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Standard Disclaimer:

The curtain opens to see Ronald Weasley slither out onto the stage, his clothing rags. He walked on all fours in a lopping type gait. Suddenly a spot light flared to life, and Ron froze in place.

"The Light! The Light! Burns us it does!"

Hermione strode regally out onto the stage, her brow crowned with a circlet of pure Mithril, upon her breast the symbol of the house of Elendil.

Ron stared at her for a moment. "Is she tasty precious? Does she know us at all precious? Tricksy we are. Oh yes precious!"

Hermione looked at Ron for a moment, then turned to face the audience. "This fowl creature, loathsome as he is, is what happens when an author does not tell people that they don’t own the Potterverse. The authors of this story beg you to understand that they have no rights to these characters."

Ron sniffed at the hem of her robe. "Does she smell goods precious! Will she be mine precious?"

Suddenly a huge foot descends and squashes Ron flat. Then a rope ladder drops and Harry Potter climbs down to greet Hermione.

"Oh Harry!"

"Oh Hermione"

Alyx turns to Bob in the corner and frowns. "Can’t you do better than this? The romantic dialogue is totally inane and flat, Ron keeps dying and what the hell is with the Lord of the Rings bit? WE ARE NOT DOING A LORD OF THE RINGS CROSS OVER!!!!"

Bob looks at Alyx in his Darth Vader mask, breathing heavily. "As you command my mistress," he replied in his best James Earl Jones voice.

---

Sunset Over Britain
Chapter 18

---

Padfoot Manor and Estates, Ireland…

Remus looked up from the blueprints he was holding and spotted Winky waiting patiently for him to notice her. He didn’t pretend to understand all of what he was looking at, but the construction foreman was a good man at explaining what they were doing. Remus had left Dan back in the Manor going over some of the other details for him while Remus walked the grounds, inspecting the results of nearly a month and a half of solid construction.

"Winky? Is something wrong?" asked Remus.

"Master Dan sends me to tell yous there be a man outside the wards. The man do be asking yous to allow him inside."

Remus frowned and Winky stepped back warily. Her new family had never abused, and they strived to treat her like one of the family, but it was hard to break years of habit.

"Where exactly is this man, Winky?"

"Near north entrance, Master Remus. He do be waiting where workers come an go," Winky replied.

Remus smiled at the little elf. "Thank you, Winky, I’ll go talk to this man, then I’ll come back to talk to Dan. Can you have lunch prepared for us when I come back into the manor?"

"Oh yes, Master Remus! Winky can do that!" The little elf bowed and vanished with a pop. Sighing, Remus rolled up the blueprints he was holding and handed them back to the construction foreman.

Remus apparated to the edge of the wards and examined the man for a moment before he crossed the threshold of the Fidelius charm. He was a tall man with black hair and very fair, freckled complexion. He looked like a man who was accustomed to getting his way.

Remus stepped over the ward threshold, becoming visible to the waiting man. The man showed no outward reaction, he merely looked Remus over for a moment. Then he smiled and stuck out a beefy hand.

"Good morn to you!" he exclaimed. "Do I have the honor of addressing Lord Potter-Black?"

Remus gripped the man’s hand cautiously. "I’m afraid not. Lord Potter-Black is currently in Scotland on business. I’m Remus Lupin, his… well seneschal is probably the closest word for it. Now, how might I help you?"

"Ah, Mr. Lupin, then allow me to introduce myself. I’m Michael O’Dalley and I represent the Irish Ministry of Magic. I’m an Auror in our MLE, and normally wouldn’t be used for this type of meeting, but since I was in the neighborhood, my Ministry asked me to stop by and see if I could find out more about what you’re doing here."

Remus sighed and nodded. It was bound to happen. One doesn’t spend nearly eighty million pounds on land, then another twenty million galleons for magical construction without it going noticed by someone.

"So what does your government think we’re doing here?" Remus asked, trying to sound the man out a bit.

O’Dalley took off his hat and scratched his head. "Well now, I don’t rightly know, Mr. Lupin. I know what they’ve told me, and it’s got me wondering. But no one has told me exactly what they think. What I do know is that your Lord Potter-Black, age 16, known in England as the Boy-Who-Lived, has recently moved nearly a half billion galleons to the main branch of Gringotts here in Ireland. I also know that another seventy million galleons have been spent on land purchases and new construction around his enlarged estate. Quite frankly, my government is curious."

Remus chuckled. "I’d be curious if I had that little information as well. Mr. O’Dalley, I am in somewhat of a bind here. I am bound by certain oaths to maintain secrecy but, by the same token, your government has every right to know what is going on. So I’m going to propose a compromise. I will tell you, in broad terms, what’s going on here. In turn, you will tell only your immediate superior or your Minister. In the meantime, I will request that Lord Potter-Black allow me to reveal more detail should it become necessary. However, you must understand that secrecy is paramount. If secrecy cannot be maintained, nothing further will be revealed."

O’Dalley looked Remus over carefully before nodding.

Remus conjured two chairs for the men to sit on. "My Lord is preparing for the worst case, Mr. O’Dalley. We have good reason to believe that the situation in England will soon become untenable. We believe that the current Dark Lord will assume supremacy over England in a few short months and Lord Potter is building facilities to house refugees so that they do not become a burden upon the Irish and the Irish Ministries."

Remus gestured. "Inside these wards is enough housing to comfortably fit one thousand families. We’ve built a school, a hospital, and shops. In effect, my Lord has built a town to house people fleeing from England. My Lord intends to open this facility so that Irish nationals may also use it, but right now it will remain closed until the refugees arrive, or the crisis passes. In either case, this is a boon to Ireland, Mr. O’Dalley. The enlarged estate is broken up into three areas. The refugee town includes housing, a primary and intermediary school and a hospital. The main manor house and a third much smaller area which I am not at liberty to discuss. If the crisis does not come to pass, then you have yourself a perfectly sound Wizarding town, complete with anti-muggle wards. If it does come to pass, then you still have a town, only it will be filled with hard working people, grateful to have escaped from the turmoil.

"We realize that this may be a bit of shock and a burden. Hell, just the processing of so many refugee claims would be a burden on your government. That is why my Lord has authorized me to transfer twenty million galleons to the Irish Ministry when the refugees start arriving, to… ah… cover processing fees?"

O’Dalley expression broke into a huge grin. "Well, considering you’re willing to offer twenty million reasons why we shouldn’t be concerned, I think you’ll find my government most agreeable." Then O’Dalley turned serious again.   "Is it safe to assume that you agree with your Lord Potter in regard to the need to build this refuge?" he asked.

Remus sighed and bowed his head for a moment. "No one likes to think of their homeland being taken over, but that’s exactly what’s going to happen. We have a prophecy stating it must."

"Aren’t you concerned that the unrest there will spill over here? We are only a short distance away, you know." O’Dalley asked seriously.

"That’s a valid concern, but one of my jobs is to research problems like this for my employer. I already have one possible solution lined up… You know, it would be a help if your government would help me get access to your libraries…"

"Oh, I daresay something could be worked out. Would you be willing to allow owl deliveries to the estate, Mr. Lupin?"

Remus thought for a moment. "For now, I’ll permit owl deliveries in my name only. My employer is a very private man."

O’Dalley stood from his chair and offered his hand again. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Lupin. I’ll talk with my superiors. I’m certain we’ll be in touch."

---

Hogwarts Head Suite…

Hermione looked up in surprise when Harry entered the room. She watched him limp over to the couch and sit heavily, leaning his cane to one side. It had been several days since he started roaming the halls late at night in the hope of meeting up with whomever had hurt Terry. So far, he had walked himself into exhaustion and no one had confronted him. She didn’t like the idea of him deliberately seeking a fight, but that fight hadn’t happened.

She smiled at him. "It’s probably a good thing you haven’t run into anyone, Harry. I don’t like the idea of you deliberately looking for a fight. But if you’re going to do it, doing it in front of witnesses would probably be best."

Harry cocked an eyebrow at her and his expression turned playful. "Oh, so you think it’s best to do it in front of witnesses? I didn’t know you liked people watching. Besides, there may be performance issues," he replied with a grin.

Hermione blushed. Harry, to his delight, had discovered that Hermione, despite being shy and bookish, had a very sexual nature, which she hid carefully. It was an aspect of her that thrilled Harry and opened up a whole new area of their relationship. For one thing, when alone at least, they flirted much more often with each other and tended to be more open about things.

Hermione chuckled and swatted his arm playfully. "Prat, you know I wasn’t talking about that!"

She moved closer to him on the couch. "Besides, if you want an exhibitionist, you should have dated Luna. She doesn’t care who sees what."

Harry made a face at her. "I like Luna, she’s a good friend, but she’s not my type," he said, then he frowned. "Have the girls spoken to you yet?"

Hermione snuggled closer to him and he wrapped an arm around them. "Well, Ginny and Susan have. And I know that Neville and Draco have mentioned it to you. I didn’t want to commit to anything without talking to you about it first. You know we’re breaking rules."

Harry chuckled and leaned over to kiss her on the head. "We’ve done nothing but break the rules since we came back from holiday. Sharing the same bed isn’t exactly in the rules," he said, then he tightened his grip on her.

"How hard would it be to do?"

"Around you? Rock hard. Oh, you don’t mean that!"

Hermione swatted him again.

"It’s a challenge, but it’s doable. Basically, we’re talking about two portkeys that remember their starting point. I’d only have to make two of them. I just want to point out that if we do this, you’re basically giving up your bedroom, Hermione. I have to adjust the wards a bit, but no big deal."

She climbed into his lap and wrapped both arms around his neck while straddling him. She could feel his arousal as she held him and she ground down on it.

"I don’t care. I have no intention of returning to my old bedroom. I find sharing your bed has allowed me to discover some amazing things," she breathed into his ear. Harry shivered and buried his head into the nape of her neck, nibbling softly.

"Oh? Such as?" he murmured back. His hands were already crawling underneath her skirt, reaching for her thighs.

