Harry ran down the hallways of Saint Mungos towards the room that he was told his godfather was in. He only found out an hour ago that the attack on Diagon Alley occurred. As he was preparing for the class he was about to teach, Fawkes flashed into the room in a rush of fire.

The glorious bird flew about the room singing a song that uplifted Harry while also making him feel warned as if the world may turn upside down. It was then that he noticed the message that the phoenix carried in its talons. Taking the parchment from the bird was easy, since Fawkes let it go as soon as Harry asked.

The message was short and written in an elegant if hasty scrawl that Harry was familiar with slightly, as if he had seen it before.

Harry,

I write this note in haste and with great sorrow to tell you that Sirius is in Saint Mungo's due to a major attack on Diagon Alley. I am uncertain of the details other than that fact. Even as this message reaches you, I will be in the Ministry dealing with the repercussions.

You have my permission, not that it was required, to leave the castle and handle your affairs with Sirius.

Good Luck,
Albus Dumbledore.

Upon finishing the message, he tossed it to his master, Nicolas, who was grading essays once more. Looking up and reading the message even before it fell to the desk, the man looked to his apprentice. The same apprentice that was rapidly changing the blackboard behind the desk. Gone were the original rules of the event the class was going to be participating in. Instead, a completely new assignment was placed on the board, to create an essay on the positive and negative values of niche magical teachings such as Occlumency, Legilimency, Magical detection and aura based magics. He wrote the required length as being a minimum of 8 inches, and a maximum of 24 inches of parchment, and must cover at least one of the outlined magics as described from their text. Outside resources were permitted so long as main information was gained via the primary text.

Nicolas nodded his head at his apprentice when Harry, moments after making the instructions write themselves onto the board, looked to him. He knew what was being asked, even though no words were being exchanged.

"Go on. Be with your family. I shall ensure that your class does the assignment, then I will join you."

In a flash, the boy was gone, racing down the hallways of Hogwarts. There were few students who knew the castle as well as he, as he bounded through the various secret passages until reaching a certain one-eyed witch statue. He never understood why Nicolas moved from the Defense Against the Dark Arts room to the one he used, but he didn't question it. As the statue slipped out his way with a touch and a whispered word, he bolted down the passage way, allowing it to seal back behind him.

As soon as he felt the magical weight of Hogwart's impressive wards fall away from him he pivoted on his heel and in a crack, apparated.

When Harry finally found Sirius' room, he yanked the door open and rushed in only to be levitated before his second step into the room. Looking around, he spotted a rather attractive Mediwitch pointing her wand at him. She didn't look up from the chart she was reading, instead speaking in a rapid, practiced manner.

"There will not be yelling, rough housing, running or spellcasting in my ward, or around my patients. I spent too much time saving their lives, limbs and in some cases even good looks, to patch them up again." With a flick, Harry was deposited back down on the ground, and the mediwitch finally looked up.

A flash of recognition at Harry's identity before a cool professional demeanor slipped back into place was all that Harry saw before she gestured to the man laying on the bed. "I assume you are here for Sirius Black."

Looking at the man on the hospital bed, Harry was shocked. Gone was the mane of black hair, the goatee that Sirius swore the ladies loved. His face was peaceful and covered in blue burn cream, a fact that Harry idly remembered meant that it was the highest grade possible. Bandages wrapped around his neck, down his torso to disappear under the blanket that slowly rose and fell with the man's ever breath.

He turned to the mediwitch to ask what was wrong with him. What had happened to him/ Who did this to him? Before he even opened his mouth the mediwitch started to answer his questions.

"There were two major things. The first was that he set the blood in the Alley on fire. Luckily it was enough to force He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named away. Unlucky for him, he passed out from bloodloss shortly before medical evac occurred, meaning he is suffering from 2nd degree magical burns on his face, arms and hands, with a circle of 3rd degree magical burns on his torso. If I had not been on call, he likely would have died from those wounds. However, that wasn't the worst wound he had." She said as she turned the parchment on her chart. "There was a wound that we suspect was from a knife. Definitely curved, and definitely summoned in the harshest way possible. It was that summoning that drove the Blood Fire into over drive, giving it way too much blood. If it was any other man than Sirius Black, the whole of Diagon Alley would have gone up in smoke."

