumbledore faint as everyone else stared at him with wide eyes and open mouths. It was absolutely the funniest thing he had seen all summer. Granted, this was information that would probably never be made public but it didn't mean he couldn't enjoy it. Concidering there were only three people that he knew of that would be capable of reading this book he figured that no one would believe him even if he chose to make the story known. They would simply call him a liar and say that he was starved for attention of something of that nature. He found it laughable that the man most wizards and witches looked up to, almost as if he were a god, could easily be considered one of the darkest wizards of all time.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, MARRIED?" Albus shouted immediately after Flitwick hit him with an enervate spell, causing all those around him to jump in surprise.

"I mean exactly that."

"But Mr. Potter, Merlin and Morgana were bitter enemies." Professor Flitwick squeaked in protest.

"No, they were married, and had a few rather violent, um, 'lovers quarrels'." Dumbledore, who liked the idea that many people thought of him as a sort of modern day Merlin, left the room in a run to quickly floo back to Hogwarts to get Blaise so that he could make sure Harry wasn't simply having some fun with them. As he was gone, Harry continued to read, almost completely ignoring those around him as he quitely giggled to himself at the irony. By this time, both Tonks and Susan seemed to shake off their shock and also found the humor in the situation even if they were a bit disturbed by it. They had grown up revering the man, after all.

It didn't take long at all for Albus to return with the incredably confused Snape 'family' in tow. Knowing exactly what Dumbledore was after, Harry immediately handed the book to Blaise and told her to start reading. She looked at everyone around her in bewilderment before complying. Dumbledore groaned in disappointment when her eyes flew open and her jaw dropped after going through the first few pages.

"Keep reading, it gets better, I promise." Harry told her with a smirk. After reading nearly to the point Harry had reached, she handed it back to him and claimed that she had to go lie down, confirming what Harry had told everyone before she left. Not to be dissuaded, both Dumbledore and Flitwick ran several scanning and testing charms over the book in the hopes of finding it to be a forgery. Unfortunately, for their peace of mind anyway, it seemed to be genuine, dating back almost fourteen centuries.

For the last two weeks of the summer break Harry had very little to do since Voldemort had pretty much stopped all activities and the Death Eaters were all very well hidden. He and the Raiders were left with little choice but to continue their almost constant training and speculate on what Voldemort could be planning that would make him feel like he was the one in control once more but with very little evidence they really didn't have anything to work with. Bill recovered quickly and although he was astonished by what the book contained, it was greatly overshadowed by his pride of defeating wards set in place by Merlin himself.

Harry did meet a couple of times with Remus, Moody and Shacklebolt, to discuss the general make up and flow of the new dueling course. It was decided striaght off that Harry would be paired with Moody, since he and Kingsley both prefered to be in the others company only if absolutely neccessary. Also this way both groups would have an experienced Auror directly involved with their training. Remus originally wanted to divided the students by year, third, forth and fifth years in one group with the sixth and seventh in the other, until Harry pointed out that if they simply split them up, with an equal number of students from each year in both groups, the younger students would probably progress at a faster rate if they learned stronger techniques and spells from those years older than them. Unfortunately this insightful recommendation earned him the 'honor' of being the instructor to open the mass meeting that would be held after dinner on september 2, when they would divide the students into their respective groups and explain just how the course would be laid out. A duty he was not to thrilled about.

On the plus side, Arthur Weasley eventually chose to take Harry up on his offer to help train the Raiders. He would begin meeting with them regularly after the utter 'chaos' of the start of the new school term died down. In the end it was decided that they would inform Stevens of his involvement since he could easily arrange certain 'work' for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office that will keep him out of the Ministry on a routine basis as well as any overly time consuming work for the Order. Everyone was thrilled about being trained by an Unspeakable, even Snape, though he didn't show it, but they chose to keep the information from Bill. They hadn't told him about Snape's theory about his father's occupation since they honesty didn't know if it was correct or not and by this time they thought it would be incredibly amusing to see his reaction when Arthur finally showed up.

"So, are you ready to go back to Hogwarts and play nice with the other children?" Tonks asked with an impish grin as she jumped into Harry's lap early in the afternoon of September first. He had to leave within the hour to attend a staff meeting before the welcoming feast for the returning students, which would include Marietta so that she could take her NEWT exams. Although she still fully intended to work with the Raiders whenever she could. Amelia wasn't to thrilled that Susan wouldn't be returning but with her life still threatened by Voldemort she knew that she was safer where she was.

"I'm always ready to go to Hogwarts, whatever the reason. I love that castle more than any home I have ever been in. As to question number two, well, I'm not up for playing nice with much of anyboby right now."

"Well then, I suggest you get your lazy ass up and get ready." She said as she pulled him to his feet and slapped him on the backside. Harry chuckled lightly as he gave her a peck on the lips before heading up to his room to change into a set of robes. In truth, he wasn't all that thrilled about attending the feast. As he said, he loved Hogwarts but he didn't really want to deal with such a large group of people not to mention the fact that there would probably be a few Ministry personel present as well. No, we was not looking forward to it one bit.

END

The Sequel, Harry Potter and the Dogs of War, will be up within the next week or two. Thanks to everyone that has been reading and waiting patiently, or impatiently, during my rather irratic update schedule over the nearly two years it took to get this far. Hopefully it won't take nearly as long to complete the next but you never can tell. Once again, thanks for all the support.