"Things like this," she replied reaching for his belt.

---

Hogsmeade, The Three Broomsticks…

"Quiet down, please. Quiet," Dumbledore called, rapping his knuckles against the table.

The membership of the Order of the Phoenix settled down, some taking seats and turned their attention to Dumbledore. In one corner, Arthur Weasley stood with his son, Bill.

"Alastor? Do you have any new information to report?"

Moody looked around carefully before he began his report. "We’ve had a number of disturbing reports that Voldemort has dramatically increased the membership of his Death Eaters. Also, some of you might have missed that countrywide power blackout last week that the muggles experienced.

"Ordinarily, we don’t pay much attention to muggle affairs, but this particular case was significant. I have reason to believe that Voldemort’s forces used the blackout as a cover to steal muggle military supplies. For what purpose? I’m not sure, but I will remind everyone that before the Christmas holidays there were several attacks by wizards, controlled by the Imperious Curse, and some of those wizards employed muggle explosives."

"Are you getting any idea of some sort of master plan, Alastor?" asked Dumbledore.

"Just little hints, Albus. To be honest, at this point I can’t really say. With the loss of Snape, we lost a lot of our view into his organization," came the reply.

"Well yes, Severus was valuable to us in his role of spy, but he’s moved onto other things," Dumbledore said, then he frowned when he spotted the Weasley men.

"As I’m sure you are aware, Severus has been unjustly suspended from his teaching position…"

"Unjustly? I saw those papers he graded, Dumbledore, and Snape got exactly what he deserved."

"If you have something you wish to say, you must wait your turn, Arthur. Severus’ actions are not up for discussion tonight," Dumbledore shot back.

"You’re damn right I have something I want to say, and you can’t muzzle me anymore Albus!" Arthur spat back.

A number of the Order members gasped in shock. This was Albus Dumbledore, leader of the light. No one talked to him like that!

Dumbledore sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Very well, Arthur. I assume you have something you want to say before you make your exit from our meeting?"

Arthur looked around at the seated people. Some, like McGonagall, returned his look proudly, most merely looked at him in confusion.

"You all think of yourselves as warriors of the light. HA!" spat Arthur. "If you only knew the truth, if you only knew what that traitorous and treacherous bastard has been doing behind your backs! Be afraid, Dumbledore. I’ve sent a full confession to Amelia and it’s all on record now. The thefts from Harry, the times we knew he was being abused by the Dursleys and you ordered us to ignore it. What’s worse Albus is that Harry is aware of it all as well.

"You set that boy down a path to hell where he was abused and starved. You set him up, stole from him and denied him his birthright. To my everlasting shame, I was a willing participant to it all. I accepted your money. I ignored his cries of pain and suffering.

"Since the beginning of the summer, you’ve spent all your time and energy on a war you can’t win without Harry and you’ve turned him against you forever! Harry now views you as no better than V-V-Voldemort!"

There were a number of gasps in the room and heads turned to stare at Dumbledore, who looked at Arthur with an expression of sadness.

"Arthur, come now. Everything I did, I did for Harry’s best interests. The monies, which you admit you accepted, have helped fund the Order. James Potter was one of the wealthiest wizards in Britain. Don’t you think he would have donated money to keep the fight going?"

"Aye, James would have done that," came a voice from the crowd. "But you shouldn’t have taken the money without asking!"

The room filled with voices as everyone tried to express an opinion. "Quiet! Quiet please!" Dumbledore shouted. When the room finally settled down he turned back to Arthur. "Have you finished?"

"Yes. I am resigning my position in the Order and withdrawing all support for you and this group, Dumbledore. I owe Harry that much, and I will do what ever it takes to recover the honor lost to my family by my actions."

Dumbledore sighed as Bill and Arthur made their way to the exit. A number of people were trying to talk to them. He had to do something quickly or all would be lost!

"Arthur, I deeply regret your feeling the way you do. And I acknowledge that I have made some mistakes in regard to the care of Harry Potter. But every thing I have done has been for the greater good. Even if it meant a temporary inconvenience to someone along the way. Harry will see that and come around in due course."

Arthur looked up at Dumbledore shaking his head. "Albus, what frightens me most is that I fell for your ways. I believed in you," he said, then he motioned to Bill and they both exited the room.

"Is what he said true, Dumbledore?" asked a voice from the back of the room.

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and smiled like a benevolent Father Christmas. "Arthur is distraught and reading evil intentions where there are none. You heard him yourself. If he confessed to Amelia Bones as he says he did, why isn’t he under arrest? No, I’m afraid poor Arthur has become unhinged with the break up of his marriage."

A number of the Order members looked at Dumbledore thoughtfully. His comments made a lot of sense. Some members, however, filed from the room casting looks of incredulousness back at those that remained.

Dumbledore surveyed most of the remaining members. He guessed that Arthur’s comments this evening had cost him just about ten members, but more importantly, all of the ten members were Ministry Aurors or employees of the Ministry. Only Kingsley Shacklebolt remained of the active Aurors.

Dumbledore smiled reassuringly at those who remained. "I will speak with Harry Potter tomorrow. If he believes as Arthur does, then I am sure I will be able to show him that his beliefs are misguided. Now, let us get back to business. As I was stating, Severus Snape has been reassigned. He will be brewing the potions we need in combat, as well as doing research into potions that may help us in our fight. Potions will be delivered to Hogwarts via a secure connection, using Hogwarts House Elves. Severus himself will be in a secure location known only to me.

"In the meantime, work your contacts. We need to find out what Voldemort is up to. I suspect that something is coming to a head very quickly. I know we have spent many hours and months concentrating on the Brotherhood, but I am coming to suspect that Voldemort and the Brotherhood are linked in some way. Find one and you will probably find the other."

"Albus, you’re not suggesting that the Weasley’s have gone over to Voldemort, are you? Arthur has been seen in their company and, I’ll remind you, some other very prominent people have been seen in their company as well," Minerva McGonagall said in a voice that carried throughout the room.

"No, of course I’m not saying they are supporters of Voldemort. Alastor, if you would please? Explain about the occurrence at the Nott property?"

Alastor stood unsteadily on his wooden leg and faced the membership. "A few weeks back, an out building on the Nott property collapsed. An Auror friend told me about visiting the wreckage hours after the collapse to see a group of these ‘Brotherhood’ members removing bodies from the building and placing them in a row outside. They cleaned the building of any evidence and then apparated away without a word to the Aurors. The senior Auror on duty told my friend that he was under orders not to interfere with any Brotherhood activities. Six bodies were pulled from that wreckage, including Theodore Nott Sr., who, strangely enough, had been disemboweled. Now this is all confirmed. Theodore Nott Senior is dead, and the Ministry is moving to confiscate his properties and vaults.

"I’ve also heard rumors of other Brotherhood assaults on Voldemort forces, but have been unable to confirm them. Finally, on the day after this attack took place, one of our low level spies in Voldemort’s organization reported an attack directly on Voldemort himself, in which he was badly injured. My guess is that the Brotherhood has declared open war on Voldemort and his forces and they have no intention of taking prisoners. All of the dead from Nott’s were killed in a most gruesome manner," Moody concluded before sitting down once more.

"Thank you, Alastor. Well, there you have it. The Brotherhood is not siding with Voldemort, but if you find his forces, sooner or later the Brotherhood will show up. Now, unless there is new business, we can adjourn for the evening," Dumbledore said.

After a moment of silence, members of the Order of the Phoenix started to file from the room.

Severus Snape, who had been sitting quietly in the back of the room, was now waiting by the door. He was looking for one person in particular. As Mundungus Fletcher approached the door, Snape reached out and pulled the man aside.

"’ere now! Don’t be manhandling me, Snape!"

"Quiet, fool! I have need of your services, and it will be profitable if you cooperate," Snape

"Ah, so now I’m of some use to you, sir? I seem to recall in the past when I wasn’t worth your giving me the time, let alone a kind word."

"Fletcher, we can sit here all night talking about old times and fun pasts, or we can do business. What is your pleasure?" Sneered Snape.

"Business before pleasure, always my good man. Now what be your need?"

Snape handed the man a scroll. "Find me these potion ingredients and get their prices. Don’t inflate the prices, I know what they are worth. I’ll give you ten percent commission on the items, as long as you don’t cheat me."

Mundungus scanned the list briefly, his eyes narrowing over some of the clearly dark ingredients required. Then he looked up at Snape again. "Some of this won’t be cheap or easy to get."

Snape drew himself up to his full height and wrapped his cloak about him. "I’m aware of that, just find me those ingredients and owl me the prices, care of Hogwarts."

Mundungus nodded. Snape, with his business finished, exited the room with his cloak billowing in his wake.

---

Breakfast, Great Hall Hogwarts…

There were several worried faces among those eating breakfast. Hermione was worried about Harry. His power surge last night had not abated. He had quickly gained control of the more obvious aspects of that much power and was no longer assaulting people just by walking past them, but the fire in his eyes had not gone out. Hermione added it to her ever-growing list of things to research.

Dumbledore sat at the Head table pushing the food around on his plate. An icy knot of fear had grown in his stomach since Arthur’s revelations the night before. He glanced towards Harry and his friends and wondered just how much Harry really knew. Considering Harry’s actions of the past year, he had little choice but to assume he knew everything, or nearly everything. And that meant that Harry would never cooperate with him, no matter what he did. He decided to hold off talking to him for a while.

Dumbledore looked over at the entrance, startled when Amelia appeared in a small crowd of Aurors. She approached the Head table and Dumbledore’s fears grew. He broke out in a cold sweat. Steeling himself and waiting for the arrest order, he smiled at the approaching Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"Amelia! What a surprise! Would you care to join us for breakfast or some tea perhaps?" he asked nervously.

"No, thank you, Headmaster. I’m here on official business."

"Oh? And what might that be?"