Harry stopped listening to the woman who obviously had a crush on his godfather as he sat beside the bed.

Nicolas sat the notice on the door with a flick before he strode towards McGonagall's office. Of anyone in the castle other than Albus who needed to know if he left, it would be her. As he walked, he tapped his wand gently against his leg, releasing sparks with every strike. Soon he was outside her classroom, where he knocked and waited.

"Enter!" The professor's voice was slightly rushed, which Nicolas saw was due to her rapidly reading a note from Albus. At least he surmised it was Albus as most wizards wouldn't earn that amount of cursing. Once the woman finished her cursing she looked up, and smiled slightly at the alchemist.

"Ah, Nicolas. Is there anything I can help you with?" The transfiguration mistress tucked the paper away as she waited for his response. She was half listening to him, until he said that he was cancelling his classes for the next two days.

"Excuse me?" The sharp voice of the transfiguration mistress cut off his explanation. Nicolas nearly smiled as the woman stared at him much like a lion would look at prey. Prey that for whatever god forsaken reason had just struck it on the nose.

"I will be cancelling my classes for two days. I am required elsewhere and while my apprentice is handling his family matters, there is no teacher. Thus, I am assigning heavy writing and reflection. The instructions are clear, and the students should not require anything from the restricted section of the library." Nicolas was calm even as the witch exhaled violently through her nostrils.

"And what, pray tell me, will be keeping the castle safe while yourself, Albus and Harry are away?" The deputy head fixed him with a stare that reminded him of his wife, and he sighed.

"As it is, Albus will be back tonight. My first stop will be to St. Mungos to gather my wayward apprentice. You are correct, the castle is too rich a target for Voldemort for there not to be some form of deterrent in place. The staff is not enough of one without myself, Albus or Harry." Nicolas folded his arms and flicked a hair out of his face with a sharp movement of his head. "Harry likely couldn't duel him to a retreat like Albus or to a standstill like myself… but he would be able to stall him long enough for one of us to appear; either Albus due to his bond with the school, or myself through my bond with Harry." Nicolas' roguish grin nearly made Minerva snarl until she saw what the man carried in his non-wand hand. "It's a moot point however. Harry will not be leaving the castle when I return him… regardless of Sirius' condition. Now, I must depart. Time is not our ally at the moment."

Minerva smiled all day after the man spun on his heel as she thought of the vial the man held.

Harry looked up as the knock on the doorway shook him from his vigil. Outlined in the doorway was the one person he didn't expect to see. Nicolas Flamel was a figure who cut through crowds, cut through panic and in Harry's case grief. Especially when he gently pushed Harry away and poured a ruby red liquid down his godfather's throat.

Harry felt his hope flare up like a sun as he watched Nicolas massage the liquid down. His master must have felt it, as he looked back at Harry. "It won't make him immortal… or dependent upon it. The Elixir… I created it to save my lovely wife… she had a disease that we couldn't cure. We discovered later that it was a precursor to Dragon Pox… but she held on for years Harry. Years as I struggled to create the strongest healing agents to ever exist. It created this particular brew. Freely given Unicorn blood is arguably as strong of a healing agent as phoenix tears. When mixed with various other ingredients, and stabilized with magic… there is not much that it won't heal."

Nicolas' wand flashed over Sirius, and he screamed. Harry jumped up as Sirius's screams rose in volume, and he froze. He froze as the bandages were vanished with a flick of Nicolas' wand, showing blackened flesh. Flesh that was flaking away as new skin rapidly grew under it; red sparks danced on his wounds, signs of the magic at work even as Nicolas continued to flick his wand around. Hair started to grow back on his head, easily poking through the burnt flesh.

In minutes it was over and Sirius slumped on the bed unconscious. The mediwitch chose that moment to barge into the room. "What is going on-" She stopped speaking as soon as she saw her patient.

Gone were the bandages, the burns the injury to his stomach. It was all healed. Nicolas smirked at the woman even as she pointed her wand at him. "What did you do?"

"I fixed him."

"You don't just fix people. I don't care if you are Nicolas Flamel. Nothing in life is free. What did you?" The mediwitch growled as she gestured him to the side with her wand. As the man listened, she rushed to Sirius' side. Several flicks and charms showed his progress. "He is stable. Weak though. His pain receptors are inflamed nearly as bad as if he went through a curse session."She mumbled before turning back to the alchemist.