"As you are aware, there have been a two severe attacks against students in the last two days. Your caretaker died under mysterious circumstances. The Board of Governors feels that they owe it to the parents to take steps to insure the safety of the children while at school. Therefore, they have asked the Ministry to assign Aurors to patrol the grounds and the castle. Normally, this would be a decision of the Minister, but I’m taking it upon myself to assign six Aurors to the school for round the clock patrolling," Amelia said, loud enough for the entire hall to hear.

Dumbledore, in his relief, waved weakly at the MLE Head. "Yes. Yes. I quite agree and welcome their help, Amelia."

Dumbledore had been sure that they had been here to arrest him. Accepting Aurors in his school was a lot easier to deal with than an arrest warrant.

From his seat at the Gryffindor table, Harry watched Amelia and Dumbledore with interest. Minerva had pulled him aside before breakfast and told him what Arthur had said and done at last night’s meeting. Minerva’s eyes danced when she had described Alastor Moody’s description of the Brotherhood’s activities. He turned back to the table when he felt a tug at his shirt sleeve.

"Look! Look! I told you he’d do it!" exclaimed Luna as she shoved a copy of the Quibbler under his nose.

Harry quickly scanned the headlines.

St. Mungos find basement is infested with displaced Yeti from Tibet!
Old Crow opens Yahoo Group. Claims he is not a potion ingredient!
Candidate Richfield a Death Eater!
Coming soon to Diagon Alley, Alien spaceship landing zone!

"Hmmm… looks like that old Crow finally wised up, Luna. I knew he’d come around," Harry replied humoring the blond Ravenclaw.

"Yes, now he’s safe from net nazis," she replied smugly.

Harry passed the paper to Hermione, pointing out the headlines. She took one look and gasped in shock. Draco leaned over her shoulder and shrugged.

"I don’t get it. Do you know this Old Crow person?" Draco asked.

"Oh, yes. We’ve shared some letters and lunches with him," Hermione replied, smiling fondly.

"We offered to pay, but he said No Thanks and picked up the tab," offered Harry. "He’s a good bloke, a bit barmy about golf, but otherwise alright. Perhaps someday he’ll discover the joys of Air Hockey."

Hermione grabbed Harry’s arm and hugged him tightly. "He seems to think we are made for each other."

Harry smiled at her and she passed the paper back to a beaming Luna. Then he noticed Terry and Susan exchanging worried looks.

"Susan? Terry? Is something wrong?" Harry asked.

Susan nodded to Terry and gripped his hand tightly. Terry swallowed nervously. "Harry, I don’t know if there’s a problem or not, but the other night when I was attacked, Dumbledore returned my book bag. Everything was a mess inside. I’m just worried that someone might have seen some things they shouldn’t have."

"What was in the bag, Terry?" asked Harry intently.

"Well, my class notes and books, of course. I’m not worried about those.   But I also had a copy of the list of names and addresses and Hermione’s first prophecy in there."

Harry frowned for a moment. "Was anything missing?"

"No, it looks like they just collected the parchment and stuffed it into the bag."

Harry leaned back for a moment before he turned to look at everyone. "Alright, I think we managed to avoid a problem here, but let’s not take any more chances. I don’t want anyone carrying anything they don’t absolutely need. You’ve all warded your trunks by now, so use them."

The Outcasts nodded and several breathed a sigh of relief before returning to breakfast.

---

Grimmauld Place…

Emma looked up from her little study area when the door opened and Narcissa walked in. Dan and Remus were off to Padfoot again. Remus was working on multiple research projects and the Irish Ministry had opened up their archives and libraries to him with a typically warm welcome. Dan was overseeing the construction of the hospital area and, even though he wasn’t a wizard, his suggestions had gone a long way in organizing a much more efficient building.

"How are your projects coming, Cissy?" asked Emma. Over the past few months, and to the great surprise of Narcissa, the two women had formed a strong friendship with each other.

Narcissa laughed. "I think Harry’s getting revenge for us being adults by assigning us harder work than he gives to his friends."

"Oh? How so?"

"Well, as you know, until you’ve finished the letter we’ll be sending to the families, Harry asked me to help on another project with Remus. Apparently he came up with this idea without Hermione’s help and wants to see if it can be done without bringing her in on it."

Emma chuckled. "He’s still a bit of a boy at heart and wants to impress his girlfriend. Although from her last letter, I gather nothing he could do could impress her more than she already is."

Narcissa shook her head. "I guess I just don’t understand today’s generation. Oh, I don’t mean we went to the altar as virgins either, but today it’s not only alright to sleep together, but also to flaunt it."

"Ordinarily I would agree with you, Cissy, but in Harry’s case, I don’t think I can. If only you saw him at the beginning of the summer after he’d gotten over his illness. He was recovering from nearly sixteen years of neglect and honestly believed he was not allowed to love or be loved. It broke our hearts to see that. Hermione slowly brought him out of his shell and now he doesn’t want to hide how he feels about her," Emma said, and then paused for a moment.

"In a way, Hermione and Harry have a lot in common. Oh, I don’t mean their backgrounds, but both of them grew up with few friends. Hermione has always been a very intelligent girl and that tended to scare other children away. Now she’s got a young man who not only appreciated her intellect, but also finds her physically attractive. Hermione’s awoken something powerful in Harry. The depth of feeling he holds for her is almost frightening in its intensity, but she seems to thrive on it."

Narcissa sat down and Emma poured her a cup of tea. Sipping carefully, she thought for a moment. "I wouldn’t be surprised if the two are bonding without knowing it. A spontaneous bond can sometimes form when two people feel that deeply for each other. The day Draco woke up in the infirmary, Harry expressed a bit of jealousy about Draco and Luna being able to wed this summer."

Emma smiled to herself. "I’m sure that by then my daughter and Harry will have worked out a satisfactory arrangement. But enough of this love talk. What little project did my future son-in-law pass off to you and Remus?"

Narcissa looked confused for a moment before replying. "Well, I’m not sure I understand the entire thing, but essentially, he wants to erect a barricade. He read some muggle books and he talked about principles of similarity and uncertainty principles. I didn’t quite understand it, but the upshot is, he wants to erect a barricade that will prevent Voldemort and his forces from crossing it. Remus found something that may do just that and I’ve been examining the power requirements. It’s still too early to know if it will work or not."

"A Barricade? Why doesn’t he just use the wards like he does for Grimmauld Place?"

"Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough, Emma. He wants to barricade the United Kingdom, keeping Voldemort and his forces inside."

Emma blinked in shock and put a hand to her mouth. "Is that even possible?"

"I don’t know," came the quiet reply. Then Narcissa’s expression hardened. "But I intend to find out, if not for myself, then for Draco and Luna. I want them to grow up and give me lots of little ones to spoil in a peaceful world. And if anyone has the power to do it, it’s Harry."

Emma looked at her friend sympathetically. She felt the same way about Hermione and Harry.

Narcissa shook herself slightly and looked down at what Emma was working on.   "When do you expect to have a final draft?"

"A week or two. Since this letter will be going on to families who have some magical background, I don’t have to explain everything. But still, it’s not every day you receive a life-altering letter. I have one chance to get it right," she replied.

Narcissa nodded. "Good. I’ve gone over the list of families we have to deal with. There are exactly forty two muggle families who the twins will have to bring in by hand, and another three hundred and five families who are either mixed or pure Wizarding."

Narcissa frowned for a moment. "When you count all of the Hogwarts families, then add in the extra families, we’re talking almost four hundred and fifty families. On top of that, Amelia is building a small cadre of Aurors and their families who will be coming with us. I know that Harry wanted to save what he could, but that’s a mighty large crowd."

Emma leaned back in her chair, smiling. "Cissy, the next time you get the chance, ask Remus to give you a tour of Padfoot. I think you’ll find that Harry has taken it all into account."

Narcissa eyed the other woman for a moment before nodding.

---

Defense Against the Dark Arts Class…

Harry and Hermione filed from their Potions class. While Dumbledore was a much better teacher than Snape could ever hope to be, some of the potions they were learning about were definitely not part of the standard curriculum. Today’s potion, for example, had no name, but it was designed to be used as ear drops for the removal of unsightly ear hair. That might be useful when you’re approaching two hundred years old, but it didn’t seem all that useful today.

Harry followed Hermione into the DADA classroom. Due to an appeal by Ron’s mother, he had returned to classes earlier this week. His in-school suspension had not been cut down by much, but without caretaker Argus Filch to supervise him, he had been largely idle.

Ron’s new behavior puzzled Harry and Hermione both. Before the holiday, he had been verbally offensive and willing to provoke a conflict, so long as he had some backup. After the holiday, he had changed. He was still nasty if someone spoke to him, but he devoted a bulk of his time to his studies these days.

Taking their seats, Harry prayed Professor Blackthorne would not call on him today. The dueling tourney she had begun a month ago was slowly winding its way through the sixth year students. Hermione had warned Romany earlier in the day about Harry’s power surge and she wanted to see them both after class today. Now Harry just hoped that Romany would not make him duel anyone.

Romany stood on the raised stage as the class walked in. Once everyone was seated, she began in her usual manner. "Now then, if you’ve done your homework you know that the real strategy of dueling comes into play when you’re evenly matched with your opponent. Why is that? Miss Granger?"

"When you’re evenly matched, the duel becomes a battle based on skill rather than raw power. If your opponent matches you power-wise, you must draw on your knowledge of spells, dueling tactics and trickery to defeat them," replied Hermione.

"Correct! Five points to Gryffindor, Miss Granger."

"Now for another five points, who can describe an example of tricking your opponent? Miss Patil?"

Romany continued the class like that for the next ninety minutes, interspersing her lecture with questions and some practical demonstrations. Finally, she got to the point that everyone had been anxiously waiting for.

"Now that the lecture is done, I’m sure you’re all waiting to see who will be this weeks duelers and who will advance to the next round."

Romany consulted her class roster for a moment before looking at the class again. "Mr. Weasley, you have not yet had a chance to duel since you just recently rejoined our class. If you will take the left position on the stage, please?"

Ron stood and swaggered up the stairs to the stage and took the left hand position on the stage. He eyed the class and smirked at them while fingering his wand.