The Alchemist that wasn't even paying attention to her, instead pulling his apprentice aside to talk. "Harry, I know he is still going to be here. But I need you to go back to the Castle." The man's voice was firm, unyielding yet Harry still snapped.

"No. If he is here, so will I be." Harry glanced at his Godfather on the bed. He looked back at his master and took a step back. It wasn't physical yet it was there radiating like waves. Magic. Nicolas' face was set in stone.

"Once again, my apprentice you don't think. Albus and myself are away from the castle, possibly for longer than a few hours. What is the only reason to attack Diagon Alley?" He didn't wait for his apprentice to answer instead spitting the answer out," It was a distraction to force Albus away from the castle. I would bet that there are currently at least 3 of Voldemort's followers attempting to gauge the wards of the castle. Do you know how easy it is to break wards that you have previously gauged? It turns an impossible task, such as taking Hogwarts castle into a manageable one."

Nicolas took a deep breath and reined in his temper. He couldn't fault his apprentice for not understanding the political and martial implications of him rushing away when Albus basically asked him to go. "Here is the situation. You are, as of now, a deterrent to Voldemort attacking Hogwarts, killing at least a fourth of the school and sending Britain into a spiral that will be impossible to recover from. You are one of three such deterrents, with the others being myself and Albus. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded as his mind raced through the possibilities. If what Flamel said was true, that meant he was as much of a threat to Voldemort as Albus Dumbledore- The thought broke away as a new thought entered his head. His master was as much a threat as Albus Dumbledore. Which meant that he had a long way to go. How could he be a deterrent when he wasn't even on his master's level? He couldn't beat Flamel yet, and he didn't know how he would protect Sirius and Hermione and Ron and-

SLAP

His head went to the side, as he realized that he forgot to breathe in his panic. Reaching a hand up to his hot cheek he looked back at Nicolas and nodded his thanks. His master raised an eyebrow and Harry answered the unasked question.

"It hasn't happened before… Normally I just do something you know? I don't think about the big picture and well… I'm not ready to fight Voldemort. If I were to fight him, I'd need to be stalling or something to beat him. And a lot of things depend of me beating him back if I'm a deterrent." His voice was soft, as he admitted a fear of his to his master. Nicolas' face softened.

"Harry. The concept of a deterrent is that you force a thought or a pause in a plan by your presence at a point. Your role right now is not to duel Voldemort to the death, but to grow stronger. The situation is that, if you are at Hogwarts, in order to take the castle, Voldemort must be able to kill you and the inhabitants of the castle that would defend it. With you there, that is a nearly impossible task." Especially if we can get you to accept the truth about 'Nero' and thus use your familiar magic to the maximum.

The mediwitch finally got the Alchemist's attention by summoning him backwards. "MR. FLAMEL. I will not repeat myself for the third time. Tell me exactly what I need to expect from this patien-" Her words were cut off by Harry.

"You don't need to expect anything. As of now, as my role as Godson of the Patient, I am transferring him to Poppy Pomfrey's care."

The mediwitch's lips formed a line as she nodded. "It will take half an hour to process and transfer the patient. Thank you for choosing St. Mungo's." With a huff, the witch left the room, leaving the three men.

Nicolas smirked at his apprentice and nodded his approval.

Albus mentally scowled at the list of damaged stores as he sat across from Fudge, deep under London. The man kept tittering on about how many people were upset that a shop would be closed, when the whole of the Alley went up in smoke, if not flames from the attack. Madam Bones had even suggested the most sensible action thus far, in shutting the alley completely for a few days while the Ministry investigated and made it safe.

Fudge's response was one that was expected, but definitely unwanted. "Shut it down? We can't shut it down! The people would kick me out if I shut down Diagon Alley!"

Albus looked around the room as the conversation slowly degraded into an argument. Other than himself, who was there mainly in regards to the only sure counter to Voldemort, every single department head had something to say. Except-

"Mr. Cresswell. What about you? What do you have to say?" Albus' voice cut through the other voices as if they were all still at Hogwarts. Sometimes, it felt like they were, Albus thought. The head of the Goblin Relations office was at the meeting only because his job title required him to be in all meetings of national importance. After all, none could guess as to what would piss off the goblins.