"Miss Abbot? Would you take the right hand position please?" called Romany.

Hannah started to move toward the stage when a voice stopped her.

"No, I want to duel Potter," Ron said flatly.

Romany looked up in surprise. No one had questioned her dueling assignments before.

"I’m sorry Mr. Weasley, but it’s not yet Mr. Potter’s turn. Your opponent for this match will be Miss Abbot."

"But…"

"Mr. Weasley, you will duel the opponent I select, or I will give Miss Abbot an automatic win and you will forfeit the match," Romany stated coldly.

"Fine! Get up on the stage, Abbot," Ron snarled, his eyes going flat.

Romany waited until both students were on the stage. "Alright then, remember, this is to disarm your opponent. Do not use any lethal spells or I will take you down myself. When the feather touches the floor you may commence."

Romany stepped out of the way, and then levitated a feather into the proper position before ending the spell. As soon as the feather touched the ground, Ron struck with a series of spells.

"Foetor Fomeus Carcer," Ron shouted. The spell hit Hannah before she could even react and it formed a dense choking could of smoke around her head. With her first breath, she was coughing and unable to cast.

Then Ron fired off a bone-crushing hex, aimed to hit the stricken girl in the legs. Hannah shrieked and fell to the floor as both of her kneecaps were pulverized. Then he summoned her wand.

There was complete silence in the classroom except for the coughing moans from Hannah. Ron had brutally ended a match, displaying a level of talent that no one had been aware of. But more to the point, his technique was cruel, and just shy of lethal.

Romany rushed to aid Hannah while the class just stared at Ron in shock, and horror. Romany signaled to a couple boys from Hufflepuff to come up to the stage. The girl screamed in pain as they moved her to a stretcher. Harry closed his eyes and reached out with his senses. Hannah may have been unfriendly to him this past year, but he hated to see anyone undergoing that sort of pain.

He quickly delved into her aura, looking carefully beyond it and into the core of her consciousness. With a small surge, he suppressed one area, causing the girl to pass out.

Romany gasped as the girl lost consciousness and turned to stare at Harry just as he opened his eyes. With a nod at the two Hufflepuffs, they gently took Hannah down the steps of the stage and out of the classroom.

Romany’s eyes watched the two boys narrowly for a moment longer, then turned to seek her prey. "Mr. Weasley, you have forfeited that match to Miss Abbot. You were instructed not to use lethal spells, but the cloud of choking could have been lethal, so could have your bone crushing hex, which was totally unnecessary since you had effectively incapacitated your opponent with your first spell."

Ron stood there, his arms crossed, his expression stormy. "You want us to duel, I dueled. It’s a fight, and I fight to win."

Harry leaned over to Hermione and whispered, "Now that’s a message he’s sending loud and clear."

Hermione nodded grimly in reply.

"Mr. Weasley, if you ever use excessive force in a class duel again, I will see you expelled from this school," Blackthorne said before surveying the rest of the class. "Class dismissed!"

Harry and Hermione made a show of putting their books in their bags, but hung back to talk to Romany. Draco joined them while the other Outcasts went off to get ready for dinner.

The three of them watched as Ron walked out of the room with a smug expression on his face.

"Merlin! I never thought I’d see the day that the Weasel would be so cruel," murmured Draco.

"He’s going to start a war between the Gryfs and the Puffs," Hermione added, shaking her head and thinking back to the time when she thought she might actually fancy him. Then she did something totally out of character for her.

"What a bloody prick! I can’t believe I ever thought he was cute!" she exclaimed.

The choking sound from behind her clued her into the fact that she said that out loud. Draco was leaning up against Harry, trying not to laugh. Harry made the choking sounds as he tried to keep a straight face, though his eyes were wide. Even Romany, who stood behind the two, was chuckling.

Turning serious, Harry leaned up against a desk. "I’d like to know where Ron learned to duel like that. His dueling capabilities were never that good. And why did he do that?"

"Ron was getting some special lessons from Professor Snape during his suspension. I asked the Headmaster about it after finding them in my classroom late one night. At the time, it made sense when the Headmaster said they were giving Ron private tutoring lessons so he wouldn’t fall too far behind on his studies due to the suspension," Romany offered softly.

Harry looked skyward for a moment as if the answers he wanted were written on the ceiling, then he looked at the others again. "I don’t like it. We need to warn the rest of our group to avoid any incidents with Ron. I’m tired of finding my friends in the infirmary."

"Harry, that was a good thing you did for Hannah. I know she won’t realize it, but it was the right thing to do," offered Romany.

Harry blushed from the praise.

"Harry, how is the power control going?"

Harry sighed. "It could be better, but I’m getting there."

Romany nodded. "Very well, if you need to practice, you know where to find me."

Harry nodded and then led his friends from the classroom.

---

Weasley Wizarding Wheezes, Diagon Alley…

The shop had been closed for many hours. The front of the shop held an impressive array of anti-theft and anti-break in devices, including an illusionary Cave Troll, which stood in front of the building all night long. Like so many of the twins’ inventions, the Cave Troll Illusion had its flaws. The troll suffered from an extraordinary case of flatulence and if one spoke to the troll, it replied in the voice of a six-year-old girl. Flaws and all, it was still an effective deterrent to would-be thieves for Weasley Wizarding Wheezes.

Light flickered from the windows of that closed shop while Fred and George Weasley worked on a project for Harry Potter, adopted brother and principle investor of their business.

Fred was wearing a polka dotted yellow dress and his wand had been transformed into a parasol, while George rolled on the floor in a fit of laughter.

"OY now! Change me back, George!" yelled Fred.

George rolled over near a large crate and removed a hula-hoop from the crate, which he then tossed to Fred. "You know the rules. We switch off every twenty five hoops and the other gets to decide what the caster is wearing!"

Fred waved his parasol over the hula-hoop and murmured, "Portus", and then he tossed the completed portkey into a nearly empty crate. "Twenty two, and you are so going to regret this!"

A few short hoops later, they switched off, and George found himself dressed in a gorilla suit and his wand had been changed into a banana.

---

Breakfast, Great Hall, mid February…

Harry walked into the Great Hall and made a beeline for his friends, sitting down heavily. For the past week and a half, he’d been roaming the corridors late at night in the hope of running into whoever was attacking his friends. However, the addition of six Aurors patrolling the school had resulted in zero encounters, and he was beginning to get irritated about it.

Harry’s irritation unfortunately spilled over onto his friends. They understood why he was snappish, and Hermione kept him largely in check, but he couldn’t help being short tempered with them. He knew it was wrong and it only made him angrier with himself. It was a losing situation as far as he was concerned.

He was reaching for the platter of bacon when he noticed everyone staring at him warily. Putting the platter down carefully, he mentally checked to see if he had forgotten his pants and the rest of his clothes that morning. "What? I’m fully dressed," he said in exasperation.

Ginny slid a copy of the morning edition of the Daily Prophet over to him. It took only a single glance to see what the problem was.

Harry Potter Endorses Archibald Richfield for Minister Position.

In a surprise announcement, Harry Potter broke his silence to come out with a ringing endorsement of Archibald Richfield for Minister.

"The recent inability of the Wizengamot to make a decision has forced me to come forth and put what little value I can behind one of the candidates. I firmly believe that Archibald Richfield is the ideal candidate for the post of interim Minister of Magic. Mr. Richfield’s voting record clearly exhibits a fair minded legislator. His honesty is evident, and so are his values. Mr. Richfield will go to any lengths to advance the cause of pure blooded families everywhere.

"I strongly urge the Wizengamot to break this ridiculous deadlock and elect Archibald Richfield as interim Minister so that the Government may get back to governing," said Mr. Potter in an exclusive interview.

A spokesman for Archibald Richfield said that Mr. Richfield is pleased and proud that the Boy-Who-Lived would deem him acceptable. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Amos Diggory claimed they have no knowledge of Mr. Potter’s comments but did agree that Mr. Potter is perfectly capable of endorsing anyone he wants.

Harry looked up from the paper and calmly handed it back to Ginny, who looking at him fearfully. His eyes lost focus for a moment, then he conjured parchment and a quill. He pushed his plate to one side and started scrawling a note to someone. From up above, Hedwig flew in through an open window and landed in front of him.

Harry rolled his note up and attached it to Hedwig’s leg. Man and Owl stared into each other’s eyes for a moment, and then Harry reached out and caressed her fondly. Hedwig bobbed her head once in acknowledgement before springing aloft.

"That is truly eerie, Harry. You just look at the owl and it seems to know what you want of it. I’ve never seen anything quite like that before," murmured Draco.

"Hedwig’s a very smart owl," said Luna dreamily. "She bonded to Harry early on in both their lives. Harry talks to her and she hears him. He doesn’t even know he’s talking to her, but she hears him over the bond she made between them. Usually, when Hedwig’s close enough, like just now, I can hear them talking."

Luna’s pronouncement effectively distracted Harry from the anger that had been building in him since reading that article. He looked at Luna curiously. "I’m talking with her?"

"Well, it’s not really talking as you know it, Harry, but yes, you’re sharing thoughts and emotions with her. She cares a great deal for you," Luna said.

Harry looked ashamed. "I know and I don’t treat her well enough. She was the only friend I had during some very bad times," he said, looking down and rubbing a few scars across one wrist.

Hermione’s eyes widened as she realized what kind of scar she was looking at. "Harry?" she whispered afraid of what answer she’d get.

He looked up and smiled at her weakly. "Don’t worry about it. The summer after Cedric was exceedingly bad. I felt so alone. If it hadn’t been for Hedwig…" he replied very quietly. Hermione leaned against him and reached over to caress his wrist.

"Remind me to buy Hedwig a bag of deluxe owl treats," she said. "And remember, you’re not alone anymore.."

Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "And that’s something I’m eternally grateful for," he whispered. She shivered in reply.

"Mr. Potter, might I ask what the meaning of this morning’s headline is all about?" came the voice of Dumbledore, interrupting them.

Harry looked up at the Headmaster. "Believe me, Headmaster, I did not endorse that candidate. I’ve not spoken to any member of the press and have no particular interest in the current political makeup of the Wizarding world."

Dumbledore and Harry stared at each other for a long moment. Dumbledore’s eyes were twinkling like mad, while Harry’s burned with a green flame. As the two locked gazes, the others at the table began to shift around uncomfortably. Then Dumbledore turned away from Harry, breaking eye contact and marched up to the Head table.

Harry managed to out stare Dumbledore, but the limit to his patience had also been reached. Tonight he was going to take care of one of the thorns in his side.

---

Later that Evening, Various locations around the UK…

"I don’t like this, Harry. You could get hurt, or worse!" Hermione said, pacing their small common room and glaring at him.

"I don’t think anything’s going to happen tonight, Hermione. No one’s expecting me to do anything, which is exactly why this will work," Harry replied, trying hard to maintain a calm exterior. He had been seething all day because of the Daily Prophet article. Now he stood in their common room, dressing for battle, and Hermione was upset about it.

Hermione spun on him. "Then take me with you!"

Harry frowned for a moment. "No," he said flatly. Hermione made a motion to rebut his decision, but he waved her to silence. "I won’t take you with me, but you can help tonight. You can go with my two helpers and make sure they don’t get carried away while I deal with Mr. McNulty."

Hermione looked at him in surprise. She’d expected him to leave her behind.

"Get dressed. Wear comfortable clothing, and wear your concealment cloak. We have five minutes to until we meet with Fred and George."

Harry donned his cloak, but left the hood down. A few moments later, Hermione came out of their room dressed in black jeans and a dark blouse. As she approached, he handed her a slip of parchment. She cocked an eyebrow at him in question.

"Portkey to Grimmauld when you’re done. Bring George and Fred with you. I’ll meet you there."

Nodding, she pocketed the portkey and looked at him expectantly. He grinned and wrapped him arms around her. "Ready for some payback?" he asked, whispering in her ear.

She nodded and with a very soft popping sound, both vanished from the Gryffindor Head suite.

A moment later they appeared in the back room of Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes.

"Oy Harry-kins!" shouted Fred.

"And he’s got a Hermione in his arms!" added George with a grin.

"Well, I’d travel with a girl in my arms if I could," Fred replied.

"Oh, quite. A nice soft girl makes traveling so much more enjoyable," concluded George.

"Oh shut it, you two," Hermione replied, trying hard not to grin at them.

Harry did grin as he let go of Hermione, then he stepped back and looked at the twins. "Did you get them?"

George opened a box behind him. The room burst into a bright light as he pulled out a two-liter glass jar that looked like it was full of liquid sunshine.

"Got’em mate, and right hard they were to find too," George said with a grin.

"What is that?" asked Hermione, staring at the glowing bottle.

Fred stepped up in front of George and puffed out his chest imperiously. "These, my dear Gryffindor, are Amazonian Fire Termites. They live on the consumption of ash, they burn nearly anything, and are very dangerous. Our job is to first ward the area we’re planting them in, then plant them in the building. When the building is totally consumed, the ward collapses, killing the termites in the building so they can’t escape."

Hermione looked worried as she examined the seething mass of liquid fire.

"Right then. Hermione, you go with Fred and George. When you’re all done, use the portkey I gave you to go to Grimmauld. I’ll meet you all there, probably in a hour or two," Harry said.

George wrapped a cloth around the jar of termites to hide their glow, and then he put on his concealment cloak. Harry grabbed Hermione into a crushing embrace before he vanished without a sound.

"Man, if I could apparate that quietly, the pranks I could pull would be the stuff of legend," Fred moaned.

Hermione pulled up her hood and stood near the rear entrance door to their shop.

"Now then, Hermione, the Prophet has two buildings. We need to hit both. The main building is quite large and contains the offices and printing presses. The smaller building contains supplies like paper rolls and ink. Fred and I will hit the main building, which will take longer. While we’re working on that, can you handle the smaller building?" George asked.

Hermione nodded. "Once I see you cast the ward, I should be able to repeat it with no problem," she replied confidently.

"Alright, but be careful. The building’s full of supplies and some of them are bound to be explosive. Harry would kill us if we let you get hurt!" Fred added.

"Kill us? I don’t think they would find anything left of us if she got hurt," added George.

Hermione bit her lip worriedly and wondered if this was really a good idea.   But then she remembered Voldemort’s connection to the paper and her resolve strengthened. "Let’s do this," she hissed at the twins and reached for the doorknob.

The three of them crept into the dingy alleyway behind the shop. Fred pointed in a direction and they slowly made their way up the alley. At one point, George held up his hand and tapped Hermione on the shoulder. She looked as he pointed to one building and she nodded. The twins had pointed out her target.

Creeping further down the alley, they eventually came to a very large building. George pushed his hood back off his head and pulled out his wand. Fred took the bottle of termites from him and George showed Hermione the wand movements for the ward several times. She mimicked them and he nodded.

Once Hermione had the movements down, George cast the ward, giving her the incantation, which was surprisingly simple. There was a brief flash of blue light and the building glowed blue for a moment.

Then Fred opened the lid of the bottle and poured three quarters of the contents onto the stoop leading into the building.

Hermione watched in morbid fascination as the pile of termites stirred to life and flowed out over the stoop like a liquid. The termites moved up the steps and, as they did, the area they moved over crumbled to ash. All three stepped back as the termites hit the main part of the wall and spread out in a thin golden line. There was a groaning sound from the building and Hermione realized that she was literally hearing the building begin to collapse upon itself as the lower sections turned to ash.

"They’ll continue to feed and burn until there’s nothing left. Then the ward will kill them off," Fred whispered as he handed Hermione the now capped bottle. "Take care of the other building. We’ll meet you there. We need to stay here for a bit to make sure they don’t get loose."

Hermione grinned. This was more fun than she thought it would be! She took the bottle and headed back up the alleyway to the storage building.

Once Hermione was out of sight, George turned to Fred. "You know she’s going to kill us, don’t you?"

"Yeah, but consider the fun of pranking her!" came the gleeful reply.

---

Hogsmeade…

It was a modest home set back a way from the narrow cul-de sac. Anyone who saw the house would have trouble believing it was home to the Wizarding Worlds latest media mogul, Fergus McNulty, owner and publisher of the Daily Prophet. McNulty tossed back another glass of Fire Whiskey and once again wished he had not approached his cousin looking for financial help.

The door burst open admitting Lucius Malfoy to the room. Lucius took one look and sneered at his cousin. Fergus had learned a long time ago that he was no match for his cousin in any sort of fight, so all he could do was cower and cringe before him.

"Oh stop cowering you pathetic excuse for a wizard!" Lucius snapped. "First, where are last weeks proceeds?"

Fergus pointed a shaky hand to a corner where a bank draft sat beneath a large bag of galleons. Lucius walked over to the corned and looked at the draft, then he pocketed it. Opening the bag of galleons, he counted out twenty coins and tossed them on the floor in front of Fergus.

"Your salary," he sneered. "You should be thankful I grant you that much, considering what you did to my fortune."

Lucius tied off the bag of coins to his belt. Then he walked over to a chair and sat while he watched McNulty scramble about on the floor for the coins.

Once McNulty had picked up all the coins he stood and looked fearfully at Lucius.

"The Master wishes that you continue using Harry Potter’s name to promote Richfield," he said, and then he barked a laugh. "These mindless sheep believe everything they see in that paper! Last week we were calling Potter a new Dark Lord and they hated him. This week we use him to endorse our candidate and the public loves him! Sheep, I tell you!"

McNulty shrugged, not daring to say anything.

"The Master wants you to…"

Lucius stopped, drowned out by a loud tearing sound. Dust rained down suddenly on the two men. The lights died and Lucius noted he could suddenly see stars overhead. The house shook and groaned. Then a voice called out.

"Fergus McNulty, come forth and be judged!"

The two men stumbled from the room, heading towards the exit. Before they could reach the door, it was pulled off its hinges and sucked away into the night. From the front lawn came a blinding light and the voice called out again.

"Fergus McNulty, stand and be judged!"

McNulty staggered out of the building and he was suddenly lifted off his feet. He hung suspended in the air several feet off the ground making mewling sounds in his throat. Lucius snarled and pulled out his wand. He had no intention of going down without a fight.

Still hidden inside the house and partially covered by the doorframe, Lucius could see figures in the blinding light. He lunged out of the door and aimed his wand at one of the figures in front. "Avada Kedavra," he shouted.

The green beam lanced out from his wand and hurtled across the lawn. Another beam reached out from the figures and it intersected with Lucius’ spell, causing the killing curse to deflect straight up.

Lucius shuddered as his muscles locked and his wand snapped in his hand. Then he screamed when the bones in that hand were crushed to powder. He felt himself lifted up off the ground to hover next to Fergus.

His vision grayed for a moment. It then cleared enough for him to see a tall figure, whose face was concealed by a deep hood, step in front of the others. The light made it hard to see detail, but the man was tall and very thin. His hands appeared to be gnarled with age.

"Fergus McNulty, thou dost stand accused of lying to the public and of being a secret supporter of the half blood bastard, Voldemort. Thou art also accused of fabricating lies about Harry Potter," said the gaunt figure in a dreadful voice.

The figure waved his hand and McNulty moved higher into the sky. As he moved, his clothing was torn from his body until he hovered twenty feet above the lawn, naked. Fergus moaned and tried to cover his nakedness.

"Thou hast been judged and found wanting, Fergus McNulty," said the figure.

From the group of figures a ball of pale yellow light appeared. It rose slowly to hover near McNulty, who stared at it fearfully. The ball slowly started to circle McNulty and with each orbit it touched his skin once before returning to its orbit. McNulty screamed and whimpered in pain as the ball touched him and he fouled himself in fear.

Every point where the ball touched him, he was branded with the word "LIAR" in smoking flesh. The ball sped up in its orbit and McNulty passed beyond his threshold of acceptable pain as he fell unconscious. In a final flash of light, the ball vanished and McNulty was lowered slowly to the ground where he lay, barely breathing.