Dirk was a tall, lanky wizard with sandy blond hair and a square chin. His eyes were the most interesting part of his anatomy, being a rich hazel nearly to the point of being amber. These eyes met Albus' blues unflinchingly, a fact that the headmaster filed away for another time.

"The goblins set a message. It arrived moments after Voldemort fled the Alley. Normally, we don't even get their messages reliably. Yet this one… this one could be major. It says that 'he came to parlay. We agreed to be neutral.' " Dirk had a small satisfied smile on his face.

Albus' raised an eyebrow at that smile. "Why would Voldemort talking to the goblins be a good thing Mr. Cresswell? Surely neutrality isn't bad.. however that would not be considered a good-" Albus' eyes widened as a sudden thought hit him. "Amelia! Was there a goblin on the causality list?"

Dirk's smile widened. "Don't bother checking, I already did. Yes, there was."

Fudge frowned. "But it was Sirius Black who cast the fire…" The rest of the department heads nodded, as the report was clear on that.

Yet Dirk shook his head. "To Goblins it doesn't matter who started it. Sirius had it controlled, by all accounts until You-Know-Who tore the knife from his side. In the goblin's eyes, Voldemort could have stopped that from occurring. And there isn't a doubt in my mind he could have. Not only that, but his fleeing created a push outward, spreading the fire. If the Goblins see that as an attack…"

Fudge grinned savagely as did every single department head. "We may just be able to spin this yet…Dirk, I want a meeting with the Goblins about this issue. I want as much documentation supporting the angle you just spoke of as Amelia can get you. Amelia, I need Diagon Alley opened as fast as possible. Yes I know, it would likely be best if it was shut longer, but for morale and revenue we can't afford to keep it closed. I also need to talk to the French and Americans. They have some builders and ward specialists. Let us make sure that our Alley is still hidden yes? Albus, can the ICW do anything for this?"

Albus stroked his beard as he rapidly thought over the question. "No, but I do think we may need an expert or two to come in to check the wards on the ministry. If we are worried that some blood fire, even blood fire fueled by a battle, could harm the wards hiding Diagon, we should check the wards on our ministry too. It may even do good to upgrade them as Berlin did a few years ago." Instantly, Amelia nodded. The unspeakable proxy also nodded as their head was… doing something in the Department of Mysteries. It was he who spoke next, his voice raspy as parchment on stone.

"We shall also check them. It is our role to keep the Ministry wards functioning."

Fudge nodded and stood before he started ushering them out the door. "Good, we all have our assignments. Amelia, Dirk, stay back. We will discuss our plan for the Goblins. The rest of you good work, and keep us running!"

Voldemort listened to Bellatrix repeatedly apologize for what had to have been the hundredth-make that hundredth and one time. As she repeated herself yet again, he hissed."Enough. Bellatrix, silence. I don't care about your excuses. I want to know if you got the wand you needed." When she opened her mouth, he raised a hand. "nod yes or no. I don't want to hear you."

At her nod, he sighed slightly before banishing her from the room with a flick of his wand. "Now. Antonin. Explain to me how quiet and subtle shopping trip turned into a brawl with the Aurors."

Antonin explained swiftly that Sirius Black recognized Bellatrix and then it quickly became what he saw. He merely stopped the Aurors from attacking Bellatrix. Voldemort nodded along where ever it was necessary having already figured out the entirety of the situation as soon as Sirius Black's name was mentioned. With a wave his hand he dismissed Antonin in mid-sentence.

"Lucius, come. It is time we discuss your son's inheritance."

Grindlewald smiled widely as he threw the paperwork that just came back from Berlin on his desk. The reason was obvious as the red stamp of approved glistened in the lamp light. He strode through the door of his office headed towards the medical wing where he was certain he would find Sonja.

He was right as Sonja Longfellow was in fact in the medical wing reading over various reports. She was a short woman, with long blond hair and a scar on her left cheek. Her eyes were the color of the forest floor, brown with flakes of green. As Grindlewald entered the room, she nodded towards him.

"My Liege." Her voice was level, and if pressed Grindlewald would say it was melodic.

"We will have company soon." Grindlewald smiled as she sighed.

"I suppose I shall make up the beds."

AN: short chapter but this is the best place to cut it. next upload will be a little late; Im moving.