Lucius cringed at the treatment his idiot cousin had received and, for the first time that night, was afraid of what was going to befall him. He hovered only a few feet off the ground, immobilized by some unknown spell, and could only watch, helpless, as another figure approached him and started to search him. The figure removed the bank draft as well as the large pouch of galleons he had gotten from McNulty. He found another wand, which he snapped, and a portkey, which he banished. When the figure was done, Lucius had all the papers on him removed and, surprisingly, a muggle style wallet.

The figure finally turned to his fellows, bowed to the tall figure in the front and walked back to join the others.

"Lucius Malfoy," intoned the gaunt figure in front, "know that the Brotherhood of Druidic Knights, along with the Order of the Phoenix, supports Harry Potter. Turn back from thy evil ways, lest thee risk thy immortal soul. Do not cross our path again. If thou dost, thy life will be forfeit."

With a minor gesture from the gaunt figure, Lucius fell into a sound sleep. Then he was gently floated to the ground. All of the figures, except one, faded from site.

Harry pushed back the hood off his head and grinned. With a casual wave of one hand, a huge glowing silver Celtic cross appeared in the night sky, hovering over the wreckage that was the home of Fergus McNulty.

Harry chuckled. His illusion had worked even better than he thought possible. He took one last look around, then vanished without a sound.

---

Grimmauld Place…

Fred, George and Hermione appeared in the foyer of 12 Grimmauld Place. Hermione was grinning and the twins were holding themselves, unable to contain their laughter any more.

Alerted by the noise, Remus appeared at the top of the stairs. "Hermione? Fred? George? What the blazes are going on here?"

Turning to look in the other direction, he called out, "Dan! Emma! Come on down to the kitchen. Hermione’s here."

Remus quickly came down the stairs and ushered the giggling trio into the kitchen. Dobby appeared and put on a pot of tea. Fred and George collapsed in their chairs and broke into gales of laughter again. Hermione was finally coming down from her own adrenalin rush and watched the pot of water boiling with a heartfelt need for a calming cup of tea.

Remus sat down and looked at the twins and Hermione. "Alright Hermione, why are you out of Hogwarts and why are you with these two? And where the devil is Harry?"

"I think we should wait until he arrives, Remus. He said he’d meet us here."

Remus slumped into a chair just as Dan and Emma burst into the room. Both of them went to Hermione, who stood to hug them both.

Remus waved to seats. "Sit down. I don’t know what’s going on yet, but apparently Harry will be here soon and we’ll learn what these three have been doing tonight."

A few minutes later Tonks came into the room. She skidded to a halt spotting Hermione and the twins, and their concealment cloaks. Her eyes narrowed and looked at the three suspiciously before turning to Remus and the others.

"I’m sorry I’m late. We had two fires in Diagon Alley tonight and I had to remain on duty until they could clear away the mess…" she trailed off and looked at the twins as they broke down into fits of laughter again.

Placing both hands on her hips she glared at the two. "Would you mind telling me exactly what’s so funny about the destruction of two businesses on Diagon Alley tonight?"

Hermione gasped and turned white as a sheet. "Two businesses?" she stammered.

Tonks looked at Hermione and nodded. "Aye, the Daily Prophet burned to the ground, and someone did the same thing to Zonkos."

"I see someone got a little creative with my instructions," came a voice from behind Tonks.

Tonks screeched and tried to spin around, but tripped and fell into Remus’ lap, who instinctively put his arms around her. Harry stood grinning at Tonks, then his expression darkened as he turned to look at Hermione.

Seeing her expression, he turned to the twins and scowled. "Explain to me why my girlfriend looks ready to cry, and why you three destroyed Zonkos?"

Fred broke into a fit of laughter. "It’s not like it looks, Harry. Zonkos is a small business like our own. They rent part of the building, the rest of the building was owned by the Prophet and used for the storage of supplies," stammered George.

"Burning down Zonkos was just the icing on the cake." Fred said with a chuckle.

Hermione looked up, relieved that she had not just burned down an innocent business. Relieved, until her father jumped into the act.

"Hermione Jane Granger, please tell me you did not partake in arson tonight?"

Hermione sunk back down in her chair and wished she could become invisible.

"Now hold on everyone and I’ll tell you what is going on," Harry said as he emptied his pockets, then unhooked the large pouch of money from his belt. "Tonight I put the Daily Prophet out of business, plain and simple. They’re gone and, while my little firebug squad might have gotten carried away with their efficiency, I can’t really fault them. While they were taking care of the physical buildings and printing presses, I decided to have a chat with Fergus McNulty, who by some strange quirk of fate, was being visited by his cousin tonight."

Remus and Tonks stared hard at Harry when he mentioned McNulty’s cousin. "Malfoy? Did you leave him alive? You should have contacted Aurors, Harry!"

Harry sighed and shook his head. "Yes, I left him alive, though nursing an injured wand hand.   Not that it matters, as he doesn’t have any wands anymore. And no, calling Aurors would have only put him back into a cell from which he would only have escaped again. Instead I left him with a message to not cross the Brotherhood if he wished to live."

He pointed to the small pile of papers and the bag of money on the table in front of him. "This is all the stuff Lucius had on him; a bank draft, some money, some useless papers and a muggle wallet, if you can believe it. Tonks? Can you find a worthy charity that could use the money? Merlin knows I don’t need it."

Dan reached over and started looking through the wallet.

Tonks nodded. "Sure, Mother Wilma’s Home. They provide a loving home for orphans of…" she trailed off, seeing the stricken look on Harry’s face.

She leapt from Remus’ lap, rushed to Harry’s side and wrapped him in a tight hug, while he fought a losing battle to keep from crying. It seemed that every time he turned around, he was learning about alternatives in the Wizarding word that could have provided him with a safe and happy home. Everyone sat in silence for a while, giving Harry a chance to pull himself together.

Tonks finally released him and he gave her a grateful glance as she sat down next to Remus. Then he angrily wiped away his tears.   "Mother Wilma’s, you said? Emma, could you add that to our list? I don’t want to leave orphans unprotected."

Harry blinked in astonishment as Emma produced a notebook from seemingly nowhere and scribbled a note down.

Hermione giggled at Harry’s expression. "Now you know where I get it from, Harry. Mum just uses pockets where I summon my notebook."

"Let me get this straight," Remus said heatedly. "Tonight you destroyed the Daily Prophet building, including irreplaceable printing presses that no one knows how to enchant anymore? You burned down Zonkos by mistake and you managed to beat up Lucius Malfoy, snapping his wand and robbing him of all his money in the process? Tell me Harry, what’s next?"

Harry frowned and looked at Remus. "I’m sorry, Remus, but that newspaper was working for Voldemort. I could have destroyed the building in the day, but I didn’t want to kill anyone. They were printing lies about me and I am getting tired of seeing it. And I will NOT allow them to use my name to elect a Death Eater Minister. Richfield might not be marked, but he’s supportive of the types of policies that Voldemort advocates."

Remus sighed and slumped in his chair in defeat. "Alright, Harry, I can understand why you did what you did, but can you at least warn us before hand? Is that too much to ask?"

"I’m sorry, Remus. You’re right, I should have told you about it before hand. I’ll try to keep you informed of any actions I plan to take outside of Hogwarts from here on. In the meantime, to answer your question of what’s next. Simple, I’m going to have a spot of tea, then Hermione and I are going to return to Hogwarts."

"Hermione," Dan began, "I understand why you went along and why you did what you did. But if you’re going to insist on going on missions like this, I am going to insist you be more protected…"

"I have that partially covered, Dan," said Harry in a serious tone. "I’m having Remus make up… well, armor of a sort…that we will be able to wear."

"That’s all well and good Harry, but I don’t want my little girl…"

"Dad…"

"Not now pumpkin. As I was saying, Harry, I don’t want…"

"Daddy..."

"Hermione hush, I’m talking."

"Silencio," Hermione said in a sweet tone, her wand pointed at her father.

Dan’s mouth stopped moving as soon as he realized nothing was coming out of it. Everyone, including Harry, looked at Hermione in astonishment.

"Daddy, I love you to bits and, hopefully, after I’m done saying what I have to say, you’ll still love me. But you have to understand, I’m an adult and my world is at war. I’m fighting for my life and for yours. If Voldemort wins, you’ll die. I’m fighting for my right to be an active part of my world. If Voldemort vanished today, as a muggle born, I’d still be discriminated against. Oh sure, Harry would still love me and treat me as an equal, but if I wanted any meaningful work, I’d have no choice but to turn to the muggle world for it. I’m fighting for my right to live the way I want to live, to raise a family of children with the man I love in a peaceful world. It’s war and people are going to take chances and get hurt.

"Harry is doing everything in his power to keep me safe. He didn’t want me to go along tonight. He sent me along on the safer of the two missions. I know him. If he had his way, I’d always be left behind. But he respects me too much to do that to me. He knows I’ll be by his side when he eventually faces Voldemort. And I know he’ll take every step he can to protect me during that fight, but he won’t stop me from going.

"Daddy, it’s time to let go. I’ve grown up, I’m not your baby girl anymore and while I love how you’re always there for me, I don’t need you to bandage my skinned knee anymore," she concluded softly, and then she released Dan from the spell.

Harry leaned back in his chair and watched the two of them as they exchanged one final silent clash of wills before Dan slumped in defeat.

"Pumpkin, I’m sorry," Dan offered with a weak smile.

Hermione leaned over and hugged her father before standing and walking over to Harry. "You ready to go?" she asked. Harry looked up and did a double take. Hermione had a look on her face that he was slowly coming to recognize. Quickly he stood and bid everyone a good night. Hermione stepped into his arms, wrapping her own around his neck. The two vanished with a soft pop.

Back in the Gryffindor Head Suite Harry found himself being pushed into the bedroom by Hermione. As she did, she fumbled with his pants. This was an interesting aspect of Hermione that he’d have to consider.

---

Hogwarts, Ravenclaw Dormitory…

It was an unassuming thing, really.   A small red book with a locking clasp, lying on the nightstand. Those sharing the room with its owner had learned to leave it alone in their early years at Hogwarts, but the man staring at it now wasn’t aware of that.

Albus Dumbledore’s eyes narrowed as he contemplated the little book.   His search of the so-called ‘Outcasts’ belongings had been frustrating, as all their trunks had been warded against intruders. But the book intrigued him.   He knew he didn’t have a lot of time before classes were over for the day and he was becoming desperate.   The notes he’d found in Terry Boot’s book bag had raised some very dangerous questions in his mind, and he needed answers.

He picked the book up off the nightstand and ran a hand over the lock.   Discovering it needed a key he drew his wand instead.   With a flick and a murmur, the book popped open.   A soft breeze blew through the room and he looked up, startled, but found nothing amiss.   Frowning, he looked down at the first page.

This book belongs to me, Luna Lovegood. Opening it is an offense that shall not be taken lightly.   Several jinxes have been placed upon it, and you shall suffer each one in turn for invading my privacy.   First shall be the Screaming Greenies, then the Brindle Braids, and finally, you will find yourself feeling quite sheepish over this foul deed you have committed.

Dumbledore’s lips twitched.   The girl certainly had some bizarre ideas.   The jinxes she listed didn’t exist, of course, but they were amusing. What he couldn’t figure out was why Harry and his group of friends had accepted the strange girl into their group.

With a shake of his head, he quickly turned the page and began scanning Luna Lovegood’s diary for information, unsurprised to find that her entries fell in no particular order.   He read about her troubles adjusting to Hogwarts and the cruelty of her housemates, about her crush on Draco Malfoy, her sexual fantasies and her goals for her life after graduation.   And then, he found it.

The Exodus from Hogwarts

The plans are going well. Draco and I were informed over the Christmas Hols what our roles would be. I’m surprised that Harry would give me such a responsible job, but then, he’s always treated me different than the other students at Hogwarts.   He really is a nice person, and I’m so glad he and Dray are getting along now…

The entry continued to ramble on for a few more pages, but never came back to the idea of ‘The Exodus".   Albus scowled down at the little book in frustration.   There had to be more!

Flipping pages more rapidly now, his frustration mounting, he had to restrain the urge to find the daft girl and shake the answers out of her.   He honestly didn’t want to know that her menstrual cycle was as regular as clockwork, or that she fantasized about covering Draco Malfoy in chocolate pudding and licking it off.

He froze suddenly as his eyes quickly scanned the page before him.

The Conflict

Remus Lupin has informed us of a conflict that now exists between the prophecies. He’s figured out a temporary fix for the problem, and I must say it’s rather ingenious of him.   But then, I always thought Professor Lupin was a smart man.   It was a real shame when they replaced him as the DADA instructor. Honestly, to take a brilliant man like him and replace him with a Death Eater for a Professor?   Sometimes I think I’m not the one who should be called ‘Loony’!

The entry came to an end and Albus nearly threw the diary across the room.   Why couldn’t the girl concentrate!   He was quickly running out of time and the diary wasn’t in any sort of chronological order.   If he wished to learn anything further from the little book, he would have to copy it and take it with him.

Locking the book once more, he placed it back on the nightstand and drew his wand.   With a swish, he murmured the spell to duplicate the diary…but nothing happened.

Dumbledore gaped at his wand, shocked. "What in Merlin’s name is going on here?" he exclaimed, more loudly than he had intended.   "Hmm…the wand?   Doubtful, but…Lumos!"

His wand tip lit up brightly and he shook his head.   Perhaps he’s misspoken the incantation?   Repeating the spell twice, he found he was still unable to copy the diary and, short of taking it with him and raising the girls suspicions, he had run out of time to read it further.   Classes were due to let out any moment, and he could not be caught here!

Slipping his wand up his sleeve, he turned and quickly left the room.   Reaching the Ravenclaw common room, he pulled out a small velvet bag of floo powder and tossed it into the fireplace.   "My office!" he said firmly before stepping into the flames and disappearing.

---

Hogwarts Great Hall, Breakfast the Next Day…

"Are you sure?" Ginny asked the blonde Ravenclaw intently.

"Yes…well, no, not really.   I always put it back in the same place every time, but I was in a rush the last time I wrote in it.   It’s possible I wasn’t paying attention when I put it back," Luna replied.

Ginny caught herself in time before she could roll her eyes at the other girl.   Luna and ‘paying attention’ rarely went hand in hand. "Was there anything embarrassing in it?"

"Of course there was, Ginny.   It’s my diary after all."   Luna frowned suddenly.   "But that’s not the problem.   I wrote about the prophecy conflict, the evacuation of Hogwarts, the fact that we were gathering a list of student names and addresses and why.   There’s a lot of information in my diary that we wouldn’t want the other side to find out about."

"Damn," Ginny growled.   "Could it have been a student? Maybe one of your dorm mates?"

"What’s wrong?" Hermione asked the two, noticing their concerned expressions.

"Someone may have read Luna’s diary yesterday and she’d written about some of our plans," Ginny explained.

"Oh Luna," Hermione said, closing her eyes.   "You know that sort of stuff wasn’t supposed to be left lying around! Now we have no idea who may have it."

Luna shook her head rather violently.   "No, not true.   I learned during my first year to protect my diary.   I placed several jinxes on it and my House knows not to touch it now.   I change them periodically, so no one knows if it will be something minor, like a boil, or something a little more serious, like spontaneous organ rejection."

Hermione and Ginny gaped at her.

"Spontaneous organ rejection," Hermione breathed.   "Luna, you could kill someone with that!"

"Oh no, it’s nothing that serious," the blonde replied with an airy little wave.   "It simply expels an unneeded organ, like an appendix.   Matilda Martin found that out when she tried to read my diary back when we were first years.   She thought she had a cold, but when she threw up her appendix, she decided to visit Madam Pomfrey."

Hermione gagged.   Ginny closed her eyes and tried desperately to clear her mind of the mental image.

"So," Ginny went on gamely, swallowing heavily, "you’ll know who read it when they barf up an organ?"

"Ginny!" Hermione gasped. "I’m trying to settle my stomach, if you don’t mind."

"Sorry, Hermione, but…" The younger girl looked at her helplessly.

"No, I didn’t place that jinx on the diary this year," Luna replied, unaware of her tablemates’ difficulties.   "The first indication will the Screaming Greenies."

"What…" Hermione began.

"Don’t," Ginny whispered.   "Please don’t ask her."

Draco, who’d been listening to the conversation between the girls, couldn’t help himself.   He leaned towards the two Gryffindors and, wide-eyed, said, "I hear we’re having kidney pie for dinner tonight."

Hermione closed her eyes and looked down, trying to control her rolling stomach.   Ginny gave up and bolted from the Great Hall, her hand clasped tightly over her mouth.

"That was mean, Dray," Luna said gently, watching the ginger haired young woman exit the hall with more speed than grace.

"True, but fun!" he quipped before turning back to his plate.

Harry, who hadn’t been paying attention, passed a platter to Hermione.   "Sausage?" he asked her politely.

When the smell hit her, she had no choice but to follow Ginny from the hall.

He looked between the smirking Slytherin, the vague Ravenclaw and his fleeing girlfriend.   "Was it something I said?"

Draco began to laugh. Luna shook her head and explained what had happened. When Hermione and Ginny returned to the hall, they found Harry watching them, his expression a cross between concern and amusement.

"Don’t even think about it, Potter," Ginny growled as she sat back down.

"Wouldn’t dream of it, Weasley," he said before turning to Hermione.   "Are you all right?"

"Better, but please don’t offer me any food," she pleaded.

Before he could reply, the air was filled with the rushing sound of wings as the morning post arrived.   Not expecting anything, Harry was surprised when a plain looking buff colored owl landed in front of him and held out its leg.   Taking the letter and tossing the bird a bit of sausage, he broke the seal and began to read.

With the Aurors in the school, we can’t continue our game.   Meet me on the Astronomy tower at 2am tomorrow morning.   Unless, of course, you’re too cowardly to come out from behind your wards!

When Hermione’s hand touched his arm, he jerked, startled.   Looking up, he found her staring at him fearfully.

"Calm down, Harry," she said softly.

When he looked at her uncomprehendingly, she reached over and picked up the spoon on his plate and held it up. His eyes grew large when he saw it was tied in a knot. She then waved her hand at the rest of the hall, and he found that his wasn’t the only spoon to have undergone a mutated form of the Uri Geller treatment.   Students and teachers alike were all examining their new cutlery in puzzlement.

"I’m sorry," he told her.

"Don’t be sorry, just tell me what’s happened."

"Here, read this." He passed her the letter and waited.

Reading quickly, she looked back at him, her eyes concerned.   "You’re not thinking about going, are you?"

"I have to.   Whoever wrote it was right about one thing.   With the Aurors here, we’ll never find out who they are.   This is my only chance."

"I’m going with you," she stated firmly.

"Hermione," he began.

"No!   Either I go with you, or you have a troupe of Aurors following you. Either way, I’m not letting you go alone," she retorted fiercely.

He scowled and thought quickly.   "All right, listen.   We’ll sneak out using the invisibility cloak.   Once we reach the Astronomy tower, you’ll stay under the cloak until we know what’s going on.   Agreed?"

"Agreed, but don’t you think we should…"

She was interrupted by a gasp from Luna.   Turning quickly, she found the blonde staring at the Head table, her blue eyes huge, magnified by the tears that began to well up.   "How could you?" Luna whispered.

"Luna, what’s going on?" Draco asked, reaching for the girl.

"Look!" Ginny exclaimed loudly, pointing at the Head table.

Heads began to turn and laughter could be heard throughout the hall as students stared at the Headmaster.   Albus Dumbledore was scowling down at his hands…his very green hands.   Pulling up the sleeve of his robe, he saw that his arm was the same shade of green.

"You’re face too," Minerva confirmed when he sent her a questioning look.   "A prank, perhaps?" she asked, trying very hard not to snicker.

"Perhaps," he muttered.   Turning to face the students, he sought out one in particular. Scanning the hall, he found several Aurors openly grinning at him and clenched his teeth.   He finally found who he was looking for when she stood up and pointed at him.

"How dare you!" Luna shrieked.   "You, who is supposed to be good and wise and protecting?   You’re nothing but a dirty old man!   How dare you read through my diary, you pervert!   Did you enjoy reading about my sexual fantasies?"

"Luna," Draco said, standing beside her, "you need to calm down."

When he suddenly flinched back from her, Harry looked at him sharply. Before he could ask what had happened, Luna’s emotions washed over him and he blanched and found himself leaning away from her as well.   She was enraged…and more.   The pain and sense of betrayal she felt was heartrending.

The laughter in the hall stopped as each person experienced Luna’s pain and anger and Dumbledore quickly found himself staring down at a hall full of scowling students.

"What’s this?" a squeaky voice called out.   "What has happened, my dear?" Flitwick asked, rushing toward the blonde.

"Professor Dumbledore has invaded my privacy and read my diary," she shouted, her blue eyes burning with anger and focused intently upon the Headmaster.   "The reason his skin’s green is because of the jinxes I placed on it to keep people from reading it."

Flitwick, who had reached Luna’s side, turned suddenly at stared at Dumbledore in disbelief.   "Is this true?" he asked.

"I do not think this is the place to discuss it, Filius," the Headmaster replied, trying to gather what was left of his dignity.

"Indeed it isn’t," Auror Keith McComb called out, striding towards the Head table. "Perhaps this should be taken to your office, Headmaster."   It wasn’t a question.

"An excellent idea," Dumbledore replied.

Turning to face the hall, McComb found the distraught young woman and her Head of House.   "Professor Flitwick, would you please escort your student to the Headmaster’s office?"

"No!   I don’t want to be anywhere near that man.   He’s sick!" Luna cried.

Filius reached out and grabbed her hand in his. "Oh my dear," he said softly, tears falling down his cheeks, "of course you don’t.   We shall get this settled.   I’m sure the good Auror can speak to you privately if he has any questions."

"As you wish, Professor," McComb said, eyeing the tearful girl closely.   "Perhaps we should call in Auror Tonks."

"An excellent idea," Minerva said.   "Miss Weasley, Miss Granger, please escort Miss Lovegood to my office.   Auror Tonks can meet her there."

As Ginny and Hermione stood up, Draco gasped and Luna began to laugh coldly.   Both girls spun quickly and stared at the Headmaster, their eyes wide.   His skin was still green, but his hair and beard had become brindle colored and vine-like.   As those in the hall watched, both hair and beard braided themselves tightly.   So tightly in fact, that the Headmaster’s eyes become mere slits and his mouth was pulled down into a fierce frown.

"The Brindle Braids," Luna said, her fists clenched.   "That’s the second jinx."

Flitwick glared at Dumbledore. "So it’s true. You did read her diary," the little man said in disgust.

"It certainly seems that way," McComb said, his lips twitching into a smile.   "Excellent charms work, Miss Lovegood."

Luna faced the balding Auror, the heat of her gaze cooling some. "Thank you, sir.   But what do you intend to do with the pervert?" she asked, jerking a thumb at the Headmaster.

"Ten points from Ravenclaw for your disrespect, Miss Lovegood," Dumbledore exclaimed angrily.

"I don’t think so," Filius said, glaring at the aged Headmaster.   "Ten points to Ravenclaw for charms work beyond anything taught at Hogwarts."

"And another ten points for Ravenclaw, Miss Lovegood," Minerva called out, "for standing up for what’s right."

Dumbledore scowled and Hermione and Ginny lead Luna from the hall.  Standing, he drew himself up to his full height. "If you’ll follow me?" he asked the Auror and Flitwick. At their nods, he walked towards the exit.

---

Gryffindor Head Suite Common Room, That Evening…

"The Board of Governors must be getting tired of having to meet because of Dumbledore," Hermione said.   She was angry over the decision to dump the situation into the Board’s lap, but understood that McComb didn’t really have a choice in the matter. The real damage, however, had yet to be calculated.   Dumbledore now knew at least two pieces of their plan. Whether he could put them together was unknown.

Luna had joined her, Harry and the other Outcasts after dinner to explain what decisions had been made about the Headmaster’s actions. Most were sure Dumbledore would wiggle his way out of trouble like he’d done so many times before, but Luna seemed to shrug it off.

"If they’d just do something about the git, they wouldn’t have to meet so often," Ginny said angrily.

"Don’t worry, Ginny," Luna said calmly.   "He’ll get what’s coming to him.   Besides, the last jinx is going to take awhile to wear off.   Having hair and a beard made of wool isn’t so bad in February, but the bleating sounds he’s making are rather distracting."

The laughter ebbed away to be replaced by the shuffling of books and the crackle of parchment as the group pulled out their homework.

---

The Starry Sky…

Harry slowly opened the door at the top of the stairs and he and Hermione stepped out on to the Astronomy tower.   They had arrived early so they could be in place and prepared for whatever might come.

Walking to the corner closest to the door, Harry slipped out from under the invisibility cloak.   "Stay here, Hermione," he said quietly.   "If you move, I may hit you if I have to cast."

"I understand. Just make sure you’re not standing in a place where you can be caught by crossfire," she warned.

With a nod, Harry walked away, finding a place against the stone rail.   He turned his back to the door and looked out across the lake.   It was a clear night, but bitterly cold.   The stars were bright and their light appeared hard and unyielding, rather than soft and wavering.

He stiffened and palmed his wand when he heard the door behind him open.

"Well, well, what do we have here," a cold voice asked.   "While you may not be a coward, you certainly are stupid, Potter."

---

Authors Notes:

Yes its once again time for the dreaded authors notes. Do not touch that button! Sit and Read! We command it! Ok, we don’t really command it, but humor us eh?

First off, if you want to be added to the list of email alerts, click the link thingie that says Email Alerts. It just may surprise what it does.

As I have answered in previous author’s notes. I have never served in the military. I did however work for many years in the field of ASW for the US Navy and I consider myself a bit of a military history buff. I have enough of a military background, and boy I probably could do a great Harry Potter on a submarine story, but I think that’s taking AU to extremes. What I don’t know, I research. There is ample information on the net to make things sound correct. Not to mention my former boss of Engineering had a precursor to the STU in his office.

Yes I enjoyed most of Clancy’s earlier novels. I don’t care for some of his new stuff however.

Private note to Mozes: Yes you can printout our story for your daughter and her group of friends. AND if they come up with a suitable proposal idea for Harry, I wouldn’t mind hearing about it. Just one thing though. No room of requirement. That’s old hat and I’m hoping to come up with something refreshingly different.

Some of you have forgotten this IS A SUPERPOWERED Harry story. A VERY SUPERPOWERED Harry. His heart is pure, he has the strength of ten grinches etc… Heh… he may be superpowered, but don’t expect me to let him use it all that often.

Last chapters AN’s were short because we have few reviews to drive them. Sorry about that, but that’s FF.net’s fault, not ours.

As far as where you should post reviews. As of this chapter, if you have a question and want it answered, post it to our Yahoo Group. If you just want to issue a death threat, or pat us on the back, post the review to this system. If you want to pay us in money, sheckels, yaun, pounds, marks, francs or jelly donuts, email me. (Jelly Donuts are our preferred method of currency)

Ok, in case no one saw it. This chapter puts us effectively at MID-FEBRUARY. The clock is ticking down and things are starting to really roll downhill.

Fanfiction.net. Let’s put that issue to bed right now. The sequel to Sunset will not be posted at ff.net. They burned their bridge when they took sunset down with no warning whatsoever. DA and SC will eventually migrate to this system, hopefully after Sunset is finished.

Red Europe represents a worst case scenario where the remnants of Europe’s military forces flee Europe as the Soviets take over. Its similar to what happened to the French Navy when a lot of its ships fled to French Algiers in World War II and ultimately came under control of Vichy France. In this case, escaping to American and Canadian ports would keep a bulk of the British Navy out of Voldemort’s hands and remove their nuclear component. While once a upon a time Britannia might have ruled the waves, they really don’t anymore (But don’t tell the British that, we don’t want them mad at us!). It’s a powerful navy, but its not going to give Voldemort access to more territory.

And now…. drum roll please!

(Alyx steps out from behind the curtain and rolls a drum around the stage)

Alyx looks and Bob and scowls. "This is really silly Bob!"

IT’S TIME FOR…

PET PEEVES!!!

RECAPS!!!!! Lets see if I understand the logic here. I’m reading Harry Potter fan fiction, mostly 6th and 7th year fictions. Now I would have to guess it would be safe to say the odds are good that I probably know the plot line at least up until the end of Order of the Phoenix right? RIGHT? Then why do so many authors seem to find it necessary to recap Harry’s life with chapter after chapter of material. I mean, yeah, we know who Harry is. The Boy-Who-Lived. Do we really need to know the number of bowel movements he had in his second year? A couple paragraphs of recaps is ok… but I’ve seen some authors take recapping to whole new levels by repeating verbatim things that happened in the books. I’ve seen a couple stories that completely puke up that whole Harry/Dumbledore conversation at the end of book five. Got news for you guys. I’ve read the book.

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• The Matura Magicus The Lord and Allies First Moves The Lazy Final Days of Summer The First Day of School and Snape! Gifts, Attacks and Tears Painful Recovering Laws and Legilimency A Mid-Course Correction Alligators in the Classroom A House Divided Plans Revealed A Traitor's Farewell Bad News, Howlers and the Prime Minister A Message for Voldemort Of Death and Dismissal Actions and Reactions The Oncoming Storm A False Sense of Security Storm Surges at Dusk Thievery, Surprises and Noodles Padfoot, Betrayals and Curses The Breaking Storm The Darkest Hours British Lockup and Brotherhood Reborn
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